The Bride I Bought Was Spoiled Rotten by the Rugged Man

[Mutual devotion + rugged, broad-built male lead + capable female lead]

When a girl was being sold in the neighboring village, Granny Shen gritted her teeth and bought her as a bride for her son.

It wasn't because she felt sorry that her son couldn't find a wife. Their family was so poor that, if they didn't buy one, the Shen family line would end.

Shen Yan was a huge man, taller than anyone for miles around. Girls ran away after one look at him. He was also as dull as a block of wood. Apart from working in silence, he couldn't even put a complete sentence together.

What girl would want to marry him?

His mother forced the girl into his room. He stood there with his fists clenched for half the night, then finally muttered, "...I won't touch you."

Li Zhiyi clutched the hem of her clothes and said nothing. Looking at the drafty earthen house, she thought: Fine, he won't touch me. That's better than being sold somewhere else.

She rolled up her sleeves, worked the fields, fed the chickens, and took care of the household, slowly bringing the rundown home back to life.

As time passed, everyone in the village said that the wooden-headed Shen had hit the jackpot.

Then one day, a drunken thug from the neighboring village climbed over the wall, claiming he wanted to "take a look at the bride they'd bought" as he tried to grope her.

Li Zhiyi grabbed a broom, but before she could swing it, Shen Yan, usually so silent and taciturn, appeared in the doorway.

He had never been so furious. His eyes bloodshot, he picked the man up and hurled him outside. His voice was hoarse as he growled, "She's my wife. Who dares touch her?"

Li Zhiyi froze. It turned out this block of wood could talk.

(A pure farming story, with no court politics and no golden finger.)