The Fierce Woman of the Farm: Her Frail Husband's Boundless Devotion

Li Miaomiao transmigrates into the body of a woman with the same name, who had just survived a suicide attempt after a public humiliation. The original owner, abused by her stepmother and stepsister, had impulsively forced Xiao Xian, a crippled newcomer, to marry her as revenge after her childhood sweetheart, Lin Dalang, abandoned her for her stepsister. Upon waking, Li Miaomiao inherits a destitute existence in a dilapidated cottage with a husband who harbors deep, hidden darkness. Xiao Xian appears cold and indifferent, but his internal monologue reveals a lethal nature; he initially considers murdering her when she attempts to leave, only to let her live out of boredom when she stubbornly decides to stay and repair their broken home.

The new Li Miaomiao, a practical and resilient woman from a family of carpenters, refuses to be a victim. She immediately begins improving their living conditions, repairing the door and crafting custom crutches for Xiao Xian. Despite his hostility and attempts to drive her away with threats and cold silence, she remains thick-skinned and indifferent to his intimidation. Their dynamic is defined by a tense standoff: she ignores his murderous intent to focus on survival, while he watches her with suspicion, unsettled by her competence and lack of fear. She discovers that despite his outward poverty, Xiao Xian’s household is surprisingly well-stocked, hinting at secrets he keeps hidden.

Conflict arises when the Lin family, led by Lin Dalang and his parents, attempts to seize the land that originally belonged to Li Miaomiao’s father. Using the village chief as a pawn, they try to claim the fertile plot as their own. Li Miaomiao counters their scheme by producing a hidden land deed concealed within her father’s tobacco pipe. With the village chief’s support, she reclaims the land and forces the Lin family to split the upcoming potato harvest with her. During the confrontation, she publicly humiliates the Lin family and silences gossiping villagers by chopping down a large tree, establishing a reputation for being dangerously unhinged.

Seeking financial independence, Li Miaomiao travels to the county market to sell her woodworking skills. She creates a multi-purpose wooden box with an innovative folding design that captivates buyers, including a wealthy young master from the He family. She secures a partnership with a local joiner to sell her wares, earning her first silver. With the money, she buys tools, pork offal, and supplies to preserve food for the winter. Her return home is marked by a tense encounter with Lin Dalang, who is now being manipulated by Guo Ce, the magistrate’s son, into spying on Xiao Xian. Unaware of the larger conspiracy, Li Miaomiao brings her earnings home, treating Xiao Xian’s resources as marital property, which further confuses and irritates him.

The tension between the two peaks when Xiao Xian suffers a severe pain episode at night. Refusing to let him suffer alone or die from stubbornness, Li Miaomiao forcibly intervenes. She pins him down, threatening to take advantage of his incapacitated state to force him to accept her help. Her aggressive approach shocks him into submission, revealing the depth of his physical agony and the extent of his isolation. As she tends to him, the fragile truce between them begins to shift, though Xiao Xian remains a mystery of trauma and hidden identity. Meanwhile, Lin Dalang, under Guo Ce’s influence, continues to plot against Xiao Xian, setting the stage for future conflicts that threaten to upend Li Miaomiao’s hard-won stability.