Disabled 

“I didn’t say that!” she retorted righteously. 

There was a brief silence inside, followed by the rustle of clothes. After a while, Meng Yuanzheng’s helpless voice came through, “Miaoyin, come in and give me a hand.” 

She nearly laughed out loud but quickly held it in. Teasingly, she said, “Oh? Then beg me. You were pretty arrogant this afternoon, interrogating me until I couldn’t even fart. I thought you were really capable.” 

“Please, wife.” 

Lin Miaoyin’s foot slipped again, and she nearly fell into the ditch. 

That “wife” was spoken with such tenderness and a low, magnetic voice. Her heart itched, and she almost agreed on the spot. 

No, no, hold it together. 

“Put on your underwear first.” 

“Done.” 

She lifted the curtain and went inside. Meng Yuanzheng was sitting on a stool with his outer pants pulled down to his knees. His leg in the cast was resting on the ground. Since it couldn’t bend, it was pretty difficult for him to take his pants off by himself. 

He had his head slightly bowed and his hands resting on his legs. Luckily, the lighting was dim, so Lin Miaoyin couldn’t see his expression clearly. 

“See? Keep being stubborn. If you hadn’t asked me for help, what would you have done?” 

She squatted down as she spoke, gently lifting his right leg. One hand grabbed the pants leg, and she slowly pulled the pants off and tossed them on the ground. 

“Later you can wash your face and hair at most. Use a wet cloth to wipe down the rest. You can’t get your right leg wet,” she reminded him, standing up with her eyes darting around. 

“Mm,” Meng Yuanzheng felt a little awkward too, so he just pretended to stay calm. 

“I’ll wait outside then,” she said and stepped out. But she couldn’t bring herself to leave, so she stayed there feeding mosquitoes and contemplating life. 

She admitted that earlier, when Meng Yuanzheng called her “wife,” her heart trembled a bit. 

It had almost been a month since she arrived in this world. They lived together every day, and he treated her so well that she couldn’t help but grow attached to him. She often forgot what kind of person Meng Yuanzheng was in the original novel. 

She knew she could never go back to her original world. Now, with him like this, she couldn’t bring herself to divorce him. What if, after he got into university and returned to the city, he didn’t want her anymore? 

What if they really became husband and wife? 

Could she accept that? 

Maybe… maybe she was even looking forward to it a little. 

Ugh, you’re just lusting after his body! 

Better wait and see. Spend more time together first. She still had some walls up. What if he regained his memory someday? She needed a backup plan. 

And there was another thing: he and the original Lin Miaoyin were legally married. She was just an imposter who took her place halfway. A big part of why he treated her well must be because she was his wife. If she hadn’t transmigrated, and the original host was still here, wouldn’t he have treated her the same way? 

Then what did that make her? 

The more she thought about it, the more upset she got. And she couldn’t exactly ask him directly. 

Damn mosquitoes. Even now, they were biting her. 

Hearing the loud smacks of Lin Miaoyin swatting mosquitoes in frustration outside, Meng Yuanzheng paused and said, “Why don’t you go back inside? There are a lot of mosquitoes here. I’ll come back once I’m done washing.” 

“No way. I still have to help you put your pants on. What, you want to walk out with your butt hanging out?” 

Meng Yuanzheng “…” 

His leg was broken, not paralyzed… 

“I can put my pants on myself.” 

“I need to carry the bucket for you,” her voice came from outside. “And it’s pitch black out here. What if you fall into the ditch? Stop arguing and hurry up.” 

After another round of fussing, the two finally lay down to rest. 

She’d been sleeping on the hospital floor for days and had almost forgotten how good a bed felt. 

But just as she was about to lie down, Meng Yuanzheng grabbed her arm. 

She was so tired after the whole day that she was dozing off as she sat there. She saw him pick up some ointment and gently apply it to the mosquito bites on her hand. 

“Stop scratching. If the bite gets infected, it’ll take longer to heal.” Meng Yuanzheng lowered his head, holding her wrist with one hand while gently spreading the ointment with his thumb. 

“Mmm… got it…” she nodded, half-asleep. 

Suddenly, he leaned in closer. 

Lin Miaoyin jolted awake, startled. She pushed against his chest and said, “What are you doing?” 

Meng Yuanzheng, with ointment on his fingers, saw her reaction and chuckled. “You’ve got a bump on your face too.” 

She instinctively touched her face and did feel a hard, itchy bump. 

“Ahem, next time say something first. You scared me, leaning in like that. I thought you were going to…” 

“Going to what?” he asked, looking at her with warm, teasing eyes. 

Kiss me? 

“I thought you were going to hit me.” 

Meng Yuanzheng “…” 

He pressed his finger a little harder, leaving a dimple on her cheek. “I don’t hit people.” 

“I’m so sleepy, let’s go to sleep.” She yawned, falling back into a drowsy state. 

Meng Yuanzheng let her go, wiped his fingers with a cloth, turned off the light, and lay down. In just a few minutes, Lin Miaoyin’s soft snores could be heard. He smiled faintly and silently told himself, Hang in there… 

— 

The next morning, Lin Miaoyin went to work. Even though she’d received a hundred catties’ worth of food tickets as a reward, she couldn’t just live off that. Besides, Meng Yuanzheng had earned them, and she didn’t want to live off him. There wasn’t anything to do at home anyway. 

Today’s task was harvesting wheat. 

It was already July. After harvesting wheat, they would move on to corn, and by the end of August, it would be time to harvest rice. 

The busy farming season had begun. 

School was out for the summer, and everyone was out working in the fields. 

Lin Miaoyin wore long sleeves, long pants, arm sleeves, gloves, and a straw hat. She bent over and efficiently cut the wheat, bundled it up, and placed it into her basket. 

With the hottest days of summer approaching, the sun blazed so intensely that people felt like they were melting. She stood up, wiped her sweat with the towel around her neck, and stretched her back. 

Seeing that her basket was full, she squatted down, slipped her arms through the straps, used her hands to push off the ground, and slowly stood up. Then she bent down, picked up a bundle of wheat, and walked down the slope to place it in the designated pile. 

The mountain path was narrow and uneven. As someone came up from below, Lin Miaoyin shifted to the side to make way, but unexpectedly, her foot slipped. 

Someone had poured water on the path—who knew which wicked person did it? The sun was glaring, and she couldn’t see her footing while carrying the wheat, so she lost control and fell backward. 

It was downhill. If she really rolled down, she’d crash into the person coming up from below. 

“Ah!” Her scream was followed by shouts from people around as they instinctively backed away. 

“Sister-in-law!” At that moment, a man rushed up from below and caught her around the waist with one arm while grabbing her basket with the other, barely stopping her fall. 

Thank goodness Jin Chengren was strong. If he had fallen with her, it would’ve been a disaster. 

Seeing this outcome, someone hiding in the crowd clenched their fists and quietly left, gritting their teeth. 

Lin Miaoyin stood there still shaken, then let out a breath of relief and smiled, “Thank you so much, Comrade Chengren.” 

Jin Chengren let go of her and took a few steps back, smiling, “Sister-in-law, be more careful next time. This path is really steep.” 

“Definitely,” she replied with a sigh. 

“Then I’ll get back to work,” Jin Chengren said before leaving. The others, seeing nothing had happened, also went back to their tasks. 

Lin Miaoyin picked up the scattered wheat on the ground, frowned, and examined the soil beneath her feet. She scraped it lightly with the toe of her rubber shoe and noticed that the ground was wet. 

With this much sun, a small splash of water would dry quickly. But this wasn’t a splash. A lot had been poured here, soaking the mud underneath. 

Was it a coincidence? 

She turned to look around. Everyone had their heads down, busy with their work. Nothing looked suspicious. 

Maybe she was just overthinking it. Shaking her head, she walked away. 

After putting the wheat in the designated spot, she went back to harvesting for a bit. When the sun was nearly overhead, the whistle signaling the end of work sounded. After getting her work tallied by the scorer, she hurried back home. 

She wondered how Meng Yuanzheng was doing at home. 

But when she opened the courtyard gate, she froze. Who did the laundry? 

Then she saw smoke curling from the kitchen. Stepping inside, she found Meng Yuanzheng leaning on a crutch, cooking. 

Four words popped into her head: Physically disabled, strong-willed. 

“You…” she hesitated, “What are you doing?” 

Meng Yuanzheng looked over. “Cooking.” 

“No, I mean your leg is injured. You should be resting. What if you fall while running around like this? Are you planning to lose your other leg too?” 

She had taken such good care of him these past few days, practically tending to his every need. Yet the moment she left for half a day, he started cooking on his own! 

He didn’t take care of himself at all and clearly didn’t understand her concern. 

“Miaoyin, it’s just one leg. My hands work fine. My left leg is fine too. I can still do things,” Meng Yuanzheng said with a soft sigh. 

She ignored him, puffed up in frustration, gave him a glare, and snatched the spatula. She almost squeezed him aside with her hip, but restrained herself. Without saying a word, she took over the cooking. 

Meng Yuanzheng stood beside her with his crutch and didn’t leave. He spoke gently, “I don’t want you to come back from working and still have to cook and do laundry. I don’t want to be useless.” 

Her heart trembled, but she acted as if nothing happened. 

She kept not listening and kept cooking. 

She wasn’t actually angry. She was just upset that he wasn’t taking care of himself. And also, after giving him the cold shoulder earlier, forgiving him so quickly now made her feel like she was losing face. 

Meng Yuanzheng didn’t insist anymore. He turned to scoop corn rice. But Lin Miaoyin, without even turning, called out as if she had eyes in the back of her head, “Don’t move. Go sit at the table and wait. If you move around again, I’ll break your other leg.” 

Meng Yuanzheng: … 

He didn’t dare move. He obediently went and sat down. 

Once the dishes were done and the rice was served on the table, she shoved a pair of chopsticks into his hand and said coldly, “Eat.” 

Meng Yuanzheng took the chopsticks and just kept staring at her quietly. She glared at him, “What are you staring at? Keep staring and I’ll gouge out your eyes.” 

“You care about me?” he suddenly smiled and asked softly. 

Lin Miaoyin nearly spit out her food. 

D**n it, how was she supposed to answer that? 

“No!” she refused to admit it. 

“Yes, you do,” he said decisively. 

“Do not! You won’t even shut your mouth with food in it.” 

Meng Yuanzheng had figured it out. Whenever she started acting fierce, it meant she was flustered inside. 

With the intention of teasing her, he put on a pitiful face and said with just the right touch of sorrow, “I have to stay home alone for two months, just sitting there. No one to talk to. I can’t go out. I can’t even bring myself to finish reading the books you bought me too quickly. So all I can do is sit and daydream, waiting for you to come back.” 

He lowered his head slightly and fiddled with the chopsticks. He looked genuinely pitiful. 

“You leave early in the morning, don’t come back until sunset, and still rush home to cook and do laundry. If I can’t do anything, I feel like a useless man. I might as well just…” 

Bang! Lin Miaoyin slapped the table. “What nonsense are you talking? What do you want to go do? Don’t want to live anymore?” 

Meng Yuanzheng barely held back his laughter and kept a straight face. “Might as well go scoop manure.” 

Author’s Note: 

Meng Yuanzheng: Day one of missing the good old days of scooping manure.