The cold well water kept slipping through Yan Zhao’s hands, her palms rubbed red by the washboard.
She stared blankly at the water stains on her fingertips, her mind a complete blank.
Hadn’t she been pushed into the water by Li Ling and drowned alive?
That suffocating feeling still pressed heavily against her chest as if it were still there.
“Thud—”
A stone hit the wooden basin, splashing water everywhere and soaking half her sleeve.
“Hit it!” a childish voice shrieked excitedly.
Another stone came whistling toward her, nearly grazing her forehead.
Yan Zhao jerked her head up to see Gu Cheng’s two sons standing with their hands on their hips, still clutching stones in their hands. Their faces wore mischievous grins, but they couldn’t hide the contempt in their eyes.
“What’s all this racket?” came a man’s lazy voice.
Gu Cheng walked in from outside the courtyard, his gaze sweeping lightly over his two sons. He only offered a casual reprimand: “No throwing stones, understand?” Not even a frown crossed his face.
Then he turned around, his expression shifting to a gentle smile as he addressed Yan Zhao: “They’re still young and don’t know any better. They don’t understand how good you are. Once you marry me, they’ll obediently call you Mom.”
Yan Zhao’s heart tightened violently.
These words—
She knew them all too well.
Suddenly, she finally realized: she had actually been reborn.
Reborn to a time before Gu Cheng had brainwashed her into serving him like a beast of burden.
Her nose stung, tears welling up, yet she couldn’t help but curl the corners of her lips.
She wanted to cry, but she also wanted to laugh.
In her previous life, it was because she believed this flimsy promise that she forced herself to endure, saving the best of everything for those two children, only to be repaid with cold stares and the betrayal of ungrateful wolves.
She was the daughter of a landlord family. At eight years old, she lost her parents and was taken in by a kind-hearted aunt.
This aunt had two sons: the eldest, Gu Cheng, and the second, Gu Yu.
At the time, Gu Yu had just turned a month old when his father died, and even those who had held him passed away shortly after.
A fortune-teller declared Gu Yu was a celestial loner star.
So she was given to the five-year-old Gu Yu as a “joy-bringer”—nominally a child bride, but in reality, she was treated like a beloved daughter.
Later, the aunt and the eldest sister-in-law passed away one after another. Gu Yu went off to university in the capital, leaving only Gu Cheng, the elder brother-in-law, and his two nephews at home. As a young sister-in-law, she should have kept her distance to avoid gossip.
But under Gu Cheng’s sweet words, especially after falling ill several times and seeing him, a grown man, personally go to the kitchen stove to cook porridge for her, she fell for this man. Then she stubbornly stayed in the village, enduring all the rumors and gossip.
She foolishly poured her heart and soul into it, doing all the work for the family—cooking, tending the fire, washing clothes, working in the fields—thinking that as long as she endured, as long as she was sincere, she would eventually be accepted.
And for this man, she even insisted on divorcing Gu Yu, who was studying at university in the distant capital.
In the end, she became the laughingstock of the entire village, accused of adultery and madness, her back stabbed with gossip for a lifetime.
And Gu Cheng never once spoke up for her from beginning to end.
Her knuckles tightened as she fiercely wrung the clothes dry.
Water droplets fell from the corners of the garments, each drop echoing in her heart.
In this life, she would not believe it again.
Just as Yan Zhao was about to speak, light footsteps suddenly sounded from the courtyard gate.
“Hey, Xiao Zhao!” a clear voice rang out.
Yan Zhao jerked her head up, her heart tightening abruptly.
Li Ling.
Her so-called good friend.
Right now, Li Ling didn’t yet wear the sharp, bitter face of later years.
The girl wore faded cotton clothes, her hair neatly braided into pigtails. Her smile was bright and sweet, her gaze intimate and natural. She walked up and without any hesitation inserted herself between the two of them. “In a few days, the team has a tractor going to the county town. Will you come with me? I’m too scared to go that far alone.”
As the words fell, Yan Zhao caught a glimpse of Gu Cheng’s body stiffening slightly out of the corner of her eye. He instinctively shifted aside, putting a little distance between them.
The movement wasn’t large, but it was enough to chill Yan Zhao’s heart.
So, even at this time, there were already signs between these two.
A surge of pain churned in Yan Zhao’s chest, yet she still forced a faint smile and replied softly, “Alright, I happen to have some things to do in the county town too.”
She needed to leave, to get away from this place, to breathe properly, and not have to look at this despicable pair any longer.
With that, she wrung out the wet clothes, gathered the wooden basin, and turned to go inside.
Behind her, Gu Cheng frowned.
Her reaction was a bit different from before.
Seeing Yan Zhao walk away, Li Ling approached Gu Cheng and reached out to slip her hand into his embrace.
Gu Cheng narrowed his eyes, enjoying the moment as he pulled her close, whispering something in her ear.
Li Ling blushed coyly and lightly punched his chest.
…
Nighttime.
The night breeze drifted through the window lattice, causing the flame of the oil lamp to flicker gently.
Yan Zhao huddled in the corner of the bed, her heart churning with waves of emotion, too agitated to sleep.
The joy of rebirth intertwined with lingering fear. The more she recalled the absurdities of her past life, the more ironic it all felt.
She remembered it all too clearly—
In the end, Gu Cheng still married Li Ling.
At the time, his excuse was: Yan Zhao and Gu Yu were still nominally husband and wife, and the villagers were gossiping. Once she ended that marriage, he would properly marry her.
For him, she endured the pointing fingers of the entire village, gritted her teeth, and went to Gu Yu to ask for a divorce.
But after the divorce, when she went to Gu Cheng full of joy, he shook his head again and said, “Now isn’t the right time. The villagers are gossiping even more. We have to endure a little longer.”
So she remained in the Gu household, working like a servant—washing clothes, cooking, and taking care of those two ungrateful children.
And there were Gu Cheng and Li Ling.
Yan Zhao gritted her teeth and endured, until finally, Li Ling’s words shattered everything: “Xiao Zhao, don’t you understand yet? All we wanted was the subsidy from Gu Yu. Now that he’s stopped sending money, the little use you had is gone.”
Yan Zhao remembered standing there frozen, her heart feeling as if it had been carved out with a knife.
Not long after, she died.
A pitiful death, in the water vat in the backyard of the Gu family.
The cold water flooded her mouth and nose, her breath slowly cut off, suffocation and despair swallowing her whole.
Thinking of this, she couldn’t help but clench her fists, her nails digging deeply into her palms.
In this life, she would never walk that path again.
Just as Yan Zhao tossed and turned, her chest tight with suffocation—
As she dwelled on the events of her past life, a creaking sound suddenly reached her ears, like something gently grinding in the darkness.
Her heart tightened, and she abruptly sat up.
This was originally her and Gu Yu’s room.
In her past life, she had been persuaded by Gu Cheng’s sweet words.
He said the two children were pitiful, that they missed their mother, and begged her to be merciful and let the two nephews move in.
Her heart softened, and she agreed. As a result, she was squeezed into a corner, forced to curl up on a cold wooden plank at night.
Now she had been reborn, and that loathsome voice once again echoed in her ears.
Yan Zhao tiptoed closer and heard soft panting, mingled with the faint creaking of a wooden bed.
Her entire body froze.
Holding her breath, she quietly slipped outside.
The scene before her stabbed into her eyes like a knife—
It was actually Gu Cheng and Li Ling.
In the dim lamplight, the two were pressed close together, breathing heavily, their clothes disheveled…
Clearly engaged in an illicit affair!
Yan Zhao felt blood rush to her head, her ears roaring.
She never expected that this pair of scoundrels had already…
She stumbled, nearly losing her balance.
Li Ling was still cooing, “Brother Cheng!” her tone full of dissatisfaction. “Were you looking at her during the day?”
Gu Cheng lowered his voice to coax her. “Lingling, don’t overthink things, don’t be petty.”
Li Ling was displeased. She pushed the person on top of her away and demanded, “How am I overthinking? You were clearly looking at her during the day! But you said you only liked me!”
Hearing her raised voice, Gu Cheng quickly covered her mouth, his tone urgent. “Silly girl, have you forgotten? The reason we’re enduring all this is for the subsidy in her hands. Who made my younger brother hand his subsidy over to her for safekeeping?”
“Don’t worry, it’s you I’ll marry. That won’t change.”
Only then did Li Ling’s expression slowly soften.
Yan Zhao, standing outside the half-open wooden window, heard everything clearly.
A cold smile curled at the corner of her lips.
Her mind raced, and then she turned and walked toward the courtyard gate.
The villagers slept early, but because of the heat, many chose not to stay stuffy indoors. Instead, they laid out bedding in their yards or under trees, sleeping comfortably in the night breeze.
Yan Zhao walked to the woodpile, picked up a pinch of glowing embers, and stuffed them into a dry straw rope.
With a crackle, the flame quickly caught, licking its way up the firewood.
She stared unblinkingly at the fire, her heart pounding wildly.
Soon, the fire grew, its glow painting half the courtyard wall red.
People sleeping outside woke up in alarm. Someone shouted, “Fire!”
“Whose yard is burning?”
Yan Zhao immediately ran over, her voice deliberately panicked. “Auntie! My house is on fire! Gu Cheng, and my two nephews, they’re still inside! What do we do?!”
Her words instantly caused an uproar among the surrounding people.
Inside the house, however, there were still only suppressed pants and the creaking of the bed, lost in their shameful pleasure, completely unaware that flames had already erupted outside.
When the fire roared up, painting half the sky red,
the alarmed villagers swarmed over, not out of concern for the Gu family.
“If this fire spreads, the Gu house is right next to mine! Don’t let it burn down my new house!”
“Damn Gu family, always causing trouble! If my hay catches fire, I’ll tear the roof right off your house!”
The village chief was also awakened, his face livid, cursing as he rushed to the front. “If someone really dies in this fire, I’ll be dragged to the county for criticism, and the whole village will suffer!”
“Hurry up! Fetch water!”
“Rescue people first!”
By then, several strong young villagers were already ramming their shoulders against the main door.
Bang—
The wooden door was violently forced open.
A wave of heat hit them, making everyone cough, but the next moment, they all froze.
Inside, there were no cries for help, no frantic scrambling, but instead—
Gu Cheng and Li Ling.
Their faces were deathly pale, having long sensed the commotion outside was amiss. They had frantically dressed, but there was too little time, their movements too hurried.
Now, their clothes were disheveled, their hair in disarray, their expressions filled with panic.
In an instant, the courtyard erupted in chaos.
“Isn’t that the Li family’s daughter?!”
“She’s still an unmarried maiden, yet she sneaked into a man’s room in the middle of the night!”
“How did the Li family raise their daughter? Isn’t she ashamed?!”
“If my daughter did something like this, I’d beat her to death on the spot!”
Some even spat on the ground, their faces twisted in disgust.
Others watched with gleeful schadenfreude.
Gu Cheng’s face flushed crimson as he tugged at his collar to cover himself.
Li Ling was even more terrified, her face ashen, tongue-tied and unable to utter a single word.
And behind the crowd, Yan Zhao finally smiled, but her smile was chillingly cold.
…
The fire raged for half the night before the villagers managed to suppress it by splashing water and beating the flames.
But the Gu family courtyard was already in ruins. The kitchen was completely burned down, half of the main house had collapsed into a charred mess, and acrid smoke still rose from the embers.
Gu Cheng, along with his two sons, had been dragged out of the fire, covered in soot, coughing until their eyes rolled back.
As soon as Li Ling appeared, her family members seized her, dragging her away with curses and scolding, not giving her another chance to disgrace herself.
Yan Zhao walked through the ashes, the hem of her skirt stained with dust, yet her face showed no expression.
She quietly circled the broken walls and ruins twice before turning back and speaking softly, “The kitchen is gone, and half your house is burned down.”
Gu Cheng had already changed his clothes, his face dark and gloomy. Looking at this cold woman before him, a wave of irritation surged in his heart.
She had always been meek and submissive in front of him before, but now her icy demeanor made him deeply uncomfortable.
Suppressing his temper, Gu Cheng forced an innocent expression. “Xiao Zhao, she was the one who seduced me. I don’t like her. And at the time, I thought it was you…”
As soon as the words left his mouth, Yan Zhao felt a violent churning in her chest, as if something filthy was stirring in her stomach, rushing straight up her throat.
She nearly retched.
Yan Zhao forcibly swallowed back the nausea.
Lowering her gaze, her voice trembled slightly but was spoken very softly, “Brother Cheng… let me think. My mind is too chaotic right now. You should rest first.”
With that, her eyes reddened, and she turned away sorrowfully, her retreating figure looking as if she had been dealt a heavy blow.
Gu Cheng stood frozen in place, not chasing after her.
He stared at Yan Zhao’s gradually receding figure and instead felt a sense of relief.
He hadn’t expected that even after catching him with Li Ling like that, Yan Zhao, though saying she needed to think, still spoke words of concern for him.
Gu Cheng sneered, the annoyance in his heart completely swept away.
He didn’t care about Yan Zhao at all. After all, Li Ling would eventually enter the Gu family.
As for Yan Zhao?
He had no interest in her. This woman was merely a tool to exchange for Gu Yu’s subsidies.
…
Early the next morning, the Li family members blocked Gu Cheng’s door.
Li Ling’s father spoke with a dark expression, “Gu Cheng, what happened last night was seen by the whole village. My daughter is an unmarried maiden, and you’ve ruined her reputation! If you’re a man, you must marry her immediately.”
Gu Cheng nodded. “Uncle Li, don’t worry. I will definitely marry Lingling.”
Seeing how cooperative he was, the Li family immediately made an outrageous demand: “Then give our family thirty yuan, and let your younger brother Gu Yu’s room be vacated for our son to move into. You’re bringing two sons along—our daughter isn’t going to suffer with you for nothing!”
Gu Cheng’s previously pleasant expression instantly darkened. “Thirty yuan? And my brother’s room? That’s impossible! I don’t even have a place to live myself right now.”
The Li family flared up, slamming the table and cursing on the spot: “Our daughter has already slept with you, and you think you can get away with it for free?!”
Gu Cheng’s heart tightened, but he still refused to budge: “I truly want to take responsibility, but the family has so little savings—we really can’t afford it. I only have five yuan on hand.”
The Li family was so furious their faces turned green, and the room erupted into chaos.
Meanwhile, Li Ling pulled Yan Zhao aside, tears glistening in her eyes: “Xiao Zhao, I’m sorry. Brother Cheng and I… we actually have feelings for each other. I didn’t mean to deceive you on purpose…”1 – Rebirth
Chapter 1: Rebirth
The cold well water kept slipping through Yan Zhao’s hands, her palms rubbed red by the washboard.
She stared blankly at the water stains on her fingertips, her mind a complete blank.
Hadn’t she been pushed into the water by Li Ling and drowned alive?
That suffocating feeling still pressed heavily against her chest as if it were still there.
“Thud—”
A stone hit the wooden basin, splashing water everywhere and soaking half her sleeve.
“Hit it!” a childish voice shrieked excitedly.
Another stone came whistling toward her, nearly grazing her forehead.
Yan Zhao jerked her head up to see Gu Cheng’s two sons standing with their hands on their hips, still clutching stones in their hands. Their faces wore mischievous grins, but they couldn’t hide the contempt in their eyes.
“What’s all this racket?” came a man’s lazy voice.
Gu Cheng walked in from outside the courtyard, his gaze sweeping lightly over his two sons. He only offered a casual reprimand: “No throwing stones, understand?” Not even a frown crossed his face.
Then he turned around, his expression shifting to a gentle smile as he addressed Yan Zhao: “They’re still young and don’t know any better. They don’t understand how good you are. Once you marry me, they’ll obediently call you Mom.”
Yan Zhao’s heart tightened violently.
These words—
She knew them all too well.
Suddenly, she finally realized: she had actually been reborn.
Reborn to a time before Gu Cheng had brainwashed her into serving him like a beast of burden.
Her nose stung, tears welling up, yet she couldn’t help but curl the corners of her lips.
She wanted to cry, but she also wanted to laugh.
In her previous life, it was because she believed this flimsy promise that she forced herself to endure, saving the best of everything for those two children, only to be repaid with cold stares and the betrayal of ungrateful wolves.
She was the daughter of a landlord family. At eight years old, she lost her parents and was taken in by a kind-hearted aunt.
This aunt had two sons: the eldest, Gu Cheng, and the second, Gu Yu.
At the time, Gu Yu had just turned a month old when his father died, and even those who had held him passed away shortly after.
A fortune-teller declared Gu Yu was a celestial loner star.
So she was given to the five-year-old Gu Yu as a “joy-bringer”—nominally a child bride, but in reality, she was treated like a beloved daughter.
Later, the aunt and the eldest sister-in-law passed away one after another. Gu Yu went off to university in the capital, leaving only Gu Cheng, the elder brother-in-law, and his two nephews at home. As a young sister-in-law, she should have kept her distance to avoid gossip.
But under Gu Cheng’s sweet words, especially after falling ill several times and seeing him, a grown man, personally go to the kitchen stove to cook porridge for her, she fell for this man. Then she stubbornly stayed in the village, enduring all the rumors and gossip.
She foolishly poured her heart and soul into it, doing all the work for the family—cooking, tending the fire, washing clothes, working in the fields—thinking that as long as she endured, as long as she was sincere, she would eventually be accepted.
And for this man, she even insisted on divorcing Gu Yu, who was studying at university in the distant capital.
In the end, she became the laughingstock of the entire village, accused of adultery and madness, her back stabbed with gossip for a lifetime.
And Gu Cheng never once spoke up for her from beginning to end.
Her knuckles tightened as she fiercely wrung the clothes dry.
Water droplets fell from the corners of the garments, each drop echoing in her heart.
In this life, she would not believe it again.
Just as Yan Zhao was about to speak, light footsteps suddenly sounded from the courtyard gate.
“Hey, Xiao Zhao!” a clear voice rang out.
Yan Zhao jerked her head up, her heart tightening abruptly.
Li Ling.
Her so-called good friend.
Right now, Li Ling didn’t yet wear the sharp, bitter face of later years.
The girl wore faded cotton clothes, her hair neatly braided into pigtails. Her smile was bright and sweet, her gaze intimate and natural. She walked up and without any hesitation inserted herself between the two of them. “In a few days, the team has a tractor going to the county town. Will you come with me? I’m too scared to go that far alone.”
As the words fell, Yan Zhao caught a glimpse of Gu Cheng’s body stiffening slightly out of the corner of her eye. He instinctively shifted aside, putting a little distance between them.
The movement wasn’t large, but it was enough to chill Yan Zhao’s heart.
So, even at this time, there were already signs between these two.
A surge of pain churned in Yan Zhao’s chest, yet she still forced a faint smile and replied softly, “Alright, I happen to have some things to do in the county town too.”
She needed to leave, to get away from this place, to breathe properly, and not have to look at this despicable pair any longer.
With that, she wrung out the wet clothes, gathered the wooden basin, and turned to go inside.
Behind her, Gu Cheng frowned.
Her reaction was a bit different from before.
Seeing Yan Zhao walk away, Li Ling approached Gu Cheng and reached out to slip her hand into his embrace.
Gu Cheng narrowed his eyes, enjoying the moment as he pulled her close, whispering something in her ear.
Li Ling blushed coyly and lightly punched his chest.
…
Nighttime.
The night breeze drifted through the window lattice, causing the flame of the oil lamp to flicker gently.
Yan Zhao huddled in the corner of the bed, her heart churning with waves of emotion, too agitated to sleep.
The joy of rebirth intertwined with lingering fear. The more she recalled the absurdities of her past life, the more ironic it all felt.
She remembered it all too clearly—
In the end, Gu Cheng still married Li Ling.
At the time, his excuse was: Yan Zhao and Gu Yu were still nominally husband and wife, and the villagers were gossiping. Once she ended that marriage, he would properly marry her.
For him, she endured the pointing fingers of the entire village, gritted her teeth, and went to Gu Yu to ask for a divorce.
But after the divorce, when she went to Gu Cheng full of joy, he shook his head again and said, “Now isn’t the right time. The villagers are gossiping even more. We have to endure a little longer.”
So she remained in the Gu household, working like a servant—washing clothes, cooking, and taking care of those two ungrateful children.
And there were Gu Cheng and Li Ling.
Yan Zhao gritted her teeth and endured, until finally, Li Ling’s words shattered everything: “Xiao Zhao, don’t you understand yet? All we wanted was the subsidy from Gu Yu. Now that he’s stopped sending money, the little use you had is gone.”
Yan Zhao remembered standing there frozen, her heart feeling as if it had been carved out with a knife.
Not long after, she died.
A pitiful death, in the water vat in the backyard of the Gu family.
The cold water flooded her mouth and nose, her breath slowly cut off, suffocation and despair swallowing her whole.
Thinking of this, she couldn’t help but clench her fists, her nails digging deeply into her palms.
In this life, she would never walk that path again.
Just as Yan Zhao tossed and turned, her chest tight with suffocation—
As she dwelled on the events of her past life, a creaking sound suddenly reached her ears, like something gently grinding in the darkness.
Her heart tightened, and she abruptly sat up.
This was originally her and Gu Yu’s room.
In her past life, she had been persuaded by Gu Cheng’s sweet words.
He said the two children were pitiful, that they missed their mother, and begged her to be merciful and let the two nephews move in.
Her heart softened, and she agreed. As a result, she was squeezed into a corner, forced to curl up on a cold wooden plank at night.
Now she had been reborn, and that loathsome voice once again echoed in her ears.
Yan Zhao tiptoed closer and heard soft panting, mingled with the faint creaking of a wooden bed.
Her entire body froze.
Holding her breath, she quietly slipped outside.
The scene before her stabbed into her eyes like a knife—
It was actually Gu Cheng and Li Ling.
In the dim lamplight, the two were pressed close together, breathing heavily, their clothes disheveled…
Clearly engaged in an illicit affair!
Yan Zhao felt blood rush to her head, her ears roaring.
She never expected that this pair of scoundrels had already…
She stumbled, nearly losing her balance.
Li Ling was still cooing, “Brother Cheng!” her tone full of dissatisfaction. “Were you looking at her during the day?”
Gu Cheng lowered his voice to coax her. “Lingling, don’t overthink things, don’t be petty.”
Li Ling was displeased. She pushed the person on top of her away and demanded, “How am I overthinking? You were clearly looking at her during the day! But you said you only liked me!”
Hearing her raised voice, Gu Cheng quickly covered her mouth, his tone urgent. “Silly girl, have you forgotten? The reason we’re enduring all this is for the subsidy in her hands. Who made my younger brother hand his subsidy over to her for safekeeping?”
“Don’t worry, it’s you I’ll marry. That won’t change.”
Only then did Li Ling’s expression slowly soften.
Yan Zhao, standing outside the half-open wooden window, heard everything clearly.
A cold smile curled at the corner of her lips.
Her mind raced, and then she turned and walked toward the courtyard gate.
The villagers slept early, but because of the heat, many chose not to stay stuffy indoors. Instead, they laid out bedding in their yards or under trees, sleeping comfortably in the night breeze.
Yan Zhao walked to the woodpile, picked up a pinch of glowing embers, and stuffed them into a dry straw rope.
With a crackle, the flame quickly caught, licking its way up the firewood.
She stared unblinkingly at the fire, her heart pounding wildly.
Soon, the fire grew, its glow painting half the courtyard wall red.
People sleeping outside woke up in alarm. Someone shouted, “Fire!”
“Whose yard is burning?”
Yan Zhao immediately ran over, her voice deliberately panicked. “Auntie! My house is on fire! Gu Cheng, and my two nephews, they’re still inside! What do we do?!”
Her words instantly caused an uproar among the surrounding people.
Inside the house, however, there were still only suppressed pants and the creaking of the bed, lost in their shameful pleasure, completely unaware that flames had already erupted outside.
When the fire roared up, painting half the sky red,
the alarmed villagers swarmed over, not out of concern for the Gu family.
“If this fire spreads, the Gu house is right next to mine! Don’t let it burn down my new house!”
“Damn Gu family, always causing trouble! If my hay catches fire, I’ll tear the roof right off your house!”
The village chief was also awakened, his face livid, cursing as he rushed to the front. “If someone really dies in this fire, I’ll be dragged to the county for criticism, and the whole village will suffer!”
“Hurry up! Fetch water!”
“Rescue people first!”
By then, several strong young villagers were already ramming their shoulders against the main door.
Bang—
The wooden door was violently forced open.
A wave of heat hit them, making everyone cough, but the next moment, they all froze.
Inside, there were no cries for help, no frantic scrambling, but instead—
Gu Cheng and Li Ling.
Their faces were deathly pale, having long sensed the commotion outside was amiss. They had frantically dressed, but there was too little time, their movements too hurried.
Now, their clothes were disheveled, their hair in disarray, their expressions filled with panic.
In an instant, the courtyard erupted in chaos.
“Isn’t that the Li family’s daughter?!”
“She’s still an unmarried maiden, yet she sneaked into a man’s room in the middle of the night!”
“How did the Li family raise their daughter? Isn’t she ashamed?!”
“If my daughter did something like this, I’d beat her to death on the spot!”
Some even spat on the ground, their faces twisted in disgust.
Others watched with gleeful schadenfreude.
Gu Cheng’s face flushed crimson as he tugged at his collar to cover himself.
Li Ling was even more terrified, her face ashen, tongue-tied and unable to utter a single word.
And behind the crowd, Yan Zhao finally smiled, but her smile was chillingly cold.
…
The fire raged for half the night before the villagers managed to suppress it by splashing water and beating the flames.
But the Gu family courtyard was already in ruins. The kitchen was completely burned down, half of the main house had collapsed into a charred mess, and acrid smoke still rose from the embers.
Gu Cheng, along with his two sons, had been dragged out of the fire, covered in soot, coughing until their eyes rolled back.
As soon as Li Ling appeared, her family members seized her, dragging her away with curses and scolding, not giving her another chance to disgrace herself.
Yan Zhao walked through the ashes, the hem of her skirt stained with dust, yet her face showed no expression.
She quietly circled the broken walls and ruins twice before turning back and speaking softly, “The kitchen is gone, and half your house is burned down.”
Gu Cheng had already changed his clothes, his face dark and gloomy. Looking at this cold woman before him, a wave of irritation surged in his heart.
She had always been meek and submissive in front of him before, but now her icy demeanor made him deeply uncomfortable.
Suppressing his temper, Gu Cheng forced an innocent expression. “Xiao Zhao, she was the one who seduced me. I don’t like her. And at the time, I thought it was you…”
As soon as the words left his mouth, Yan Zhao felt a violent churning in her chest, as if something filthy was stirring in her stomach, rushing straight up her throat.
She nearly retched.
Yan Zhao forcibly swallowed back the nausea.
Lowering her gaze, her voice trembled slightly but was spoken very softly, “Brother Cheng… let me think. My mind is too chaotic right now. You should rest first.”
With that, her eyes reddened, and she turned away sorrowfully, her retreating figure looking as if she had been dealt a heavy blow.
Gu Cheng stood frozen in place, not chasing after her.
He stared at Yan Zhao’s gradually receding figure and instead felt a sense of relief.
He hadn’t expected that even after catching him with Li Ling like that, Yan Zhao, though saying she needed to think, still spoke words of concern for him.
Gu Cheng sneered, the annoyance in his heart completely swept away.
He didn’t care about Yan Zhao at all. After all, Li Ling would eventually enter the Gu family.
As for Yan Zhao?
He had no interest in her. This woman was merely a tool to exchange for Gu Yu’s subsidies.
…
Early the next morning, the Li family members blocked Gu Cheng’s door.
Li Ling’s father spoke with a dark expression, “Gu Cheng, what happened last night was seen by the whole village. My daughter is an unmarried maiden, and you’ve ruined her reputation! If you’re a man, you must marry her immediately.”
Gu Cheng nodded. “Uncle Li, don’t worry. I will definitely marry Lingling.”
Seeing how cooperative he was, the Li family immediately made an outrageous demand: “Then give our family thirty yuan, and let your younger brother Gu Yu’s room be vacated for our son to move into. You’re bringing two sons along—our daughter isn’t going to suffer with you for nothing!”
Gu Cheng’s previously pleasant expression instantly darkened. “Thirty yuan? And my brother’s room? That’s impossible! I don’t even have a place to live myself right now.”
The Li family flared up, slamming the table and cursing on the spot: “Our daughter has already slept with you, and you think you can get away with it for free?!”
Gu Cheng’s heart tightened, but he still refused to budge: “I truly want to take responsibility, but the family has so little savings—we really can’t afford it. I only have five yuan on hand.”
The Li family was so furious their faces turned green, and the room erupted into chaos.
Meanwhile, Li Ling pulled Yan Zhao aside, tears glistening in her eyes: “Xiao Zhao, I’m sorry. Brother Cheng and I… we actually have feelings for each other. I didn’t mean to deceive you on purpose…”