The Widower Husband Found a Lazybones

Bai Sier hadn't even married into the family when his husband kicked the bucket.

He thought the marriage would be called off, but his heartless in-laws actually wanted to marry him off to his husband's younger brother instead!

Bai Sier had never wanted this marriage in the first place, and he had never been one to put up with things. Furious, he jumped into the river and escaped that godforsaken place.

He drifted downstream to a small village, where a man pulled him out.

The man stared at the drenched Bai Sier and asked, "Were you sent by Heaven to be my husband?"

Bai Sier's expression darkened. He was about to give the man a piece of his mind when he noticed something odd about his expression. The man looked... simple-minded.

He immediately changed his expression, smiling with crinkled eyes. "That's right."

"I'm your husband."

*

In the eastern part of Xiliu Village lived a man named Xie Zhiyao. His parents had died when he was young, and when he was still a boy, he fell on the mountain and hit his head, becoming a fool.

The villagers had taken pity on him and given him a few meals when he was little. But as he grew up, they found him a nuisance and stopped bothering with him, leaving him to live on his own at the foot of the eastern mountain.

One day, though, the villagers discovered that a wedding was being held in the east.

The husband was a simpleton, but he had married a sharp-tongued, formidable spouse. Anyone who said a word against Xie Zhiyao would get a cold stare and a sarcastic tongue-lashing, leaving them fuming.

"Whether my man works or how sharp his wits are is none of your business. If you're all that bored, go work as servants for the landowners and keep yourselves busy!"

Behind their backs, everyone said this spouse had an unknown past and had married a fool. Unable to bear the gossip, he soon ran off to the cannibalistic prefectural city. Everyone waited to see them make fools of themselves.

But after waiting and waiting, they were stunned when a neighbor who had gone to the city on business returned to the village and told them what had happened...

A new little inn had opened in the prefectural city. The owner was a young man, with a fierce-looking man at his side helping run the place. Together, they had made a roaring success of the inn.

Bamboo shoots stir-fried with cured pork, mustard greens and river snail soup, tofu braised in soy sauce...

They had made a name for themselves with ordinary dishes like these.

They say plenty of people came not to stay at the inn, but just to taste its limited-quantity delicacies!

The former "fool" and "madman" had really made a home for themselves in the prefectural city!

*

Bai Sier lay on the roof of the courtyard, basking in the warm spring sunshine as he narrowed his eyes at the man sweeping below.

The man immediately looked up, broom in hand. His handsome, sharp-featured face was now full of warmth, no longer the vacant look of a fool. "A Si, is there anything else that needs doing?"

Bai Sier shook his head, then suddenly smiled.

What fool? In his hands, even a lazy fish could be turned into a useful one!

[Reading Guide]

* One-on-one, and each is the other's one and only in every way

* A story about an honest man marrying a formidable spouse, with farming and village life

* There is farming and running a business, but the focus is on the sweet romance between the couple

* A delicate-looking but sharp-tongued, fiery bottom x a green-tea, cocky puppy of a top who does whatever his wife says

Blurb saved as a screenshot on 2026.2.06

Theme: Live earnestly and keep moving forward