Chapter 11: Marrying a Sickly Woman Will Leave You Without Heirs

Su Zhewu looked at Qin Xiaoyun’s retreating figure and smirked.

Hmph. As long as he was around, no one was stealing his little sister away.

Then he glanced at Su Nianzhi, whose deer-like eyes were sparkling with excitement. Good. His little sister clearly had no interest in that guy.

Old Su held his tobacco pipe, looking troubled. “Wife, what do we do with this wild pheasant and rabbit?”

In this era of extreme scarcity, even a pheasant and a rabbit were considered generous gifts.

Though they had occasionally helped out the widow next door out of sympathy, this was still far beyond the norm.

Wang Guifang rubbed her temples and said, “Eldest, go help out in the Qin family’s fields for two days. Their household’s short on people lately, right?”

“Yes, Mother. I’ll go with Second Brother early tomorrow morning.”

Su Zhewu: ??? What’s wrong with my big brother being so generous all of a sudden?

“Alright, settled then. For the next two harvests, our Su family will handle the Qin family’s farm work.”

Once Old Su made the decision—

Su Zhewen dumbly asked, “Little sister, this deer looks like it was bitten by a wolf… Did you run into a wolf?”

“What?!”

Wang Guifang cried out in alarm.

“A wolf? Girl, did you really encounter a wolf?”

Everyone instantly shifted from the joy of receiving meat to full-on panic.

“My precious child! If anything had happened to you, I wouldn’t want to live either!”

Seeing the disbelief in their eyes, Su Nianzhi hurried to explain:

“Mom, Dad, Big Brother, Second Brother—I really didn’t run into a wolf. I was picking up a rabbit when I saw a dead deer by the riverbank.”

“Then I happened to meet Qin Xiaoyun, and I asked him to help carry it back. I really didn’t see a wolf.”

“Really?”

“Really! Truer than gold! If you don’t believe me, ask Maomao!”

Su Maomao: ??? Little Aunt, I…

Catching her pleading look, Maomao shut his eyes and started spouting nonsense.
୧(﹒︠ᴗ﹒︡)୨
“Yeah, I didn’t see a live wolf either!” Just the dead one!

“Wow, Little Sister, what luck you have!”

“Right? Big Brother, can we sell the deer on the black market?”

Su Zhewen scratched his head and instinctively looked at his younger brother.

Su Zhewu: Why don’t you just say my name out loud?

Wang Guifang shook her head. This eldest son was really a bit dull sometimes.

She waved her hand.

“Second, you handle that. As for the pheasant and rabbit, eldest, go skin the rabbit. We’re having rabbit stew tonight.”

“Yay—rabbit meat! This is awesome, so awesome!”

Seeing the little one’s joyful face, Su Nianzhi smiled.

She was determined to improve her family’s life and bring prosperity to their home.

——

Meanwhile, Qin Xiaoyun was cheerfully walking back home.

He didn’t notice the figure lurking under a big tree near the Su house, glaring at him with clenched teeth.

【Host, mission failed. Whitening pill effect revoked.】

Lu Jiajia’s skin visibly darkened, and freckles began to appear.

She had seen Qin Xiaoyun return home and then go out again.

She was smug—clearly he was just too shy to show affection in public. Didn’t he just bring over a gift?

But instead, he had walked straight to the Su house.

Su Nianzhi really was a vixen.

A master at seduction.

She always pretended to be proper, but who knew what kind of tramp she really was?

Why else would Qin Xiaoyun bring that much wild game to her house?

Little slut.

Lu Jiajia no longer cared who in her own house had stolen what.

All she wanted now was to ruin Su Nianzhi’s reputation.

She’s a weakling, and yet her family treats her like a treasure.

Lu Jiajia had only befriended her to get close to Zhang Wenliang.

Now that Zhang Wenliang belonged to her, she didn’t need Su Nianzhi anymore.

But now… now Su Nianzhi was seducing Qin Xiaoyun and getting in the way of her mission!

Her eyes spun with plotting thoughts.

——

On the other side, Su Nianzhi was blissfully unaware that someone was plotting against her.

She was in the kitchen, ready to show off her cooking skills.

“Zhizhi, maybe I should do it instead?” her mother suggested.

Su Nianzhi smiled and set the chopped chilies aside. “Mom, it’s time I did something for the family too.”

She poured hot oil into the wok, tossed in the chilies, and the spicy aroma hit like a punch to the face.

Then she added the rabbit meat and stir-fried it in the sizzling oil.

The fragrance was so mouthwatering that even Wang Guifang couldn’t help but swallow hard.

She hadn’t expected her daughter to be such a great cook.

Su Nianzhi glanced toward the kitchen door, where several heads were peeking in. She could clearly see their throats bobbing with hunger.

“Little Aunt… how do you make it smell this good? Even better than Grandma’s cooking.”

Wang Guifang rolled her eyes. “You little rascal, now you’re putting Grandma down?”

“No, no, Grandma! You’ll always be the best cook in our family!”

Wang Guifang and Su Nianzhi laughed at his earnest expression.

“You little flatterer!”

The savory aroma drifted out into the courtyard. Passersby couldn’t help but stop and take deep breaths.

Everyone was talking about how lucky the Su family was for receiving that 300-yuan dowry.

People were green with envy.

Some even started eyeing that money for themselves.

“Mom, go propose marriage at the Su house tomorrow. The dowry is 300 yuan!” shouted Er Laizi the village rascal as he pestered his mother.

Old Lady Zhou’s wrinkled face scrunched with disapproval. “Son, that Su girl’s a sickly one. If you marry her, our family might never have descendants!”

Er Laizi rolled his eyes. “Ma, it’s 300 yuan! If she dies, I’ll just marry someone else.”

Old Lady Zhou smacked her lips—true, 300 yuan was no joke.

She slapped her thigh.

“Alright, I’ll talk to the matchmaker tomorrow.”

“Mom, you’re the best.”

Seeing his mother agree, Er Laizi sneakily slipped out of the house.

He circled around some haystacks in the village and started making bird calls outside the village chief’s house.

Soon, a figure emerged.

Er Laizi’s eyes roamed shamelessly as he saw Lu Jiajia in a white dress.

“Lu Jiajia, I’ve convinced my mom to propose the marriage. Where’s the money you promised?”

“It’s not done yet. I’ll pay you when it’s successful.”

Er Laizi’s expression turned sinister. “If you don’t pay now, I’ll start telling people you and I are having an affair.”

Furious, Lu Jiajia gritted her teeth and pulled ten yuan from her pocket.

“This is all I have right now.”

“Fine, but don’t forget the remaining forty. I’ll come back in two days.”

He pocketed the money and walked off, satisfied.

Lu Jiajia had offered him 50 yuan if he could arrange a proposal to the Su family. How could he refuse such an easy deal?

Whistling, he went off to enjoy himself.

Suddenly, something caught his eye.

Wasn’t that Su Nianzhi up ahead?

Tsk tsk. Her health might be bad, but she sure was pretty.

His mind filled with filthy thoughts.

His eyes practically glued to her figure.

He spit on his palm and smoothed back his hair.

A woman no one else wants… if I offer her a helping hand now, she’s bound to fall for me!