Chapter 2

Jiang Nian glanced down at the hand holding her arm. The man stood two steps away, his arm extended to support her, his hand carefully curved, maintaining an appropriate distance between a man and a woman.

She pressed her lips together, looking at her toes. “No need, I… I need to use the toilet.”

Out of her sight, the man averted his gaze, slightly uncomfortable.

Lu Yu released his hand, stepping aside to make room for her, his eyes briefly lingering on the bandage wrapped around her forehead. “Walk slowly.”

To be honest, Jiang Nian is not used to this identity. As a woman who had been single for over twenty years, suddenly becoming a widow and being addressed as “sister-in-law” by a stranger was quite awkward. Looking at this brother-in-law who had appeared out of nowhere, made her feel a deep sense of frustration.

She had no idea how she ended up in the book, and there was no apparent way back.

Jiang Nian held onto the wall, enduring the throbbing pain and dizziness in her head, and slowly made her way out of the house.

Dusk had fallen.

The small courtyard was shrouded in the dim light of twilight, revealing an old-time charm similar to what she had seen the previous night.

The toilet was at the western corner of the courtyard. Jiang Nian, supporting herself on the wall, made her way there. It was a dry toilet with two bricks placed on either side of the pit. She stepped on the bricks and squatted down, contemplating her next steps.

According to the book’s plot, the male lead was supposed to return five days later, deal with the original owner’s funeral, and then leave by train. On the train, he would meet the female lead. The two of them secretly fall in love and their relationship would naturally develop into marriage. She had read up to the point where the male and female leads were about to get married before falling asleep.

Now, with the male lead returning five days earlier than the plot dictated, she wondered if it was due to her presence causing a butterfly effect. Regardless, she couldn’t dwell on that now. She needed to find a way to get the male lead to take her away from the village. He was her only lifeline in this strange new world.

“Sister-in-law.”

Lu Yu’s voice came from outside.

Jiang Nian jumped, startled. “I’m here!”

She quickly finished up and walked out of the toilet, supporting herself against the wall. She saw Lu Yu standing by the well, his sleeves rolled up, revealing tanned skin and well-defined muscles. His hands and forearms were strong and skillful. The light from the kerosene lamp softened his sharp jawline, making his handsome face even more striking.

Jiang Nian couldn’t help but admire him. No wonder he was the male lead. He really was good-looking.

“Did you need something?” she asked, trying to mimic the original owner’s low voice and demeanor. Keeping her eyes downcast and avoiding eye contact, embodying a typical low self-esteem personality.

Lu Yu, seeing she was fine, tossed the bucket into the well. “You should rest. I’ll make dinner.”

Jiang Nian stood by the wall, feeling a rush of dizziness from standing up too quickly. She steadied herself, watching as Lu Yu skillfully drew water from the well and carried it to the kitchen. The kerosene lamp inside the kitchen cast a warm glow, and through the open window, she could see him preparing the meal.

The man moved with practiced ease, chopping vegetables, heating oil in the pan, all in one smooth sequence. The book hadn’t mentioned whether the male lead could cook, but now that she saw it for herself, she was surprised at how adept he was in the kitchen.

Lu Yu lit the kerosene lamp in the house. Jiang Nian walked to the washbasin rack by the door to wash her hands, and then slowly walked to the small wooden table in the courtyard. She pulled over a small stool and sat down, glancing again at the male lead who was still cooking in the kitchen.

According to the plot, the male lead was supposed to return in five days, but he came back early, and the original owner, who was supposed to be dead, was now alive and well. The plot had completely deviated from the book.

She was actually a bit scared.

Scared that occupying the original owner’s body might cause the plot to collapse, leading to a backlash.

Although she didn’t know what the backlash would entail, it made her uneasy. To get the plot back on track, the male lead needed to leave by train in seven days, which was when the male and female leads were supposed to meet for the first time in the book.

As for herself…

Jiang Nian touched the wound on her forehead. At worst, she would try hitting her head against the wall again. If she died, maybe she would return to her original world.

But she wasn’t about to hit her head now.

The wound on her forehead throbbed with pain. If she hit it again, she might not die, but the pain would worsen, and she’d suffer even more.

Lu Yu finished cooking and brought the food to the table in the courtyard. He then went back to the kitchen to fetch the kerosene lamp and chopsticks.

Jiang Nian looked at the food on the table. Lu Yu had cooked a dish of stir-fried green beans with meat, stir-fried cabbage with meat, and two bowls of egg soup. A plate with a chip held several white steamed buns. The aroma was irresistible to the hungry Jiang Nian, making it a sumptuous dinner.

She swallowed her saliva and lowered her head to hide the light in her eyes.

She searched through the original owner’s memories and knew that there was no food left at home. The family lived off the monthly subsidies sent by the male lead. After Xu Cheng’s father died, Jiang’s mother would come every month to cry about being poor, taking most of the subsidies from the original owner, leaving only a little for the original owner and Xu Cheng’s monthly rations.

The original owner had always lived a tight life. After Xu Cheng died a few days ago, the original owner used the little money left to ask the neighbors to help with Xu Cheng’s funeral. Now, the family was so poor that they couldn’t even make a meal.

These were the problems left by the original owner. Since she had inherited the original owner’s body, she had to accept the responsibilities that came with it.

Jiang Nian thought for a moment and decided it was better to speak up first. But before she could, Lu Yu spoke first, “I came back last night and saw there was no flour or vegetables in the kitchen. I went to the county today to buy some. Sister-in-law eats quickly, before it gets cold.”

Jiang Nian was momentarily choked up.

Lu Yu avoided mentioning the incident where the original owner was almost assaulted last night, and he didn’t ask why the monthly subsidies weren’t enough for the family’s rations. He just casually mentioned that he bought the food today.

No wonder he was the male lead.

Good-looking and decisive.

“Oh.”

Jiang Nian responded.

She first took a sip of the hot egg soup. It was just eggs stirred into boiling water, unlike the egg soup of the modern era. The steamed buns were warm, and eating them with the stir-fried dishes was much better than the steam bun and pickles brought by Aunt Zhao in the afternoon.

Actually, this meal was quite extravagant for this era, especially in the village. Such a meal with two meat dishes might not even be available during the New Year.

During the meal, Jiang Nian secretly glanced at Lu Yu. Perhaps due to his time in the army, the man ate quickly but not rudely. Seeing him finish and put down his chopsticks, Jiang Nian quickly looked away, quietly continuing her meal. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him fetching water from the well, effortlessly carrying two buckets to the kitchen. The sound of water splashing in the quiet, peaceful courtyard was soothing.

By the time she finished eating, Lu Yu had finished his chores.

He pulled out a stool and sat across from Jiang Nian, his back straight, hands resting on his knees, looking at Jiang Nian, who sat with her legs together and hands clenched on her lap, always looking at the ground.

In fact, since Jiang Nian married into the Xu family, he had only seen her once.

The year Uncle Xu died, he returned home and stayed for two days to help Jiang Nian with the funeral. The day he left for the army, Jiang Nian, dressed in a thick cotton coat, stood at the door to see him off. In the vast white snow, her figure grew smaller and smaller in his eyes.

That was the first and last time he saw Jiang Nian.

When he learned that Jiang Nian had been bullied by village hooligans and had died by hitting her head on the wall, he lived in regret every day of his future life until he had an accident and unexpectedly returned to this point in time. He applied for leave from the army, bought a train ticket, and rushed back overnight. Although he didn’t make it to see his older brother one last time, he was fortunate enough to save the pitiful Jiang Nian in time, making up for the regrets of his past life.

Lu Yu said, “I want to discuss something with you, sister-in-law.”

Jiang Nian didn’t look up, staring at the ants crawling on the ground. To avoid arousing suspicion, she tried to mimic the original owner’s tone and expression as much as possible, “Just say it. I’m listening.”

Lu Yu said, “I want to take you to the army with me.”

“Ah?!”

Jiang Nian looked up, stunned.

Seeing her reaction, Lu Yu patiently explained, “As a military family member. There’s a compound for military families at the army base. You can move there, and the neighbors are all military spouses who can look out for each other. If anything happens at home, I can help resolve it. It’s much safer than here. Before I came back, I had already reported it to the unit. We will have a place to stay when we get there.”

Jiang Nian was timid and fearful. This time, due to the chance of rebirth, he learned that she hadn’t escaped the torment of the Jiang family even after marrying into the Xu family. By a stroke of luck, he saved her in time. If he didn’t take her away, leaving her here alone, she wouldn’t survive long. The end result might be the same as in his previous life.

Jiang Nian had taken care of Uncle Xu and his older brother for four years, and the Xu family owed her. He also owed her for the care the Xu family had given him for over a decade. He continued, “I took five days off this time. It takes two days to travel by train, so I can only stay at home for three days. I’ll tidy up the house tomorrow, and we’ll leave the day after. We should reach the train station by afternoon.”

The man finished the rest of the food on the plate in one go, then stood up and took the dishes to the kitchen to wash. It was only when Jiang Nian heard the sound of dishes being washed from the kitchen that she came back to her senses and fully digested what Lu Yu had just said. She immediately felt a sense of relief.

Originally, she had been wondering how to tactfully ask Lu Yu to take her away from this dreadful place. She hadn’t expected him to bring it up first, saving her the trouble of broaching the subject.

Jiang Nian then thought of something else: the female lead was supposed to appear on the train seven days later. If the male lead left the day after tomorrow, he wouldn’t meet the female lead, making the plot deviate even further.

No, she needed to delay their departure until seven days later.

Jiang Nian slowly stood up and walked to the kitchen door, holding onto the door frame and looking at Lu Yu, who was boiling water inside. She hesitated on how to start speaking. Lu Yu, pouring another bucket of water into the large pot, said to her, “I boiled some hot water for you to use for your bath later sister-in-law.”

The male lead reminded her of something she had forgotten.

In this rural era, there were no bathrooms, so bathing required boiling water in a large pot, mixing it with cold water, and pouring it into a washbasin to bathe in the house. It was midsummer, and even a little movement made one sweat profusely. Besides, the original owner had suffered a lot yesterday and was covered in mud. She had sweated a lot while lying in bed today making her body sticky and uncomfortable. She had been feeling uncomfortable for a while.

“Lu Yu, I want to say something.”

Jiang Nian’s fingers picked at the door frame as she looked at the firewood piled next to the stove, her demeanor mirroring the original owner’s self-consciousness and timidity, avoiding eye contact with others.

**