Chapter 22 That chair looks pretty sturdy

"No need, I can do it myself!"

The previously indifferent man became alarmed, shifting his body to the side and distancing himself from Ling Huanwu.

Ling Huanwu held the cotton swab and stared resentfully at the two men she avoided like the plague, pouting as she asked, "Why are you so afraid of me? Are you afraid I'll bite you again?"

Zhou Jiuzhen turned his face away and stared at the little mouse peeking out from the hole in the corner of the wall. Suddenly, he felt that the little mouse looked exactly like Ling Huanwu, who had just finished taking a bath and was peeking out from behind the curtain.

The woman had been bathing behind the curtain. He tried to turn around and leave, but his feet seemed rooted to the spot, and he couldn't move an inch.

After she finished washing up, he quickly grabbed a mirror and cotton swabs, pretending to be busy applying medicine to hide his guilty conscience.

His gaze was as if he were looking in a mirror, but in reality, he had already secretly pointed the mirror at her, taking in her adorable, mischievous appearance.

“I wasn’t afraid,” Zhou Jiuzhen’s Adam’s apple bobbed, his gaze still fixed on the rat that was about to pounce out, his fist clenched tightly against the bed, veins bulging. “The bite last time… wasn’t very painful.”

"Oh, okay, don't hide, I'll help you apply the medicine."

Ling Huanwu applied some gentamicin to his wounds, then knelt down and carefully applied it. "This medicine hurts a lot, it's a pity the bottle of mercurochrome spilled."

Zhou Jiuzhen sensed something was wrong and jumped to his feet, his bronze face turning completely red. "What are you doing?"

Ling Huanwu held the cotton swab, a little flustered. Her almond-shaped eyes widened, and her innocent eyes were misty and tearful. "I want to apply it to the front of your wound first, and then I'll apply it to the back later, is that not okay?"

Zhou Jiuzhen's breathing was a little unsteady.

He originally thought she was going to apply the ointment to the wound on his back, but she instead squatted down and applied the ointment to the wound on the last muscle of his lower abdomen.

This is absolutely terrible!

The stinging sensation in my lower abdomen had somehow transformed into tiny flames, which then shot up with a hiss.

Especially the woman opposite him, who was only wearing a bath towel, stared at him with such innocent, doe-like eyes, like a little fox spirit who had just transformed into human form, alluring yet unaware of her own allure.

"I'll just sleep on the bench in the hallway outside..."

Zhou Jiuzhen hurriedly grabbed his blood-stained military green shirt from the bed and turned to leave when he suddenly heard soft sobbing behind him.

"Are you disgusted with me?"

Ling Huanwu's tears came without warning, large tears streaming down her face. Her voice was choked and broken, "Do you also think that I was defiled by that madman surnamed Qin?"

"I didn't, I didn't!"

“He thought I pushed his sister downstairs, so he locked me in a dark basement for three days and three nights without giving me a drop of water or a grain of rice. I didn’t cry then.”

"I was blindfolded and tied to a bench, and my wrist artery was cut open. I could hear the sound of blood dripping, but I didn't cry."

"Even when I was being stabbed in the flesh by one steel needle after another, which was soaked in chili water, and I was in excruciating pain, I still gritted my teeth and didn't cry."

"But when I was rescued, do you know what my parents said about me?"

"They said you weren't just standing here unharmed; it's all thanks to them that I had the chance to meet this wealthy businessman from Hong Kong. My own parents even mocked me, saying I must have slept with Qin Jin..."

"That night, I turned and went out the door, walking alone in the rain all night, sobbing uncontrollably as I walked, until dawn. I stood by the river, looking at the water..."

Ling Huanwu's throat felt blocked, and she could no longer speak. Before she knew it, tears were streaming down her face, and her whole body was trembling uncontrollably.

She thought he must have thought she was impure.

No man would tolerate his wife being locked up and tortured for half a month.

Just like Zhou Shuyao in his previous life.

Even though he knew she was innocent, she could sense that there was always a thorn in his heart.

Although neither of them said it, they both knew the truth.

For both lifetimes, that had been her nightmare.

Now, she has reopened the scabbed wound, revealing the bloody wound before him.

She didn't expect this man to believe her.

All I want in this life is to live with dignity and not let this matter hold me back, preventing me from living in the sunlight.

That wasn't her fault.

He didn't want to become a tool for Song Yaoyao to sow discord between him and his wife again because of this.

Inside the guesthouse, the warm yellow beams of the overhead light bulbs cast halos around the man's head, as if time itself was flowing with unspoken sorrow.

At this moment, two lonely souls slowly and gradually intertwined.

Zhou Jiuzhen stood tall and straight like a pine tree, his sense of duty as a soldier requiring him to stand ramrod straight at all times.

But at this moment, his heart felt as if it were being smashed into dust by countless invisible, tiny hammers.

He could hardly imagine how such a delicate and fragile girl could suffer such excruciating pain and torment that even they could not endure.

His hands, hanging at his sides, were clenched into fists.

For the first time, he felt something trickle down his cheeks.

He heard the woman's helpless and broken voice behind him again. At that moment, he felt something bursting out of his chest, something he could no longer suppress.

"Zhou Jiuzhen, do you believe me? Do you believe I didn't push his sister down the stairs?"

Zhou Jiuzhen turned back and looked at her red and swollen, glistening eyes. The last thread of reason in his mind snapped, and he quickly stepped forward and pulled the woman into his arms.

"I believe..."

Ling Huanwu didn't give him a chance to say another word. She stood on tiptoe to try and kiss him, but just as she realized that she still couldn't reach his lips even on tiptoe, he took the initiative to cup her face and gently kiss her forehead.

for a long time.

She waited for the next step, hoping the man would give her a step kiss, then kiss her eyes and nose, and finally give her a passionate kiss.

But to their surprise, they waited a long time without any further action.

Ling Huanwu secretly opened her eyes a crack and stared at the man so close to her, panting heavily with his eyes closed. His hand on her waist tightened, but he remained motionless like a ninja, which only fueled her anger.

With the late-night snack she was about to enjoy about to slip away, she didn't hesitate to step barefoot into his army green canvas shoes and, with a soft waist, firmly kiss his hot, bright red lips.

This moment.

It's like pouring a spoonful of cold water onto a scalding hot iron, forging it into steel.

Zhou Jiuzhen could no longer hold back and picked her up, placing her on the peeling paint table in the room.

Due to the excessive movement, the towel slipped off, and the table inexplicably broke and collapsed on one leg.

Zhou Jiuzhen and Ling Huanwu were both startled.

He then carried Ling Huanwu to another battlefield.

I carried her to the bed.

He had just braced himself on the bed with both hands when the bed frame broke again with a loud bang.

The two of them fell off the bed together, using the wooden plank as a springboard.

Ling Huanwu was completely dumbfounded at this moment.

With her cheeks burning red, she pointed persistently to the chair next to the overturned table and said shyly, "That chair looked pretty sturdy..."