Chapter 2: The strange daughter-in-law

Cao Wen, in a daze, felt his ears being assaulted by noise.

It seemed like someone was talking, but it sounded muffled, as though wrapped in gauze—impossible to hear clearly…

Just as he was puzzled by why he could still hear, a hand landed on his waist.

It moved down from his lower abdomen, through the fabric of his pants…and was touching his thigh!

Cao Wen was shocked—hadn’t he just ended his own life?

Did he fail and get rescued?

Memories surged in his mind—combined with the strange sensation and his hatred toward the Alliance—and suddenly, Cao Wen opened his eyes wide, grabbing the offending hand on him.

In a swift move, he twisted and pinned the person who had been groping him onto the bed, using his leg to sweep them down and immobilize them like a trained officer capturing a criminal.

The person pinned on the bed cried out in pain as their arm and shoulder were held tightly, cold sweat breaking out from their forehead.

They looked up and saw a pair of eyes, cold as ice, as if they could pierce through someone.

Startled and unable to comprehend the man’s reaction, the person gave a muffled grunt,

“Ah—Ah Wen, what are you doing?!”

“Your wife was just worried sick. Why are you hitting her?!”

Uncle Cao watched his nephew leap up like a corpse rising, pinning his own wife to the bed like a criminal.

His movements were smoother than the constables in the county office, leaving Uncle Cao too shocked to even cry.

It wasn’t until he heard his daughter-in-law’s groan that he snapped out of it and rushed to grab Cao Wen’s arm.

Only then did Cao Wen realize he was holding down a young woman dressed in a patched-up jacket.

Her black hair was wrapped in an old piece of indigo cloth.

Perhaps because of his force, a few strands had come loose.

In this scene, it looked like he was the one bullying the weak.

On guard but confused, he slowly let go.

The restriction on Xu Duoyan’s body was released, and a wave of numbness hit her arms, leaving her weak as if all her strength had been drained.

This man was young—two years younger than her even—but unexpectedly strong.

A trace of fear rose in Xu Duoyan’s heart.

This man was going to be harder to deal with than she had imagined.

Rubbing her numb and aching arm, she lowered her eyes like a fragile wife suffering abuse, hiding her wary gaze behind Uncle Cao.

Cao Wen wasn’t paying attention to either of them yet.

He held his hands up as if cupping something, staring at them, then shifted his gaze to the two legs supporting his body.

The shock in his eyes made it look as if flowers had bloomed on his limbs.

He could move his hands and feet again?!

Just as he was trying to figure out what was going on, memories began to emerge from his aching brain—fragments like broken duckweed, hard to piece together.

From the bits and pieces, he pieced together that he had been reborn into the body of a boy with the same name in a rural tenant family under the Dazhi Dynasty.

The original host was the only child of his family, and his parents had passed away.

He scraped by farming a few rented acres of poor land.

A few days ago, the original had been called to the landlord’s home to help out.

Because of a drought, the landlord was preparing a rain-praying ritual.

Using the registry, they didn’t just order tenant farmers to help out but also demanded poultry for the sacrifice.

But the tenant farmers were already dirt poor—where could they find such things?

The original, relying on his cousin who worked as a minor overseer under the landlord, complained a bit.

Unfortunately, the steward overheard and gave him a brutal beating.

“Ah Wen, are…are you alright?”

Cao Yongquan asked nervously, watching his nephew’s strange behavior.

“…,”

Cao Wen exhaled slowly, still unable to completely process his disbelief.

Aside from the pain in the back of his head, his body felt fine.

It was precisely that blow to the back of the head that had killed the original and allowed him to take over.

His memories were jumbled—disordered and missing pieces—leaving him bewildered.

He suspected it might be memory disruption caused by cerebral hemorrhage.

Looking up at the mud hut, old and covered in dust, he thought to himself,

“This broken-down place really doesn’t suit the ‘amnesiac literature’ trope, does it?”

“You’re alright, that’s good. That’s good.”

Uncle Cao breathed a sigh of relief and wiped his eyes.

“Seeing your head bleed earlier scared me to death. If anything had happened to you, how could I ever face your parents?”

“Though you’ve woken up, you still need to rest. Don’t go showing yourself in front of Steward Zhao for the next few days. And try not to associate with that cousin of yours anymore. He acts all high and mighty when things are fine, but when something happens, he completely disappears!”

Due to his former professionalism, Cao Wen hadn’t fully sorted out these grievances, but he still quickly played along.

He answered,

“Understood.”

Uncle Cao, reassured by his nephew’s clear-headedness, didn’t argue about avoiding his cousin and finally felt at ease.

For tenant farmers like them, being scolded and beaten by the landlord’s family was a daily affair.

He himself had endured many lashings and punches, so many that he’d gone numb over the years.

Thinking that Cao Wen was still a young and fiery lad—not like him, old and resigned—he wanted to give some more advice to spare him future pain.

But seeing the awkward silence between the young couple, he swallowed his words.

Better to let them talk in private.

They’d only just gotten married and had been apart for some time.

It wasn’t right to butt in too much.

He glanced at Xu Duoyan, who looked afraid and avoided eye contact, then stepped forward and gently patted the still-dazed Cao Wen, speaking softly: “I won’t say much more. Since you’re married, you’re no longer a child. No matter how much you suffer outside, when you come home, don’t take it out on your wife.”

Cao Wen frowned slightly, about to explain himself, but Uncle Cao waved him off and continued.

“Daughter-in-law, Ah Wen was just confused earlier. Don’t take it to heart. If anything happens, just tell me—I’ll make sure justice is done.”

Xu Duoyan lowered her head and nodded cautiously.

“Since Ah Wen is fine, I’ll head back first. There’s still plenty to do at home and with the landlord. Take good care of him. I’ll come by again when I’m free.”

Xu Duoyan stayed silent and quietly walked him out.

Cao Wen, still standing by the bed, stared blankly at the two departing figures.

He even forgot to thank his uncle for bringing him home.

But that could wait.

He’d have plenty of chances to repay family favors in the future.

Right now, his attention was caught by the tall but very thin young woman who seemed embarrassed and distant.

Uncle Cao’s words reminded him—he remembered a bit more.

This body’s original owner had just gotten married at the end of last month.

Because of poverty, the wedding had been extremely simple.

The original host gave three taels of silver as a bride price, chose an auspicious day, and simply brought the bride home.

Let alone hosting a wedding banquet for friends and family—even the bride and groom didn’t have new clothes sewn for the occasion.

After the bride arrived, they didn’t even have time to consummate the marriage before the landlord summoned the original host to help out at the manor.

No matter how big a deal something was in a poor household, it couldn’t compare to even the smallest matter of the landlord’s.

Although the original host was disgruntled, he could only toss the house key to his bride—whose face he hadn’t even memorized yet—and leave alone for the landlord’s house.

He was gone for many days, eating and sleeping there.

If it hadn’t been for the brutal beating that got him sent back, he probably would’ve still had two more days of chores left.

Though they were technically husband and wife, in reality, they were no different from strangers.

Cao Wen had experienced all kinds of storms and battles, but this “wife and kids around the warm hearth” kind of domestic bliss—he had never encountered before.

Forget wives and children.

In his previous life, the concept of love never even had a chance to appear in his mind.

He had been taken away at a young age to the Alliance’s military academy for brutal training.

Outside of high-intensity drills, his only “rest time” was spent being brainwashed into swearing loyalty to the Alliance and preparing to charge into interstellar war.

For over twenty years, his head had been filled with only training, missions, and warfare.

How could the Alliance allow something as “distracting” as love to exist around them?

Ugh!

Cao Wen swallowed hard.

This current situation felt even more nerve-wracking than his first time on the battlefield.

At least back then he had gone through countless simulations and drills.

But for this whole “wife, home, domestic life” thing?

He’d had zero training.

He remembered a mission years ago that required a male-female pair to pose as a married couple for undercover work.

Back then, he had rushed to apply.

But too many people fought over the assignment and he got bumped off the list.

He was especially annoyed—every time there was a mission involving a female partner, he never made the cut.

His commanding officer had felt sorry for him and promised to arrange a “couple role” next time.

He had been thrilled.

But on the day of the mission—his “partner” turned out to be a man!

Cao Wen sighed.

The original owner of this body had it rough.

Beaten to death by others, and left behind a young widow.

The wife was pitiful too—just married, and already a widow.

Since the heavens were kind enough to give him a healthy body, he figured maybe the soul of the original owner had arranged a better path for him too.

Cao Wen was indeed delighted to be able to stand again.

But.

But…!

The stranger wife had returned after seeing Uncle Cao out!

Cao Wen instinctively snapped into a textbook-perfect military stance—so proper that no one could criticize it.

His gaze was sharp, like he was awaiting inspection from a commanding officer.

Even though he was stiff all over, he secretly glanced at the unfamiliar young woman in front of him.

It wasn’t a pervy instinct—definitely just his professional reflexes!

He recalled her name: Xu Duoyan.

The girl had delicate features.

Her facial structure was soft, but not in the overly dainty, traditionally feminine way—in fact, she looked slightly androgynous.

Despite the heat of summer, she was tightly wrapped in rough, worn clothes, even wearing a high collar that covered her neck.

Maybe she was just too thin.

Her oversized clothes looked almost hollow on her, and her face had a sickly yellowish tint.

She didn’t look very healthy or energetic, but if one looked closely, her bone structure was…surprisingly attractive.

Just as he was stealing glances at her, her jet-black eyes suddenly met his.

Cao Wen’s heart skipped a beat.

His ears turned red with embarrassment, and he guiltily looked away.

Xu Duoyan’s gaze darkened slightly.

He was already eyeing her up the moment he woke up!

Men really are shameless!

Given what had just happened, she was a bit wary and dared not get too close to him.

But she also knew better than to show outright disgust or hostility.

If they clashed directly, she would definitely lose.

After all these bitter years of survival, she might not have understood much else, but acting was second nature to her.

After a pause, she chose to act like a gentle wife and made a gesture with her hands.

“Do you want to eat something? I’ll cook for you.”

“Hmm?”

Cao Wen stared at her slender fingers moving around, his eyes wide with confusion, and tried to interpret her hand signs.

After a moment of thinking, he ventured a guess: “My stomach? No, it doesn’t hurt. I wasn’t hit there.”

Xu Duoyan: …

“Since you’re awake, then you must be fine. For the surface injuries, I’ll gather some herbs later to treat them.”

Cao Wen furrowed his thick brows.

“From the mountain? You just came back from the mountain?”

Xu Duoyan decided to shut up again.

…?

Cao Wen was baffled.

Why did she stop talking again?

Did he say something wrong?

The house fell silent again.

It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

For the first time, Cao Wen experienced a feeling called awkwardness.

He gave a tactical cough and apologized out of politeness: “Uh…I don’t know sign language. Sorry.”

“Also, um, are you okay? Does your arm hurt? I thought you were one of the people who beat me up, so I reacted.”

The reflexive takedown skills he used would’ve taken down even a strong man, let alone a petite woman like her.

Honestly, it was lucky that this body was weaker—otherwise, he might’ve dislocated her arm.

Xu Duoyan could hear the difference in Cao Wen’s tone now—gentler than when he’d grabbed her earlier.

It was also different from the cocky arrogance he’d shown when their marriage was arranged.

This man’s hot-and-cold behavior…she couldn’t quite get a read on him.

He was even harder to understand than the rich masters she’d once served in the manor.

But it was clear: he responded better to softness.

Xu Duoyan silently shook her head.

The stench of blood and sweat on him was honestly unbearable.

Rather than stand here in awkward silence, it was better to go boil some water and help him clean up.

She pointed to Cao Wen’s head, then to the kitchen, hoping he’d understand.

This time, Cao Wen got the general idea: she was going to the kitchen.

His head was still aching, and he’d lost a fair amount of blood.

Standing up earlier had made him feel dizzy.

So he nodded.

Watching her leave for the kitchen, Cao Wen finally let out a long breath.