Chapter 38 – You Jumped into the River? Why?

Su Taotao had barely recovered enough strength to get out of bed, and now, just smelling that familiar yet slightly unfamiliar scent on his body, her legs were turning to jelly again.

Fu Zhengtou wrapped his arm around her waist. “Are you okay?”

“Not at all!” Su Taotao pushed him away and bolted for the bathroom like she was fleeing a fire.

Fu Zhengtou watched her back with a silent chuckle.

He returned to tidying up the firewood. Just then, someone knocked at the door. He picked up a shirt nearby and slowly buttoned it up before going to answer.

At the door stood Uncle Fu, holding a slab of meat. When he saw Fu Zhengtou, a sharp gleam flashed in his shrewd eyes. “Zhengtou, good lad, you’re finally back. Your mother’s been so worried about you.”

Fu Zhengtou remained calm and simply greeted, “Uncle.”

Uncle Fu reached out as if to pat Fu Zhengtou on the shoulder, but when he saw the calm depth in the younger man’s eyes, he awkwardly redirected the motion to scratch his own head. The atmosphere turned a bit awkward, so he searched for something to say. “It’s good you’re back. Oh, right—knowing you were back, I specially went to the commune and got a piece of meat. How about we sit down and have a couple of drinks?”

In truth, Uncle Fu had come by earlier that afternoon carrying the meat, but seeing that Fu Zhengtou wasn’t home, he took it back and timed his return.

“He doesn’t drink.” Su Taotao, who had somehow reappeared from the bathroom, lifted her chin slightly toward Fu Zhengtou and looked at Uncle Fu with a provocative gaze.

Just finished arguing and now pretending to be all friendly—what’s he playing at?

Uncle Fu glanced at Su Taotao and sensed something was off. He looked her over again, and the disdain flashed across his shrewd old eyes. He had never liked Su Taotao. What kind of decent woman acted like that—looking like she’d never seen a man in her life, all flirty and coy, batting her eyes like that. Totally improper. In his heart, he cursed her as a “seductive fox,” only good for luring men. If she hadn’t hooked Fu Zhengtou with that face, the one marrying him would’ve been his wife’s niece—who was ten times better. Where would that leave Su Taotao?

With grudges both old and new, and thinking Fu Zhengtou would still show him some respect as his uncle, Uncle Fu’s tone turned nasty. “The men are talking—what are you butting in for? We’re having a drink, nothing to do with you. Come on, Zhengtou, let’s just go to my place and drink.”

Fu Zhengtou’s Uncle Forgot His Aura, Actually Tried to Pat His Shoulder

Uncle Fu, momentarily forgetting Fu Zhengtou’s imposing presence, actually reached out to pat his shoulder.

Fu Zhengtou took a step back, calmly avoiding the touch without changing expression. His tone remained composed. “I don’t drink, Uncle. Help yourself if you’d like.”

Uncle Fu was briefly at a loss for words. He rubbed his nose awkwardly. “Yes, yes, I forgot. Well, if not wine, then tea. Guoqiang and the others haven’t seen you in years. You brothers should catch up.”

Su Taotao interjected, “His real brothers, his mother, his son, his wife—they all haven’t seen him in years. It’s not your turn as a cousin to catch up first.”

Uncle Fu exploded in anger. “And who the hell are you? Do you get a say in this? This household isn’t yours to run!”

Su Taotao had been holding her tongue while Fu Zhengtou was away. Now that he was back, if she still had to keep silent, she might as well find a new dad for Chenchen.

She never planned to act like a proper lady in front of Fu Zhengtou anyway. She stepped forward, ready to roll up her sleeves and throw down.

Fu Zhengtou pulled her over to his side. “She’s the lady of this house. She makes the decisions here. Anything else, Uncle?”

Uncle Fu was stunned. Did he just hear what he thought he heard? He hadn’t expected Fu Zhengtou to give him absolutely zero face. “You—you—she—she…”

Su Taotao stood with her hands on her hips. “What are you stuttering about? What’s he stammering about? What, Captain? Planning to spread rumors again that I’m engaged in black market trading, or maybe this time you’ll accuse me of cheating on Fu Zhengtou?”

Zhou Linglan came out from the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron and sighing. “Brother-in-law, could you please stop stirring up trouble? Can’t we just have a few peaceful days at home?”

Fu Yuanhang came out holding Chenchen and added, “Uncle came bearing meat, huh? Is he here to ‘donate’ it to this poor beggar? I don’t recall begging at your doorstep.”

The whole family lined up shoulder to shoulder in solidarity, clearly united against Uncle Fu. Even Chenchen snorted loudly a few times in protest.

Fu Zhengtou said, “Seems like while I wasn’t home, Uncle took real good care of my family.”

His tone was still calm, but anyone could tell he was no longer pleased.

Su Taotao poured fuel on the fire. “Very good care indeed. Our noble and just village head—avoiding nepotism and all that—gave Mom the most barren, difficult, smallest plot of land in Dalingtou. Meanwhile, Auntie and the two sister-in-laws are farming the most fertile and spacious land right at the bridge. So generous to Mom. So close to our family. Closer than to your own wife and daughters-in-law, even.”

Zhou Linglan had never actually told Su Taotao about this. She’d never complained. Su Taotao had learned about it from the book’s plot. Zhou Linglan had always assumed Su Taotao couldn’t tell what was what since she didn’t work in the fields, but clearly, she had a sharp grasp of everything.

Fu Zhengtou’s eyes turned dark as ink. When he looked at Uncle Fu, his gaze was icy. “Is the village head position getting too hot for you? Forgotten how you got that role in the first place? I’ll go to the commune myself tomorrow and speak to Secretary Hu.”

Uncle Fu’s face turned ashen.

Fu Zhengtou had been out of touch for over two years. Uncle Fu assumed he was gone for good like his father and thus didn’t take the second branch of the family seriously. That plot of land really was the worst, and when Zhou Linglan initially refused, he planned to use that as an excuse to draw lots. But unexpectedly, she agreed—foolishly, in his view—and he took advantage. Who knew she’d settle scores later?

To be fair, he hadn’t done anything too outrageous to the second branch. The visit the other day had been triggered by someone’s anonymous complaint. Things just escalated in the moment. Aside from that, he normally just ignored them. He didn’t think he deserved this much backlash.

“Zhengtou, it’s not like that. I never bullied them. That Dalingtou plot—your mother agreed to it. If she’d objected, I would’ve reassigned it. And about the other day, someone wrote an anonymous report, so I had to check it out. Sure, my tone wasn’t great, but I already apologized.

“And about the river thing—if I hadn’t dragged your aunt along to wrestle her back from the King of Hell, you wouldn’t even be seeing your wife right now. If someone else had saved her, even if she lived, her reputation would’ve been ruined. You really should thank me for that.

“Granted, I’m not the best man, and I didn’t look after your family well, but I never meant to harm anyone.”

Fu Zhengtou’s aura shifted. He closed his eyes for a moment, then looked down at Su Taotao, his gaze now pitch black. “You jumped into the river? Why?”

Now Zhou Linglan and Fu Yuanhang both panicked a little.

Su Taotao had been doing so well since that incident. They’d kept it a secret on purpose to avoid stirring things up again, but they hadn’t expected Uncle Fu to blurt it out like this.

Uncle Fu seized the chance to take credit. “Wasn’t it because you were gone for so long? She didn’t want to live like a widow, so she used that to pressure me into signing her release papers so she could return to the city. But even if she was being difficult, she’s still a proper wife of the Fu family, married through a formal ceremony. Without your permission, I couldn’t let her go.”

Su Taotao: “…” Old fox Fu, no one would think you were mute if you kept your mouth shut.

Now how was she supposed to explain this?

What could she say—”It wasn’t me, I didn’t do it, please listen to my explanation”?

And to be fair… this actually wasn’t her doing.