MM Racing Chapter 10 There is nowhere for Li Xianglian to hide.
Chapter 10 There is nowhere for Li Xianglian to hide.
The night wind howled, and the thatch on the melon shed roof rustled loudly, sounding just like the wailing of ghosts.
The dim kerosene lamp flickered in the wind, casting long and short shadows of the two people, intertwined on the mottled earthen wall.
The woman in Qin Rushan's arms trembled like a leaf in a storm.
He could feel the body pressed against his chest was icy cold, but the warmth of the tears rolling down his bare arms was so intense it made his heart tremble.
He tightened his arms around her, wishing he could meld this poor girl into his very bones and shield her from all the filth of the world.
"Sister-in-law," Qin Rushan's voice was deep and resonant, as if it came from the depths of his chest, "listen to me. Tomorrow morning, we'll go to the commune. Get a divorce. This Zhao family is a den of wolves that devours people. If you stay any longer, you won't even have any bones left."
His tone was firm. In his view, that's how things should be.
Zhao Gang is heartless, his mother-in-law is unjust, and now they've been subjected to such despicable schemes. This marriage must not only end, but it must be a spectacular one, leaving those beasts in the Zhao family utterly disgraced.
But the person in his arms remained motionless.
After a long while, Li Xianglian slowly raised her head.
Her eyes, which were always misty, were now swollen and red like two walnuts, and her hair was disheveled and stuck to her pale cheeks.
She looked at Qin Rushan's resolute yet furious face, but gently shook her head.
"no……"
The voice was faint, yet it was like a bucket of ice water, extinguishing the protective instinct that had just risen in Qin Rushan's heart.
Qin Rushan was stunned. His brows furrowed instantly, staring at her in disbelief: "No? Why not? Chen Dagui almost... tonight. If I hadn't arrived in time, do you think you'd still be standing here unharmed? Are you reluctant to part with that bastard Zhao Gang, or are you afraid of that old hag?"
He became more and more agitated as he spoke, unable to suppress the anger in his heart.
This woman usually seems weak, so why is she still so clueless at this crucial moment?
"No..." Xianglian sniffed, tears welling up again. She released her grip on Qin Rushan's arm, clutched her head in anguish, and curled up into an even smaller ball. "Rushan, you don't know... I have nowhere to go. If I get divorced, this world may be vast, but there is no place for Li Xianglian to belong."
"Why is there nowhere to go?" Qin Rushan knelt down on one knee in a panic, grabbing her shoulder tightly. "Where's your family? If all else fails, I..."
"My family home?" Xianglian gave a bitter laugh, a laugh more painful than tears. "Where do I have a family home anymore..."
She raised her head, staring blankly at the dark cornfield ahead, her voice drifting as if it came from another world.
"I was forced into a marriage exchange."
Qin Rushan paused, his fingers gripping her shoulder stiffening.
"My biological mother died early, and my stepmother gave birth to a younger brother the year after she married into the family. The family was poor and couldn't afford to find a wife for my brother."
Xianglian's voice was calm, but every word was filled with anguish. "My stepmother, in order to carry on the family line for my brother, swapped me with Zhao Gang's sister. I married into the Zhao family to suffer, while Zhao Gang's sister married into my family to be the wife of my good-for-nothing brother."
At this point, Xianglian turned her head and looked at Qin Rushan, her eyes filled with a despairing stillness: "This is a death contract between the two families. If I file for divorce, the Zhao family will definitely cause trouble at my parents' house and demand that the wife they switched back be returned. At that time, my younger brother will be without a wife, and my stepmother... she will skin me alive and drink my blood."
She knew all too well how that stepmother could be.
When I was little, they made me go to the river to wash clothes in the dead of winter wearing only a thin shirt, and they wouldn't give me a drop of water even though I had a high fever.
If she ruined the family's only "lineage," her stepmother could chop her up with a kitchen knife.
As for that biological father who only squats against the wall smoking a pipe?
He only ever listens to his stepmother; he's a spineless coward who wouldn't dare utter a sound.
"I can't go back to my parents' home, that's a dead end." Xianglian lowered her head, looking at her rough hands. "In this world, where can a divorced woman with no family to support her go besides death?"
The air seemed to freeze.
Looking at the desperate woman before him, Qin Rushan felt as if his heart was being cut by a dull knife.
He knew that marriage exchange was not uncommon in remote, impoverished areas, but when it actually happened to the person he loved most, the sense of powerlessness made him so frustrated that he wanted to kill someone.
But he was a rough man, not one for complicated matters.
He only understood half of it—Xianglian was afraid of trouble from her family, afraid of implicating her younger brother, and afraid of having nowhere to live.
In his view, these were all excuses.
Ultimately, it was because this woman dared not take that step; she was still concerned about those feudal ethics and so-called "face."
An unnamed anger suddenly surged up.
In the end, you still don't want to leave.
Qin Rushan suddenly stood up, his tall figure appearing particularly imposing in the narrow melon shed.
He looked down at Xianglian, his tone filled with exasperated anger. "So what if it's a marriage exchange? That's all old-fashioned nonsense! This is a new society, marriage is free! If your stepmother dares to cause trouble, I'll grab an axe and go reason with her!"
"Rushan, you don't understand..." Xianglian wanted to explain, to explain the suffocating feeling of being bound by blood ties and clan, to explain that she didn't not want to leave, but that she couldn't leave without any preparation.
"I don't understand!"
Qin Rushan abruptly interrupted her, his chest heaving violently, clearly enraged. "I only know that a living person can't let themselves die from holding their pee! You're afraid of everything, worrying about this and that, and in the end, you're the only one who suffers! Is the Zhao family a place for humans? It's hell! Are you really going to waste your whole life in this inferno of the Zhao family for that damned younger brother?"
He grew angrier as he spoke, grabbed the axe from the ground, and slammed it into a nearby wooden post, sending wood chips flying everywhere.
"Li Xianglian, listen to me! What family of yours, what arranged marriage, it's all bullshit to me! As long as you nod, I'll take you away right now! Even if you have to live like a savage in the deep mountains, I'll take care of you! If your stepmother dares to come, I'll beat her up one by one, and if two come, I'll beat them both!"
His voice was deafening, echoing through the empty melon field.
Xianglian was stunned by his shout, and looked at this mountain-like man through teary eyes.
She could feel the burning passion in his words. He truly wanted to take her away, to escape this sea of suffering at all costs.
But reason told her that it wouldn't work.
If she leaves now, she will be branded with the stigma of "eloping," which will not only make her unable to hold her head high for the rest of her life, but will also implicate Qin Rushan.
He had finally achieved a peaceful life, and he couldn't let himself become a pariah in the village.
Moreover, she still has evidence of Zhao Gang's bigamy.
That was her only bargaining chip to turn her life around.
She couldn't just slink away like that; she wanted to leave with a clean slate and make those bloodsucking Zhao family pay the price!
"Like a mountain..." Xianglian wiped away her tears, tried to stand up by supporting herself on the ground, but her legs were too weak and she staggered.
Qin Rushan reacted quickly, grabbing her waist and pulling her tightly into his arms.
"Let go..." Xianglian pushed against his hard, iron-like chest, but couldn't budge him.
"I won't let you go!" Qin Rushan retorted, his dark eyes burning with anger and resentment at being rejected. "Unless you give me a straight answer. Are you coming with me, or staying in this shabby shed to die?"