Qin Mian opened his eyes and found himself lying in a leaky thatched cottage. The problem was that he was still in his family’s villa beforehand! What’s more, there was another man lying next to his leg in the quilt!

“You, you, who are you?”

The man sat up quietly, his upper body exposed as he looked at Qin Mian for a moment before he carried a worn out bowl with a cracked corner from the low table at the head of the bed. The man said in a muffled voice, “Wife, drink water.”

Qin Mian’s eyes rolled backwards and he passed out….

Qin Mian had a dream that he became a woman. Within the burst of suonas1, gongs and drums beating, he was forced into a sedan chair to marry a man.

He was scared to the point of cold sweating, then woke up, and pulled his clothes apart. As soon as he saw a flat chest, he was relieved and laughed at himself, “I’m scaring myself; it’s just a dream…”

Suddenly, he felt something was wrong. How could his clothes be so worn out? And how could he be so swarthy and thin, just like a child of eleven or twelve.

He raised his head hastily and found that he was in a thatched cottage. He jumped to the ground from the bed in fright. The thatched room was only about seven to eight square foot with two of the walls made of clay and the other two walls were merely made of wood, hay,and old cloth. There was nothing else in the room except for a wooden bed, a low table at the head of the bed, and two wooden boxes. Oh, there was also red paper-cutouts pasted on the wall, which were big “囍”2 character. There was no mirror, but when Qin Mian looked at his little arms and calves, he could be sure that this body was not his at all.

A thrill crept up his back. What’s going on? He clearly remembered that he had been in his family’s villa beforehand. Right, he was pushed by Qin Lian. He had rolled down the stairs and hit his head. Very suddenly, he had an incredible idea: Was he dead and reincarnated in someone else’s body?

Qin Mian dared not to believe it. He pinched himself hard but the scene in front of him didn’t change at all, as if it was laughing at him coldly.

He was completely dumbstruck. After a moment of stupefaction, he quickly looked at the pulse point on his left wrist. There was a small, unremarkable black mole there. With a thought in mind, a familiar mysterious world appeared in front of him. He breathed a moment of relieved, his tensed face also eased a lot.

He walked toward the door with great strides; his feet pressed painfully on something hard within two steps. He looked down and saw a pair of skinny black feet without shoes. The ground was full of potholes; it would be a wonder if his feet did not get pressed painfully on something hard. Looking around, there was a pair of straw sandals by the bed. They had been worn for a long time that they were half black. Under the bed were two other pairs of straw sandals, one big and one small, all of which were new. He put on the new straw sandals without hesitation.

When he opened the door, he found that the thatched cottage was built in a yard. At a glance, he could tell that it was built later. A foul smell assailed his nostrils; he could not stand it, so he covered his nose.

“Snort…” A pig in the opposite pigsty looked up at him before lowering its head. Its dirty mouth dug the vegetable leaves scattered in the rice straws. There was a big pile of shit next to those few vegetable leaves.

Qin Mian’s mouth twitched as he walked to the tightly shut main house. He pushed open the door and called out; the unfamiliar voice was a little hoarse, “Is anyone there?”

No one answered.

He raised his voice and called out again. He could not help frowning when he didn’t get an answer. This body was too inferior: aching, limp, and weak. He merely shouted a few words but it was like he had exhausted all his strength. He couldn’t help wondering if this body was sick?

Looking to the right, there was a closed entrance door. The entrance door was made of several planks nailed together and he could faintly see gleam of light appeared from the cracks of the planks.

Qin Mian opened the entrance door and walked several steps to escape the stink in the pigsty. A gust of wind came gently; the fresh air made him greedily take a few mouthfuls of air.

On the left side of the sky hung a half height –unbeknownst whether it was morning or dusk– sun. The sun shone on the green verdant trees reflected the rays of light, and with the sway of the wind, they looked like glittering gold. Several chimneys erected in the rows of houses not far away from each other; the smoke from the chimneys spiraled up to the sky. Looking up, there was a large field in the distance; green crops blown by the wind set off long green waves. In the field, the farmers bent their backs and went busy; the oxen swung their tails while eating grass on the ridge. Further away was a tall green mountain with green trees stacked on top of each other. Faint smog curled around the mountainside made it looked like a fairyland. From unknown direction, came fuzzy noises, which were mixed with the cries of cattle and sheep, and the bark of dog, but contrarily, it reflected the tranquility of this village even more.

What a nice little village.

If not for Qin Mian hadn’t figured out his situation, he wouldn’t mind strolling around the village. He had lived in the reinforced concrete forest for a long time. Such a small village was just what he liked.

At this time, an old woman of about 60 years old came from behind a pile of haystacks with a basket on her right arm, containing some wet clothes.

As soon as Qin Mian saw the old woman’s hair bun and ancient clothes, his heart thumped. Could it be that he not only reincarnated in someone else’s body, but also went to ancient era?

It was not easy to meet a person; he was wondering whether to go up and test out the old woman, but the old woman suddenly stepped up and came straight to him. Her expression was very bad and her two thin lips were tightly pursed, showing a thread of mean aura.

“Since you have woken up, why don’t you feed the pigs? Standing here to watch the scenery, ah?”

Qin Mian internally said: really am watching the scenery. He saw that the old woman entered the courtyard he had just come out of. He did not know what the relationship between him and the old woman was currently. He had to pinch his nose and as he walked in, his stomach rumbled like thunder booming.

He was hungry.

Du Shi3 was going to dry the clothes on the rope, but when she heard that there was no movement behind her, she turned her waist and glared as she roared with rage, “Eldest family’s4, are you dead, ah? Go feed the pigs quickly!”

Eldest family’s son or eldest family’s what? Qin Mian thought. Except for the old woman, he was the only one here. Even if he didn’t want to endure the old woman’s shout, but it was about him. So, he could only sigh and walked there.

Du Shi glanced at him, “Feed the pigs!”

“Can’t.” Qin Mian smiled gently, “I have to trouble you to teach me.”

Du Shi‘s face sank as soon as she heard it. She looked around, picked up a worn out broom and whipped it toward Qin Mian’s body. “Can’t? Can you eat or not? Are you trying to piss me off?”

Qin Mian was shocked. He reached for the broom while internally though whether the old woman was ill to have hitting someone before saying a word? But he forgot that he was about 11-12 years old at most and with his very poor health, he was severely tugged by the old woman. The pain on his hands made his grips loose and his bum fell on the ground.

“How dare you fight back? Return to you.” Du Shi raised the broom and whipped at him again.

Qin Mian’s face coldly darkened, but he didn’t have the strength to dodge. He internally thought: what a bad luck, I’m afraid I’m going to suffer for a bit. The old woman looked old, but she was very strong.

The awaiting pain did not fall onto Qin Mian, but he saw Du Shi’s face frowned unsightly while looking behind him.

Qin Mian looked back and saw the broom was gripped by a tall man. He seemed to have seen this man somewhere before.

“Mother, he is my wife.”

Qin Mian coughed violently. No wonder he felt that he had seen the man; it was precisely the man who had handed him water and called him “wife” last night!

This man looked in his early twenties; tall and strong with a straight disposition. He was wearing a gray open-slit duanda1 on his upper body, a black belt tied in a simple knot on his waist, a pair of pants of the same color rolled up to the calves, and a pair of old straw shoes on his feet. This man was rather handsome. He had waist-long black hair which simply bundled up with a mere blue cloth and a wooden hairpin. His thick eyebrows were slanted toward the sideburns, his eyes were bright and deep. Due to being basked in the sun often, his skin was bronze, which made him look more imposing. However, there was a scar on his left cheek, extending from the inner corner of his left eye all the way to the bottom of his earlobe. The wound looked old, but the scar was very obvious; it made he seem somewhat intimidating.

He was this man’s… wife? Qin Mian coughed and stood up. His knees were a little soft that he involuntarily sat back down.

That man had sharp eyes and agile hands; he tightly held Qin Mian’s arm in one hand.

Qin Mian felt like a chick being picked up. He took a look at the man but he didn’t say anything and only murmured in his heart that this man was too tall, almost two heads taller than his present self. At the same time, he was surer that this body he possessed was ill, and that this kind of weakness was not normal at all.

Du Shi‘s face eased up as she put down the broom. “Eldest2, Mother is angered by him. He said he couldn’t feed the pigs! What’s this if not to piss me off? Properly manage your wife!”

Qin Mian didn’t make a sound. He could feed the pigs. He lived in the countryside with his maternal grandparents from birth to the age of 15, where they farmed, raised chickens and pigs at home; he could do it all. But now he was in a strange environment and had no memory of the original body’s owner. He didn’t know what the pig feed was, where it was, and how much it was to be fed. If he did something wrong, it would lead the old woman to be suspicious of him, which was not good. As it was well known, people in ancient era were superstitious. If someone found out that the body had changed its core, he might have to die again. Therefore, he said it directly that he could not, even if contrary to the fact, the old woman at most only thought he was deliberately looking for trouble.

Lei Tie took a look at Qin Mian; contrariwise, he didn’t look displeased. Without saying a word, he strode away.

Du Shi gave Qin Mian a fierce look.

Qin Mian did not fear her. He silently thought about what to do next while he wondered about that man, who walked in a windy way. He felt unspeakably out of sorts. He did not know what went wrong.

After a while, that man came up with a bucket, went to the pigsty, and quickly poured the rotten vegetable leaves and some kind of grass in the bucket into the trough.

Du Shi‘s face was a little blue, but her tone was as warm as possible: “Eldest, you are an adult man; why would you want to do this thing?”

Qin Mian was angry. He’s a man but I’m not a man?

Lei Tie didn’t say a word as he put the bucket on the ground. He led Qin Mian into the thatched cottage and sat him down at the edge of the bed.

Qin Mian was taken aback by him. He hadn’t remembered to speak yet when he saw the man go out and bring in a basin of water. He took a brand-new cloth towel from a rope tied behind the door and put it in the basin. Then, he also sat down at the edge of the bed with three fists distance ffrom Qin Mian and looked at the opposite wall with no expression, silence without utterance.

“Thank you.” Qin Mian thought to himself: he’s very close-lipped. But despite their abnormal relationship, he had nothing to dislike about this man so far. He didn’t say much and used the cloth towel to wash his face and hands. When he was about to pour the water out, the man took the basin and washed his face and hands silently.

Qin Mian was a little uncomfortable. Two men share a washcloth….

“Have a meal.” After Lei Tie washed his face, he took the basin in one hand, stood up, and looked at Qin Mian.

Qin Mian nodded and followed him out.

The man splashed the water on the corner of the wall and put the basin beside the well before he walked into the main house.

Qin Mian followed.

At this time, several people came in from the entrance door; men and women all dressed in ancient costumes, carrying farm tools, walking and talking at the same time. Those several people were followed by three small children.

Speaking of this, let’s talk about the Lei Family. The head of the Lei Household, Lei Daqiang, was 40 years old and married to Du Shi, 38 years old. The eldest child of Lei Family, Lei Tie, was 22 years old and his wife was precisely Qin Mian, just 14 years old. The second child, Lei Xiangren, was 21 years old and his wife was Zhao Shi; their eldest son, Lei Dabao, was 5 years old and the youngest son, Lei Xiaobao, was 3 years old. The third child, Lei Xiangyi, was 19 years old and married to Qian Shi and had a daughter named Lei Xinxin, 2 years old. The fourth child, Lei Xiangli, was 17 years old and had yet married. The fifth children were a pair of twin, Lei Xiangzhi and the only daughter Lei Chuntao, 15 years old.

At this time, it was precisely Lei Daqiang and the others who came in. Except for Lei Xiangzhi, others were there.

Lei Xiangren put down the farming tools and upon seeing that Qin Mian’s face looked a little strange, he called out “eldest sister-in-law”.

Qin Mian, who had just transmigrated, was feeling uneasy. Afraid to be seen abnormal, he did not look at them carefully and only vaguely nodded. Now that he had transmigrated, it was impossible to transmigrate back. He had some ideas in mind. No one knew that he had a magical space. As long as there was this magical space, with his wit, it was not a problem to live a good life. But at the moment, all he could do was to remain calm.

Zhao Shi and Qian Shi went to the well to draw water for the men to wash. While drawing water, they talked in low voices, with a strange smile on their faces. Consciously or unconsciously, their eyes also drifted to Qin Mian.

Qin Mian didn’t care. There were two old-fashioned square tables for eight people in the main hall. Seeing Lei Tie sitting at one table, he went to sit on the empty seat beside him and secretly took note of Lei Tie’s reaction.

Lei Tie glanced at this out-of-ordinary wife of his. He had no expression but there was a little unexpected in his eyes, yet he didn’t say anything.

“Second family’s [wife] and third family’s [wife], still haven’t come in to help?” When Du Shi came out of the kitchen and saw Zhao Shi and Qian Shi chatting there, she was so furious that she shouted coldly with arms akimbo.

“Coming!” Zhao Shi and Qian Shi immediately put away their smiles and sped up washing their hands.

A while later, all the people outside came in after they had washed up. Upon seeing Qin Mian sitting at the men’s side, their footsteps faltered at the same time. They looked at each other in dismay.

Father Lei didn’t speak as he went to sit down at the seat of honor. As a matter of fact, he was only in his early 40s, but he looked very old because of the hard work all year round; he looked like he was 60 years old.

When the few men saw that their father didn’t speak, they also took their seats at the table where Qin Mian was sitting.

After a moment, Du Shi, Zhao Shi, and Qian Shi came in with the dishes.

As soon as Du Shi saw Qin Mian, her expression changed. Restraining her displeasure, she motioned to the other table: “Eldest’s [wife], are you confused? Your seat is here.”

Both Zhao Shi and Qian Shi wore a face like waiting to watch a dispute unfold. It was enough for them to be happy when the eldest son married a man as his wife, whom after just a few days of marriage had started to work with the mother-in-law, which gave them a topic to talk for several days.

Lei Chuntao’s eyebrows wrinkled. She took a dish from Du Shi‘s hands and put it on the table. When she went to pick up another dish, Du Shi did not let go. She looked up; her mother’s face was taut and her eyes were full of anger as she stared at the eldest [male] sister-in-law, as if wishing her eyes could be turned into two needles to poke him a few times.

Qin Mian saw that the other table was full of women and children. He laughed in his heart. Without changing his expression or talking, he turned to look at the man beside him to see how he would react.

This man’s attitude would determine the direction of his future plans.

Lei Tie didn’t look at the person beside him, but he pressed the other person’s leg, not letting him get up. He said dully and succinctly, “My wife will sit here henceforth.”

Du Shi put on a straight face and slammed the dish on the table with all her strength.

Qin Mian thought to himself that this plate was still very strong that it hadn’t broken under such strength.

Du Shi allowed no doubt as she said, “How can this work? All the daughters-in-law are sitting at that table; no matter which family, the rules are the same. You come here, Eldest’s [wife].”

Lei Tie didn’t loosen his hand, dully but determined: “Just sit here.”

“Mother, between the sexes there should be a prudent reserve. Isn’t it embarrassing for them if I were to sit there? There is even a girl.” Qin Mian pushed away Lei Tie’s hand and smiled at the old woman. He didn’t know which dynasty this was, so he didn’t dare to say “men and women with seven years difference could not be seated and eat together”. That little girl didn’t have her hair bound, so he knew that she was not married.

Du Shi‘s face was red with anger. The reason why she let the Eldest’s [wife] and the other two daughters-in-law sit together was to straighten him out, but she forgot that her daughter had reached the age of marriage. Although the Eldest’s [wife] was a “sister-in-law”, he was a man after all. Thinking of this, though she was angry, she couldn’t say anything against it. She only gave Qin Mian a fierce look when people didn’t pay attention.

She looked at the plate of steamed buns in her hand that was going to be sent to the big table (the table where the men were sitting). She wanted to put two less but was afraid that the few of the family’s labor forces would not have enough to eat, so she had to give up. She hated Qin Mian even more.

Zhao Shi and Qian Shi were secretly disappointed that they didn’t see a good drama. They were a little puzzled. The other day, the “eldest sister-in-law” looked timid and cowardly. Today, he was calm and dared to talk back to Du Shi. Remarkable ah. Was he relying on the eldest son’s support?