Song Shi’an resolutely refused Jiang Chun’s unreasonable request.
She craved, what did it have to do with him, he was not a dish in her plate!
Jiang Chun shouted: “How can this be called an unreasonable request? We’re husband and wife, this request is completely justified and reasonable!”
Song Shi’an closed his eyes, pretending he was asleep, not hearing her muttering chant-like nagging.
Jiang Chun pouted—this guy really wasn’t so easy to take advantage of.
Last time, it was because she had grasped a weakness of his, that he had no choice but to bow his head. This time, without any handle in her hands, he was unwilling to yield.
No rush—wait until she found his weak spot, then force him to comply.
After all, if one nitpicked and used a magnifying glass to find someone’s faults, there weren’t many who could withstand it—even Song Shi’an was the same.
He was a beautiful, strong, tragic supporting male character, not some flawless saint.
Song Shi’an perked up his ears to listen to any sounds. Seeing that she finally quieted down, he couldn’t help but secretly let out a breath of relief.
Such a thick-skinned woman, truly the first he’d ever seen in his life, really made him a bit unable to take it.
It wasn’t that he was afraid of being taken advantage of. He was a man—if there were to be any loss, it was this woman who would lose more.
He just didn’t have much confidence in his own self-control.
If he kept tangling with her in such tender and intimate ways, sooner or later, both his body and heart would fall.
If one day she got bored and tossed him aside like worn-out shoes, or even, like the Jiang Chun of the previous life, stuck a green hat on his head [idiom meaning “to cuckold someone”], he didn’t even dare imagine what his reaction would be then.
Don’t be fooled by how her mouth seemed coated in honey, looking like she was madly infatuated with him—this was all just an act to gain favor for the future.
He’d have to be stupid to believe it was real.
The two of them, with different thoughts in mind, returned to Daliushu Village. Jiang Chun dropped him off at her house’s front door, then drove the mule cart back to return it to Village Head Zou’s home.
On the way back, by coincidence, she ran into Jiang Liu who was returning from the back mountain after gathering firewood.
“Jie,” Jiang Liu’s face lit up and he quickly came over to greet her, asking: “Where did you go?”
Jiang Chun replied: “Went to Village Head Zou’s house to return the mule cart.”
Jiang Liu didn’t nosily ask what Jiang Chun used the mule cart for. Instead, she asked about Wang Yin’er: “Jie, is Cousin Yin’s injury getting better? Is her body still burning up?”
Jiang Chun smiled and said: “Don’t worry, the fever’s gone. I see her energy is still pretty good.
As for the injury—‘hurt tendons and bones takes a hundred days to heal’, in the short term she won’t be able to move, just has to lie on the kang and slowly recover.”
Jiang Liu said happily: “As long as the fever’s gone, that’s good. As expected, the doctor we brought from the county town is really skilled.”
Jiang Chun pressed her lips together. Indeed, Doctor Cao from Baohetang was skilled—she had heard that even the big households in the prefectural city came to him for treatment.
But his fees were quite expensive. Small households really couldn’t afford him.
The two chatted as they walked. When they were almost at Jiang Chun’s house, Jiang Liu reached out and pulled Jiang Chun’s arm, and said in a low voice:
“Jie, that day I overheard grandma telling my dad that after paying Widow Wang fifty taels of silver, the family was really tight on money. She told my dad to ask around outside to see if there was any rich household looking for a second wife to fill the position, and to trade me in exchange for a generous bride price.”
Jiang Chun: “……”
Truly, it was one wave not yet settled before another arose. That Li-Shi and Jiang Hu, those two who deserved a thousand cuts, having failed to sell Jiang Liu before, were now scheming to marry her off as a concubine-wife, just to earn a generous bride price.
But this matter was something Jiang Chun couldn’t interfere with.
Selling a person was a big matter concerning the reputation of the whole clan. Jiang Chun could bring out the clan head Jiang Zhaonian to stop it.
But Li-Shi and Jiang Hu—one was Jiang Liu’s grandmother, and one was her biological father—in ancient times, marriage matters were all about “the command of the parents and the words of the matchmaker”, and outsiders couldn’t interfere.
Unless the two of them were blinded by lard [idiom meaning acting foolishly or immorally], wanting to send Jiang Liu off to be someone’s concubine, and that affected the reputation of the Jiang clan, only then might Jiang Zhaonian step in again.
But the two of them weren’t stupid. Last time when they tried to sell someone, Jiang Zhaonian scolded them so harshly their heads were like dogs drenched in blood, even saying that he wanted to have Li-shi divorced on behalf of his deceased younger brother Jiang Zhaofeng. How could Li-Shi and Jiang He dare to offend him again?
Jiang Chun sighed and, after weighing her words, said: “If you can think of a way to delay this marriage talk for two years, Jie promises that you’ll marry up.”
Two years later, the Prince Yan would be titled Crown Prince, the Song family would be rehabilitated, and as the only paternal cousin of herself—Song family’s main wife of the eldest legitimate son—there would definitely be aspiring scholars seeking official careers wanting to use Jiang Liu’s connection to climb the big tree that is the Song family.
Even if the man’s motives weren’t pure, it would certainly be ten times better than the match Li-Shi and Jiang Hu were planning for her.
“Ah?” Jiang Liu was a bit dazed.
Jiang Chun patted her shoulder and smiled: “Jie can only help you this much. Whether you can get a good marriage depends on you.”
Considering how this younger cousin kept saying she’d pinch money from her husband’s house in the future to support her elder cousin, Jiang Chun, she figured she might as well point out a clear path for her.
As for whether she could grasp the opportunity—that was another matter.
Jiang Chun didn’t doubt that Jiang Liu would take her words seriously. She had always listened to the original body’s elder cousin.
She just doubted whether Jiang Liu could fight Li-Shi and Jiang Hu—especially Li-shi, the money-grubbing grandmother, who wasn’t easy to deal with.
Ignoring Jiang Liu who was still standing in place mulling over her words, Jiang Chun headed back home.
In the yard, Song Shi’an had his sleeves tied back with his own armband, sitting on a small stool, using his two fair and slender hands to scrub underwear in a wooden basin.
Looking at the style of the underwear, it was clearly triangle briefs modeled after modern underwear styles that Jiang Chun had made for him.
Jiang Chun couldn’t help but curl her lips upward.
In ancient times, men willing to wash women’s underwear were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns, and yet this man washing her underwear was the future Grand Secretary of the imperial cabinet with power over the entire court…
It was simply too satisfying!
She immediately walked over, squatted in front of him, cupped her face in both hands like a love-struck fool, and giggled: “Aiya ya, whose husband is so virtuous, actually washing his wife’s underwear?”
Before Song Shi’an could respond, she answered herself: “Oh, turns out it’s my, Jiang Chun’s, husband!”
Song Shi’an: “……”
He scooped a ladle of soap pod water and poured it into the basin, pressing the underwear against the bottom of the basin and scrubbing as he blandly said: “Aren’t you going to make my cotton-padded jacket? You’re always dragging your feet. Several days have passed, and not even one jacket is done. If snow falls early this year, I’ll be frozen to death.”
Gotta quickly send her away, or else she’d stay here chirping these ambiguous words.
Jiang Chun immediately got upset after hearing that, and yelled: “Don’t pretend to be confused when you understand perfectly! Was I slacking off on purpose? Isn’t it because that Liu Qitan mess happened and I got distracted? Besides, it’s only the beginning of the ninth month. We haven’t even had frost yet—how could it possibly snow this early?”
Her little mouth ba ba ba, directly rendered Song Shi’an speechless.
After a moment of silence, he finally managed to squeeze out a sentence from his mouth: “In any case, just hurry up and make my cotton-padded jacket.”
Jiang Chun burst out laughing on the spot.
She tilted her head to the left for a bit, then to the right, looking him up and down from left to right.
Then she said with a grin, “If Husband doesn’t want me to watch you wash your underpants, just say so. Why go to the trouble of making up such a clumsy excuse?”
Song Shi’an looked up at her: “If I said it directly, would you leave?”
Jiang Chun answered without thinking: “No.”
Song Shi’an: “……”
He just knew it would be like this. That’s why he came up with an excuse to get rid of her, but still ended up being seen through by her.
Song Shi’an tossed the underpants in his hand back into the wooden basin and said coldly: “If you don’t leave, then I won’t help you wash these underpants.”
Jiang Chun’s bad habit of being pulled but refusing to go, and instead walking backwards, acted up again. Not only was she unaffected by his threat, she even turned it back on him: “If you don’t help me wash the underpants, then I’ll kiss you by force.”
She paused, then added fiercely: “And I’ll use tongue.”
Song Shi’an: “……”
If his hands weren’t wet, he would’ve already helplessly held his forehead.
This person—morning to night, why is her head filled with kissing? Is this thing really that worthy of her obsession?
He didn’t like it. It was too stimulating, and both his body and mind couldn’t handle it.
He said angrily, “You’re a woman—what are you saying all day long? Not a shred of shame!”
Jiang Chun snorted, “The one who snuck over in the middle of the night, under the cover of darkness, to steal a kiss from my little mouth didn’t think it was shameful. So what’s there for me to be ashamed of?”
Song Shi’an’s face instantly flushed red. Inside, he was both embarrassed and angry.
This person—it was clearly she who forced him to kiss her, yet in the end it became his fault instead. She’d pull it out to use against him at every opportunity.
He shut his eyes, then bent over again to pick up the underpants and resumed scrubbing.
He spoke calmly on the surface: “If you want to watch, then watch. In any case, this is your home. Could I, a guest, even drive you out and take over as the host?”
“Aiya, what is Husband saying? You’re not a guest—you are an indispensable part of this family!”
Jiang Chun gave him a playful scolding, then smiled sweetly: “Since Husband says I can stay and watch, then I’ll definitely stay. I always listen to Husband the most.”
Song Shi’an: “……”
He felt like he’d never been at such a loss for words in his whole life.
She listens to him the most? If she actually listened to him, he wouldn’t be having such a headache right now.
Fortunately, she only watched quietly and didn’t say any more nonsense, which made him quietly breathe a sigh of relief.
However, he was relieved too soon.
Just as he finished rinsing the underpants clean, stood up, walked over to the drying line, reached out to hang the underpants on the line, and was just about to turn around—his waist suddenly tightened.
A pair of strong arms wrapped around his waist, and immediately, a warm and soft body pressed up against his back.
At the same time, Jiang Chun’s smiling voice sounded behind him: “You won’t let me kiss, then at least let me hug, right?”
Song Shi’an said lightly: “If I say no, will you let go?”
Jiang Chun instantly replied: “How could I!”
“Then why ask.” Song Shi’an gave a light snort, but didn’t struggle—he just let her hug him.
No other reason: when choosing between two evils, go with the lesser. Compared to kissing, he’d rather choose hugging.
But Jiang Chun wasn’t even able to do a proper, quiet hug. Her mouth wouldn’t stop: “Husband’s waist is so slender, it’s practically ‘slender and not enough to fill a grasp.’” [idiom describing a woman’s waist as so slim it can’t even fill one hand.]
Song Shi’an corrected: “‘Slender and not enough to fill a grasp’ is used to describe a woman’s slender waist. It shouldn’t be used on a man.”
Jiang Chun unreasonably and forcefully replied: “I don’t care. Husband’s slim waist is ‘slender and not enough to fill a grasp.’ I can’t read, so don’t try to lecture me with those bookish things—I don’t understand, I don’t understand.”
Song Shi’an: “……”
So your main theme is “I’m illiterate and proud of it,” is that it?
And yet she still wasn’t done. Suddenly, she let go of one arm and reached a sinful demon claw toward one of his buttocks, grabbing it right into her hand.
She softly kneaded and squeezed it for a moment, even gave it a light slap, and then righteously declared:
“Husband’s butt is all bone—it pokes my lower belly and hurts so bad. I’m giving you a slap as punishment, okay!”
“You…” Song Shi’an was completely stunned.
She was grabbing and slapping a man’s butt—how improper was that?
Truly—truly shameless!
He immediately pushed away her arm and fled forward in a fluster, running over ten steps before finally turning back around, gasping and scolding: “Jiang Chun, can’t you be a bit more proper!”
Jiang Chun was still savoring the soft and springy feel in her hand. Hearing that, she instantly replied: “Nope.”
She hummed and muttered: “If I start acting proper, then with us two proper people looking at each other, in this lifetime we can forget about consummating the marriage. Don’t you forget, you—this live-in son-in-law—are carrying the heavy burden of extending the Jiang family line.”
Song Shi’an: “……”
This woman really was fearless—even already thinking about consummating with him.
As expected, she was a person willing to give anything for power and status.
But no matter what, he would never let her get her way.
Want to consummate with him? No way—not even in the next life!