Chapter 7: That Was Close

It was true that she snuck into the woods and looked for a better option, but when it came to that aspect, the original owner was quite traditional and always upheld her last line of defense.

The reason she agreed to marry Xie Fangzhu wasn’t because her reputation was bad and she couldn’t marry into a good family, but because her ex-fiancé worked at the same coal mine as Xie Fangzhu.

Since her ex-fiancé started working, he had never returned to the village. In order to see him again, she agreed to marry Xie Fangzhu for her parents.

When she arrived at the mine area, her ex-fiancé reluctantly told her that the breakup had been his family’s decision. His family didn’t allow him to marry a village girl and pressured him to marry a girl with a mine area household registration.

After hearing this, the original owner, who had always thought her ex-fiancé betrayed her, couldn’t bring herself to feel angry anymore.

She loved her ex-fiancé so much. In order to make him never forget her, she was willing to give him her most cherished and pure body, and then quietly live her life with Xie Fangzhu, someone she despised.

But her ex-fiancé rejected her, saying he couldn’t betray his wife.

The original owner broke down. Was it acceptable for him to be unwilling to betray his wife but to betray her, who was already so humble?

She couldn’t accept this and turned bitter.

She swore she would find a man who was even more powerful than her ex-fiancé and make him see that, although she was a village girl, there were men even more powerful than him who would want to marry her.

At that time, her ex-fiancé had already become the communications officer at the mine.

Meanwhile, Xie Fangzhu, who had a bad background, still worked underground and was only a deputy shift leader, clearly didn’t meet the “more powerful” criteria.

So, she set her sights on the leaders of the mine, hoping to climb up the social ladder.

But those leaders were no fools. The unmarried ones didn’t look at her, and the married ones wouldn’t give up their stable marriages for a married village girl like her. They only viewed her as someone to play with.

The original owner was patient, as long as they didn’t talk about marriage certificates, she wouldn’t let them touch her.

But as time went on, seeing that her ex-fiancé had children, she began to feel a little anxious.

It was at this point that she saw an outsider who claimed to be the “factory director.” Not only did he want to marry her, but he also promised to arrange a job for her. Her head was instantly clouded with excitement, and without a second thought, she ran off with him.

For this, Shen Yingying both felt relieved and speechless. She was glad the original owner had a bottom line but also speechless about the original owner’s unusual thought process.

If only the original owner had been smarter, Shen Yingying wouldn’t have had to run from the 21st century to take the fall.

She glanced at Xie Fangzhu, who was sitting with his back to her on the bed, her brows furrowing into a tight knot.

She wouldn’t have to embarrass herself by sweet-talking and deceiving the big villain!

Perhaps because Shen Yingying’s gaze was too “intense,” Xie Fangzhu sensed it and instinctively turned around, meeting her eyes full of resentment.

To her surprise, Xie Fangzhu suddenly turned around, and Shen Yingying’s heart skipped a beat.

But her expression changed faster than flipping a book. She quickly buttoned up the last button and rushed over to him.

“Speaking of which, I still haven’t settled the score with you.”

Xie Fangzhu lowered his eyes and looked at the woman in front of him. Her beautiful face showed both anger and grievance, as if she had been wronged terribly.

He didn’t react immediately. “Settle the score?”

“Yes!” Shen Yingying nodded firmly. “I told you I’m pure, but you didn’t believe me. Now that I’ve proven it to you, what are you going to do about it?”

Xie Fangzhu glanced at the glaring red stain and seemed to remember something. His thoughts were interrupted, and his face heated up.

Actually, from the moment he decided to take her, he had been prepared to be deceived.

He had been bullied by many people since he was young, but she was the first one willing to treat him like this.

Although he didn’t want to admit it, he did like this feeling. Even if she was pretending, as long as she kept up the act, what did it matter?

But he hadn’t expected her words to be true.

In that moment, everything he thought he knew about Shen Yingying crumbled.

He even started to doubt again. Could her previous harshness and ferocity just have been a way to grab his attention?

Upon careful reflection, he realized that although he had always been obedient to her, whenever she scolded and yelled at him, he never said a word.

Facing someone who could not provoke any reaction, someone whose punch felt like hitting cotton, it really made him angrier?

He convinced himself and spoke with a hoarse voice: “Sorry, I scared you today. I thought you ran off with someone else, and I got really mad.”

Upon hearing this, Shen Yingying, pretending to be angry, couldn’t help but roll her eyes inwardly.

You were mad?

Go ahead and keep pretending.

She had read the book and clearly saw Xie Fangzhu’s true feelings at that time.

To exaggerate a little, he was so happy that he could’ve danced a folk dance right there and then.

Shen Yingying’s inner sarcasm was overwhelming, but her outward expression remained unchanged. She frowned, as if she was deeply displeased by his words.

“Speaking of this, I’m even angrier! It’s one thing if others don’t believe me, but you’re my husband. If you don’t believe me, I’m really so wronged and sad!”

It seemed that her words had struck a painful chord, and her eyes reddened again.

“Not only that, I finally gathered the courage to kiss you, and you called me shameless. Now that I think about it, my heart hurts so much, I feel so wronged! I married you because I wanted you to love me, not to be treated like this.”

Hearing her accuse him like this, Xie Fangzhu couldn’t help but feel a bit of a headache. Wasn’t he already “loving” her enough?

In the entire mine, he didn’t think there was any man who treated his wife better than he did. In front of her, he was almost willing to lower himself to the dust.

Although he was pretending, the actions were real.

If anyone was wronged, it should be him, right?

But when he glanced at her pitiful face, the words he was about to say were swallowed down.

She even patted her back and softly coaxed, “Alright, alright, don’t be angry. I was scared by you back then.”

“I don’t believe you!”

Shen Yingying pursed her lips, looking even angrier, and turned around with her back to him as if sulking.

“I think you just think I’m shameless and dirty! Since that’s the case, I don’t want to stay with you anymore. I told you before, if I am pure, we’ll get a divorce. Do you remember what I said?”

Shen Yingying waited for a moment, but when she didn’t hear a response from behind, she knew her test had failed and quickly turned around.

Sure enough, what met her eyes was Xie Fangzhu’s face, filled with shadowy clouds. His light-colored eyes were dark and stormy, looking dangerously upset.

Xie Fangzhu felt his previously calm mood crash to the bottom. After all her circling around, was she just trying to say she wanted a divorce?

Was she pretending all along?

Had she been able to pretend for only this short time, and now she couldn’t keep it up?

His brows furrowed, staring intensely at her face, and his voice became heavy, “What did you promise me?”

Seeing the storm brewing, Shen Yingying quickly changed her expression. Tears immediately welled up and spilled over, and she angrily hammered her fists against his chest, her eyes red.

“You… How could you be so unromantic? I was just joking with you, but you took it seriously. If I really wanted a divorce, would I have agreed to stay with you forever?”

Her slender, pale arms climbed up around his neck, her eyes full of tears, and her face filled with grievance.

“…I just wanted you to comfort me, but instead of comforting me, all I see is your sour face. It really makes me feel uncomfortable. You don’t understand me! I’m telling you, next time I get mad…”

She took his hand and placed it on her face, speaking in a soft, coaxing voice:

“You should hold me and say: ‘Wife, I was wrong. It’s my fault. How could I ever dislike you? You’re my heart and soul, my precious, I love you so much…’”

Xie Fangzhu: “…”

The sudden change in her tone caught him off guard