It wasn’t that he looked down on her for having been married before. It was just that it went against the principles he had been taught all these years, leaving him feeling deeply ashamed for a moment—and even more guilty toward Shen Baizhi.
Although he knew that deep down he wasn’t exactly a rule-abiding person, he had never imagined that one day he would almost have an intimate relationship with another man’s wife. Even though they hadn’t gone all the way, there really wasn’t much difference…
Seeing the dark look on his face, Shen Baizhi more or less guessed what he was thinking. Sure enough, people’s moral boundaries were different.
Some people would feel ashamed for having inadvertently crossed a line with another man’s wife, while others could openly and shamelessly engage in incest under the guise of being siblings!
Staring at the fire burning in front of them, she explained calmly:
“Actually, you don’t need to feel too much psychological pressure. Strictly speaking, that man and I weren’t really husband and wife. We only got married yesterday. On our wedding night, he went to stay with his ‘sister.’ Then this morning I accidentally found out that the so-called sister his family has been raising isn’t his biological sister at all, but his lover. His parents were afraid of a scandal, so they married me into the family as a shield! And we never even registered the marriage.”
Hearing this explanation made it a little easier for Jiang Yanli to accept. Since their marriage was essentially fake, she couldn’t really be considered another man’s wife.
And judging by what she said, she clearly wanted to dissolve that relationship.
Letting out a long breath, he asked in a low voice,
“Then what are you planning to do next?”
Shen Baizhi stated her plan directly:
“I’m going to divorce him, then move somewhere else and start a new life.”
Jiang Yanli looked at her thoughtfully, roughly guessing what kind of help she had wanted from him earlier.
“Do you need my help with the divorce?”
“No, I can handle it myself.”
She answered decisively. Revenge, after all, was far more satisfying when carried out personally.
Right now, she was grateful she hadn’t registered the marriage with Lin Cheng.
In her previous life, during the first year after the wedding, she had brought up registering their marriage several times. At first, Lin Cheng kept finding ways to stall.
Later, he was willing—but Lin Ranran sabotaged it again and again. In the end, she even dragged Lin Cheng off to another city for university, and for nearly twenty years they never returned to An County.
When Shen Baizhi finally saw them again, Lin Ranran had already changed her surname back to that of her adoptive father, and the two of them had openly married, becoming a perfectly “legitimate” couple.
What was laughable was that even after they had gotten their happy ending, they still refused to let Shen Baizhi go. Instead, they sent her the intellectually disabled son they had together, passing him to her through Lin Cheng’s parents and claiming he was a child Lin Cheng had adopted elsewhere.
By then, Shen Baizhi had been worn down by life in the Lin household to the point where she could barely think. Foolishly, she raised that child as if he were her own.
When the boy grew up and developed those kinds of urges, they actually tried to force her to satisfy his physical needs, all so he wouldn’t go out and commit crimes…
It was only after she escaped that time that she truly decided to flee the Lin family altogether. But as soon as she returned to her parents’ home to seek help, she was secretly imprisoned by Shen Baiwei…
Thinking about everything that had happened in her previous life, a trace of grief and indignation surfaced on her face without her realizing it.
Jiang Yanli thought she was lamenting her current situation. His expression softened, and he moved his lips, awkwardly forcing out a few words of comfort:
“Actually, it’s a good thing you discovered this early. You can still start a new life.”
Shen Baizhi quickly reined in her emotions. There was no point dwelling on the past. Now that she had been given another chance, none of those things would happen again.
Before she could speak again, Jiang Yanli voiced his own thoughts directly:
“Actually, I have two options you could consider.
“The first is the same suggestion as before. I’ll help you settle things here as quickly as possible, then you come back to the capital with me. I’ll marry you.
“The second is that I’ll help you settle things here, then find you a job in the capital so you can live independently. I’ll arrange for people to look after you, and if I have time… I’ll visit you often.”
She had said she wanted to move somewhere else and start over, so the help she wanted from him was probably this. And judging from the situation, her family couldn’t be relied on either—otherwise she wouldn’t have turned to a stranger like him for help after something like this happened.
“I choose the second option. I only need you to take me back to the capital and protect me for a few years.”
Shen Baizhi made her choice without hesitation. She hadn’t expected that she wouldn’t even need to ask—he had already seen through her thoughts.
As for Susu, she hesitated for a moment and decided not to mention her to Jiang Yanli for now. Susu was still young, and she still had feelings for their mother. Shen Baizhi didn’t know whether Susu would be willing to leave with her.
It would be better to get herself settled first, then find a way to persuade Susu and take her to the capital together.
With his personal promise, she finally felt at ease.
Although she had only been reborn this morning, it felt as if she had already gone through so many things. Fortunately, everything had gone relatively smoothly.
Jiang Yanli was stunned for a moment. For some reason, he felt as if he was being rejected. Driven by an unclear impulse, he spoke again in a low voice:
“Actually, my personal conditions are pretty good. I suggest you choose the first option—it would be more beneficial for you.
“You only need to give me your answer before I leave. There’s still time. You can think it over.”
Shen Baizhi fell silent. Was this man’s sense of morality really that strong?
Just because of a single intimate encounter between them, he kept insisting on taking responsibility for her?
She gently shook her head and decided not to think about it for now. Walking over to Jiang Yanli, she ignored his attempts to refuse and helped him spread the blanket properly, letting him lie half-covered and half-supported by it.
She herself gathered a pile of straw and lay down near the fire.
The cave returned to silence once more.
After an unknown amount of time, Jiang Yanli suddenly opened his eyes and turned his head to look at Shen Baizhi sleeping not far away.
Her face, which was merely delicate at best, looked hazy and faintly beautiful in the glow of the fire.
Jiang Yanli swallowed unconsciously, desire flickering in his eyes. Feeling the abnormal reaction in his body, he suspected it was the lingering effect of the medicine…
He forced himself to look away, staring restrainedly at the cave ceiling above him. He couldn’t think about this girl at a time like this—at least not now…
Shen Baizhi slept very soundly. When she woke up, it was already broad daylight outside. She turned her head to look at Jiang Yanli on the other side, and their gazes met.
“You’re awake! I’ll get you something to eat!”
She quickly lit the small stove, then went to the stream from yesterday and filled half a pot of water. She cooked porridge below and reheated steamed buns above.
Glancing at the watch on Jiang Yanli’s wrist, she asked,
“What time is it now?”
Not having a watch was really inconvenient. It seemed she’d need to get one from the Lin family or from Shen Baiwei as soon as possible.
“Ten twenty.”
As he spoke, Jiang Yanli unclasped the watch, took it off, and handed it to Shen Baizhi.
“You can use it for now. I don’t need to check the time while I’m here.”
She hesitated for only a second before accepting it without ceremony—after all, she was only borrowing it for a few days.
“Thank you, then. I probably won’t come back at noon today. I’ll come again before it gets dark in the evening.
“I’ll move the stove closer to you. Once the porridge is done, you can serve yourself.”
It was already past ten. Before long, her fourth uncle’s bride would probably arrive, and she had to hurry back.
She couldn’t miss the commotion at the Shen household. After her ransacking last night, she really wanted to see how the Shen family planned to handle this wedding banquet!
What the Shen family had done to her in her previous life—she hadn’t had the power to retaliate then. But now the Shen family was still just an ordinary farming household.
She would slowly make them pay it all back.
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