The open ground in front of the brigade office was already packed with people.
A dense crowd—nothing but heads as far as the eye could see.
Everyone held burlap sacks or cloth bags, craning their necks, staring eagerly at the few large trucks loaded with grain at the front.
The cold wind howled, sweeping up dry leaves and dust, stinging against people’s faces.
Su Wan wrapped herself in that oversized, tattered padded jacket, hunching her shoulders as she stood at the very end of the line.
She was already frail to begin with, and now being pregnant, the cold wind made her feel dizzy and lightheaded, her vision darkening in waves.
The child in her womb seemed to sense her discomfort and moved slightly.
Su Wan quickly covered her lower abdomen with her hand, taking a deep breath and forcing herself to stay upright.
“Oh my, isn’t this the Wang family’s young wife?”
An older woman nearby, busy sewing shoe soles, spotted Su Wan and spoke in a mocking tone.
“I heard you’ve got some strange illness and are practically dying—why are you still out here collecting grain? Don’t pass your sickness to us!”
The people around burst into laughter, stepping aside as if avoiding a plague.
Su Wan bit her lip and said nothing.
She had long grown used to these cold remarks.
As long as she could get the grain and go back without giving Zhang Guihua a reason to pick on her, that was enough.
The line inched forward slowly.
By the time it was Su Wan’s turn, it was already noon.
The one in charge of distributing the grain was the village militia leader, a burly man with a loud voice.
“Wang Dajun’s household? Fifty jin of white flour!”
He shouted, and two strong young men lifted a sack of flour and dropped it with a loud thud in front of Su Wan.
Dust flew up into the air.
Looking at the heavy sack, Su Wan felt a bitterness in her heart.
Fifty jin.
Normally, she could grit her teeth and carry it.
But now, with two (actually three) children in her womb, at such a delicate stage—
If she forced herself and hurt the babies…
“What’s the holdup? Hurry up and carry it! People are waiting behind you!”
Someone in line urged impatiently.
“Yeah! Stop dawdling! If you don’t have the strength, don’t come!”
With no other choice, Su Wan bent down, grabbing the corners of the sack, trying to hoist it onto her shoulder.
“Up!”
She clenched her teeth and exerted all her strength.
But the sack felt rooted to the ground, impossibly heavy.
Her foot slipped, her body tilted, and she lost her balance—about to fall together with the sack straight into the muddy ditch beside her.
“Ah—!”
Su Wan cried out, shutting her eyes in despair.
If she fell like this, the children in her belly…
At that critical moment—
A strong hand, like an iron clamp, suddenly grabbed her arm.
In the next instant, a powerful force pulled her, and she felt her body lighten as she was dragged into a solid, burning embrace.
That familiar masculine scent, faintly carrying tobacco, enveloped her at once.
Su Wan’s eyes flew open.
She met a pair of eyes filled with urgency and anger.
It was Lei Deshui!
At some point, he had rushed over. One arm tightly wrapped around her waist, while his other hand steadily held the sack of flour that had been about to slip.
The sack that Su Wan couldn’t lift even with all her strength now looked as light as cotton in his grasp.
“Are you trying to get yourself killed?!”
Lei Deshui growled, his voice trembling with barely suppressed fear and anger.
Just now, watching her sway, his heart had nearly leapt out of his chest.
If she had fallen, that would’ve been two lives at stake!
His shout stunned the surrounding crowd.
The entire area in front of the brigade office fell silent as dozens of eyes turned toward them.
Lei Deshui held Su Wan in one arm and the flour in the other—no matter how you looked at it, the posture was intimate.
Especially the way he looked at Su Wan.
Where was his usual fierce, menacing expression?
It was filled with concern—and even a trace of… tenderness?
“Well, well! Isn’t that Boss Lei?”
From the crowd, some bold troublemaker whistled.
“What’s this? Since when did Boss Lei become so gentle with women? This Wang family wife nearly fell, and you’re already this heartbroken?”
“Hahaha!”
The crowd burst into laughter.
“Yeah! Boss Lei, where are your hands wandering? She’s someone else’s wife!”
“If Wang Dajun sees this, won’t he turn green with jealousy?”
The crude jokes and jeering buzzed like flies.
Su Wan’s face flushed to her ears. Her body stiffened as she tried to break free from Lei Deshui’s arms.
“Brother Lei… let go of me…”
She pleaded softly, her voice trembling.
If word got out, she would truly be finished.
Hearing the gossip, the concern in Lei Deshui’s eyes instantly turned into ferocity.
He suddenly lifted his head, his eyes wide like bronze bells, blazing with a fierce, dangerous light.
“What are you laughing at?! Shut up, all of you!”
Lei Deshui roared, his voice so loud it made everyone’s ears ring.
He slammed the sack of flour to the ground with a loud bang, startling the few who had been jeering into flinching.
“The Wang family’s wife is in poor health. If she got hurt, who among you could afford to take responsibility?”
Lei Deshui pointed at the whistling troublemaker, his tone cold and menacing.
“You? Or you?”
“I was entrusted by Accountant Wang to look after her! What, is helping someone a crime now?”
Lei Deshui spoke with complete confidence, his face calm and unapologetic.
Although everyone knew Wang Dajun wasn’t that close to Lei Deshui, no one dared to provoke him at a moment like this.
After all, this “living King of Hell” wasn’t someone whose fists were for show.
“No… no, of course not! Boss Lei is righteous!”
“A misunderstanding! Just a misunderstanding!”
The crowd quickly changed their tune, laughing awkwardly.
Lei Deshui snorted coldly and ignored them.
He released his hold on Su Wan’s waist, though he still steadied her slightly, unwilling to let go completely.
“Alright, this sack’s too heavy. I’ll have someone deliver it for you.”
Without waiting for her response, he called out to the side.
“Gousheng! Where the hell did you go? Take this sack back to the Wang house!”
Gousheng ran over eagerly, hoisted the sack, and dashed off.
“Got it! Sister-in-law, take care!”
Su Wan kept her head down, her face flushed red, and hurried away under the crowd’s complicated gazes.
Gradually, the crowd dispersed.
But in a corner, a pair of eyes remained fixed on Su Wan’s departing figure.
They were narrow, venomous, slanted eyes.
It was Widow Zhao.
She held a handful of melon seeds but had forgotten to crack them, her nails digging deep into the shells.
Others might have been fooled by Lei Deshui’s explanation.
But Widow Zhao was a seasoned player in matters of romance, having dealt with many men.
She had seen it clearly.
The moment Lei Deshui rushed forward and caught Su Wan—the tension in his eyes, the instinctive way he protected her belly…
That wasn’t “helping on someone else’s behalf.”
That was how a man looked at his own woman.
The look of someone afraid she might fall, afraid she might hurt, afraid she might suffer even the slightest grievance.
Jealousy surged in Widow Zhao’s heart like overturned vinegar.
She had had her eye on Lei Deshui for years—making him shoe insoles, throwing flirtatious glances—but he had never even given her a proper look.
And now, this “living King of Hell” cared so much about Su Wan, that sickly woman who couldn’t even bear children?
Why?!
“Well, well, Su Wan—you act like some chaste and virtuous woman, but you’ve already been fooling around with Lei Deshui!”
Widow Zhao spat, a vicious glint flashing in her eyes.
“No wonder you’ve been looking healthier and gaining weight lately—so you’ve been nourished by a wild man!”
“Hmph! Trying to keep it hidden? Not so easy!”
She tossed the melon seeds aside and quietly followed.
Su Wan didn’t go straight home.
She had been frightened badly just now and was still shaken.
She wanted to go to the old locust tree hollow in the back hills—Lei Deshui had said a couple of days ago that he left something good there for her.
She needed something sweet to calm herself.
Su Wan deliberately took a long detour, making sure no one was behind her before slipping into the small forest in the back hills.
She arrived at the dead old locust tree, glanced around, then reached her hand into the hollow.
After feeling around for a moment, she pulled out a tin container.
It was powdered milk.
Su Wan let out a sigh of relief and was just about to tuck it into her clothes—
When suddenly, a gust of wind blew by.
A brightly colored candy wrapper slipped out of her pocket, drifting down gently into the dry grass.
Su Wan didn’t notice and hurried off with the powdered milk.
After she had gone far away—
A figure emerged from the nearby bushes.
It was Widow Zhao.
She had been hiding there the whole time, barely daring to breathe.
She had seen with her own eyes Su Wan taking powdered milk out of that “secret spot” known only to Lei Deshui.
That was high-end stuff!
How could the impoverished Wang family possibly afford something like that?
Widow Zhao sneered, walked over, and bent down to pick up the candy wrapper.
It was a wrapper from “White Rabbit” milk candy.
In this remote, poor village, only one person ate that kind of candy—and only one person could afford it.
Lei Deshui.
Holding the wrapper between her fingers, it was as if she had grasped Su Wan’s Achilles’ heel.
Looking in the direction Su Wan had left, a sinister smile curled on her lips.
“Su Wan, oh Su Wan… let’s see how you deny it this time.”
“This time, I’ll make sure you’re completely ruined.”