Chapter 8

"Brother Zhang, you can rest assured," Gao Jue said affirmatively.

"Ah... how can I say this..." Zhang Pei pondered for a moment, seemingly struggling with his inner thoughts, and finally made up his mind. "This matter, I also heard from Brother Qin. That day, he had drunk too much and complained to me for a while, accidentally letting it slip. In the end, it all boils down to the fact that on the night of their wedding, his wife did not bleed."

What does this mean? It's quite simple: before marrying Qin Guang, Cao Shufen had already had sexual relations with someone else and was not a virgin. If this happened in modern times, it would be like a rat having its period—no big deal. But in those days, it was different. To put it bluntly, if he beat her up that night and divorced her the next morning, demanding the return of the dowry, the woman's family wouldn't dare to say a word against it.

"Looks like there's a thorn in his heart," Gao Jue said, falling into deep thought. Beating one's wife over this matter was quite normal for some rough people. However, if Qin Guang was so averse to this, why didn't he divorce her at the time? If he had divorced her directly, Qin Guang would have suffered no loss; the one who would have been disgraced would have been Cao Shufen.

Gao Jue believed that he had now discovered a thread. If he followed this thread, he might find the root of the problem and remove the thorn from Qin Guang's heart. The one who tied the knot should be the one to untie it; it seemed he should talk to Cao Shufen to learn more.

"Brother Zhang, I have a plan. I intend to talk to Sister Cao first to get a better understanding of the situation."

"Alright, do you want to go to her place or invite her here?" Zhang Pei asked.

"Let's... invite her here," Gao Jue said.

Gao Jue went to Cao Shufen's house to invite her to talk, but he left Yan Bing there to wait for Qin Guang, telling her not to follow. The little girl was very reluctant, mainly out of fear, and preferred to sit on a stool in the yard.

Cao Shufen didn't know why Gao Jue wanted to talk to her, but she sensed it was important. When she arrived at Zhang Pei's house, she was clearly nervous.

After they sat down again, Gao Jue first exchanged a few polite words before getting to the point. "Director Cao, I just had a chat with Brother Zhang and learned some information. I think it could be useful and might help resolve the issues in your family. Of course, I need to communicate further with you. Some of the matters may involve your privacy, so I wonder if you are willing to be honest with me."

"Ah..." Cao Shufen shook her head and sighed. "Xiao Gao, although you are new here, when you handled Zhang Pei's matter, I saw that you were very capable, much better than most young people, and even I might not be as good as you. Since you say you might be able to resolve the issues in my family, I believe you. You can ask me anything you want to know."

"You and Brother Zhang are old neighbors, and I am an outsider, but as the saying goes, 'the observer sees more than the participant.' I might see things more clearly. Brother Zhang just told me about the incident on your wedding night..." Gao Jue spoke calmly, not looking directly at Cao Shufen, and casually picked up a glass of wine.

Zhang Pei, who didn't expect Gao Jue to be so direct, said awkwardly, "Brother... you..."

Cao Shufen nodded, her face full of sorrow, but not surprised. Since her husband and Zhang Pei were best friends, he would often confide in Zhang Pei about his troubles. Cao Shufen closed her eyes, and tears streamed down her cheeks. She didn't speak, and neither did Gao Jue or Zhang Pei, waiting silently. After a long time, Cao Shufen opened her eyes and said, "Can you pour me a glass of wine?"

Without a word, Zhang Pei quickly fetched a glass and poured her a drink. Cao Shufen picked up the glass and drank it in one go, coughing several times from the spiciness. She picked up her chopsticks and ate a few bites of food to calm down. She composed herself, bit her lip, and said, "It happened like this. When I went to the countryside, I was assigned to Li Mountain Town, Xiao Bei Village. I was frail and had never done any hard labor before. When I arrived in the countryside, I couldn't do much work, and my work points were always the lowest. Even so, I soon fell ill. One day, I went to ask for leave and met the village party secretary's son. He was very kind to me, spoke well of me, and even gave me more leave and full work points. I thought he was a good person, but the next day, when everyone else went to work in the fields, he broke into my room, raped me, and threatened me. He said if I told anyone, he would beat me to death and make sure I could never return home. I was terrified and didn't dare to say anything, only shedding silent tears. Later, when I recovered, he changed my job to a warehouse keeper, which was less strenuous, but... he... he... he... would come to me every few days... to do that..."

At this point, Cao Shufen was sobbing uncontrollably, a tearful mess. Gao Jue took out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped her tears. She cried for a long time before continuing, "It was a nightmare. I longed to return home. Finally, after three years, an opportunity came. The country was recruiting worker-peasant-soldier college students, and I got a spot, escaping from there. After graduating, I was assigned to work at the county archives bureau. Although everything went smoothly, that incident was always a pain in my heart. My family kept urging me to get married, but I didn't dare to. I was afraid... I was afraid that on my wedding night, my husband would discover I wasn't pure and kick me out..."

Cao Shufen cried even harder, "My family and friends introduced me to several suitable matches, but I didn't dare to get involved with any of them. I knew that if they found out I wasn't pure, they would kick me out. Perhaps it was fate. One day, I met Qin Guang. Although he looked rough, he had a kind heart. His family wasn't wealthy, and he hadn't received much education. Others said he didn't match me, and even my family disagreed, but I decided to marry him. To marry him, my parents almost disowned me. On our wedding night, he discovered the truth, beat me, and wanted to kick me out. I begged him, telling him that my parents had already disowned me, and if he kicked me out, I would have no choice but to die. He kept me, but this became a thorn in his heart. For the first two years of our marriage, he often beat me, but I didn't blame him. After I became pregnant and had a child, as the child grew, his temper improved, and he stopped beating me. Those were happy times... but recently, for some reason, he has become like he used to... I asked him... but he won't say... Every night, I wonder if I have done something wrong..."

After listening to Cao Shufen's story and seeing her pitiful state, Gao Jue and Zhang Pei felt heavy hearts. She wasn't a virgin when she got married, but could she be blamed? She had endured so much suffering, from the countryside to marrying Qin Guang, and even now, she was still in pain.

Gao Jue made up his mind to help her, no matter what it took.

The room fell silent, with only Cao Shufen's sobs breaking the silence. Gao Jue thought quietly for a while before saying, "Sister Cao, have you ever told him about your past?"

"No..." Cao Shufen shook her head in pain, "I was violated for three years... three years... How could I tell him..."

"I understand..." Gao Jue nodded and continued, "Sister Cao, Brother Zhang just told me that their unit's performance is poor, and they only receive half their salary each month. Do you know about this?"

"I... I don't know..." As soon as she said this, Cao Shufen's body suddenly trembled, and she said, "I... I... I mean..."

"What's wrong?" Gao Jue asked quickly.

"After we got married, although he beat me, he always gave me his full salary, keeping only a little for himself. But about four months ago, the first time he hit me, he only gave me half his salary. I asked if there was something he needed to spend money on that month, and he flew into a rage and hit me. I thought he might have misunderstood me, so I tried to explain, but he wouldn't listen and just hit me..." Cao Shufen said, her voice choked with tears.

"I understand, I understand..." Gao Jue was almost jumping with excitement upon hearing this.

Just then, a rough male voice called out from outside, "Brother, didn't you say you were coming back to have dinner with your sister-in-law? Why are you suddenly inviting me to drink here?"

With the man's voice, footsteps could be heard outside. Cao Shufen's expression became visibly tense, and she whispered, "He's back."

Gao Jue nodded, giving her an encouraging look, signaling her not to worry.

In a moment, the door to the inner room was pushed open, and a man in his forties walked in. He had a stubbly face and a robust build, looking quite intimidating. This was Cao Shufen's husband, Qin Guang. Seeing Cao Shufen sitting there, he immediately frowned and said, "Men are drinking, what are you doing here? And why is your colleague here again?"

The colleague he referred to was naturally Yan Bing. When he entered the yard, he saw Yan Bing sitting there. The little girl was startled when she saw him return and stammered to tell him that Zhang Pei had invited him to drink at his house. Qin Guang, being a rough man, didn't think much about why Yan Bing was sitting at his doorstep while his wife wasn't there, and rushed to Zhang Pei's house.

"I..." Cao Shufen, who was very afraid of her husband, stood up trembling.

Gao Jue stood up first, smiled, and said, "You must be Sister Cao's husband. Hello, I'm Gao Jue, and I work at the Women's Federation, where Sister Cao is my colleague." He politely extended his hand to Qin Guang.

"What's going on? You even brought your colleague to Zhang Pei's house! Damn it, are you trying to get beaten again!" Qin Guang ignored Gao Jue's hand and looked at Cao Shufen, saying rudely.

"Brother Qin, don't say that. Gao Jue is a good brother and just saved my life," Zhang Pei, fearing the situation would get out of hand, quickly stood up to mediate.

"Oh? He's your brother? Then I won't say more. By the way, where's my sister-in-law?" Qin Guang asked.

"Don't mention that bitch! Damn it, that slut was cheating on me with another man. Luckily, I caught them in bed this afternoon. Otherwise, I would still be in the dark. I wanted to kill them both, but Brother Gao stopped me. Otherwise, you'd have to visit me in prison if you wanted to see me," Zhang Pei said, feeling hurt and angry when he mentioned his wife.

"Damn it, women these days are all sluts. They have no shame! Women like that should be beaten to death!" Qin Guang said angrily.

"Brother Qin, you can't generalize. There are still good women like Sister Cao, who is gentle and virtuous..." Gao Jue said.

Before he could finish, Qin Guang's face darkened, and he interrupted Gao Jue, shouting, "What's it to you how my wife is! In my eyes, all women are sluts. What's it to you? If it weren't for Zhang Pei, I would have slapped you already!"

Gao Jue, who had never met such an unreasonable person, remained calm and said, "Brother Qin, I work at the Women's Federation, and our job is to protect women's rights. You can't talk about women like that. Besides, this is a rule-of-law society. What right do you have to beat people!"

"My wife is mine, and I can beat her if I want to! So what if you work at the Women's Federation? Are you trying to act tough in front of me? Damn it, you should look in the mirror and see what you're worth! I'm not drinking this wine! I'm going home!" Qin Guang said, grabbing Cao Shufen and shouting, "Come with me!"