Chapter 4. The Poor Little One Being Bullied…

As soon as Cheng Qingzhi left, Cheng Songer finally had time to carefully examine the room. On the wall of the main hall hung a bow and several arrowheads, as well as some hunting nets.

Besides being a rich farmer, the original body’s mother would also go hunting in the mountains behind the village during her leisure time, and the original body had learned some basic skills from her.

However, fierce beasts often roamed the mountains, and one careless move could result in becoming a meal for these predators. The original body was timid and didn’t dare to venture deep into the mountains, only daring to hunt small animals like wild rabbits and foxes.

Having been in this matriarchal world for a few days now, not only was she unable to eat or dress well, but she was also really craving meat.

Cheng Songer took down the bow and arrows. With the original body’s hunting memories, she was eager to try. She planned to go hunting in the back mountains after finishing the autumn harvest for the landlord.

By the time Cheng Qingzhi had finished wiping his tears and returned to the main hall from the kitchen, the thorny branches that had been laid out on the ground were gone.

Those thorny branches, which had once lashed his body with unbearable memories, were now broken into two pieces and thrown into the firewood pile in the courtyard, inconspicuous.

Even though Cheng Qingzhi still harbored fear towards Cheng Songer in his heart, he couldn’t help but glance into the main hall.

In the dim light, Cheng Songer was drawing a bow with her back to him. The sleeves rolled up to her elbows revealed strong and powerful lines, her spine straight and resilient, just like her name, standing like a pine tree defiant in the wind and snow.

In all these years in the Cheng family, it was the first time Cheng Qingzhi felt that the person who had previously terrified him like a demon could possess such an admirable figure.

…

With the beautiful expectation of going hunting in the mountains to eat meat after working for a few more days, Cheng Songer entered dreamland.

The next day, when she woke up, she saw a basin of hot water and a bowl of noodle soup placed on the chair by the edge of the kang bed. Steam was rising from them, bringing warmth in the late autumn.

She washed her face and quickly finished the noodle soup, feeling a warm current flowing through her body, filled with energy.

She walked out of the room and saw Cheng Qingzhi sitting in the early morning courtyard, washing clothes. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, his hands red from the cold. His frail body looked even thinner in the desolate morning. His soft long hair swayed slightly with his movements, revealing a thin back that seemed as if a gust of wind could blow him over.

Everyone in the village was poor, and the clothes were made of rough cloth that chafed the skin. When washing, it often rubbed the skin on their hands raw. Therefore, the men in the village didn’t use their hands to wash clothes, but used wooden sticks to pound them instead.

But the original body liked to torment Cheng Qingzhi for fun. She had thrown away the pounding stick and ordered him to use his hands, insisting that there shouldn’t be a speck of dirt left. However, oil stains were hard to clean, especially those on hemp clothes, and there was no strong detergent.

All of Cheng Qingzhi’s knuckles were rubbed raw, bleeding and torn. No matter how much he scrubbed, the clothes couldn’t be cleaned thoroughly. Naturally, what awaited him was another brutal beating.

Memories of Cheng Qingzhi being beaten in the original body’s memories surfaced. Whether it was with wooden sticks, leather whips, or thorny branches, he was like an eternally submissive lamb, silently enduring everything. After the original body finished beating him, he would retreat to a corner in the kitchen, quietly licking his wounds.

Cheng Songer’s eyes darkened. This Cheng Qingzhi made her heart ache even more.

It wasn’t his fault that his biological father had run off with the money.

She silently approached Cheng Qingzhi’s side. Startled, Cheng Qingzhi flinched like a frightened bird.

“What, afraid I’ll eat you?” Cheng Songer’s eyes flashed with amusement.

Cheng Qingzhi lowered his head and shook it, wisps of hair falling at his temples, his profile weak and pitiful.

Seeing him like this, Cheng Songer had no heart to tease him further. She reached her hand into the wooden basin, and the bone-chilling water temperature of late autumn shocked her.

She frowned, “Why are you washing clothes with cold water?”

Cheng Qingzhi raised his head in surprise. Shouldn’t clothes be washed with cold water?

Although Cheng Songer had grown up in the village with her grandmother, she had never really experienced hardship. She had a washing machine for laundry and didn’t need to do it by hand. Even for washing underwear and such, she always used hot water.

The weather was so cold, and the river water would soon freeze over. Washing clothes like this would surely lead to chilblains on the hands.

Cheng Songer suddenly remembered scenes from her memories where every winter, Cheng Qingzhi’s delicate fingers would be frozen like carrots. She felt an inexplicable tug at her heart.

“Use hot water to wash,” she said.

Cheng Qingzhi was obviously stunned for a moment, then said softly, “Cold water is fine for me.”

Even the most delicate men in the village didn’t dare to use hot water to wash clothes in winter because it wasted firewood.

It was about to snow for the first time, and if they wasted firewood now, there wouldn’t be enough to get through the winter. Such wasteful men would be beaten to death by their wives’ families.

“What cold water.” Her tone was a bit heavy. Looking at Cheng Qingzhi’s hands that were already visibly red from the cold, she said assertively, “If you don’t move, I’ll go boil some.”

With that, she turned to go to the kitchen to boil water.

Cheng Qingzhi hurriedly grabbed the hem of her clothes, his eyes trembling as he revealed the truth: “We’re almost out of firewood… it can’t be wasted on me.”

Cheng Songer looked at him: “Using it on you is not a waste.”

“……” Cheng Qingzhi’s heart suddenly felt strangely alarmed by her words.

He shook his head, his frozen red fingertips clutching her clothes, his voice soft: “Let’s forget it, the water isn’t cold, and I’m used to it anyway.”

Cheng Songer pulled away her clothes: “There’s no need for such bad habits. From now on, with me here, you’ll have to get used to washing clothes with hot water.”

With that, Cheng Songer entered the kitchen and boiled a pot of water.

Cheng Qingzhi stared at Cheng Songer’s back as she burned the firewood. His usually timid eyes revealed a confused and dazed look, staring at Cheng Songer in a trance.

The water boiled quickly. She brought out a large ladle of scalding hot water and poured it into the wooden basin of ice-cold river water. The hot steam met the cold air, creating billowing white mist in the cold, foggy early autumn morning. It swirled and rolled before Cheng Qingzhi’s eyes, the warm steam dispersing around, driving away the chill.

Cheng Songer tested the water temperature again. It was now lukewarm, no longer freezing to the touch.

“Wash like this. There’s still some hot water left in the pot. If the water gets cold, add some more,” Cheng Songer said, softening her voice.

Cheng Qingzhi nodded with lowered eyes.

“I’m leaving now. Take care of yourself at home,” Cheng Songer instructed him before heading out to continue her work at the Liu family village.

Only then did Cheng Qingzhi carefully raise his eyes to watch her departing figure, her form gradually disappearing into the thin autumn mist in the distance.

He let out a small sigh of relief and looked at the steaming wash basin before him. He tentatively reached out his hand.

The warm, accommodating water enveloped his cold fingertips. Unlike the icy river water from before that stung like needles at the slightest touch, it gently and warmly surrounded his fingertips, a warmth he had never experienced before.

And this warmth was brought to him by Cheng Songer.

His thick eyelashes fluttered, and a strange feeling suddenly welled up in his heart. Cheng Qingzhi didn’t understand where this inexplicable feeling came from, so he could only scrub the clothes more diligently.

Cheng Li’s husband, Liu Su, got up early in the morning to go to the river to wash clothes. Passing by Cheng Songer’s house, he saw Cheng Qingzhi alone at home, while Cheng Songer had run off somewhere again to fool around.

Liu Su was feeling smug and wanted to go over to mock him a bit. But as he approached, he saw that the water in the wash basin was actually hot water.

The steaming hot water was billowing out, highlighting Liu Su’s envious gaze.

In late autumn, he himself had to go to the river to wash clothes, his hands nearly freezing off.

Why should a broken family’s seductive fox like Cheng Qingzhi get to use hot water?

He had long despised Cheng Qingzhi’s coquettish appearance, using his beauty to steal his wife-master’s heart. Usually, seeing him beaten half to death by Cheng Songer could help vent his anger, but for the past few days, Cheng Songer seemed to have eaten the wrong medicine and hadn’t beaten him for two consecutive days…

Liu Su gritted his teeth in hatred and said with a mocking tone: “Well, well, I wondered whose family was so wealthy that they could use hot water just to wash clothes. Turns out it’s little brother Qingzhi.”

Cheng Qingzhi’s hands paused briefly as he washed. Hearing this harsh tone, he knew immediately who had come.

He didn’t look up and continued washing.

Seeing Cheng Qingzhi ignoring him, Liu Su cursed in a shrill voice: “You seductive fox spirit, what are you pretending for! Who knows where you stole the firewood from, tch—”

Cheng Qingzhi kept his head down, letting Liu Su slander and insult him, pretending not to hear.

But Cheng Qingzhi’s tolerance only encouraged Liu Su to push further, relentlessly. His voice was shrill and grating, like nails scratching hard on a chopping board.

The neighbor next door couldn’t stand it anymore. Xu Shu came out and stood in his yard, trying to reason with Liu Su: “That’s enough, stop cursing. Don’t you still need to wash clothes? Why bother Qingzhi?”

“Bother?” Liu Su’s voice suddenly rose an octave: “This kind of slutty thing, I feel unlucky just looking at him. Cheng Qingzhi, tell Xu Shu, have I bothered you?”

Liu Su glared at the silent Cheng Qingzhi and picked up a branch from the roadside to hit him on the head.

Cheng Qingzhi continued to endure silently, not daring to resist.

At first, he had resisted. Liu Su constantly called him a fox spirit and a slut, and no pure man could stand having his reputation so casually insulted.

But Liu Su had his wife’s family and his own family backing him up. No matter what he did, he wouldn’t be blamed. Instead, they would gang up to target him.

They said he was falsely accusing others, that he and his father didn’t maintain their purity, ruining the reputation of Cheng Family Village.

Later, when a drunk Cheng Songer returned from the city and heard the villagers deliberately exaggerating that he was causing trouble for Liu Su, Cheng Songer didn’t ask about right or wrong. She dragged him by the hair to the village ancestral hall and beat him in front of everyone, humiliating him.

He wanted to resist but only received even more vicious beatings afterward. Liu Su stood among the watching villagers, seeing how Cheng Songer, amidst the villagers’ laughing and jeering, stripped away his shame and dignity layer by layer in front of everyone.

No one helped him, no one stood up for him, no one was his support.

… He resigned himself to his fate.

Liu Su, thinking of the clothes he still hadn’t washed, mocked Cheng Qingzhi a few more times before leaving with a face full of contempt.

After seeing him leave, Xu Shu from the neighboring yard came into his courtyard. He sighed and said, “Qingzhi, that’s just how Liu Su is. You’ll have to endure it. It’ll pass if you endure.”

Xu Shu was an honest and kind person, but he was timid and weak, afraid of conflicts. He could only offer a few words of comfort after everything was over.

But even so, this was one of the few moments of warmth in Cheng Qingzhi’s life.

He shook his head: “It’s alright, Uncle Xu. I’m used to it.”

Xu Shu pulled up a small stool and sat beside him, staring at his face for a good while.

Cheng Qingzhi glanced at him and asked, “Uncle Xu, is there something dirty on my face?”

“No,” Xu Shu shook his head and asked in a low voice, “Cheng Songer hasn’t beaten you these past few days?”

Previously, Cheng Qingzhi’s face was covered in injuries of all sizes, and new wounds appeared daily. But in these two days, Xu Shu was surprised to find that no new injuries had appeared on Cheng Qingzhi’s face or body.

“…Mm.” He kept his head lowered.

Xu Shu was surprised and also happy for him: “It’s good that she’s not beating you. Look at you, child, you’re truly pitiful.”

He reached his hand into the wash basin and, feeling the warm water temperature, couldn’t help but exclaim: “You’re actually using hot water to wash clothes, you… aren’t you afraid Cheng Songer will beat you when she comes back? She’s finally being a bit nice to you, you must not make her angry.”

Cheng Qingzhi’s beautiful eyes wavered, and he said: “This was Songer’s idea. She told me to use hot water to wash clothes.”

Xu Shu’s eyes widened: “Really? She actually has such a kind heart? Wasn’t she just yelling a few days ago about taking you to Yihong—”

Xu Shu suddenly covered his mouth, smiling embarrassedly: “Look at my mouth, I just don’t know how to speak.”

Cheng Qingzhi shook his head, his slightly reddened hands tucking the fallen strands of hair at his temples behind his ears: “I don’t know why she suddenly changed her mind either…”

He still remembered when they were at Yihong Lou, she was still haggling with the madam, her eyes full of money and desire.

But the next second, she suddenly seemed to become a different person, even the way she looked at him changed.

Before, when she looked at him, her eyes were full of disgust and hatred, but at that moment, he actually saw a hint of pity and tenderness in her eyes.

Tenderness…

Cheng Qingzhi’s hand gripping the clothes tightened slightly, the confusion in his heart deepening.

“You are siblings after all, maybe she suddenly had an awakening of conscience,” Xu Shu said. “Now that Cheng Songer is no longer beating you, it shows she’s grown up, started to understand things, and knows how to care for people.”

“Look, she even lets you use hot water to wash clothes. Who doesn’t know how precious firewood is in winter? No wonder Liu Su wanted to mock you early in the morning. Which man in our village has such good fortune? I’m envious just looking at it!” Xu Shu said cheerfully.

“Dad, what are you doing at his house? Come back quickly.” Lin Yuxiu came out of the house and saw his father chatting with Cheng Qingzhi, which angered him greatly.

Lin Yuxiu was delicately handsome, the most beautiful man in the entire village besides Cheng Qingzhi. He was of marriageable age, and matchmakers seeking marriage proposals were wearing out the doorstep.

Previously, a scholar from the neighboring village heard of his beauty and came to propose marriage.

Lin Yuxiu was overjoyed, as marrying a scholar was an excellent match.

Who knew that when the scholar passed by Cheng Qingzhi’s courtyard, he inadvertently glanced at him and was instantly captivated, falling head over heels in love, wanting to marry Cheng Qingzhi on the spot.

Later, when the scholar learned of his family’s poor reputation, although regretful, he had to give up.

But after this incident, the scholar lost interest in marrying Lin Yuxiu and instead married the landlord’s son.

Such a good marriage prospect was ruined, and Lin Yuxiu blamed all his resentment on Cheng Qingzhi.

During this time, whenever Cheng Songer beat Cheng Qingzhi, Lin Yuxiu would always add fuel to the fire from behind.

Even the idea of selling Cheng Qingzhi to Yihong Lou was partly Lin Yuxiu’s ‘contribution’.