Chapter 21 Domestic Violence, it's domestic violence again!
At lunchtime, Jiang Suining had just arrived at the entrance of the labor protection factory when she spotted Lu Ye in the shadows by the wall outside the factory gate. He was pushing his bicycle and looking towards the factory gate.
A warmth suddenly welled up in her heart, but then she remembered the absurdity of the previous night, and her steps faltered.
The original book clearly states that Lu Ye is abstinent, cold, and indifferent to women, a complete workaholic. But last night, where was his usual restraint? He was like a wolf with bloodshot eyes, insatiable, repeatedly causing her to be late on her first day of work.
If she let him off easily this time, he might become even more demanding in the future! With that thought in mind, she steeled herself, quickened her pace, walked out of the factory gate, deliberately looked away, pretended not to see the eagerly waiting figure, went around to the other side of the road, and headed towards the residential compound.
Lu Ye was also in a state of turmoil. He had always been restrained and polite, keeping his distance from women and never harboring any other thoughts. But ever since he met Jiang Suining, his pride and joy in self-control had completely crumbled. At first, he only wanted to get close to her and hold her, but after truly experiencing that intoxicating pleasure, he became completely uncontrollable. He considered himself to have exceptional willpower, but in front of Jiang Suining, all his perseverance and patience were willingly wasted.
He knew he had gone too far last night. Looking at her pale and tired face in the morning, he felt a mix of heartache and regret all morning. So, as soon as he finished his urgent official business, he immediately rode his bicycle to the factory gate to pick her up after work, wanting to see her as soon as possible and make amends.
Lu Ye's gaze was fixed on the factory gate, afraid of missing that beautiful figure. But when Jiang Suining came out and saw him, instead of coming over, she walked away from the other side like a frightened little rabbit!
It was rush hour, and the streets were packed with people. He was momentarily blocked while pushing his bike across the street. When he finally crossed the street, Jiang Suining was nowhere to be seen.
Oh no! His wife really wasn't going to talk to him anymore! Lu Ye panicked. He hopped on his bicycle and rode towards the family compound. He couldn't go fast because he was trying to avoid pedestrians, but he eventually caught up with his wife not far from the compound.
Jiang Suining was truly at a loss for words. After a night of tossing and turning, she hadn't rested well and was suffering from back and leg pains. This morning, she had been so busy at the factory that she barely had a moment to sit down and rest. Right now, she felt like her whole body was falling apart, and she was feeling terrible all over. She was even slightly out of breath when she walked.
If she hadn't been determined to teach Lu Ye a lesson, she would never have dragged her frail body back by herself! Who knew that guy on a bicycle would take so long to catch up? She had even deliberately slowed down! No, she couldn't let him off so easily this time!
"No need! I wouldn't dare trouble you." Jiang Suining didn't even look at him, replied curtly, and continued walking forward.
Lu Ye's face stiffened. He followed her and continued to apologize in a low voice: "Sui Sui, I know I was wrong. I was wrong last night. I promise I will restrain myself in the future and never dare to do it again! You can hit me or punish me, I will accept it. Just, just don't ignore me." His magnetic voice sounded somewhat pitiful at this moment.
Jiang Suining felt her legs were so sore she could barely lift them, and she really didn't want to force herself to walk anymore. She finally stopped, crossed her arms, and took a step back with a leisurely air. She looked Lu Ye up and down, raised an eyebrow, and asked, "Did you say that yourself? You're willing to be punished no matter what?"
"Yes! I said it!" Seeing that she had stopped, Lu Ye quickly stated, his expression extremely serious. "I swear to the Party and the organization that I will definitely keep my word!"
“Okay,” Jiang Suining said with a hint of doubt, her dark eyes darting around, “Then starting today, including tonight, for a whole month, you’re not allowed to touch me at night!”
Lu Ye's face darkened instantly, as if he had heard some terrible news.
A month?! How could he possibly endure that?! Before he tasted the sweetness of it all, he didn't know its wonders and could remain celibate; now that he'd tasted it, the thought of holding his sweet, soft wife every night but only being able to look and not touch her was pure torture! But to appease his wife, he had to endure it, no matter how hard he tried! He remained silent for a moment, as if he had made a tremendous decision, and then resolutely replied, "Fine! I promise you!"
"You agreed so readily?" Jiang Suining carefully observed Lu Ye's expression, trying to find even the slightest trace of a lie on his face. However, the man's expression was serious and earnest, and his eyes were open and honest, revealing no flaws.
Could she trust him? Jiang Suining's heart pounded. According to the original plot, Lu Ye was an extremely trustworthy and principled person. Since he had promised so solemnly, he should be able to keep his promise, right? She thought that trust was, after all, the foundation of a marriage.
"Alright! Then I'll see how you perform over the next month!" Jiang Suining knew when to stop. She didn't want to continue to wrong herself because of her anger towards Lu Ye. She was really uncomfortable all over. She sat on the back of the bicycle and urged, "Let's go home quickly. I just want to lie down right now. I'm too tired."
"Okay! Hold on tight, we're going back now!" Seeing that she was willing to get on the bike, Lu Ye felt a huge weight lifted off his shoulders. He pedaled hard, and the bicycle steadily drove towards the family compound.
Back home, Jiang Suining immediately changed into comfortable pajamas, quickly washed her face, and collapsed onto the living room sofa, not wanting to move a single finger.
Seeing her exhausted appearance, Lu Ye felt both heartache and guilt. He quickly peeled an apple and fed it to her, then went to the kitchen to bring the mung bean soup he had prepared that morning to the stove to simmer over low heat. After that, he hurriedly went to the cafeteria to get his meal.
To please his wife, he went to great lengths, even going to the cafeteria in advance to order a braised pork dish from the head chef. After returning from the cafeteria, he quickly stir-fried two refreshing seasonal vegetables, steamed rice, and used cold water to quickly cool down the mung bean soup in a bowl before setting the dishes on the table.
When he finished his work and went to call Jiang Suining for dinner, he found her already asleep on the sofa, her breathing even and deep. Lu Ye gently called to her, "Sui Sui, get up and eat something before you go back to sleep."
Jiang Suining frowned in dissatisfaction in her sleep, turned over and faced away from him, and mumbled indistinctly, "Don't make noise, go away."
Seeing how tired she was, Lu Ye felt even more guilty. If he hadn't been so unrestrained last night, his Sui Sui wouldn't be so exhausted. Oh well, let her get some rest first, and she can eat after she wakes up.
He carefully covered the food on the table with a mesh food cover to keep out flies, then gently carried her to the bed in the bedroom, drew the curtains to block out the light, turned on the electric fan, and carefully covered her stomach with a thin towel to keep her warm.
After settling Jiang Suining in, Lu Ye felt sticky all over. He had worked up a sweat from the intense training that morning and then spent half the day busy in the kitchen. The weather was hot and humid, and he hadn't dried off at all.
He went to the yard, drew a basin of well water, took a cold shower from head to toe, dried himself off, changed into a clean and refreshing set of everyday clothes, and then lay down on the other side of the bed, turning to his side, quietly watching his sleeping wife, his eyes full of tenderness.
Jiang Suining slept very soundly. If she hadn't seen the light coming through the gap in the curtains when she woke up, she would have almost thought it was already night.
Lu Ye hadn't originally planned to sleep; he was just lying there with her, and before he knew it, he had fallen asleep. Hearing Jiang Suining call him, he immediately woke up, his eyes instantly clearing: "You're awake? How are you feeling? Are you still feeling unwell?"
Jiang Suining stretched and loosened her muscles, and sure enough, she felt refreshed and all her fatigue was gone: "I'm fine, I'm just hungry."
No sooner had she finished speaking than her stomach rumbled loudly, perfectly timed. Jiang Suining quickly clutched her abdomen, a hint of embarrassment flashing across her face.
"It's good that you're hungry. The food is all ready. I'll heat it up and we'll be able to eat soon." Lu Ye immediately rolled out of bed, his movements swift and efficient.
"Just heat it up a little, it's too hot outside, I don't want to eat it too hot," Jiang Suining instructed.
"Okay, I got it," Lu Ye replied, already walking out of the bedroom.
The other dishes were fine, but the braised pork wasn't heated up. Lu Ye was worried that she would get an upset stomach from eating greasy and cold food, so he took it to the kitchen and heated it in a small pot.
Jiang Suining glanced at her watch; she had slept for over an hour, and there was less than an hour before her afternoon shift. She quickly got up, washed her face with cold water, and after fully waking up, returned to her bedroom to change into her work clothes.
"Sui Sui, are you done?" Lu Ye called to her from the living room. "Come and eat."
"Coming, coming." Jiang Suining replied as she combed her hair and came out. Her eyes lit up when she saw the tempting plate of braised pork on the table. "You made braised pork."
"I asked the cafeteria chef to make it specially for me," Lu Ye honestly confessed, then added, "I can make it too, but I was short on time at lunch today and didn't want to make it too late for you at work. I'll definitely make it for you to try myself when I have time on the weekend."
"It's okay, it doesn't matter who cooks it, as long as it tastes good." Jiang Suining was quite easygoing in this regard, picking up her chopsticks and taking out a piece of meat with a good balance of fat and lean.
"By the way, I ran into Lü Aiguo today and mentioned the book," Lu Ye said casually, placing a piece of meat on her plate. "He said he'd send it over to you in the next day or two."
Jiang Suining recalled how Lu Ye had become jealous when she mentioned Lü Aiguo last time. She blinked and offered, "Actually, if you have time, you can take me to the library. It would be nice if I could look around by myself."
Lu Ye was overjoyed upon hearing this: "Okay! The day after tomorrow is the weekend, I'll go with you!" He couldn't be happier to be able to go out alone with his wife.
***
In the afternoon, after seeing the inspection team off, Director Lian called Jiang Suining and Li Tianfang to his office.
Li Tianfang was a veteran employee of the factory, having joined the Women's Federation. She was very familiar with the Federation's work, so Director Lian asked her to help Jiang Suining familiarize herself with the Federation's daily operations. Director Lian also instructed Jiang Suining to ask Li Tianfang any questions she might have.
Jiang Suining understood that this meant Li Tianfang was to be her mentor and guide her into the field.
As soon as Jiang Suining left the director's office, she bowed deeply to Li Tianfang and called out in a clear voice, "Master, please give me your guidance in the future."
These past two days, Li Tianfang had been extremely worried about the domestic violence case involving Wang Shengli, a worker at the factory, against his wife. Seeing that his new apprentice was so polite, his expression softened slightly. He gave a perfunctory reply and then said, "I'm going to the hospital anyway. Come with me, and I'll explain our work to you."
"Master, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?" Jiang Suining thought she had gone to the hospital for a checkup and quickly asked with concern.
“I’m fine,” Li Tianfang’s voice softened. “It’s a family member of one of the factory’s employees who was beaten and hospitalized. We need to go and see him and do some work.”
"Oh." Jiang Suining nodded thoughtfully, already having guessed what was going on.
The labor protection factory wasn't far from the military hospital; the two of them walked there in less than twenty minutes. On the way, Li Tianfang briefly explained the situation to Jiang Suining.
They were visiting Qin Chunni, the wife of Wang Shengli, a factory worker. Qin Chunni had been subjected to domestic violence by Wang Shengli, resulting in a broken arm and her hospitalization.
Qin Chunni's family received the news and went to the factory yesterday to demand an explanation. Li Tianfang managed to appease the Qin family temporarily. Today, she came mainly to discuss a settlement with the Qin family.
Jiang Suining felt uncomfortable upon hearing this. Her daughter's arm had been broken by her son-in-law, and the first thing her family thought about was reconciliation. Were they even related? She hadn't even met them yet, and she already felt no goodwill towards this family.
As they followed Li Tianfang into the ward, both of them were taken aback. The small ward was packed with seven or eight men and women, who all turned to look when they heard the door open.
She was momentarily stunned. Looking at the hospital bed, she saw a little boy sleeping on it, and a thin woman, around fifty years old, sitting beside the bed, fanning the child with a large palm-leaf fan.
Jiang Suining looked at Li Tianfang with a puzzled expression, asking with her eyes: Wasn't Qin Chunni hospitalized? Where is she?
Li Tianfang immediately understood, her gaze sweeping around the ward before finally settling on a woman sitting on a small stool in the corner.
Following her gaze, the woman was as thin as a sheet of paper, with dry, yellow hair and her head hanging down. On her exposed profile, there were obvious redness and bruises at the corners of her eyes and mouth. Her right arm was fixed with a splint and bandages and hung from her neck.
Seeing the person in question in such a state, Li Tianfang felt somewhat displeased, but she didn't show it on her face. She walked to the bedside and forced a smile at the woman fanning herself: "Sister Qin, is this your eldest grandson? Why did you bring him to the hospital to sleep?"
"What? My grandson misses his aunt and comes to see her. Is that any of your business?" The woman was Qin Chunni's biological mother. She rolled her eyes and retorted irritably.
Li Tianfang was speechless for a moment after being choked by her words. Jiang Suining confirmed the other person's identity from her words and immediately smiled to smooth things over, but her tone carried just the right amount of concern: "Oh dear, ma'am, there are patients coming and going in this hospital, all carrying viruses. The environment is also noisy. It's really not a place for children to sleep. If they accidentally catch the virus, the child will suffer a lot."
Aunt Qin paused abruptly while fanning herself, glared at Jiang Suining, and then quickly looked down at her beloved grandson. The more she looked, the more she felt that Jiang Suining's words made sense.
She immediately turned her anger on her eldest daughter-in-law, who was sitting at the foot of the bed, and glared at her fiercely. She thought to herself that it was all because of this troublemaker who wouldn't let Lai Fei come along and even encouraged her eldest son and grandson to come as well. If her precious grandson really got sick in the hospital, she would see how she dealt with this daughter-in-law when she got back!
"Eldest son! What are you standing there for! Hurry up and take your wife and Da Bao home! Is this a place we can stay for long?" Aunt Qin urged her eldest son urgently.
Qin Laoda had long been drowsy from the dull atmosphere in the ward and couldn't wait to leave. But when he heard his mother speak, he immediately perked up, picked up his sleeping son, and looked at his wife.
Qin's eldest son's wife was reluctant to leave. Her sister-in-law had been beaten, and her mother-in-law had immediately demanded 800 yuan from the Wang family. She knew perfectly well that the money wasn't genuinely for her sister-in-law's medical treatment, but rather to buy her brother-in-law a job and a wife! She was resentful, and had brought her husband and son today to find out how much the Wang family would compensate them. They, the eldest son's family, should at least get a share of the compensation.
"Mother, let's stay a little longer and talk to these two comrades some more later." The eldest daughter-in-law of the Qin family was plotting something, trying to divert her mother-in-law's attention.
"What do you mean 'a while'? Hurry up and leave! Leave now!" Aunt Qin knew exactly what her eldest daughter-in-law was thinking, but she didn't want to expose her in front of outsiders, so she kept urging her son to leave quickly.
Qin Laoda felt as if he had been granted a pardon. Holding his son in one arm and dragging his reluctant wife with the other, he quickly left the ward.
Seeing this, Jiang Suining walked over to Qin Chunni, who was huddled in the corner, and said softly, "You must be Comrade Chunni, right? You've suffered such a serious injury, you need to rest in bed. Don't sit on this little stool, go lie down on the bed." As she spoke, she was about to help her up.
Qin Chunni timidly glanced at Aunt Qin, and seeing that she didn't say anything, she reluctantly let Jiang Suining help her back to her hospital bed.
"Comrade Li, is it just the two of you who came today? Didn't anyone from the Wang family come?" Old Man Qin, who had been sitting silently on the empty bed next to him, finally spoke up, his tone filled with dissatisfaction.
When Li Tianfang came to mediate yesterday, the Qin family took a hard line, demanding that the Wang family compensate Qin Chunni with 800 yuan for medical and nutritional expenses. Otherwise, they would not only sue Wang Shengli for intentional injury, but also force Qin Chunni to stay at her parents' home and never return to the Wang family.
Last night after dinner, Li Tianfang went to the Wang family to convey the Qin family's demands. Upon hearing this, Wang Shengli's father, Wang Dafu, slammed his fist on the table, his attitude even more defiant: "We have no money! We're dirt poor! We have many sons, we're not afraid of being sued! Whether Qin Chunni comes back or not is up to her; the Wang family doesn't need another daughter-in-law!"
Li Tianfang knew the Wang family's situation well. They were a large family, with Wang Dafu as the head of the household. He had three younger brothers and a younger sister who were all unmarried and without stable jobs. Last year, their eldest son, Wang Shengli, had practically emptied their savings to get married. Now, the whole family relied on Wang Dafu and Wang Shengli's meager salaries to make ends meet, barely scraping by each month. Where would they possibly come from to come up with 800 yuan? Moreover, their two younger sons were approaching marriageable age and needed money at that crucial time.
Wang Dafu knew it was wrong for his son to beat his wife, but he simply couldn't afford it. He also held onto the old-fashioned idea that "a married daughter is like water spilled from a bowl," and thought that the Qin family was just making a fuss. In the end, for the sake of his reputation, he still had to let his daughter come back.
The Qin family was shocked by the Wang family's attitude. Aunt Qin was furious, her face turning ashen, and she immediately wanted to go to the police station to report the incident.
Li Tianfang managed to stop him after much persuasion. After all, Wang Shengli was an employee of the labor protection factory, and if the matter escalated to the police station, it would negatively impact the factory's reputation. Therefore, it was best to try to mediate and settle the matter privately.
While Li Tianfang and the Qin family elders were still haggling over the compensation amount, Jiang Suining sat down beside Qin Chunni's bed and asked her in a low voice, "He beat you up like this, do you still want to continue living with him?"
Qin Chunni's nose tingled, and tears she had been holding back for so long instantly filled her eyes. During her hospital stay, her family had visited several times, but not one of them genuinely asked if she was in pain or what she wanted to do. All the conversations revolved around "getting money." She knew in her heart that her parents and brothers wanted to use this opportunity to squeeze money out of the Wang family, not because they truly cared for her or wanted to stand up for her.
“Sister Chunni,” Jiang Suining’s voice was even softer, yet it carried a convincing strength, “domestic violence is either zero times or countless times. This time he can break your arm, next time he might take your life. Leave a man like that in time, protect yourself, that’s the only way to be responsible for yourself.” She was trying to awaken this weak and helpless woman.
Qin Chunni pulled the blanket up high, burying her face in it, and muffled sobs escaped from under the covers. Jiang Suining knew she was struggling internally and didn't want to press her further, so she could only sigh softly.
Meanwhile, the negotiations between Li Tianfang and the Qin family seemed to have made new progress. With the Wang family clearly stating that they could not come up with the money, the Qin family compromised and proposed a new condition: that the Wang family give up a job at a labor protection factory to someone from the Qin family.
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