Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Chen Biao, still seated on the ground, merely scoffed at the newcomer—a mere village boy brought in for an auspicious wedding. What trouble could he possibly stir up?

"This is a Chen family matter. An outsider like you has no right to interfere."

"Oh? How can you say that, Uncle? Am I an outsider? Are you planning to have Qingyan divorce me on his behalf?"

Chen Biao was taken aback. He hadn’t expected this young man to be so sharp-tongued. At a loss for words, he simply sat on the ground, feigning death.

"Why aren’t you speaking, Uncle? Is Mother’s dowry not enough? How about I give you my dowry too?"

Chen Biao sneered, "A poor village boy from the countryside—what dowry could you possibly have?"

Wang Ying grinned. "You’re right, Uncle. Mother should’ve had her son marry a wealthy young lady, so she could provide for your entire household. That way, you wouldn’t have to go hungry despite having hands and feet."

The onlookers burst into laughter, and the murmurs grew louder.

Even with his thick skin, Chen Biao felt embarrassed by the public ridicule. He growled, "Eldest Sister-in-law, is this the fine son’s spouse you chose? Speaking to an elder like this—he has no sense of propriety or shame! Aren’t you afraid this will become a laughingstock?"

Li Shi stammered, too afraid to respond, and glanced nervously at her son’s spouse.

Wang Ying wiped the smile off his face. "Uncle, you’ve got it all wrong. By tradition, when a father passes away, the father’s brothers ought to provide for the widow and orphans. Yet here you are, demanding money from them instead. Throwing a tantrum when you don’t get your way—you’re the one who knows nothing of propriety or shame!"

"You—!"

"What about me? Even wild dogs on the mountain know to look after their own kind. You’re worse than an animal, forcing your sister-in-law to support you with her dowry. How thick-skinned can you be?"

"I…"

"If I were you, I’d just ram my head into a wall and end it. How else will you face your deceased brother in the afterlife?"

Chen Biao was so enraged he staggered backward, clutching his chest, speechless.

Wang Ying dropped to his knees, covering his face with a cloth as he pretended to cry. "You know your nephew is ill, yet you come here on his wedding day to cause trouble. Are you trying to force us to our graves? There’s no way out for us now~~~"

Watching Chen Biao turn pale with fury, Wang Ying felt a secret inner satisfaction. In his past life, his grandmother had dealt with plenty of awful relatives, and he’d learned all her tricks. Who knew he’d put them to use today?

"Outrageous! Absolutely outrageous!" Seeing that he stood no chance of gaining anything, Chen Biao stormed off in a huff, sleeves flapping.

As the banquet wound down and guests began to leave, Wang Ying brushed the dust off his clothes and stood up.

Turning around, he saw his siblings-in-law staring at him with admiration, as if they were about to applaud and cheer, "Sis-in-law, you’re the best!"

"That was so satisfying! We should give them a piece of our minds like that a few more times, so they stop coming here every month to mooch!" Chen Qingyun excitedly grabbed his arm. She had wanted to curse out her uncle’s family for so long! If not for her status, she would’ve long since had it out with them.

"Don’t talk nonsense," Li Shi said, though her eyes shone with concern. "With so many guests here today, this incident will surely spread. I’m afraid it might damage your reputation."

Wang Ying waved a hand dismissively. "What good is reputation, anyway?" Besides, deep down, he wasn’t really a young man, so he couldn’t care less about gossip.

Li Shi came from a family of scholars and had been raised to be cultured and polite, never one to argue. But how could she not be angry inside? Finally, someone had vented her pent-up frustration for her, and it felt incredibly satisfying.

She had initially looked down on Wang Ying for his background, but now, the more she saw of him, the more she liked him.

"You haven’t eaten yet, have you? I had a table reserved for you. Qingyun, Qingsong, take your sister-in-law to eat."

"Alright."

Wang Ying hadn’t expected that standing up for the Chen family would win him such favor—especially from these two children, who now adored him.

Chen Qingyun, now twelve, is a clever and quick-witted little girl who speaks as fast as pouring beans. She pulled him along and recounted the family’s affairs in detail.

It turned out that over the past few years, Second Uncle Chen had taken fifty or sixty strings of coins from their household. Although these were nominally loans, there were no written records, and most would likely never be repaid.

Chen Qingyan’s severe illness had also cost a considerable amount on medicine and treatments. Although the Chen family owned a hundred acres of fertile land, farming relied on favorable weather, and with Li Shi’s poor household management, the household was truly running out of money.

In other words, even a landowning family was nearly out of surplus grain.

"Thanks to your help today, sister-in-law, or else Mother’s dowry would have been lost."

"Mmhmm!" San Lang Chen Qingsong nodded in agreement beside them.

Wang Ying let out a satisfied burp and said, "Don’t worry, if he dares to come again, I’ll drive him out with a broom."

The two children burst into laughter. Who said a village ger was not presentable? This ger was absolutely wonderful!

*

After dinner, it was already quite late. In ancient times without much entertainment, people generally lived by rising with the sun and resting at dusk, and even landowning families were no exception.

Wang Ying walked back to the rear courtyard, hesitated for a moment at the bedroom door, and then pushed it open.

Inside, Chen Qingyan was reading by the light of an oil lamp. In the candlelight, the young man’s complexion looked somewhat better, though his cheeks were still sunken from thinness, and his thin lips were pressed tightly together, giving him a somewhat stern appearance.

He glanced up at Wang Ying but said nothing, merely turning up the wick to make it a bit brighter.

Earlier, Second Uncle had come by and told him everything that had happened that afternoon.

He had long known about his uncle’s borrowing, but his mother was too kind-hearted and soft-spoken to refuse each time. His younger siblings were too young, and he himself was too weak to even go out and argue. Though this young husband was coarse, he wasn’t entirely useless.

After a long day, Wang Ying was thoroughly exhausted. Rubbing his sore neck, he asked, "Where should I sleep tonight?"

By custom, married couples should naturally share a bed, but neither of them had any intention of doing so.

"Tomorrow, I’ll have someone tidy up the western chamber for you to sleep in."

"What about tonight?" Wang Ying walked to the bed and eyed its size. The canopy bed was quite spacious and should easily fit two people.

Chen Qingyan was startled. "What are you doing?!"

Seeing his nervous reaction, Wang Ying couldn’t resist teasing him. "Going to sleep," he said, removing his outer garments and shoes and climbing onto the bed.

"Get down! Have you no decency?!"

"Huh? I’m married to you now, what is there to be ashamed of? Isn’t it perfectly proper and lawful for us to sleep together?"

"You—you have no decency!" Chen Qingyan’s face flushed so red it seemed about to steam. How outrageous! He had never seen such a frivolous person—what ger would actively climb into a man’s bed?!

Wang Ying almost fell over laughing. Worried he might actually anger the young man to death, he quickly grabbed the bedding and climbed down. "Alright, alright, young master, don’t be angry. I’ll sleep on the floor."

Chen Qingyan took a deep breath, suspecting the man had done it on purpose. Resentfully, he blew out the oil lamp and pulled the covers tightly over himself.

The room was pitch black, with only the sound of crickets chirping outside. Wang Ying turned over, the smile fading from his face.

Gazing at the moonlight through a crack in the window, he sighed silently to himself.

The idea of time travel was frightening, no matter how one looked at it. The only comfort was that he had no one left behind in his previous life, so he didn’t have to worry about his family being uncared for after his death.

In his past life, his parents had divorced and remarried others, and six-year-old Wang Ying had been left to his grandparents to raise. Though both were uneducated farmers, they had raised him with great love.

They supported him all the way through university. After both passed away one after another, Wang Ying began living on his own.

He'd probably been influenced by his grandfather, as he had always been fond of the land, which was why he applied to an agricultural college. He wondered what would become of that experimental field now that he was gone and whether this year’s yield could be increased.

Just as his mind was wandering, a voice suddenly echoed in his mind: "Experimental field successfully bound."

"Who—who’s talking?!" Wang Ying bolted upright, startled.

Chen Qingyan, who was lying in bed, was also startled by him and said coldly, "Having night terrors?"

Tsk, this unlucky kid, what a sweet talker.

"Just a dream," Wang Ying replied as he lay back down. But the moment he closed his eyes, a flash of white light washed over him, and the pitch-black bedroom transformed into the familiar experimental field!

Wang Ying rubbed his eyes, not believing what he was seeing—it hadn’t changed; it was still the experimental field!

Overwhelmed with excitement, he ran over and gazed at the lush green wheat sprouts, his eyes nearly welling up as if they were his own children.

Had he traveled back in time?

No—his clothes were still from ancient times, and his hands looked smaller than they should be. What on earth was happening?

Wang Ying was filled with questions, but there was no one to answer them. Pushing his confusion aside, he hurried over to check on his wheat sprouts. His current research focused on drought-resistant Winter Wheat.

Traditional wheat heavily depended on climate conditions; ample winter snow resulted in better growth the following year. However, with the severe droughts in recent years, many regions had seen reduced yields or even complete crop failures despite human intervention, which was why he had chosen this research direction.

The winter wheat he cultivated was called Changfeng 3. This was high-yielding with large ears, strong tiller formation ability, and resistance to dry, hot winds. It required only one watering during its growth cycle and could stably yield over a thousand jin per acre.

The only drawback was its less than ideal taste. He had originally planned to hybridize it with other varieties this year to see if he could develop a wheat with better flavor, but unfortunately, he'd fallen down a well.

"Wow, they’re already sprouting! This one looks good—it could be used as seed." Wang Ying moved through the experimental field like a doting parent, lovingly caressing his wheat sprouts.

Tired, he sat at the edge of the field, listening to the rustling sound of wheat swaying in the breeze. To him, it was the most beautiful melody he had ever heard.

He remembered following his grandfather to work in the fields as a child, sitting just like this and listening to the wind rustling through the wheat. The golden ears swayed like maracas, playing a melody that had resonated for thousands of years.

Suddenly, everything went dark, and the experimental field vanished. Wang Ying sat up in terror, only to find himself back in the Chen family’s bedroom. Chen Qingyan was fast asleep in bed, and moonlight filtered through the paper window, casting a soft glow on the floor.

What was going on? He tried to recall the experimental field in his mind, but nothing happened. The events of the night felt like a fleeting dream.

Drowsiness washed over him, and Wang Ying drifted into a deep sleep, filled with confusion and unease.

Early the next morning, he woke up with an urgent need to relieve himself. Opening his eyes, he stared at the unfamiliar ceiling beams, taking a moment to remember that he had gotten married the day before.

"Fuck!" he cursed under his breath, pulling on his clothes and rushing toward the outhouse in the backyard.

As he undid his pants, a greenish-yellow wheat blade fell from his waist.

Wang Ying’s eyes widened in disbelief. Wasn’t this his precious Changfeng 3? Could it be that last night wasn’t just a dream?

Author's Note: