Ch 13: The Scumbag’s Daily Wife-Doting Life [QT]

After the banquet ended, the guests gradually dispersed. The villagers helping in the kitchen cleaned everything up, collected their pay, and left as well.

Xie Li saw his father-in-law and mother-in-law out, closed the courtyard gate, then calmly said to Li Tiantian,

“It’s getting late. After washing up, we should sleep.”

“Mm.” Li Tiantian lowered her head and answered softly, almost too quietly to hear. Her fingers trembled as she twisted the corner of her clothes before turning toward the kitchen to fetch water.

Xie Li took a deep breath, clenched his fists, and followed after her.

…

A spring wedding night is worth a thousand pieces of gold. And so, the long night passed…

The next morning, Xie Li woke up and turned his head to glance at the sleeping girl beside him. Touching his face, he forcibly suppressed the upward curve of his lips before carefully getting out of bed and heading to the kitchen to make breakfast.

Now that he had married her and brought her home, there was no way he would let her go hungry.

Xie Li had previously bought quite a lot of supplies for the kitchen. Taking some flour and eggs, he made a pot of dough-drop soup.

Because he had added spirit spring water, even without any special seasonings and using only salt, the finished soup still smelled wonderfully fresh and rich. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. He also added some boiled bok choy as garnish, making the dish look beautifully white and green, simple but appetizing.

Satisfied, he nodded to himself, carried the food into the main room, and went to wake Li Tiantian.

“You already made breakfast? Why didn’t you wake me earlier to cook?” Li Tiantian came out of the room, saw the food on the table, and asked somewhat embarrassedly.

Xie Li ladled a bowl of dough-drop soup onto the table in front of her and answered casually,

“You were sleeping so peacefully I couldn’t bear to wake you. If you can’t get up in the mornings, then I’ll just make breakfast from now on.”

Li Tiantian pressed her lips together, the corners of her mouth lifting into a tiny smile.

“Then wouldn’t I become useless? Relying on you for everything.”

“It’s fine. I married a wife, not a hired laborer. Even if you rely on me for everything, I’d still gladly take care of you.”

Xie Li did not think much of it. After setting down the bowls and chopsticks, he urged Li Tiantian to hurry and wash her face so she could come back and eat.

Li Tiantian obediently went to wash up. When she returned and sat down across from Xie Li, she thought for a moment before saying,

“I don’t want you to be too tired. I want to help you with things too.”

Xie Li paused with his chopsticks, sat up straighter, and looked her over from head to toe.

“You want to share some of the housework?”

“Yes. I want to share the housework.”

Xie Li smiled faintly and stroked his chin as he thought for a while. Finally, he nodded.

“In that case, after breakfast, how about I leave the dishes for you to wash?”

Living together was always a process of bumping into each other and gradually adapting. Since Li Tiantian wanted to help share the burden, Xie Li naturally intended to indulge her. Besides, doing chores together could help deepen their feelings.

“…That simple?” Li Tiantian sounded dissatisfied instead.

“Yes, that simple. What else were you expecting?” Xie Li asked with an amused laugh. Stretching out his arm, he patted her on the head. “Hurry and eat. I still have something to talk to you about later.”

Sweetness bloomed in Li Tiantian’s heart. Pretending to sigh helplessly, she picked up her chopsticks and started eating.

…

After breakfast, Xie Li watched Li Tiantian happily clean up the bowls and chopsticks. Then he beckoned her over and pulled out the ledger book used to register gifts the previous day.

Almost the entire village had attended the wedding banquet, and the gift money varied from person to person. Hu Dezheng, who had handled registration, had been so busy he practically lost track of time. Every payment received was marked down hastily, filling seven or eight messy pages in the notebook.

“What are you doing?” Li Tiantian asked curiously when she saw Xie Li open the notebook.

“First, calculate yesterday’s gift money totals.” Without answering directly, Xie Li handed her paper and a pen.

Li Tiantian accepted them with a bewildered expression. After glancing at him, she obediently lowered her head and began doing the calculations.

When she finished, Xie Li checked the numbers against the total himself. He discovered the young woman was actually quite careful. Though she calculated slowly, she had not made a single mistake.

His satisfaction increased a little.

Getting up, he went into another room being used as a study and brought back the elementary school textbooks he had prepared long ago, placing them in front of Li Tiantian.

“Your foundation is actually pretty good. Next, we’ll review elementary mathematics again. Afterward, depending on your progress, I can prepare a set of test questions for you.”

Li Tiantian blankly followed along for an entire lesson. Only after they finished did she suddenly remember to ask what exactly he was doing.

Xie Li calmly organized the textbooks and stationery in his hands as he explained his purpose.

“You’re going to teach me to study?” Li Tiantian blinked in surprise.

Xie Li nodded.

“That’s right. I’m going to teach you.”

Li Tiantian had only attended elementary school. In Xiaoxipo Village, that already counted as an above-average education. She could solve simple math problems and recite a few classical poems.

But to Xie Li, that was far from enough.

When two people spent their lives together, having common ground to talk about was important. Because even if he devoted himself entirely to Li Tiantian, decades later, if the two of them had nothing to say to each other, could only sit there staring blankly, or could only gossip about neighbors and relatives over meals before falling into awkward silence once the gossip ended…

Then such a marriage would be unbearably tragic.

Li Tiantian would not truly feel happy either. She would only grow lost and regretful.

Xie Li did not want Li Tiantian to regret anything.

He wanted to take her out to see the world. He did not want her trapped forever inside tiny Xiaoxipo Village or buried endlessly beneath housework. He wanted her to understand that the meaning of life was not merely eating, drinking, and surviving. There were far more wonderful things waiting beyond that.

But at present, Li Tiantian’s education level made it difficult for her to keep up with his pace. So he planned to personally teach her at home first, then decide their next step based on her progress and comprehension.

If her grades were poor, then he would continue teaching her at home. Even if she never became especially accomplished, gaining more knowledge and broader horizons would still be a good thing.

If her grades were good enough, then he would take her to compete in the college entrance examinations. The two of them could attend university together and go to the capital together.

He believed that would be a wonderful experience.

There were some things that had not happened yet, however, so Xie Li could not explain too much. He did not mention the college entrance exams directly and only said that he hoped Li Tiantian could study more.

Li Tiantian was very obedient. Even though she did not really understand what use studying would have for her, since Xie Li asked it of her, she agreed without hesitation.

“Alright. From now on, you teach me, and I’ll study properly.”

Xie Li curled his lips into a smile and gently patted the young woman’s head.

“So good.”

Having such an obedient and adorable student greatly satisfied Xie Li’s urge to teach.

He taught her all morning. By noon, worried that pushing too hard might make his “older student” Li Tiantian develop an aversion to studying, he stopped forcing her to read and let her rest for a while.

He himself got up to head toward the kitchen to cook lunch.

Just then, Li Jianguo arrived and told them not to bother cooking. Instead, they should come eat at his house.

It turned out Wang Cuihua was not used to the house suddenly having two fewer people and had accidentally cooked too much food. The couple could not finish it themselves, so Li Jianguo had specifically come to invite them over.

Since both Xie Li and Li Tiantian were already used to eating at the Li household, neither of them stood on ceremony. They simply nodded and followed him over.

“Oh right, Father-in-law, Mother-in-law, there’s something I forgot to mention.”

After sitting down at the Li family table, Xie Li suddenly recalled yesterday’s events and hesitated deliberately before speaking.

“It’s about Cousin Sister-in-law coming to the wedding banquet yesterday. It suddenly reminded me of the time Tiantian and I passed by the woods and heard her in there with someone…”

His words were deliberately suggestive. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. After speaking halfway, Xie Li stopped there and said no more.

But Li Jianguo already understood.

He froze for a long while before finally recovering enough to ask in disbelief,

“You didn’t see wrong?”

Xie Li and Li Tiantian had only heard voices at the time and never actually seen anything. But Xie Li trusted his own ears.

“It was definitely Cousin Sister-in-law. There’s no mistake.”

“This…”

Li Jianguo found himself speechless.

Even if he no longer intended to support that nephew of his, he had never intended to simply watch the man get cuckolded either.

Bang!

Li Jianguo slammed the table hard and abruptly stood up, pacing restlessly around the room.

“No, I have to go ask whether it’s true or not!”

He no longer had any appetite to eat.

Having made up his mind, Li Jianguo grabbed his homemade bamboo pipe and strode out the door.

Wang Cuihua froze for a moment as she watched Li Jianguo’s departing figure.

“You two eat slowly. I’m worried about your father, so I’ll go take a look.”

Once both elders were gone, Li Tiantian glanced at Xie Li. Seeing him calmly continuing to eat as if nothing had happened, she gave him a questioning look.

Xie Li remained completely unhurried.

“It’s fine. Eat slowly. By the time we finish and head over, we’ll catch the show at just the right moment.”

Li Tiantian blinked, seeming to understand something.

Thinking back on it, ever since childhood, she had been bullied by Li Erniu’s family more times than she could count. Yet her parents had never truly fallen out with them because of her. No matter how angry they became, at most they simply stopped interacting.

Only Xie Li remembered the grievances she had suffered.

And now he was even setting the other family up for her sake…

Her eyes lit up brightly. Smiling sweetly, she obediently lowered her head and continued eating.

…

After lunch, the two of them leisurely headed toward Li Erniu’s house.

Before they even arrived, Jia Xiaotao’s familiar shrill screams could already be heard from afar.

“Li Erniu, are you trying to kill me?! You dare hit me?! I’ll fight you to the death!”

Then came the sounds of smashing objects, one crash after another.

Xie Li and Li Tiantian unconsciously quickened their pace and headed over faster.

After turning a corner and reaching Li Erniu’s home, they saw a crowd of villagers gathered outside the doorway watching the excitement, pointing and gossiping. Not a single person stepped forward to break up the fight.

Well, there was no helping it.

Jia Xiaotao’s mouth was simply too vicious. She had offended more than half the village.

When the villagers saw Xie Li and Li Tiantian arrive, they assumed the pair had come to stop the fight. Somewhat unwillingly, they moved aside and let them through.

Taking advantage of the opening, Xie Li entered the house.

Inside, Jia Xiaotao had a glaring handprint across her left cheek. Her hair was a complete mess as she clawed and bit at Li Erniu like a madwoman.

Li Erniu was not backing down either. Grabbing Jia Xiaotao by the hair, he viciously slapped her while cursing,

“You filthy woman! Filthy woman! Sneaking around with men behind my back!”

As for their son Li Tiansheng, he stood by the doorway clutching the wooden frame, hopping excitedly and clapping as he watched his parents fight, completely thrilled and not the slightest bit worried.

The “culprit” behind all this, Li Jianguo, stood awkwardly to one side trying to separate them, but no matter what he did, he could not pull the two apart.

Li Erniu even shouted at him,

“Uncle, stay out of it! If I don’t beat this filthy woman to death today, then my surname isn’t Li!”

Wang Cuihua looked somewhat distressed, but remembering everything that had happened before, she did not interfere. Instead, she stood far away watching.

Seeing Xie Li bring her daughter over, she quickly advised,

“Why did you two come? There’s nothing worth watching here. Hurry back and don’t get involved.”

Even though Xie Li had intentionally revealed the matter, not a single person suspected he had done it on purpose. Everyone believed Li Jianguo had simply been too impulsive, come to scold his nephew’s wife, gotten talked back to, and then angrily blurted out the truth.

Only Li Tiantian vaguely guessed the truth.

But instead of exposing him, she shamelessly went along with him, the two of them pretending innocence together.

Three hours later, the chaos finally came to an end.

Jia Xiaotao wiped her face and, bruised and swollen, took Li Tiansheng back to her maiden home.

Li Erniu did not chase after her. For the first time in his life, he acted tough, spitting toward her retreating figure.

“Bah! Filthy woman. If you’ve got the guts, then don’t ever come back!”

Just like that, the family fell apart.

And honestly, that was for the best.

Xie Li curled his lips slightly, extremely satisfied.

In his previous life, if Li Jianguo had not tried to save the ungrateful brat Li Tiansheng from drowning, he himself would never have drowned either. And when Jia Xiaotao arrived afterward and saw Li Jianguo drowning, not only did she refuse to save him, she did not even call anyone for help. Instead, she grabbed her son and ran away.

After Li Jianguo died, Li Erniu clearly knew the truth, yet he still brought his wife and child to seize Li Jianguo’s inheritance.

Because Li Jianguo had no son, and in Xiaoxipo Village, having no son was considered the same as having no bloodline. By default, nephews were entitled to claim a large portion of the property.

For the sake of money, Li Erniu forgot all the care and support Li Jianguo had given him. He forgot Wang Cuihua’s patience and generosity toward their family. Shamelessly, they came to bully a widow and orphaned daughter.

It could be said that half of Li Tiantian’s tragedy in her previous life came from Jia Xiaotao’s family.

Xie Li thought coldly that if not for this family, then even after the original owner left in the previous life, Li Tiantian would still have inherited Li Jianguo’s property and would never have suffered so bitterly.

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