18 – Almost Choked My Wife to Death
It was Sang Ran. She had already reached out and covered Fu Chenyan’s eyes.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to just now. I… I didn’t see anything.”
Fu Chenyan released Sang Ran and turned around. A flicker of awkwardness crossed his face, and he let out two low coughs. “I… I’ll go out first. You get dressed.”
With that, Fu Chenyan left the room. As the sound of the door closing rang out, Sang Ran’s suspended heart finally settled. She straightened her clothes and ran out of Fu Chenyan’s room with a flushed face.
That wicked Fu Chenyan must have been trying to take advantage of the situation to bully her. After returning to her own room, Sang Ran locked the door, hid in bed, and wrapped herself up completely in the covers.
Fu Chenyan sat on the sofa with his legs crossed, leaning back slightly in a lazy posture, a book in his hand. His gaze rested on the book, utterly still.
Li Yi lowered his voice to remind him, “Fifth Master, your… your book is upside down.”
Fu Chenyan’s expression shifted slightly, and he set the book down on the table.
“Fifth Master, dinner is ready.”
Fu Chenyan gave a faint nod and went to the dining area. The familiar figure wasn’t in her seat. He turned his head and asked, “Where is she?”
“Fifth Master, are you asking about the young madam? She hasn’t come down.”
A maid added, “Fifth Master, I’ll go call the young madam down.”
“No need. I’ll go.”
Fu Chenyan went upstairs and stopped outside Sang Ran’s room. After a moment, he gently knocked on the door.
“Little one, time to eat.”
“I… I’m not eating!”
Sang Ran curled up under the covers, her pink face still flushed, still wearing the same clothes from this morning, now wrinkled from her tossing.
“Eat.”
Fu Chenyan repeated himself, his voice colder than before.
“I’m not eating!”
Sang Ran’s voice was muffled and a bit fierce—a soft, milky kind of fierceness.
Fu Chenyan reached out and tried to turn the doorknob, but after twisting it halfway, he found it wouldn’t budge. He had a servant fetch the spare key, then opened the door.
A small lump bulged on the soft pink bed. Fu Chenyan’s footsteps echoed through the room.
Sang Ran listened to the footsteps drawing closer, curling herself into a ball, both hands pressed to her chest. The scenes from earlier were still vivid before her eyes.
Suddenly, Fu Chenyan threw back the covers. Sang Ran looked especially small and delicate on the bed, her cheeks pink, her whole body flushed with color, a thin layer of mist welling up in her pretty eyes.
“Go downstairs and eat.”
Fu Chenyan looked down at the girl on the bed from above, his voice cold as shards of ice.
But this time, Sang Ran didn’t yield.
“I’m not eating.”
“Not eating?”
He narrowed his eyes. Sang Ran sensed the dangerous aura. She knew this wicked man was angry again.
Then, the next thing she knew, Fu Chenyan scooped her up in his arms. He carried her downstairs and sat her at the dining table.
“What do you want to eat?”
“I’m not eating.”
Sang Ran turned her head away in a huff, but just then, her stomach let out an untimely growl.
Fu Chenyan raised an eyebrow. “Not eating?”
Sang Ran stared at her traitorous stomach and gave it a gentle pat. Why did my tummy have to growl…
Fu Chenyan picked up a piece of shelled crab meat with his chopsticks and offered it to her. “Eat it, or I’ll throw you out tonight.”
Sang Ran was most afraid of the dark. To avoid being thrown out, she had no choice but to obediently eat, letting Fu Chenyan feed her a great deal.
“One more bite.”
Fu Chenyan continued feeding her. He didn’t know how to take care of a wife, nor how to take care of this doll-like girl. All he knew was to feed her.
“I’m done. I’m full.”
Meeting Fu Chenyan’s icy cold pupils, Sang Ran opened her mouth again and swallowed the little glutinous rice ball in one bite, chewing it lightly twice before swallowing.
“Cough, cough, cough…”
Sang Ran coughed violently, one hand clutching her chest, feeling like something was stuck in her throat.
“What’s wrong?”
Fu Chenyan’s voice finally carried a note of urgency. He gently patted Sang Ran’s back, picked up the cup on the table, and brought it to her lips to drink some milk.
With tears glistening in her eyes, Sang Ran took a few sips of milk and finally washed down the rice ball. She had eaten too fast and choked.
“Still feeling uncomfortable?”
Sang Ran nodded, and her aggrieved tears streamed down in torrents, soaking Fu Chenyan’s clothes. No matter how he wiped them, they wouldn’t stop.
“Don’t cry, don’t cry. It’s all right now.”
Fu Chenyan held the girl in his arms and coaxed her gently.
This man had fed his little wife for the first time, and he’d nearly choked her to death…
No one around dared to speak, especially Li Yi, whose expression was rather complicated. This young madam was pretty pitiful—she’d almost been fed to death by their master.
“It’s… it’s all your fault. I told you… told you I was full. Why did you make me eat more?”
Sang Ran sobbed and hiccupped as she spoke, breathlessly scolding Fu Chenyan. “I hate you the most. You’re always so mean to me. I don’t like you. I want to go home.”
“I… I want to go home.”
Sang Ran cried even harder in Fu Chenyan’s arms. She had been a little princess, well-protected by her family, and now she had such a fierce husband who bullied her every day—he had almost choked her to death just now.
The doll in his arms had cried herself into a mess of tears. Fu Chenyan’s expression turned somewhat grim, and he stiffly patted her back with a gentle hand.
“Stop crying.”
“I want to go home. I want to go home.”
Sang Ran’s eyes were red, her chest heaving violently, as if she wanted to vent all the grievances she had suffered over the past two days.
Fu Chenyan was at a loss with this crying doll in his arms, so he could only coax her softly, using what he thought was a gentle tone. “Alright, I’ll let you go home tomorrow, okay? It’s too late today. I’ll take you back tomorrow.”
Sang Ran’s crying quieted down a little. She looked up, tears glistening on her lashes.
“Really? I can really go home?”
“Mm.”
Fu Chenyan wiped away her tears and said in a low voice, “I’ll let you go home. No more crying.”
Sang Ran sobbed softly, her voice growing quieter. “Then… do I never have to come back? I… don’t have to return here anymore?”
Fu Chenyan was slightly taken aback. He asked, “You don’t like it here?”
Sang Ran shook her head. “I don’t like it here. I want to go home. Can I really go home?”
Fu Chenyan looked at the girl in his arms. She was just a young girl under twenty, a doll who only knew how to cry.
“Mm.”
He hummed in acknowledgment and said nothing more.
This time, Sang Ran finally stopped crying. She tugged at Fu Chenyan’s sleeve. “I… can still go with you to see Grandpa Fu.”
Fu Chenyan was silent for a few seconds before his hoarse voice sounded. “No need. I’ll find someone else.”
“Find someone else?”
Sang Ran didn’t understand what he meant. She tilted her head.
“I’ll just find any woman to be my wife. You want to go home, so I’ll let you go.”
His voice grew even deeper, his gaze dropping slightly, as if he were a machine devoid of any emotion.