Peng Fei had few clothes. He went to a table in the corner and rummaged through them, picking out a relatively neat t-shirt and shorts for her. Then he retreated outside the door.
Once Zhan Jingchun changed, she called him softly from inside.
“Do you have a belt?”
Peng Fei looked quite thin, but he was very tall, with a large frame. His clothes on Zhan Jingchun looked like she was playing dress-up.
She tucked the hem of the t-shirt into her pants. The waistband of the pants could still be folded over by more than two fingers, so she had to hold them with her hands.
Peng Fei entered and saw this wide, loose, cute, and amusing scene.
“No belt. I’ll find a rope for you.”
He rummaged through the table again and pulled out a clean shoelace.
“Use this for now. I’ll find you a proper one tomorrow.”
Zhan Jingchun had no other choice. She turned her back and tied the pants.
Looking down at her upper body, it was fine. Because the clothes were wide enough, and she wasn’t exactly voluptuous, it wasn’t very noticeable.
“I’m going to wash my clothes. Could you help me draw some water?”
Peng Fei stood still, disobeying her for the first time.
“I’ll wash them for you. Really, the water is too cold, you won’t be able to wash them properly.”
Zhan Jingchun felt awkward letting a stranger, especially a man, wash her clothes.
“It’s not cold now, how can I not wash them properly? If you’re tired and want to sleep, you can go ahead.”
With her saying that, how could Peng Fei not act?
He went to the yard and scooped two buckets of water. Zhan Jingchun followed with her clothes, and he brought her a basin, a small stool, and laundry powder.
Miss Zhan, accustomed to luxury, followed the example from television, poured the laundry powder onto the clothes, and began to rub them slowly. Peng Fei watched her from across the way.
The moonlight was bright, and the air was quiet. Two young men and women, keeping each other company, should have been a beautiful scene.
Unexpectedly, Peng Fei’s mother came out again.
“What are you doing up so late, not sleeping? Making all that noise, are you crazy?”
Saying that, she walked out and took a closer look, seeing Zhan Jingchun washing clothes.
She couldn’t help but rush to her side.
“Oh, at this hour, who told you to wash clothes? If you catch a cold, with your delicate health, you’ll get sick and cost money again! Can’t it wait until tomorrow? Why wash it so late?”
Then she scolded Peng Fei: “You too! It’s so late and you’re not sleeping, will you be able to get up tomorrow? That acre of land, normally, would have been finished today. Today you were dawdling, and tomorrow you still have to go. You’re just delaying things! How can you be so useless?”
Peng Fei was used to being scolded and didn’t react much. Zhan Jingchun found it unbearable.
From childhood to adulthood, her father and mother had doted on her, never even speaking a harsh word. She had only been here a short while, and this woman had already scolded her several times.
But she didn’t want to argue with her and continued rubbing the clothes listlessly.
Seeing that Zhan Jingchun ignored her, Peng Fei’s mother stared at her hands for a moment.
“Look at your hands, they’re as thin as chicken claws, can you even wash clothes? Get up, get up. Hurry back to bed, I’ll wash them for you.”
Saying that, without waiting for Zhan Jingchun’s agreement, she walked over to her, sat down next to her, and pushed her off the stool.
Then she grabbed the clothes and started rubbing them vigorously.
Zhan Jingchun, already weak, was knocked to the ground by her push, with foam still on her hands.
Peng Fei rushed to pull her up. “Mom, can’t you be gentler?”
“Like you haven’t eaten, no strength at all. You’ve really married a goddess! Can’t even wash clothes, and you expect her to work in the fields later? To give birth and raise children?”
Aside from being good-looking, Peng Fei’s mother found fault with Zhan Jingchun in every other aspect.
Zhan Jingchun was helped up. Seeing that her mother-in-law had already changed into her undergarments and was scrubbing, she thought, since it had come to this, she might as well leave it to her.
She had already lost face in front of them anyway.
She went to the bucket, washed her hands, and returned to the room by herself.
Just as she was about to close the door to sleep, Peng Fei followed her.
She couldn’t help but retort, “Didn’t your mother tell you to go back to sleep?”
“Yes.”
“You’re sleeping here?”
When it came to this issue, Peng Fei also felt a bit embarrassed.
“This is my room. I’ve always slept in that bed.”
“……”
So, tonight, they were going to sleep in the same bed?
Zhan Jingchun wasn’t inexperienced in relationships. On the contrary, she had a male classmate she grew up with. They went out together almost every day, but she hadn’t brought him home yet.
Her boyfriend respected her and never overstepped boundaries. She was a proper maiden, and she couldn’t accept this situation with a stranger.
“Are there no other beds? I’m not sharing a room with you.”
While showering, she had coiled her hair on top of her head, forming a puffy bun.
The t-shirt was loose, and when she was working earlier, the collar had inadvertently slipped off one shoulder, revealing half of her fair shoulder.
At this moment, her cheeks were puffed out, her eyes wide, and her brows furrowed. Although she was angry, she looked quite cute.
Peng Fei found her more endearing the more he looked at her.
“You’ve come to my house, so you’re my wife. Who else would you sleep with if not me?”
Who is your wife?
Fearing that Peng Fei’s mother might overhear, Zhan Jingchun let him into the room.
She lowered her voice and said to him.
“I was tricked into coming here. I know you spent money to buy me, so I didn’t suffer more, and I’m grateful to you.”
“Don’t worry, when I leave later, I absolutely won’t report you to the police. You are my savior. I will repay you ten or twenty times the money.”
“I can see you’re a good person. We’re about the same age, we can be friends. Your family is short of money, right? Let me go, and I’ll give you money, okay?”
Peng Fei didn’t even raise an eyebrow. He turned and bolted the door, then pushed her towards the bed.
Almost all the wives in their village came this way.
Everyone who arrived couldn’t accept it. Some cried and made a fuss, some threatened to kill themselves, some went on hunger strikes. He had heard and seen all sorts of tricks. Zhan Jingchun’s gentle strategy couldn’t sway him at all.
Moreover, he genuinely liked her. He knew he would never find anyone as beautiful and gentle if she left, and he wouldn’t let her go.
This wasn’t a problem that money could solve.
Seeing that he didn’t speak and was pushing her towards the bed, Zhan Jingchun’s alarm bells went off, and she quickly tried to dodge.
But how could she be as strong as Peng Fei?
She was pulled over in an instant, lifted up, and placed on the bed in two moves.
Then, he turned back, blew out the kerosene lamp, and got into bed as well.
Just as Zhan Jingchun tried to dodge, he pinned her down.
“Sleep.”
Zhan Jingchun pushed his hand away. “Don’t touch me. Didn’t you hear what I just said? I can give you money. My parents are very rich, they can give you as much as you want, really. If you don’t believe me, let me make a phone call! Name your price, they’ll give you anything. I promise I won’t call the police, I can write you a guarantee, as long as you don’t hurt me, okay?”
Peng Fei had no intention of hurting her; he only felt pity for her.
Her pleasant voice echoed softly in his ear. He contentedly pulled Zhan Jingchun closer, holding her tightly in his arms.
“Stop talking, sleep.”