Hearing Gu Yunche speak up to stop them, Liu E's heart leaped to her throat.
Did he not want to go to her house for dinner tonight after all?
Gu Yunche walked over, took out ten yuan, and pressed it into the village Party branch secretary's hand.
"This is for the phone calls I made these past couple of days."
The Party branch secretary politely declined, but Gu Yunche smiled faintly and said, "We have regulations to follow. You must accept it."
Liu E stared at the ten yuan, her eyes gleaming with avarice.
In the village, the monthly income was only about twenty yuan. Even in the county town, the monthly wage was just thirty to fifty yuan.
For Gu Yunche to casually take out ten yuan showed his family's substantial wealth.
Liu E seemed to see the money for her second son's wedding already landing in her pocket, and she smiled joyfully.
Her money-grubbing expression didn't escape Gu Yunche's notice. He snorted coldly and walked away.
He was staying in the side room of the Party branch secretary's house. He needed to go back and pack his luggage, preparing to leave for the county town, then take a train to the provincial capital to pick up Bai Lin and head to the capital.
As for tonight's dinner, he would just go through the motions, if only to make his mother give up on Mu Guiying.
That evening, Gu Yunche arrived as promised but didn't see Mu Guiying. Instead, he saw her husband stealthily tucking corn cakes into his clothes and sneaking a small pig's trotter.
Gu Yunche was puzzled. "What are you doing?"
The simpleton grinned. "I'm being good to my wife. I'm taking these to her. If she's happy, I might even get a kiss."
Gu Yunche lowered his gaze to hide his embarrassment, his expression darkening. He thought to himself, since the couple was so loving, why was his mother still meddling?
Gu Yunche glanced toward the door and saw that Liu E, who had been bringing out dishes, hadn't returned yet.
He poured the liquor from his cup into another cup, but the simpleton grabbed it and downed it in one gulp.
Gu Yunche was startled. "You shouldn't drink that!"
The simpleton chuckled. "I often sneak drinks! It makes me feel good!"
With that, he ran off.
Gu Yunche pressed his lips together, then picked up the empty cup across from him and filled it with plain water.
As the simpleton went out, he bumped into his mother, Liu E, returning. He quickly hid in the inner room, planning to look for Mu Guiying a bit later.
Liu E shot her foolish son a warning glance. "Don't be so clumsy."
As soon as she entered, she saw Gu Yunche drinking by himself, one cup already empty.
Liu E's heart bloomed with joy, and she became even more attentive.
Meanwhile, Mu Guiying was in the woodshed, anxiously watching the door, a fire poker beside her. She planned to knock the simpleton out and escape.
But as the sky grew dim and darkness approached, why hadn't he come yet?
"Why isn't he here yet?"
Just as she was pondering, the door was shoved open with force.
The simpleton's face was flushed bright red, and he wore a particularly lecherous grin.
"Wife, I missed you. I came to find you."
Mu Guiying saw immediately that the simpleton's condition strongly resembled Gu Yunche's when he had been drugged at noon.
She sprang to her feet.
"What did you drink?"
The simpleton giggled. "I drank the liquor from Official Gu."
Mu Guiying's heart plummeted into a bottomless abyss.
Gu Yunche must have guessed Liu E's scheme. He thought she and Liu E were in cahoots, plotting against him. Enraged and humiliated, he had given the liquor—spiked with a potent dose—to the simpleton to drink.
Gu Yunche wanted to see her ruin her own virtue, to make her live a life worse than death in the countryside.
The thought of a future tied to the simpleton filled Mu Guiying with a wave of revulsion. She watched him approach, her grip tightening on the fire poker.
She raised the stick. "Don't come any closer! If you take another step, I'll beat you to death!"
Mu Guiying refused to accept her fate!
But the fool was consumed by lust. Pulling down his pants as he ran toward her, he chanted, "Wife… I want a wife…"
Mu Guiying swung the stick at him, but the fool caught it and began wrestling with her.
"Help!"
Her hoarse, desperate cries echoed from the woodshed.
Gu Yunche froze when he heard the sound.
That voice—sharp, ragged, and laced with terror.
He licked his lips, feeling a faint stir of pity in his chest.
But Liu E and Mu Guiying had schemed against him first. Unwilling to accept defeat, they had plotted against him again. Now Mu Guiying was merely reaping what she had sown. Besides, she was already married to Liu E's son—why should he wade into their muddy waters?
Gu Yunche calmly turned his gaze toward the panicked Liu E.
Her voice trembled as she said, "Regiment Commander Gu, let me check what that foolish girl Guiying is up to!"
Gu Yunche's expression was cold and sharp. "Aunt Liu, have you heard the saying 'Go for wool and come back shorn'?"
Liu E's face paled. She hurried out in a fluster.
Soon, her loud cries rang through the air—
"Someone, come quick! Mu Guiying, that wretched girl, has killed someone! Mu Guiying is a murderer!"
Hearing the commotion, Gu Yunche could no longer remain seated.
He strode outside and saw Mu Guiying, disheveled and clutching a blood-stained club, running out of the woodshed. Blood stained her clothes, making it impossible to tell whether it was hers or her husband's.
Gu Yunche hadn't expected her husband to treat her so brutally. A dull ache tightened in his chest.
Mu Guiying's bright almond-shaped eyes brimmed with tears. Biting her lip, she stared at Gu Yunche, who had stood by and done nothing. Her gaze was filled with grievance and resentment.
She let out a cold laugh. "So this is what the esteemed regiment commander is like—standing by while a fool assaults a girl not yet eighteen."
Gu Yunche was stunned by her words. A flicker of shock crossed his usually impassive face.
"What did you say?"
Only now did Mu Guiying truly believe that her fate in this book was one of relentless misfortune. Even though she had traveled here from a technologically advanced era, she couldn't change the cannon-fodder destiny of the female supporting character.
But she didn't want to die here. If she had to die, she would at least die with dignity.
With that thought, Mu Guiying threw down the club and turned to run outside.
"Mu Guiying, explain yourself!"
Seeing her flee, Gu Yunche gave chase.
He hadn't expected her to run so fast. Following her trail, he realized she was heading toward the Party branch secretary's house. Catching up, he saw her dash into the side room where he was staying.
Gu Yunche halted. His white shirt wrinkled with the rise and fall of his chest. Frowning, he glared at Mu Guiying, his expression full of reproach.
"Mu Guiying, how dare you? Still resorting to such despicable tricks."
Gu Yunche anticipated that Mu Guiying would rush out of his room, accusing him of assaulting her, clinging to him, and following him back to the capital.
Suddenly, a hazy scene from his dream flashed before his eyes—
Mu Guiying, at the east end of the village, threatening to kill herself while screaming that Gu Yunche had violated her. Later, the Party branch secretary intervened, forcing him to marry Mu Guiying to settle the matter.
Gu Yunche clenched his fists, his handsome face icy with anger.
He stood his ground, refusing to pursue her further. He wanted to see how Mu Guiying would act out this "assault" without him present.
The seconds ticked by.
Mu Guiying had not yet emerged from Gu Yunche's room. Having lost patience waiting, he decided to take the initiative. After all, Gu Yunche was an active-duty military officer—he couldn't let an illiterate village girl like Mu Guiying lead him by the nose.
Gu Yunche made the first move by seeking out the Party branch secretary. In just a few words, he recounted what had just happened.
Upon hearing the account, the Party branch secretary slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "That fool Liu E! What a sin! Guiying, a pure and innocent young woman, was nearly ruined by her idiot son."
Gu Yunche's handsome, stern face froze for a moment.
He asked in a low voice, "You're saying Liu E's son is an idiot?"