CHAPTER 74: CHAPTER 73: XIE FENGMIAN BEATS YE XIAOTONG

I didn’t get to eat, spent money, the woman ran away, and I lost so much face.

When Fengmian got home, his face was as dark as the bottom of a pot.

And just at that moment, Xiaotong acted as if she hadn’t seen a thing, sidling over and asking in a pinched tone.

"Fengmian, why are you home so late?"

"The food is cold, should I heat it up for you?"

Xiaotong’s voice was always ordinary; if he hadn’t seen her fierce side, Fengmian used to find her gentle voice quite pleasant before.

But ever since he saw her other side, Fengmian couldn’t stand Xiaotong’s voice; especially now when she was speaking in a deliberately soft manner, it gave him goosebumps.

Without responding to the attentive Xiaotong, he went straight to the room, planning to think about how to win back Cheng Yuan.

As for Xiaotong, since she was pregnant, Fengmian intended to wait until she delivered the baby and then see how things would go.

Xiaotong didn’t think much, assuming Fengmian was just in a bad mood. When she heated up the food, she even fried an egg especially, smelling so delicious she almost couldn’t resist eating it herself.

Back at the Ye Family, they rarely got to eat eggs; even if they had them, one egg would be used to make steamed egg custard, which everyone shared.

Only after marrying into the Xie Family did she get to eat eggs often, and since the Xie Family’s business was raising chickens and ducks, they frequently had chicken and duck to eat too.

For Xiaotong, this was the life she had dreamed of, so she couldn’t bear to leave, even though Fengmian ignored her and Mr. and Mrs. Xie often gave her dirty looks, she felt it was still better than being at the Ye Family.

After bringing the hot dishes to the table, Xiaotong wiped her hands on her clothes and went to the room to call Fengmian.

"Fengmian, the food is ready, you must be starving, come and eat, I fried an egg too."

She approached, acting gently and considerately, wanting to wake Fengmian up, but just as Fengmian was about to doze off.

Startled by her touch on his face, the strong smell of oil and smoke rushed into his nose, instantly nauseating him.

He pushed her away with the back of his hand, his tone filled with annoyance and impatience.

"So annoying, I don’t want to eat, can’t you see I’m trying to sleep?"

Just a mere egg, didn’t the Xie Family raise chickens and ducks? He had been eating this stuff for over twenty years and was sick of it. Only a countryside bumpkin like her would act like it was a prized possession and insist on showing it off to him.

It was truly annoying.

Xiaotong stumbled backward from his push, instinctively protecting her belly and grabbing the nearby table to keep from falling.

Today, Fengmian seemed even more impatient with her than usual.

He normally wouldn’t push her like that.

Xiaotong felt wronged; she was pregnant, yet Fengmian still laid hands on her, wasn’t he afraid of hurting the baby?

"Boo hoo hoo..."

"Fengmian, what’s wrong with you? If there’s something on your mind, you can talk to me, there’s no need to treat me like this, we are husband and wife, what can’t be said between us? Whatever the issue is, we can solve it together..."

She started to cry softly, extremely aggrieved, thinking Fengmian was upset because of issues at the factory, so she deliberately spoke in an understanding manner, trying to get Fengmian to open up to her.

But Fengmian wasn’t thinking about any of that; her affected voice just irritated him. He had already said he wanted to sleep, yet this stupid woman kept whining and crying as if he were at death’s door.

"Are you crying for my funeral? How annoying! Get out and stop bothering me!"

Xiaotong kept crying nonstop, and Fengmian, extremely vexed, shouted out his true feelings. His yell startled Xiaotong into a shiver.

And Fengmian felt an immense sense of relief.

He had always felt restless dealing with Xiaotong, and with her being pregnant he had nowhere to vent his frustration. Today, he had lost face because of He Chen outside, leaving him very upset. Now, having shouted, Fengmian felt immensely pleased.

"Fengmian... I didn’t, I just asked you so much because I’m worried about you."

"I care about you..."

Xiaotong couldn’t hold back her tears, her body was still shivering, and Fengmian saw that she couldn’t understand a word he said, and his anger surged again.

He pulled out his belt and delivered a hard lash to Xiaotong’s sobbing arm.

"I told you to stop crying for my funeral! Cry!"

Fengmian hit her, making Xiaotong scream in agony. For some reason, her scream gave him immense satisfaction, making him unable to resist hitting her again.

"If you don’t get out, I’ll beat you to death!"

The belt soared through the air with a sharp whistle, leaving two bright red welts on her arm, burning painfully, agonizing to the core.

Xiaotong gasped in pain, no longer daring to question what nerve Fengmian had struck or stay in the room any longer, hastily scrambling out while crying.

After Fengmian finished hitting her, he felt like a heavy burden had been lifted from his heart, feeling delightfully relieved.

He lay back onto the bed, picked up the belt in his hand, looked at it and couldn’t help but laugh.

It was much more satisfying to be the one doing the hitting!

He couldn’t beat He Chen, but hitting Xiaotong was easy, wasn’t it?

Just that stupid woman, so rustic and ignorant, and vain—so even if he hit her, as long as she wanted a good life, she wouldn’t be willing to divorce him.

Xiaotong didn’t know what Fengmian was thinking. She was running out while crying, not knowing where to go, wandering around for a while before remembering she could go back to her maternal home.

So she hurriedly headed on foot towards Qingshui Village; it was the first time she’d walked back alone over such a long distance.

No tractor, no bicycle, and she was pregnant.

The two red welts on her arm had swollen, turning somewhat bruised and looking terrifyingly serious, the pain excruciatingly sharp, making it impossible to control her expressions, crying as she walked.

After much difficulty, she was near Qingshui Village, and upon seeing the village from afar, hurriedly wiped her tears, trying to look pleased, ignoring the injury on her arm and walking normally.

She looked just like someone simply returning to visit her family.

If one ignored her empty hands and red, swollen eyes.

Just then, she suddenly heard a bicycle bell behind her.

Someone was cycling?

Instinctively, she turned to look back and saw the very last person she wanted to see now.

The cyclist was He Chen, with Ye Manman seated at the back, carrying a lot of things, the basket at the front filled, the handlebars hung with bags, and Ye Manman’s hands holding some items too.

A glance showed all the things she often saw in town but couldn’t bring herself to buy.

Ye Manman hadn’t expected to encounter Xiaotong on the way back to the village, especially since Xiaotong was pregnant; given her prideful nature, it wasn’t like her to walk back to the village.

But today, they ran into each other.

Moreover, Xiaotong seemed to have been crying, her eyes red and swollen.

Ye Manman wasn’t in the habit of kicking someone when they’re down, intending to avoid greeting her to spare her any embarrassment. However, Xiaotong, for some reason, blocked their way.

With those red and swollen eyes clearly from crying, she looked at them both with disdain and mocked them.

"Ha, buying so many things, you must be using the money Fengmian gave you last time, right?"