Zhu Wenjuan sat there until the afternoon when she needed to use the restroom. She got up and pulled the door shut.

It was still locked tightly.

With no other option, she made do with urinating in the spittoon. As soon as she opened the lid, the stench hit her face.

The hot weather caused the urine in the spittoon to ferment.

It's sour, smelly, and makes your eyes water.

Zhu Wenjuan felt nauseous, but what could she do? Was she supposed to let herself die from holding her urine?

She lifted her buttocks, trying not to touch the spittoon, before finally relieving herself of this important matter.

The sun gradually moved westward.

The light outside was getting dimmer and dimmer, and the door was closed tightly. Fortunately, her mother-in-law left a small crack in the window, otherwise she would have either died from the heat or from suffocation.

"Juanzi, I'm coming in."

As the door opened, an ugly man reeking of alcohol entered.

His face was dark reddish-black, making him look even more pitiful.

It was her man, Liu Wangtao.

"You have the nerve to come in? Your mother has locked me in the room all day, not letting me out or even feeding me. And you, on the other hand, are having a good time, eating and drinking your fill? Heh, what did you promise my aunt? Is this what you call being good to me?"

Zhu Wenjuan lashed out at him and then turned away, ignoring him completely.

"Good Juanzi, don't be angry. Mother said it's a custom. A new bride must sit in the room for a whole day. It's a rule, and rules can't be broken. What's wrong with you enduring it for a day? Are you starving? Don't worry, I brought you two steamed buns. Eat them."

Liu Wangtao had a good temper; he wasn't angry at all for being humiliated. He took out two steamed buns from his pocket, which were yellow and black in color.

I don't know what kind of dough it's made of.

Zhu Wenjuan was indeed starving.

She's been hungry since morning.

My stomach had been growling for a while.

There wasn't even a drop of water in the house, and she was both hungry and thirsty.

She took the steamed bun and stuffed it into her mouth, but the next second she vomited it out.

It's sour and makes my throat feel dry.

The sour smell came from the sweat on Liu Wangtao's chest, and the throat-scratching sensation was probably from a steamed bun made of several kinds of coarse flour mixed with bits of wild vegetables, which was even worse than a gray flour steamed bun.

The wedding banquet was so meager.

The food they ate was even worse than what Jin Lu's family usually ate.

Zhu Wenjuan's face grew increasingly dark.

She deeply regretted missing out on Jinlu and marrying into such a family.

"Hey, eat slowly, are you choking? I'll go get you some water."

Liu Wangtao was a rough and uncultured man who did not notice the change in his wife's expression. He assumed she was choking and went out of the house to pour her some water.

You should know that he only managed to grab those two steamed buns because he was quick.

There were always eight dishes on the table: six vegetarian dishes, a vegetarian soup, and a small dish of scrambled eggs with cucumber.

In addition, a pot of the cheapest sake.

Logically speaking, this amount of food should have been eaten up in no time, but Aunt Efen was clever.

She only served one dish every half hour, and it took her until evening to finish eating.

Even after finishing his drink, Liu Wangtao was only three-tenths drunk.

After all, it was just a small pot of wine, and you could only drink a few cups of it.

Zhu Wenjuan gritted her teeth and soaked the steamed bun in water before eating it all.

"I want to wash up. Go boil a bucket of water for me so I can take a bath."

She gave instructions to Liu Wangtao.

"Why wash, wife? A little dirt won't make you sick. Come on, let's rest early."

Liu Wangtao's dark face turned a little redder.

They seem impatient.

"Don't touch me, I'm still angry. Why did your mother make me step over the fire pit today, saying it was to get rid of bad luck? What bad luck do I have to go through?"

Zhu Wenjuan pushed her man away.

His face was filled with anger.

“Oh dear, Mother said that you’ve already lost your virginity before you’re even married, which is bad luck. I’ll be unlucky if I marry you! So for the good of our Liu family, what’s wrong with you stepping over a fire pit? Once you’re married into the family, you’ll be a member of the Liu family too. So what if you step over it? It’s not like you’re losing a piece of your flesh.”

Liu Wangtao was somewhat displeased after being pushed away.

They're his wives now, why are you still being so coy?

"I lost my virginity? Who did? Huh? How dare you say that? Would I have lost my virginity without you? You beast, how dare you say that to me? Fine, I'm not going to get married, I'm going back."

Zhu Wenjuan's face turned red with anger.

After she finished speaking, she started making a scene and wanted to go home.

"Oh dear, what's all this fuss about on our wedding day? My mother is only trying to help me. Just let her have her way. It's all my fault, okay? Go to sleep now. Why are you going back home? This is your home. Alright, alright, my good wife, go to sleep."

Zhu Wenjuan was already thin and weak.

After being pulled onto the bed by Liu Wangtao, she struggled for a few moments before giving up.

The wooden door to the bridal chamber wasn't completely sealed; even when closed, there were still a few gaps, through which blush-inducing sounds could be heard.

In the courtyard, Ma Efen sat at the entrance of the main house, enjoying the cool air.

Her gaze pierced towards her son's wedding room.

It carried a mixture of harshness and anger.

"That vixen, she'll just keep pestering my son. It's not even dark yet, she's more slutty than the sluts in a brothel, ugh, ptooey—"

After muttering the curses under her breath, she spat a mouthful of thick, yellowish-green phlegm in the direction the sound came from, then got up and went back inside.

Out of sight, out of mind.

She retreated back into the house to avoid the noise.

The noise continued until midnight before the couple finally went to sleep.

Before dawn, Zhu Wenjuan was woken up from her deep sleep by someone patting her awake.

When she opened her eyes, her mother-in-law was glaring at her fiercely.

She was so frightened that she was about to scream.

Then her mother-in-law covered her mouth and nose tightly.

"Keep your voice down, don't wake my Tao'er up. Hurry up and get dressed and come out."

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