NCCnovel Chapter 17 made me cry my soul away.
Chapter 17 made me cry my soul away.
"Cuifen, how can you be so easily swayed!"
Sun Laowai exhaled a puff of smoke, his voice sinister, like a demon crawling out of hell.
"Divorce requires going to the commune to get the certificate and divide the property. It's too much trouble. Besides, Gangzi is a cadre now. Divorce would damage his reputation, and his father-in-law, who is an accountant there, would also have objections."
"Then... what should we do?" Aunt Zhao was stunned.
"This hen that doesn't lay eggs, since it's occupying the nest without doing anything, might as well..."
Old Sun chuckled twice, lowering his voice, each word sounding like it was laced with poison.
"In our remote mountain village, if you go north for two hundred miles, there are some old bachelors who have never seen a woman in their lives. A healthy, fertile woman, even if she's divorced, can be sold for three to five hundred yuan."
"Sold...sold?"
Aunt Zhao gasped, then her voice gleamed with greedy excitement, "You can sell so many?"
"Absolutely. This money is just enough for Gangzi's twins' one-month celebration, and it can also buy you some new clothes."
Sun Laowai paused for a moment, then said something that made Li Xianglian's blood freeze.
"Moreover, as long as we send her to that deep mountain forest and lock her in a cellar, who knows if she's alive or dead after a year or two? Then we can report her missing to the village, or say she ran off with some random guy. Gangzi can then say he was abandoned by this woman, thus preserving his reputation, getting a divorce, and getting the money. That's what you call... killing three birds with one stone."
"Brilliant! Old Sun, you really have a way with things!"
Aunt Zhao slapped her thigh and cheered, "Then when should we make our move? That little slut has been getting close to Qin Lao Er lately, I'm afraid things might get complicated if we wait too long."
"The night after tomorrow."
Sun Laowai took another drag of his cigarette, puffing out clouds of smoke.
"I've already contacted the people over there. Tomorrow night, around midnight, we'll meet under the old locust tree at the village entrance. When you arrive, slip some drugs into their food, knock them out, and stuff them into a sack..."
In the woodshed.
Li Xianglian felt as if her blood had been frozen into ice crystals by those words.
Sold? The "mother" she'd been calling out to for three years was actually going to sell her like livestock to some old bachelor in the deep mountains to be his wife?
They also wanted to lock her in the cellar, making her suffer a fate worse than death, so that she would end up with the stigma of "running away with a stranger."
A chill ran from the soles of her feet straight to the top of her head. Her teeth chattered, making a soft "clucking" sound. Her body, which was already limp in Qin Rushan's arms, trembled even more like the last yellow leaf about to fall on a withered branch in late autumn.
This is no husband's family home, this is clearly a den of demons that will tear her apart and suck her marrow!
"Hold!"
A low, suppressed roar exploded in my ears.
Qin Rushan's eyes were bloodshot. His eyes, which were already burning red with lust, now looked like blood-soaked knives, exuding a ruthless ferocity that seemed to want to tear someone to pieces.
His muscles tensed instantly, becoming as hard as iron. His terrifying aura could no longer be suppressed, and you could even hear the cracking sound of his knuckles.
"Those two bastards! I'm going in there right now and chop them to pieces!"
Qin Rushan released the person in his arms and reached for the axe tucked behind his waist. He was truly determined to kill; the stench of blood from the battlefield lingered in the small woodshed.
"Don't……"
A small, cold hand gripped his wrist tightly.
Li Xianglian didn't know where the strength came from; her hand was as cold as ice, and her nails almost dug into Qin Rushan's flesh.
She looked up, her face covered in tears, and silently shook her head at him.
Those eyes were filled with pleading, terror, and despair after being shattered.
can not go.
If Qin Rushan were to rush in and kill someone now, that would be a crime, and he would have to pay with his life!
It's not worth wasting your life on a woman like her who has such a worthless life!
By the dim moonlight, Qin Rushan could see the meaning in her eyes.
In that instant, it felt as if he had been stabbed in the heart, the pain so intense that his breathing became labored.
This silly woman, even after being bullied like this, her first reaction was still to be afraid of implicating him.
Qin Rushan took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the urge to kill. He grabbed that cold little hand with his other hand, gripping it as if he wanted to meld her into his very bones.
"Walk."
Without another word, he bent down and scooped up Xianglian, who was so frightened she could barely stand, carrying her with the lightness of a porcelain doll. Yet, his feet moved with the speed of the wind, and he strode out of the woodshed in a few steps, avoiding the windows of the main house. Like a black panther patrolling the night, he swiftly vaulted over the low courtyard wall and disappeared into the vast darkness.
Qin Rushan carried her and ran all the way to the threshing ground behind the village. It was an open space with a huge haystack that was usually deserted and very secluded.
Qin Rushan placed Xianglian on a thick pile of dry straw, took off his own jacket, and wrapped her up tightly.
"It's alright, sister-in-law, it's alright."
Qin Rushan squatted down in front of her, his rough, calloused hands, usually used for chopping wood, cutting trees, and slaughtering pigs and sheep, clumsily cupping her face, his thumbs frantically wiping away her tears.
But the tears were like a flood that had burst its banks; the more she wiped them away, the more they flowed, and she couldn't stop them no matter what she did.
Li Xianglian huddled in the jacket that still carried his warmth and sweat, and in the quiet of the night with only a gentle breeze and the chirping of insects, she finally shed all her pretense and bravado.
"Waaaaah..."
She bit her lip hard, afraid to cry out, and only a dying whimper escaped her throat.
Three years.
She worked like a slave in the Zhao family for three whole years. She got up earlier than the roosters and slept later than the dogs, eating leftovers and wearing tattered clothes.
Zhao Gang didn't come back, so she stayed in the empty house, serving his mean-spirited mother and taking care of his unruly sister.
She thought that as long as she was sincere and diligent, she could warm up the stone.
But the result?
Her husband has two children outside the marriage and uses her hard-earned money to support his mistress.
For the sake of her so-called grandson and future prospects, the mother-in-law conspired with her lover to sell her into a place where people would devour her!
She's a human being! A living, breathing human being! Not a dog raised by the Zhao family, to be beaten or killed at will!
"How could they be so cruel... I was born of parents too... Why are they treating me like this..."
Seeing her like this, Qin Rushan felt his heart break into pieces.
Normally, this woman would just swallow her anger, but now she's crying like this, she's truly been driven to the brink.
"Don't cry, your crying is making me anxious."
Qin Rushan sighed, his voice tinged with helplessness and hidden doting affection, "Your crying has scared the hell out of me. I was thinking of turning over and crippling those two beasts right now, but seeing how terrified you are, I can't bear to leave you here alone."
Li Xianglian sniffed, and the despair in her heart miraculously dissipated by more than half.
In this cold and ruthless Zhao family, in this village filled with gossip, there was actually one person who valued her life more than anything else, and cherished her tears more than gold.
"Then... what should we do?" she asked, her voice soft and sweet, thick with nasal tone, filled with complete dependence.