A Good Country Wife

"What nonsense are you spouting? As a woman, how can you blurt out things like ’life root’ and ’divorce’? You’re only going to be my wife, and I, Zhao Erhu, am not that kind of man. Don’t ever let me hear you say such things again, or I’ll deal with you!"

"Hmph!" Lin Yue turned her head away, obviously not taking Zhao Erhu’s threat seriously. But sometimes men can be petty too. He would simmer in silence, biding his time, and Lin Yue wouldn’t realize until she had tasted Zhao Erhu’s methods that old men shouldn’t be casually provoked—especially since she couldn’t change her habit of calling him ’old man.’ Zhao Erhu had been wanting to discipline her for a long time.

Turning her head back, Lin Yue remembered the items Zhao Erhu had brought into the room. As she sifted through them, she found joyous wedding quilts and congratulatory garments, which surprised her. These were all items used for marriage; why had Zhao Erhu brought them back?

Zhao Erhu walked into the room and saw Lin Yue looking through the items he had bought. A trace of a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. He approached Lin Yue, took out the wedding garments, and handed them to her, "Wife, I bought this wedding outfit according to your size. Why don’t you try it on and see if it fits?"

"Why did you buy me a wedding outfit? Could it be you think you’re too old for me, your delicate young wife, and have changed your mind, planning to marry me off?" Lin Yue held the outfit without moving, looking at Zhao Erhu with a teasing smile. She remembered he had once said he wanted to hold a wedding banquet for her. Surely he wasn’t serious? Hadn’t she told him it wasn’t necessary?

Setting aside the fact that Zhao Erhu had already held the celebration twice, though he indeed had taken three wives, who ever heard of one person holding three wedding banquets? When attending such events, close friends and relatives certainly bring gift money. They had gone through this twice; it would be embarrassing to accept more gifts. Moreover, holding a banquet involved all sorts of trivial matters. Lin Yue really didn’t want to deal with the hassle.

Knowing Lin Yue had misunderstood, Zhao Erhu didn’t bother explaining. He simply said, "Wishful thinking. In this lifetime, if you’re to marry, it can only be into my family. Stop your fussing and hurry up and try on the wedding dress so I can see if it fits." With Zhao Erhu standing his ground like this, it looked like if Lin Yue didn’t go change, he would take matters into his own hands.

"Alright already, I’m going to change, isn’t that enough?" Lin Yue had no way to counter Zhao Erhu, also having experienced his stubbornness on more than one occasion. Whenever Zhao Erhu insisted on something, she would try her best to oblige; otherwise, he would surely corner her for a proper argument. Lin Yue didn’t have the patience Zhao Erhu had; more often than not, he got his way.

Lin Yue, holding the wedding dress, turned to see Zhao Erhu still standing inside the room, "Zhao Erhu, aren’t you leaving while I change? Planning to peek at me, are you?"

Zhao Erhu, without any intention of leaving, replied, "Peek at what? You’re my wife, and I can look openly. It was me who helped you dress this morning, and now it’s not okay for me to see? With you dilly-dallying, maybe I should just help you change." Besides, there’s nothing on you that I haven’t seen before—of course, Zhao Erhu added this part silently in his mind, knowing his little wife would be embarrassed, you see, young girls have such thin skin.