Sister-in-law?

The matchmaker seemed to be from another village and didn't know that Zhang Chunfeng was a substitute bride. Upon seeing Zhang Chunfeng's appearance, she immediately smiled so much that the wrinkles on her face were all squeezed together.

"Oh my, the bride is so lucky! And look at the groom, he's so handsome!" The matchmaker praised loudly before handing the red ribbon in her hand to Zhang Chunfeng.

Hearing the matchmaker's praise, Li Xiuman, whose face was covered by a red veil, was curious about what her future husband would look like. Unfortunately, the red veil obscured her view, and she could only see Zhang Chunfeng's boots. These boots were new additions by Zhou Zhengdu, made entirely of the finest fabric, and their sheen was much brighter than ordinary coarse cloth shoes.

Li Xiuman's heart pounded at the sight. Aunt Liu had clearly said that the family that bought her was also poor, so why was the groom dressed like this? Could it be that she had been sold to be a concubine?

He then followed the red thread in his hand and saw Zhang Chunfeng's hand. Her fingers were slender and fair, with no calluses on the tips of her five fingers; they were clearly not hands used for farm work.

Was Aunt Liu lying to him? Had he really been sold to be a concubine? Li Xiuman had been led to the bridal sedan chair, and he should have gotten in by now, but he stood still and refused to move.

He had clearly told Aunt Liu that he would accept any family, no matter how poor, but he would never be a concubine or a second wife. How did things turn out like this?

The matchmaker urged Li Xiuman twice, but seeing that he didn't move and that there were many onlookers around, she realized that he was not moving.

The matchmaker immediately smiled and said, "The bride is reluctant to leave her home, so the groom is helping her into the sedan chair."

Left with no other choice, Zhang Chunfeng had to approach his cheap sister-in-law, who was probably extremely ugly.

"My name is Zhang Chunfeng. I greet the bride. Please get into the sedan chair."

Lee Soo-man was stunned when he heard the name. Zhang Chunfeng? How could it be her? Why her? What a coincidence!

He turned his head to look at Zhang Chunfeng, but was spotted by the matchmaker, who grabbed Li Xiuman's body.

"Bride, with so many people around, aren't you embarrassed? When you get back, you can look at the groom however you want!"

The matchmaker whispered these words in Lee Soo-man's ear, so no one else heard them. The matchmaker then squeezed Lee Soo-man's hand hard, the pain bringing him back to his senses.

The handsome face hidden under the veil blushed instantly.

He didn't want to see her.

Lee Soo-man argued inwardly, when suddenly he felt something soft in his palm.

Zhang Chunfeng had somehow gotten hold of Li Xiuman's hand. "Get in the sedan chair. If you miss home, I'll accompany you on your homecoming in three days. Don't miss the auspicious time."

Zhang Chunfeng's voice was so gentle, her light "I'll stay with you some more" seemed to carry a thousand tender feelings. Li Xiu's mind was a complete mess, she couldn't think straight at all, and she was stuffed into the sedan chair by Zhang Chunfeng and the matchmaker.

As Li Xiuman sat in the sedan chair, he was still puzzled as to why it was Zhang Chunfeng. He wanted to secretly lift the veil to take a peek. The matchmaker walking beside the sedan chair reminded him again, "Bride, sit still. It's not good to lift the veil before the auspicious time."

Lee Soo-man had no choice but to give up.

From the moment he sat in the sedan chair until he entered the Zhang family's gate, a series of ceremonies followed one after another. Li Xiuman couldn't see anything, and was led and pushed by others amidst the noise all around him. He was taken to the place of the wedding ceremony without any chance to make any sense of it.

Zhang Chunfeng returned and immediately changed his clothes.

Li hurriedly helped Zhang Chuntian change her clothes, repeatedly instructing her: "Chuntian, remember what I told you last night: only bow three times, and don't do anything else. I've said it eight hundred times already. If you make a mistake again, I'll punish you accordingly."

Zhang Chuntian, dressed in his new clothes, grinned from ear to ear. He nodded repeatedly, "Getting a wife, getting a wife, Mother, I know."

Li helped Zhang Chuntian straighten his hat and said softly, "If you don't make any mistakes this time and get married, I will never hit you again. No matter what mistakes you make, you will belong to someone else, and I will never hit you."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chuntian laughed again, nodded repeatedly, and went to find his wife.

The wedding ceremony took place in the main hall of the Zhang family home.

Li was sitting in a chair, and Zhang Chunfeng was standing to the side.

When Zhang Chuntian saw Li Xiuman, he immediately wanted to go over to her, but Li coughed and reminded him to stand still.

"First bow to Heaven and Earth!" the matchmaker shouted.

Li Xiuman bowed to pay his respects, but suddenly noticed that the groom's shoes were not Zhang Chunfeng's. The shoes he had worn earlier were so expensive, but now they were just faded boots.

"Bowing to the parents twice."

Before Lee Soo-man could figure out what was going on, he was pushed to pay respects to his parents.

Zhang Chuntian made no mistakes in either of his attempts, and the people around him were talking about it. It seemed that Zhang Chuntian had become quite clever after getting married.

"Husband and wife bow to each other."

During the bowing ceremony, Li Xiuman noticed that the groom's hands were large and strong, clearly the result of long hours of farm work. This man was obviously not Zhang Chunfeng.

"It's not her," Lee Soo-man muttered to himself.

"The ceremony is complete!"

When Zhang Chuntian saw his mother nodding with a smile, he immediately knew he hadn't done anything wrong. He jumped up and shouted happily, "I have a wife! I have a wife!"

He shouted and leaned against Li Xiuman, his hand moving so fast that Li couldn't stop him, and he ripped off Li Xiuman's red veil.

The previously noisy crowd fell silent in an instant.

Everyone wondered what kind of male wife Li could buy for twenty copper coins, and assumed that the bride must be extremely ugly to be so cheap.

To everyone's surprise, when the veil was lifted, Li Xiuman's jet-black hair was tied with a red string, her lips were rouged by the matchmaker, and her cheeks were also smeared with rouge. Her rosy cheeks, bright red lips, and jet-black hair made the entire hall shine with color.

After a moment of stunned silence, Lee Soo-man finally recognized her husband, Jang Chun-chun.

Standing behind Zhang Chuntian was Zhang Chunfeng, who was equally surprised.

If it weren't for his elder brother's once-in-a-lifetime wedding banquet, Zhang Chunfeng would never have stood in this main hall, enduring such noisy and disruptive noise.

After Zhang Chuntian completed the ceremony, she was about to leave. Little did she expect that Zhang Chuntian would pull off the bride's veil, revealing Li Xiuman beneath it.

Their eyes met through the crowd.

Even though nothing had happened between them, Lee Soo-man was the first to back down, lowering his head and no longer daring to look Jang Chun-tian in the eye.

Zhang Chunfeng had a photographic memory since childhood, achieved early success, and enjoyed a smooth path to fame and fortune; her mental agility was simply outrageous. But at this moment, she felt as if her brain wasn't working.

How could it be Lee Soo-man? Lee clearly stated that the bride's parents were both deceased. Lee Soo-man clearly said he was poor, so how could he be living in such a nice place?

She couldn't understand it, and felt a tightness in her chest.

When Li saw Zhang Chuntian do this, she snatched the veil and hurriedly put it on Li Xiuman's head.

Upon meeting her mother's gaze, Zhang Chuntian immediately knew she had gotten into trouble again and listlessly left Li Xiuman.

The matchmaker quickly helped Li Xiuman back to Zhang Chuntian's room.

The outside was extremely lively. After settling Li Xiuman in, the matchmaker went out to collect her reward money.

Lee Soo-man sat blankly in the bridal chamber, his mind empty, unable to think.

Just then, the door creaked open again.

When Lee Soo-man heard someone come in, he locked the door behind him.

Zhang Chunfeng quietly picked up the scales placed on the table, symbolizing future "wish fulfillment," and lifted Li Xiuman's red veil.

Although Zhang Chunfeng had changed out of her bright red wedding robe, she felt that today was her brother's wedding, so she wore a red and white robe. The auspicious cloud pattern embroidered on her shoulders and neck made her look exceptionally beautiful.

Lee Soo-man kept her head down, and only when she felt her veil being lifted and her butterfly-like eyelashes fluttered twice did she dare to look up and meet Zhang Chunfeng's gaze.

The room was quiet, except for two red candles burning on the old solid wood table.

Fearing the flowers would fall asleep as night deepened, I burned a tall candle to illuminate their red beauty. These lines of poetry rose in Zhang Chunfeng's mind, and when she looked at Li Xiuman again, she felt that this woman was even more beautiful than the flowers.

Lee Soo-man lowered his head uncomfortably. The room was so quiet, and it was so noisy outside. His heart was like a swing on a swing, turning back and forth, and he didn't know what to say at all.

“We haven’t seen each other for about half a month since that day.” Zhang Chunfeng sat down next to Li Xiuman.

Lee Soo-man paused again, instinctively feeling that it was inappropriate. The seat next to him was originally for the groom, but now Zhang Chunfeng was his sister-in-law.

He gripped her sleeve tightly with one hand. After not seeing her for half a month, he had become her sister-in-law.

"Ten days ago, my mother died. She had been ill for a long time, and I spent all my money trying to save her, but she still passed away." Lee Soo-man sighed slightly. "I didn't have time to arrange her funeral."

So he had no choice but to sell himself.

Zhang Chunfeng nodded, "Yes, you are indeed an orphan."

Li Xiuman hummed in agreement, then heard Zhang Chunfeng ask, "When I went to marry you, were those people your relatives?"

“I don’t have any relatives. Aunt Liu arranged this marriage for me. When I’m not home, Aunt Liu helps me take care of my mother,” Li Xiuman explained, though she didn’t know why she was explaining so much to Zhang Chunfeng.

It's clear that there was nothing between the two of them back then, but now Lee Soo-man feels like he's let Jang Chun-feng down.

"Oh, what a coincidence." Zhang Chunfeng turned his head and saw Li Xiuman's fair and rosy earlobes. The skin behind her ears was the most tender. At this moment, under the glow of the red candle, Li Xiuman's earlobes reminded people of the red bean buns made in the village. A little red bean on a white and tender bun is incredibly tempting.

Lee Soo-man didn't know how to respond, so he just lowered his head and looked at his toes.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Chunfeng continued, "What are your plans for tonight's wedding night?"

Li Xiuman blushed instantly, his eyes darting around, wondering what Zhang Chunfeng meant by asking that question.

He made a difficult movement in his throat.

“I am your sister-in-law, it is improper to ask such a question.”

"puff."

Zhang Chunfeng laughed, his laughter echoing through the quiet room.

Lee Soo-man was even more baffled. What was so funny about this? His face, which was already red, turned even redder.

"Sister-in-law?" Zhang Chunfeng called out, the word carrying a strange connotation.

Zhang Chunfeng smiled, but his eyes were filled with coldness.

He actually pretended to be his sister-in-law?

Lee Soo-man nodded repeatedly, acknowledging the title of "sister-in-law".

“Brother probably doesn’t know that I once shared a room with my sister-in-law in a cave. She helped me take off my shoes and socks, and I slept soundly next to her all night.”

“What are you saying? You’re ten years younger than me. Back then, I only treated you as a younger sister. You yourself said it…” Lee Soo-man stammered in response.

Unfortunately, before he could finish speaking, he suddenly felt a tightness in his wrist.

Zhang Chunfeng's hand gripped his wrist tightly. Li Xiuman was stunned for a moment, only to feel that Zhang Chunfeng's hand was indeed soft and hot, with a wonderful feel to the skin. Layers of heat from his palm traveled from his wrist into his body.

For about half a minute, Lee Soo-man let Zhang Chunfeng hold his hand completely, then he suddenly remembered that this person was his sister-in-law!

He frantically tried to break free from Zhang Chunfeng's grasp, but Zhang Chunfeng held him firmly. He could hardly believe that this sixteen-year-old girl, whom he thought only knew how to write and paint, possessed such strength.

“But, since that night, I don’t want to treat you as my brother anymore… sister-in-law.”

Zhang Chunfeng lowered her voice, each word carrying an allure. Lee Soo-man was startled again, then suddenly felt a warmth on his lips.

Li Xiuman came from a poor family and spent his entire life plagued by illness, poverty, and hardship, never having had any contact with a woman. Zhang Chunfeng's kiss on his lips was so passionate and tender that she almost swallowed them whole.

The aroma and sweetness, mixed with the faint taste of blood from bitten lips, spread through their mouths.

Lee Soo-man's body went limp, and he was pinned down on the bed.