A Good Country Wife
Chapter 171: Respectful and Obedient_1

Chapter 171: Chapter 171: Respectful and Obedient_1

"It’s not as serious as you’re making it out to be." But having trespassed on her sovereignty, Lin Yue acted like a pushover around Zhao Erhu, who only showed her fear when she truly annoyed him. Despite her fear, she still mumbled under her breath, not willing to give in. Seeing Lin Yue’s unrepentant demeanor, Zhao Erhu’s expression grew even uglier.

It seemed he had spoiled his little wife too much these past days, and now Niuniu was getting out of hand, increasingly disrespectful towards him, her husband—and he couldn’t allow that. Slamming his hand on the table with a force that startled Lin Yue, he expressed his disapproval.

"Nonsense! Just look at what a mess you’ve made of yourself these past few days. Do you really have no wish to live? Let me tell you, from now on you follow the routine I’ve set for you to the letter. If you behave like you did these past days, see if I don’t deal with you!" Zhao Erhu, of course, would never really do anything to Lin Yue, but he had to flex the authority of the head of the household to intimidate his little wife.

Lin Yue had initially felt guilty about her attitude towards Zhao Erhu, which had angered him, but now she bristled at his domineering orders. If she caved to Zhao Erhu this time, she would end up completely under his thumb in the future. In matters between husband and wife, it was either the east wind that prevailed over the west or vice versa, based on who was more dominant.

With this in mind, Lin Yue’s attitude towards Zhao Erhu became much tougher. Of course, a direct confrontation with Zhao Erhu wouldn’t work—her slight frame was no match for him, and she stood no chance of winning. If the hard approach wasn’t possible, she’d have to resort to softer tactics.

Lin Yue went through all the possible strategies in her head and picked the most simple and crude method: to act up, play the victim, cry, make a fuss, and threaten self-harm. These were time-tested secret weapons a woman could use against a man, still effective after many years and used by many women. Hadn’t the elder sister-in-law employed the same tactics against Zhao Erhu? And in the end, he was helpless against her until Lin Yue had to intervene and handle the situation herself.

No sooner said than done, Lin Yue’s eyes flashed, her expression instantly turning sorrowful, her large eyes misting over as she looked accusingly at Zhao Erhu, "Zhao Erhu, you heartless man, all the hard work I do is for this family! How dare you yell at me! Waaah, you’re so heartless, I can’t live this life anymore. You ungrateful wretch of a man, your conscience must have been eaten by a dog, I might as well die now..."

Zhao Erhu was genuinely worried that he might have really frightened his little wife, considering how timid she used to be. Although she was much better now and no longer afraid of him, fundamentally, she hadn’t changed, had she?

But as soon as he heard Lin Yue call him a ’heartless butcher,’ Zhao Erhu started to get worked up. His brow furrowed deeply, and he became exasperated, wondering which shrew had corrupted his wife during the days he had been unconscious. If he found out who, he would certainly put an end to their association, to prevent his wife from being led astray—he would be the one to suffer the headache.

Listen to this, just listen to all this nonsense she’s spouting—it’s getting more and more outlandish. If you didn’t know better, you’d think he was a heartless brute who bullied his wife.

"Enough, Lin Yue! Where did you learn these shameless tricks, acting like a crass shrew? Aren’t you embarrassed? Should I call the children in to see what their mother is like?"

"Call them if you want to, I’m not afraid of being embarrassed. If you’re so capable, divorce me!"

"Lin Erniu, if you keep this up, do you really want to force me to deal with you in certain ways? But don’t cry when you can’t bear it," Zhao Erhu said with loathing. His most despised were those village women who knew nothing but trivialities all day long. He was determined not to let his little wife become like that.

"What do you want to do? If you dare hit me, I’ll, I’ll die just to spite you." Having lived with him for so long, Lin Yue could still tell apart Zhao Erhu’s bluffs from his serious words. Seeing that Zhao Erhu looked like he was genuinely going to get rough, Lin Yue was a bit flustered. Yet she did not show any sign of weakness and stubbornly threatened him.

At this, Zhao Erhu couldn’t help but laugh in exasperation. The little thing really was asking for a lesson, thinking he had no way of dealing with her, but he didn’t act because he was simply fond of her. And now she was throwing a fit. "I won’t hit you. Why would I hit you? A man has plenty of ways to handle a woman. If you really want to know, just keep throwing tantrums and acting spoilt, and see if I don’t come up with something even more effective than your antics."

Lin Yue was by no means a naive village girl, and upon hearing this, she quickly understood what Zhao Erhu meant. She felt both embarrassed and annoyed, her face flushing red with anger, "Zhao Erhu, you shameless hooligan! If you dare to do that, I, I..."

Lin Yue attempted to threaten, but she could not find an adequate outcome to say. If Zhao Erhu really did so, what could she do but endure? She couldn’t outfight him; after all, he was her husband, and it was his right to do as he wished. She had no grounds to argue.

Seeing Lin Yue like this, Zhao Erhu knew it was about time to relent, or else it wouldn’t be good if his little wife truly became angry with him. "Alright, stop making a fuss. I won’t be harsh with you anymore. But you need to obediently go to sleep. If you have that much energy, I don’t mind us consummating our marriage ahead of time. Maybe once you become a real woman, you’ll be more sensible and know how to serve your husband well."

"Keep dreaming. I don’t want that. Aren’t we supposed to go to sleep now? What are you still standing there for, a piece of wood?" Lin Yue glared at Zhao Erhu with feigned courage, quickly climbed onto the bed, shed her outer clothing, and burrowed under the covers, wrapping herself tightly, fearing that Zhao Erhu would seize the opportunity.

Watching his little wife obediently tuck herself in, Zhao Erhu felt a sense of satisfaction that cleared away the frustration that had been building up in him these past days. Stretching out his arms, he embraced Lin Yue, blanket and all, and laughed, feeling truly relieved for the first time since waking up from his injury.

Once the embroidery was finished, Lin Yue took the opportunity while Zhao Erhu was at the Government Office delivering supplies to bring her work to the Magistrate’s wife. The Magistrate’s wife was delighted and immediately had her maid weigh out eighty taels of silver to give to Lin Yue.

Lin Yue calmly accepted the silver, her heart brimming with joy. The reward from the Magistrate’s wife was indeed much better than the price from the embroidery shop. The piece, which took only half the time compared to the last four-panel screen, had netted her an extra thirty taels of silver. It was a profitable transaction no matter how she looked at it.

The Magistrate’s wife also wanted Lin Yue to embroider another screen featuring peonies to symbolize wealth and honor. Lin Yue was about to agree immediately, seeing it as an excellent opportunity to curry favor with the Magistrate’s wife, and another chance to earn silver. There was still half a year before Jiang Ziqi’s embroidery needed to be delivered, leaving her with plenty of time. If she hurried, she could surely take on one or two more pieces. However, remembering that Zhao Erhu was already quite dissatisfied with her as it was, if she took on the Magistrate’s wife’s commission, she would certainly not get past him, so she had to decline with regrets. In her heart, though, she couldn’t help complaining about Zhao Erhu a few times.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.