Chapter 9

Liu Changsheng went down the stairs. Voices were coming from the kitchen, and he headed that way.

Liu Meijuan was by the stove, wearing an apron over her top and shorts for cooking.

Her hair was pinned up in a high bun.

Seen from behind, her long legs were still incredibly alluring.

An image flashed through Liu Changsheng’s mind of his son, Yiqiang, thrusting his cock into her pussy while her legs clamped tightly around the boy’s waist. Liu Changsheng knew that this woman, yesterday his wife and today his daughter-in-law, had a favorite position in bed: wrapping her legs around his waist, pulling him into her arms, stuffing her nipples into his mouth, and making him suck hard.

Liu Changsheng shook his head. What was wrong with him? The last time he had lent Meijuan to his second uncle, he hadn’t had thoughts like this. Of course, maybe that was because after sending Meijuan away back then, he had gone off to work in another province, exhausted every day, with no time or energy to think about such things.

"What’s wrong?" Meijuan turned around and saw Liu Changsheng standing blankly at the kitchen doorway.

"Oh, nothing. Morning, Meijuan," Liu Changsheng said, coming back to himself.

"Morning, Dad," Meijuan replied. Back when they were husband and wife, they had never had the habit of greeting each other like this in the morning.

It seemed Meijuan had already fully accepted the fact that she had swapped marriages with her son. Calling Liu Changsheng Dad now didn’t look awkward or embarrassing at all. Had Meijuan been fucked into submission by Yiqiang that quickly? Liu Changsheng thought to himself.

"Why don’t you sleep a little longer?" Liu Changsheng asked.

"I’ve always gotten up early every day. I’m used to it. What about you? Why are you up so early? Last night was your wedding night, after all," Meijuan said, her tone thick with jealousy.

"Wasn’t it your wedding night too last night?" Liu Changsheng replied.

The two of them fell silent again, just as usual, each busy with their own work.

Meijuan’s breakfast was ready soon enough. "Dad, breakfast’s ready. Should we wait for them all to eat together?"

"Hmm... it’s the first day, so let’s wait a bit. Or we can go wake them ourselves. It’s almost eight already, and even after washing up it’ll be past eight. We still have to burn the descendant incense later."

"All right, then I’ll go wake Xiaoqiang."

"Mm." Liu Changsheng didn’t even turn his head as he answered, then went upstairs to wake Su Hui.

Not long after Liu Changsheng left the room, Su Hui slowly woke up.

She gradually opened her eyes and felt the warm morning sunlight spilling into the room through the curtains.

A breeze drifted through and stirred her nightgown. The country air really was good; even the wind carried the scent of grass and trees.

Su Hui stretched, then turned over and found the bed beside her empty.

She frowned. Where had Yiqiang gone? On weekends, if he woke up earlier than her, he would still stay by her side.

Su Hui lay there in bed, still dazed.

"Yiqiang!" she called lazily.

The one who pushed open the door was Liu Changsheng. Su Hui froze for a moment, confusion washing over her.

A faint unease rose in her heart, as though she had lost her way in a strange place.

Still half asleep, her mind struggled to remember, trying to sort out what was in front of her.

As Liu Changsheng came closer, her thoughts gradually cleared. The absurd events of yesterday returned to her: because of that marriage swap, her husband had already become Liu Changsheng.

Tears welled in Su Hui’s eyes, and a deep regret surged through her. She covered her mouth with her hand, trying to control her emotions, but the tears were already rolling down, one after another.

"How could I have done something like this?" Su Hui blamed herself in a trembling voice. "I was so stupid, so foolish, I... I should have been clearer-headed, I should have..."

Seeing Su Hui crying, Liu Changsheng felt helpless. He walked over to her side and gently rubbed her shoulder, trying to comfort her, but he didn’t know what to say.

Sniffling, Su Hui looked up. Her eyes were full of pleading and unease.

"Dad, can’t we stop this?" Su Hui asked in a trembling voice. "I... I want to switch back. I still want to be Yiqiang’s wife. I don’t want to be Yiqiang’s mother. I don’t want to be your wife."

Liu Changsheng felt confused inside.

He couldn’t understand Su Hui’s sudden change. Just yesterday, the situation had been vivid in his memory, and Su Hui’s behavior had been completely different from now.

They say women are fickle, but this was changing too fast, wasn’t it? Su Hui sobbed, her voice thick with despair and pleading.

"Dad, listen to me," Su Hui said, her voice shaking, her eyes full of endless supplication.

"I know, I know I shouldn’t be crying, I shouldn’t be telling you I want to change back, but I really don’t want to keep going like this. I’m not Yiqiang’s mother. I’m his wife. I’m not your wife. I’m your daughter-in-law. Dad, let’s not swap anymore, okay?"

"Yesterday, when I agreed, I said that how long the swap lasted would be up to me. You agreed to that. You agreed, didn’t you? Now I don’t want to swap anymore. I want to swap back."

Liu Changsheng took a deep breath. "Hui’er, I can understand how you feel right now. But you need to understand that marriage swapping is a serious matter in our village. It’s not something that can be changed lightly."

He sighed and continued, "Yes, what you said is true. Meijuan and I agreed that how long the swap lasts would be up to you, but you have to know that in our tradition, the marriage-swap ceremony is also a wedding ceremony. Do you remember? Last night, in front of our ancestors, we declared that Liu Changsheng and Su Hui were entering into a marriage pact. And so many people in the village witnessed us making that covenant before the ancestors. You and I both drank the tea that Yiqiang and Meijuan offered to correct our forms of address. Yiqiang and Meijuan also called you Mom in front of the whole village, and you agreed to it. Also, after last night’s bridal chamber, the red underwear and red bra we used to wipe our private parts were shown to everyone in the village, and they’re still downstairs in front of the ancestral altar. You..."

Su Hui’s tears only fell harder, as if she had been shoved into a bottomless abyss she could never escape.

"Dad, I... I didn’t know it would be like this." Su Hui’s voice trembled, her eyes full of helplessness and confusion.

"Yesterday I... I just thought it was an interesting ritual, like a game. I never imagined it would become like this."

Her voice was nearly drowned by her sobbing. "I thought it was just a game, a game we could end at any time. I..."

Su Hui felt as though she were in a dream, everything twisted and strange.

She couldn’t understand why a marriage-swap ritual that seemed as simple as a game had turned into such a nightmare of distress and pain.

"Dad, I know I was wrong," Su Hui said, her voice full of remorse. "But I really don’t want to keep going. I just want to swap back."

Yiqiang and Meijuan, who were coming downstairs, heard Su Hui crying. They looked at each other, then walked together to the bedroom door.

Standing at the doorway, Yiqiang and Meijuan saw Liu Changsheng sitting by the bed, his face tired and confused. He was looking at Su Hui, as though thinking about how to comfort her.

Su Hui was sitting on the bed in the white nightgown Yiqiang had bought her, her hair loose and disheveled as she cried. Her shoulders trembled slightly, tears streaming down her cheeks, making her look helpless and desperate.

"Dad, what’s wrong?" Meijuan asked.

Hearing the voice, Su Hui looked up toward the doorway and immediately cried, "Yiqiang, come here, come here. Tell Dad for me that I don’t want to swap anymore. I want to swap back. I still want to be your wife. I don’t want to be your mother!" Her voice was choked with tears, full of despair and determination.

Yiqiang and Meijuan walked into the room hand in hand. Yiqiang wanted to say something, but Meijuan gently patted his hand, signaling that she would handle it.

Meijuan walked over to Liu Changsheng, lightly patted his shoulder, and motioned for him to be quiet for a moment.

Then she turned to Su Hui, crouched down, and held Su Hui’s hand. Her voice was gentle, but very serious.

"Mom, this isn’t that simple. You know our village people are very traditional. Marriage swapping here is not child’s play. You experienced yesterday’s ceremony yourself, so I think you could feel the solemnity and sanctity of the four of us going through the swap ritual. You should also know that these ceremonial steps all follow rules and are carried out according to tradition."

"Yesterday, I was originally Yiqiang’s mother, but because of the marriage swap, I slept with Yiqiang for the whole night. And the underwear used after the bridal chamber was also seen by the villagers."

She paused, then went on, "In front of our ancestors, I also already started calling Liu Changsheng Dad and calling you Mom. This isn’t just a ceremony. It’s also the face of our entire family."

"If the four of us get up after one night together and then just change our minds, saying we don’t want to swap anymore, then what happened yesterday will be seen by the whole village as incest, and that would be a huge disgrace for our family. We’d all become the village joke. If this were ancient times, the four of us would have been stripped naked and paraded through the streets, or drowned in a pig cage."

Su Hui sobbed, her tears blurring her vision. She looked miserably at the three people before her, her heart full of despair and helplessness.

In a tearful voice, she asked miserably, "Then what am I supposed to do? I don’t want to be Yiqiang’s mother. I only want to be his wife. I don’t want to lose him." Her voice was weak and trembling, as if a gust of wind could knock her over.

She looked at Su Hui softly and said, "Mom, you haven’t lost Yiqiang. We’re still a family. Even though, by seniority, Yiqiang and I now call you Mom, that doesn’t mean your feelings for Yiqiang will change."

Meijuan continued softly, "Mom, you can still love Yiqiang. You can love him in another way, for example by loving him like your own son. Even the kind of love between a man and a woman, the love you call romance, can still exist between you two. It just has to stay in your heart. You have to know how to control it. We follow tradition, we respect the ritual, but we don’t deny real feelings either."

"Once the marriage swap is over and we go back to normal life, I believe the feelings between you and Yiqiang won’t fade. They’ll only grow deeper. We’ll always support you, no matter what you choose."

Su Hui lifted her tear-streaked eyes and looked at Meijuan. Her voice was full of confusion and hope. "Really? Is that really possible?"

Meijuan smiled gently and took Su Hui’s hand. "Of course it is, Mom. Love isn’t bound by tradition. We can express it in different ways, as long as we’re sincere in our hearts. The feelings between you and Yiqiang are real, and nothing will change that."

"Then how long do we have to swap?"

"In the past, it was usually at least two years. So even if you say now that you don’t want to swap anymore, you’d at least have to wait until one of us gets pregnant. Weren’t we doing this marriage swap in the first place so the Liu family could have children sooner? Have you forgotten? Mom, if you want this to end sooner, then you and Dad will have to work hard and make a baby."

"Why can’t it be you who gets pregnant first?"

"Mom, I’m already forty-three."

"Now that birth restrictions are gone, plenty of women in their forties get pregnant."

"I have an IUD, Mom."

"An IUD can be removed. It’s not complicated."

"But Mom, you’re only in your mid-twenties, and you don’t have an IUD either. Who do you think would get pregnant first, you or me?"

Su Hui’s voice carried a trace of helplessness and confusion. "Mom, how can you accept the marriage swap so easily? I used to be your daughter-in-law, and now you call me Mom. Why does it feel so natural, without any awkwardness?"

Meijuan smiled softly and shook her head lightly. "Mom, you’ve got it backwards again. I’m now Yiqiang’s wife, which makes me your daughter-in-law. And you’re the wife of Yiqiang’s father, so of course I should follow Yiqiang and call you Mom. Don’t mix it up anymore. If the villagers hear it, they’ll laugh at you."

"Mom, it’s not that I accepted the marriage swap easily. In our village, marriage swapping isn’t just a simple change of address. It doesn’t mean our relationship has changed. Even though our titles have changed, our love and respect remain the same. The reason I can accept all this so naturally is because I know that in our hearts, each other’s place and feelings are unshakable."

"So there’s no need to feel awkward or confused. Our relationship isn’t affected by outside forms. It’s built on genuine feelings for each other and mutual respect."

Meijuan said lightly, "And you know, when Dad once lent me to Second Grandfather, I was his wife for a while too. Back then, when Dad saw me, he even had to call me Aunt-in-law."

Meijuan continued casually, "While I was Second Grandfather’s wife, I actually still loved Dad in my heart all the same. Even though I accepted Dad being lent out according to custom, my heart had always been with Dad."

She smiled and went on, "After Second Grandfather returned me, Dad never blamed me. Instead, he treated me with even more care and concern. I deeply felt Dad’s tolerance and love, and from then on, the bond between us only grew stronger."

"So for more than twenty years now, we’ve never even had a crossed word or an argument. That’s because we know how to cherish each other’s feelings, understand each other’s situations, support one another, and get through every challenge and difficulty in life together."

Her voice held deep affection and gratitude for Dad. "Dad has always been the most important person in my life. I will cherish and love him forever."

After speaking, Meijuan’s hand patted Liu Changsheng’s shoulder.

She added with a smile, "So this kind of address isn’t unusual in our village. Marriage swapping is just one of our village’s traditional customs. There’s no need for us to feel restrained or embarrassed about it."

Su Hui stopped crying. "Really? Yiqiang and I can be like you and Changsheng too?"

Yiqiang looked at Su Hui tenderly and said in a voice full of confidence and love, "Mom, we can. The love between us will also stand the test of time, just like the love between Meijuan and Dad."

Su Hui gave a faint smile. "Looks like you’ve already accepted this marriage swap too. All right then, Meijuan, I’ll leave Yiqiang in your care from now on."

"Mom, don’t worry. After all, I was Yiqiang’s mother for twenty-six years. He’s a piece of flesh that fell from my own body. Even though I’m no longer Yiqiang’s mother and have become Yiqiang’s wife, and even though the role has changed, the love won’t change."

"Yiqiang, then you have to love Meijuan properly from now on. You know the love I’m talking about isn’t the kind between mother and son. You need to sincerely treat Meijuan like a wife, to cherish and love her."

Yiqiang listened to Su Hui’s words with a smile. "Mom, I understand what you mean. I’ll cherish Meijuan properly and treat her with all my heart."

He looked lovingly at Meijuan. "Meijuan, wife, during these days of the marriage swap, you are my wife, so let me take care of you. I’ll respect you and care for you, and make you feel happy and secure with me."

"Dad, don’t worry. With Meijuan on my side, I’ll take good care of her."

"All right, all right, it’s not like I’m asking you to confess your love. And I’m telling you, you can’t love Meijuan all you want; there still has to be a place in your heart reserved for me." Su Hui said with a jealous edge.

"Don’t worry, my Hui’er Mom."

"Then Mom, during the time of the marriage swap, Dad is in your care." Meijuan blinked mischievously at Su Hui.

"Enough, enough. Why are you dragging me into this now?" Liu Changsheng, who had been silent for a long while, finally spoke up.

Su Hui looked at Meijuan seriously, her expression carrying a trace of earnestness and resolve. "All right, Meijuan, I promise you. During the time of the marriage swap, Changsheng will be my husband."

Her voice was firm and gentle. "I’ll respect him, care for him, and during this time I’ll also manage this household well, just like you did before, Meijuan. I’ll take good care of this family."

Liu Changsheng gently patted Su Hui’s shoulder and reached out to wipe the tears from her face. He said softly, "Hui’er, you don’t need to worry too much. In our village, no one will laugh at us because of the marriage swap. If you still have any concerns, you can slowly talk to me about them later. For now, hurry and wash up, then come downstairs to burn the descendant incense for our ancestors."

He motioned for Yiqiang and Meijuan to go downstairs first, then lifted Su Hui’s face in his hands and kissed her gently, his eyes full of care and promise. "Hui’er, I promise I won’t let you cry again."

Su Hui felt the gentle pressure of Liu Changsheng’s hand on her shoulder, and an inexplicable sense of peace rose in her heart.

She gave a slight smile, and her tears finally stopped.

After wiping the tears from her face, she looked at Liu Changsheng and nodded gratefully.

"Changsheng, thank you. I’ll be fine. I’m sorry about just now. I shouldn’t have thrown a childish tantrum."

"Then if you did something wrong, shouldn’t you be punished?"

"Mm, no, please. I’ve already apologized."

Hearing that, a hint of teasing and warmth flashed in Liu Changsheng’s eyes. He smiled faintly. "No, you still have to be punished a little. Let me think... then your punishment is to call me husband once."

Su Hui froze at that "punishment," a little shy despite herself. Taking a deep breath, she looked up at Liu Changsheng, her eyes overflowing with tenderness, and said with a trace of embarrassment, "Husband."

When Liu Changsheng heard it, the smile in his eyes deepened. He reached out and gently stroked Su Hui’s hair, saying softly, "All right, stop making things hard for yourself. Go wash up. Do you want me to wait and go with you?"

Su Hui smiled lightly and shook her head. "No need to wait for me. I’ll be done very soon."

She turned and headed for the bathroom, quickly washed up, then changed into clean clothes and put on a light touch of makeup.

In front of the mirror, she adjusted her hairstyle and smiled at her reflection. "Come on, Su Hui. Today is going to be a good day."