Free Web NovelChapter 37: Chapter 37: Pushed into the River
Su Li had inherited Mr. Su’s looks, a pleasant sort of beauty that was easy on the eyes. She might not have been the most dazzling person in a crowd, but she was always one of the most noticeable.
Few girls her age in Su Family Village were prettier than Su Li. In a later era, she would have been called the village beauty.
Before she got married, Su Li was the village beauty of Su Family Village. After marrying and moving to Xinghua Village, she was known as the prettiest young wife there. Qin Shanshan was also considered a village beauty, but she paled in comparison to Su Li.
She was the village beauty, and back when she was in school, she had been both the class beauty and the school beauty. With looks like hers, it was only natural that she attracted the attention of the opposite sex.
Zhao Wenming was one of them.
He was initially attracted to Su Li’s appearance. But after he learned she was Tang Yuanxiao’s wife, his desire to make a move grew even stronger.
Zhao Wenming had grown up looking up to Tang Yuanxiao, who had always been the most outstanding member of their generation—until Zhao Wenming got into a teachers’ college.
From that moment on, Zhao Wenming considered himself the best and most capable person in the village. He saw Tang Yuanxiao as a secret rival he was determined to crush.
With his refined appearance and bright future, more than half the young women in Xinghua Village secretly admired him and dreamed of marrying him. This caused Zhao Wenming’s ego to swell uncontrollably.
Although he looked down on them deep down, believing they were unworthy of someone like him who was destined for a secure and prestigious career, he thoroughly enjoyed the adoring gazes of the village’s young women and wives.
He harbored a secret ambition: to capture the hearts of all the young women and young wives in the village. ƒreewebɳovel.com
As a beautiful woman and Tang Yuanxiao’s wife, Su Li quickly caught Zhao Wenming’s eye.
’If his wife falls in love with another man, doesn’t that indirectly prove which of the two is superior? Winning Su Li’s heart would be another way to crush and humiliate Tang Yuanxiao!’
With this secret thought in mind, after returning for the holidays and happening to see Su Li, Zhao Wenming began to deliberately approach her, intending to seduce her.
Su Li was mortified and angry each time, but since Zhao Wenming never made his intentions explicit, she could only suffer in silence and avoid him whenever possible.
Zhao Wenming was secretive about this, always choosing deserted places. Unfortunately for him, someone always saw. Qin Shanshan was one of those who had.
In her previous life, when Qin Shanshan accused Su Li of having an affair, she claimed to have seen her in a secret rendezvous with a man several times. She had been talking about Su Li and Zhao Wenming. Qin Shanshan never mentioned Zhao Wenming by name, but her description was alarmingly convincing.
At the time, the entire village was in an uproar. Zhao Wenming was there too, and his heart leaped in alarm when he heard Qin Shanshan’s words.
Afraid that Su Li would expose him, he panicked and immediately turned the tables by acting as a witness. He claimed he had also seen Su Li embracing a man and insisted that her lover seemed to be from the city.
The villagers had their doubts about Qin Shanshan’s story, but as soon as Zhao Wenming spoke up, they immediately believed him.
And just like that, Zhao Wenming—Su Li’s supposed lover—spoke out, concealing his own role and cementing the accusation that Su Li was having an affair.
At that moment, Su Li was so full of hate she could have eaten Zhao Wenming alive. She told them her so-called lover was none other than Zhao Wenming, but tragically, no one believed her.
Why didn’t they believe her? Because Zhao Wenming already had a partner.
While studying at the teachers’ college, Zhao Wenming had once published an essay in the city’s daily newspaper, making him a minor celebrity on campus for his literary talent. He later used this "talent" and his "poetry" to successfully woo the daughter of a coal boss, and she became his girlfriend.
Since they were both still students and their parents hadn’t met, the relationship wasn’t yet official. But Zhao Wenming’s mother was the type who wished the entire world knew her son was so successful he was dating a coal boss’s daughter. frёeωebɳovel.com
So, everyone in the village was privately aware of the matter, which was why they didn’t believe Su Li.
Later, Su Li, having barely escaped with her life, could no longer stay in the county. She drifted to the city and survived by scavenging, all while enduring a harsh existence and searching for Little Tang Mo.
After two or three years of this life, she was nearly gang-raped by a group of homeless men when Yu Zhengqing appeared and saved her.
Seeing how pitiful and sick she was, Yu Zhengqing, who was scheduled to hurry back to the Imperial City that very night, couldn’t bring himself to leave her. He took her back to the Imperial City with him, arranged for her medical treatment, and took care of her.
Yu Zhengqing was a reporter for Huaguo TV Station and was two years older than Su Li. But she had aged so terribly that he always called her "Big Sis." Eventually, he managed to find her a job as a cleaner at the TV station.
Even though it was only a temporary position as a cleaner, to the Su Li of that time, such a job was an absolute godsend.
Su Li was immensely grateful. Even when assigned to clean the filthiest areas and do the most exhausting work, she did so without a single complaint, striving to make everything spotless every day.
Because she was the most diligent and dedicated worker, Su Li eventually secured the position permanently. Others saw the job as dirty, exhausting, and difficult for low pay, but Su Li clung to it with all her might, because there, she was safe.
She no longer had to worry about someone attacking her at any moment. She no longer had to be on guard against the homeless men. She no longer had to suffer from hunger and cold...
Su Li’s life had finally found some stability.
Unfortunately, these peaceful and happy days lasted less than two years. Then, like a demon, Zhao Wenming reentered her life.
By this time, Zhao Wenming was married and had a child. After teaching in the village for two years, he had used his status as a coal boss’s son-in-law to scheme his way into a new career, and he now looked down on the humble profession of a teacher.
He had come to the Imperial City to curry favor with his superiors when he ran into Su Li. Once he understood her circumstances, he targeted her like a venomous snake, setting his sights on her cornea.
A member of the family he was trying to impress had been blinded in a car accident, and a cornea transplant could restore their sight. To him, Su Li’s appearance was a godsend.
"...If you’re not willing to donate your cornea, I’ll tell everyone here about your past. We’ll see if the TV station still lets you work as a cleaner then."
"Stop being so dramatic! It’s just one cornea. It’s not like you’ll go blind. What’s the difference between one good eye and two!"
While Zhao Wenming was threatening her, Yu Zhengqing, the only person Su Li could turn to for help, was away on a business trip. Su Li refused to give in, but in the end, she fell for Zhao Wenming’s scheme and lost the cornea of her left eye.
And so, Su Li went blind in one eye. Afterward, she could only swallow the bitter pill in silence, while Zhao Wenming used her eye to climb the ladder of success and fortune...
’Zhao Wenming! Zhao Wenming!’
Su Li watched Zhao Wenming’s smiling face under the sun and listened to his deliberately low, husky voice. The phantom pain in her left eye flared, sharp and intense.
She lowered her gaze slightly, hiding the bone-deep hatred in her eyes. A strange smile touched her lips. "Yes. It is a surprise."
Seeing Su Li lower her head with a shy smile under the sunlight, Zhao Wenming felt a rush of heat and took another step closer.
"This is fate, Su Li. You shouldn’t be surprised."
Seeing him draw near, Su Li quickly moved to avoid him. Perhaps in her panic, she backed straight toward the riverbank. "Careful!" Zhao Wenming exclaimed.
He rushed forward, feigning concern, and reached out to grab her. But Su Li twisted nimbly away. Amid her seemingly flustered steps, she dodged his hand and, in the same motion, shoved him hard in the back.
It all happened in a flash. With a panicked cry and a loud SPLASH, Zhao Wenming plunged into the river.
In the dead of winter, the river’s surface sometimes iced over in the early mornings. One can only imagine how bone-chillingly cold that water must have been.
