Chapter 9: Self-Support

Translated by Sakura Time

Seeing Wang Wei helping Xiao Xiao cook again, Feng Chun could only look at him in surprise and buried her head back to cut vegetables. Zhao Yan, on the other hand, was a little upset.

But she was afraid of Wang Wei, so she squeezed out a smile and said earnestly to Wang Wei, “Fourth, I hope you don’t mind me being nosy, but you spoil your wife too much. Fourth sister-in-law, how can you be so cruel? You don’t seem to care much about your husband much since you’re leaving all the work to him.”

“Fourth, you understand, right? What I just said was for you and sister Xiao Xiao’s own good. I really feel sorry for you. Just remember that, no matter what, you are a part of the Wang family. Now that you’re being bullied and looked down upon by your wife, how can I, as someone who’s like a sister to you, not care?” She added carefully, fearing Wang Wei’s wrath.

Feng Chun raised her head and laughed, “Sister Xiao Xiao has just entered our family and is not familiar with anything, so isn’t it okay for the fourth brother to help her?”

“Hmmp.” Zhao Yan rolled her eyes. Apart from working in the fields to earn some work points, Wang Laoda doesn’t reach out for anything when he gets home. When compared to Wang Wei, one is in heaven and the other is on earth. Zhao Yan has always been competitive. Seeing Wang Wei doting on Xiao Xiao so much, she suddenly felt bitter in her heart.

Wang Wei didn’t have so much patience with others and said sarcastically, “I really didn’t know that my family cared so much about me. We’ll just finish the work as we should do. You don’t have to care about who did it. It’s none of your business. If you want someone to help you too, then go ask your husband.”

This poked Zhao Yan’s sore spot. Her face immediately turned red. A small curse went out of her mouth. This bastard clearly doesn’t have good eyesight. He can’t even differentiate between who’s good and whatnot.

With her eyes gleaming, Xiao Xiao stood behind Wang Wei. Her “husband” was capable of fighting and scolding anyone. He was both cold and soft-hearted, and he was also highly protective…

Xiao Xiao has no idea how she ended up in this body or what happened to the original owner of the body she is in, which is something she should investigate further. But that’s all in the future; for the time being, it’s a pity for the Xiao Xiao of this era. She didn’t get to spend time with such a fine gentleman. What a poor soul!

Wang Wei’s cooking appears to be excellent, and his movements seem to be faster than Zhao Yan’s and Feng Chun’s. Xiao Xiao wanted to assist Wang Wei, but she wasn’t very helpful. Instead, she accomplished exactly the reverse of what she had envisioned. She does him a disservice by going to the pot to add water to the dish, but instead the water is thrown over the stove, completely extinguishing the fire.

“Who said the old Xiao family’s daughter was diligent and capable?” Zhao Yan chuckled. Feng Chun is far more agile than she is. Now there is someone who is even worse than she is. She finally sighed a sigh of relief when she saw Xiao Xiao standing in front of Wang Wei with a guilty heart and refusing to look up.

Wang Wei had armed himself from head to toe as a result of the hostility he had endured from others over the years. He is constantly ready to fight, like a sharp bow. When he strikes, he attacks with all of his might. His mouth, too, is unforgiving. If pressed just now, he would undoubtedly want to vent his rage, but before he could do so, Xiao Xiao admitted her mistake. When he saw her pitiful appearance, his rage clogged up in his throat and he swallowed it.

“You can go back to the house… No, just stay by the fire.” Their house leaked all over the place, so it was not as warm as here near the stove.

Xiao Xiao had long since figured out Wang Wei’s ways, so she conceded so quickly, smiling at his words, “That’s very kind of you~”

Wang Wei twitched the corner of his mouth and pressed it down quickly, “Go over there. You’re in the way.”

“Okay~”, Xiao Xiao obediently sat down by the stove.

Zhao Yan was dumbfounded. Seeing Xiao Xiao being so clumsy, she thought Wang Wei would discipline her, but who would have thought that Wang Wei would be fooled with just a smile?

She’s like a fox spirit!

“Since you’re already seated there, help us keep the fire!” Zhao Yan said as she was washing the veggies and tending to the fire. Now that Xiao Xiao is sitting here doing nothing, her eyes couldn’t help but roll as she turned in her direction.

Xiao Xiao looked at her seriously and asked, “Do you really want me to tend to the fire?”

“Can’t you see I’m washing all these vegetables? My hands are full!” Zhao Yan exclaimed as she turned to glance at Wang Wei. She felt reassured when she saw that he didn’t react.

“Since you asked me to burn the fire, then you better sit farther away.” Xiao Xiao warned her.

“How can I roast the food if I sit so far away from the fire?” Zhao Yan frowned, thinking Xiao Xiao was making an excuse.

Xiao Xiao nodded, “Okay, then.” She picked up the firewood and shoved it into the stove.

“You should be careful not to burn yourself.” Wang Wei finally said, in a light voice.

Xiao Xiao gave a crisp “uh huh” with a solemn look, as if she was recording some important scientific research data. Zhao Yan is baffled as to why Wang Wei said that. Slandering Xiao Xiao in front of Wang Wei is pointless. That woman had already dazzled him. Isn’t it only that she’s tending to the fire? As if she’s going to burn herself!

…

“Ahh!!!” Before Zhao Yan could even process her thoughts, she suddenly exclaimed. Just after the internal slander, she jumped up and beat her head again and again. Her hair was on fire!

Wang Wei calmly brought a pail of water and poured it directly on Zhao Yan’s head, “Now you know why I have to help her work?” I’m afraid this girl will blow up the kitchen. After watching Zhao Yan get drenched like a drowned chicken, he stared at Xiao Xiao helplessly.

Xiao Xiao sheepishly turned her head away.

“Fourth sister-in-law, I didn’t provoke you, did I? Why do you want to burn me alive?” Zhao Yan grew enraged as she touched her head, which was still dripping with water.

“Don’t be ridiculous. If she really wanted to burn you to death, she wouldn’t have just burned your hair.” Wang Wei then added, “Didn’t she tell you to sit farther away?”

Zhao Yan became extremely furious, so is this still her fault?

Although Wang Wei’s partiality is evident, Xiao Xiao felt really bad. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do that; I really don’t know how to do it; I even burned my hand a few days ago,” she said as she stood up. Regardless, she burned someone’s hair, so an apology is still necessary.

Zhao Yan looked at Xiao Xiao’s whole body and tsked: “Really? Is there such a stupid person?”

Hmp! To think that my mother-in-law even said that Xiao Xiao is better than her at doing chores! Lies! Then she gloated at Wang Wei: “Fourth ah, you’ll be in big trouble in the future. You have married a wife who cannot do anything. It’s more likely that you’ll be raising her!” Then she covered her head and went back to their room to dry her hair. While walking, she thought of how the old Xiao family boasted about Xiao Xiao doing all the work in the Xiao family’s house. That’s good, since she’s now in the hands of the old fourth. They suit each other, heh.

Xiao Xiao’s story soon spread all over the Wang family. Wang Mu sat on the bed and sneered: “I think that girl is pretending. Obviously, she did everything well in the Xiao house, but once she arrived at our house, she couldn’t do anything?”

Wang Fu did not care about these trivial matters: “If she doesn’t know how to do things, she can just learn slowly.”

“If she doesn’t know how to do anything, then does that mean our family has to support such a good-for-nothing person? Since she can’t do the work at home, she should go to the field in the spring to earn more points.”

Wang Fu was silent for a while before he said, “You can do whatever you want, just don’t make Fourth angry.”

Speaking of Wang Wei, Wang Mu looked stiff and grunted: “That wolf cub! Back when we went to the mountains to hide from the bandits, there was no food, but he alone drank more milk than the other three children combined! If I did not give him a drink, he would bite me! I couldn’t even eat anything at that time, so how would I have more milk for him to drink? If I hadn’t thrown him away, maybe we wouldn’t have been able to come down safely from that mountain. Those cursed eyes of his! How can such a monster come from me? For that matter, many people gossiped about me…”

She does not know how many times she has said this to Wang Fu. Each time she talked about it, she subconsciously raised her head and chest, looking particularly righteous. How much she had suffered because of Wang Wei! Some gossip even said that she didn’t abide by women’s morality, so she gave birth to a monster like Wang Wei. Just listening to those rumors made her want to die. She gave birth to a monster, not a child!! So, what’s wrong with her leaving Wang Wei in order to survive?

Wang Fu, on the other hand, who has spent so many years with Wang Mu day and night, knows that the more she yells, the less confidence she has in her heart. The more she refuses to admit her mistakes and guilt after Wang Wei returns to their family, the more she is cruel to Wang Wei. Wang Wei, on the other hand, is not a submissive individual. Because of Wang Mu’s cruelty, he decided to fight them. There is now a line drawn between Wang Wei and the rest of the Wang family.

Due to Wang Wei’s obscenity, no one in the Wang family dares say anything about Xiao Xiao. Even Wang Mu only sarcastically said to Wang Wei on the table: “Whether your wife can do it or not, you can’t delegate your work to others. There will be no idlers in this family!”

Wang Wei replied indifferently, “I’ve never asked you to support me!” He was eight years old when he returned to the Wang family and joined the production team, so he had always been stronger than others. Of course, the Wang family also could not take advantage of him. Anyway, since the Wang family wouldn’t let him eat more, he also worked according to his own rations.

Wang Mu glanced at Xiao Xiao with his eyes and said, “You boasted very early. Isn’t this girl a Bodhisattva who can’t do anything? You’re not the only one you’ll be raising in the future, and the rest of the family won’t use their own rations to feed the idlers.”

Wang Wei finally raised his head and looked straight at Wang Mu, “Don’t worry, I’ll provide for my wife myself!”