Chapter 20: It’s Not Hard, Raising a Wife is Always Like This

After last night’s commotion, the entire village was gossiping, and everyone knew that Xie Shuangxiu was mismanaging things and had even greedily forced her niece to marry an old widower for a few betrothal gifts.

That wasn’t all; she also secretly took over the property deed from Xia Li’s family and refused to acknowledge it.

Her mouth was full of slander, calling her a gold-digging, debased person.

It was completely unreasonable to treat this niece so harshly.

Being from the same village, who didn’t know whose family had what background?

Xia Laosan’s family was not doing poorly either; forcing a hardworking niece into such a situation was simply throwing money away!

Everyone discussed it secretly, feeling indignant.

Except for two extremely narrow-minded gossips.

The two women huddled together, mocking and indignant, with their mouths twisted as they grumbled about how Xia Li was nothing but an ingrate.

They claimed she forgot her kindness and caused a scene in front of everyone, letting the family disgrace be known.

“Originally, I thought she was an honest girl, but I didn’t expect her to be so sharp-tongued, treating her relatives like enemies… Hmph, I wonder who would dare to marry such a girl?”

“Aunt Dong, you didn’t see how heartless she was last night. I already knew this girl was definitely ungrateful. If I had known, Xia Laosan shouldn’t have raised her at all, bah!”

Those who agreed scowled with bitter expressions, spitting out a mouthful of phlegm.

Just then, a passing daughter-in-law cleverly avoided their disgusting spit and turned around, frowning as she glanced at the two women.

She laughed mockingly: “Oh, I see now; it’s Aunt Dong.”

“Aunt Dong, isn’t that marriage proposal your youngest son mentioned last night the girl from the next village who was forced to marry by her uncles?”

“Lucky for her that she caused a scene and didn’t end up married, otherwise, tsk tsk tsk…”

Before she could finish her sentence, the wife called Aunt Dong glared furiously and retorted:

“Shut your mouth! That ungrateful girl isn’t worthy of my Shunbao! Useless trash! Even if she begged to marry my son, I wouldn’t want her!”

This Aunt Dong had a son named Zeng Shunbao, whom she pampered to the point of becoming lazy and lecherous, always finding ways to cheat and avoid work.

He was nearly thirty and still hadn’t gotten married, depending entirely on his mother; the village girls looked down on him privately, and the matchmaker had called off a few arrangements.

Seeing she was pricked at her weak spot, the daughter-in-law snickered, too lazy to engage in a pointless argument, and walked away.

Xia Li, on the other hand, didn’t think much about the outside commotion.

She had gone to bed late last night, and by the time she woke up this morning, the sun was already high in the sky.

She lazily rubbed her face and decided to take advantage of the good weather this morning to dry out a basket of star grass she collected yesterday, and then go tidy up the old thatched house.

As she walked into the yard, she was stunned.

The wooden tub and water basin were neatly placed in the yard, with water rippling in them, and there were about a few fish leisurely bubbling away.

The man had just pushed the door open from the kitchen.

Seeing her, he first broke into a grin, but when his gaze fell on her, it was as if he had been shocked and quickly looked away.

In a deep voice, he stammered, “Wife, I caught a lot of fish, they’re all for you.”

After saying this, he seemed to take advantage of her distraction and quickly glanced over again.

Seeing that Xia Li was indeed staring in surprise at the fish, the man’s thin lips curled into a proud smile, and his gaze on her became bolder and more intense.

Xia Li closely examined the fish, which were all of considerable size, and she was truly amazed, her round eyes widening in disbelief: “When did you go and get these?”

The man looked at her and moved closer, letting his gaze completely envelop her figure, feeling thoroughly comfortable in that moment.

He muttered, “I waited for a long time this morning, but you were still lazing in bed, so I had to go catch fish by myself… If you had come with me, I would have caught even more.”

There was a hint of implication in his words.

When Xia Li heard the phrase “lazing in bed,” she coughed lightly, maintaining a calm demeanor: “Is that so? But it really has been hard work for you.”

“It’s not hard! It’s nothing; raising a wife is always like this.” The man said nonchalantly, looking very wise.

Xia Li: … This man always said things that left her speechless.

She remained silent, squatting by the wooden basin, reaching her hand into the water to grab a fish tail, but the fish quickly swam away, making it impossible to catch.

Raising her clear eyes, she scrutinized the man, who pretended to be indifferent while glancing at her with a slight smile.

In the sunlight, his tanned, handsome face appeared warm and dazzling.

Catching fish with bare hands? That was quite something.

Xia Li glanced at his soaked and ill-fitting pants, as well as his worn-out shoes, which were also wet.

The man, however, seemed oblivious.

He didn’t care at all whether he felt uncomfortable or not; it seemed he was just waiting for her to praise him.

When he actually heard her praise him, the depths of his dark eyes lit up with unadulterated and fiery joy, with a faintly proud smile forming at the corners of his lips, as if it was the most fulfilling thing in the world.