Chapter 3: Sharp Tongue

“Go back.” Lu Zhao, with his sharp tongue, responded without even lifting his head. It sounded exactly like the way the two of them used to bicker before.

Annoyed, he put out the fire in the stove. The rice was half-cooked, the dishes weren’t properly stir-fried—how the hell was anyone supposed to eat this crap?

Might as well go get his mother to cook!

Lu Zhao stood up. At 189 centimeters tall, all muscle, he looked like a giant when he got to his feet. If the ceiling were any lower, he’d have hit it.

He was just about to say he’d take Su Yunqi to his parents’ place for dinner when he suddenly realized the kitchen was empty again.

Where did she run off to?

Lu Zhao went back to the bedroom to look for her.

“Su Yunqi? Where did you go?”

Su Yunqi was squatting behind the door, clutching her bundle, silently crying.

On the first day of her marriage, Lu Zhao told her to get lost and go back to her parents’ house—wuwuwu.

If it hadn’t been for that thug stalking her, she wouldn’t have even wanted to marry into his family in the first place! And now that she had married in, Lu Zhao had already touched her, yet he still wanted to drive her away.

She held her bundle tightly but had no idea where to go. If she went back home, her parents would definitely worry, and that thug would also come looking for her. She was even more afraid of going somewhere else.

What if I ran into another bad guy? My life would be completely ruined.

She had never imagined she’d have a day where she was homeless. And now she was in pain, hungry, dizzy—it felt like she was dying.

Su Yunqi buried her head into her bundle and cried silently.

There was no one in the bedroom. Lu Zhao frowned and was just about to go out and search again when he suddenly heard a soft sobbing sound. He rushed to the back of the door.

Sure enough, he found his little wife behind it. “What are you doing here!”

Hearing the gruff voice from above her head, Su Yunqi felt even more upset.

She looked up with aggrieved eyes, her tear-filled gaze already swollen and red from crying.

“I know you don’t want me either! If it weren’t for my dad coming to find you, you wouldn’t have married me! Once you drive off that thug, I’ll go home. I’ll return the bride price and everything—you won’t need to give me a single cent!”

“Anyway, you’ve already touched me. You’re a hooligan yourself. Helping me get rid of one more hooligan shouldn’t be that hard for you! After that, we’ll call it even!”

Lu Zhao was already in a bad mood. When he heard his little wife say she was going home and that they’d call it even, he got even more irritated. His face darkened and his voice turned harsh.

“You think it’s all over just because you say so? Who the hell agreed to that? What about all the money I spent on the wedding banquet, huh?”

“My dad and mom will pay you back!”

Su Yunqi retorted stubbornly, tears streaming non-stop like a flood breaking through a dam.

He knew she was spoiled, but he didn’t expect her to be this delicate—just one missed meal and she was already so upset she wanted to return to her parents’ house and separate from him.

Lu Zhao was so mad he almost laughed. If he had known this would happen, he wouldn’t have bothered trying to cook; he should’ve just taken her to his mother’s place to eat. It would’ve saved him all this crap.

That line earlier—“go back”—he hadn’t even thought it through. And yet Su Yunqi had taken it seriously.

Frustrated, he grabbed the bundle from Su Yunqi’s arms and tossed it onto the bed. Then, looking fierce, he yanked her away.

“What are you doing? Where are we going? You’re not going!”

Su Yunqi struggled fearfully, but Lu Zhao’s whole body was solid as a rock. She couldn’t move him at all.

“Shut up!”

Lu Zhao was furious and didn’t even bother trying to comfort her. When she refused to move, he domineeringly picked her up and slung her over his shoulder.

He was tall and strong, and carrying the petite Su Yunqi was effortless.

Su Yunqi tried to struggle again.

“Try moving one more time?” He growled a threatening warning.

Su Yunqi froze. She couldn’t see his face, but she could tell he looked really fierce right now. She didn’t dare move again.

Not only was he kicking her out, now he was yelling and manhandling her too—wuwuwu—if she had known it would turn out like this, she never would’ve married him! She might as well have married that little bully instead! At least he wasn’t as awful as this big hooligan!

Su Yunqi lowered her head and stayed silent, only biting her lip and silently shedding tears. Her delicate face had turned pale from crying.

Lu Zhao carried his little wife over like that. When people on the street saw them, they had originally planned to comment on how sweet they looked, but when they saw Su Yunqi’s pale, tear-streaked face, they quickly shut their mouths. They then began gossiping about the young couple behind their backs.

“This is something! I told you, Lu Zhao isn’t the kind of guy you should marry! On their first day of marriage, he hits his wife! Look at how that little wife is crying—I’m heartbroken just looking at her! And he doesn’t even care!”

“Exactly! Su Yunqi is the prettiest girl in the surrounding ten villages! If it weren’t for us being afraid of that little bully, I’d have gone to propose to her myself. Why would she end up with this guy, Lu Zhao, who doesn’t even know how to treat his wife well?”

The villagers secretly criticized Lu Zhao behind his back.

But Lu Zhao had a bad reputation, so no one dared to confront him directly.

He carried Su Yunqi all the way to his parents’ house, but no one was there. Luckily, in the countryside, people didn’t lock their doors, so Lu Zhao just walked in. He rummaged through the kitchen and managed to find some leftover food.

“Eat!”

“If you don’t finish it, I’ll deal with you!” Lu Zhao slammed the table in frustration, his mood a mess.

Anyone who knew that his little wife wanted to get a divorce on the first day of their marriage would have a hard time staying in a good mood.

His mother couldn’t be bothered to cook every meal, so she had made dinner in advance for lunch as well. The food wasn’t exactly leftovers—there were stir-fried beans with meat, scrambled eggs, and bitter melon soup. However, there was no rice, only steamed corn buns.

The food actually looked decent.

But when Lu Zhao said: “I’ll deal with you.” Su Yunqi felt like he was threatening to hit her again.

She sniffled and let out a few soft sobs, but she didn’t know what to do either. She could only listen to Lu Zhao. She picked up the corn bun and took a bite, struggling to swallow it.

The corn bun was made from coarse grains, and her throat was small, making it hard for her to swallow.

It wasn’t that life was easier now; even during the difficult times, neither Father Su nor Mother Su had ever made her eat coarse grains. Even when they had to tighten their belts, they always made sure she ate fine grains, at most mixing coarse grains with fine ones. She had been pampered like that.

So, suddenly eating this coarse food, she couldn’t swallow it for a long time and even choked on it.

“Cough, cough, cough.”

“Quick, drink some water to wash it down! Who told you to eat this?”

Lu Zhao was both angry and distressed. He poured some bitter melon soup and fed it to her. The corn bun finally went down, but her mouth was filled with bitterness.

Su Yunqi felt like gagging, her pretty face scrunched up in discomfort.

She didn’t eat bitter melon.

Her eyes were red, and she felt like crying but didn’t. She thought to herself, this life was really unbearable.

“Eat a bit more…”

Lu Zhao was about to give her some meat and eggs to help her get through a few bites. He planned to call his mother back soon to cook more food.

Before he could finish his sentence, his mother, Chen Cuilan, returned. The elderly woman, still full of energy, rushed in with a bamboo broom she’d been using to sweep the leaves.

“You brat, what do you think you’re doing?! On your first day of marriage, you hit your wife! I thought you had changed, but I never expected this! Watch me not beat you to death!”

When Chen Cuilan saw Su Yunqi with her tearful eyes, she became even more convinced that the gossip outside was true. Furious, she shook with anger and immediately gave Lu Zhao a slap across the back.