1940s: I supported my wife and sister-in-law by hunting.

The firewood in the stove pit in the outer room crackled and burned.

Chen Guilan squatted by the stove, holding a wooden spoon and stirring the millet soup in the pot, her face showing some reluctance.

She despised that scoundrel of a woman in the house from the bottom of her heart. Years ago, the village had been ravaged by that scoundrel. The villagers had driven that scoundrel to the riverbank, where hundreds of people were shot dead, and the river water turned red. Her brother had just forgotten the pain of the past.

Soon, a bowl of thick rice porridge was cooked, with rice oil floating on the surface. I carried the bowl into the house.

There was a person lying on the kang (a heated brick bed).

Chen Liu reached out and touched her forehead again. She still had a fever.

Chen Guilan placed the bowl on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed).

"Sister-in-law, what on earth happened to my brother? Why did he have to choose such a terrible time for a woman to carry on Shanzi's family line and have children? Even if he were to take a proper second wife, there are plenty of beautiful and capable young women in our village!"

"In our Chen family, we have houses, land, and plenty of food. Which girl wouldn't be eager to marry into our family? Yet, we chose this woman, a nobody with no background and a whole host of faults!"

She leaned closer to take a look, and wow, it's true, her brother really knows how to shop. His eyebrows, eyes, and face are quite attractive, fair-skinned, and his cheeks are rosy.

In previous years, some people fled to their village, and others hid in the area. They used to smear soot and cow dung on their faces. They looked filthy just now, but now they look completely different.

Chen Liushi picked up a bowl of millet porridge.

He scooped out a spoonful of rice water, blew on it several times before bringing it to his lips to test the temperature, and only after confirming it wasn't too hot did he feed it to the woman on the kang (heated brick bed).

Who knew that this woman seemed delirious from the fever, and couldn't swallow at all, so it all spilled out. I quickly grabbed a towel to wipe it, but I couldn't open her mouth.

"What are we going to do? He won't drink a single drop of broth!"

Old Chen stood outside the door with his hands behind his back.

What makes a good woman? She smiles at you when you scold her, and doesn't say a word when you kick her.

He even knows how to think about the family. His two daughters-in-law are both good women. The only problem is that they didn't give birth to a grandson.

Of course, Shanzi's mother is half a good woman. She gives him face in public, but at home, especially on the kang (heated brick bed), she loves to berate him.

"How's it going? I'll go in and take a look."

"Come in."

Just as Chen Laonian was about to let go of his anger, he saw the young woman who had been wiped clean. He was sure his son Shanzi would love her. Then he heard Shanzi's mother speak.

"Dad, this rice porridge is impossible to feed her. There's not a single good spot on her body, she's burning up, and the fever just won't go down. I think... she's not going to make it."

Old Chen's face darkened. He reached into his waistband, pulled out his pipe, filled it with tobacco, bent down, took out a piece of wood from the stove, and lit the tobacco.

He took two big slurps.

"Even if she can't live, we have to keep her alive! I went through all the trouble of buying her back so that she could give our Chen family a grandson to carry on the family line! Besides, we can't let her die on our kang (heated brick bed)! That would be truly bad luck."

Frustrated, Chen Liu took the pipe bowl directly from the head of the household and took two puffs.

"What should we do? Dad, you're the one who brought this person home."

"What else can we do? Quickly go and invite Brother Zhou over. Let him take your pulse, examine you, and prescribe some medicine."

Upon hearing this, Chen Guilan immediately asked for a doctor to prepare the medicine.

"Brother! How much will that cost?"

"We have to catch her no matter the cost! I paid to bring her back. Now that she's in our Chen family, we can't just watch her die on our bed. She's a human being, after all!"

Unwilling to give up, Chen Guilan leaned forward again and put the back of her hand under the woman's nose.

The person was still clinging to life.

"She's still breathing. If I manage to save her life, and she dares to disobey and refuse to have Shanzi's child, I'll knock her unconscious, tie her up, and throw her onto Shanzi's bed!"

Ultimately, none of the Chen family members are truly heartless villains. If they really had to watch a life be lost, no one could just stand by and watch.

Before long, Chen Guilan sent her eldest son to fetch Doctor Zhou.

Kexin drove a horse-drawn sled to pick up Doctor Zhou, who then followed her into the west wing with his medicine chest to take the woman's pulse.

The family had agreed on a story to tell outsiders: if anyone in the village asked, they would say that the girl was a refugee who was picked up by Chen Laonian on the way and was intended to be Gao Shan's second wife.

Ever since this woman, who lived such a miserable life, was bought and brought home by Chen Laonian.

That same day, Lianhua and Da Mao moved to the east wing room to live on the large kang (heated brick bed).

After dinner.

Chen Gaoshan sat on the kang (a heated brick bed) in the west wing, picking his teeth with a wooden stick, looking at the young woman who had been sleeping on the kang for a day and a night.

After drinking most of the two bowls of herbal medicine, her complexion did improve considerably.

Her lips, which were originally pale, now had a hint of pink, and she no longer looked lifeless as she had just been carried out of the sack yesterday.

As he looked around, Chen Gaoshan also began to scrutinize the scene.

Look at her, she's at most eighteen years old, younger than Lotus and Apricot Blossom in the family.

Damn, she even has a bit of a Showa-era woman vibe. He only knows women who aren't wearing clothes, and right now she's covered up quite well with a blanket, so he can't possibly imagine what kind of teacher she looks like.

She's so beautiful, it's a waste that she's filming this!

Now that I see such beautiful women, it would be a waste not to make videos of them!

I only caught a glimpse of it before Xiaxia came in carrying the medicine soup.

Chen Gaoshan immediately looked away, stood up casually, and waved his hand dismissively.

"Second brother, are you giving her her medicine?"

"You can feed him now, I'm going back to my room to sleep. It's cold, remember to close the door properly after you're done, don't let the draft in and make him feel cold."

After saying that, he walked out of the west wing and went to the east room.

In the outer room, in the field.

Xinghua was standing bent over in front of the stove, her body hunched over, adding firewood into the stove, her big butt sticking out.

Chen Gaoshan stepped forward and pressed himself against her from behind, wrapping his large hands around her waist and pulling her into his arms.

It's like two disconnected train carriages that have been successfully fastened together.

Xinghua was startled by his sudden action. Her body stiffened, and she hurriedly lowered her voice, her breath coming in disarray.

"What are you doing! Stop fooling around! Lianhua is in the inner room comforting the baby and nursing Da Mao! What if she hears us!"

His breath landed on her ear.

"What can I do? It's been over a month, and you and Lotus have both recovered quite a bit. I've been holding back for so long, it would be unreasonable if you didn't let me get closer to you."

His hands, instead of staying still, reached inside his clothes.

Xinghua's body went weak, her legs trembled, and she gasped for breath. Her small hands hurriedly pressed down on his mischievous hands, her face burning with anxiety. She dared not make a sound and could only plead with him in a low voice.

"Shanzi, don't do this, not here. Just hold it in and bear with it for now. Wait until tonight, until Lianhua is asleep, okay? I'll do as you say tonight."

Chen Gaoshan held her tightly, then lowered his head and kissed her neck.

"Fine. You'd better keep your word. I'm waiting."

Chen Gaoshan took a towel and wiped himself from head to toe in the outer room. After washing his feet, he was already on the kang (a heated brick bed).

I watched as the two of them nursed the babies, patted them to help them burp, and finally put the two little ones to sleep.

Lotus lived at the head of the kang (heated brick bed), the two children lived in the middle, then Xinghua lived there, and he lived at the end of the kang.

He was half asleep when he suddenly felt a jolt of energy.

He immediately perked up.

I felt him pull back his blanket and press against me, breathing into my ear.

"Lotus is asleep."

Chen Gaoshan was lying on his side, Lianhua had her legs crossed, Da Mao and Er Mao were asleep, and his wife was pretending to be asleep. In an instant, a lot of cold air entered the quilt in the east wing because of the large movements.

Lotus, who was sleeping on the other side, suddenly heard some rustling noises coming from next to her. Although she cursed Shanzi for being shameless in her heart, she didn't dare to move as she listened. She could only pretend to be asleep. If they found out that she wasn't asleep, it would be even more embarrassing to eavesdrop.

But before long, she felt hot inside, biting the blanket in her mouth and instinctively clamping the blanket between her legs.

She didn't know how much time had passed, but the noise and the flickering wind finally stopped, and all she could hear was snoring. She couldn't fall asleep anymore. She thought to herself, "No way, I definitely can't sleep on the same kang (heated brick bed) tomorrow. At least my west wing has wooden doors to the south and north rooms."

If things continue like this, she'll go crazy.