RYEY – Chapter 73 Worth It

“This… Mom, what’s for lunch?”

Chen Chunhua’s tongue rolled around in her mouth twice before she finally forced out the word “Mom.” Wang Tuozi’s mother walked over to the square table with a cold face, squatted down, and rummaged through a pile of bags. She pulled out a few sweet potatoes and a bowl of millet.

“For lunch, we’ll have sweet potato rice. There are eggs on the table—steam an egg custard for the two children. There’s also half a jin of pork in the cupboard outside. I specially bought it to celebrate your wedding today.”

Chen Chunhua felt stifled. Newly married, and her mother-in-law only brought out half a jin of pork, calling it a wedding celebration? Wasn’t that just perfunctory? But as a newcomer to the household, she didn’t dare say much.

“The water basin is on the first floor. Take this.”

Wang Tuozi’s mother handed her a rice-washing basket and a small wooden basin. Chunhua nodded. When she entered the dormitory building earlier, she had already noticed the long communal trough on the first floor with seven or eight faucets.

She walked to the trough, turned the faucet, and water gushed out. Only now did she realize how much better the conditions in the county were—using water was as simple as turning a tap.

She had also just been to the public toilet in the building. Doing one’s business there didn’t stink like the village pit latrines, and all you had to do was pull a string and the waste would be flushed away. So convenient.

Her mood began to lift. Just for this convenience alone, marrying Wang Tuozi felt worth it. No wonder he and his mother would rather endure a tiny, smelly apartment here than live in the countryside—it was simply too convenient.

The coal stove hadn’t been extinguished yet. As the weather grew colder, Wang Tuozi’s mother needed hot water ready at all times. So cooking was simple—just open the stove’s vent and add more briquettes.

But Chunhua’s very first meal ended up burnt. She just couldn’t control the fire properly. The sweet potato millet rice turned out with the top layer raw, the middle cooked, and the bottom burnt. Wang Tuozi’s mother’s face darkened immediately.

Slap!

Without hesitation, Wang Tuozi smacked her. He’d been simmering with anger since morning and finally found a perfect excuse to vent it, thanks to this fool.

“You’re no pampered city miss! Just a country girl, yet you can’t even cook rice? What did you eat at home—shit?”

“I…”

Chunhua covered her burning cheek with her hand, tears welling in her eyes. She regretted not listening to her mother before marriage and properly learning how to use a coal stove.

Seeing her tear-filled eyes stirred something in Wang Tuozi that hadn’t been aroused in years. Glancing at his mother, he shoved Chunhua into the inner room.

Hearing the lock click on the door, his mother curled her lips and went to salvage the burnt sweet potato rice, her dissatisfaction with the new daughter-in-law deepening further.

Inside, Wang Tuozi pushed Chunhua onto the bed. When he reached to undo her clothes, her heart nearly leapt out of her chest. Why was this man’s behavior so completely different from what she had imagined?

She stared at him dumbly, confusion in her eyes. Wang Tuozi frowned—did this attempted murderer still have her heart set on Li Huan?

“Chen Chunhua, I’ll ask you one last time—do you want to go back? If not, remember, it won’t be your choice later.”

Chunhua shook her head frantically. She had just left her parents’ home this morning—if she got sent back by the afternoon, she might as well hang herself. Besides, she didn’t have money to return the betrothal gift.

Wang Tuozi nodded and went at her without restraint. He touched everything—whether he should or shouldn’t. Li Huan had told him this woman wasn’t a good person, that she was poisonous.

Today, he finally got a clear look at Li Huan’s wife’s face—stunningly beautiful. It was exactly because of that beauty, because Li Huan had liked her, that Chunhua had wanted to kill. So vicious.

“Brother Wang… lighter… it hurts.”

Her whole body throbbed with pain, but with the two children waiting for food in the other room, she dared not scream. She could only plead softly.

He rolled his eyes and pressed harder. Pain? Good. Let her know pain, or else how would he tame her? When Chunhua finally cried out in anguish, her “flower” was truly forced open.

“Dinner’s ready.”

His mother banged on the door angrily. She had meant to discipline the new bride herself, but ended up cooking instead—infuriating.

But when she saw Chunhua stumble out with disheveled hair and a swollen face, all her irritation vanished, replaced by a trace of pity in her eyes.

“Mom, tomorrow when I go to work at the factory, I’ll ask if the kiln needs extra hands. I can’t support so many people on my wages alone.”

Wang Tuozi’s mother understood perfectly—her son had given up a hundred yuan and a bicycle, and he meant to claw every bit of value back from Chunhua.

Chunhua, however, had no idea she was already marked out so clearly. Her body felt like it was falling apart, every joint aching. She had no appetite at all.

“Go rest for a while. Don’t bother with dinner. Son, you head to work this afternoon.”

Wang Tuozi nodded. Being remarried, he had no marriage leave. Though he had taken one day off, he figured he’d go back in the afternoon and save half a day’s wages.

At the supply and marketing cooperative, Cheng Qiao arrived just as Qiu Min saw her. Quickly excusing herself from others, Qiu Min pulled her outside.

“Cheng Qiao, I don’t know if I should say this… your man—”

“I know already. You’re good friends with Skinny Monkey, right? Honestly, he’s not a bad guy. You could consider him.”

Qiu Min fell silent. She had some feelings for the sharp-minded Skinny Monkey herself, but his family’s situation was poor, and he had too many siblings.

“Cheng Qiao, I actually… ai, forget it. We’ll talk later.”

“Do you want to make money?”

Cheng Qiao whispered into her ear.

Qiu Min jolted in surprise, then nodded honestly. She was an official worker at the supply cooperative with a salary of twenty yuan per month—but her family had paid five hundred yuan to buy that position.

So every month, apart from keeping one yuan for herself, she had to hand over the rest to her parents to pay off the debt. But as a young woman, she still had desires for nice clothes and good food.

“I’ve got milk powder, cigarettes, liquor, rice, millet, cornmeal, pork. Prices are lower than the black market, no ration tickets needed. You just bring in customers, and I’ll give you commission.”

“You—you’re too bold!”

“If I were timid, I’d be stuck peddling in the black market. What’s it to you then?”

Qiu Min fell silent. Truly, marrying a chicken means following the chicken, marrying a dog means following the dog. A good girl, and she’d already turned into a speculator. Should she do it too? Closing her eyes, Qiu Min hesitated.