Chapter 3

“Stop talking nonsense,” Shen Mo scolded Shen Lin, his tone neither too harsh nor too mild.

Zhou Jing scratched his head, feeling a bit awkward.

“Well… considering that I was separated from my family early on, lived on my own, and was mistreated, I would have expected that my relationship with them would be quite poor. So why would I still agree to send food to them every day?” Zhou Jing asked.

“Who knows what you’re thinking? You’re just a masochist who enjoys tormenting yourself!” Shen Lin replied.

“Stop talking nonsense or else go home!” Shen Mo scolded Shen Lin, then turned to Zhou Jing and said, “Perhaps it’s because you were separated from your family at such a young age and lacked maternal love that you are especially eager to receive it. That’s why you were so obedient to your mother and following her every command.”

“The reason you got injured this time was because your mother wanted to eat wild boar meat. You went into the deep mountains to hunt but ended up nearly losing your life because you couldn’t find any wild boar meat.”

Not “nearly,” but “he” had actually lost his life.

Never mind; the grievances between the previous self and Old Lady Wang had ended with his death, no matter who was right or wrong. From now on, he was simply Zhou Jing—Zhou Jing from another world.

In fact, as his body gradually recovered over the past few days, Zhou Jing noticed a problem he had previously overlooked: this body was his. Although it was much younger than in his past life, it was undoubtedly his own. He would not mistake it after using it for nearly thirty years.

But why did everyone around him insist that he was the Zhou Jing who got injured while hunting? How could they be so similar, so much so that even those closest to him couldn’t tell the difference?

Indeed, there had been news reports in his past life about people who looked exactly alike but were not related by blood. It seemed that in this world, Old Lady Wang and he had a distant relationship, and the newly married husband wasn’t liked by him either.

They likely weren’t close, so when the resemblance was noted, everyone assumed it must be him and didn’t investigate further. This had worked to his advantage. He was uncertain about the whereabouts of the original self and whether they might suddenly return.

However, from the conversations of the Shen brothers these past few days, it seemed the original self was in serious trouble, possibly even dead. If the original self wasn’t dead and did return, Zhou Jing had ways to silence them.

After all, money was a good thing. As long as he had money, he believed that an “insignificant” husband could easily be discarded by the Wang family if needed.

“Can you manage on your own at home? Xiao Di and I are planning to go deeper into the mountains to see if we can hunt some game to help restore your strength,” Shen Mo asked.

“Deep in the mountains?” Zhou Jing disagreed, “You two should avoid going; it’s too dangerous.”

Zhou Jing had already learned that the gender distribution here was divided into three categories: men, women, and ger. The ger had a body structure similar to men, except for an additional uterus, and could conceive via their intestines.

The status of ger was quite in a difficult situation. Despite their low birth rate, conception was also difficult, and once pregnant, the likelihood of giving birth to another ger was very high. Moreover, they could not impregnate women.

Therefore, even poor farming families avoided having ger, usually leaving them to wealthy families who had exhausted their interest in women and wanted to try something new with a ger.

Gers often had unfortunate fates—they typically became lowly concubines.

The original owner had harbored a strong dislike for Shen Mo, which had led him to physically abuse Shen Mo.

“It’s fine. Xiao Di and I often go there. We will leave as soon as it gets dark.”

Knowing he couldn’t dissuade them, Zhou Jing said, “Be careful, go early and come back early.”

Indeed, Shen Mo was lucky. When they came back that evening, they had managed to catch a wild chicken.

“Big Brother, tonight we can finally have a good meal!” Shen Lin looked eagerly at the wild chicken on the ground, his mouth watering as he loudly swallowed.

Zhou Jing found it amusing. He also craved meat, but not as intensely as they did.

This only strengthened his belief that this body was truly his own. Although he had been eating mostly vegetables for months and was craving meat, he wasn’t overwhelmed by it.

Hearing Zhou Jing’s light laugh, Shen Lin turned and glared at him: “What are you laughing at? If you’re not interested in eating, then don’t. That way, the whole chicken will be for me and Big Brother!”

“Xiao Di, this chicken was originally intended to help Zhou Jing recover. Like us, he hasn’t had meat for half a year, so he’s bound to crave it,”

Shen Mo said. “Even if he doesn’t eat it, we can’t consume the entire chicken ourselves. We still need to send half of it to Uncle and Aunt.”

“I nearly forgot about that old hag!” Shen Lin pouted, clearly unwilling.

“Is there any special reason for sending half of the food to Uncle and Aunt’s house?” Zhou Jing suddenly asked.

Shen Mo was silent for a moment before replying, “Not really. It’s just that you longed for your mother’s attention, so it was your own request.”

Requested it? Was the original owner a fool? He couldn’t even afford to feed and clothe himself properly and was on the brink of starving!

Yet, he was concerned about an old woman who didn’t treat him like her own child. The family was living comfortably, possibly even cursing him for not dying sooner. And here he was, acting like the reincarnation of a Saint!

Zhou Jing couldn’t understand such foolishness. His principle was to repay kindness with kindness and grudge with a grudge!

Besides, that old woman had no grace or favor to him—she hadn’t raised him or given him any benefit. After all, this body was undeniably his own. Although he didn’t know why he had transmigrated here and why the body had become younger, it was definitely his.

He owed nothing to that old woman and had no intention of being as foolishly filial as the original self.

“Since there’s no special reason, we won’t send anything over in the future. Whether it’s wild vegetables or anything else, we’ll keep everything for ourselves!”

Zhou Jing was not concerned about others thinking his decision was abrupt, as he didn’t remember anything. People who forget things naturally act strangely.

“Why do you suddenly want to stop sending food to them?” Shen Mo asked in confusion.

“Big Brother, why are you so naive? It’s better to not send anything!” Shen Lin said. “If we don’t split with that old hag, it’ll all be ours!”

“But… when I brought the wild chicken back, everyone in the village saw it. If we don’t send half of it over, I’m afraid Aunt will come and make a fuss!” Shen Mo said.

Zhou Jing sneered. He had long disliked her. If she dared to bully him, they could find out just how much he was willing to tolerate.

“It’s fine. I’ve made up my mind. If we stop sending things over in the future, it’s bound to come to this sooner or later. We might as well settle it today,”

Zhou Jing continued. “If she comes later, you don’t need to be polite. Just handle it as you see fit. Since I’ve been removed from the Wang family’s register and changed my surname to Zhou, I have nothing to do with the Wang family anymore. Calling her ‘Aunt’ is just a courtesy due to our shared village.”

“Zhou Jing, how can you…” Shen Mo started to protest.

“Facing life and death reveals things that were once unclear. Moreover, without my memories, hearing about the past from others only makes me realize that the Wang family had no familial affection for me. If they had even a little, they wouldn’t have expelled a ten-year-old child from home and given me only a straw hut. Although I don’t remember how I managed these years, it was surely hard. That kind of hut, in summer with heavy rain, it’s raining inside too; in winter, with snow outside, it’s snowing inside as well. The fact that I survived through one long winter after another just shows how lucky I was! Given their lack of compassion, why should I cling to this family affection?”

“That all sounds nice now, but when you remember everything one day, you might end up blaming Big Brother again. Don’t come back and ask Big Brother to make things right with your Aunt then!”

“Absolutely not!”

“Don’t say it so definitively…”

Shen Mo interrupted Shen Lin, “Xiao Di, I trust him!”

“Elder Brother…”

“Stop talking. Let’s do as he says!” Shen Mo said, “Now we have the whole wild chicken for ourselves. Aren’t you happy about that?”

“I am happy, but I’m afraid…”

“There’s nothing to be afraid of. I won’t let it happen!” Zhou Jing said firmly. “However, I’m sorry, but I still can’t let you have the whole chicken.”

“Are you backing out now?” Shen Lin exclaimed.

“No,” Zhou Jing said awkwardly. “It’s just that we’ve run out of rice. Could we trade half of the chicken for a few pounds of rough rice from the villagers? Otherwise, we’ll run out of food by tomorrow.”

Shen Mo realized, “I was so happy that I forgot about this. I’ll go trade for some rice now.”

Shen Lin muttered, “After falling once, he didn’t become foolish but actually knows how to take care of the family!”

In the town’s store, one pound of rough rice cost ten wen. At the market, a pound of wild chicken could be sold for twenty wen. But the villagers would certainly not pay twenty wen, so they would offer fifteen wen, the price for a regular chicken.

Half of the wild chicken weighed two and a half pounds and was traded for over three pounds of rough rice.

Once Shen Lin brought the rice back, he searched all over the house for a place to hide it. However, the Zhou family’s home was so bare that there was no small cabinet or hiding spot available. Shen Lin was sweating with anxiety.

“What are you doing?” Zhou Jing couldn’t bear to watch and spoke up. “Just put it in the kitchen. It’s not like anyone will steal it.”

“No one will steal it?” Shen Lin screamed. “That old witch has a nose like a dog. She’ll sniff out the smell and come over. If she finds it, she’ll just grab it all.”

Zhou Jing replied calmly, “If she takes it, let her take it. You can always take it back!”

“But you won’t let me…”

“I already said you could. In the future, you can take it back openly! Tell her this is the Zhou family’s house, and it’s not up to her, the Wang family, to cause trouble here!”

“Really, can I take it back?” For some reason, the thought of being able to confront that old witch openly excited Shen Lin.

He looked up and met Shen Mo’s fixed gaze. Shen Mo’s eyes were very dark as if they were dyed with ink. They were deep and opaque, with no end in sight.

Until now, Zhou Jing still didn’t understand what Shen Mo was thinking. After a few days of interaction, Zhou Jing felt that Shen Mo didn’t seem like someone who would easily submit. But if Shen Mo wasn’t so accepting, how could he have been beaten and forced to deliver food and drinks to Old Lady Wang while he himself was hungry?

In fact, Zhou Jing had not yet adjusted his perspective. He viewed Shen Mo through the lens of modern sensibilities, unaware that in that era, the attitude of “marry a chicken, follow the chicken; marry a dog, follow the dog” was normal, and it was common for men to be rough and abusive. In contrast, if a wife dared to argue with her husband like in later times, she would be labeled a shrew and could even be divorced!

Even if Shen Mo wasn’t submissive, there was nothing more he could do. He was already married to Zhou Jing, and no matter how bad it was, it was still better than the fate of being divorced and sent back to his family.

Shen Mo’s gaze momentarily showed a hint of panic. Though he quickly composed himself, Zhou Jing noticed it.

Zhou Jing pretended not to see and turned his gaze away, catching a glimpse of Shen Mo appearing to breathe a sigh of relief.

Sure enough, the door to Zhou Jing’s house was kicked open. A man swaggered in as if it were his own home.

“Hey! Zhou Jing, you’re eating chicken, huh? Just right, I’ll have some too,” the man said, nonchalantly sitting cross-legged at the edge of the bed, his eyes fixed on Shen Lin.

At this time, boys and girls were usually not allowed to sit together. In farming families, such etiquette wasn’t strictly observed, not out of reluctance but due to a lack of conditions. However, it was unheard of for a man to barge in without knocking and to openly stare at an unmarried girl in such a brazen manner—it was akin to behaving like a rogue!