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

On June 12th, the land deed was officially registered in Wang Jinzhu's name.

Old Chen was efficient, and the bricklayer he hired, Master Zhao, was one of the best in town. According to Wang Jinzhu's design, the new house was divided into two sections, front and back.

The front yard was the workshop. Three large brick buildings stood in a row: the middle one was the mixing room, the left one was the warehouse for storing raw materials, and the right one was the distillation room with three large pots.

The front gate of the courtyard was wide enough for two donkey carts to walk side by side. The courtyard wall was as high as two people, and at Wang Jinzhu's request, a ring of sharp porcelain shards was inlaid on top of the wall.

"This front yard will be our family's source of income from now on." Wang Jinzhu stood on the construction site, pointing to the thick threshold. "When we're at work, we'll close the door and no one is allowed to look inside."

Passing through a moon gate, you reach the courtyard where people live.

Four main rooms were built in the backyard, along with two side rooms. A deep well was dug in the center of the yard, with clear, cool water that was easy to use.

Wang Jinzhu specifically instructed that the windows in the backyard should be large to allow for good lighting, and that there should be space under the eaves for a recliner.

Looking at the layout, Old Man Chen clicked his tongue in amazement: "Making money in the front and living off it in the back, Jinzhu's idea is really good."

Because the new house was not far from the old courtyard, the noise was immense. Every day, Chen Shuyan went in and out, watching the blue brick walls rise up day by day, and the bloodshot in his eyes never went away.

He had studied hard for years but could not obtain the wealth and status that Wang Jinzhu had obtained in less than a year.

He felt resentful, and Chen Tian felt even more resentful.

The ten taels of silver that had been swindled from Chen Tian were like a thorn in his side. He wasn't a man of many words, but he held grudges.

into the night.

On a sweltering summer night, the air was stifling, like a giant steamer. The cicadas chirped incessantly in the trees, their noise driving one to distraction.

Chen Tianfang told Wang Jinzhu, "Let's go take a look around the new house," but instead went around to the outside of the second house's courtyard wall.

The second wife's outhouse was in a corner of the yard, very simple, just a deep pit with two planks on top. In this hot weather, the smell could knock someone over from half a mile away.

Chen Tianfang squatted behind a pile of dry hay outside the outhouse.

swarms of mosquitoes swarmed towards him, buzzing in his ears. He dared not move, for even the slightest movement would trigger the buzzing. Soon, his arms and neck were covered in welts. Sweat streamed down his forehead and into his eyes, stinging and burning, but he could only grit his teeth and endure it.

"Doesn't Chen Shuyan go to the toilet at night?" Chen Tian thought to himself.

He endured the nauseating stench and the intense itching all over his body, like a patient hunter.

After waiting for about half an hour, the door to the second room creaked open.

Chen Shuyan, draped in a robe and yawning, stumbled towards the outhouse. He muttered to himself, "Once I pass the imperial examination, I'll definitely buy a big house with a washroom in the city. This awful place stinks to death..."

As soon as Chen Shuyan stepped into the outhouse, before he could even undo his belt, he felt a gust of cold wind on the back of his head.

"Who—uh!"

Chen Tianfang moved extremely quickly, covering Chen Shuyan's mouth with one hand and grabbing his neck with the other like an eagle snatching a chick, slamming him down.

"Thump!"

Chen Shuyan's head was firmly embedded in that filthy substance.

Chen Tianfang didn't let go. He counted to three, then suddenly lifted the person out.

Chen Shuyan coughed violently from the choking, his face covered in tears, snot, and filth, looking utterly disheveled.

"Keep the interest on these ten taels of silver for now," Chen Tianfang whispered in his ear, then disdainfully tossed him into the ashes in the corner, like a bag of garbage.

"Remember this: if you dare to reach out again, I'll keep you in there until dawn."

Chen Tianfang climbed over the wall and went home.

When he got home, he poured five buckets of cold water over himself by the well and scrubbed his skin three times with soapberry before daring to go inside.

Wang Jinzhu was still awake, sitting under the lamp adjusting the curtains. Seeing him return, she wrinkled her nose: "Where did you go? There's a strange smell."

Chen Tianfang chuckled and leaned over to rest his head on her shoulder: "Go help someone digest their food. Jinzhu, my arm is itchy, can you put some medicine on it for me?"

Looking at the dense mosquito bites on his arms, Wang Jinzhu was both annoyed and amused. She took some cooling ointment and applied it to his arm little by little, saying, "Don't do things like this that cause you to lose eight hundred of your own lives in the future. If you get completely covered in mosquito bites, I won't allow you to go to bed with me!"

"As long as it helps you breathe, it's worth it even if I have to use the outhouse," Chen Tianfang said with a simple, honest smile.

Chen Shuyan next door lay on the ground retching for a long time before scrambling to the water's edge and drenching himself thoroughly.

After rinsing off, he suppressed the urge to vomit and returned to the room. Liu Yiyi, however, disgustedly covered her nose and kicked him off the bed: "Chen Shuyan, did you fall into a cesspool? Get away from me! I'm pregnant, don't startle my precious son!"

Chen Shuyan lay on the ground, his eyes filled with resentment and malice.

With the wedding date drawing closer, Chen Tianwei suddenly remembered that she hadn't told Shujie about her upcoming marriage yet.

On June 21, Chen Tianwei went to Yang's Rice Shop in town with two bags of pastries in his pocket.

The waiter helped call for someone, and soon Chen Shujie came out from the inner courtyard.

She had gained weight in just a few months. The flesh on her cheeks had filled out her once thin cheekbones, giving her a rosy complexion. Her hair was neatly combed and adorned with a plain silver hairpin.

"Sister Tianwei!" Chen Shujie called out happily, then took her hand and led her inside.

The backyard was a small courtyard with two pots of gardenias, their white blossoms in full bloom. Chen Shujie pulled her into her room and closed the door.

The room was simply furnished, but everything was complete. There was a newly made wardrobe, a bronze mirror, a dressing box, and a clean, fine cotton quilt on the bed.

"What brings you here?" Chen Shujie poured a cup of iced tea and handed it to her.

"I'm getting married."

Chen Shujie paused, then smiled: "With whom?"

"Wang Xiaobao, the third brother of the Wang family. He's the eldest sister-in-law's brother."

"Then you're in luck." Chen Shujie sat down, her hand unconsciously resting on her lower abdomen. "With your sister-in-law here, no one in the Wang family will bully you."

Chen Tianwei's gaze followed her hand to her abdomen: "Shujie, are you pregnant?"

Chen Shujie looked down at her stomach and nodded: "Three months."

"Is Yang Laosan good to you?"

"His name is Yang Ping'an," Chen Shujie corrected her, her tone flat. "He's been alright to me. When he found out I was pregnant, he was careful not to walk too fast, afraid of tripping over a pothole. Aunt Li makes me chicken and meat soup every day, in different ways."

She paused, then continued, "He's just a bit old, but he doesn't have any other problems. He doesn't hit people, doesn't swear, and doesn't drink. His two ex-wives, one died of illness, and the other ran away because he was poor. Now that the shop is up and running, he's settled down."

Chen Tian breathed a slight sigh of relief, but then felt a pang of sadness in his heart. Shu Jie was only fifteen years old, but when she talked about these things, she sounded like an old woman who had lived half her life.

"The wedding banquet is on June 26th, are you coming?"

Chen Shujie shook her head: "Yang Ping'an won't let me go far. It's still early in the month, he's afraid something might happen. He said he'll go, give a gift, have a drink, and convey my feelings."

"What about your parents?" Chen Tianwei asked tentatively.

Chen Shujie's smile vanished.

She picked up her teacup, took a sip, and put it down. "I told Yang Laosan not to give them a friendly look, just treat them like strangers."

"They sold me for twenty taels of silver. Whether I'm doing well or not here is up to me. It has nothing to do with them." She pulled a cloth bag from under her pillow. "This is five taels of silver, for your dowry."

I can't have it—

"Take it." Chen Shujie stuffed the cloth bag into her hand. "From now on, you and Tianrun are my only family."

Chen Tianwei clutched the cloth bag, her nose stung with tears, and she turned her head away.

Chen Shujie patted her hand: "Don't cry. You've married into a good family; you should be happy."

When Chen Tianwei left, Chen Shujie saw him to the door.

"Sister Tianwei."

"Um?"

"Tell your sister-in-law that if her cosmetics business ever needs a shop to sell its goods, Yang Ping'an knows a few shop owners in town."

Chen Tianwei returned to the village.

Shujie relayed Shujie's words to Wang Jinzhu verbatim, including the five taels of silver.

Wang Jinzhu took the silver but didn't rush to keep it.

"Shujie, that girl, has a strong will."

She hesitated for a moment: "She said Yang Ping'an knows the shopkeepers in town?"

"Um."

"Alright, remember this line for now. Young Master Liu's business targets the high-end market, catering to the wealthy ladies of the prefectural city. But we'll have to expand into the town eventually. Focus on the upper levels first, then the lower levels; it'll happen naturally."