Inside the hospital ward.
Under the head nurse’s highly approving gaze, Miao Cuihua’s head lolled to one side as she finally fell into a deep sleep.
She had passed out from the pain.
And from sheer terror at the horrifying strength of Yu Qinghuan’s fingers.
Yu Qinghuan calmly dusted off her hands.
She tucked her thumb back into her sleeve, then put on that same gentle, harmless, innocent smile once again.
“Since Mom is out of danger, I can finally relax.”
Yu Qinghuan smiled sweetly at Old Man Li and Li Chunhua.
“Dad, Big Sister, please take good care of Mom here at the hospital. I’ll head back first.”
Wrapped in a torn burlap sack, Li Chunhua shuddered.
In her eyes, the Yu Qinghuan of today was even more terrifying than the demons of hell.
Li Zhengting gave Yu Qinghuan a long, searching look.
Then he turned to Old Man Li.
“Dad, you stay here with them at the clinic. I’ll take her home.”
His tone was calm.
Yet his decisiveness left no room for argument.
Yu Qinghuan raised an eyebrow but didn’t refuse. She followed Li Zhengting out of the commune clinic at an unhurried pace.
A military-green jeep was parked in the courtyard.
Li Zhengting opened the car door, and Yu Qinghuan naturally climbed into the front passenger seat.
Bang.
The door shut.
Inside the cramped cabin, the scent of soda water mingled with the earthy smell of mud.
Li Zhengting started the jeep with practiced ease.
The engine rumbled deeply as the vehicle slowly pulled away from the clinic.
Once they reached the bumpy dirt road, the atmosphere inside the car instantly dropped to freezing point.
Silence.
Oppression.
Li Zhengting said nothing, his hands gripping the steering wheel steadily.
His hands were large, with clearly defined knuckles.
Thick calluses covered his palms and the webbing between his thumbs and index fingers, earned from years of handling firearms and enduring military training.
Even sitting quietly, he radiated the formidable, blood-and-iron authority of a top military academy graduate and a young regiment commander.
That oppressive presence filled the small cabin.
In her previous life, every time Yu Qinghuan was around Li Zhengting, his imposing aura made it difficult for her even to breathe.
But the Yu Qinghuan of today was different.
She lounged lazily against the leather seat, tilting her head as she examined the husband rumored to be cold-faced and ruthless.
His profile was sharply defined, as if carved by a knife.
His nose was tall and straight, and his thin lips were pressed tightly together.
His eyelashes were long, but they could not conceal his deep, dark eyes, as fathomless as an abyss and as cold as a blade’s edge.
She had to admit it.
This man was exceptionally handsome.
While Yu Qinghuan was sizing him up, Li Zhengting was also silently observing his nominal wife through the rearview mirror.
He couldn’t help recalling the letters his mother had sent him.
In those letters, Yu Qinghuan had been described as a girl who was so timid and honest that you couldn’t get a word out of her even if you beat her with three sticks. She was weak-willed to the extreme.
But the woman sitting beside him now…
She was like a wildcat that had just bared its claws, bristling with spikes, every strand of fur practically screaming defiance.
And yet…
After causing an enormous scene at the production brigade headquarters and tormenting his mother so badly, she could still sit in his jeep as calmly as if nothing had happened.
This girl…
Which side of her was the real one?
The jeep suddenly bounced over a rut, making Yu Qinghuan sway slightly in her seat.
Just then, Li Zhengting kept his eyes on the road and lightly tapped his long fingers against the steering wheel.
He spoke coldly.
“Last night, the cellar, kitchen, and chicken coop at home were completely emptied.”
His voice was deep and magnetic, yet utterly devoid of emotion.
“The size-forty-four footprints on the ground, along with those cigarette butts with filters…”
“And what happened with my eldest sister sneaking into the haystack.”
“Qinghuan, do you have anything to do with any of this?”
He didn’t shout or interrogate her harshly.
Yet his sharp, hawk-like eyes remained fixed on Yu Qinghuan’s face through the rearview mirror, searching for even the slightest hint of panic.
After all, the timing of everything was simply too coincidental.
It was almost as if someone had written the entire sequence of events in advance.
Hearing his words, Yu Qinghuan showed not the slightest trace of alarm.
Instead, she turned toward him and met his gaze directly with a pair of bright, crystal-clear eyes.
Her expression was completely open.
So pure and unblemished that there wasn’t a trace of guilt in them.
“Commander Li, what do you think?”
Yu Qinghuan’s eyes curved as she smiled like an innocent child.
“I’m a weak woman who went three days without food and couldn’t even kick open the woodshed door.”
“How could I possibly carry away more than a thousand pounds of grain overnight, without even sparing the iron pot or the chicken manure?”
“Did I suddenly grow invisible wings? Or do I know some kind of magic that lets me make things disappear into thin air?”
Her words carried thirty percent playfulness and seventy percent innocence.
“As for what happened with Big Sister…”
Yu Qinghuan sighed, her face full of sympathy.
“If you don’t want people to find out, then don’t do things you shouldn’t.”
“That red cloth shoe Auntie Wang found is still at the production brigade headquarters.”
“Unless you’re suggesting that I forcibly took the shoe off Big Sister’s foot and threw it into the haystack myself?”
“Commander Li, I’m your lawful wife. If you suspect me, you can always call the security department and have them arrest me.”
She shrugged, looking completely unconcerned.
Li Zhengting studied her flawless expression.
Her clear eyes were filled with sincerity. No matter how closely he examined her, he couldn’t find the slightest trace of a guilty conscience.
Yet his instincts told him otherwise.
There was absolutely nothing ordinary about this woman.
Li Zhengting fell silent for a moment.
Then, suddenly, he slammed on the brakes.
The jeep came to a steady stop beside a desolate patch of woodland.
Yu Qinghuan looked at him in confusion.
Li Zhengting reached his right hand into the inner pocket of his military uniform.
Slender fingers.
Pinching out a thick, heavy kraft-paper envelope.
He turned around and thrust the hefty envelope before Yu Qinghuan, brooking no refusal.
“This is my allowance from the past two years, along with some special-ration coupons issued by the military.”
Li Zhengting looked at her, his eyes filled with mixed emotions.
“There are eight hundred yuan in total inside. From now on, you hold onto it.”
Yu Qinghuan’s entire being.
In an instant.
Froze.