Rebirth of a Farming Wife

The next day, Han Yu was originally planning to go hunting in the mountains, but in the end, he stayed home one more day because he couldn’t stop worrying about Su Wenyue. Seeing that Su Wenyue was eating more than usual, but considering it normal, especially after she explained she was just tired from yesterday and had craved something tasty after a long time, he felt much more at ease and busied himself with household affairs.

After the family separation, Su Wenyue thought about how to tidy up the home and create a relatively free space for herself. She didn’t want to be under the constant watchful eyes of her in-laws. Originally, she wanted to build a wall in front of the house but felt that it wasn’t a good idea. Not to mention, her father-in-law and mother-in-law would have opinions, and even the villagers might gossip, seeing the new wall and wondering if it was meant to keep out thieves or what?

After giving it more thought, Su Wenyue considered: why not just build a few new rooms? After all, their current abode was dilapidated and cramped. Xiao Xi had always lived in that cluttered room, and although she tidied it up very well, it was small, a bit damp and cold. Su Wenyue always felt it was unfair to Xiao Xi.

Building a few rooms wouldn’t cost much, especially in the countryside where there weren’t so many formalities. Even if the houses were built a bit nicer, it would only be several dozen taels of silver at most. They could definitely be better and more spacious than the Village Chief’s house. Moreover, Su Wenyue was thinking of the child in her womb. Although the child’s birth was more than eight months away, it was time to start planning. It didn’t matter if she lived in hardship, but she wanted to provide her child with better growing conditions. Remembering the hardships her son endured in her previous life, Su Wenyue’s heart ached.

Su Wenyue was a woman of action; once she thought of something, she wanted to act on it. However, she needed Han Yu’s agreement. She immediately shared her thoughts with Han Yu, expecting him to agree, but he unexpectedly refused. Su Wenyue felt somewhat depressed and couldn’t understand why Han Yu wouldn’t agree; Han Yu had been very obliging to her recently.

“Husband, why don’t you agree? Building a house is a good thing. We’re living too cramped as it is. Xiao Xi has been so loyal and willing to follow me, not afraid of hardship. I can’t stand to see her living in that small cluttered room forever, it’s too demeaning. Our family isn’t without means. I know you don’t want me to use my dowry, but we are husband and wife, a family. There’s no need to haggle over things. Husband, you’re a man of ability and ambition, and I believe that someday you will achieve great things. Besides, building a few rooms really won’t cost much silver.”

Even though Han Yu disagreed, Su Wenyue didn’t give up on the idea of building the house. After coming up with the plan, she found life under the watchful eyes of her husband’s family intolerable, where she could hardly do anything. She tried every means to persuade Han Yu, thinking that if he still refused, she would later bring up the child in her stomach, which should make Han Yu agree.

Han Yu’s reluctance to build a house wasn’t for the reasons Su Wenyue imagined. He was a person of firm resolve, and such a man wouldn’t be influenced by some gossiping tongues of the villagers.

If they were to settle in the village permanently, building a house would be fine. But he had other plans for his wife. If things went as he hoped, she wouldn’t stay in the village for long anyway, so there was no need to trouble themselves with building a house. Moreover, it wasn’t so easy to build a house; they needed to secure the materials first before work could begin. By that time, he probably wouldn’t be at home, and everything would need to be managed and arranged by his wife alone. She had always been raised tenderly, how could she understand such things? He was unwilling and worried to see her laboring so hard.

However, his wife’s determination to build the house was strong, and Han Yu saw her lips move incessantly, still talking about the benefits of building a house and trying to persuade him. Knowing that without a concrete reason, his wife wouldn’t give up easily, he contemplated whether he should share his own plans with her.

“Wife, it’s not what you think,” Han Yu sighed and decided to reveal his plans.

Su Wenyue at first thought Han Yu was just succumbing to male chauvinism, unwilling to use her money to build a house, but it turned out to be this reason. Han Yu actually had such plans.

With the experiences of her previous life, Su Wenyue habitually projected the past into the present, not realizing that her rebirth had altered everything around her.

Take, for example, the relationship between Han Yu and the Su Family in her past life; Su Wenyue held resentments towards her mother’s family, seldom visited them, and even scorned Han Yu for ingratiating himself with them and not being a real man. Although Han Yu respected his wife’s parents, influenced by Su Wenyue’s attitude, every man has a temper, and he gradually grew distant from his wife’s parents’ home.

In this life, Su Wenyue understood her parents’ hard choices and was thinking about Han Yu’s future prospects. She wanted Han Yu to maintain a good relationship with her mother’s family, to look out for them later on, so Han Yu got along very well with the Su Family. Their integrity greatly impressed Han Yu, and combined with Master Su’s attitude, Han Yu began to regard the Su family as his own kin. Even if Su Hengxuan sometimes disliked the man who took his sister, his attitude wasn’t that cordial, but he sincerely cared for Han Yu, his brother-in-law, and Han Yu could feel it, hence becoming even closer to his wife’s parents’ home.

For this military conscription, Han Yu didn’t inform his own parents or siblings due to certain connections, and also because they weren’t qualified to discuss such matters. But he did discuss it with his father-in-law and brother-in-law.

Master Su and Su Hengxuan, one concerned about his daughter and the other about his sister, were unwilling to see Han Yu assigned too far away. They used their influence to secure an eighth-rank petty official position for Han Yu.

Although it was merely an eighth-rank petty official post, for Han Yu’s background and experience, such a position was most suitable. Master Su took his time considering before seeking this post—it wouldn’t have been impossible to secure a higher position with more silver, but Master Su genuinely wanted the best for his son-in-law. Having lived a life full of experiences, he knew what was truly good for Han Yu.

Not only did the position keep Han Yu from the lowest rungs, sparing him from the harshest struggles without any guarantee of rising through the ranks, but it also protected him from the envy of others who might begrudge him a more prominent position straight away. It could even prevent Han Yu from developing a sense of superiority at the start, which wouldn’t benefit his personal growth. Master Su always believed that enduring hardship was key to achieving true greatness, and he demanded the same rigorous discipline from his own sons. In his view, while Han Yu was capable, ambitious, and had potential, what he lacked was experience. Coming up from the bottom and growing through hardship would create a strong foundation for a more successful future.

Although Master Su had the intention of helping his son-in-law grow through challenges, having the support of others in the officialdom was undoubtedly much stronger than when Han Yu was fighting alone in his previous life. Back then, Han Yu started as the lowest rank soldier, a fresh recruit, hardly allowed to leave the barracks, let alone go home. Even though he was still within Xinye territory, going home was a matter of months in the future. Not like now, with much more freedom over his time. Even if he couldn’t return home every day, as long as he wasn’t too far from the barracks, going back home every now and then wouldn’t be a problem. It was with these plans in mind.