So, You’re the Henpecked One? 49

Chapter 49

She really did love Chu Xihuan.

Loved her so, so much.

Fat tears suddenly splattered onto the ground. She raised a hand to furiously wipe them away, but they wouldn’t stop, and she only felt a hollow ache in her chest.

Thinking back now, it was no wonder Chu Xihuan was rarely willing to talk about her past. So this was why.

Lin Zhao could accept that Chu Xihuan had initially married her because the time had come and she needed a shield. She could also accept that she had been chosen simply because she was the only one who had so clearly expressed her preference for women.

But the one thing she found incredibly difficult to accept was that Chu Xihuan had married her because of someone else.

The emotions in her chest surged violently. Looking at the two of them ahead, for the first time, Lin Zhao felt that the distance between her and Chu Xihuan was even greater than when they had first married.

Lin Zhao threw the two broken pieces of wood in her hand to the ground and turned, walking away quickly.

She no longer knew how to face Chu Xihuan. And for the time being, she didn’t want to.

**

Seeing that she truly couldn’t break free from her grip, Chu Xihuan grew even more furious. Without another thought, she kicked out at Cao Jing. “Get lost!” she snarled. “You make me sick!”

Her chest heaved with anger. Suddenly, as if sensing something, she turned to look in a certain direction. There was no one there, only something that seemed to have fallen on the ground.

Her brow furrowed instinctively.

Kicked in the leg by Chu Xihuan, Cao Jing looked at her in disbelief. “Xixi, you hit me?”

There was a time when she would have been extremely worried if she had gotten even a small injury, but now she was willing to hit her.

Chu Xihuan came back to her senses, suppressing the uneasy feeling in her heart. Seeing that she still wouldn’t let go, she kicked her again. “So what if I hit you? Is it something to be so shocked about?” she said coldly.

“Cao Jing, if you have any self-respect, you should know how disgusting your behavior is right now.”

“Let me tell you very clearly, I no longer like you. From the moment you left, my feelings for you have completely dissipated. As for those days in the past, I consider them wasted on a dog.”

Chu Xihuan’s words were very clear. The sight of Cao Jing now made her physically nauseous, and hearing her name filled her with an uncontrollable disgust and annoyance. In all her life, Cao Jing was the only person who had ever made her feel such revulsion.

Hearing her words, Cao Jing seemed to laugh in anger, her eyes red. She let her kick her, just staring into her eyes. “You don’t love me anymore? Do you believe that yourself when you say it? If you don’t love me, could you possibly fall in love with that… what’s her name, Lin Zhao?”

Chu Xihuan couldn’t help but laugh. From her words, it was clear that she knew very well how much she had liked her in the past, yet she had always avoided her and rarely responded. How could one not say that she was doing it on purpose?

So, did she find it fun and interesting to watch her be so in love with her in the past? Now that she was no longer revolving around her, she couldn’t take it?

“Of course I believe it.” Chu Xihuan’s sneer faded, and she looked coldly at Cao Jing’s stunned expression. “Even though we grew up together, it seems you still don’t know me well enough. If you did, you would know that when I make a decision, I never regret it.”

“Also, I love her very much. Much, much more than I ever loved you.”

After finishing her last sentence with conviction, Chu Xihuan saw her chance and stomped hard on Cao Jing’s foot. Seeing her grimace in pain and let go to bend over, she sneered, “Cao Jing, since you’re back to observe the mourning period, you should stay at home and do so properly. Otherwise, I don’t mind having my mother inform your mother and have her take you back.”

Cao Jing’s mother only had her as a child and had been very strict with her since she was young, demanding that she be the best at everything to bring her honor and allow her to hold her head high in the Cao family. Cao Jing was also most afraid of disappointing her mother and hardly dared to do anything that would. Chu Xihuan didn’t believe that this wasn’t a factor in her hiding their relationship back then.

Cao Jing’s face changed. Chu Xihuan was blatantly threatening her.

How could this be? Did she really have no feelings for her anymore? Why?

“Why? What’s so good about that Lin Zhao?” Cao Jing asked, her voice choked with sobs. She had only run away temporarily to give herself some time to think more clearly. Why had everything turned out like this?

Chu Xihuan walked around her, holding her things, her tone light but unquestionable.

“She is a thousand times better than you.”

**

Meanwhile, Lin Zhao, after leaving the alley of her home, had no idea where to go. She wandered aimlessly through the streets, not even wanting to find Mao Xiaoyun.

She didn’t know how to tell Mao Xiaoyun about this, and she didn’t want to. Besides, she was even more afraid that if she didn’t go back, Chu Xihuan would go to Mao Xiaoyun’s house to find her.

It was very rare, but Lin Zhao didn’t want to see Chu Xihuan at all right now. Just the thought of her brought back the image of her struggling with another woman.

They looked so well-matched.

Lin Zhao bit her lower lip, her eyes red from holding back her tears, trying to force Chu Xihuan out of her mind.

Chu Xihuan had married her in a fit of anger because that person had left. Now that that person was back, what reason was there for her to exist?

Would Chu Xihuan… still like the other person?

Lin Zhao didn’t dare to think any further. By the time she came back to her senses, she had unknowingly arrived at the city gate. The recruitment booth to the side seemed to be wrapping up, and many people were already packing up.

Lin Zhao stared blankly at them, then thought of Chu Xihuan, who was probably at home right now. She forced a smile and, swallowing the bitterness in her heart, walked over.

She didn’t want to go back and face Chu Xihuan for the time being, but apart from that home, she had nowhere else to go where Chu Xihuan couldn’t find her.

Right now, as long as she had a place to go, anything would do.

“Hello, I’d like to sign up,” Lin Zhao said in a low voice as she walked up.

The person who was already organizing the registration book looked up at her sudden appearance. He was about to say that recruitment was over, but seeing Lin Zhao’s obviously distressed state, he swallowed his words and reopened the book. “What’s your name? Where are you from?”

“Lin Zhao, from Yong’an Town.”

The person asked a few more questions, then called someone over to take Lin Zhao for the tests.

After a year of nourishment, not only had Lin Zhao grown taller, but her figure had also filled out a bit. In addition, her work as a carpenter was also very physically demanding, so her physical fitness was even better than before. And since she was still young, she performed very well in many of the agility-based tests.

After several tests, Lin Zhao bent over, her hands on her knees, panting softly. The tightness in her chest seemed to have been alleviated by the intense exercise, and the frustration was expelled with her breath.

“Not bad, top grade,” the examiner said with some surprise, looking at the rating. In all this time, not many people who had signed up had even passed the standard, let alone reached the top grade. The total number could be counted on one hand.

Lin Zhao felt no joy. She only cared about one thing. “Did I pass? If I did, can I enlist now?”

Her question made the people around her stare. The person who had registered Lin Zhao earlier ran over to the examiner and whispered what had happened when Lin Zhao had come to sign up.

The examiner looked at Lin Zhao deeply. Normally, those who passed would be given a day or two to go home and make arrangements before reporting for duty. But Lin Zhao’s situation seemed special, and she didn’t want to lose such a good recruit. “You can,” she said decisively. “I’ll have someone take you to get the necessary supplies and arrange your team and barracks later.”

The examiner had a selfish thought. She would arrange this person under her own command later. With proper training, she might become a fierce general in her hands in the future.

Hearing her say this, Lin Zhao was relieved. When someone came to lead her away, she just stood there for two seconds, looking in the direction of her home, before following the person with firm steps.

No matter what, she couldn’t get over this hurdle in her heart for the time being. This time, she was joining the army. If she was lucky enough to survive, perhaps in a few years, she would be able to not care about Chu Xihuan anymore. If she was unlucky and died on the battlefield, then that was her fate.

She accepted it all.

Lin Zhao swallowed the churning bitterness in her heart and forced herself to be strong.

Chu Xihuan had initially married her because of someone else, and had hidden it from her for so long after they were married. How could she know what she was really thinking?

She was so angry at Chu Xihuan right now!

**

Chu Xihuan pushed open the door and entered the courtyard. Worried that Cao Jing would follow her like a lingering ghost, she immediately closed the door and locked it from the inside, feeling an indescribable frustration.

She put away the things she had bought. Seeing the sky slowly darken, and still no sign of Lin Zhao even though it was time for her to be back, the unease in Chu Xihuan’s heart grew stronger. Her heart suddenly beat faster and heavier, and her body tensed up.

Recalling the strange feeling she had had when she had confronted Cao Jing earlier, Chu Xihuan’s face turned slightly pale.

Was Lin Zhao there at that time?

The moment this thought appeared, her heart instantly tightened, and an unprecedented panic enveloped her.

Without any further delay, she quickly ran to the alley entrance and looked in the direction she had been looking at earlier.

It was indeed the direction of Lin Zhao’s home…

However, at this moment, there were only two lonely, broken pieces of a hairpin, discarded on the road.

Chu Xihuan froze. She slowly squatted down and picked them up, examining them carefully. The pattern on the hairpin… was a rising sun.

Zhaozhao (T/N: A nickname for Lin Zhao, homophonous with ‘morning’), Xihuan (T/N: Her name contains the character for ‘dawn’).

**

Author’s Note:

My hand still hurts, so the update schedule is unstable. Please bear with me. [Pitiful] Or I also have many completed novels, like “The Early-Deceased Ex-Wife” and such, that you can read. [Shrug]