Before Shen Yu could say anything, his vision suddenly dropped.
He had returned to his own body.
Beside the bed, Cheng An’an rolled her wrists, wearing a smile that made his heart pound with alarm.
“You stay here obediently and cover for me.”
“Don’t let Mom come into the room.”
With that, she flashed out the door and disappeared in an instant.
That left Shen Yu, paralyzed in bed, staring at the empty room with the corner of his eye twitching violently.
This woman… was she crazy?
The midday sun was scorching.
The road outside was deserted.
The brigade headquarters stood at the eastern end of the village, consisting of a row of red-brick buildings with tiled roofs.
The woodshed where Lai Ergou was being held was tucked away in the westernmost corner. It was an isolated spot normally used to store miscellaneous items.
Cheng An’an avoided the old man on duty at the brigade headquarters and circled around to the back window of the woodshed.
The window was firmly shut, but that was no obstacle for her.
She pulled a thin iron wire from her space and slipped it through the crack in the window, fiddling with it a few times.
Click.
The latch inside popped open.
Cheng An’an pushed the window open, braced one hand against the sill, and effortlessly climbed inside, landing without making a sound.
The woodshed was dimly lit.
Lai Ergou’s hands were tied behind his back, and he had been thrown onto a pile of straw.
A rag had been stuffed into his mouth. He was grunting and writhing, trying to rub the rope against a piece of broken roof tile to cut through it.
Hearing the movement, Lai Ergou jumped in fright and abruptly looked up.
Although the light was dim, he would recognize that delicate, fair face even if he were reduced to ashes.
Cheng An’an?
Lai Ergou froze for a moment. Then, a gleeful light burst from his beady eyes.
He assumed Cheng An’an had come to beg for mercy.
After all, in this era, a woman’s reputation was more important than her life.
Although things had become so ugly that morning, his final threat must have worked.
She was afraid he would keep making accusations while he was locked up, and even more afraid that he would retaliate after getting out, so she had secretly come to settle things with him while no one was around.
Cheng An’an walked over leisurely and pulled the rag from his mouth.
“Smart girl.”
Lai Ergou instantly felt emboldened again. Ignoring the soreness in his wrists, he bared his yellow teeth and sat cross-legged on the straw, putting on an arrogant, lordly air.
“What? Scared now? Realized that cripple can’t protect you?”
“I knew you’d know when to bow your head, sweetheart.”
Cheng An’an closed the window behind her, blocking out the sunlight.
She walked up to Lai Ergou. There wasn’t the slightest warmth in her eyes, only the detached indifference of someone looking at a dead thing.
“Scared?” Cheng An’an tilted her head as though she’d heard something hilarious. “I’m afraid you’ll die too slowly.”
Lai Ergou failed to hear the murderous intent in her words and assumed she was merely putting up a tough front.
“Stop pretending to be so virtuous.” Lai Ergou spat on the ground. “My mother said that if you want to settle this privately, it’ll cost three hundred yuan. No money, no deal. Did you bring it?”
“But then again…”
His lecherous gaze wandered over Cheng An’an’s chest.
“If you’re willing to let me have some fun, I might accept a little less.”
Three hundred yuan.
In an era when pork cost only 78 fen per jin, three hundred yuan was enough to support an entire family for several years.
Looking at his greedy expression, Cheng An’an suddenly smiled.
The smile was as bright and beautiful as spring flowers in bloom, so dazzling that Lai Ergou’s soul nearly floated out of his body.
“I brought it.”
Her voice was soft and sweet.
“Three hundred yuan, right? I have it.”
Lai Ergou was overjoyed.
He thought to himself that this woman really was a pushover. If he’d known, he would have demanded five hundred.
“Good girl. Hurry up and untie me. Give me the money.”
He was already calculating that once his hands were free, he would have both the money and the woman.
The woodshed was secluded, everyone was eating lunch at this hour, and even if Cheng An’an screamed herself hoarse later, no one would hear her.
Cheng An’an nodded and obediently bent down.
“Don’t rush. I’m getting it.”
She slipped her hand into her trouser pocket as though she were taking something out.
Lai Ergou stretched his neck, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.
Three hundred yuan.
That was a fortune.
The next second—
Cheng An’an pulled her hand out of her pocket.
It was empty.
She slowly raised five fingers in front of him.
Lai Ergou froze.
“What does that mean? Five yuan? Are you trying to treat me like a beggar—”
Before he could finish—
Smack!
A crisp slap exploded through the woodshed.
The force behind it was astonishing.
Lai Ergou felt as though his brains had been shaken into a uniform paste.
His entire body was sent rolling across the straw, and half his face immediately swelled up.
“You…”
Lai Ergou shook his head and took quite a while to recover.
He stared at Cheng An’an in disbelief.
“You dare hit me?!”
Cheng An’an shook her hand and casually blew on her palm.
“That one costs you five yuan.”
She crouched down, wearing an innocent smile.
“Didn’t you ask for three hundred?”
“Don’t worry. We’ve still got two hundred and ninety-five yuan to go. We’ll settle the bill slowly.”
Lai Ergou finally understood.
This woman hadn’t come to bring him money at all.
She had come looking for trouble.
A wave of furious humiliation shot straight to his head.
“You filthy bitch! You’re looking to die!”
Although Lai Ergou’s hands were tied behind his back, his legs were free.
He roared and suddenly curled his body up, kicking both feet viciously toward Cheng An’an’s lower abdomen.
If that kick landed squarely, an ordinary woman would either die or suffer severe injuries.
But he was facing Cheng An’an.
Cheng An’an, who had crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood in the apocalypse.
Facing the vicious kick, Cheng An’an didn’t even blink.
She shifted her body slightly to the side, and Lai Ergou’s feet struck nothing but air.
Before he could retract his legs, Cheng An’an’s hand had already clamped around his ankle.
Crack.
A sharp, bone-chilling snap rang out.
“AHHHHH!”
Lai Ergou let out a slaughterhouse-worthy scream, his entire body convulsing from the pain.
His ankle had been forcibly dislocated.
“Shh.”
Cheng An’an frowned in annoyance.
“Why are you shouting so loudly? Trying to attract the police?”
“Actually, that would be fine. Then they can see exactly how you tried to attack a woman.”
Cold sweat poured down Lai Ergou’s face.
The way he looked at Cheng An’an had finally changed.
Fear.
Deep, bone-chilling fear.
“You… What are you trying to do?”
Lai Ergou desperately shrank backward into the pile of straw, his voice trembling.
“I’m warning you, murder is punishable by death. If you dare touch me, you won’t get away with it either.”
Cheng An’an casually picked up a piece of roof tile from the pile of miscellaneous items on the floor.
She weighed it in her hand and slowly advanced toward Lai Ergou.
“Just now, what did you say you’d do once you got out?”
“You said you’d kill my whole family?”
“And that you’d have your way with me right in front of my husband?”
With every sentence Cheng An’an spoke, she took another step forward.
Lai Ergou was so frightened that tears and snot streamed down his face as he frantically shook his head.
“No, no! I was just talking nonsense! Please, spare me! I was just running my mouth. I won’t dare do it again!”
Cheng An’an crouched down in front of him, the piece of roof tile in her hand gently pressing against his crotch.
The cold sensation seeped through the thin fabric.
Lai Ergou instantly went rigid, even forgetting how to breathe.
“Some things are nothing but trouble if you leave them intact.”
Cheng An’an’s voice was soft.
“If you can’t control it, then you don’t need it anymore.”
Lai Ergou’s eyes widened, his pupils trembling violently.