A fierce wife enters the house: She helps up a house full of spineless people.

Afternoon, the back hall of the Liu family's study.

Chen Shuyan stared at the pages in front of him, but the words on them were somewhat blurry. The words he had overheard at the noodle shop at noon kept replaying in his mind.

"The one who sold his sister to pay for his education?"

"What kind of sacred texts are you reading?"

Those whispers, those gazes, were like fine needles piercing the flesh; not deep, but enough to make one restless.

His hand gripping the pen tightened unconsciously, his knuckles turning slightly white. Why? He had studied diligently for years, enduring poverty, all to earn a future. Why should he be gossiped about behind his back by these ignorant village women?

He slammed his pen on the table, took a deep breath, and slowly loosened his grip. He couldn't panic. He told himself that anger wouldn't solve anything; only passing the imperial examination could silence these people.

With official rank and recognition, who would dare to speak ill of him like that? At that time, he would want to separate from the family, leave this household that only burdened him, and live a peaceful life with his parents. He had had enough of the eldest son's family, Wang Jinzhu's sharp tongue, and Chen Tianfang's subservient attitude towards his wife.

The county examination is in February after the New Year. He must pass it.

The thought was like a dose of ice water, extinguishing the fire in his heart and calming him down. He picked up his pen again and began to write down each word from memory, his handwriting carrying a fierce intensity, as if he wanted to carve all the humiliation and determination into the paper.

-

The next day, Liu Yiyi took an oxcart from the village to the town.

She didn't go to the study to find Chen Shuyan, but went straight to Yang's rice shop.

"Looking for your wife."

The waiter looked her up and down. "And you are?"

"I am her sister-in-law."

The shop assistant went to the back to report. Liu Yiyi stood in the shop, looking left and right, calculating in her mind—the Yang family's shop must have a monthly turnover of at least several dozen taels, and Chen Shujie, who was in charge of the kitchen after marrying into the family, must have handled money. The ten taels of silver in her dowry should be returned somehow.

Before long, the man returned.

"The lady said she doesn't know any sister-in-law."

Liu Yiyi's expression changed instantly. "What did you say?"

The waiter, expressionless, repeated, "The lady said she doesn't recognize her."

Liu Yiyi took a deep breath, pushed past the shop assistant, and headed towards the backyard. The shop assistant tried to stop her, but she shoved him aside. She passed through the back door of the shop and stepped onto the bluestone path into the backyard.

Clothes were hanging to dry in the courtyard, and steam rose from the kitchen. Chen Shujie was sitting on a low stool under the eaves, holding an account book in her hands, with an abacus beside her.

She was a little plumper than before she got married, her face had regained some color, and her hair was neatly combed and adorned with a silver hairpin.

Liu Yiyi stood in the middle of the courtyard, waiting for Chen Shujie to look up.

Chen Shujie didn't look up.

His fingers moved the abacus beads, clicking and clacking, matching each bead one by one.

After waiting for a while, Liu Yiyi couldn't help but say, "Shujie, your sister-in-law has come to see you."

The sound of the abacus never stopped.

If you ignore me again, I'm going to get angry.

Chen Shujie turned to a page of the account book and drew a circle on it.

Liu Yiyi took two steps forward and reached out to pull her.

"stop."

"Outsiders are not allowed in the Yang family's backyard. You came in through the front door of the shop, which is considered trespassing. The shop assistant didn't stop you, so I'll have to deduct his wages later."

Liu Yiyi was stunned for a moment, not expecting Chen Shujie's first words to be this.

"I'm your sister-in-law, what kind of outsider am I—"

"Sister-in-law?" Chen Shujie closed the account book and placed it on her lap. "On the day I got married, you and my mother clung to me, trying to steal my money. That's not how a sister-in-law should act."

Liu Yiyi's face flushed red and then turned pale, and she raised her voice first: "That money was originally intended as a betrothal gift for my family."

"Yang Laosan told me this himself. If you think it's wrong, go find Yang Laosan and argue with him."

Seeing that Chen Shujie wouldn't listen to reason, she changed her tune, forcing a smile: "Alright, alright, I was wrong last time. I'm happy for you that you're doing well now. I came here today just to see you—"

"You've finished looking at it, you can go now."

Chen Shujie reopened the account book, and the sound of the abacus rang out again.

Liu Yiyi's smile vanished, and her voice sharpened: "Chen Shujie, don't go too far. Your brother studies at the academy, and his tuition and writing materials cost money. You've married into such a big shop, what's wrong with helping out a little?"

Chen Shujie stopped.

She looked up and calmly gazed at Liu Yiyi.

"Help me out? I was sold when I was thirteen for ten taels of silver, that should have been enough. Liu Yiyi, ask yourself honestly, when you sold me, did you ever think about helping me out?"

Liu Yiyi's face turned extremely ugly. Seeing that neither gentle nor forceful approaches worked, she became furious and threw out her final words:

"Fine, you're so smug now. You married a fifty-year-old man, what's so great about that? Girls in the back alleys marry young men at fifteen or sixteen, and you're someone else's bride at thirteen—"

"To be someone's legal wife," Chen Shujie continued, her tone flat. "No worries about food or clothing, servants to do your bidding, an accountant to manage your finances, and money to keep to yourself. And you?"

Liu Yiyi's mouth was open, unable to close.

Chen Shujie stood up, tucked the account book under her arm, kicked the low stool with her foot, and moved it to the side of the corridor pillar.

"see a visitor out."

The back door closed from the inside. Liu Yiyi stood outside the door, her chest heaving, unable to speak for a long time.

She was unwilling to give up, but she also knew that she had come for nothing. Chen Shujie had changed; she was completely different from the timid little girl she used to be at the Chen family.

On the oxcart, Liu Yiyi grew angrier the more she thought about it.

What did she marry Chen Shuyan for? She hoped he would pass the imperial examinations and achieve fame and fortune. But what is she seeing now? Chen Shuyan is studying diligently in his study, while she suffers mistreatment at her in-laws' house, and the five taels of silver she holds are dwindling with every penny spent.

On the contrary, Chen Shujie married an old man who owned a shop, and she sat there calculating on her abacus, like a matriarch in charge of the household.

On what grounds?

After Liu Yiyi left, Chen Shujie stood on the corridor without moving.

If Liu Yiyi had said those words to her at the beginning, she might have been very upset. But after spending so many days together, she felt that Yang Laosan was a pretty good person. He was generous to her, didn't pressure her, and even taught her how to read accounts and do business.

She had already planned it all out: when she was two years older, she would give him a son. Three hundred years after Old Yang passed away, she would live a peaceful and stable life as a shopkeeper with her son.

It's infinitely better than staying in the Chen family and waiting to be sold a second time by her own mother.