Chapter 39: Do You Hit Your Wife?

Su Taotao sighed and met Fu Zhengtou’s gaze. “Are you sure you want to say these things in front of outsiders?”

She stressed the word “outsiders.”

“Uncle, please go back,” Fu Zhengtou said to Uncle Fu, but his eyes were fixed on Su Taotao.

Uncle Fu thought his words had an effect and took the opportunity to stir the pot. “Zhengtou, let me tell you, you can’t spoil your wife. If you don’t punish her, she’ll just act all sweet and obedient in front of you. But she’s actually wild…”

Fu Zhengtou’s gaze shifted from Su Taotao’s face to Uncle Fu’s, giving him a cold look.

Uncle Fu immediately fell silent and changed his approach. “Well, about Secretary Hu…”

Fu Zhengtou cut him off. “Please leave!”

His words were respectful, but his tone was anything but.

Uncle Fu, who knew Fu Zhengtou a bit better, understood that if he didn’t stop now, things could escalate to the point where Fu Zhengtou might even take away his village head position.

He rubbed his nose awkwardly. “I’ll go back then. After all, a married couple has their bond. Don’t be too harsh, though. If things get out, it won’t look good for anyone.”

Zhou Linglan could no longer hold back. “Uncle, our men aren’t like yours. Our men don’t hit women. Just go home.”

Su Taotao sighed and met Fu Zhengtou’s gaze. “Are you sure you want to say these things in front of others?”

She emphasized the word “others.”

“Uncle, please go back first,” Fu Zhengtou said to his uncle, though his eyes were still fixed on Su Taotao.

Uncle Fu thought his words had made an impact and took the opportunity to stoke the flames. “Zhengtou, let me tell you, you can’t spoil your wife. If you don’t discipline her, she’ll act all sweet and obedient in front of you, but she’s actually wild…”

Fu Zhengtou’s gaze moved away from Su Taotao’s face and he shot Uncle Fu a cold look.

Uncle Fu immediately fell silent and quickly changed the subject. “Well, about Secretary Hu…”

Fu Zhengtou interrupted him. “Please leave!”

His words were respectful, but his tone was not.

Uncle Fu, who had some understanding of his nephew, realized that if he didn’t stop now, things might escalate to the point where Fu Zhengtou could even remove him from his village head position.

He awkwardly rubbed his nose. “Then I’ll go back. After all, a married couple has their bond. Don’t be too harsh, though. If things get out, it won’t sound good.”

Zhou Linglan couldn’t take it anymore. “Uncle, our men are different from yours. Our men don’t hit women. Just go home.”

Fu Zhengtou calmly led Su Taotao into the room. Once they were inside, Su Taotao seriously asked, “Do you hit your wife?”

Fu Zhengtou was momentarily taken aback, then smiled and shook his head. “No, the men in our family never hit women.”

Su Taotao sighed. This man’s smile was dangerous; how could he be so handsome?

“Do you want to hear my explanation?” she asked again.

Fu Zhengtou shook his head. “It’s not important. I want to ask you something. Do you still want to go back to the city?”

Before, he didn’t really understand “Su Taotao” and had married her not entirely out of his own will. Since she seemed so eager to marry him, he thought he could just keep her as a kind of “status symbol” of marriage. After all, they were going to get married and have children anyway, so it didn’t matter who he married. He didn’t have much time to waste on a woman.

But time had a huge effect on a person. Now, he couldn’t find a trace of the “old Su Taotao” in the woman before him. The woman now could relax and bring him joy, and they had a child together. This made him rethink his definition of marriage and wife. It seemed he should put more effort into understanding her, and he was willing to do so.

Su Taotao nodded honestly. “I wanted to marry you back then because I didn’t want to live in the countryside anymore. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to, but I just didn’t have the ability to live in the countryside.”

She looked at her thin arms and legs. “With this body, I’d starve to death trying to live off farming and earning work points. Back then, my vision and perspective were too narrow. I just thought if I clung to you, my hunger problems would be solved. But you left, and what was I supposed to do?”

Half-joking, half-serious, she continued, weaving a tale with a sharp tongue, “Before I had Chenchen, I was just messing around, hoping to live off others. But then, unexpectedly, I had Chenchen, and the money you left was gone. You still hadn’t come back, and with my parents and children, I had to figure out a way to make a living without working the land.”

She looked down at her hands and continued, “So even if you never came back, I could still manage. It would just be harder. I couldn’t just leave them behind and return to the city, even though there were times when I thought about it. It was only natural.”

“As for the river incident, that was an accident. I just wanted to make a scene in front of Uncle Fu, but I ended up falling in.”

She couldn’t exactly tell Fu Zhengtou that “Su Taotao’s” awful biological mother had never cared for Chenchen, didn’t want him, and had only wanted to abandon the whole family and return to the city to rekindle an old romance.

She didn’t want to take the blame, but she had to offer a reasonable explanation for the river incident, or it would be a sore point in their relationship, even if they had no deep feelings yet.

Fu Zhengtou listened, feeling guilty. She was just a young, unsupported woman sent to the countryside. She thought marrying him would give her a foundation, but little did she know, he hadn’t taken their marriage seriously at all. He didn’t even consider her a true wife at the time.

After returning to his work, he hadn’t thought about her even once. When he received her photo, she had felt like a stranger to him.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

He wanted to say that it wouldn’t happen again, but his work didn’t allow him to make such promises. Who knew when he would be fully disconnected from the outside world again?

He couldn’t even offer her an explanation.

Su Taotao knew that working in national security-related research required top-secret confidentiality. Someone like Fu Zhengtou, a great scientific researcher, often had little control over his circumstances. His family and military wives were in the same situation—they could only silently support the men behind them.

Su Taotao didn’t want to pretend she didn’t understand. “I forgive you, so please forgive me as well.”

Fu Zhengtou looked into her clear, clean eyes, his heart filled with mixed emotions. After a long pause, he nodded and said one word, “Okay.”

“There’s one more thing I don’t want you to hear from anyone else,” Su Taotao added.