The Formidable Lady of the Poor Scholar’s Household

Chapter 3: There’s a Young Widow in Every Village

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Shi Jinhua returned with light footsteps as the evening sun cast long shadows on the ground. As he walked along the small road in the village, he held the fifty copper coins he had earned today in his hands.

The young man had already been an intelligent child in his early years. If not for his parents’ deaths, he might have been a well-known scholar by now.

It was said that a scholar was useless. Apart from writing, Shi Jinhua did not know anything else—especially not about farming.

He did, however, have elder brothers and sisters. His eldest brother, Shi Jincheng, had been captured and sent to the army a few years ago. His eldest sister had married into the neighboring village, and her in-laws were strict and did not allow her to return home easily.

As for his second sister, she had married within the village. Unfortunately, she had always felt that her parents were biased towards their youngest son. As such, she had never returned to her maternal family after getting married. Even when she bumped into them, she either avoided them on purpose or pretended not to know them.

In the beginning, her family grumbled about it, but after so many years, her maternal family could not be bothered to say anything. If she ignored her, then so be it!

The eldest sister was named Shi Jiaoniang, and the second sister, Shi Jiaojiao. Now, Shi Jinhua was the only one left in the family.

Shi Jinhua was already 19 years old this year. If his parents were around, they would have gotten him married long ago. Unfortunately, no one had ever worried about him as an orphan and that was how the issue had been delayed until he turned 19 years old!

Shi Jinhua was about 1.8 meters tall. His body was slender, and he had a scholarly aura. His gaze was clear, and his eyes seemed to be filled with affection. Looking at him, one would feel that his eyes were filled with deep love and gentleness.

Coupled with his gentle temperament, many unmarried women in the village were enchanted by him. Unfortunately, when they saw Shi Jinhua in his patched clothes and his poor background, they all stopped in their tracks! However, it did not affect his fantasy of love at all.

Shi Jinhua was focused on copying books and earning money to prepare for next year’s exam. Now that he had an additional two taels of silver in debt, he could not help but feel a little anxious.

Looking at the corn seedlings that in the field, it dawned on him that it had been a long time since he had gone to visit his family’s field. The grass in the field should have covered the corn seedlings by now.

Looking at the evening sky, he decided that tomorrow would be a good day. He gritted his teeth. Instead of copying books tomorrow, he would work in the fields first!

After his parents were gone, Shi Jinhua, who knew nothing about farming, learned how to farm from Auntie Wan’s family. However, that had gone terribly!

Yet, everyone was busy during the farming season. He would be fined if he didn’t do his part. Of course, he didn’t have the money for that. Even if he did, there was no way he could bear to part with it.

When it was time to go home, Auntie Wan left. Shi Jinhua glanced at the woman on the bed and turned to go to the kitchen.

After feeding her the medicine, Shi Jinhua curiosity was piqued. The woman had not woken up for so long. Wasn’t she anxious? Wasn’t she hungry? Wasn’t she tired even if she remained motionless? The only reply he got was the woman’s steady breathing.

Forget it, I’ll leave it to fate! He thought to himself.

The next morning at dawn, he carried his hoe and went to the fields. As he was quite early, there were not many people in the field.

The pumpkin seedlings in the cornfield had grown out. If one did not look carefully, they would not be able to tell that there were pumpkin seedlings. The grass had already outgrown the seedlings!

As he weeded the grass by hand, he suddenly remembered that he had to loosen the soil at the same time. It would be more efficient to use a hoe to weed.

The fields at the border were flat and wide. As Shi Jinhua stretched his back, he couldn’t help but feel like crying. How long would this take?

Seeing that the fields near his house had all been weeded, he could not help but feel a little anxious.

Other families raised livestock and some crops. He was actually no different from the seedlings in their fields. Whether they survived depended on whether they were strong or not. Therefore, Shi Jinhua’s family’s production had always been at the bottom of the village.

“Oh! A scholar is going to the fields too?” Widow Yao, who was preparing to deliver food to her in-laws in the fields, swayed her hips as she walked towards Shi Jinhua’s.

To tell the truth, Shi Jinhua was a little afraid of Widow Yao. The words that came out of her mouth seemed no different from the words of a hooligan in the village.

Widow Yao was not old either. In fact, she was two years younger than Shi Jinhua. Unfortunately, she was unlucky. The man was arrested on the second day after getting married. The next year, news came that he had sacrificed her life for the country. Widow Yao’s reputation in the village had not been good all these years.

Widow Yao had taken a fancy to Shi Jinhua. The main reason was that the family did not have any parents or siblings that she would have to take care of. In addition, Shi Jinhua looked so good that her body went limp just by looking at him. Every time Shi Jinhua looked at her with his amorous eyes, she would be able to sleep comfortably at night.

Shi Jinhua glanced around, realizing that there was no one around. He was a little afraid and quickly picked up his hoe, patted the dirt off his body before returning home to avoid the woman.

Seeing that the person she liked did not even spare a glance at her, Widow Yao couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

She quickly spoke up, “Why are you running? There’s no one at your house to cook for you. I brought you food. I’m not specially sending it to you. I just happened to pass by. Hey, don’t go!” As she said that, she wanted to pull Shi Jinhua back.

All of a sudden, it was like Shi Jinhua’s mind went blank. His first instict was to run away! This woman was too terrifying! She was like the dog guarding Old Ma’s house at the village entrance, chasing like a mad dog after any male dogs she saw.

Shi Jinhua sprinted away, panting as he reached home. He couldn’t help but think that it would be great if his mother was still around. Widow Yao would never dare to tease him so boldly if his mother was around!

Having run under the scorching sun, he was famished.

In the courtyard stood a well where the four siblings used to play around. Now, there was not even a chicken to be found around the area.

He entered the room to take a look at the woman lying on the ground. Would she simply continue living in a vegetative state?

However, she didn’t seem as pale as before. Aside from that, she was actually quite pretty. Shi Jinhua wondered what she would look like when she opened her eyes.

Just as he was lost in thought, the woman lying on the bed suddenly opened her eyes. Both their eyes met without warning. Neither could come out of their trance.

In the end, it was Shi Jinhua who reacted first. “You’re awake?” His money had not been spent in vain!

The woman who had just woken up tried moving her body and felt that it was especially heavy.

“Don’t move. What do you want to do? Tell me and I’ll help you.” What if his money was wasted again?

The woman glanced at him and said in a hoarse voice, “I need to relieve myself!” How could he help her?

When Shi Jinhua heard this, his face quickly turned beet-red.

“Use this. I’ll go out. I’ll go look for Doctor Wang. I…” As he spoke, he ran out in a flurry.

“Ah!”

Unfortunately, he tripped and fell flat on his face. He didn’t dare to even turn back to look back at the woman on the bed. It was really too embarrassing!

The woman on the bed was struggling to get up when she heard the sound of running. She stared at the door. It was the man who had just left.

“I’ll close the door for you!” After running out of the door, he suddenly remembered that he had forgotten to close the door behing him.

Shi Jinhua thought about how that girl’s eyes had been cold when she just woke up, as though she was a corpse. A chill ran down his spine.

After relieving herself, the young lady lay back down onto the bed once again. Memories flooded her mind.

Her name was Qian Sishui. She was 16 years old this year, and her family was in Jinghua.

It was Qian Sishui lying there, but there was not her true soul! Now, Qian Sishui was a top secret agent. In her eyes, there were only two types of people—the dead and the living!

She no longer wanted to be an agent. At the very least, that meant that she could have a peaceful rest.

“Doctor Wang, hurry up and have a look if she’s recovered.” As Shi Jinhua spoke, he knocked on the door. “Um… Miss, we’re coming in.”

Even after waiting for a while, there was no sound. Shi Jinhua was so frightened that the person inside had fainted again. He pushed the door open forcefully and saw the girl on the bed turn her head and glare at the door coldly.

“Miss, don’t misunderstand. I thought you were unconscious again.” He pulled the doctor over. “Doctor Wang, take a look at her.” She had better be well. Otherwise, the money would have been wasted.