Chapter 43 I can hug you however I want

Zhao Ping'an, standing to the side, only understood half of what was being said, finding the two city women's conversation convoluted and troublesome.

Seeing that the two seemed to be having a good chat, Zhao Ping'an shrank back, not wanting to suffer the cold with them.

He stepped forward and took the thick cotton-padded coat from Jiang Wanqiu's arms: "I'll take it first!" After saying that, he turned around and left without looking back.

With no one else around, Su Huai's slander became even more unrestrained.

Jiang Wanqiu looked at her coldly, not backing down: "Watch your mouth. The way you talk is so foul, people who don't know better would think you just ate shit."

"Who are you cursing!" Su Huai instantly bristled.

She's always the one lecturing others with grand principles; she's never been humiliated like this before.

She rushed over, her finger almost poking Jiang Wanqiu's face: "You capitalist parasite, what are you pretending to be so high and mighty for! You didn't sleep with men, so why don't you have to work? Everyone in the team knows that you hooked up with Zhao Wenchang, the team leader in charge of the educated youth, as soon as you arrived! I've seen plenty of women like you, you're just a slut at heart!"

She got more and more excited as she spoke, her deliberately raised voice filled with malicious glee: "Don't blame yourself, you learned it all from your mother! If she hadn't slept with a high-ranking official at the university back then, would someone like you from a poor background have even gotten into the preparatory class? Dream on!"

"Shut up!"

Before he could finish speaking, a crisp, loud slap landed on Su Huai's face.

"Smack—!"

Jiang Wanqiu used all her strength, and Su Huai was knocked back, his cheek quickly swelling up.

Su Huai was stunned by the blow. It took her a few seconds to react before she screamed and lunged forward to retaliate: "How dare you hit me!"

Jiang Wanqiu was prepared and dodged to the side, causing Su Huai to miss his target.

Having failed in her first attack, Su Huai was completely blinded by rage. She turned around, grabbed a hoe from the ground, raised it high above her head, and roared with a ferocious expression, "I'll beat you to death today, you shameless filthy bitch!"

That hoe was made of iron and was very heavy. If it had hit me hard, my head would have been smashed open.

A wise man doesn't fight a losing battle! Jiang Wanqiu looked at the iron hoe, her heart tightened, and without thinking, she turned and ran down the mountain.

The muddy road under her feet was already slippery, and she was running so fast that she felt her foot slip and lose her balance. With a scream, she rolled down the slope by the roadside.

The slope wasn't too steep, but it was covered with low shrubs and weeds.

"Late Autumn—!"

Behind them, a man's anxious shout tore through the thin layer of snow.

It's Zhao Wenchang!

Jiang Wanqiu's heart tightened. Her body was still sliding down uncontrollably. Just as she was about to crash into a crooked tree, something soft stopped her, cushioning the impact and bringing her to a stop.

Still shaken, she sat up, patted her chest heavily, and then looked down at the thing that had blocked her way.

Upon seeing it, her breath caught in her throat.

That was a person.

A person dressed in work clothes similar to hers lay face down in the withered grass, covered with a thin layer of snowflakes.

"Wanqiu! Are you hurt?" Zhao Wenchang rushed down the slope in a few steps, helped her up, and anxiously checked her over with his large hands.

Jiang Wanqiu seemed to be in a daze, her face pale, her eyes wide, pointing a trembling finger at the thing on the ground, unable to utter a single word.

Zhao Wenchang followed her gaze and his brows furrowed instantly.

He stepped forward, squatted down, and reached out to turn the person over.

It was a woman's corpse.

Even more horrifying was that the face was a bloody mess, as if it had been gnawed by a wild beast or smashed by a hard object, making it impossible to recognize its original appearance.

A strong, pungent smell of blood hit you as the body was turned over.

"vomit--"

Jiang Wanqiu felt a churning in her stomach and could no longer hold back, so she covered her mouth and began to dry heave.

A warm, large hand suddenly covered her eyes, shutting out the horrifying scene.

Zhao Wenchang's deep voice rang in her ear, carrying a cold, commanding tone: "Don't look."

The next second, the world spun around her, and he swept her up in his arms.

The man's embrace was broad and steady; he carried her and walked back to the path in a few steps.

On the slope, Su Huai stood with his hands on his hips, watching this scene with jealousy and disdain almost overflowing in his eyes.

"Oh, so you said you wouldn't sleep with me! Now you're hugging me!" she mocked sarcastically. "Hugging and cuddling in broad daylight, who knows how many men you've slept with in private! You're shameless!"

Zhao Wenchang paused, his already stern face now even more somber, as if it could drip water.

He adjusted his posture, using one arm to firmly support the woman in his arms, and with the other hand, he suddenly raised it and slapped her hard across the face from a distance of several steps!

"Smack!"

This slap was heavier and more vicious than the one Jiang Wanqiu had given her earlier.

Su Huai was slapped so hard he fell to the ground, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

Zhao Wenchang looked at her coldly, his voice devoid of any warmth: "With such a foul mouth, you deserve a lesson. You just wait, after I finish what I'm doing, I'll teach you a lesson on how to write the word 'manners'!"

"You...you adulterous couple! You're having an affair!" Su Huai covered her face, sat on the ground, and started yelling and cursing. "I'm going to report you to the commune! I'm going to report you to the county!"

At this moment, several villagers who had heard the commotion also rushed over from the other side of the ravine. When they saw Zhao Wenchang, they all stopped respectfully and called out, "Battalion Commander."

Zhao Wenchang didn't even look at Su Huai, but gestured to one of the villagers: "Brother, go over there. A body was found over there. Keep an eye on it and don't let anyone get close."

Then, he lowered his head, his gaze sweeping over Su Huai, who was still cursing on the ground, and said clearly, word by word, "She's my wife. My own wife, I can hug her however I want, who are you to spout nonsense here?"

Back home, after closing the door, Jiang Wanqiu still felt nauseous. She lay on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), her face deathly pale.

Zhao Wenchang poured her a cup of hot water, but when he saw that she couldn't drink it, his brows furrowed tightly.

He sat down next to her without saying a word. A warm, large hand slipped under her wide dress and pressed against her cold stomach, massaging it gently.

The warm touch of skin against skin, carrying a soothing power, slowly spreads from the lower abdomen to every part of the body.

Jiang Wanqiu's tense body gradually relaxed, and the churning sensation in her stomach seemed to subside considerably.

She instinctively snuggled closer to the man's warm embrace, seeking more warmth.

"If I hadn't seen Ping An come over and asked her a question, I wouldn't have known that you were being harassed by someone."

Zhao Wenchang's deep voice sounded above him, carrying a hint of lingering fear and suppressed anger, "In the future, if you encounter something like this, don't confront people head-on. With your strength, who can you beat?"

He paused, then tightened his grip on her arm, saying domineeringly and in a way that brooked no refusal, "If anything else happens, just come back and tell me, and I'll stand up for you."