Unsure if it was due to her frail body or some magic in Peng Fei's embrace, Zhan Jingchun, who should have been unable to sleep, found herself lying there like a dried corpse and surprisingly slept until morning.
When she woke up, no one was by her side.
The crowing of the rooster echoed one after another, and light streamed in from outside the window.
She propped herself up with her arms, got out of bed, and wanted to go for a walk.
As she pulled the door open, the clanking of chains sounded outside. She was locked in.
This guy, how could he be so stubborn! She had already said she would pay, not report him, and offered a lot of money, yet he still locked her up!
There was no other option. Zhan Jingchun had to return to bed, dryly waiting for Peng Fei to approach her.
Not much time passed before the door opened, and Peng Fei walked in with a bowl of steaming white porridge and a plate of vegetables.
"Eat."
So he had gone to cook.
She hadn't eaten properly for a while, and what she ate yesterday had been vomited up. She was indeed quite hungry.
Zhan Jingchun wasn't going to fight her stomach, but she hadn't brushed her teeth yet.
"Do you have a toothbrush? I'd like to brush my teeth first."
Upon hearing this, Peng Fei was taken aback, his expression revealing everything.
Alas, the household was so poor that they didn't even have a spare toothbrush.
"Then what should I do? I can't eat without brushing my teeth. Can you go buy me one?"
She had no idea about the terrain outside and didn't know how far it was to the town. It was absolutely impossible to go for just a toothbrush.
Peng Fei thought for a moment, then turned and went out.
"I'll go find something for you."
He brought back a bowl, poured some coarse salt into it, and another bowl with warm water.
He dipped his finger in some salt and gestured to Zhan Jingchun.
"Just make do with this for now. I'll buy you one in a couple of days."
Zhan Jingchun's life experience was once again refreshed.
She had heard that in ancient times, before toothbrushes were invented, people used salt to clean their teeth. To think she would one day do this...
With no other choice, she had to go to the yard and squat down to brush her teeth.
After cleaning her mouth, she turned to look for Peng Fei, intending to continue talking to him about letting her go. However, he had already put on a straw hat and was leaving with a hoe.
"Eat and then sleep. You're still weak. I've already hung your clothes out to dry; they should be dry by noon. I'll be back at lunchtime. If you need to relieve yourself, do it in the basin, and I'll empty it when I return."
"Hey, hey, hey, don't go yet, I have something to tell you!"
Peng Fei seemed to know what she was going to say and ignored her, carrying his hoe and leaving the yard.
The clanking of chains sounded outside again, and she was locked in once more.
Fangfang had gone to school, and Peng Ma had gone to the fields early. She was the only one left at home.
Today, thankfully, she wasn't confined to that room as she had been yesterday. She paced back and forth in the uneven, yellow-earth courtyard, observing the terrain and wondering if she could climb out.
But the courtyard walls were quite high, and the top was completely covered with a anti-theft net made from crushed glass bottles, with sharp bottle mouths all around.
Without a ladder, climbing up rashly like this would get her caught, and she might even be poked to death.
Zhan Jingchun knew that now was not the best time to escape.
Firstly, her physical strength was insufficient.
Secondly, she was too unfamiliar with her surroundings. A rash escape would have a low chance of success.
Thirdly, if the matter could be resolved amicably, she still didn't want to leave by escaping.
Therefore, she behaved herself all morning.
She drew well water herself, washed her hair with laundry detergent as a makeshift solution, and then sat in a corner to bask in the sun.
When Peng Ma returned, she was startled to see Zhan Jingchun sitting in the courtyard.
"How did you get out?"
Peng Fei followed behind and quickly looked forward upon hearing this.
Seeing her with her hair down, sitting obediently, and still wearing his clothes, his pounding heart finally settled back into place.
He didn't know what possessed him this morning. Perhaps she looked too cute squatting there brushing her teeth, and he had forgotten to lock her back in her room.
He was truly scared.
It was fortunate that this daughter-in-law had poor stamina and didn't seem to be cunning; otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
Peng Ma turned and shot Peng Fei a series of fierce glares. Peng Fei knew he had made a mistake and dared not say anything more.
He put down the hoe, walked silently to Zhan Jingchun's side, and gestured for her to return to the room.
Zhan Jingchun didn't argue with him and obediently followed him.
Back in the room, as Peng Fei was about to go cook, she reached out and pulled his arm.
Although it wasn't their first physical contact, perhaps because she initiated it, Peng Fei felt as if he had been electrocuted, and his entire body went numb.
Looking at her again, her expression had softened considerably.
"What's wrong?"
"I can't go in the basin, and my stomach hurts. I've been holding it in for a long time. Is there a better toilet?"
Peng Fei was speechless. She could hold it in from yesterday until now without going to the toilet?
Peng Ma, having worked hard all day, had to cook and feed the pigs and chickens upon returning. Her son, as soon as he entered the house, ran off to dote on his wife, making her feel uncomfortable.
While working in the kitchen, she muttered to herself.
Although he was afraid of his mother's scolding, his wife needed to use the toilet. Peng Fei glanced at the kitchen, then took her hand.
"Come on, I'll take you somewhere."
The two of them, unnoticed by his mother, quietly left the courtyard.
Zhan Jingchun saw the appearance of this village for the first time.
It was as dilapidated as some impoverished mountain villages she had seen in documentaries.
Looking out, the sparse mountain village, with houses scattered here and there, had no multi-story buildings.
Some were bungalows, but most were tiled houses. The exteriors were unpainted, either revealing their dark bricks or red bricks, with cement interspersed, utterly lacking aesthetic appeal.
Small roads crisscrossed, uneven, all of them dirt paths.
On the roads, a few children and some chickens, ducks, and geese stood in twos and threes. Apart from that, there were only scattered green trees.
She didn't know how to describe her feelings at that moment.
No wonder Peng Fei looked the way he did. In Nancheng, with a bit of tidying up, he could even be a male model, yet he had to buy a wife.
No normal person would want to marry into such a godforsaken place, right?
Whether it was because Peng Fei naturally walked fast or because he didn't want her to see too much,
The two of them, like refugees, quickly walked past the small dirt path in front of the houses. They skirted around the houses and entered a bamboo forest behind them. He led her into the bamboo forest and found a flat spot with clean fallen leaves.
"It's here. Hurry up and go."
Zhan Jingchun needed to relieve herself, and he had brought her to an open-air forest...
Without any psychological preparation, it was another embarrassing situation.
Seeing her displeasure again, Peng Fei was at a loss.
"If that doesn't work, then you'll have to go back and use the basin. There's no other place."
"Hurry up. If Mom finds out I brought you out so quickly, she'll be angry when we get back."
Zhan Jingchun had no choice: "Then don't look. Go further away."
Peng Fei was very sharp: "I won't look. What if you run away? Are you going or not? If not, we're going back."
He was as gentle as flowing water just moments ago, and now he was threatening her?
Forget it. Since she wasn't planning to escape anyway, Zhan Jingchun endured it.
She quietly walked a few steps back, gritted her teeth, and squatted down.