Volume One, Chapter Three: A Startling Surprise Once More

Bai Xuanyuan’s sobs were faint, but her eyes, like pools brimming with water, instantly soaked Fu Heng’s clothes.

The icy touch felt like countless needles pricking his heart relentlessly.

The man’s breath grew heavy.

Though, admittedly, he had never intended to take her with him.

Many educated youths returning to the city did so without their wives; he was merely following the crowd.

But now, a great tide of guilt and remorse welled up in his heart. Tears fell on his chest like boulders smashing his heart, suffocating him.

His brows furrowed deeply, and his disgust toward Shen Wen instantly doubled.

His voice cut coldly through the air: “I’m going to rest.”

Shen Wen looked at him in confusion.

In the past, when she spoke to Fu Heng like this, he always listened earnestly.

Has the sun risen in the west today?

Now, he was unwilling to listen.

Her voice softened, tinged with grievance: “Commander Fu, I came early this morning only because I care about you.”

Fu Heng calmed his emotions, intending to comfort her, but her words stunned him once more.

“You know, I’ve always been grateful to you, I like you very much, and I know you have feelings for me...”

“Shut up!” the man almost shouted.

He never struck women, but at this moment, he felt a sudden impulse to slap her away!

Shen Wen trembled, frightened by the fierce look in his eyes; no one had ever been so harsh to her.

In fact, she had never heard a man speak to anyone in such a terrifying tone.

At once, her pitiful tears threatened to spill.

Lowering her head to glance at the head poking out from under the quilt, her tears instantly froze back in fright.

“Are you... human or ghost?” Bai Xuanyuan’s eyes were red-rimmed, her hair draped across her face.

She tidied her hair, the warmth of the quilt steaming from above her head. Her palm-sized face was flushed like it had been kissed by the rosy glow of twilight.

Shen Wen gawked, stunned for a moment before shouting, “Are you crazy? Why are you hiding under the quilt?”

“You, you… haven’t you seen the wounds on Commander Fu? How could you—”

Bai Xuanyuan’s eyes glimmered with tears as she buried her head in the man’s embrace and sobbed softly.

Her voice was soft and nasal, sounding tender and pleading.

“Husband, she’s so fierce.”

Whether it was embarrassment at being exposed, guilt in front of her gentle and fragile wife, or anger at Shen Wen’s reckless fabrication of relationships, Fu Heng’s eyes darkened completely.

Beneath his flat tone raged a storm of anger: “Comrade Shen, please leave!”

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“This place is not welcoming to you.”

Shen Wen opened her mouth to argue but halted at the piercing gaze of the man, stepping back in fear.

Clenching her fists, she forced down her emotions.

Fu Heng’s dislike of Bai Xuanyuan was no recent development; there was no way her few words would change that.

She had already inquired—because of his injury, Fu Heng’s return to the capital was delayed by half a month.

There was still time.

She had plenty of means to crush Bai Xuanyuan underfoot, to make the man discard her like trash.

Fu Heng wiped Bai Xuanyuan’s tears, seeing her eyes red and swollen, his heart ached in sympathy.

After a long moment, he didn’t know how to speak.

Bai Xuanyuan lifted her tearful, fragile eyes: “Now, you believe me that I didn’t push her into the water, right? You’ve misunderstood me every day, I feel so wronged.”

Fu Heng was momentarily stunned.

He had expected Bai Xuanyuan to question why he wouldn’t take her back to the capital.

Or to ask whether his relationship with Shen Wen was pure.

Instead, she asked this?

He nodded: “I’m sorry, I misunderstood you before.”

Bai Xuanyuan felt a comfort in her heart, as if the knots from the previous life had all unraveled.

As for whether he took her away or with whom, she didn’t care.

In her past life, after Fu Heng left, she sold vegetables, worked at the supply and marketing cooperative, passed the college entrance exam when it reopened, and later opened a custom clothing store.

She earned a lot of money.

She simply hated being misunderstood and falsely accused, hated being called a cheap woman who steals men all her life.

If the man didn’t take her away, she would be glad.

When he returned to the capital and filed for divorce, she would go along with it, winning the sympathy of neighbors.

Then she would stand on the moral high ground and scold him for life.

Fu Heng lowered his head, looking at the little girl asleep in his arms again, feeling an indescribable vexation.

Perhaps, after she woke up, she would ask.

Bai Xuanyuan didn’t sleep long; she got up, said she was going to see the child, and left.

After changing the dressing, Fu Heng couldn’t help but ask Song Feiqing: “Where is Xuanyuan? She said she was going to see the child. Is the child alright?”

In his memory, Bai Xuanyuan was especially clingy, always lingering in his sight.

Now she had been gone for so long—could the child have fallen and gotten hurt?

Song Feiqing sounded amused: “What could have happened? She took the child and left.”

Fu Heng looked up, a chill in his eyes: “She didn’t say anything else?”

Song Feiqing sneered coldly: “She’s just an ungrateful wretch. I asked her to stay and take care of things, and she said she didn’t even have time to see the child.”

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“She even told me to learn more—no one was born to be a maid.”

Fu Heng’s eyes darkened: “Who are you calling ungrateful? She’s your sister-in-law.”

Song Feiqing was stunned for a moment. It was the first time he’d heard Fu Heng defend his wife.

“You’re not seriously thinking of taking her back to the capital, are you?”

Fu Heng tilted his head to look at him, emotions in his eyes shadowy and unclear.

He disliked being seen through.

He hadn’t said anything, yet everyone assumed he wouldn’t take Bai Xuanyuan with him.

His voice was displeased as he retorted, “Why not?”

Song Feiqing stared at him in disbelief.

He had heard that Fu Heng only bought one ticket back to the capital, clearly not taking Bai Xuanyuan.

He was even waiting for Fu Heng to divorce so he could introduce his sister to him.

His sister and Fu Heng grew up in the same compound; she had liked him since childhood.

These days, she called him every day, always asking when Fu Heng would return to the capital.

If she found out he brought his wife back, she’d be furious.

Song Feiqing said: “You can’t be serious. With Bai Xuanyuan like that, how could she be worthy of you?”

“Just because she came to see you in the middle of the night?”

“A three-hour journey tires a bull, but she’s not tired at all.”

Fu Heng was annoyed: “My affairs are none of your concern.”

He was naturally stubborn; the more others pressured him to do something, the less willing he was to comply.

Bai Xuanyuan sneezed twice; she already knew those two scoundrels were cursing her again.

Fu Yuan was wrapped in her padded coat, wearing a knitted tiger hat, only his round eyes visible.

“Mom, so many people—great-aunt, godmother…”

Bai Xuanyuan scolded: “What godmother? You only have one mom—me!”

“If you keep shouting nonsense, I’ll have your father take you away, find you a wicked stepmother, and make you eat bamboo tails every day.”

Fu Yuan shrank back in fear, his skin aching in waves.

He heard “bamboo tails” and was terrified, as if it were a nightmare etched into his bones, recalling being beaten all over.

Xue Junping sat at the door with a bruised face, surrounded by Shen Wen and a dozen or so neighborhood women.

Bai Xuanyuan wasn’t afraid. Before she even reached the door, she burst into tears: “My door! My lock!”

“My family’s ancestral golden lock hanging on the door—where has it gone?”