Ch 13: Reborn to Raise My Husband

That night, Qi Beinan reheated the leftover rice and vegetables from noon.

Xiao Hu wasn’t particularly skilled at cooking and could never properly estimate how much food three people would eat. He always made a whole big pot, enough for one adult and two children to eat for two days.

During the meal, Xiao Hu looked a bit embarrassed and muttered that things would be better once Qin Niazi came back.

Qi Beinan, however, felt that eating rougher food was far preferable to going and fetching Qin Niazi back.

As he reheated the food, he also set up the brazier and prepared to decoct the medicine they’d brought back from the clinic.

As soon as Xiao Bao saw the brazier was brought out, he ran over at once. He squatted in front of the brazier, fed in a few small sticks and a handful of dry grass, and somehow produced a little palm fan from who knows where, gently fanning at the brazier’s mouth.

White smoke immediately rose from within the brazier.

Qi Beinan came out with the medicine packet and let out a soft “Ah!” He was just worried the smoke would sting Xiao Bao’s eyes when he saw that the firewood had already caught nicely.

Xiao Bao shifted his squatting position slightly and kept fanning the fire in small bursts.

“You know how to start a fire, Xiao Bao?”

Qi Beinan was truly surprised. Keeping a fire going was one thing—starting it was no easy task.

Xiao Bao nodded. “I help Qin Niazi start the fire. She does the cooking.”

Qi Beinan’s brows twitched slightly. He was about to ask whether Wang Chao did any of it, but just then, he caught sight of a figure walking through the courtyard.

So instead, he changed his tone and praised, “Xiao Bao is so sensible, knowing how to help Qin Niazi cook with Chao Ge’er.”

Xiao Bao didn’t realize Qi Beinan was subtly probing him. He just beamed, happy to be praised, his eyes curving into crescents.

Qi Beinan had taken him to the county seat, then to visit Grandpa Fang’s house—Xiao Bao liked this older brother a lot, so he leaned in to share a little secret: “Only I know how to do it. Chao Ge’er doesn’t.”

Hearing the joy in Xiao Bao’s voice, Qi Beinan’s heart clenched slightly. He said, “How could Chao Ge’er not know how?”

“Qin Niazi says he’s dumb. Can’t learn to light the fire or keep it going. She only taught me. I picked it up!”

Xiao Bao had rarely been praised by Qin Niazi—especially praised for being better than Chao Ge’er. So he was overjoyed. He didn’t know Qin Niazi only taught him so she could make him do the work. He truly believed he was just smarter than Chao Ge’er. Every time they cooked, he didn’t need to be called. He’d run to start the fire on his own.

Children don’t understand these things—but Qi Beinan certainly did. He knew what kind of person Qin Niazi was. This behavior, coming from her, was no surprise—but it still made him ache for Xiao Bao.

The person who felt the most shaken at that moment, however, was Xiao Hu, who had just come back from outside.

Xiao Hu had always been a rough man, spending years hunting beasts in the mountains. He couldn’t match someone like Qi Beinan—who’d mingled with people in the bureaucratic world—in carefulness and perception.

If it had just been Xiao Bao’s words, he might not have heard anything wrong. He’d probably have felt pleased, even proud, seeing the child light a fire so deftly.

But back when he returned from the mountains, Qin Niazi had always made sure he saw Wang Chao helping with the cooking. Xiao Hu used to think the boy was obedient and hardworking.

Wang Chao, in truth, rarely did these chores. If he had to put on a show, he’d often fail to light the fire, causing it to go out. Qin Niazi would scold him repeatedly for it.

Xiao Hu, not understanding, had even once defended the child, saying that at his age, it was already good that he was helping. Why scold him so harshly?

Qin Niazi would always say that since Wang Chao was already older, it was time he learned these basics of farm life—unlike Xiao Bao, who was still young and should be coddled and carefree.

Xiao Hu had always taken these words to heart, thinking Qin Niazi was a wise and caring woman.

But now, hearing Xiao Bao speak, things clearly didn’t match the picture he’d once believed in.

A small child might say silly things, but he’d seen it with his own eyes: Xiao Bao had expertly coaxed the fire into a steady burn—how could that be faked?

A tangled mess of feelings churned in Xiao Hu’s chest. What Qin Niazi had done felt like a thorn lodged deep: he couldn’t cough it up, couldn’t swallow it down.

He couldn’t understand—why would Qin Niazi go through the trouble of faking all this? Even if Wang Chao didn’t do a thing, he wouldn’t have minded. Why the deception?

And he was filled with regret. He and Xiao Bao were distant. The child never told him any of this, and he realized just how blind he had been.

“Back already, Uncle Xiao?” Qi Beinan looked up just in time, as if only now noticing Xiao Hu’s return, and called out politely.

Xiao Hu exhaled and nodded, quickly walking over.

“You’ve got the brazier going. What are you planning to cook?”

Qi Beinan didn’t mention he’d brought Xiao Bao to the clinic. He simply said, “We went to the clinic today to get ointment for his frostbite. The doctor there specializes in children. He looked at Xiao Bao and said his body’s a bit weak, diagnosed him as qi-deficient, so he prescribed a tonic too.”

Xiao Hu’s face changed instantly. He grew anxious. “How could he be qi-deficient?! Which clinic did you go to?”

Afraid Xiao Hu might think they’d been conned by some quack, Qi Beinan quickly clarified, “It was Bao Yi Tang on Willow Lane. The physician on duty was Dr. Yang.”

Xiao Hu pressed on: “Did he say anything else serious?!”

Qi Beinan recounted everything the doctor had said in detail.

Xiao Hu listened, heart clenching tighter and tighter with every word.

Qi Beinan, seeing this, tried to reassure him: “The doctor said that with proper care, it’s nothing to worry about. I’ll brew the medicine on time and take him back for a follow-up later.”

Xiao Hu had always believed it when Qin Niazi told him Xiao Bao was doing fine. To suddenly learn the child was physically weak—it left him reeling.

He uneasily asked again, “That’s really all the doctor said?”

Qi Beinan reassured him, “Uncle Xiao, don’t worry. If there were anything seriously wrong with Xiao Bao, I would never keep it from you. If you’re still unsure, you can come with us to the clinic next time and hear it straight from the doctor.”

Xiao Hu felt a wave of lingering fear—and a deeper sense of gratitude toward Qi Beinan. “Good thing you brought Xiao Bao to the clinic. Otherwise, I still wouldn’t have known.”

He crouched down and lifted Xiao Bao into his arms, heart aching. A thousand words came to mind, but looking into Xiao Bao’s innocent, wide eyes, he didn’t know what to say.

Sun Yuan had left him just this one child. If anything happened to him, how could he ever face her?

The boy now had frostbite and was already weak. Xiao Hu had been so focused on making a living in the mountains that he’d ended up neglecting his son.

Back then, knowing full well that mountain work made it easy to overlook the child, he’d deliberately sought out a stepmother—someone reliable—to help care for him. He’d provided good food and good clothing, yet in the end, the boy still ended up like this.

His thoughts were a mess. He truly didn’t know what to make of Qin Niazi.

If he said she mistreated Xiao Bao, he felt that couldn’t be quite right. But if he said she didn’t—then why had the child’s health suffered so?

Back when Xiao Bao was staying with the Fang family, Xiao Hu had always known it wasn’t a long-term solution. He himself was clumsy and rough, not fit to raise a small child. So he had asked a trustworthy matchmaker to help find him a virtuous and dependable woman to marry.

The matchmaker was an old acquaintance, with a solid reputation. She’d run around for quite a while before finally bringing back news of a widow in Fanggu Village—widow Wang, with one son, just past thirty.

That widow was Qin Niazi.

Her husband, surnamed Wang, had been more than ten years older. Back then, her family had run into trouble and needed money badly. The Wang family offered a betrothal gift larger than most, so even though the match wasn’t a good one, her family still sent her off.

Life in the Wang household hadn’t been easy. The husband was a half-baked feng shui charlatan—money came and went unreliably. And as Qin Niazi had often complained, he was generous and showy to outsiders but stingy at home, leaving his family with nothing.

Despite her hardships, Qin Niazi had been a capable woman. She cooked well, treated her in-laws with great respect, and took care of everything at home. But since she only bore one son, the Wang family still disliked her.

Her husband was often drunk and abusive, and her days were bitter.

Then the unexpected happened. He died during one of his out-of-town trips—dead drunk.

Left a widow, she found no sympathy in the Wang household. In fact, they resented her more, using her lack of a male heir as an excuse to try and drive her and her son out.

When Xiao Hu heard all this, he thought: surely a woman who’s suffered so much would know how to cherish others.

He had someone investigate discreetly, and once it matched what the matchmaker had said, he finalized the marriage.

When Qin Niazi first came to the Xiao household, she was indeed very kind and virtuous. She cooked beautifully and always said she was grateful to Xiao Hu for pulling her out of the mud. She even treated Xiao Bao very well.

There was one time Xiao Hu returned from the mountains unexpectedly and found her drenched in mud and rain, rushing out to fetch a doctor for fever-stricken Xiao Bao. After giving him the medicine, she stayed up through the night until his fever broke before resting.

Xiao Hu had seen it all. He thought, for a stepmother to do this much—what more could be said?

He even asked Xiao Bao privately if Qin Niazi treated him well. The child had said yes, and that he liked her.

So Xiao Hu never doubted her again. He handed over most of the money he earned to her care and let her manage the household freely.

With those memories still fresh, Xiao Hu had mostly calmed down after a full day. He reminded himself that he’d spent so long up in the mountains. Qin Niazi had been running the household and raising two kids all on her own—that wasn’t easy.

Couples living under the same roof were bound to argue. There was no need to escalate things over something small. As a man, he didn’t need to nitpick. He’d thought that come tomorrow, he’d go to his in-laws’ house and bring the two of them back.

But these new revelations had shaken the image he had of Qin Niazi as someone who loved the child.

His heart was in turmoil now. He couldn’t even think about going to fetch her.

Qi Beinan noticed the dark expression on Xiao Hu’s face, but he felt slightly relieved. Even though he knew exactly what kind of person Qin Niazi was, and knew what Xiao Bao had suffered under her care, he had still refrained from speaking ill of her directly.

First, he had only just arrived at the Xiao household—barely a few days. If he immediately started criticizing Qin Niazi, how would Xiao Hu interpret that? After all, Qin Niazi had lived here for over a year and had made a decent impression. If she suddenly became the “bad one” after Qi Beinan’s arrival, wouldn’t that look suspicious?

And besides, pointing fingers at someone older—especially a wife—was a delicate matter. No matter how true his words were, adults tended to see such outspokenness from children as disrespectful, arrogant, ungrateful, and unruly.

What adults liked were obedient, manageable children. If he came on too strong, he’d gain nothing—worse, he might be driven out.

Second, even though Qin Niazi was indeed domineering, in Xiao Hu’s eyes, Qi Beinan was just a ten-year-old child. Along with a younger Xiao Bao, they might say a hundred things, but the grown-ups would probably just dismiss them as exaggerations or misunderstandings. And Qin Niazi was, after all, someone Xiao Hu had chosen and brought home as his wife—if Qi Beinan attacked her character, it would hurt Xiao Hu’s pride as a man. Even if he said nothing aloud, he wouldn’t take it well.

So rather than risk that, Qi Beinan would rather play the long game—slowly and patiently let Xiao Hu discover Qin Niazi’s true nature for himself.

That would be worth more than a thousand warnings from anyone else.

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