The air inside the woodshed felt frozen, as if even sound had solidified. Only the dim kerosene lamp flickered, its flame crackling faintly.
Su Wan stood in the shadows, her back pressed tightly against the cold, bone-chilling earthen wall. She gripped the scissors so hard her palm was drenched in cold sweat—slippery, making it hard to hold on.
Outside the door, the lock clicked shut. Then came Zhang Guihua’s deliberately lowered but excited voice:
“Ergou, Auntie didn’t lie to you, right? There’s candy inside—and a beautiful wife. You’ve got to work hard and help our Wang family carry on the line.”
“Hehe… candy… wife…”
The foolish, drooling voice seeped through the wooden door, filled with stupidity and disgusting desire.
Su Wan felt her stomach churn violently.
The door wasn’t bolted inside. With a light push, it opened a crack. A foul stench—old urine, sour swill, and unwashed body odor—slipped through the gap and slammed straight into her senses.
Wang Ergou squeezed in.
Under the dim light, Su Wan finally saw him clearly.
His hair was a tangled bird’s nest with dried grass stuck in it, greasy and matted from who knows how many days without washing.
His face was pitch black, with two clumps of yellow eye mucus at the corners of his eyes. Snot hung down his nose in a long string; instead of wiping it, he simply licked it with his tongue and grinned stupidly.
His padded jacket was full of holes, revealing dirty, black cotton stuffing. His belt was loosely tied, one pant leg higher than the other, and his exposed ankles were caked in grime.
This was the “man” Zhang Guihua had found for her.
This was the Wang family’s so-called “heir plan.”
Su Wan only felt her blood rush straight to her head.
Disgust. Nothing but disgust.
She would rather die than let something like this touch her.
“Hehe… wife… pretty wife…”
The moment Wang Ergou saw her, his eyes went straight.
In the village, he was usually chased away and scolded whenever he approached girls or women. When had he ever seen such a beautiful woman waiting inside a room for him?
He sniffed loudly, stretched out his filthy hands, and like a starving dog seeing meat, howled as he lunged forward.
“I want candy… I want to sleep…”
“Don’t come closer!”
Su Wan suddenly shouted.
Her voice cracked from the force of it.
Wang Ergou flinched, stopping mid-step. He tilted his head, looking confused, as if he didn’t understand why this pretty wife was suddenly so fierce.
“Auntie said… be good and I get candy…” he muttered, trying to move closer again.
Just as his filthy hands were about to touch her clothes, a flash of determination appeared in Su Wan’s eyes.
At first, she intended to stab him.
Lei Deshui had said: Kill him, and I’ll take the blame.
But in that instant, looking at Wang Ergou’s stupid face, she couldn’t bring herself to strike.
Killing meant taking a life. Even if Lei Deshui was willing to take the blame, she couldn’t drag that man into it. It was a life—and a bottomless abyss.
In a split second, Su Wan’s wrist turned.
The sharp scissors did not stab Wang Ergou.
Instead, she pressed them against her own neck.
The sharp tip instantly pierced her delicate skin. A bright red drop of blood welled up and slid down her snow-white neck, horrifying under the dim yellow light.
“Wang Ergou! Take one more step and I’ll kill myself right in front of you!”
Her voice trembled, but her gaze was terrifyingly fierce.
“If you touch me, I’ll shove this scissors in deeper! Then the police will arrest you and shoot you! They’ll lock you in a dark room—no candy, no food, and they’ll whip you every day!”
Though Wang Ergou was stupid, he still feared pain—and even more, he feared blood.
Seeing the blood on her neck and the glinting scissors, he instinctively shrank back.
“Blood… there’s blood…”
Terrified, he stumbled back two steps, waving his hands wildly.
“It’s not my fault… I don’t want candy anymore… scary… scary…”
Su Wan saw that she had managed to calm him down a little, and her heart slightly eased—but she still did not dare to lower the scissors in her hand.
She knew this wasn’t over yet.
Outside the door, Zhang Guihua was definitely pressed against the wall listening.
If there was no sound inside, that old hag would definitely rush in and force her to do it with Wang Ergou.
There had to be noise.
And it had to be loud noise.
Gritting her teeth, Su Wan’s eyes landed on a rough ceramic teapot on the table.
It was usually used for boiled water, and half a pot of water was still inside.
She suddenly reached out, grabbed the teapot, and smashed it hard onto the ground.
Crash!
The teapot shattered into pieces, fragments flying everywhere with a sharp sound.
Then Su Wan deliberately kicked over a stool, stomping heavily on the ground while letting out suppressed cries and struggling noises.
“Get away! Don’t touch me!”
While shouting, she grabbed a broken bowl and a chopstick holder from the table and smashed them onto the ground with a loud clatter.
The room instantly turned chaotic—like two people were fiercely struggling, or engaged in some intense, indescribable activity.
Outside.
Zhang Guihua, pressed against the wall eavesdropping, immediately broke into a delighted grin at the sounds coming from inside.
“Oh my, listen to that! Listen to that noise!”
She elbowed Wang Dajun, who was squatting nearby smoking, and whispered:
“That silly boy Ergou’s got quite the strength. Looks like tonight’s thing is going to happen!”
Wang Dajun kept his head down, smoking silently. His expression was unpleasant as he listened to the “struggling” sounds of his wife inside, but he didn’t move.
“As long as it’s done… as long as it’s done…” he muttered, as if trying to convince himself.
Inside the room.
Su Wan continued creating chaos, panting heavily, sweat covering her forehead. The wound on her neck was still bleeding slightly.
Wang Ergou was terrified by the scene. He curled up in the corner, hugging his head and crying:
“Scary… Auntie lied… no candy…”
Su Wan stared at him coldly, the scissors still firmly in her hand.
The standoff dragged on, and she was already nearing exhaustion.
Then—
Suddenly.
CRASH!
A loud explosion of sound.
A fist-sized stone, cutting through the wind, smashed precisely through the small broken window of the woodshed.
Shards of glass scattered everywhere.
The stone flew in like it had eyes—perfectly, accurately—hitting Wang Ergou squarely on the forehead.
Thud!
A dull impact.
“AH—!”
Wang Ergou froze for a second, then let out a pig-like scream. He clutched his head as blood poured through his fingers, rolling on the ground in pain.
“It hurts! It hurts so much! My head is broken! Waaaah…”
Su Wan was stunned.
She stared at the shattered window. Outside was pitch black, the wind howling in.
Within that endless darkness, she seemed to sense a pair of wild, ruthless, fiercely protective eyes staring back at her.
It was him.