When Gu Yunche spoke up to stop them from leaving, Liu E nearly had a heart attack.
Could it be that he no longer wanted to come to her house for dinner tonight?
Gu Yunche walked over and stuffed ten yuan into the village chief’s hand.
“This is for the phone calls I made these past two days.”
The village chief politely tried to refuse, but Gu Yunche smiled faintly.
“We have disciplinary rules. You have to accept it.”
Liu E stared at the ten yuan with shining eyes.
In the village, people earned only about twenty yuan a month. Even in the county town, monthly wages were only thirty to fifty yuan.
Yet Gu Yunche casually handed over ten yuan, proving his family was wealthy.
Liu E practically saw the money for her second son’s future marriage falling into her own pocket, and her smile widened with delight.
That greedy expression landed squarely in Gu Yunche’s eyes. He snorted coldly and left.
He was staying in a side room at the village chief’s house. He needed to pack his luggage and prepare to leave for the county town, then take a train to the provincial capital to pick up Bai Lin before heading to the capital together.
Still, he had to attend tonight’s dinner. At the very least, it would make his mother give up on Mu Guiying.
That evening, Gu Yunche arrived as promised but did not see Mu Guiying. Instead, he saw Mu Guiying’s husband sneakily stuffing cornbread into his clothes and secretly taking another pig trotter.
Gu Yunche frowned.
“What are you doing?”
The fool grinned foolishly.
“I love my wife. I’m bringing food to my wife.”
Gu Yunche sneered. He glanced toward the doorway and saw that Liu E, who had gone to serve dishes, had not returned yet.
He handed the wine in his cup to Mu Guiying’s husband.
“Here. Drink.”
The fool accepted without hesitation and drained it in one gulp.
Gu Yunche’s expression darkened.
The couple seemed so affectionate, and Mu Guiying’s household registration had already been transferred into the Liu family. Why was his mother still worrying about her?
He picked up the empty cup across from him and quietly filled it with plain water.
As the fool stepped out, he happened to run into his mother, Liu E, returning. He quickly hid inside, planning to go find Mu Guiying later.
Liu E glared at her foolish son.
“Stop being so clumsy.”
The moment she entered, she saw Gu Yunche drinking alone, already finishing another cup.
Liu E was overjoyed and became even more attentive.
Meanwhile, in the woodshed, Mu Guiying stared anxiously at the door. Beside her was a fire poker.
She planned to knock the fool unconscious and escape.
But dusk was already falling.
Why hadn’t he come yet?
“Why isn’t he here?”
Just as she was wondering, the door was suddenly shoved open.
The fool’s face was flushed red, his grin vulgar and excited.
“Wife, I missed you. I came to see you.”
At a glance, Mu Guiying realized his condition looked exactly like Gu Yunche’s at noon after being drugged.
She shot to her feet.
“What did you drink?”
The fool giggled.
“That Officer Gu gave me his wine.”
Mu Guiying’s heart instantly sank into a bottomless abyss.
Gu Yunche must have realized Liu E’s intentions. He must have thought she and Liu E had plotted against him together. Furious and humiliated, he had given the drugged wine to the fool instead.
He wanted to watch her lose her innocence.
He wanted her to live a miserable life trapped in the countryside.
Thinking about spending the rest of her life with this fool sent chills through her entire body. She looked at the fool walking toward her and tightened her grip on the fire poker.
She raised the stick.
“Don’t come closer! If you do, I’ll kill you!”
Mu Guiying refused to accept her fate.
But the fool was consumed by lust. While pulling down his pants, he rushed toward her.
“Wife… I want my wife…”
Mu Guiying swung the stick at him, but he grabbed it and struggled against her.
“Help!”
Her hoarse voice filled with despair echoed out from the woodshed.
Hearing the scream, Gu Yunche froze slightly.
The voice was sharp, terrified, and desperate.
He licked his lips as traces of hesitation rose in his heart.
But Liu E and Mu Guiying had schemed against him first. They had tried to trap him again out of unwillingness. Letting Mu Guiying suffer the consequences of her own actions was hardly excessive.
Besides, she was already legally married to Liu E’s son. Her household registration was with the Liu family now.
There was no reason for him to get involved.
Gu Yunche calmly looked at the panic-stricken Liu E.
Liu E trembled.
“Commander Gu, I’ll go check on that silly girl Guiying!”
Gu Yunche’s brows were cold and sharp.
“Aunt Liu, have you ever heard the saying about stealing a chicken only to lose the rice used to lure it?”
Liu E’s face changed drastically as she hurried outside.
Not long after, her shrill screams rang out—
“Someone come quickly! Mu Guiying killed someone! Mu Guiying killed someone!”
Gu Yunche could no longer remain seated after hearing the commotion.
He strode outside and saw Mu Guiying rushing out of the woodshed with a bloodstained stick in her hand. Her clothes were disheveled, and blood covered her body. It was impossible to tell whether it belonged to her or her husband.
Gu Yunche had not expected her husband to treat her so cruelly, and an inexplicable heaviness settled in his chest.
Tears shimmered in Mu Guiying’s bright almond-shaped eyes. She bit her lip as she stared at the indifferent Gu Yunche, her gaze filled with grievance and hatred.
She let out a cold laugh.
“So this is all a dignified regiment commander amounts to—standing by while a fool assaults an underage girl.”
Gu Yunche was stunned by her words.
A flicker of shock crossed his cold and emotionless face.
“What did you say?”
Only now did Mu Guiying truly believe that her fate in this novel was cursed with endless misfortune. Even though she had transmigrated from a technologically advanced era, she still could not escape the tragic destiny of a cannon-fodder supporting character.
But she did not want to die here.
Even if she died, she wanted to die with dignity.
With that thought, Mu Guiying threw down the stick and turned to run.
“Mu Guiying, explain yourself clearly!”
Gu Yunche chased after her.
He had not expected her to run so fast. Following her all the way, he realized she was heading toward the village chief’s house. He pursued her and watched as she dashed into the side room where he was staying.
Gu Yunche stopped in place.
The rise and fall of his chest wrinkled his white shirt. He frowned at Mu Guiying with visible resentment.
“Mu Guiying, how dare you? You’re still trying to use such despicable tricks?”
He assumed she would soon rush out of his room, accuse him of assaulting her, force him to take responsibility, and ultimately follow him to the capital.
Suddenly, a blurry scene from his dream flashed before his eyes—
Mu Guiying crying and causing a scene at the east end of the village, accusing Gu Yunche of assaulting her. Later, the village chief intervened and forced them to register their marriage before the matter finally settled down.
Gu Yunche clenched his fists, his handsome face covered in frost.
He stood there and chose not to follow her further.
He wanted to see how Mu Guiying planned to continue this “assault” act without him present.
Time passed second by second.
Yet Mu Guiying still did not emerge from his room.
Growing impatient, Gu Yunche decided to make the first move.
After all, he was an active-duty military officer. There was no way he would let an illiterate village girl lead him around by the nose.
Gu Yunche went directly to the village chief and briefly explained what had happened.
After hearing everything, the village chief slapped his thigh angrily.
“That foolish woman Liu E has truly committed a sin! Guiying was an innocent young girl, and she was almost ruined by that fool of a son!”
Gu Yunche’s cold and handsome face stiffened for a moment.
His voice sank low.
“You’re saying Liu E’s son is mentally disabled?”