Ah Mian mustered her courage and said, "I know what you're worried about. Don't worry about the child not surviving, and besides, it won't cost you a few coins..."
Infant mortality is common in the countryside. From birth, children endure all sorts of cruel trials, and sometimes they die from just a gust of wind. Therefore, a child is considered to have "stood up" only when he or she is five years old.
She kept rambling on and on, basically saying that it's like a ewe giving birth to a lamb. After the baby is born, she, Adou, and her child will form an unbreakable triangle. Then she will become Adou's mother, and they will live happily ever after in a tofu shop, blah blah blah...
In short, it's an enlarged version of Ah Mian's childhood, only this time she's the mother.
As she was lost in her daydreams, she didn't notice Meng Chijian's expression growing increasingly grim. "Fine, you want a child? That's easy enough. I'll give you one."
A-Mian was caught off guard when he bit her. She frantically tried to push away his pressing chest, but her hands were violently shoved away.
"What are you blocking? You're not allowed to block."
—This is not quite what the book says!
The book clearly describes it as gentle and tender, like a spring breeze, and the two felt as if they were in paradise amidst a burst of joy.
Instead of biting and pinching her indiscriminately, as if trying to tear her apart and devour her whole!
Amian couldn't push him away, so she kept slapping his big head buried in her chest with her palm. "Get away, you bad thing! Ouch—you, you..."
He bit her hard.
Amian was heartbroken. She had always thought Meng Chijian was a good person and not the monster from her dream. She decided never to trust him again. The book didn't say that at all. He must have thought she didn't have a powerful family to back her up, so he finally revealed his true colors and deliberately bullied her.
"..." She remained silent for a while. Meng Chijian looked up helplessly and saw that her eyes were filled with tears. "I didn't even use any force."
"Alright, didn't you say you wanted a baby?" Meng Chijian sighed, straightened out her crumpled bellyband, and buttoned up the little jacket one by one. "Now you're crying like this again."
Ah Mian ignored him, turned her face away, and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.
He glanced at her waist and saw a red mark from being pinched. He could only coax her in a hoarse voice, "It's my fault. I scared A-Mian. Why don't you pinch me back?"
A-Mian said, "Why do you have to be so mean? And so fierce? I won't do what you do. I'm not braised pork, you can't eat me."
“…This isn’t a bad thing either,” Meng Chijian’s throat bobbed as he lightly kissed away the tears on her face. “Forget it, we can talk about the child later.”
Besides, all the flesh on her body was raised by him, which is much more laborious than raising pigs.
Seeing his sincerity, Ah Mian realized he wasn't deliberately trying to bully her, which left her completely puzzled. Suddenly, she posed a profoundly philosophical question: "Do you think it's possible for things written in books to be wrong?"
Meng Chijian was shifting his attention, fiddling with A Mian, trying to weigh her body.
She's no longer a short, tiny bean sprout. Well... she hasn't grown much taller; she's now just up to Meng Chijian's shoulder. She has soft flesh on her lower abdomen, and her thighs are chubby too. How could the zookeeper not be moved to tears?
However, Ah Mian, oblivious to the danger, stood with her hands on her hips, trying to look tough, and said with wide eyes, "But you bit me hard, I need to 'whoosh' to feel better."
She pulled at her clothes, but Meng Chijian quickly grabbed her hand. "It's too late, we're not playing today."
What kind of demon is this being raised?
While keeping everyone else up at night, she herself pulled the covers over her head and fell fast asleep!
Ah Mian is simple-minded. She thinks that if she can't figure something out, she can just look for the answer in other books. If that doesn't work, she can ask Wangwang.
Time flew by, and before we knew it, it was time for A-Mian to go to the academy.
This was a day that everyone at the academy would never forget.
Early in the morning, A-Mian, dressed in a floral dress, rode in a donkey cart. The pageboy driving the cart was none other than Prince Xuan, who had previously struck fear into the hearts of everyone.
"What's going on? How interesting, he's actually working as a woman's page?!"
“A-Mian, they’re all looking at you…” Wangwang tugged at A-Mian’s clothes.
Ah Mian didn't seem to care, but Ji Hengzhi and his group in the corner had uncertain expressions. They seemed to feel thoroughly humiliated, yet also found the whole thing utterly absurd.
"By the way, Wangwang, I read the book you gave me last time, but..."
Wangwang lowered his voice, "How was it? Did it make your heart flutter and your chest race?"
Ah Mian hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but then stopped.
That wasn't a fawn at all; it looked like a huge monster. "No, it's nothing like what you described or what's written in the books..."
Amian quietly tugged at her sleeve, revealing a bruise on her arm. Wangwang was equally startled: "Your husband beats you at home!"
Now, she looked at Ah Mian with great sympathy.
With this clue, Wangwang immediately connected many things in his mind: Why did A-Mian come to work at the fish soup shop in the first place? She must have been beaten at home and couldn't take it anymore, so she ran away. She probably even stole money from home to come to this academy.
When her family found out, the academy couldn't refund the tuition, so they had no choice but to let Ah Mian continue her studies. But how could they not feel resentful? They must have been giving Ah Mian a beating every few days.
Poor Ah Mian was completely unaware of what was going on, foolishly trying to use that book to mend her relationship with her husband!
"It wasn't really hitting..." A-Mian scratched her head, "He just pinched me a few times."
"You can't speak up for him anymore!" Wangwang shook her shoulders. "Fool. That's why things are different from what's written in the books. These things require mutual affection, you know? Now answer me, does he love you?"
Amian shook her head. "His family forced him to get married. He has someone he loves, but it's impossible for them to be together anymore."
She's the wife of the goat milk shop owner.
Wangwang learned this hidden story and thought to himself, "No wonder they treat her so harshly."
"So...do you love him?"
Upon hearing this, A-Mian blushed and looked away. "He's a weirdo, very fierce. If I do something wrong, he makes me write big characters as punishment. Moreover, he has never said anything nice to me, only things like 'A-Mian, go take a bath' or 'A-Mian, come and try on this dress.'"
Not only that, if she didn't listen to him, he would eat her ears and belly at night, making sure Ah Mian understood.
Ah Mian felt too embarrassed to say anything.
Wangwang was not yet married, but he had already imagined a very tragic scene in his mind, and he couldn't help but hold her hand.
However, A-Mian was stunned.
She wondered if she would ask others to treat her like that.
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