Chapter 179, exclusively published on Jinjiang Literature City: Who says only men have needs? ...
"Marriage is also an option."
Upon hearing this, Li Yue, who had just stood still, felt her pupils shrink sharply.
Then, Wu Yang added, "But I will only marry the person I love."
Li Yue's expression relaxed, and her tense shoulders also loosened.
"Are you talking about Li Yue from the village chief's family?" the woman opposite said. "I heard you're interested in her, but she's been stringing you along without agreeing. Besides, she's been married before and has children. I don't think she's good enough for you."
"Although I am not the daughter of a village chief, I was not engaged before the famine started because I was observing mourning. Later, I was never bullied when I followed Huo's army. I have a clean record. As long as you marry me, I will definitely be devoted to you, bear your children, and never make you feel uncomfortable in the slightest."
Hidden in the corner, Li Yue unconsciously clenched her skirt with her fingers.
She thought Wu Yang would continue to refuse her, but after waiting for a long time, Wu Yang remained silent.
Li Yue couldn't help but close her eyes, her mind in turmoil.
Finally, she heard Wu Yang speak again, saying, "Let me think about it."
Li Yue's face immediately turned pale, and her mind went blank for a moment.
He did not refuse.
After an unknown amount of time, Li Yue, whose mind was in complete chaos, suddenly realized that everything in front of her had gone dark. When she looked up, she found that Wu Yang had appeared in front of her at some point.
Turning his head to look at the spot where he had just been, the woman had vanished without a trace.
Wu Yang looked down at her. "Were you eavesdropping on our conversation?"
Li Yue's expression changed slightly. She found the word "we" particularly grating. She turned her head slightly and said with a tense face, "You're the ones blocking my way. If you don't want to be overheard, you should avoid people."
"Is that so?" Wu Yang's tone was unreadable. "Then I'm truly sorry."
After a moment of silence, Wu Yang said, "So, what are your thoughts after hearing this? Do you think I should marry her?"
Li Yue could feel the burning gaze coming from above her head, and dared not look up. "I don't even know her, how would I know if I should or shouldn't? Besides, it's your freedom to marry whomever you want, why ask me?"
"You really think so?" Wu Yang said meaningfully, "Then I'll go find her now and tell her I'm willing to marry her. I'll prepare the wedding things as soon as possible, propose tomorrow, and have the wedding ceremony the day after. I'll invite you to my wedding banquet then."
Li Yue: "!"
Wu Yang said unhurriedly, "By the way, she also said she's willing to have my child. After I have a son or daughter, I'll make you my child's godmother, how about that?"
Li Yue looked up in disbelief, unable to believe that he would say such a thing, and her eyes turned red with anger.
She suppressed the bitterness in her heart and gritted her teeth, saying, "I will drink the wedding wine, but Godmother, you don't need to." Just thinking about it made her feel like she was spitting fire.
Having said that, she could no longer face Wu Yang and turned to leave.
Unexpectedly, her wrist was grabbed, and she uncontrollably fell onto a strong chest behind her.
The hard chest bumped against Li Yue's chest, making her nose sting and almost bringing tears to her eyes.
Wu Yang gently put his arm around her waist, his fingers brushing against the corners of her reddened eyes. He sighed inwardly and said, "You clearly care about me too, so why haven't you agreed to be with me? Are you really just stringing me along on purpose?"
Li Yue exclaimed urgently, "I didn't!"
"Why is that?" Wu Yang rarely took the initiative and asked, "Is it because you've been married before and feel you're not good enough for me? The person I know isn't the type to wallow in self-pity like that."
He hit the nail on the head: "Is it because you were blind and chose the wrong person back then? You came back in such a sorry state that you felt so stupid. If you married me again, it would be like contradicting yourself, and you couldn't bring yourself to do it?"
Li Yue looked disheveled after her thoughts were exposed, biting her lip and her eyes reddening.
As the village chief's daughter, although she couldn't be considered a lady from a prominent family, she certainly had a better life than other girls in the village from a young age, and she also had a stronger sense of self-esteem.
When she was almost sold by Zhou Chenghai, all she wanted was to survive, and she didn't care about anything else.
But when she returned to her parents' home and saw that everyone else in the village was doing well, she realized how ridiculous and absurd her decision to stay with her husband's family had been. She could say that all the subsequent troubles were of her own making.
She knew that some people in the village talked about her in private.
She didn't really care what unrelated people said, since what they were saying wasn't wrong; she was just too naive.
Only when facing Wu Yang, who saved her and had feelings for her, she would always think of how he had seen her at her most vulnerable, and an inexplicable sense of shame would rise uncontrollably in her heart.
Admittedly, she could pretend nothing happened, conveniently marry Wu Yang, and start a new life.
But she knew that as long as her inner conflict remained, she would not be able to accept Wu Yang's affections without a care in the world, and would more likely end up hurting Wu Yang even more.
It's better to drag it out until Wu Yang gives up, then we won't have to worry about it anymore.
Even if giving up means losing someone who loves her and never meeting another like them in her life, she'll accept it.
Consider it punishment for her blindness; she deserves it.
Are you sure this is punishment for yourself, and not for me?
Li Yue was taken aback, only then realizing that she had unconsciously spoken her true feelings aloud.
Wu Yang said, "I've waited for you for so many years, and you're going to ignore my feelings for these insignificant things from the past? Don't you think that's unfair to me?"
"Because we made wrong decisions in the past, we must now set things right and choose the right ones again, right?"
Li Yue: "..." What is the right thing to do? Should I agree to marry him?
Looking at her expression, Wu Yang raised an eyebrow and said, "Am I not outstanding enough, not worthy of your entrusting your life to?"
Li Yue's lips moved slightly, "I—"
Wu Yang covered her lips with his index finger. "Don't deny it, I know you have feelings for me."
As he spoke, he lightly traced her bitten lip with his fingertips, "Otherwise, why would you react so strongly when I said I wanted to marry another woman?"
Li Yue felt a faint heat where he touched her, and her face, which had been chilled by the wind and snow, also felt hot.
She thought that when this day came, she could accept it calmly, but she never expected that she would feel so bad when she actually saw Wu Yang talking about marriage with someone else.
Wu Yang gazed intently at her and said, word by word, "I said I would marry someone else in anger. My thoughts have never changed. I will only marry the woman I love. If she doesn't agree, then I'll just live out my days alone. There's nothing wrong with that."
Li Yue opened her mouth, "Is there anything wrong? How could there not be?"
If she's the reason Wu Yang will be lonely for the rest of his life, then perhaps...
Realizing what she was thinking, Li Yue shuddered, took a deep breath, and gave a mocking twitch at the corner of her lips.
She was the one who was stubborn, yet Wu Yang had to coax her and make her promises.
Su Ying was right; she was just being pretentious.
Even she despised herself for this.
Wu Yang said, "Since you're unwilling to be a godmother, how about becoming the biological mother of my future child?"
Li Yue was stunned for a moment, then her face turned completely red.
A blush crept onto her pale face, making Wu Yang's gaze grow even deeper. His fingers moved from her lips to her cheeks, and he gently cupped her face, bringing it towards himself.
The icy snowflakes landed on Li Yue's slightly trembling eyelashes, but she felt no coldness at all; instead, her heart was burning with warmth.
As Wu Yang's resolute face drew closer, Li Yue's heart trembled slightly, and a jumble of chaotic emotions swept through her mind, but in the end, she couldn't avoid him.
In the dim light, the two shadows on the ground almost blended into one.
A soft 'snap' sound, like a branch being cut, suddenly rang out.
Li Yue woke up instantly, panicked, and instinctively pushed Wu Yang away. She didn't dare to look back and hurriedly left with the words, "It's too late, I... I have to go back." Then she ran home without looking back.
Wu Yang remained motionless, still in the position of being pushed away by her. He turned his head to look at the source of the sound and found that it was actually Lu Xuan standing there.
Lu Xuan raised an eyebrow as if nothing had happened and said, "It seems I've come at the wrong time?"
Wu Yang took a breath, his lips moved slightly, but in the end he said nothing.
[Tsk tsk, although Wu Yang didn't say anything, I bet he was cursing a lot in his mind.]
The look in someone's eyes when they want to kill them is impossible to hide.
[Ah!!! They were almost kissing! Couldn't the streamer have waited a little longer to make a sound?!]
[It's also Wu Yang's fault for being too slow and talking so much nonsense. If he were a real man, he would have just gone for it! We could have seen him French kiss, let alone just give a kiss!]
Ancient people were too reserved; they were even hesitant and indecisive when it came to a kiss.
[Subtle my foot! I once watched a live stream about political intrigue. Some powerful figures could just find a corner at a banquet and have sex, with people coming and going outside while they were moaning and groaning inside. It was incredibly exciting.]
Which livestream is this exciting?! Give me the room number!
Ultimately, it's because Wu Yang is incompetent!
Lu Xuan glanced at Wu Yang, and for a moment he wanted to tell him that some 'immortals' thought he was no good.
I think I'll pass.
After complaining about the unseen intimate scenes, viewers began to comment on Wu Yang's previous actions of deliberately provoking or manipulating Li Yue.
Lu Xuan actually arrived quite early; the woman who had confessed her feelings to Wu Yang had just left when he arrived.
However, seeing Wu Yang and Li Yue chatting back and forth as if no one else was around, I didn't want to make a sound and disturb them.
So I heard everything clearly, like inviting you to my wedding or asking you to be the godmother of my child.
[To actually make Li Yue the godmother of his child with another woman—this is utterly devastating.]
[Li Yue is clearly getting stuck on a rut. With people like that, you have to use strong measures to break them down and completely open their hearts.]
[Li Yue was clearly starting to waver, but unfortunately the host interrupted her!]
Seeing the audience discussing it with great interest, and noticing Wu Yang glancing in the direction Li Yue had left, Lu Xuan asked, "Aren't you going to keep putting up with it?"
The refresh rate of the live stream comments slowed down significantly, and many people stopped what they were doing and started listening intently.
Wu Yang narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "If we keep tolerating this, our wives won't even be our own anymore. What are we still enduring?"
Even Liu Yu has several young men eyeing him, let alone Li Yue.
As the village chief's daughter, Li Yue is also quite good-looking. To put it bluntly, she has lost her child with her ex-husband, which means she has one less "burden" than Liu Yu, making her even more popular with the disaster victims.
If he hadn't warned those people beforehand, making them back down, he would be the one with a headache and jealousy now.
But until a person has secured their own place in their own bowl and confirmed their ownership, they can never truly feel at ease.
Viewers in the live stream: Haha!
I thought Wu Yang was playing the role of a loyal dog who silently waits for his lover, but I didn't expect him to be a cunning and ruthless person.
It seemed that he couldn't win Li Yue's heart if Li Yue didn't agree, but in reality, he was secretly planning every step of the way, never giving Li Yue a chance to fall into the arms of someone else.
You've been hiding your true colors!
You deserve to have a wife!
Lu Xuan said succinctly, "I'm looking forward to drinking your wedding wine."
Wu Yang smiled and said, "It won't be long."
·
The Ge family.
Li Tie, Wu Cheng, Zhang Wende, and Ge Yuan sat together, with several snacks and liquor brewed from new grains that they had exchanged for from a general store on the table.
Li Tie picked up a piece of cold pig's ear with his chopsticks, took a sip of smooth and slightly spicy liquor, and asked Wu Cheng, "I heard that your Wu Yang is very popular lately?"
Wu Cheng glanced at him and said coolly, "Don't you know what my son is thinking? How dare you ask?"
Li Tie touched his nose and coughed lightly: "Well, although I am the father, I also have to consider the child's feelings. Whether it works out or not depends on the child's own thoughts."
He was the one who agreed to the marriage with the Zhou family back then.
Having already made a mistake once, he dared not act recklessly again.
Wu Yang is an outstanding child in every way, but if Li Yue is unwilling, they will end up as an unhappy couple, which will also affect the relationship between their two families.
Wu Cheng saw through his thoughts, gave a soft snort, and said nothing more.
“Wu Yang is a very determined boy; he knows what he’s doing in his life.”
Zhang Wende teased, "If you ask me, you're in your prime as a father, don't you plan to remarry? Your family has always consisted of just the father and son, without a woman to take care of you, your life has been too rough."
After saying that, he looked at Ge Yuan, who was silently picking at his food, and said, "And you too, the scars on your face are all gone, shouldn't you start making arrangements to get a wife?"
Li Tie nodded in agreement, "That makes sense. The young men in the village are all quite capable, so it's not difficult for them to find wives. There's no rush. But you two, if you want to get married, you'd better hurry up, otherwise you won't be able to have children by the New Year."
Wu Cheng said irritably, "My son is already so grown up, he doesn't need a mother to take care of him anymore, why would I remarry? I have no interest in that."
Ge Yuanze, whose skin was no longer as delicate as before but still looked fair and tender, said, "Most of the women who want to marry into our family now are after our supplies and want a peaceful life. Once the disaster is over and there is no longer a threat to their survival, who knows if they will run away?"
Li Tie: "..."
He hesitated and said, "This... I don't think so. If we marry her, we'll treat her well. We have so many treasures that even after the cataclysm ends, they won't be found outside. Who would be so stupid as to run away?"
Ge Yuan simply said, "Human hearts are hard to fathom."
Li Tie sighed.
Ultimately, it's because I'm not in the mood.
Otherwise, with at least 80 or 100 suitable women in Huo's army, how could they not find one who was truly willing to live with him?
How wonderful it is to have a wife, kids, and a warm bed! I can't understand why they're not happy about it.
Li Tie clicked his tongue and said, "Luckily, the others aren't as pessimistic as you guys, otherwise, who knows how long it would take for the village to have any new residents."
"Hmm?" Wu Cheng and Ge Yuan turned their heads at the same time.
Wu Cheng asked, "What do you mean? Who in the village is having a wedding?" He didn't sound like a young person.
Li Tie poured himself another glass of wine and said, "Jin He came over to me yesterday and said that he has taken a liking to someone."
As the village chief, villagers would definitely need to inform him and get his approval before adding any more people to the village. So even if he didn't specifically inquire, villagers who were interested would take the initiative to report to him.
Zhang Wende said, "Jin He is much younger than all of us, so it's normal for him to want to marry another woman. He has awakened the metal-type ability, so he can probably find someone with good conditions."
"Well..." Li Tie's expression was somewhat subtle. "I also thought that with his conditions, finding a young and beautiful woman would be no problem. Indeed, there were some women with good conditions who were interested in him, but he didn't like them. He was interested in a widow who was two years older than him."
Among the female workers who have recently been actively looking for husbands, this widow, who is over thirty, is not at an advantage in terms of age, and her appearance can only be described as slightly above average, not outstanding.
But in terms of figure, she is second to none.
When Li Tie stated these conditions, all men understood Jin He's intentions.
Clearly, Jin He would rather be the one being waited on than a young girl who needs to be coaxed.
only……
Zhang Wende worriedly said, "A widow has much more experience than a young girl. I remember Jin He's daughter is only ten years old. I hope she doesn't cause any trouble by having a stepmother and a stepfather."
Li Tie waved his hand: "No, Jin He is a doting father. Besides, he's not stupid. Wouldn't he know to ask around beforehand?"
"How do we find out?" Ge Yuan asked. "Aren't we afraid that the Huo family's army will only say nice things so that they can have more marriage partners with us?"
Li Tie said meaningfully, "Asking outsiders is naturally not as reliable as asking our own people. Jin He specifically asked Xiong Mao to have his wife test Widow Hua."
Wu Cheng and the others suddenly realized.
Hypnotic powers!
That's a good idea.
Li Tie said, "Widow Hua does have some ulterior motives, but overall her character is fine. Jin He came to me to tell me this because he was certain of it."
"As for whether things will change in the future, I don't think Jin He's daughter is the type to swallow her anger. Let's keep an eye on it; nothing serious will happen."
Besides, the daughter will eventually get married and leave the country. As an outsider, Widow Hua is not easy to integrate into the community. Anyone with a brain would not target Jin He's daughter.
·
There are people like Jin He who are down-to-earth and want to find a wife to settle down with, and there are also people who take unconventional paths and do not follow the usual route.
The female workers from other places all lived in tents, and the women in the same tent knew perfectly well who hadn't gone back to their tents to sleep at night.
These female workers inevitably gossip amongst themselves while they are working.
The village was only so big, so their conversation spread quickly.
"Gao Dalin? Really?"
"Did you really sleep together? Aren't you engaged?"
"What engagement? Hunter Gao didn't even report it to the village chief. He probably has no intention of taking responsibility."
"Hiss! You're not going to take responsibility but you still slept with her?"
"It's not like he can't afford to get married, what's the point? After all this commotion, what good girl would want to marry him?"
"Who knows what they're after?"
Lu Qing couldn't understand what Gao the Hunter was thinking either.
However, their family and the hunter Gao were not very familiar with each other.
The other party joined the guard team, so they basically had no chance to act with Lu Xuan and the others.
However, Gao Dalin would occasionally give lessons to Lu Chen and the others at the private school.
But you can't ask a child about something like that; they wouldn't know anyway.
Lu Qing was so preoccupied with this that she kept thinking about it while eating, and almost shoved her spoon up her nose.
Lei Yan was terrified and could only remind him, "It's not convenient for us to ask directly, but the village chief will definitely ask Gao the hunter about the clearing situation. Why don't you ask Wu Yinyin later?"
Lu Qing suddenly realized, "Oh right! How come I didn't think of that?"
The next day, before Lu Qing could even look for her, Wu Yinyin came over and started sharing gossip with her.
"What Dad was most worried about was that Hunter Gao was forcing people, but after asking around, he found out that the two of them had agreed on it beforehand. Hunter Gao would give them supplies, and the other party would give him... cough."
Lu Qing frowned and said, "It would be so much better to just find a decent woman to marry, why go through all this trouble..."
Wu Yinyin chewed on the python jerky with relish: "Hunter Gao said that he joined the village later and still needs to save money to buy a house. He doesn't have much money and doesn't want to feed another person. But men have needs, so this is the only way to solve them."
Lu Qing still couldn't understand, or rather, didn't want to accept, this kind of relationship that only existed on a physical level.
They say it's consensual, but isn't this just like going to a brothel?
She couldn't help but look at Lei Yan and Lu Xuan, who were sitting with her: "You two also think this is okay?"
Lei Yan said, "As long as it's not forced, we can't interfere, after all, it's Gao the Hunter's private matter."
Lu Xuan said calmly, "Surviving during a cataclysmic period is difficult, especially for women. If the other party is willing to earn more supplies to protect themselves, there's no problem with that."
In the apocalypse, this kind of thing is perfectly normal.
If it's consensual, that's considered good. More often than not, it's semi-coercive, or even outright coercive. What can you do about it?
In a world where the strong prey on the weak, those who lack strength are left to be slaughtered.
However, if Lu Xuan encountered such a situation, he would casually kill the one who was forcing him.
He can't handle all injustices, nor does he have such grand ideas, but he can still do disgusting things under his nose and kill people for the sake of feeling good.
Lu Xuan countered Lu Qing's question: "If you feel uncomfortable, are you going to give your supplies to that female worker?"
Lu Qing blurted out, "Why should I? I'm not a sucker."
Lu Xuan said, "If they want to earn more supplies, you can't stop them."
Lu Qing still felt uneasy. "But the Huo family army has also started winter fishing. They don't lack supplies, and things will definitely get better in the future. Why..." betray herself.
Lu Xuan remained noncommittal.
The viewers in the live stream also shook their heads.
[My sister is still too sweet.]
Who says only men have needs, and women don't?
[It solves the problem of need and also earns some supplies—a win-win situation, isn't that great?]
Exactly! Are men allowed to have one-night stands, but women aren't? As long as it's not forced, there's really no question of who's at a disadvantage or who's at a disadvantage.
Before the catastrophe, given the oppression of women's minds in ancient times, even if they had such thoughts, probably few would have dared to actually do it. But after the catastrophe, survival became the most important thing, and the previous moral constraints naturally dropped to the extreme.
Of course, there are also many viewers who disapprove of this kind of thing.
They could only watch helplessly, unable to do anything about it; they could only curse in the live stream, but Gao Dalin couldn't hear them.
Asking the streamer to relay their message? It's obvious they'd never agree to that.
Wu Yinyin said mysteriously, "Actually, I heard from my mother that the real reason why the hunter Gao didn't marry her wasn't because of that at all."
Lu Qing looked puzzled.
Lei Yan and Lu Xuan also glanced over.
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