Su Wan’s heart nearly jumped out of her throat.
She had just hurriedly taken off that mud-stained oversized shirt and shoved it deep into the firewood pile, then changed into her own half-dry, ragged clothes.
The two shaky wooden doors of the woodshed were kicked open.
A cold morning wind, mixed with a murderous aura, rushed in.
Zhang Guihua stood at the doorway, her face as dark as soot, eyes bloodshot—clearly she hadn’t slept all night.
In her hand was a finger-thick rattan whip, the kind used to drive donkeys, still covered with thorns.
“You little bitch, you still dare to come back?!”
Her shrill voice was like fingernails scraping across a blackboard, piercing painfully into the ears.
Su Wan stiffened all over and instinctively shrank into the corner.
That fear etched into her bones made her want to kneel and beg for mercy—but the cold scissors hidden in her sleeve snapped her back to her senses like a brand.
She couldn’t kneel.
Kneeling meant being beaten. Not kneeling also meant being beaten.
Lei Deshui’s words echoed in her mind: If you stab him to death, I’ll take the blame for you.
Su Wan took a deep breath and forced herself to raise her head, meeting Zhang Guihua’s murderous gaze.
“Mother…”
“Don’t call me mother! I don’t have a shameless daughter-in-law like you!”
Zhang Guihua stormed in and swung the rattan whip down hard.
Smack!
It landed brutally on Su Wan’s arm, instantly raising a bloody welt.
The pain made Su Wan groan. Tears immediately welled up in her eyes, but she clenched her teeth and didn’t cry out like before.
“Where did you run off to last night?! Huh? Were you out meeting a wild man? Was that woman in Lei Deshui’s melon shed you?!”
Zhang Guihua cursed as she whipped her relentlessly.
Though she had been scared off by Lei Deshui the night before, the more she thought about it, the more suspicious she became.
There was definitely something going on in that shed!
“It wasn’t me! I didn’t!”
Su Wan covered her head and shouted in defense.
This was the story she had prepared on the way back—and also what Lei Deshui had told her to say.
As long as she refused to admit it, Zhang Guihua had no proof.
“I was too scared last night… I ran out… but it was raining too hard and I got lost…”
Su Wan cried while dodging the whip.
“I hid in a cave in the back mountains for the night… I was cold and hungry… I wanted to come back… Mother, I really didn’t do that kind of thing…”
“Bullshit! You filthy liar!”
Zhang Guihua didn’t believe her at all and whipped even harder, aiming at her thighs and back.
“I see you crawled into some man’s bed instead! That smell on you—I can smell it from miles away!”
Smack! Smack! Smack!
Every lash tore into her skin.
Su Wan rolled on the ground in pain. Her clothes were torn open, revealing bruised and purple skin underneath.
Those were the marks left by Lei Deshui the night before—now mixed with fresh bloody welts, making the scene horrifying.
But Su Wan clenched her teeth tightly and didn’t make a sound.
Her hand gripped the scissors hidden in her sleeve, knuckles turning white.
She was enduring.
She was waiting.
If Zhang Guihua really tried to beat her to death, she would fight this old woman to the end.
Just then, a cough came from the doorway.
Wang Dajun stood there in a cotton jacket and slippers, looking impatient.
“That’s enough, Mom. Stop hitting her.”
He glanced at Su Wan curled up on the ground, his eyes showing no concern—only disgust.
“If you damage her too badly, how will she serve Ergou at night?”
Those words were more poisonous than Zhang Guihua’s whip.
Su Wan suddenly looked up, staring dead at the man she had called husband for three years.
This was her husband.
Watching her be beaten half to death, yet worrying only that she might not be usable for another man at night.
At that moment, the light in Su Wan’s eyes completely went out.
And what replaced it… was a hatred she had never felt before.
That hatred was like a fire—burning away her tears and hardening her heart.
Hearing her son’s words, Zhang Guihua finally stopped hitting, panting heavily.
She threw the rattan whip to the ground and spat directly at Su Wan.
“Spit! You worthless thing! If it weren’t for giving Dajun an heir, I’d have beaten you to death today!”
Zhang Guihua looked down at Su Wan from above, her gaze as if she were looking at a slaughtered animal.
“Listen carefully. Tonight, Ergou is coming. Wash yourself properly and serve him well!”
“If you dare run again, or show him even the slightest attitude…”
Zhang Guihua gave a sinister chuckle, revealing a mouth full of yellow teeth.
“I’ll strip you naked and hang you on the big tree at the village entrance, let every man and woman in the village come see what a ruined woman you are!”
With that, she turned and left, slamming the woodshed door shut behind her.
Click.
The heavy iron lock fell into place again.
Wang Dajun also left. Before going, he didn’t even spare Su Wan a glance.
The woodshed returned to silence.
Only Su Wan’s heavy breathing remained.
She painfully dragged herself up and leaned against the cold wall.
Not a single inch of her body was uninjured; even the slightest movement brought stabbing pain.
Yet she smiled.
That smile was tragic and resolute.
She pulled the scissors from her sleeve and pressed them tightly against her chest.
The cold metal made her painfully clear-headed.
You want me to bear children for a fool?
In your dreams.
Time passed slowly.
Throughout the entire day, no one brought her a drop of water or a grain of rice.
That was the Wang family’s rule—disobedience meant starvation. Starved long enough, and you would naturally submit.
But Su Wan didn’t feel hunger.
She simply sat quietly in the pile of firewood, like a stone statue.
She was sharpening the scissors.
Using a whetstone on the ground, she rubbed them again and again—lightly, carefully.
Although the scissors were already sharp enough, she felt it still wasn’t enough.
They had to be sharp enough to pierce the idiot’s throat in one strike.
Gradually, night fell.
The wind picked up again outside, rattling the paper windows.
Darkness swallowed the entire Lei Family Village.
Suddenly, the front gate was knocked.
Knock, knock, knock.
Then came a foolish, giggling voice.
“Hehe… wife… I’m here to find my wife…”
It was Wang Ergou.
Su Wan’s sharpening hand froze.
She heard Zhang Guihua’s flattering voice from the front yard:
“Oh, Ergou is here! Come in, come in, auntie left the door open for you.”
Then came hurried footsteps, crossing the front yard, passing through the main hall, heading straight toward the back courtyard.
Closer and closer.
Each step felt like it was trampling on Su Wan’s heart.
Click.
The lock on the woodshed door was opened.
The door was pushed slightly open, and dim kerosene light spilled in.
Zhang Guihua’s wrinkled face appeared at the doorway, followed by a man drooling and reeking, grinning foolishly.
“Go on, Ergou. Your wife is waiting inside.”
She shoved Wang Ergou into the room, then quickly shut the door and locked it from the outside.
Inside the cramped woodshed.
Su Wan tightened her grip on the scissors and slowly stood up from the shadows.
Her eyes were colder than the blade itself.