Chapter 3: Mutual Support (Part 1)

  A thatched cottage of this size is really similar to a cowshed, it would be very suitable for raising cattle. To live in, it's not suitable at all, is this what you call home?

  Liu Hao was somewhat incredulous of his own eyes, but he couldn't help but believe it, this was real.

  As soon as he entered the house, he saw that it was filled with all sorts of things, mostly funeral supplies. Fortunately, they were arranged very neatly and tidily. Liu Hao had originally thought that the house would be a mess, but instead it was so orderly and organized that he couldn't help but feel a little surprised.

  Liu Hao has come to understand many things. He is now in the Song Dynasty, called Wu Jie, and is the youngest scholar in Guishen County, a big shot in Wujiazhuang, the first scholar in Wujiazhuang for so many years, and the pride of Wujiazhuang.

  Wu Ji, a renowned scholar, had been frail and sickly since childhood. Just last year, his condition suddenly worsened, leaving him bedridden. To change his fortune, the elders of Wu's village, especially Third Uncle Wu Qing, made great efforts to arrange for Wu Ji to marry a close relative, believing that this would help alleviate his illness.

  Then there was the matter of Yang's daughter marrying over. As soon as she entered the door, she had to take care of Wu Jia, treating his illness, fetching medicine, washing clothes, and cooking meals, busy from dawn till dusk, spinning around all day long. Just taking care of Wu Jia would take up a lot of her time, not to mention farming and chopping firewood, how much time would she have left to tidy up the house?

  If the house was in a mess, it would be understandable, but the house was so tidy that Wu Ji couldn't help but feel slightly surprised.

  After being tossed about for a while, Wu Ji was warmed up by the sun and his body felt warmer. However, as someone who had been dead for a long time, his body had not yet fully recovered, and he still felt cold and kept shivering. Yang's wife quickly gathered firewood, lit a fire, and helped Wu Ji sit down to warm himself thoroughly.

  With the fire, Wu Ji felt a stronger warmth on his body, his blood circulation started, bringing waves of comfort, and he thought that this fire was the most beautiful thing in life.

  Just then, Wu Qing and the others who helped with the funeral arrived, surrounding Wu Ji, cheering and congratulating him, their faces filled with joy. The scholar, ah, is a big shot, the scholar of Wu's village is the banner of Wu's village, these people from Wu's village go out, if someone doesn't know their origin, just say "Wu's scholar is our village's", will definitely be treated with courtesy and respect.

  Wu Jie came back to life, and they were also delighted. They surrounded Wu Jie, saying some pleasant words, telling him to take good care of himself and so on.

  After a while, these people bid farewell one after another.

  "Ji'er, take good care of yourself and you will recover soon." Wu Qing was overjoyed, his eyes filled with love and concern as he looked at Wu Ji: "All of you go prepare, tomorrow we'll go hunting for bears. This bear has been a menace to our village for some time now, originally we were going to hunt it down some days ago, but since Ji'er was seriously ill, we kept putting it off. Now that Ji'er is better, it's time to go hunt the bear."

  "Hurray!" The young people were overjoyed and cheered in unison.

  "We've hunted down the bear, now we have meat to eat!"

  "Must be worth a lot of money, right?"

  "This bear is huge, just its footprints are frightening, and its gallbladder will definitely sell for a good price."

  As soon as the bear is mentioned, everyone starts talking and expressing their opinions, imagining good things after hunting the bear.

  "Alas!" Wu Qing looked at Wu Ji and sighed, full of regret: "It's a pity that Jier's body is too weak and can't go with us. Otherwise, we could have given him more to eat. With his poor health, he needs bear meat to nourish himself the most."

  "Third Uncle, what are you talking about? Although Brother Xiucai can't hunt bears, he can at least get a bigger share, he's the only scholar in our Wu family village!" The first young man to speak up for Wu Ji was named Wu Qiang.

  "That's right, that's right!" Wu Qing was very much in agreement with Wu Qiang's words. With a wave of his hand, he said: "All of you go and prepare! Tomorrow morning we'll head up the mountain! Jiji, take good care of yourself! Tomorrow when we hunt for bears, I'll definitely cut off a big piece for you!"

  "Thank you, Uncle San!" The scholar was very popular in this era. Wu Ji didn't have to exert himself and had already reserved a large piece of bear meat. Wu Ji was somewhat surprised.

  Wu Qinglian cast a loving glance at Wu Jie before hurrying away. Wu Qiang gave Wu Jie a teasing smile before leaving.

  The crowd dispersed, leaving only Wu Ji and Yang's wife. Only then did Wu Ji carefully examine Yang's wife, a delicate and refined woman with an air of elegance between her eyebrows and eyes. Although she was wearing coarse linen clothes, it was hard to conceal her pure and beautiful appearance.

  Yang's daughter saw Wu Ji looking at her and couldn't help but feel very shy, lowering her head, with a pair of small hands constantly fidgeting with the hem of her clothes.

  "Wu Lang, you rest, I'll go cook!" Yang's wife was very embarrassed, and it would be more accurate to say she fled rather than walked.

  "Have dinner?" As soon as the word "dinner" was mentioned, Wu Ji's stomach couldn't help but protest with a growling noise. It was time to eat something. This resurrection from death would be even faster if he ate something!

  After a while, Wu Ji felt a bit cold and realized that the door was not closed, letting in the cold wind. He needed to close it. Wu Ji stood up, still feeling a bit dizzy and not fully recovered, and walked a few steps with difficulty. As his blood circulation improved, he walked more steadily. When he arrived at the door, however, he couldn't find the door panel - where had the door gone?

  "Wu Lang, it's all my fault. There were no wooden boards at home, so I dismantled the door panel and made it into..." Yang Niangzi's voice came from behind, Wu Ji turned his head to take a look, she looked self-reproachful, as if she had committed a grave mistake.

  She didn't finish what she was saying, but Wu Ji understood. The door plank was dismantled to make a coffin, and they were as poor as could be!

  "It's not your fault! It's not your fault!" A 14 or 15-year-old girl had to bear the heavy responsibility of supporting her family, Wu Ji was very uncomfortable and hurriedly comforted Yang's wife. If anyone should be blamed, it should be the former Wu Ji, a grown man who couldn't even support his own family, and instead relied on a young girl to do so - is this reasonable?

  "It's really all my fault, I didn't take good care of the family!" Yang's wife said, her eyes reddening and tears about to fall.

  Wu Ji looked at it and was a bit flustered, this is the man's responsibility, how can you blame the girl? Wu Ji quickly changed the subject: "Is dinner ready? I'm a bit hungry!"

  Yang's daughter's face changed, and she hastily said: "Alright! Alright! Wu Lang, sit down, I'll serve you now." She helped Wu Ji sit down at the broken table supported by four tree branches, and busied herself serving him rice.

  Wu Jia was so hungry that he felt a little dizzy, and as soon as he mentioned food, his hopes were raised.

  What to eat? Big fish and meat, definitely not feasible, not what this family can afford. Coarse rice is a good option. This is very reliable. In the current situation, being able to eat coarse rice is a great happiness.

  Just as Wu Jie was about to leave, Yang's wife came forward with a bowl and placed it in front of him, her face filled with self-reproach: "Wu Lang, there's nothing good to eat at home, you have some first, I'll go borrow some grain."

  "No need to be so troublesome, as long as there's food..." Wu Ji didn't finish his sentence before he was shocked by the situation in the bowl.

  This isn't a meal, it's a mirror! In the bowl is a pale, somewhat handsome face, with nose, eyes, mouth and hair all clearly visible.

  A bowl of hot water, with a few wilted wild vegetables added, this was Wu Ji's first meal after his rebirth. Wu Ji felt as if he had a fish bone stuck in his throat, wanting to speak but unable to say anything.

  "Wu Lang, it's all my fault, I'm useless..." Yang Niangzi's self-reproaching voice broke the silence.

  "Alas!" Wu Jie let out a long sigh.

  In his previous life, Wu Ji's fate had taken a drastic turn, transforming from a white-collar worker to a poor man overnight, and he spent several years living in poverty. However, compared to now, it was a heavenly life. At least, Wu Ji had eaten his fill and didn't have to go hungry.

  I didn't expect that after being reborn, I hadn't even had time to enjoy the joy of coming back to life, and yet I've started living a poor life. This is what it truly means to live a poor life!

  "I don't blame you, I really don't blame you!" Wu Ji's eyes turned red and his voice was choked with emotion.

  Although the days are spent miserably, there is a beautiful memory. This Yang's wife thinks of him everywhere and takes on the responsibilities that originally belonged to men, which is much stronger than his previous girlfriend and warms people's hearts!

  "Do you?" Wu Ji wrapped Yang Niangzi in his arms and asked softly.

  "I have! I have!" Yang's wife gave Wu Ji a hug, feeling both shy and surprised. This was the first time Wu Ji had been so close to her since she got married.

  "You're lying!" Wu Ji couldn't help but hear it, and very domineeringly said: "Go get a bowl! We'll eat separately!"

  "Wu Lang, don't say that, there really is!" Yang's wife hastily lied.

  "Do you still want to cheat?" Wu Ji stood up, went to the kitchen and took a look. The pot was empty, where was the soup? He picked up a bowl and a pair of chopsticks, returned to the table, poured more than half a bowl of vegetable soup for Yang's wife, and specially gave her several wild vegetables, leaving only one in the bowl.

  Yang's daughter was so anxious that her tears were about to burst out. Wu Ji, however, put the bowl in front of her and said domineeringly: "I am the master of this house, what I say goes, and I want you to drink this bowl of soup!"

  Although Wu Ji was overbearing, he was full of care. Yang Niangzi had been married for so long and had never received such care from Wu Ji, she couldn't help but feel sad and burst into tears.

  "Ah!"

  Wu Ji silently sighed in his heart, a girl of this age, if she were in another time and space, would be receiving the most care from her parents. Her parents would be doting on her, afraid to let go of her hand, afraid to lose her, how could she be like Yang's wife, struggling to take care of a sickly child, shouldering the heavy burden of supporting the family?

  Can such a delicate person bear it?

  "If I can't let her live a good life, then I'm not worthy of being human!" Wu Ji secretly warned himself.

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