"Let's go back to my hometown for Chinese New Year this year. My parents have been calling to urge me several times already," Fang Yanming said ingratiatingly.

Fang Yanming had been married to Mao Fangfei for three years, and only went back to his hometown once for their wedding. He hadn't been back since. Every year a month before the Lunar New Year, his parents would call to urge him to return, but Mao Fangfei was unwilling, and Fang Yanming couldn't force his wife.

Actually, Fang Yanming didn't really want to go back to his hometown. His parents were really too slovenly. They kept chickens, ducks, dogs, and pigs at home. The chickens and ducks weren't kept in cages and flew all over the house. The house was full of chicken droppings, and his mother didn't clean them up in time. Over time, the house started to smell bad. He didn't notice it when he was a child, but now when he went home, he just wanted to stay outside and really didn't want to stay inside.

But not going back to his hometown isn't a good idea either. The villagers will gossip, saying that he's forgotten his roots now that he's successful. People are already spreading rumors, but he doesn't hear them. His parents will, constantly scolding him on the phone, saying that he's forgotten his parents now that he has a wife.

"I'm not going back. If you want to go back, go back yourself. I'm spending the New Year alone in Pingjiang." Mao Fangfei didn't even lift her eyelids. She held the remote control in her hand and mechanically changed channels. The TV screen kept jumping between programs, none of which were ones that Mao Fangfei wanted to watch.

Fang Yanming leaned closer, his smile becoming even more ingratiating. "How can I go back alone? I want to bring my wife back to show off. She's the prettiest and most capable wife in the whole village. Even going back ten times a year isn't enough to show her off!"

Mao Fangfei's lips curled up slightly, and her eyes showed a hint of amusement, but her face remained tense; she wasn't going to reply anyway.

She never wanted to go to that awful place again; she was so angry at her wedding that she almost ran away at the last minute.

She could endure poverty, but she couldn't tolerate laziness and slovenliness. She listened to Fang Yanming and agreed to hold a wedding ceremony in her hometown. She stayed in her hometown for three days, and during those three days, Mao Fangfei almost got a divorce from Fang Yanming.

It's the 21st century, and there are still fleas in the house. After only one night, Mao Fangfei's body was covered in red bumps from the bites, and she was unbearably itchy. She also had head lice. It was just because she sat close to Fang Yanming's parents and talked for a while that lice jumped onto her head.

That was bad enough, but going to the toilet made Mao Fangfei want to die even more, so she dug a hole in the yard, put two wooden planks on it, and hung a narrow cloth curtain, so that if the wind blew, she would be completely exposed.

One time, she happened to be in the yard when her father-in-law was using the toilet. A gust of wind blew, and she saw Fang Yanming's father-in-law's big buttocks. The old man even smiled at her, which disgusted Mao Fangfei so much that she wanted to leave on the spot.

She didn't care about the naked bodies of the dead; she could look at them a hundred times without a problem. But she didn't like looking at the living. Even when Fang Yanming was doing things with her, she didn't like being naked. Being completely naked easily reminded her of the dead, and her hands would itch to dissect them.

Moreover, there were often plump white maggots crawling around next to that rudimentary toilet. Mao Fangfei had been using flush toilets since she was a child and had only seen pictures of these maggots in books. This was the first time she had seen them in person at Fang Yanming's house. Although dead people would also be covered in maggots after they rotted, that was her job.

She kept her work and life very separate. She could endure any kind of dirty or disgusting work, but she had a severe case of mysophobia in her personal life. She would be disgusted just looking at that kind of toilet, and she would never use it even if she was constipated to death. For the last three days, she went to the mountains to relieve herself. The hardships and bitterness she endured made Mao Fangfei feel no goodwill towards Fang Yanming's hometown.