Xu Suyu smiled.
Han Shumo frowned. “What are you laughing at?”
She finally stood up and faced him directly.
“Comrade Han and Comrade Qin clearly have mutual feelings for each other, yet now you’re planning to marry me?”
“I know I’m letting Wanqiu down, but this is only a temporary measure to help you. The marriage would be fake. I’ll explain everything to Wanqiu. She’s a kind and understanding girl—she’ll understand that I’m repaying a debt of gratitude. After we divorce in the future, I’ll spend my whole life making it up to her.”
Xu Suyu’s smile turned mocking.
“On what grounds do you think I’d be willing to marry a man who hides another woman in his heart? Even if Jiang Sun isn’t a good match, I’d rather be sent away and suffer to death than waste my life on a man whose heart isn’t clean.”
Han Shumo saw the disgust in her eyes and felt a flicker of panic.
In his previous life, he had hidden the woman he loved while spending a lifetime with Xu Suyu. Back then, he had only felt his own suffering and desire for release. Now, thinking back, what would Xu Suyu have felt after he passed away?
For some reason, he recalled the look in her eyes when he begged her to sign the divorce agreement—disappointment, pain, humiliation—
He forced himself to stop thinking about it. “Comrade Xu, I only want to help you.”
“How disgusting.”
“Disgusting? You’re talking about me?”
“Yes. I am.”
Though she wore a faint smile, her words cut deep.
“At noon today, when you were the only person who could help me, you stubbornly upheld your ‘true love.’ I even admired you for that.
“Now that Grandpa Jiang asked Jiang Sun to marry me out of gratitude, you compare yourself and feel ashamed for not repaying kindness. So you want to establish a nominal kinship to save face.
“When I refused, you stepped back and offered to marry me instead—calling it help, when in fact you’re only trying to salvage your reputation. Aren’t you disgusted with yourself?”
“Xu Suyu! I truly want to help you. I’m afraid Jiang Sun will hurt you after you marry him. Becoming nominal relatives would give you support. Changing my mind about marrying you is because you’re too stubborn to accept my goodwill. Do you think I want to sacrifice Wanqiu? I’m doing this for you!”
Xu Suyu cut him off coldly.
“I don’t appreciate your so-called sacrifice or help. Comrade Han, you should focus on pursuing your true love and keep your distance from me. We’re not close.”
Han Shumo looked at her as though he’d never known her at all.
She had once been gentle, understanding, magnanimous—able to comprehend others’ good intentions. But now she felt like a stranger, unsettling and sharp.
“Xu Suyu, you—”
“Blockhead!”
Jiang Sun’s arrogant voice rang out from the entrance. “Coming to my house to steal my woman—are you looking for death?”
He strode over and glanced at Xu Suyu.
Though this woman… was infuriating, she was already his fiancée in name. If someone snatched her away, wouldn’t that be humiliating?
He slung an arm around her shoulders and took out the jade pendant she had given him.
“Sister, a hypocrite like him isn’t worthy of you. Choose me—that’s the right move. I swear on the token of love you gave me, I’m better than him.”
Xu Suyu nodded gently. “Alright.”
Han Shumo’s expression darkened at Jiang Sun’s provocation—but when he saw the jade pendant, his face went from dark to pale.
She had actually given Jiang Sun the pendant her grandfather carved.
Did she truly intend to spend her life with Jiang Sun? She wasn’t reborn—she didn’t know he would die, and in such an ugly way.
What would become of her then? Would she bear the stigma of being a criminal’s wife for life?
Jiang Sun shot Han Shumo a cold look.
“You had your chance to repay kindness and didn’t cherish it. Now you regret it and want to fight me for her? Dream on.
“If you truly feel indebted to Grandpa Xu, go hang yourself and repay him with your life. Don’t come here disgusting me. I’m jealous by nature—I can’t stand it. Now get lost before I kick you out.”
How crude.
Han Shumo had no intention of arguing further. Saving Xu Suyu would require a longer plan.
He looked at her. “Whether it’s nominal kinship or a fake marriage, you can come to the Han family to find me. I’ll head back first. Think it over.”
There were still three days before she would be sent away. She was smart—surely she would make the right choice.
After he left, Xu Suyu turned to Jiang Sun.
Despite being angry earlier, he hadn’t taken the opportunity to undermine her. Good.
But before she could speak, Jiang Sun grabbed her chin forcefully, making her tilt her head up. His lips brushed against her ear, his breath warm and threatening.
“Sister, since you agreed to marry me, you’re mine—life or death. If you dare betray me and choose that blockhead, I’ll break your legs, lock you in a room, and bully you every day. Got it?”
Xu Suyu drove her knee into his abdomen.
He yelped in pain, clutching himself as his bravado vanished. “Xu Suyu! Where’s your sense of limits? Are you trying to end my bloodline?”
She stepped closer, hooked an arm around his neck to pull him down, and lightly patted his cheek.
“Little brother, I don’t respond well to threats. Either change your tone when speaking to me, or… get lost.”
Jiang Sun clicked his tongue.
“Didn’t you just say Han Shumo was good and push me to beat him? Now he’s come back wanting to marry you. You must be thrilled—finally you can marry the prodigy after all. You’re probably thinking up excuses to go back.”
Xu Suyu ignored him and sat back down at the stone table, continuing to sort vegetables.
Irritated, Jiang Sun kicked a stone stool—only to grimace in pain. “Xu Suyu, why aren’t you saying anything? If you want to leave, hurry up. I don’t need your excuses.”
She set down the vegetables and looked up at him. “Sit.”
“You think I’ll sit just because you tell me to? No way.”
“Then stand and listen. Han Shumo has someone in his heart. Even if he married me, it would only be to repay kindness, not out of willingness. Marrying him would be like eating a bun that fell into a latrine. If you had clean, fresh buns available, would you still choose the filthy one from the latrine?”
Jiang Sun’s mood brightened instantly, and he happily plopped down beside her.
He moved closer and sat down on the stone bench beside her. “Of course I’d eat the good buns. I just wasn’t sure if you had… unique taste.”
“I’m a germaphobe. I don’t eat dirty things.”
Jiang Xun nodded and casually grabbed a vegetable, trimming it as he spoke. “As expected of a capitalist young lady—your taste is excellent.”
The clean, soft meat bun who had never done housework before was now working with the corners of his lips slightly lifted.
At least in Xu Suyu’s heart, he had already beaten Han Shumo once.
But what was running through his mind was a plan to tie that blockhead duck and rotten potato together for good.
Daring to covet his wife? That blockhead duck deserved no mercy.