Chapter 42: Granny Ge’s Heartfelt Advice

But when he carefully thought about it, He Yanxin realized that nothing had actually happened. The couple had been perfectly fine—sweet and harmonious. In fact, before leaving the house…

Uh. He Yanxin fell silent.

To Granny Ge, though, this looked like a guilty reaction.

“If you didn’t bully Qingniang, then why did you suddenly make her learn how to cook? Let me tell you, Qingniang is a rare good wife. Just because she doesn’t have her maternal family behind her, you can’t think it’s okay to push her around.”

Women without family backing really had it tough. When life got hard, they didn’t even have a place to vent.

Yanxin’s mother’s side had been wiped out in a major flood, leaving only her and an older sister who had married seventy li away.

At first, the two families still kept in touch. Over time, they drifted apart.

Then, after Yanxin’s mother passed away, all contact was completely lost. By now, they probably didn’t even remember they had a nephew out there.

Even the best couples argue and bicker from time to time—it’s only natural.

But without her maternal family, if Qingniang were ever wronged or had a falling-out, there’d be no one on her side, no one to turn to.

That’s why, seeing something seemed off lately, Granny Ge quickly came to ask Yanxin what was going on.

She had actually heard some of the gossip whispered by the neighborhood women.

Granny Ge had always been open-minded and wasn’t harsh with her two daughters-in-law.

Sure, she had scolded the second daughter-in-law for being lazy, but she never once considered telling her son to divorce her and bring home someone more capable.

A daughter-in-law was someone you married to share your life with—not a beast of burden brought home to work.

So what if Qingniang didn’t work in the fields? With her embroidery alone, she could make at least two taels of silver a month!

She could draw patterns, and her fingers flew like magic—she could complete a delicate handkerchief or pouch in just a day or two.

Shopkeepers in town who specialized in embroidery work all requested her by name. Her finished pieces were sent to the county, even the provincial capital, and sold to wealthy ladies who could afford them.

Occasionally, she’d get commissions for larger items—clothing, cloaks, and such—which brought in even more income.

If only Granny Ge’s hands weren’t so rough and clumsy, she would have wanted to learn too!

Her granddaughter, Da Ling, had learned from her aunt and could now make two or three hundred wen a month. With that kind of skill, her marriage prospects would be much improved in the future.

As for not being good at cooking—well, that was because Yanxin doted on her. If one was willing to pamper, and the other was happy to accept, what could outsiders say?

After several years together, Granny Ge had grown genuinely fond of Qingniang. She was neither arrogant nor impatient—generous and well-mannered.

She didn’t have a daughter herself, and with a no-good second daughter-in-law in contrast, she found Qingniang all the more lovable.

Granny Ge chattered on, full of reminders and bits of wisdom about how couples should treat each other.

“You both need to make concessions for one another. If either of you does something wrong, sit down and talk it out. Don’t ever give each other the cold shoulder. The more you ignore each other, the colder the heart gets, and that’s when rifts form.”

He Yanxin listened to her ramble but wasn’t annoyed. He just felt a little awkward.

She was being completely sincere—but the problem was, with both him and Song Yeqing having had their souls swapped, none of this really applied anymore.

If the original He Yanxin had heard this, he probably would’ve gained a lot.

What unsettled him, though, was that Granny Ge had noticed the change in Song Yeqing.

He and the original owner were very different in personality. Song Yeqing had only been here five years, but the original He Yanxin had grown up here, and the villagers had watched him from a young age.

If they could sense something was off with her, they’d definitely notice something about him too.

Since Granny Ge had misunderstood the situation, thinking that Qingniang was behaving strangely because they had quarreled, perhaps it was best to play along—to use that as a cover story for the changes that were bound to show.

Sudden emotional trauma leading to a major personality shift? Sure, that worked as a reasonable excuse.

And could a fight between husband and wife really cause someone to change that drastically?
Don’t ask. Just assume the argument was serious—deeply hurtful.

“Granny, to tell you the truth, something did happen between me and Qingniang recently. Sigh, I don’t even know where to start.”

He Yanxin put on a troubled and distressed expression, quite convincingly—but his ears were turning red and hot.

He did feel a little bad, lying to this kind old woman and making her worry.

But there was no choice. They needed a decent explanation to cover up the real situation.

“It was all my fault. But Granny, please don’t worry. I’ll talk things through with Qingniang when I get home.”

It sounded like he had said a lot, but in truth, he hadn’t explained anything at all. People’s imaginations are powerful—he’d let her fill in the blanks herself.

Granny Ge saw that he didn’t want to reveal the cause of the argument, so she didn’t push further. She just told him to apologize properly when he got back and live a good life.

He Yanxin nodded repeatedly and agreed.

When he returned home, the two kids had already changed into clean clothes, and under the fading daylight, Song Yeqing was helping them wash up in the courtyard.

He wanted to talk to her about the fabricated quarrel so they could stay consistent in front of others. But with the kids around, he decided to wait.

Seeing he couldn’t help much here, He Yanxin went into the main room to light the stove.

It was getting dark, and it wasn’t quite bedtime yet, but he couldn’t stand sitting in a place without any light.

Truly, electricity was one of the greatest inventions of the modern era.

Without it, one had to do things like this—burning firewood.

Though called a stove, the device was more like a brazier in form, with a small iron rack on top. It served as both a heater and light source, and could be used to boil water or brew tea.

Thanks to fully merging with his host’s memories and some hands-on practice, He Yanxin was now extremely skilled at building fires—he could do it with ease.

Who would’ve thought he’d ever end up like this?

Not long ago, he’d been a rich second-generation heir, cruising in luxury cars, making money even while lying down. And now? A poor rural man in ancient times who had to burn firewood just to stay warm.

As he fed wood into the stove, he couldn’t help but laugh to himself—amused and amazed by the absurdity of it all.

Who could’ve seen this coming?

(End of Chapter)