He pulled his sister-in-law into his arms

The fragrance emanating from Zhang Chunfeng wafted into Li Xiuman's nostrils on the breeze. Li Xiuman was stung by the blatant ulterior motive in those words, and couldn't lift his head.

He pursed his lips, his heart in utter turmoil. Even though Zhang Chunfeng was calling him "sister-in-law," Li Xiuman felt extremely uncomfortable.

She never called me that before, but today she keeps calling me "sister-in-law," without showing any of the respect others might expect. It seems like she has ulterior motives.

"My house is dirty, I'll go clean it first," Li Xiuman stammered, quickening her pace toward home.

He wasn't wrong. Because Shen was often ill, Li Xiuman had to wear mourning clothes during the days after her death and was unable to clean the house. After burying her, she got married directly at Aunt Liu's house, so there was indeed a lot of dust in his family home.

In the rainy south, even the poorest families in this village would grit their teeth and build one or two houses with blue bricks and small tiles. Otherwise, if they used adobe walls, they would probably have to rebuild after a dozen years, which was not cost-effective.

Both of Li Xiuman's small houses had mud-brick walls and were thatched. During the rainy season, which lasted for half a month or even a month, the thatch on the walls would get wet and dry repeatedly, giving off a musty smell.

Similarly, in the south, there is not only a lot of rain but also high humidity. Even if the adobe walls can withstand the rain, over time, moisture seeps into the walls, causing many cracks.

Pushing open the fence gate, Zhang Chunfeng followed Li Xiuman inside. The smell of thatch mixed with earth, and the stench of the house having been closed for several days without anyone living there, hit them in the face.

Lee Soo-man opened the doors to the two small rooms first; one belonged to Madam Shen, and the other to Lee Soo-man. Both rooms contained simple beds and tables, except for Madam Shen's room, which had a wardrobe. Other than that, there was nothing else.

Zhang Chunfeng stood still and did not go inside.

Li Xiuman was worried that Zhang Chunfeng would get tired standing, but then he noticed Zhang Chunfeng's clean clothes and the sand constantly falling from the mud walls of his own house. He suddenly realized that such a dirty environment might displease Zhang Chunfeng.

Lee Soo-man remained silent, quickly taking out incense and bowing in all four directions of the house as a way of admonishing Madam Shen. After offering incense at home, they would have to go to Madam Shen's grave, where the main event would take place. Lee Soo-man dusted off his clothes and got up from the ground.

"Have you been living here all this time?" Zhang Chunfeng asked, wondering how Shen Shi, who originally came from Manager Chen's house, could live in such a poor place. After all, she was the mother of his child, so he figured she wouldn't have given him nothing.

Li Xiuman shook his head. "Initially, my mother rented a house in the city, and later she also rented a house in the village. At that time, the living conditions were okay, but my mother's health was getting worse and worse. We needed money to buy medicine. When I was about fifteen years old, I moved here with my mother."

Zhang Chunfeng understood, but in his heart he realized that from the age of fifteen to twenty-six, for eleven years, Li Xiuman had lived such a hard life.

“Well, in that case, let’s go,” Zhang Chunfeng said.

Lee Soo-man hesitated, "My mother's grave is probably a bit far away."

Zhang Chunfeng turned her head to the side, and Li Xiuman had no choice but to say, "When she died, she told me that she only wished to be buried with her own mother."

Zhang Chunfeng was slightly puzzled. She had originally thought that the girls at Zuixianlou were all bought and sold by the madam through various means, but she did not know that Shen had such a concerned mother.

Where?

"Chongdugou." This place was originally a village west of Zhangjia Village. Although it was in the west, it was a long way to get there. It took two hours to go there and back, and four hours in total. It was indeed dark by the time the two of them got home.

Zhang Chunfeng mounted her horse. "Get on," she said, reaching out to Li Xiuman.

"I can't ride a horse," Li Xiuman said with difficulty. Most people in the village don't travel far, and for everyday tasks, they just use donkeys to pull carts and go about their business slowly.

A donkey pulling a cart is a completely different matter from Zhang Chunfeng's tall, powerful horse. If a donkey gets startled, it can jump off the cart without much trouble, but falling off a horse is a different story...

"I'll protect you, what are you afraid of?"

Seeing that Li Xiuman was still hesitating, Zhang Chunfeng asked impatiently, "Does sister-in-law intend to walk there?"

Lee Soo-man sensed this dissatisfaction and quickly shook his head. Although he had indeed walked there earlier.

He looked up at Zhang Chunfeng, who sat high on horseback. He felt as if rays of sunlight filtered through the branches and shone on her jade-like face, gilding her with gold and making her appear even more opulent and magnificent. The ethereal woman, with a smile in her eyes, reached out her hand to him, inviting him to ride with her.

Li Xiuman reached out his hand and, as Zhang Chunfeng instructed, stepped onto the saddle, spread his legs, and was pulled and lifted by Zhang Chunfeng, sitting down in front of him.

When Li Xiuman was on the ground, he truly hadn't noticed how tall the horse was. Now, seated on its back, he was genuinely a little frightened when he looked down. Even more terrifying, the thing beneath him wasn't a chair or bench waiting to die, but a living, breathing creature! Completely beyond his control!

Before he could get used to it, Zhang Chunfeng pulled on the reins and Hongying started running.

Lee Soo-man felt himself being jolted up and down, with the surrounding scenery flashing past his eyes. He inexplicably felt that he was about to fall off, so he squeezed his legs tightly against the horse's belly and frantically grabbed the horse's neck with both hands.

"Let go, straighten up." Zhang Chunfeng made a direct move, grabbing Li Xiuman by the back of his collar and forcing him to straighten up.

"I, Chunfeng, slow down," Li Xiuman whispered.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Chunfeng laughed and said, "Look for yourself, Hongying has slowed down even more, she hasn't even started running yet."

Li Xiuman blushed instantly, feeling ashamed of her timidity and embarrassment. She realized she was ten years older than Zhang Chunfeng; how could she be so cowardly?

He gritted his teeth, released the horse's neck with both hands, and shakily straightened his upper body.

Suddenly, he felt a burning heat in his hand. Zhang Chunfeng grasped his hand and placed it on the reins.

"Grab the reins, look straight ahead, and relax your legs," Zhang Chunfeng said, his breath hot against his neck.

Only then did Lee Soo-man realize how intimate he and Jang Chun-feng were!

Zhang Chunfeng wrapped her arms tightly around his waist, pressed her body against his back, and placed her head so close that her lips could touch his.

The coarse blue cloth and light-colored brocade robes rubbed against each other as the two moved intimately, the coarse cloth belt and light-colored tassels becoming tangled together in the wind. Li Xiuman lowered his head, trying to quietly pull his belt out, but the sudden acceleration of the red-tasseled horse's hooves caused him to lean back, landing squarely in Zhang Chunfeng's arms.

He was only relieved that Zhang Chunfeng was sitting behind him, and he proudly hid his flushed face.

Before he could even adjust to the awkwardness, Zhang Chunfeng lightly tapped his leg.

"Spread your legs wider, or you'll rub your skin raw."

For someone who can't ride a horse, squeezing the saddle tightly with both legs and rubbing back and forth can indeed cause abrasions on the thighs.

Just as Li Xiuman was looking at the picture book in Aunt Liu's room, Zhang Chunfeng slapped him hard on the thigh. Li Xiuman nodded on the surface, but then he suddenly remembered the way he had been bent over, holding the horse's neck with his hands and sticking his butt out.

How is that pose any different from the one in the picture book? It's so embarrassing. He thought awkwardly to himself.

Once they left the village and went up the hillside, the road became steep, and the two of them stood even closer together.

Although Li Xiuman felt that the two of them were only sharing a horse because they were traveling, they were so close that he tried to move away, but his upper body was completely immobilized. He felt like a child, tightly trapped in Zhang Chunfeng's arms. Even if he didn't have any wild thoughts, he still felt extremely awkward at such close proximity.

Li Xiuman was in a bad mood, and Zhang Chunfeng was in a bad mood as well.

She was used to galloping on horseback, and now Hongying's speed was almost wearing down her patience. Li Xiuman was still squirming in her arms.

Staring at the man's exposed white neck, she wanted to completely abandon all the plans she had made in the past few days, and she could no longer tolerate Lee Soo-man's constant twisting.

It was as if this person was deliberately seducing her, her narrow, slender waist swaying back and forth like a willow branch.

"Sister-in-law, hold on tight. Let's ride faster and come back sooner." Zhang Chunfeng pulled on the reins, and Hongying, obeying the order, took off galloping.

Li Xiuman's face turned pale. Fear made him involuntarily clench his legs around the horse's belly and pull on the reins.

"Don't pull the reins," Zhang Chunfeng warned, but found Li Xiuman looking serious, truly terrified, and her words didn't register with him.

Zhang Chunfeng chuckled inwardly, gripping the reins with one hand and Li Xiuman's hand holding the reins with the other, interlocking his fingers with Li Xiuman's from the back of Li Xiuman's hand, and then pulling the reins from Li Xiuman's hand into his own.

Li Xiuman was so shaken by the frenzied horse that he forgot how close Zhang Chunfeng was to him. He was only glad that he hadn't eaten much at noon, otherwise he would have shaken up everything on the way, which would have really offended Zhang Chunfeng's eyes.

Even with this increased speed, the two still arrived at Shen's grave in half an hour.

It seems that Shen's family was poor, otherwise they wouldn't have allowed her to enter a brothel. Since they were a poor family, their graves were located near their own fields, surrounded by endless fields.

Zhang Chunfeng dismounted first, and after he stood still, he helped Li Xiuman down. Zhang Chunfeng held Li Xiuman's waist with his hand, making sure that he was steady on his feet.

The moment Li Xiuman's feet touched the ground, he felt a wonderful sense of solidity. With his back to Zhang Chunfeng, he patted his stomach to make sure he wouldn't actually feel dizzy and vomit.

Then, carrying the package, he went to Shen's grave, knelt down, and arranged the things he had prepared earlier one by one.

"The Tomb of Shen Su'e." Zhang Chunfeng thought to himself that Shen's name was quite nice, but he wondered what this former top courtesan looked like. To be able to buy a child as beautiful as Li Xiuman, she truly had a tragic fate.

After Li Xiuman arranged the offerings, he burned paper money for Shen.

He glanced sideways at Zhang Chunfeng, who was a little distance away from him, before slowly speaking.

“Mother, it is truly unfilial of me to get married before the seventh day after your death. I beg your forgiveness. It is because I am incompetent and cannot earn money to arrange your funeral that I have resorted to this. I did not hold a grand funeral for you either. If I have money in the future, I will definitely repair your tomb properly. All my faults are due to my incompetence and failure to let you enjoy happiness.”

As Lee Soo-man spoke, his eyes reddened slightly.

"Although the man I married is mentally challenged, the Zhang family gave me money when I was in dire need, which can be considered a help to me. Now that the ceremony has been held, I will definitely treat that man well in the future. Mother, please don't dwell on the past."

“I… I’m incompetent. My brother Yaozu doesn’t want to come to see you. I can’t get him to come no matter what I do. The Zhang family gave me twenty copper coins, and I gave him eight of them. I think eight copper coins is really too little, but he still doesn’t want to come. I will definitely make him come to see you when I have money in the future, so as to fulfill your long-cherished wish.”

After Li Xiuman finished speaking, he kowtowed three more times to Shen. He still seemed to feel that he had committed a grave sin by marrying Shen before the seventh day after her death, so he knelt down to burn paper money and muttered incoherently.

Zhang Chunfeng stood not far away, while Hongying ate grass from a tree a few meters away. She watched Li Xiuman occasionally raise his sleeve to wipe the corners of his eyes, and she couldn't understand why someone who treated her like a blood bank was crying over his death.

Li Xiuman would cry for a while, then kowtow for a while. Zhang Chunfeng counted them one by one, and before he knew it, Li Xiuman had kowtowed almost a hundred times!

If this continues, I'm afraid he'll even have a wound on his forehead.

Zhang Chunfeng stepped forward and saw that Li Xiuman's forehead was red and still covered with slightly damp mud from the ground, and her bright almond-shaped eyes were swollen and red like walnuts.

When Lee Soo-man saw Zhang Chunfeng approaching, he assumed she was impatient and said, "That's all."

He hurriedly burned all the remaining paper money and ingots in his hand, then bent down and kowtowed to finish the ritual.

Bang!

His forehead touched the ground, and he felt something soft. Li Xiuman looked up in confusion and saw Zhang Chunfeng's palm on the spot where he had just kowtowed. Li Xiuman's head had touched Zhang Chunfeng's palm.