The ancestral hall of the Zheng family in Wang Family Village.
Father Zheng and his family of four sat silently, holding their bowls as they ate.
Tonight’s meal was still prepared by themselves, borrowing the villagers’ kitchen.
A bowl of mixed grain rice, accompanied by a bowl of wild vegetable soup dotted with tiny oil droplets.
Father Zheng took a few hurried bites before putting down his chopsticks.
He had no appetite.
Mother Zheng was the same.
The couple set their bowls aside and lay down to rest.
Zheng Qianqian ate half a bowl but couldn’t finish it. She slammed down her bowl and chopsticks, shot a fierce glare at Zheng Tongwei, then angrily lay down to sleep.
Zheng Tongwei mechanically ate the meal one bite at a time.
Only after finishing and cleaning up did he finally lie down to rest.
Staring at the dark roof above, Zheng Tongwei’s eyes glazed over, filled with confusion.
In reality, the Zheng family’s exile this time wasn’t because of Father or Mother Zheng — the root cause was Zheng Tongwei himself.
He had trusted the wrong people, stood on the wrong side, and now was being punished.
Was this the rest of his life? Trapped in this small mountain village?
Frustrated, Zheng Tongwei got up and stepped out of the ancestral hall.
Outside was a pond.
It was summer, and the frogs croaked incessantly in the pond.
A few frogs leapt out from the grass, catching insects.
Under the moonlit night,
slowly removing the glasses from the bridge of his nose, Zheng Tongwei’s cold face took on a sickly madness.
His slender hand reached into his pocket, pulling out a folding knife, and with a swift motion, struck down.
Ribbit~
Stop!
……
The next day,
Father Zheng, Mother Zheng, and Zheng Qianqian were pleasantly surprised to find frog porridge for breakfast.
After so many plain days, finally a bit of meat appeared. The three devoured it ravenously.
Father Zheng said, “Tongwei, next time don’t chop the frog so finely.”
Mother Zheng added, “The frog legs should be whole to taste better.”
Zheng Qianqian looked at a frog’s eye on her plate and said, “What’s this? Frog eye? Throw it away next time.”
Zheng Tongwei’s spoon paused for a moment, but in the end, he said nothing, quietly listening to their chatter while drinking plain porridge.
……
This morning, they were to pull weeds from the cornfield.
Because the Zheng family was new here, someone was assigned to accompany them.
Pei Yunzhou volunteered and was paired with Zheng Tongwei.
Pulling weeds was simple, no special skills needed.
Pei Yunzhou didn’t even need to demonstrate; Zheng Tongwei already knew how.
“What’s that stool for?” Zheng Tongwei was curious about the small bamboo stool tied behind Pei Yunzhou’s waist.
“That? It’s just like this,” Pei Yunzhou said, plopping down to show him.
Zheng Tongwei immediately understood. “Tied behind your waist so you can sit while pulling weeds.”
“Exactly.” Pei Yunzhou nodded.
“That’s clever.” Zheng Tongwei had never seen anything like it before.
“Pretty cool, right?” Pei Yunzhou beamed with pride. “My sister-in-law invented it.”
“Very clever.” Zheng Tongwei nodded in approval.
Pei Yunzhou and Zheng Tongwei pulled weeds together, chatting as they worked.
“Thanks for showing me the ropes today. Otherwise, I’d be clueless and probably make a fool of myself.”
“When I first came to Wang Family Village, I was just like you — didn’t know anything.”
“Good brother, then you have to teach me!”
“No problem!”
……
By the time Shen Nanchu arrived at the mountain, Pei Yunzhou had already, without even realizing it, shared everything about Wang Family Village—inside and out—with Zheng Tongwei. He even spilled quite a bit about the Pei family affairs.
“Look, my sister-in-law is here.”
Pei Yunzhou waved at Shen Nanchu.
Zheng Tongwei followed Pei Yunzhou’s gaze and saw a graceful, enchanting woman approaching—her beauty so stunning it could make fish sink and falling geese blush.
Zheng Tongwei had seen many women before, but this was the first time he’d encountered someone as flawless as Shen Nanchu.
This woman...
But Shen Nanchu glanced at him once, her eyes instantly filled with disdain.
On the outside, he looked clean and fair, but inside, he was dark and dirty.
By extension, Shen Nanchu even started to look down on Pei Yunzhou.
That silly boy, has he lost his mind? Hanging out with someone like that?
System: “Host, just so you know, Zheng Tongwei was fishing for information through Pei Yunzhou and managed to extract quite a bit about Wang Family Village and even some Pei family secrets.”
Shen Nanchu: “...”
It’s not gods you fear, but teammates who are pigs.
Shen Nanchu: “What exactly did that stinky Pei Yunzhou say?”
The system repeated everything verbatim.
Thankfully, Pei Yunzhou was just a braggart and didn’t spill any critical secrets.
A small blessing in disguise.
Not completely foolish after all.
Shen Nanchu let out a cold smirk.
Pei Yunzhou rubbed his arm, suddenly feeling a chill.
And why was his sister-in-law smiling at him so sweetly?
It was the kind of smile that sent shivers down his spine.
No, no—he must be overthinking it.
Pei Yunzhou shook his head, telling himself to stop imagining things.
Shen Nanchu continued walking up the mountain.
But in her heart, she was already plotting how to make the family’s little cabbage (a term of endearment for a young girl) more cautious when they went back down.
In Shen Nanchu’s view, they simply lacked experience and needed to go through more to learn.
Zheng Tongwei watched Shen Nanchu’s retreating figure, a thoughtful look crossing his face.
“Your sister-in-law—why isn’t she working?”
“My sister-in-law?” Pei Yunzhou thought for a moment. “She’s pregnant and can’t do heavy labor, so she doesn’t take village work points.”
“Ah, didn’t expect that. She’s so young and already expecting.”
Zheng Tongwei pressed on.
“Do you have enough work points in your family?”
Pei Yunzhou puffed up with pride.
“My sister-in-law is amazing! As long as she’s around, we never have to worry about food or drink.”
...
That evening, after dinner, Shen Nanchu called Pei Yunxi into her room.
The two sisters-in-law huddled close, whispering secrets for a long time.
When Pei Yunxi finally stepped out of Shen Nanchu’s room, she looked refreshed and radiant, clutching a bag full of White Rabbit milk candies.
Passing by Pei Yunzhou, Pei Yunxi even gave him a rare friendly look.
“Brother, are you taking a bath?”
“Make sure you wash well, okay?”
Pei Yunzhou’s entire body bristled with unease.
The next morning, when Pei Yunzhou went to work, he noticed that the villagers were all looking at him strangely.
“Auntie, good morning!” he greeted cheerfully.
“Morning, morning!” Auntie A covered her mouth, giggling.
“Yunzhou, did you sleep well last night?” Auntie B’s eyes sparkled with teasing as she looked at him.
“Sis-in-law, you should ask Yunzhou if he was drawing a map last night,” Aunt Bing said with a sly grin.
Drawing a map?
Pei Yunzhou was completely baffled.
The aunts, seeing that Pei Yunzhou didn’t get it, burst into even louder laughter.
Just then,
Wang Dabao and Wang Xiaobao from the village chief’s family happened to pass by, clapping their little hands and singing:
“In the dead of night, dark as can be,
Old Pei the Fourth draws a map on his bed.
A sudden leak that won’t stop flowing,
The quilt’s soaked like a little river crossing!
Mom’s so mad she’s waving the broom,
Dad’s laughing so hard he’s leaning on the wall.
The dog sniffs and shakes its head:
‘This smell’s so strong, better run ahead!’”
Boom~~~
Thunder roared.
Pei Yunzhou suddenly felt as if countless bolts of lightning were striking him from all directions.
::::＞_＜::::
There was only one Pei family in this village.
Who was Pei’s fourth son?
None other than himself, Pei Yunzhou.
Now he finally understood why the aunts were looking at him with such amused smiles.
Turns out they’d taken that nursery rhyme literally and were laughing at him!
Bedwetting? That was something from elementary school—he hadn’t wet the bed since middle school.
Which little brat was spreading these rumors?
Pei Yunzhou was both embarrassed and angry.
“You two little rascals, stop it right now.”
“Don’t sing that anymore.”
Wang Dabao and Wang Xiaobao stuck their tongues out at Pei Yunzhou.
“Nope, I won’t.”
“Pei the Fourth wets the bed!”
After teasing him, the two little rascals didn’t wait for Pei Yunzhou’s reaction and took off running.
ε=ε=ε=(~￣▽￣)~
Running with their hands stuffed in their pockets.
Their pockets were bulging with White Rabbit candies—gifts from Sister Pei.
They had promised Sister Pei to sing around the village three times.
They were still one lap short!
Ha ha ha~~~
The aunts watching burst into loud laughter.
Pei Yunzhou, burning with shame and anger, took off after them.
Though just kids, Wang Dabao and Wang Xiaobao knew the village like the back of their hands!
Where was a dog hole? Where was a hiding spot?
They could find them with their eyes closed.
After finishing the last lap, Wang Dabao and Wang Xiaobao finally stopped.
Pei Yunzhou had run all over the village and finally caught up to the two kids.
He grabbed one by each hand.
“You two little troublemakers, tell me—who taught you to sing that?”
Wang Dabao and Wang Xiaobao exchanged a glance.
“I won’t say.”
“Me neither.”
Pei Yunzhou laughed in frustration.
“If you don’t tell me, I’m taking all the candy from your pockets.”
Wang Dabao: “Stealing candy from kids? Shameless.”
Wang Xiaobao: “Yeah, totally shameless.”
Pei Yunzhou: “……”
He tried to calm himself and forced a fake smile.
(●'◡'●)
“You two adorable little friends, can you at least tell me who gave you all these White Rabbit candies?”
Wang Dabao and Wang Xiaobao shook their heads in unison, “No way.”
The two brothers held out their hands to Pei Yunzhou.
“Unless you give us some candy too, then we’ll tell you.”
Pei Yunzhou patted his pockets—no candy!
“Well, I’ll owe you then. Tomorrow I’ll bring you some.”
“Three pieces each.”
Wang Dabao: “If not tomorrow, then the day after, four pieces.”
Wang Xiaobao: “If not the day after, then the next day, five pieces.”
Pei Yunzhou nodded in agreement.
It was just a few candies—he could manage that.
“Now, tell me—who taught you to sing that?”
Wang Dabao: "Sister Pei."
Wang Xiaobao: "Sister Pei."
The two little rascals spoke in unison.
Pei~~ Yun~~xi~~
༽◺_◿༼
Pei Yunzhou stormed angrily, rushing back home.
……
At the Pei residence.
Pei Yunxi stood in the courtyard, her face glowing with excitement as she waited for Pei Yunzhou’s return.
Shen Nanchu sat nearby, a smile playing in his eyes.
"Pei Yunxi, get out here right now."
Pei Yunzhou’s voice came from not far away.
"Pei Yunzhou, then get in here."
Pei Yunxi put her hands on her hips and shouted back.
Come on in, I’m not afraid of you!
Without a second thought, Pei Yunzhou pushed the door open with both hands.
Crash~~~
A basin of water poured down,
Cool to the bone!
Heart soaring high!
