I was reborn after my cousin stole my life.

Chapter 43: I'm Not a Judge

Zhou Lei is gone.

Yuan Xiu looked at Jiang Zhou and gave an awkward smile.

"Um, thank you."

"What are you thanking me for?" Jiang Zhou didn't like her politeness.

"Thank you for what you just said. Thank you for standing by my side unconditionally."

Her reasons for hitting Yuan Juan weren't entirely convincing either.

If we really calculate it, they should both be blamed equally.

Jiang Zhou glanced at her: "If I'm not on your side, then on whose side? Judging right and wrong? I'm not a judge."

At this point, it's not a matter of taking sides with whoever is right.

Yuan Xiu smiled brightly, her mood better than ever before. "I know you're not."

The two looked at each other and smiled.

"Ahem!" Instructor Liu interrupted their staring contest. "Hey, Xiao Jiang, hurry up and take your things from home."

Yuan Xiu's beautiful almond-shaped eyes widened immediately. "You bought a sewing machine?"

Instructor Liu laughed, "And the bicycles too, they're all yours! It wasn't easy for Xiao Jiang to get these two tickets, but he bought them right away as soon as he got them."

Yuan Xiu circled the bicycle and sewing machine, glancing at Jiang Zhou, then back at the sewing machine and bicycle.

"It must have cost a lot of money, right?"

Yuan Xiu recognized the brands of the sewing machine and the bicycle. The sewing machine was a Butterfly brand, which should cost around 150 yuan, and the bicycle was a Phoenix brand, which should cost around 170 yuan.

With both items combined, over three hundred yuan was gone.

Jiang Zhou took the bicycle from Instructor Liu and pushed it into the courtyard. "It's alright."

"Little Yuan." Yuan Xiu, who had just entered, was stopped by Instructor Liu. "Is this your letter?"

When Yuan Juan wanted to hit Yuan Xiu, she dropped the letter on the ground and didn't take it with her when she left. Instructor Liu saw it, picked it up, and saw Yuan Xiu's name written on it. He then called out to her.

Yuan Xiu looked at the letter in Instructor Liu's hand, thought for a moment, and then took it. "It's mine. Thank you for your help."

She wanted to see what the old couple would write in their hearts.

Should we scold her, or try to win her over and continue to extract benefits from her?

Jiang Zhou took the sewing machine off the bicycle and placed it in the living room, closest to the window.

The lighting is best here. It used to be a dining table, but when the sewing machine came, the dining table had to be moved.

"Do you know how to use it?" Jiang Zhou asked her.

Yuan Xiu nodded, "Yes!"

She can even make clothes!

Yuan Xiu felt a little bad about the labor fee she paid to the tailor shop. If she had known Jiang Zhou would buy a sewing machine, she should have waited a little longer and made the sewing machine herself.

"What made you decide to buy a sewing machine?"

Jiangzhou can ride the bicycle normally, but the sewing machine was bought for her.

"Isn't the 'three turns and one sound' standard for getting a wife?" Jiang Zhou glanced at her, as if wondering why she would ask such a question.

"I haven't gotten the radio tickets yet; I'll buy them when I do."

Yuan Xiu stammered, "I...I didn't want it."

When a man buys these things for his wife, it's at the woman's request. Otherwise, he would be in a very difficult position if he heard the woman make this request.

In an era where the average salary is 30,000 yuan, the standard set for getting married that Jiang Zhou mentioned would require a regular employee to save up for two years without eating or drinking to afford it.

In a farming family that relies on the weather for their livelihood, the whole family would have to sell everything they own to afford a wife.

"Do I have to ask you to buy this?" Jiang Zhou asked back.

When other people get married, they hope the groom will buy as much as possible. But she was only happy for a moment.

"Don't you want it?"

"Yes!" How could Yuan Xiu not want it?

She has lived two lives, and only when her parents were alive did they think of her and buy her things, and then there was Jiangzhou.

How could the person who received the gift not be happy?

She was just afraid of spending too much.

Because apart from her parents, no one had ever treated her so well.

"That's good. Can you ride a bicycle? If not, I'll teach you."

Yuan Xiu swallowed the word "can" back. "No, you teach me."

"OK."

Jiang Zhou is a man of action; he teaches when he's told to.

He led Yuan Xiu into the courtyard. Although the courtyard was not large, it was enough for Yuan Xiu to learn how to get in and out of the carriage and to master her balance.

"I'll hold the bike, you get on first."

Yuan Xiu stepped on the pedal with her left foot, exerted force, and stepped back with her right foot to sit down.

Jiang Zhou's eyes flashed. "Very good, very dashing."

Yuan Xiu blinked. "And then?"

"Try pushing forward," Jiang Zhou said. "Hold on with both hands."

Yuan Xiu did as instructed, stretching out her hands to grasp the handlebars.

Beside the strong, rough hands were a pair of soft, slender small hands, one black and one white, one on the left and one on the right, creating a remarkably harmonious scene.

Aside from sharing a bed, this was the first time Yuan Xiu had been so close to Jiang Zhou. He was right beside her, his arm around her shoulder, their breaths mingling.

As long as she looks up, she can touch his chin resting on the top of her head.

This is different from when the two of them are in bed at night, each with their own blanket.

Yuan Xiu felt that having Jiang Zhou teach her to ride a bicycle was quite appropriate.

Jiang Zhou is a man who has been celibate for 25 years. He is in good health and has a normal sexual orientation.

Who can understand the difficulty of his wife being a virgin even though he's been married for over half a month?

It wasn't that he didn't want to make a move, it was that he didn't dare to, afraid of scaring the young girl. He felt that Yuan Xiu was rejecting him in that area.

She didn't even blush; she looked at him shyly with doe-like eyes.

This can only mean one thing: she has no feelings for him.

Of course, Jiang Zhou couldn't say that he had feelings for her.

He is willing to marry a wife because he finds her attractive; he wants to marry a wife because he has also fantasized about 'love'.

Before Jiang Zhou enlisted in the army, he secretly went to a scrap metal recycling station to read a lot of banned books.

He also wants to find a lover with whom he can "grow old together and be bound by life and death".

This lover also has to be a beautiful woman.

When he first saw Yuan Xiu's photo, he felt that Yuan Xiu could fulfill his fantasies about 'love' because of her eyes and because she was beautiful enough.

Can two people who have no feelings for each other sleep together?

Of course.

You'll get it while you're sleeping, won't you?

The saying "love grows over time" isn't without reason.

But Jiang Zhou didn't want to force anyone; this person was still the lover he wanted to spend his life with.

He can wait for her to adjust.

However, there is a time limit to this adaptation.

One month.

This is the limit of what he can endure.

Jiang Zhou looked down at Yuan Xiu's bright red ears; it might not even be a month before she recovered.

"Okay, I'll let go of one hand first. You slowly ride forward and then learn to dismount."

As soon as Jiang Zhou let go, Yuan Xiu, who was sitting on the bicycle, swayed twice.

Her ears were so red they looked like they could bleed. "...It seems a bit difficult."

"It's okay, I'll get it after a few more tries." Jiang Zhou gripped the handlebars again and returned to his original position.

Yuan Xiu: "..."