Chapter 32: How Could Zhang Qingqing End Up in Bed With Him?

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In the main room, Yan’s father, Zhang Juhua, and Zhang Qingqing sat apart from one another, each keeping some distance.

Yan’s father looked as though he had swallowed something foul. He kept puffing on his pipe and was unwilling even to glance at Zhang Juhua.

Whenever he saw Juhua now, he was reminded that several men had violated her. The thought left him feeling as though his head were covered in green.

“Her father, let’s return the money to those men from the neighboring village,” Zhang Juhua pleaded. She had truly had enough of this miserable life and no longer wanted to go on living this way.

Both she and Zhang Qingqing were covered in wounds, old and new. Qingqing’s injuries were worse, having been beaten by Xu Lecheng the day before.

The two of them had fallen out completely, though they had not yet divorced.

“What money?” Yan’s father snapped. “That’s several hundred yuan, earned through my own hard work. You just move your lips and tell me to pay it back. People who’ve never earned money don’t know how hard it is!”

Zhang Juhua stared at him blankly, never expecting him to say such a thing.

In the past, whenever she cried, her husband would always do as she wished.

How had things become like this?

“Everyone’s here?” Xu Lecheng walked in.

Several places on his face were bandaged, and paired with his gloomy, sinister eyes, his appearance was horrifying.

“What are you here for?” Zhang Qingqing leaped in front of him and glared at him resentfully. “Xu Lecheng, I’m telling you, I will never agree to a divorce!”

Xu Lecheng forced a false smile and affectionately stroked her head. “Why would I divorce you?”

“I came to tell you to come to my home tomorrow. My parents sent you some things, specifically for you as their daughter-in-law.”

Zhang Qingqing did not quite believe him. “You’ve suddenly become so kind?”

“Before this, you refused to let your parents know that you had married me.”

Xu Lecheng put on an apologetic expression. “Qingqing, I know I was wrong before.”

He sighed. “Things have already come to this. If I really divorced you, it would damage my reputation even more.”

“So I thought we might as well do this: I’ll take you home to meet my parents, and from now on, we’ll live properly as husband and wife.”

Before Zhang Qingqing could say anything, Zhang Juhua had already taken her by the arm and addressed Xu Lecheng warmly.

“Lecheng, are you really taking Qingqing home to meet your parents?”

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Though Xu Lecheng loathed this family, his face remained full of smiles. “Of course.”

He took two train tickets from his pocket. “Look, I bought tickets home. In a few days, I’ll take Qingqing back with me.”

Zhang Juhua examined the two tickets again and again before handing them to Yan’s father. “Her father, look at the train tickets!”

“Qingqing is going to become a city person!”

This was the first time Yan’s father had ever seen a train ticket, and he was both excited and fascinated.

He hurriedly set down his pipe and rubbed his hands over and over against his clothes before carefully taking the tickets and looking at them.

“So this is a train ticket? It’s really beautiful!”

Once Qingqing truly became a city person, he would have her buy him a train ticket too. Then he could ride the train around and make everyone in the village envious and jealous.

The moment Zhang Juhua saw his expression, she knew the earlier matter had temporarily been put aside. She quickly said, “Her father, shouldn’t we prepare something for our in-laws?”

Yan’s father’s eyes shifted. He looked at Xu Lecheng. “Take Qingqing over now and get the things your parents sent.”

He wanted to see what Xu Lecheng’s parents had sent before deciding what to give their in-laws in return.

Xu Lecheng saw through his thoughts and calculations completely. He gave the excuse he had prepared long ago.

“The things are still in town.”

“I have to go to town to get them now, and it’ll be very late by the time I return.”

“There’s no need to rush today. Tomorrow will do just as well.”

Yan’s father was about to say something, but Zhang Juhua cut him off first.

“Her father, Lecheng is right. There’s no need to hurry today.”

She secretly signaled to him with her eyes. She understood what he was thinking, but the most important thing now was to keep Xu Lecheng under control.

“All right, tomorrow it is.” Yan’s father returned one of the train tickets to Xu Lecheng and put the other away. “I just checked the date. The train leaves six days from now.”

“Lecheng, come to our house early that day so you and Qingqing can catch the train.”

Xu Lecheng agreed readily. “All right. I’ll head back to the educated youth compound first. I need to pack my things.”

As soon as he finished speaking, several men from the neighboring village entered the main room.

“Well, well, the whole family is gathered together discussing something. Are you discussing how to repay the money?”

“If you still refuse to pay, we’ll have no choice but to sell your wife and daughter. They should fetch a decent price.”

Terrified, Zhang Juhua and Zhang Qingqing hid behind Yan’s father, afraid that the men would drag them into the room and force themselves on them.

These men were worse than beasts when it came to tormenting women. They did not care whether the women lived or died; they only cared about using them.

Yan’s father picked up his pipe again, his face dark. “Give us a few more days…”

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“So you can escape?” one of the men sneered. “We heard everything clearly from outside just now. Your precious daughter is going back with her husband to meet his parents.”

“All right. We’ll give you one more day.”

“If you can’t produce the money tomorrow, we’ll smash up your house and sell your wife and daughter!”

With that, he and the others left the main room.

Yan’s father turned to Xu Lecheng, hoping he would pay the money.

But Xu Lecheng had already slipped away.

This infuriated Yan’s father. Xu Lecheng had not yet given them the bride price, and he had to get his hands on that money.

A day passed.

Yan Ziyue and Xiao Heshuo arrived at the educated youth compound to collect the money from Xu Lecheng.

But then a familiar woman’s scream came from the room to their left.

“Ah!”

Yan Ziyue and Xiao Heshuo instinctively looked toward the source of the sound.

A disheveled man suddenly ran out of the room in a panic.

Yan Ziyue recognized him as one of the educated youths at the compound. He was known for having a mild temperament. How had he ended up looking like this?

By then, quite a few of the educated youths had run out of their rooms.

“What happened? What happened?”

“What’s going on?”

“Wen’an, why do you look like that?”

The educated youth called Wen’an sank weakly to the ground, his face full of despair.

“I—I don’t know what happened. When I woke up, I found Zhang Qingqing lying beside me!”

He pointed toward his room. “I wasn’t feeling well this morning, so I went back to rest. Who could have imagined something like this would happen?”

A female educated youth went into the room to take a look, then returned and said, “It’s Zhang Qingqing. She’s wrapped in a quilt and crying.”

“Was Wen’an set up?”

“He’s going home tomorrow, and he already knows what kind of person Zhang Qingqing is. There’s no way he would have done something like this.”

One of the educated youths asked, “Why haven’t we seen Xu Lecheng? Wasn’t Zhang Qingqing here to find him?”