Chapter 118 The Depravity of Men

Jiang Wanqiu felt hot all over from his gaze, swallowed hard, and forced herself not to let her legs go weak.

"You...you eat first," she shrank back, her eyes darting around, avoiding his gaze, "otherwise the food will get cold, and it'll be bad for your stomach."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Wenchang seemed to realize something and chuckled softly.

He deliberately moved an inch closer to her, his eyes and brows filled with an inscrutable emotion: "What? Afraid I won't have the energy to serve you later?"

Jiang Wanqiu was so amused by this sentence that she felt like her whole body was on fire.

At this moment, Jiang Wanqiu finally understood that some things are naturally easy to arouse the most primal evil in a man's bones.

Whether it's lust in bed or... a murderous desire that can't be brought to light, it's all the same.

She couldn't hold on any longer. She reached out and pushed hard against his chest. Taking advantage of his momentary daze, she slipped under his arm like an eel and ran into the inner room without looking back.

"I'm sleepy, I'm going to sleep!" she said, and crawled into the cold bed, wrapping herself up from head to toe, leaving only her long, black hair spread on the pillow.

As Zhao Wenchang watched her flee in disarray, the smile on his lips deepened.

He leisurely finished his meal outside, cleaned up the dishes, and washed up before going inside.

The room was lit only by a dim, old-fashioned table lamp. Jiang Wanqiu was lying on her side on the bed with her back to the door, breathing evenly, as if she had already fallen asleep.

Zhao Wenchang didn't point it out. He took off his coat, leaving only a close-fitting white shirt, and lay down beside her. The thick mattress sank down a bit under his weight.

He turned to the side, propping one long arm under his head, while using the other hand to lift the black lace lingerie and examine it closely in the dim light.

“Tsk,” he sighed softly, as if talking to himself, or as if deliberately speaking to someone, “This material is really nice, so smooth. It’s fine if you don’t let me wear it… I’ve seen a woman wear something similar once, but I just really want to see what’s different.”

Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, the woman who had been "sound asleep" stiffened.

Jiang Wanqiu suddenly opened her eyes, turned around, and her large, watery almond-shaped eyes were full of vigilance and interrogation, with no trace of sleepiness left.

"Who?" She squinted at the man. "Who do you think has worn this?"

Zhao Wenchang raised an eyebrow, his eyes almost overflowing with laughter: "Weren't you asleep?"

Seeing the woman's questioning gaze, as if she wanted to pounce on him and bite him, he slowly opened his mouth and said, "That woman is both far away and right in front of me."

"Me?" Jiang Wanqiu was stunned, then immediately shook her head, denying it outright. "I didn't! When did I wear this?"

"Oh?" Zhao Wenchang deliberately drew out his voice, leaning close to her ear, "That drunkard, have you forgotten? He got drunk at the village chief's house, and when he came back, he insisted on dragging me along, saying he wanted to show me a treasure. And what he pulled out was this very thing, wasn't it?"

He paused, looking at the woman's increasingly red face, and continued to embellish: "Not only did she show it to me, but she also insisted on changing into it, hugging me and rubbing against me incessantly, and in the end, I don't know who forced themselves on me."

Jiang Wanqiu's red lips parted slightly, and she was momentarily speechless.

Those hazy fragments of memory, soaked in alcohol, were instantly pieced together.

She seems... to have actually done something like that. That day she was incredibly bold; emboldened by alcohol, she grabbed this man...

She couldn't remember what happened after that.

But just thinking about what she might have looked like back then made Jiang Wanqiu want to cover her head and wail.

She was drunk that time and her mind wasn't clear. Now, if she were to wear it again while she was sober, and do it all over again... Jiang Wanqiu shuddered. She was afraid she really wouldn't be able to get out of bed tomorrow.

For the sake of her own life, she decided to fight to the end.

Looking at her defiant expression, determined not to wear it, Zhao Wenchang deliberately waved the item in front of her: "Really not going to wear it?"

"I won't wear it!"

He didn't force her anymore; he had no interest in forcing things.

He preferred to see this beautiful flower, worn down by his torment, crying and begging for mercy as she threw herself into his arms.

He casually tossed the garment aside, pulled the person into his arms, and his voice regained its seriousness: "Seriously, you and Le Yunyun... are you really planning to go back to your old ways and do this business?"

With his hug, Jiang Wanqiu let go of her awkwardness. She found a comfortable position in his arms and mumbled an "Mmm," "For now, I think we should just take it one step at a time and not rush things."

“If you want to sell this, you can’t sell it to ordinary people.” Zhao Wenchang’s fingers idly twirled her long hair. “The risk is too high. If even one jealous person reports it, it will be considered speculation and profiteering, a matter of conduct, and you’ll be in big trouble.”

Jiang Wanqiu lifted her head from his embrace, glanced at him sideways, and teased, "Oh, I didn't expect our Battalion Commander Zhao to have insights into this matter?"

"Even if you haven't eaten pork, you've still seen pigs run, right?" Zhao Wenchang pinched her cheek. "These kinds of things are more popular among wealthy and powerful families. I used to meet some people in Beijing, and the things they did behind the scenes were things that ordinary people like us would never have seen or even imagined in our entire lives. These people are much more accepting of these things than the average person."

That's true.

Jiang Wanqiu nodded. She had read in history books that wealthy men didn't even use spittoons when they spat; instead, they had beautiful maids catch their spit in their mouths. These maids were called "beauty spittoons."

Just thinking about that scene made Jiang Wanqiu feel nauseous.

She abruptly covered her mouth, her face instantly turning pale.

"What's wrong?" Zhao Wenchang immediately noticed that something was wrong with her, and put his hand on her shoulder to look at her.

"It's nothing..." Jiang Wanqiu waved her hand, and it took her a while to catch her breath. "It's been like this for a while now. I probably caught a cold from the wind a few days ago."

Zhao Wenchang, unsuspecting, reached out and pulled her even tighter into his arms, warming her with his own body heat. He then pulled the blanket over them both, saying, "It's alright, just cover yourself up tightly. You'll feel better after you sweat it out."

"Aren't you afraid I'll pass it on to you?" Jiang Wanqiu muttered softly.

Zhao Wenchang chuckled softly, kissed her forehead, and said with complete confidence, "Don't worry, your man has never been sick since he was a child."

The next day, just as dawn was breaking.

There's already some activity in the Le family's detached courtyard.

Le Bai tiptoed upstairs and knocked on her sister Le Yunyun's door: "Sis, get up, Dad is downstairs waiting for you to have breakfast."

There was no movement inside.

He knocked again: "Sister?"

"Get out!" A pillow slammed onto the door with a "bang".

Le Yunyun was studying her business plan and collecting contact information for potential clients until midnight last night, and she's sleepy right now.

Upon hearing this, Le Bai shrank back, shut his mouth, and obediently went downstairs to eat.

At the dining table, Chief Le frowned as he looked at the empty seat next to Le Bai: "Where's Yunyun? Hasn't she gotten up yet?"

"My sister..."

"I'll go call her." Cuiyun, the cook at home, quickly put down what she was holding and wiped her hands. "Miss must have stayed up late reading last night."

Sister-in-law Cuiyun went upstairs and, after much persuasion, finally managed to get Le Yunyun out of bed.

"My dear lady, please get up quickly. The commander's face is dark. He'll get angry and start arguing with you again."

Unable to bear the nagging any longer, Le Yunyun came downstairs with her messy, bird's-nest-like hair and still in her pajamas, plopped down at the dining table, grabbed a steamed bun, and stuffed it into her mouth.

Madam Le glared at her, too lazy to say anything, and turned to her youngest son, Le Bai, and said gently, "Xiao Bai, you'll be eighteen after the New Year, a grown man now. I've arranged a few girls for you, why don't you go and meet them when you have time? A man should settle down and get married early, then we'll feel at ease."

Le Bai, who was drinking porridge, paused. He pursed his lips, hesitated for a moment, then looked up and said softly, "Mom, I...I want to talk to her myself."

Upon hearing her son's words, Madam Le's face showed some disapproval: "Talk to him yourself? Xiao Bai, you're so honest, how would you know what those people outside are thinking? Given our family's situation, countless eyes are watching us, hoping to get on our good side. What if we get tricked by those scheming girls?"

“Mom, how old is Le Bai? He’s not a three-year-old anymore. Why are you so strict with him?” Le Yunyun, who was struggling with a steamed bun, mumbled, “Let him go out and make his own way. Once he’s been cheated out of everything and has learned his lesson, he’ll naturally know to come home and behave.”

Le Yunyun was fine until she opened her mouth, and Chief Le couldn't help but say, "How dare you talk about your brother? Look at yourself first! A woman in her mid-twenties, staying at home all day, not working or looking for a partner, is that appropriate? We arranged a clerical job for you in the military region, a leisurely and respectable one, but you refused to go no matter what. What else do you want to do?"

Finally, he didn't forget to compare Yue Bai with Yue Yunyun, saying, "Look at your younger brother, he's so much less of a worry!"

Le Yunyun swallowed the steamed bun in her mouth with force, her neck stiffened, and she retorted without showing any weakness: "Easy to deal with? I don't know who it was that sent telegrams abroad every few days, begging me to come back! Now that I'm back, you're complaining that I'm in your way? If I had known it would be like this, I would have preferred not to come back!"

Seeing that the father and daughter were about to start arguing again, Madam Le quickly tried to smooth things over. While giving her husband a wink, she took her daughter's hand and advised, "Yunyun, how can you talk to your father like that! He's only doing this for your own good. For a girl, whether she works or not doesn't really matter. The key is to find a reliable husband and live a comfortable life. That's better than anything else."

"A reliable in-law family?" Le Yunyun strongly disagreed with this. "Mom, in this world, trees may fall, and people may run away! I'd rather trust myself than rely on a man for my whole life!"

"You think you can do this?" Chief Le sneered. "Your skills haven't improved, but your arrogance is certainly impressive!"

"Just you wait and see!" Le Yunyun suddenly stood up, said this, grabbed her coat, and walked out. "I'll make a name for myself sooner or later!"

Seeing this, Le Bai quickly finished the porridge in his bowl in a few gulps and stood up as well: "Dad, Mom, the cultural troupe has a lot of rehearsal work today, so I'll be leaving first."

After saying that, he hurriedly chased after her.