Chapter 1

1

Shen Yuntang was reborn. In his previous life, he married Xia Xiaowu, a scholar in the village. The Xia family was one of the richest families in the village, and he was one of the most handsome boys in the village. This marriage attracted the envy and jealousy of many people in the village.

But from the day he got married, his mother-in-law made things difficult for him in every way.

They have a custom that on the wedding day, when arriving at the door of the husband's house, one has to change into new shoes before walking on the ground.

After he put on the shoes given by his in-laws, he found that they were too small and uncomfortable.

He endured it for a whole day, his toes were almost rotten and a lot of blood came out, but this was just the beginning, there were more rules waiting for him.

Xia Xiaowu often disliked him and would beat and scold him for any minor fault. His mother-in-law always disliked him and bullied him.

His father-in-law helped him out on the surface, but secretly had thoughts about him. He dodged several times, but was later discovered by his mother-in-law, who scolded him for being a vixen. His husband also thought he was shameful. They did not spread the matter to others, but lynched him at home and beat him all over his body. They were afraid that outsiders would see him, so they locked him up in the woodshed. They told outsiders that he had gone to the provincial capital with his husband to take the exam.

Originally, the mother-in-law wanted to just beat him to death, but Xia Xiaowu was about to take an exam, and they were afraid that it would be unlucky if someone died. Xia Xiaowu also said that he was afraid it would affect his career, so they didn't touch him for the time being.

It was also because of this exam that he saved his life.

Xia Xiaowu passed the imperial examination and became a county magistrate. The magistrate's daughter took a fancy to Xia Xiaowu and said that she would marry him even if she had to be his concubine.

It was not until Shen Yuntang died of childbirth that he learned that the prefect's daughter was infertile. Before she married Xia Xiaowu, she had agreed to keep the son and leave the mother.

After his death, his soul floated around Xia Xiaowu, and only then did he understand what had happened. He hated it so much, especially when he saw his own child affectionately calling the magistrate's daughter "mother". His soul was so angry that he wished he could turn into a ghost and eat up the whole family.

But his body gradually became transparent. He was in despair, thinking that he was not going to turn into a ghost, but to turn into ashes.

He had never done anything bad in his life, why did it end like this...

He wanted to curse God for being blind, but no sound came out of his throat.

He fainted in agony, and when he woke up again, he found himself back to the time before he got married, his body still in the state of a soul, floating around him.

He really wanted to pull his ears and shout, "Don't marry Xia Xiaowu."

But his voice could not be heard at all, and he realized that he was still just a wandering soul.

On the first day after returning, he watched himself washing clothes, cooking and feeding pigs at home, leisurely and comfortable. He was extremely anxious. How could he avoid the suffering of his previous life? Was he going to watch himself jump into the fire pit again?

Just when he was extremely anxious, he noticed his cousin's strange behavior.

His cousin Shen Yunfeng is also a boy, who looks similar to him. His parents died when he was young, and he was adopted by his family.

In his previous life, my cousin went to the river to wash clothes and was bitten by a mad yellow dog, which tore his clothes.

Cheng Yeran, a lazy man in the village, happened to appear by the river. In a panic, the cousin ran into Cheng Yeran's arms, and the two fell into the river together.

After this incident, many aunts saw my cousin running naked into Cheng Yeran's arms, and the two of them rolled into the water together. My cousin's chastity was gone, and he had only one choice: to marry Cheng Yeran, or die.

Later, Shen Yuntang got married and had less contact with his family. He only knew that the lazy man died in less than three years, and his cousin became a widow and later remarried.

Shen Yuntang was happy to see that his cousin was reborn. At least his cousin could choose to avoid disaster before the tragedy happened.

But what he didn't expect was that his cousin deliberately led him to the river on the day of the accident, and this time he was the one who was chased and bitten by the dog.

Fortunately, he hit the dog's mouth with a laundry hammer and was not bitten, but his clothes were torn. Shen Yuntang was floating in the air and could only watch himself run into Cheng Yeran's arms with his naked upper body, and the two of them rolled into the water together.

…

His parents, uncles, and the village chief gathered together to discuss his marriage to Cheng Yeran. The village chief was Cheng Yeran's uncle, so the matter was discussed between the village chief and the Shen family.

Cheng Yeran was poor and could not afford a wedding banquet or a bride price, so they decided to let Cheng Yeran rent a donkey cart to take Shen Yuntang back home.

But Cheng Yeran, that lazy man, only went out two or three times a year and was too lazy to go out to pick up Shen Yuntang. In the end, Shen's father had no choice but to say that he would send the child over personally.

Shen Yuntang thought that she had never had a good fate in her two lives, but Cheng Yeran died three years later. Being a widow was better than marrying into the Xia family and suffering humiliation and even death.

As for that heartless cousin, since he chose to exchange lives with mine, he should accept the consequences of the exchange.

Three days later, Shen Yuntang opened his eyes and found that he was no longer a wandering ghost. His soul had returned to his body, and he was reborn like his cousin!

Shen Yuntang was about to get married after having her last meal with her family. The dinner table was very quiet. The brothers all secretly looked at Shen Yuntang's expression. Seeing that he looked calm, they became even more worried.

"I had discussed with the village chief and your uncles before, and asked Cheng Yeran to come to our house, and you two would sign a marriage certificate, and then he would take you back. But that guy was too lazy, and even the marriage certificate was signed by the village chief himself at his bedside. It was too outrageous." Dad was so angry that his face turned blue, but he could only suppress his temper. Who let their family encounter such a thing? He could only hold back his temper, and finally bowed his head and added: "I will drive the donkey cart to take you there later, and you will be fine when you get there."

His mother comforted him, "Although Cheng Yeran is a little lazy, men will change after they get married. You won't have parents-in-law when you go to his house, and he won't bother to take care of household affairs. You will be the head of the family once you enter the house, and you will have four brothers to back you up. If he dares to bully you, these brothers will fight him to the death."

When the brothers heard this, they lowered their heads and ate their food desperately, and none of them agreed with their mother.

Shen Yunfeng on the side sneered in his heart, thinking that these brothers were just cowards. If they dared to stand out, he would have lived a miserable life in his previous life.

"Dad and mom, don't worry about me. I've accepted my fate." Shen Yuntang felt a little embarrassed and nervous, but not resentful. His mother was right. At least when he went to the Cheng family, he was not under pressure from his mother-in-law and father-in-law. His life was much easier than that of other families. Otherwise, even if he did not marry into the Xia family in this life, he would have to be set rules by his mother-in-law if he married into any other family.

Mother suddenly cried and hugged Shen Yuntang into her arms, "My poor child! How could you encounter such a thing?"

Dad lowered his head and puffed on his pipe, unable to utter a word. He would raise his hand and slap himself from time to time.

Talk about

The brothers sat opposite, at a loss as to what to do. They were too dumb to speak and did not dare to continue eating. They could only sit there.

After dinner, his father set up the cart and his mother changed him into a red dress. The red dress had been made before, for him to wear when he married Xia Xiaowu. But there was no time to embroider flowers on it, and he was hastily marrying a lazy man. Thinking of this, his mother couldn't help crying.

Shen Yuntang couldn't bear to leave his mother and hugged her tightly.

"Good boy, come back often and tell your mother if you have any difficulties." His mother gave him a bundle, which contained his usual clothes and shoes, as well as one or two taels of silver.

Shen Yuntang's eyes got even redder when he saw the silver. He didn't have the chance to be filial to his parents in his previous life, and in this life, he had to get married as soon as he came back.

He was extremely reluctant to part with his mother, but he had to go no matter how reluctant he was.

He drove slowly away from his home to a completely stranger's home. He didn't know what he would face in the future, and panic arose in his heart again.

When he went out, many families had already finished their meals and were sitting at the doorstep to enjoy the cool air and digest their food. When they saw him carrying his bag to the Cheng family, they all laughed at him secretly.

"Marrying a lazy man, I'm afraid my future life will be difficult."

"The kid from the Cheng family is too lazy to work in the fields. He is a boy without a husband or a mother-in-law or father-in-law to help him. He must be exhausted to maintain the house and the outside world by himself."

"Or they say that people depend on their fate. Their family was so arrogant before that they could pick any boy in the village. They got engaged to the Xia family very early. Xia Xiaowu is also very motivated. Not only is his family wealthy, but he also passed the imperial examination. I'm afraid he will become an official in the future. The boy from the Shen family is not so lucky and missed the chance to become an official's wife."

"I heard that Shen Yuntang's younger brother is engaged to the Xia family. The Xia family is really nice. They marry the younger brother even though the older brother is not capable. They are not afraid of being implicated and having a bad reputation."

Shen Yuntang listened to these people's gossip and thought about how his brother married Cheng Yeran in his previous life. He thought the Xia family would break off the engagement with him, but in the end the Xia family was determined to marry him.

At that time, everyone in the village praised the Xia family, and the Xia family gained a good reputation because of this. The most important thing for scholars is a good reputation. If the Xia family canceled the engagement when their family encountered troubles, it would give people a reason to criticize them. So the Xia family chose to continue the engagement.

After getting married, his mother-in-law often used his brother's affairs to pressure him, making him feel how lucky he was to marry into the Xia family and that he should be grateful.

After listening to it so much, his mind was indeed a little unclear and he felt very inferior, but now he finally understood that the Xia family married him for two reasons: one was for reputation considerations, and the other was because they thought he was easy to control.

…

When Shen Yuntang arrived at the door of the Cheng family's yard, he saw that the gate of the Cheng family's yard was about to fall off. Only half of the door was hanging on a hinge, and the other half was nowhere to be found.

He couldn't help but sigh, and pushed the door into the yard resignedly.

When the door was pushed open, it slammed to the ground with a bang, raising a cloud of dust.

The man standing in the yard was startled by him and turned to look at him. The two men stared at each other without speaking first.

Shen Yuntang's first impression of Cheng Yeran was that he was a beggar from nowhere. His hair was so messy and his clothes were so dirty, but his body was straight, which was different from the lazy man's usual standing posture.

Cheng Yeran’s first impression of Shen Yuntang was, what a beauty!