Chapter 2 - 2 Chapter 2: Poor Expression (2/2)
“No, I need to go to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for everyone. You sleep a bit more. I will call you when breakfast is ready,” Su Wenyue said softly, continuing to dress despite speaking. If she was determined to have a good life with Han Yu, she definitely had to make sure to do well in her duties.
In her previous life, Su Wenyue, unwilling to marry into the impoverished Han Family, harbored resentment toward Han Yu’s roughness and lack of consideration. So on the first day after the wedding, she not only didn’t get up to cook for everyone as a new bride should, but she also didn’t join in for breakfast. She stayed in bed late into the morning, only getting up reluctantly to offer tea when Han Yu called her, which made everyone in the family dissatisfied with her. Although her father-in-law and mother-in-law didn’t overtly criticize her, they became more distant. Eventually, rumors spread in the village that she was an unworthy wife and didn’t respect her parents-in-law, leading to suspicious and disapproving looks from the villagers whenever they saw her.
When Han Yu heard what Su Wenyue said, he didn’t stop her, knowing that establishing house rules for a new bride was a custom of the Daming Dynasty. However, her actions surprised him. He remembered that when he lifted her veil the day before, her first words were, “Your Han Family must have burned high incense for several lifetimes to have me marry in. Don’t expect me to be willing to serve your whole family!” So, he didn’t expect much from Su Wenyue and didn’t hope for her to become a virtuous wife. As long as she maintained a decent facade and didn’t talk back to his parents, that was enough. But unexpectedly, after one night, Su Wenyue seemed to have become more sensible.
No one hopes for a bad daughter-in-law. Seeing Su Wenyue being sensible, Han Yu was quite pleased, “I made too much of a fuss last night. If you can’t handle it, just rest. There are sisters-in-law in the kitchen, and my father and mother are lenient. They won’t mind.”
Han Yu usually lacked expression on his face, and it was no different at that moment. Only someone familiar with him would notice the slight awkwardness when he spoke. It was his first time consummating a marriage with a wife, after all.
In truth, Han’s parents had long been prepared to dote on Su Wenyue and had no expectations of her to serve them like an ordinary daughter-in-law would. After all, it was their family that had reached above their station to marry her. Su Wenyue was a beautiful girl with a good family background. If it weren’t for the Su Family’s reputation for keeping their word, she would not have been married off to them. Naturally, they should treat her well.
Su Wenyue shook her head, “It’s okay. Even though dad and mom are lenient, as a daughter-in-law, and as a new bride who just entered this home, I can’t just lie in bed and let my mother-in-law and sisters-in-law do all the work. I’ll go back to rest after serving tea.”
Su Wenyue insisted, so Han Yu didn’t go back to sleep. Instead, he got up as well. When he saw Su Wenyue almost collapse while trying to get dressed, walking shakily, he felt a surge of pity and picked her up to place her back on the bed.
“Stay here and don’t move, I’ll go boil some hot water for you to soak in,” Han Yu said with a stern face and then strode out of the room.
Sitting there, Su Wenyue was smiling crescent-moon like. Maybe Han Yu wasn’t so indifferent towards her; it was just his nature, and he wasn’t good at expressing himself. Though his intentions were good, they sounded rough and harsh. If she had been the same Su Wenyue from her previous life, who hadn’t experienced the warmth and coldness of the world, she would not have been able to detect the concern hidden in his words, and she would have been annoyed at hearing such a tone.
After soaking in the hot water, she felt much more relaxed, and her aches were significantly lessened. Seeing that time was getting on, Su Wenyue hurriedly got ready and headed to the kitchen. It was getting late to start cooking, but once there, she felt somewhat at a loss about where to begin.
The realization was shameful. During her previous stint as a daughter-in-law in the Han Family, she didn’t even know where things were kept in the kitchen. With such an attitude toward domestic life, it was no wonder that her days were so miserable. It is likely that Han Yu’s heart grew cold because of her, which explained his indifferent attitude towards her.