Chapter 14: Too Hasty

Fang Yuan had no idea what “communication between husband and wife” meant. Other people knew that if something bothered them, they should speak up instead of bottling it in.

She called out, “What are you doing out there, stomping on ants? Get in here and tidy up the house! And don’t wait until tomorrow—go bring over the grain and the hens right now.”

Lu Lao’er’s mouth twitched. She really was a force of nature. He replied through the wall, his voice muffled, “We’ve been at it all day. Let’s leave it for tomorrow.”

Fang Yuan glared at him, clearly dissatisfied. “Are you stupid? Can you even count on tomorrow being the same? What if a few hens go missing overnight?”

Lu Lao’er thought to himself, You sounded so convincing when you spoke to my mother earlier, but clearly you never trusted her. “Don’t worry. My mother wouldn’t dare. You’re too formidable.”

Fang Yuan didn’t catch the sarcasm in his words. “It’s not your mother I don’t trust—it’s the one with the shifty eyes, and that other one with no morals.”

Lu Lao’er found her words a bit harsh, but she wasn’t wrong. “Don’t worry. My mother’s even more guarded with outsiders.”

Fang Yuan paused, looking at Lu Lao’er with a serious face. “So should I trust your mother or not?”

Lu Lao’er didn’t bother correcting her for calling his mother “your mother.” If only she’d always use that term, it’d prove he had nothing to do with this woman.

Although this girl seemed decent enough, her headstrong, blunt nature made Lu Lao’er doubt they’d ever get along.

Still, at least she’d come inside. Talking through the wall was inconvenient.

Fang Yuan hated having to use her brain for these things, so she gave Lu Lao’er a piece of her mind: “Next time you speak, be clear. Don’t beat around the bush. I’m not good at reading between the lines. If I misunderstand you and mess things up, don’t blame me—it’s because you didn’t explain yourself.”

Great. So from now on, he’d have to take the blame for everything. Lu Lao’er was left feeling stifled. Fang Yuan’s reputation for being a handful was well-deserved.

Lu Lao’er patiently explained, “We don’t even have a chicken coop here yet. Tomorrow morning, I’ll build one, and then we can bring the hens over.”

Fang Yuan nodded. That made sense. Maybe this man did have some sense after all.

She stopped insisting on bringing the hens over right away. “See? If you’d just said that earlier, I’d have understood. Why go on about trust or not trust?”

Lu Lao’er kept quiet, not bothering to argue. He could see now—this was someone who wouldn’t be reasoned with.

Fang Yuan wandered around the room, directing Lu Lao’er left and right. After a round of fussing, at least the place looked presentable.

Lu Lao’er was sweating from all the work, feeling both physically and mentally exhausted. But when he looked at the newly arranged room, he had to admit it felt a bit cozy, even festive. He stood there in a daze, unable to say a word.

Fang Yuan glanced around, still a bit dissatisfied, but she didn’t fuss any further. “This’ll do. When my parents, big brother, and sisters-in-law come over, at least they won’t feel sorry for me.”

Hearing this, Lu Lao’er felt a pang of guilt. A young woman’s wedding should be a joyful occasion, but with all the drama in his family, any other girl would have been in tears by now. Yet Fang Yuan was still thinking about her own family. He really felt sorry for her.

Thinking of Fang Yuan’s family gave him a headache. He knew they were much tougher than his own eldest brother. The problem was, Fang Yuan had been matched with his older brother, Lu Laoda, and now the groom had been swapped for him. Even though he was getting the short end of the stick, he couldn’t justify it to the Fang family.

His parents had really underestimated how complicated this was. No one in his family was much of a thinker, so Lu Lao’er had to put in extra effort.

The Fang family was famous in the village—their sons were known as the “Five Tiger Generals,” notorious for being tough and hard to deal with. No wonder their daughter had trouble finding a husband.

Fang Yuan might be a bit unruly, but she was capable. The real reason she had trouble marrying was because her parents were so formidable, and she had five or six brothers backing her up, each one tougher than the last. That was the main reason.

When Lu Laoda got engaged to the Fang family, the Lu family had known all this.

Back then, Lu Lao’er had thought his brother needed a strong in-law family to keep him in check. If he had to put up with a little, so be it. At least he’d get a wife.

Now, it was his turn to put up with it, and Lu Lao’er regretted how hasty they’d been in arranging the engagement for Lu Laoda.

Fang Yuan couldn’t stand a man who didn’t know how to read the room. “There’s hot water in the pot. Go wash up. All this stuff is new—don’t go dirtying it.”

Lu Lao’er looked around. Everything in the room was new—he was the only old thing here, completely out of place.

Fang Yuan took her brand-new red double-happiness washbasin, part of her dowry, and confidently went out to wash up.

Lu Lao’er grabbed the old, chipped basin from the old house and washed up in some out-of-the-way corner. He really did look like someone who’d just married into someone else’s family.

And he felt a bit aggrieved, too.

This was supposed to be the Lu family’s house, but somehow he felt like the one who’d married in. He didn’t have the confidence, the presence, or even the hard cash that Fang Yuan did.

Thinking of the hurdle that was the Fang family, Lu Lao’er figured he’d better try to get on Fang Yuan’s good side—at least make things a bit easier to talk about.

No matter how he looked at it, he was the one who’d have to put up with things. He couldn’t tell whether he or Fang Yuan was getting the worse deal.

Lu Lao’er smacked his lips. How was he supposed to live like this?

Even the bedding Fang Yuan would sleep on was laid out by Lu Lao’er himself. He really was just a servant.

After washing up, Fang Yuan confidently climbed into bed. Lu Lao’er was left pacing around the main room.

He wasn’t wondering whether he should go into the newly tidied bedroom—he was wondering if she’d hit him if he didn’t.

When a scholar meets a soldier, reason doesn’t matter. Besides, he wasn’t in the right. He was the one his family had given to Fang Yuan as compensation.

Lu Lao’er’s heart ached. Even when he’d had to quit school because there was no money so his brother could get married, he hadn’t felt this miserable.

Inside the room, Fang Yuan frowned and called out to Lu Lao’er in the outer room, “I won’t call you useless anymore, but you can’t be this hopeless. You drag your feet with everything. What can you actually do?”

That was even worse than being called useless.

Lu Lao’er’s face was a picture. How could this girl have no sense of shame?

And she was shouting so loudly—what if the neighbors heard? He’d die of embarrassment.

Fang Yuan just found Lu Lao’er’s lack of decisiveness annoying. “I told you to wash up, and you’ve been at it forever. When you have to water the fields or carry water, are you going to drag your feet all day?”

This marriage really was unreliable. Fang Yuan was starting to feel dissatisfied with him.

Lu Lao’er finally just marched into the room. He couldn’t let her keep shouting—everyone in the village would hear her at this rate.

He felt awkward. He really shouldn’t have been so reserved with Fang Yuan. He should have just spoken plainly. He hurried into the room and asked, “Where do I sleep?”

That was straightforward enough. Of course, you had to ignore the way he closed his eyes, bracing himself for her verdict."