Chapter 47: Pitiful and Lovable, Lady Su

On a dark and windy night, he traveled through the forest paths, taking a detour to enter Zhongtao Village.

Having visited Ma Liu's house once before, Chen Jie quickly located the household with the large locust tree in the courtyard.

The gate was locked. Chen Jie climbed over the wall into the yard, found a shovel, and made his way to the base of the large locust tree. After a bout of digging, he unearthed a small wine jar.

He gave it a shake; there was movement inside, sounding like silver.

Chen Jie looked left and right to ensure no one was watching, then poured out the contents. A few pieces of broken silver fell out; added together, they amounted to exactly five taels.

Money acquired.

Chen Jie buried the wine jar back where it was, stepped lightly over the wall, jumped onto a nearby haystack, and with a few quick movements, vanished into the night.

After leaving Zhongtao Village, he did not rush home. Instead, he detoured through Xiaotao Village, fearing he might be followed.

It wasn't until after two in the morning that he finally arrived home.

He opened the courtyard gate and pushed the bedroom door open gently, only to find that it wasn't locked. Chen Jie frowned slightly—hadn't he asked her to lock it?

He entered the room quietly, careful not to wake the Su sisters.

Just as he stepped inside, a timid voice suddenly rang out from within the room: "Is that you, husband?"

Huh?

Chen Jie froze. "Yunjin?"

Phew. Chen Jie lit the oil lamp and saw Su Yunjin curled up on his bed, clutching a rolling pin, looking extremely nervous.

"Why aren't you asleep!"

"Mm."

Su Yunjin nodded softly.

Her body was trembling slightly, a result of the fear of being alone in the dark for so long. To save money, she had been hesitant to even light an oil lamp.

She had spent the night alone in the darkness like this.

She didn't dare sleep, terrified that her husband might not return.

Her mind had been racing like a movie, waves of images surfacing in her head.

Images of Chen Jie dying a tragic death outside, Chen Jie being hunted after killing someone, Chen Jie having his limbs broken and crawling through a pool of blood...

All sorts of horrific thoughts had flooded her mind.

Until this moment, when light had once again returned to the world.

"Husband!"

Su Yunjin looked up, her eyes already brimming with tears, but being a woman of strong character, she did not cry.

Seeing this, Chen Jie felt a surge of emotion and pulled her into an embrace. "It's alright, it's all alright now."

He gently patted her back, soothing her emotions.

Only then did Su Yunjin's expression relax. Chen Jie took the rolling pin from her hand and asked, "If you were scared, why didn't you bolt the door?"

"I... I was afraid you wouldn't be able to get in when you returned!"

Chen Jie laughed. "And you're using this for self-defense? What villain would be afraid of a rolling pin? You should have taken a kitchen knife."

"I... I didn't dare."

As Su Yunjin spoke, Chen Jie affectionately cupped her face, using his thumbs to wipe the tears from her cheeks.

"Next time, remember to bolt the door."

Su Yunjin asked, "There will be a next time?"

Chen Jie fell silent. "Although I want to say there won't be a next time, I don't want to lie to you. Wife, in this world, if we don't make changes, we will always be the ones getting hurt."

"So, for the sake of this family, and for you and Ruirui, your husband has certain things he must do. Do you understand?"

Su Yunjin looked at Chen Jie's serious face and the determination in his eyes.

That sense of masculine responsibility and the urge to protect his family moved her deeply; this was the husband she was meant to marry.

Everything her husband did was for the sake of their home, and she could not, under any circumstances, become a burden to him.

Deeply moved, she reached out and took the initiative to give Chen Jie a kiss.

Huh?!

Chen Jie looked at Su Yunjin in surprise. Her face was now as red as an apple, her eyes filled with tenderness and allure.

With her head lowered, her shy and hesitant expression made Chen Jie's heart race.

It wasn't that he hadn't seen women before; in his past life, when he ran a live-streaming company, he had seen all kinds of flirtatious women. But a woman like Su Yunjin was something he had truly never encountered.

Women in modern society were rarely this pure and simple. To a man who had seen all manner of seductive types, this kind of beauty was precious.

To put it simply, this was the kind of woman suited to be a primary wife.

The others were fine for a fling, but as for marrying them home? Forget it.

...

The next day, Chen Jie woke up and looked at Su Yunjin, who was sleeping beside him in her clothes.

A smile played on his lips. There hadn't been much indecency last night—not because Chen Jie wasn't capable, but because he didn't want to.

If it had been the "vixens" from his company in his past life, he would likely be naked and intimately entwined with them by now.

But for this woman who had endured so much hardship, he wanted to be gentle, to take it slow.

He wanted his love for her to develop naturally—not to love because of sex, but to have sex because of love.

Moreover, they had already taken the most important step by sleeping in the same bed.

All that remained was a thin veil of paper that Chen Jie could pierce at any time; he simply wanted a sense of special ritual.

In his youth, he only wanted things to happen quickly, but after experiencing the heights of prosperity and returning to simplicity, he realized that the process was actually the most pleasurable part.

Chen Jie's movements caused Su Yunjin to slowly wake up.

Her scattered hair drifted near her mouth, making her look even more enchanting, possessing a special kind of languid beauty.

She was resting her head on the crook of Chen Jie's arm, her chest clothing slightly disarrayed.

She remembered the passion of yesterday, and her face flushed deep red. They had kissed everywhere—from her lips to her ears to her neck.

His hands had been restless, wandering everywhere.

It was only at the final step that he had asked her tenderly, "Are you ready?"

She had hesitated. It wasn't that she didn't love him, but rather that she felt a certain fear...

They had never taken that step.

Before she was eighteen, her mother-in-law had strictly demanded she follow her grandfather's instructions and remain a virgin.

After she turned eighteen, her mother-in-law died, and he had fallen into a gambling addiction. He rarely came home, and when he did, he was always drunk, either hitting or scolding her. He even believed the rumors that she was a jinx, that anyone who associated with her would meet misfortune.

He loved gambling and believed in such things most of all; fearing she would ruin his luck, he never touched her.

Thus, after a year of marriage, she was still a virgin, which was quite ironic.

Although he had changed now and was willing to touch her, she still felt fear regarding her "first time." Coupled with the rumors that she was a jinx, she was afraid of ruining Chen Jie's fortune.

That was why she had hesitated yesterday, preventing him from taking the final step, yet he had remained so gentle.

"Wife, if you don't want to, I won't force you."

"Husband, if you... if you really want to, I..."

"It's alright. I want you to be able to let go of your burdens."

"Husband, give me a little time, I..."

"Mm. I will wait until you are ready to give yourself completely to me. It's getting late, sleep."

And so, she spent the night in the warmth of his broad arms. They held each other, providing one another with the greatest warmth in that cold and dark night.

That night, he was like a beam of light that illuminated her heart. She even regretted not being more proactive; with a man like this, what was she still hesitating for?

And just like that, the day broke...

The day broke so quickly...

(End of Chapter)