Chapter 28

Lu Baiwei looked up at her briefly, not even bothering to rise from her chair as she held her book. 

“When I married He Ting, did you give me any wedding gift money?” 

“Sis, that’s not the same!” 

Why was she being so annoying, nitpicking like this? 

Lu Jiaojiao grew agitated. “Sis, don’t look down on people now. Brother Zhihe will be earning big money in the future.” 

“Sisters should support each other, shouldn’t they?” 

“The Yin family’s conditions are a little poor right now. You should help us out more.” 

The more Lu Jiaojiao spoke, the more worked up she became. “Do you really think I’m greedy for a few yuan of wedding money? Wait a couple of years. When the policies change and Brother Zhihe starts making big money, I’ll repay you double.” 

“By then, when He Ting’s family has fallen on hard times and you’re living a tough life, you’ll need your little sister to help you out.” 

“When Brother Zhihe expands his business and sets up a stall, I’ll make sure he lets you help out and pays you some wages. With your little sister and brother-in-law supporting you, think about how much of a good deal that is.” 

When Lu Jiaojiao talked about Yin Zhihe, her confidence in his eventual success practically radiated off her, as if she couldn’t contain her sense of superiority. 

Her tone was even condescending, as if promising that one day she’d let Lu Baiwei work for Yin Zhihe out of charity. 

Lu Baiwei almost laughed out loud. 

She suddenly set her book down and, with a serious expression, asked, “Lu Jiaojiao, now that you’ve married Yin Zhihe, has he touched you?” 

Lu Jiaojiao froze, rendered speechless in an instant. 

She didn’t know what was going on. 

Back when she had lured Yin Zhihe into the haystack, he had been excited, unable to keep his hands to himself. 

But now that they were officially married, he was like a dead fish. Even when she stripped off her clothes, Yin Zhihe would avoid her. 

Two nights had passed, and it was like someone had doused her with a bucket of ice water. 

Her excitement about marrying Yin Zhihe had completely vanished, especially when she thought back to her previous life. When she had married He Ting, he had preferred jumping into the river at night to sober up rather than touching her. 

Lu Baiwei’s question hit a nerve, dredging up all the humiliation Lu Jiaojiao had experienced in both this life and the last. 

She gritted her teeth and lashed back, “Sis, has He Ting touched you?” 

That question didn’t even require Lu Baiwei to answer. 

Outside the house, He Ting had been listening, carrying a hoe after finishing work in the backyard vegetable garden. 

Though he didn’t quite understand why Lu Baiwei had suddenly brought up Lu Jiaojiao and Yin Zhihe’s private affairs, it didn’t stop him from putting the hoe down. 

Dripping with sweat, He Ting walked inside, stopping beside Lu Baiwei without sparing a glance at Lu Jiaojiao. 

WeiWei, wipe my sweat,” he said. 

He had even brought the towel for her in advance.

He Ting had already prepared the towel for Lu Baiwei.

In front of Lu Jiaojiao, Lu Baiwei shyly ordered He Ting, “Lower your head a little.”

He Ting obediently bent down and brought his face closer to Lu Baiwei’s.

The scent of sweat and testosterone from the man was overwhelming, and Lu Baiwei could barely handle it. The heat emanating from him made her hands and feet start to tremble.

With Lu Jiaojiao watching, she struggled to maintain her composure and reached up to wipe the sweat from his forehead.

But that wasn’t enough.

He Ting lowered his head slightly more and reminded Lu Baiwei, “WeiWei , you should also wipe the sweat on my neck.”

Was this man flirting with her?

God knows how tempting it was when he looked at her with those mischievous eyes, his voice carrying an ambiguous tone.

Lu Baiwei felt relieved that Lu Jiaojiao was present today, or else she might have lost control.

Especially since He Ting’s shirt had become unbuttoned from the heat, faintly revealing the skin below his collar, which made her feel flushed all over.

How could the weather be so hot?

But for some reason, He Ting seemed determined to prove his closeness to Lu Baiwei in front of Lu Jiaojiao.

His tone was alluring: “WeiWei , you should wipe a little lower.”

Really?

How much lower could it go?

Lu Baiwei couldn’t take it anymore. Even her breath was becoming erratic.

Just when she felt like she couldn’t hold on any longer, Lu Jiaojiao broke down first.

Lu Jiaojiao thought back to her past life, to everything she had suffered after marrying He Ting.

It seemed like, in He Ting’s eyes, she wasn’t even a woman.

Back when she was locked in the tool room at the commune’s threshing floor, He Ting had looked at her with such disdain, as if he wanted to kill her with his gaze. He avoided her like the plague, even wanting to tear out the window to escape.

It was only her screams that had drawn attention.

She had threatened to report He Ting to the commune for molesting her, and that’s how she had ended up marrying him.

But He Ting had despised her.

It was a deep-seated revulsion.

Even after they were married and living under the same roof, He Ting treated her like air. When she tried to get close, he looked at her as if she were dirt.

No one, no matter how rich, could change the way he felt.

No!

No!

He Ting also didn’t give her any money.

He tightly held onto the money sent from home, hoarding it.

To save face, she still had to show off in the commune, pretending she had money to spend, but the truth was, most of the money came from her mother, Liu Chunhua, who saved up and sent it to her.

One time, she put breeding medicine for pigs in He Ting’s food. He became so sick, his veins bulging, but he refused to touch her. He threw himself into the commune’s big river and soaked in the cold water for an entire night.

He ended up with his skin peeling off, and was sent to the county hospital.

Despite He Ting’s treatment of her, even after the He family fell into ruin, he still expected her to treat his nephew and niece well. She wished she could get rid of those two burdens.

Thinking about how He Ting had looked down on her in her past life, making her run away with a man claiming to be a truck driver, only to be sold to a remote mountain village and tortured into an unrecognizable state, now seeing He Ting act so intimate with Lu Baiwei, Lu Jiaojiao was deeply shaken.

Watching He Ting getting closer to Lu Baiwei, nearly pressing up against her, Lu Jiaojiao’s tears uncontrollably streamed down.

“You’re not human! You’re bullying me, woo woo woo…”

Lu Baiwei was so caught up in He Ting’s teasing that she almost forgot about Lu Jiaojiao’s presence.

Suddenly, Lu Jiaojiao burst into loud sobs, crying and running out of the health station.

“WeiWei , are you still going to wipe it?”

He Ting was still waiting for Lu Baiwei, nudging her with a sound.

Hearing his seductive voice, Lu Baiwei felt like her heart was being gently nudged by little bunnies, and her face turned bright red.

Seeing the playful glint in He Ting’s eyes, Lu Baiwei angrily tossed the towel at his head.

“I’m going to cook.”

He Ting wiped his sweat off with the towel and watched as Lu Baiwei fled. He chuckled quietly behind her.

Now that Lu Jiaojiao had been driven off, Lu Baiwei saved the money for the wedding gift.

Of course, since she had declared that she had severed ties with Lu Jianguo and Liu Chunhua, she naturally wouldn’t be attending the wedding feast of Yin Zhihua and Lu Jiaojiao.

From her cousin Tang Yunling, Lu Baiwei learned that Yin Zhihua and Lu Jiaojiao’s wedding banquet was a big joke.

“WeiWei , you don’t know, Yin Zhihua and Lu Jiaojiao’s wedding was a huge embarrassment.”

“You know how stingy Shen Guixiang is, right? When Yin Zhihua got married, his older sister, who works at the county supply and marketing cooperative, brought back a two-pound piece of meat.”

“For a wedding, you know, it’s not good to have no meat dishes. Even just a few slices of meat in the vegetable dishes would be better.”

“But Shen Guixiang is so stingy. How could she bear to put meat in the dishes? She would rather strip the meat from the guests who came to give wedding gifts.”

“Shen Guixiang hid the meat that Yin Zhihua’s sister brought in the cupboard.”