Su Qian’an walked a few steps forward and saw that he was completely soaked, water still dripping from his clothes. She asked in confusion, “Aren’t you supposed to still be at work? How did you end up drenched like this? And where did this fish come from?”
Huo Zheng looked at her with his dark eyes. Seeing the unconcealed concern in her gaze, his mood lifted. “I finished work and came back. I caught this fish in the river.”
He had thought there wasn’t much food at home, so he went to the river with Zhao Yingjun to catch fish. They caught two, one each.
Hearing his answer, Su Qian’an nodded and turned to fetch a knife and cutting board from the kitchen for him.
Huo Zheng took them and skillfully cleaned and cut open the fish. After finishing, he carried it into the kitchen and started cooking over the fire. The cooking task Su Qian’an had intended to take over was taken from her instead.
Having nothing else to do, she went to the room to look after the child.
After returning from the Huo household yesterday, Wang Yinghua had been seething with anger. Especially after being hit by that little slut Su Qian’an—she simply didn’t take her, an elder, seriously at all.
What made her even more furious was that Su Qian’an had actually gone and registered her marriage with Huo Zheng. When she heard the news, she was so angry she felt like her lungs would explode.
She had originally planned to introduce her niece to Huo Zheng. From her observation over the past few months, Huo Zheng was a bit of a scoundrel, but he was excellent at making money.
When she helped him take care of the child, the villagers laughed at her for being foolish, saying she was working for nothing. But what they didn’t know was that Huo Zheng paid her twenty-five yuan a month—more than many state-employed workers earned. She had never told anyone except her family.
After hearing that Huo Zheng and Su Qian’an had registered their marriage, her niece cried miserably, and her family even blamed her for it.
Wang Yinghua felt extremely wronged.
But since the marriage had been registered, it was all because of Su Qian’an.
All her anger from being beaten, her niece’s crying, and her family’s blame turned into hatred for Su Qian’an.
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. After finishing work at noon the next day, she rushed straight to the Huo household.
Seeing Huo Zheng cooking in the kitchen and smelling the milky-white fish soup in the pot, she swallowed her saliva.
But remembering she was there for business, she suppressed her greed and said seriously, “Xiao Huo, how could you marry that shameless woman Su Qian’an? If your mother were still alive, she’d be furious.”
Hearing this, Huo Zheng’s face instantly darkened.
Not noticing his expression, Wang Yinghua continued, “You don’t know how outrageous she was yesterday. She woke up acting crazy and even hit me twice. Tell me, which family in the whole town has a daughter-in-law who hits her elders? Only her.”
She always considered herself an elder of the Huo family. She had been close to Huo Zheng’s mother when she was alive and had also taken care of the child, so naturally she believed Huo Zheng should respect her. Su Qian’an, that shameless woman, couldn’t compare to her.
Hearing this, Huo Zheng suddenly thought of how the first thing Su Qian’an said yesterday was an apology. So she was talking about this?
He asked coldly, “She hit you yesterday?”
Wang Yinghua thought he was going to stand up for her and quickly nodded, pointing at her face. “Look, these are the marks she left!”
Two clear palm prints stood out on her dark, gaunt face.
Huo Zheng glanced at them coldly—and looked oddly satisfied. Hmm. Pretty symmetrical.
“Xiao Huo, you don’t know how arrogant she was yesterday. Not only did she hit and curse people, she even threw me out and said I could never step into the Huo house again. Just listen to that! Does she even understand our relationship?”
“She did all this behind your back. You just didn’t know.”
She hesitated, then continued, unsure whether she should go on. But still, she did:
“Someone saw her going into the woods with that educated youth man. They stayed in there for a long time before coming out.”
“She’s just a shameless woman, already having your child and still flirting with other men. Completely undisciplined.”
“A wife should be virtuous and proper. In this village, which woman doesn’t cook and wait for her husband? Look at her now—who knows where she’s off being lazy. What man cooks at home? She really knows how to enjoy life.”
“Your mother once told me to help you properly choose a wife. Now that you’ve married someone like her, how am I supposed to face your mother in the afterlife?”
“Why don’t you divorce her now and kick her out? I’ll introduce you to my niece instead—she’s hardworking, virtuous, and obedient.”
She rambled on and even brought up divorce.
The more she spoke, the more terrifying the atmosphere around Huo Zheng became. His anger surged violently.
His dark eyes locked onto her as he said coldly:
“What do you think you are? Who gave you the right to stick your nose into my business?”
“Since when do you get to point fingers at me?”
“Just because I’ve been polite to you doesn’t mean you can start acting like you own the place.”
“Don’t even mention my dead mother—she wouldn’t have the right to interfere in my life, let alone you.”
“She deserved getting hit yesterday. And I feel like hitting you right now too.”
“And that so-called ‘man in the woods’—that was me. Are you blind? You can’t even tell me apart from some weakling?”
That time in the woods, he remembered clearly. She had come to him herself to discuss something. It didn’t end well.
He was over 190 cm tall, broad-shouldered and strong. The other guy—less than 180 cm, skinny like a bamboo pole. How blind do you have to be to confuse them?
“As for your niece,” Huo Zheng sneered, “short, fat, and square like a block of meat. If no man wants her, she might as well stay at home forever.”
Wang Yinghua, humiliated beyond recovery, turned red with rage, unable to speak properly.
After a long struggle, she finally squeezed out, “I am your elder!”
Huo Zheng let out a cold laugh. “I didn’t even acknowledge the rest of the Huo family’s elders. Who do you think you are?”
“You want me to divorce my wife? You really think highly of yourself.”
“Pfft—”
A laugh came from outside the door.