Chapter 37

The person who had been thinking about He Ting was Lu Jiaojiao.

Hearing the snoring of Yin Zhihe, Lu Jiaojiao woke up, curled up in her dream, feeling damp all over. Her pupils dilated, and her mind was fuzzy with the images from her dream.

Ever since she had gone to the health clinic last time and saw Lu Baiwei wiping sweat off He Ting, her dreams hadn’t stopped.

In her dreams, she had replaced Lu Baiwei as the one wiping He Ting’s sweat.

Sweat drops from He Ting’s forehead trickled down his strong, rugged face, dripping along his jaw and into his throat, flowing into his collar.

In her dream, Lu Jiaojiao swallowed hard and tore He Ting’s shirt off.

He Ting’s temples bulged with veins, and he grabbed her, lifting her up and forcefully throwing her onto the bed.

Then, the dream turned into an intense, sweat-drenched fantasy.

She was almost there, almost about to succeed, but damn Yin Zhihe’s loud snoring woke her up, ruining her dream.

Useless, can’t even perform and still interrupts her dreams.

Lu Jiaojiao didn’t know where all her anger was coming from, frustrated, she kicked hard at Yin Zhihe. Caught off guard, he rolled off the bed, his head banging against the bed corner with a loud thud.

“Lu Jiaojiao, what the hell are you doing?”

Snapping out of his daze, Yin Zhihe climbed back onto the bed and slapped Lu Jiaojiao.

“You’re a bitch, why aren’t you sleeping in the middle of the night, acting crazy?”

“You kicked me again! I’ll beat you to death…”

Yin Zhihe swung his fists, landing them on the small Lu Jiaojiao.

The rain-like punches kept coming down, and Lu Jiaojiao screamed in pain. She struggled and fought back, scratching his face with her nails.

“You little bitch, you dare scratch me?”

The noise they were making had woken up Shen Guixiang, who lived in the room next door.

Hearing her dear son’s painful cries, Shen Guixiang grabbed a thick rope, kicked open the door, and lunged at Lu Jiaojiao.

Dragged off the bed by both mother and son, Lu Jiaojiao knew the next step would be her being tied up and beaten. She couldn’t care about anything anymore and desperately struggled to break free from Shen Guixiang’s grip. With a frantic burst of energy, she ran out the door.

She ran all the way out of the house, not hearing any sounds of pursuit behind her. Lu Jiaojiao let out a heavy sigh, as if she had just survived a disaster.

She couldn’t go back!

If she went back, Shen Guixiang and Yin Zhihe would beat her to death.

With nowhere else to turn, Lu Jiaojiao had no choice but to return to her parents’ home.

Near the health clinic of the brigade, as she heard the rushing water from the creek under the bridge, Lu Jiaojiao paused, holding her breath.

In the dim light of the moon, she saw a figure standing in the depths of the creek. Although she could only make out the general outline, Lu Jiaojiao felt as though it matched the scene from her dream.

By the faint light of the moon, Lu Jiaojiao saw a figure standing in the depths of the creek. Although she could only make out a vague outline, she felt that it matched the scene from her dream.

Thinking about the person from her dream who had fiercely pulled her into his arms, Lu Jiaojiao became very excited, her blood boiling. Her palms were sweating, her legs were trembling, and her breathing gradually became erratic.

“Who’s there?”

He Ting, submerged in the creek, seemed to sense something.

Feeling a gaze from the shadows, he submerged himself entirely in the water.

At this hour, everyone in the brigade was already asleep.

He Ting had no idea that, while he was coming to the creek to cool off and wash off his sweat, someone would be watching from the dark.

He missed Weiwei!

He thought that his wife’s brief internship at the county hospital would pass quickly, but after just two days of her being gone, he was already unaccustomed to it.

Without Weiwei at home, the two empty rooms felt cold and desolate.

It was fine during the day when he was working in the fields, but at night, with the sounds of cicadas and frogs, he felt a deep sense of loneliness.

He regretted agreeing to let Weiwei stay in the county hospital’s dormitory during her internship. He should’ve woken up early every day to see her off, so he wouldn’t feel like an old man abandoned by his family.

He missed his wife so much that he couldn’t sleep. He ended up staying in her room, hoping to fall asleep surrounded by her scent lingering on the sheets and pillowcases. But instead, he tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep, his thoughts consumed by memories of the night before Weiwei left for her internship.

That night, he had let her sleep on the upper bunk, lying close to her soft back and inhaling the unique fragrance of a woman.

Weiwei was even softer than he had imagined.

That night, he had been a bit more forward, and they had both ended up sleeping on the same bed.

Thinking about Lu Baiwei kept He Ting awake, and when he couldn’t sleep, he opened his eyes and stared at the mosquito net, feeling unusually awake. His body felt hot and restless. Frustrated, he left the house to get some fresh air. Sweating heavily, he decided to take a cold bath in the creek.

Had he known that Lu Jiaojiao would find him by the creek in the dead of night, he would never have chosen to bathe there.

As he thought he heard some rustling from the shadows, He Ting warily submerged himself further into the water. When no further noise came, he assumed it was just a snake slithering through the grass. He quickly grabbed his clothes from the shore and put them on.

Once He Ting left, Lu Jiaojiao was filled with regret.

What had she been afraid of?

He Ting was always meant to be hers.

It was just that in this life, he had ended up with Lu Baiwei.

What a missed opportunity—if she had just stepped into the creek and pounced on him, would she have succeeded by now?

He Ting was nothing like Yin Zhihe. With his muscular physique, it was obvious that he was not like the useless Yin Zhihe.

Perhaps it was because of her past experiences that she instinctively felt intimidated by He Ting. When she noticed He Ting had heard something, her first reaction was to hide.

It might be due to her past life experiences that, deep down, Lu Jiaojiao instinctively felt intimidated by He Ting. When He Ting noticed the noise, her first reaction was to hide.

He Ting returned to the house and shut the door. Lu Jiaojiao almost rushed over, blood boiling, wanting to knock on the door.

But after missing the opportunity when He Ting was bathing, and knowing how much He Ting disliked her, she realized knocking on his door wouldn’t get her anywhere.

No! She couldn’t let He Ting fall for Lu Baiwei.

Like a snake hiding in the dark, Lu Jiaojiao watched the two rooms of the health clinic standing in the shadows, already plotting how she could get He Ting for herself.

The next morning, after Lu Jianguo went to work, Lu Jiaojiao called Liu Chunhua.

“Mom, can you boil an egg for me?”

Lu Jiaojiao pressed the spot where Yin Zhihe had beaten her the night before. Her face hurt so much it twitched: “It hurts so much, I need to rub a boiled egg on my face.”

The night before, when Lu Jiaojiao came to knock on the door, Liu Chunhua found out she had been beaten again by Yin Zhihe and his mother. Furious, Liu Chunhua felt a sharp pain in her chest.

She scolded Lu Jiaojiao: “What were you thinking? Why did you insist on fighting Lu Baiwei for Yin Zhihe?”

“I saw that the Yin family was the poorest in the brigade and thought I could make Lu Baiwei fall into a trap.”

“And now look at you—you’ve already fallen into it.”

“If you’d listened to your elders, you wouldn’t be in this mess. You got involved with Yin Zhihe and now you’re asking for trouble.”

“Alright, Mom, stop lecturing me,” Lu Jiaojiao urged, “I just thought the Yin family had gold bars buried underground.”

“Once I find the gold bars, my brother will have the money to get married.”

“You’ve been saying that the Yin family has gold bars buried underground, but since you married into their family, not only did you not see a single gold bar, but you’ve been getting beaten up by Shen Guixiang and Yin Zhihe every few days.”

Liu Chunhua boiled water and, feeling distressed, took an egg from the cupboard and put it in the pot to cook.

She asked Lu Jiaojiao, “So, do they really have gold bars or not?”

“Mom, stop rushing me. I’ve only been married to the Yin family for such a short time!”

“These past few days, I’ve been using the excuse of working in the fields and have dug several holes in the yard, but I haven’t found where the gold bars are buried yet.”

Lu Jiaojiao speculated: “Knowing my mother-in-law, Shen Guixiang, she’s so stingy that the place where the gold bars are hidden must be secure. If it’s not in the yard, it’s definitely buried under the floor of one of the rooms. I’ll think of a way to get her to spill the beans later.”