How Many Days?
Who could blame him for worrying? He feared that her rosy face would freeze as she ran to the front yard early in the morning.
Whatever came to mind, he acted on it. Since he needed to go to the commune to send off relatives anyway, he also bought some napa cabbage to make things more comfortable for his wife at home. There was still some leftover meat from the event, so mixed together, they could make plenty of cabbage and pork dumplings.
Mother Lin originally wanted to save the meat for the New Year, but since her son cared so much for his wife, she had no choice but to let it go.
The whole family quickly prepared the filling and wrapped dumplings. Without hiring any outsiders, they made several trays in one night.
Since Su Su was given five days off for the wedding and because Mother Lin had learned about the bedding incident, she treated Su Su like a little wife who had been “mistreated” all night. Aside from helping with the dumplings, she didn’t let Su Su do any other chores.
After the dumplings were wrapped, Su Su returned to her room in the evening and saw Lin Chuan take a small brown paper packet out of his pocket. He poured its contents into a cup of hot water. It was red and looked like brown sugar…
You’re a grown man. Do you really need to be this meticulous?
“Drink it while it’s hot.” Lin Chuan handed her the enamel cup and then placed the brown sugar packet in a small kitchen cabinet. “If I’m not home next time, you can find it here to make yourself some.”
“Okay.” Although her luck was bad, the man was genuinely good.
“Su Su, how about visiting the barracks after the New Year? Or even working over there?”
“Sure! I can work anywhere.” After all, any place where he was felt like home.
Seeing her look up at him with a dependent gaze, Lin Chuan felt as if hundreds of tiny hands were scratching at his heart. He couldn’t resist leaning down to kiss her lips. He gently brushed her lips with his tongue—it was sweet, overwhelmingly so.
He hadn’t expected a kiss to feel so good. Yesterday, he had been too preoccupied with admiring her and focusing on “the main event,” so he hadn’t had a chance to savour her lips. Even though last night hadn’t gone as planned, kissing her now didn’t feel like a loss.
Su Su hadn’t expected Lin Chuan to be so direct after their marriage. She had thought he would be hesitant for a while. After all, in the novel, when he married the female lead, he had only tentatively held her hand. After being shaken off, he never touched her again.
But this was different. It seemed like he wanted to touch her, kiss her, and hold her at any given moment. Was this okay? It felt like she was living with a wolf, one that could devour her at any time.
“How many days?”
Suddenly, two words whispered in her ear startled Su Su. She realized she had already been kissed onto the kang bed—it was a dangerous situation.
“Five days.” Su Su once again cursed her weak willpower. But thinking of Lin Chuan’s physique, she swallowed nervously. She wanted to, but circumstances didn’t allow it.
Five days?
That’s torture. And his leave was ending the day after tomorrow.
Forget it. There would be plenty of time later. After all, she was already his wife. Where could she run?
He decided he’d have her visit him after the New Year. Then, he’d get the paperwork done, making her his legally in every sense.
With that thought, he helped her up and said, “I’m going outside for a run.” To avoid torturing himself any further, he needed to distract himself. Otherwise, the little one in the room was just too tempting, making it impossible to resist.
Su Su, too, felt helpless. The “meat on her plate” had just slipped away.
She comforted herself by laying out the bedding and leaning to one side to read a book. Before long, she was too tired and fell asleep. There was no helping it—day two of her period always drained her strength.
When Mother Lin came to deliver the frozen dumplings, she saw her daughter-in-law looking as fragile as a delicate flower. She had been so lively before, but now she must have been “worn out” by her eldest son. Everyone said three years in the army could make a sow look like Diao Chan (a legendary beauty), let alone such a fair-skinned wife. No, as a mother, she had to teach her son a lesson. He couldn’t just exhaust her during these few days off.
With that thought, she put the dumplings in the small backyard storage and turned to leave, just in time to see Lin Chuan running back, drenched in sweat and glowing red.
She curled her lip. This is the son I raised. I know exactly how strong he is. Don’t think I didn’t notice the bruises on her wrists. It must have been his doing.
“Come with me.”
“Yes?”
Suddenly called out by his mother, Lin Chuan didn’t know what was going on. He slowly followed her to the backyard where no one else was around. Lowering her voice, Mother Lin began, “You’re in your late twenties, not a teenager anymore. Can’t you control yourself? Su Su’s a city girl who’s never done hard labour—how can she handle your roughness? Didn’t you notice the bruises on her wrists? Is her body also covered in black and blue? Can’t you go easier on her? Let me tell you, doing it too much isn’t good for a woman. Let her rest for a day or two, understood?”
Lin Chuan: “…”
There was probably no groom more wronged than him. But he couldn’t explain, afraid his mother would worry even more.
“Why are you staring at me? Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“Yes.”
“Go to bed early tonight and let her rest.”
“Okay.”
“If I see you acting like a brute and bullying her again, I’ll bring her to live in the front yard, and you can sleep alone.” Mother Lin poked her son’s chest with her finger, only to find it hurting herself.
Lin Chuan scratched his head. For the first time, he wondered if he was truly her biological child.
After Mother Lin left, he returned to the house, feeling aggrieved, only to see Su Su weakly leaning to one side, sleeping soundly.
No wonder he’d been scolded—it was all because of this little girl. Sighing, he gently took the book from her hands and laid her properly on the kang bed. Even after all this, she didn’t wake, sleeping deeply.
He sat beside her, doing nothing, just staring at her as if he could never get enough.
“Su Su…” She was so beautiful. He couldn’t help but kiss the corner of her lips.
But it wasn’t enough. Carefully, he dared to do a little more.
Su Su dreamed of a lecher bothering her. In her anger, she reached out and slapped him, and the person ran off.
Feeling relieved, she continued her dream.
Meanwhile, Lin Chuan rubbed his face in disbelief. Who knew his wife would slap him in her sleep—and with so much force? He looked at her hand and noticed the bruises on her wrist from yesterday. She’s really delicate. I’ll have to be gentler in the future.
Still, holding his wife without being able to do anything was frustrating. After a while, he went outside to smoke. The freezing cold drove him back in, where he blew out the lamp and went to sleep.
In the middle of the night, Su Su realized Lin Chuan had gone out for a smoke because he came back smelling like it. Yet, instead of getting under the blanket, he lay on the other side with his own quilt. Was he disgusted with her?
Author’s note: Tragic.
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