"Stop crying, crying too much is bad for your health. I was wrong in the past..."
Su Yunjin was stunned, staring blankly at Chen Jie. In her wildest dreams, she never imagined that Chen Jiusi would say such things to her.
For a moment, she actually stopped crying.
It was so shocking.
Could this scoundrel admit he was in the wrong?
In Su Yunjin's eyes, he was just a bastard, a drunk, a gambler, a domestic abuser, and outside, a coward who cared too much about face, domineering at home.
With the family barely scraping by, he lent the only bag of grain in the house to the lazy man next door, Ma Liu, just because others praised him.
He was also cowardly. Once, when she quarreled with the neighbor Lu Qinsi, and that woman came to their house to curse and hit her, he didn't even dare step outside to defend her and stayed inside the room.
After she got slapped twice by that shrew and came back home, he even blamed her for causing him trouble.
Her own husband let someone chase her to their home and slap her, and as a man, he didn't dare utter a word. Could such a man be relied upon?
But if she couldn't rely on him, then whom could she rely on? Divorce didn't exist in this world, nor legal separation. For a rural woman like herself, the only outcome was a letter of repudiation.
But with her maiden family gone, where could she go if she were repudiated? Should she follow others into a life of semi-prostitution?
What's more, she had a younger sister. She really had no choice!
She could only blame her poor fate for marrying a beast in man's clothing, a cowardly, bossy bastard at home.
Chen Jie watched Su Yunjin's bewildered face, slowly squatted down, and seriously looked at her. Only then did he notice how beautiful this woman was, especially after crying, with tears on her face like pear blossoms, evoking sympathy.
Chen Jie saw the woman react and knew his words had an effect.
The previous version of him did so many beastly things. He decided to say sorry on his behalf.
At least it might offer this pitiful woman a thread of comfort.
Noticing her expression soften, Chen Jie decided to say a few more words to help stabilize her emotions.
He reached out. The woman instinctively flinched, but Chen Jie still cupped her face in his hands, wiping away her tears with his thumbs. She was very surprised, even trembling a little.
"Yunjin."
Chen Jie began to speak. He wanted to call her Jin'er first but thought better of it to avoid scaring her, as her emotions were very unstable now, and he absolutely couldn't stimulate her further.
Su Yunjin looked at Chen Jie in astonishment because he usually called her: Su, or even more insultingly, a bitch.
But he had never called her by her name. She looked at Chen Jie, unsure what he wanted to do next.
Chen Jie looked at her and said, "I know that everything in the past was my fault."
"You've suffered a lot being with me, and I didn't expect you'd be driven to this point; it's all my fault."
Upon hearing this, Su Yunjin trembled all over, her eyes filled with disbelief. Earlier, she thought she'd misheard, but now he was apologizing again. Was he really trying to change?
Su Yunjin hesitated for a moment, but soon shook her head. A dog can't change its habit of eating shit; who knows what he's plotting now? Is he afraid that Yun Rui and I will commit suicide, leaving him with nothing to sell?
Chen Jie noticed the alertness and worry in her eyes.
He held her hand, which should have been soft and delicate, but instead felt rough and slightly cracked.
This was caused by long hours of farm work and laundry.
Such hands shouldn't belong to such a beautiful woman.
With her hand grasped, Su Yunjin grew anxious, trying to pull away, but Chen Jie said, "Don't move, listen to me. I truly know I was wrong, and I'm not trying to deceive you."
"I also know that no matter how much I say, you won't believe me, but I still hope you'll give me a chance. I've really changed for the better."
Chen Jie knew words were just words, but his attitude needed to be expressed.
Su Yunjin remained frozen for a long time, then her voice gradually turned cold, "You're really not going to sell Ruirui?"
Chen Jie replied, "Absolutely not!"
Upon hearing this, Su Yunjin fell silent. After a long while, she said, "Chen Jiusi, your mother has been kind to me, so no matter how you treat me, I can accept it. But Ruirui is still young, she absolutely cannot lose hope, do you understand?"
"Yes."
Chen Jie nodded.
Su Yunjin continued, "If you don't keep your word and still try to sell Ruirui, then even without poison, we can still die, ensuring you get nothing."
Chen Jie said, "Yes, I understand. Trust me."
Hearing this, Su Yunjin slowly got up from the ground and began to gather the things scattered on the floor. Little Daisy also started to help with the cleaning. Seeing this, Chen Jie quickly took the pot of poisoned white rice porridge outside to bury it somewhere.
After doing all this, Chen Jie returned to the house. The two women ignored him, and Chen Jie knew that in their eyes, he was probably no different from a demon.
Gruu, gruu...
In the awkward moment that followed, little Daisy's stomach started to growl loudly.
Su Yunrui looked down at her stomach, then tightened the rag around her waist, muttering to herself, "Ruirui is the best, Ruirui isn't hungry."
Gruu, gruu...
Then there was another stomach growl, and Su Yunjin's face flushed red, for it was her stomach this time, though she said nothing.
Chen Jie knew the rice jar in the house was empty; if they didn't find something to eat soon, the whole family might starve to death. With this in mind, Chen Jie suddenly recalled a piece of information that said a rabbit had run into a tree in the back mountain and died.
It seemed he had to go up the mountain.
With this thought, Chen Jie stood up and said to Su Yunjin, "Stay at home, I'll go out for a while and be back soon."
No one responded to him, but Chen Jie didn't mind and turned to leave the dilapidated straw hut.
Watching Chen Jie walk out the door, Su Yunjin squatted down, looked at Su Yunrui, and asked, "Is Ruirui hungry?"
"No, Ruirui isn't hungry."
Gruu, gruu...
As she said this, little Daisy's stomach started growling.
But little Daisy kept her head high as if to say, I'm not hungry.
Su Yunjin smiled, stroking little Daisy's head, and then sighed, saying, "Later, let's go dig some wild vegetables with your sister. We'll have wild vegetable soup for lunch, okay?"
"Okay, okay~"
Hearing about eating, little Daisy's eyes lit up immediately. Having food was good, but it was a pity she didn't get to taste that pot of white porridge, which seemed delicious.
Su Yunjin stroked little Daisy's head again, then stood up and went back into the house. She found a bamboo basket and grabbed a trowel. After thinking for a moment, she also took a pair of scissors from the sewing kit.
Leading little Daisy out the door, although Chen Jiusi said he had turned over a new leaf, who knew if he was trying to deceive her, to let down her guard so he could sell Rui Rui?
So now, when she went out, she had to take Rui Rui with her and carry the scissors. If Chen Jiusi tricked her, even if she couldn't kill him, she could kill herself, couldn't she?