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“Manniang, were you having a nightmare?”
Seeing Wang Man open her eyes, Wang San quickly asked.
Wang Man shook her head.
“No, I wasn’t.”
She had only been talking to the grave mound, not having a nightmare.
“I heard you muttering and mumbling. Thought you were dreaming.”
Wang San plopped back onto the bed and closed his eyes.
“Good then, go back to sleep. If we keep this up, it’ll be daylight soon.”
Wang Man: …
Then why did you wake me up in the first place?
Thankfully, she was a heavy sleeper and soon drifted off again.
By the time she woke up again, the sun was already high in the sky.
As she got out of bed, she didn’t forget to wake the snoring-like-a-dead-pig Wang San.
“Get up and go fetch water. There’s none left in the jar. Mother needs it to cook.”
Wang San rolled over and ignored her, continuing to sleep.
Water-fetching again, and again. It was getting on his nerves.
Seeing that he wouldn’t budge, Wang Man picked up one of his shoes and gave his backside a few loud smacks — pa! pa! pa!
“Awake now? If you’re up, go fetch water. After that, we’re going to scout for land to clear.”
Wang San jumped up immediately, then paused mid-motion, puzzled.
“Clear land? Where?”
“We’ll go see first. While there’s nothing else going on, let’s start working the land. That way, next year we’ll have somewhere to grow crops.”
This idea had been spinning in Wang Man’s head for several days now.
As the saying goes: “A family with surplus grain feels no panic.”
And surplus grain? It had to be grown from the earth.
Now that she was a peasant girl, she’d act like one and farm the land.
As for her old job in the modern world — well, that didn’t exist here. Even if it did, there was probably nothing suitable for her.
So farming it was. And this, she actually knew how to do.
She had come from a rural background even in her past life.
She had a general idea of what to plant in which seasons — grains, vegetables — it wasn’t too hard.
And if she didn’t know something, she could always ask.
“But why bother clearing new land? If you want to farm, just buy a couple of acres. It’s not like you don’t have money. Why tire yourself out?”
Wang San truly didn’t understand what went on in Wang Man’s head.
Wang Man narrowed her eyes.
“Are you just eyeing the silver I have? Let me tell you, don’t you dare get any ideas. That silver’s for building a new house.”
Wang San was displeased.
“How could you think that of me? When did I ever try to get your money?
Also, building a house doesn’t take that much — three or five taels tops.”
“Oh? You say you’re not eyeing my money, but you even remember exactly how much I have?”
The more she spoke, the more Wang Man felt that he had been watching her closely.
Good thing she had a storage space — her silver and valuables were all stashed there. Otherwise, she might’ve been cleaned out and never known.
“Wang San, tell me honestly, have you ever gone snooping around for my silver?”
Even if he couldn’t steal it, she didn’t like the idea of him even thinking about it.
Wang San was exasperated. Just one casual comment, and now he was being accused?
“I swear — if I, Wang San, ever have thoughts about your silver, I won’t die a good death!”
Wang Man: …
“I never said I didn’t believe you. Why the dramatic oath?”
Wang San: …
“I’ll go fetch water.”
Ah, everything was his fault.
If he’d just fetched water right away and shut up, none of this would’ve happened.
Watching his flustered back as he hurried off, Wang Man let out a triumphant grin.
Heh. She’d done that on purpose.
After breakfast, Wang Man and Wang San each carried a hoe and headed out.
Passing through the hawthorn forest, Wang Man pointed at a tree-free patch and said:
“Let’s do it here. Just some shrubs and wild grass — should be easy to clear.”
Wang San looked skeptical.
“You sure this is the spot?”
Wang Man nodded.
“Yeah. After thinking it over, I still think this place is best.”
“But why? This place had giant snakes, remember? Who’d dare come here?”
Wang San was clearly unsettled, his eyes nearly popping out.
He suspected this girl was messing with him — deliberately.
There was land to clear everywhere, so why insist on the place where snakes had been sighted? Wasn’t this just torture?
Wang Man, annoyed, retorted:
“I killed the big snake. What’s there to be afraid of?
Aren’t you the fearless thug?
What, scared now?”
“Don’t try to provoke me. It won’t work.
No matter what, I’m not clearing land here.”
Wang San was firm in his refusal.
Who wouldn’t be? The psychological trauma those two giant snakes left… he still felt it.
Wang Man was confused.
“I really think this place is ideal. Look — there’s a stream nearby, so water access is easy.
The terrain is level too.
If we clear it all, we’d have at least five acres. Managing, planting, and harvesting would all be convenient.”
“No. I won’t do it here. Either we find somewhere else or forget the whole thing.”
And with that, Wang San turned and walked off.
As he left, he grumbled:
“If this place was so good, someone would’ve cleared it already. Why wait until now?”
Wang Man was speechless.
Fine. Maybe she should scout another location.
“Come back! Where are you going?”
Wang San didn’t even look back.
“Home, obviously.”
“Tch, walking off so righteously. Get back here and follow me.”
Wang San paused.
“Where to?”
“Doesn’t matter. Just follow me.”
Wang Man rolled her eyes, slung her hoe over her shoulder, and walked ahead.
She needed to clean up the grave mound.
Otherwise, the ancestor might come curse her as an unfilial descendant again tonight.
Looking at the grave, now in a terrible state, and the few bees still buzzing around, Wang San asked:
“Manniang, is that giant honeycomb you took from this grave?”
Wang Man nodded.
“Yup, from right inside.”
“You even knew there was a beehive in a grave?
And you dug it out like this? Aren’t you afraid someone will come looking for you?”
Wang San was amazed. This little wife of his was something else — fearless enough to dig up graves.
Wang Man rolled her eyes.
“Come looking? I haven’t seen anyone visit this grave in years.”
Wang San nodded.
“That’s true. I don’t recall anyone ever tending to it either.
So… what now? What do we do?”
“First fill the dirt back in. Then rebuild the stones, and clear the weeds around it. That should do.”
As she spoke, Wang Man put down her hoe and peered into the hole.
The giant snake was still curled up inside, motionless — clearly hibernating.
Wang San didn’t say anything, but when he looked in too—
“Oh my god! Man-Man-Manniang! There’s a huge snake in there! A HUGE SNAKE!”
He jumped back so fast he nearly fell on his butt.
What the heck was going on? Why were there giant snakes everywhere?
Since when did Gaoshan Village have so many snakes?
And each one was freakishly huge — could they be from Xianfeng Mountain?
Or worse — were these snakes cultivating to become dragons?
Wang San’s thoughts spiraled wildly.
He didn’t dare take another step forward.