Chapter 21: Daughter-in-Law

“Zhan Nanhui!” Yi An’an pushed the man away and pulled the blanket over her body. “What are you doing?”

Zhan Nanhui looked at Yi An’an helplessly, trying hard to calm himself down. He explained in a low voice, “You grabbed my ear and pulled me over, I…”

“Nonsense! Your ear is so small, how could I have that much strength to pull your heavy body over?” Yi An’an didn’t believe him.

His earlobe was only about the size of a fingertip—how could she have grabbed it and pulled such a tall man over?

“If you don’t believe me, you can try it yourself!” Zhan Nanhui moved his head closer, turned his face, and asked Yi An’an to grab his ear again.

The man was so close, his profile was extremely handsome—high nose bridge, like a stone carving, captivating.

Yi An’an composed herself and snorted coldly, “I’m telling you, I’m not your white moonlight. Without my permission, you’re not allowed to touch me!”

She got up, put on her shoes, and was about to get down from the kang (heated brick bed).

“What did you say about white moonlight?” Zhan Nanhui was stunned and quietly asked.

Yi An’an glanced at him. This man was still pretending. Didn’t he encounter something at Yan Village Chief’s door this afternoon? He came back in a bad mood, wasn’t it because he found out about Chen Sisi and Yan Dabao?

But since she and Zhan Nanhui were in a fake marriage for mutual needs, who he liked didn’t matter to her!

Yi An’an didn’t want to explain anymore because she smelled the aroma of food and her stomach started growling.

These days at the printing factory, she had been hungry, eating dry steamed buns and drinking warm water—she really hadn’t smelled meat in a long time!

“Dinner!” Yi An’an said and went to eat with her shoes on.

Zhan Nanhui wanted to ask more but seeing the woman eat ravenously and looking much thinner and worn these days, he held back.

Clearly, she was in a bad mood, maybe just hungry. After she ate, maybe her attitude would be better.

Zhan Nanhui’s cooking was good; he stir-fried the leftover meat from a few days ago, stewed cabbage, served warm with steamed buns. Not a gourmet meal but very comforting.

Yi An’an ate half a bowl of vegetables and over half a steamed bun, about 70% full, then stopped to rest and eat slowly.

Seeing Yi An’an almost done, Zhan Nanhui brought up the earlier topic again: “What did you say about white moonlight just now?”

Yi An’an raised her eyes and shot him a look. This man really knew how to dig where it hurt. She didn’t want to mention it again, but he kept holding on.

“The night we stayed in the pigsty, did you have a photo of a woman in your pocket?” Yi An’an asked.

Zhan Nanhui’s expression changed.

Yi An’an continued, “What’s your relationship with Chen Sisi?”

Zhan Nanhui hesitated and couldn’t answer.

Looking at his expression, Yi An’an knew she wasn’t mistaken.

“Don’t worry. From the first day we got together, I said it. Who you like doesn’t concern me. We married for mutual benefit. When you get into college and leave here, we’ll get a divorce!” Yi An’an bit into the steamed bun and took a sip of cabbage soup. “I still have to pack the pickled vegetables later. You wash the dishes!”

After speaking, she set down the bowl and chopsticks, stood up, and added, “Oh, and I’m going to town early tomorrow morning. I won’t make you breakfast—you’ll have to eat on your own!”

Zhan Nanhui frowned, watching her busy figure in the courtyard, hesitated, then pulled out the photo from his pocket.

The photo was of a woman with two long black braids, smiling gently.

Zhan Nanhui sighed. That woman wasn’t Chen Sisi—it was a photo of his mother when she was young. But he and Chen Sisi used to date.

However, after what she said just now, he felt there was no need to explain.

After all, they were going to divorce anyway!

The night was quiet, with two candles flickering inside and outside the hut, casting shadows on the two people, each with their own thoughts.

Early the next morning, Yi An’an got up and was surprised to find the man was already gone.

She dressed and went outside to see Zhan Nanhui sitting by the stove in the cold wind, tending the fire and working on problems.

Hearing the sound, Zhan Nanhui glanced at Yi An’an, quickly stood, lifted the pot lid, took out some steamed buns, and placed them on the table, then returned to his work.

Yi An’an frowned but said nothing, ate a few bites casually, then packed the pickled vegetables in a basket and headed out to catch the bus.

Zhan Nanhui saw how tired she looked, stepped forward, snatched the basket from her hands, and went out with her.

Yi An’an didn’t refuse, and they walked one after the other to the bus stop.

Without a watch, Yi An’an judged the time by daylight. They were early; the bus hadn’t arrived yet.

She stood by the roadside in the cold, coughing and stomping her feet.

Zhan Nanhui hesitated, then stood beside her, blocking the wind.

Yi An’an leaned close to him, shrinking her neck, like a little bird relying on him.

The sun slowly rose, casting two shadows, one large and one small, on the ground.

Yi An’an looked at them and sighed with regret.

If only she had found the Tang Aren who saved her daughter in her past life earlier, maybe she wouldn’t have grabbed the first man and married him.

“Arin, why are you going to town so early?” Suddenly, a male student waiting at the bus stop patted a man on the shoulder and asked.

Yi An’an was stunned and quickly looked up.

The man standing not far away wore a military uniform without rank and a hat, speaking to classmates with a side profile.

Yi An’an slowly stepped forward, staring at his profile. The man’s beautiful features slowly overlapped with the image in her memory.

It was really Tang Aren!

When Zhan Nanhui heard the student call the name, he also turned around and saw Yi An’an’s excited face approaching.

Just as Yi An’an was about to call out the name, the bus arrived.

Tang Aren and the other educated youth got on the bus.

Yi An’an wanted to follow quickly, forgetting her basket of pickled vegetables.

Zhan Nanhui frowned, hurriedly grabbed the basket, and put it on the bus.

“Wife, your stuff!” Zhan Nanhui shouted loudly.

His strong voice made everyone on the bus hear, including Tang Aren.

Tang Aren looked up and glanced at Zhan Nanhui outside.

Zhan Nanhui also stared at Tang Aren, surprised by how handsome Tang Aren was.

Zhan Nanhui instinctively frowned.

Yi An’an remembered the basket when Zhan Nanhui called out, responded, but didn’t pay attention to the way Zhan Nanhui called her “wife.”