Rebirth of a Farming Wife

“Nonsense, there’s no way she would let Jiang Chunlan sleep in her bed,” Su Wenyue thought. “The first time she did that, she would have to give the bed away, or else it wouldn’t feel clean to sleep in. Seeing her mother-in-law’s expression, Su Wenyue knew she had been swayed by Jiang Chunlan. As for Han Yu and Jiang Chunlan, the trivial things between cousins weren’t worth mentioning. Su Wenyue knew about it in her previous life but pretended to be ignorant, feeling neither worry nor jealousy. Whether in her previous life or now, Han Yu’s attitude toward this cousin remained the same—disdainful—and he never showed her a good face. Seeing Mrs. Yang about to slip up again, she took the initiative and spoke first to block Mrs. Yang’s words.

Mrs. Yang felt a twinge in her heart at Su Wenyue’s question, and the slight sense of guilt she had was thrown to the wind as she hurriedly explained, “Don’t get the wrong idea, Fourth Daughter-in-law, you know what Fourth is like—how could he do something to wrong others, especially since Chunlan is his cousin? It’s even less likely. Chunlan is just a child, and her words can be careless, easily leading to misunderstandings.”

“Aunt, what misunderstanding?” Jiang Chunlan retorted, “How can you still call me a child? I’m only one year younger than my Cousin-in-law. You and my mother even wanted me to marry Cousin Yu, but I was too young, and nothing was formalized.” She stopped talking there as if aware she had unintentionally said something she shouldn’t have, her face the picture of innocence.

Jiang Chunlan deliberately brought up her relationship with Cousin Yu to make Su Wenyue uncomfortable. Even though the matter was settled and she couldn’t marry Cousin Yu, she needed to vent her dissatisfaction and restlessness, determined not to let Su Wenyue have peace.

Mrs. Yang wasn’t in the mood to blame her niece for speaking out of turn anymore, worriedly watching Su Wenyue, afraid that hearing this would cause her any upset, or worse, create a scene. Last time, the Su Family generously let things slide without causing trouble for the Han Family. If it happened again, they wouldn’t be so lenient. Mrs. Yang had seen just how precious her daughter was to Mr. and Mrs. Su.

“Engagement?” Su Wenyue hadn’t heard about this in her previous life, but back then, she was haughty and willful, not as patient as she is now. Had she known, it’s uncertain what kind of trouble she would have caused. That’s probably why her mother-in-law and the rest kept it from her, not daring to let her find out; after all, she didn’t have the time or the inclination to care about poor relatives like her aunt and cousin, let alone entertain them. Thus, Jiang Chunlan never got the chance to bring it up in her presence.

“Fourth Daughter-in-law, all that’s in the past. At that time, Fourth wasn’t engaged, and his Aunt and I had the idea of uniting relatives closer. But then his grandfather arranged your marriage with Yuer, and the matter was dropped. Besides, Yuer and Chunlan were both too young then; it didn’t really count. You mustn’t take it to heart,” she said.

“So that’s how it was. Mother, rest assured, I’m not that petty. I wasn’t even engaged to my Husband back then. It’s quite normal for Mother to have such thoughts; it only shows how close you and Aunt are. And I know what kind of person my Husband is; I trust him. But having said that, some things must still be handled properly. If any unpleasant words or rumors were to spread about, as a married man, my Husband might at most have his reputation slightly dinged by gossip behind his back, but Cousin Chunlan isn’t engaged yet. A damaged reputation wouldn’t be good for her.”

Mrs. Yang was inwardly frustrated by Su Wenyue’s sharp tongue; her daughter would be at a disadvantage against her. Moreover, Su Wenyue had a point— Chunlan wasn’t engaged yet, and a tarnished reputation would make it hard to find a suitable match. Mrs. Yang had no choice but to swallow her pride.

“Yuer’s wife is right, we should be mindful,” Mrs. Yang said meaningfully. Her comment was both a rebuke to Su Wenyue, making it clear that the bond between the cousins was strong, and a suggestion that Su Wenyue harbored malice.

Su Wenyue was no fool and didn’t rise to Mrs. Yang’s bait, instead turning to address Jiang Chunlan, “Cousin Chunlan, you’re not that young anymore, almost of marrying age. You should be more careful with your words in the future. I’m your Sister-in-law and won’t mind some things, but not everyone will think the same. Don’t be offended by my words; I tell you this because we’re family, to prevent any future harm.”

Su Wenyue spoke with a lecturing tone to Jiang Chunlan. Since the girl addressed her as Sister-in-law, she naturally had to fulfill her duty and properly guide her naive cousin, to prevent her from going astray.

Jiang Chunlan was still just a young girl, albeit taught by Mrs. Yang to have some guile; she couldn’t keep her composure and blushed with anger at Su Wenyue’s tone. It took her a great deal of effort to hold back.

Mrs. Yang herself was seething but couldn’t come up with a response. Su

Wenyue’s words, though harsh, contained no falsehood. They hadn’t expected Han Yu to marry such a formidable daughter-in-law who appeared gracious on the surface but was more resolute than anyone, unwilling to suffer any loss.

“It sounds like I’m the naive one from the way my Cousin-in-law speaks.

Though I’m a year younger, I understand what I should, and there’s no need for my Cousin-in-law to be jealous of my relationship with Cousin Yu. There really is nothing between us,” Jiang Chunlan said, her tone not as straightforward as her words.

“But to come back to it, Cousin-in-law, you do seem a bit petty. It’s just about lending your bed for a rest. If you don’t want to, fine, but why all this talk? A young lady from a Wealthy family really is different—so calculating with every word they say.”

“Chunlan, shut your mouth! How can you speak to your Cousin-in-law like that! It was just about borrowing a place to rest for a bit. Your Cousin-in-law isn’t petty as you say. Do you think she’s like someone from a low-status civilian family, making mountains out of molehills?” Mrs. Yang saw her daughter straying off track with her remarks and admonished her.

Su Wenyue dismissed the matter with a sneer. This mother-daughter pair was no ordinary sort, having some machinations between them. They coordinated well, with one playing good cop and the other bad cop, all to achieve their goals. Would she let them? Of course not!

Mrs. Yang’s move was ineffective against Su Wenyue but did influence Mrs. Yang’s sister. Mrs. Yang felt a bit embarrassed, as to them, people from a peasant family, it was just about borrowing a place to rest and nothing serious. Fourth Daughter-in-law was normally quite generous and probably wouldn’t mind, right?

“How about this, Fourth Daughter-in-law, you let Chunlan rest in your room for a while? It’s not easy for Chunlan to have come all this way,” Mrs. Yang cautiously suggested, not using a forceful tone, which made it even harder to refuse..