stjorthotic Chapter 1 was a bit scary.
Chapter 1 was a bit scary.
[Brain storage place!!!]
Fictional, fictional, fictional!!
Please read this for enjoyment and laughs. If you don't like it, swipe right to exit. I write for free and don't accept negative reviews, thank you!
Rough-man literature, really rough, the speech is rough, and it's really rough!! There's something for everyone. (#^.^#)
Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.
1981 years.
The scorching heat of June is unbearable.
Several rumbles of thunder rolled across the horizon, and the dark clouds hung extremely low, like a black pot over the Red Star Brigade.
In the woodshed in the backyard of the Zhao family, the air was damp and stuffy, and the musty smell was wafting into the nostrils.
Li Xianglian huddled on a tattered straw mat in the corner, her body covered in bruises from her mother-in-law's pinching, one patch connected to another, the skin and flesh unhealed.
My stomach was burning with hunger.
All day long, she only drank two bowls of rice soup that was so clear you could see your reflection in it.
"A diseased hen that won't lay eggs! What's the point of eating it? It's a waste of food!"
"Tomorrow night I'll send you to that idiot's house at the east end! If you can't borrow the money, don't even think about setting foot in this house!"
Even through the two earthen walls, the sharp and sarcastic curses of her mother-in-law, Aunt Zhao, seemed to still be buzzing in her ears.
Borrowing sperm.
These two words, like a red-hot iron branding, sizzled and burned into Li Xianglian's heart.
She has been married into the Zhao family for three years, working like a slave, getting up earlier than the chickens and going to bed later than the dogs.
The day after their marriage, her husband, Zhao Gang, packed his bedding and went to the city to work, saying he was doing it to earn a better future for the family.
This departure lasted for three years.
Three years have passed without a single letter, let alone a visit from him.
Now that the Zhao family has no grandson, the mother-in-law doesn't scold her own son for being away from home; instead, she blames everything on her.
Is it human to force a respectable woman to sleep with a mentally challenged man?
The rain was pouring down outside, the raindrops hitting the tiles with a crackling sound like popping beans.
Xianglian raised her head in despair, staring at the roof beam.
A hemp rope was hanging down there; she had tied it there in the dark earlier.
When the tears run dry, the heart dies too.
Dead and clean.
If she dies, she won't suffer anymore, she won't have to serve that drooling idiot, and she won't have to bear the stigma of being "unfaithful to her husband".
She stood up shakily and moved the wood chopping block over.
I felt unsteady on my feet and almost fell several times.
The moment my neck went into the noose, the rough hemp rope chafed my skin painfully.
She closed her eyes, and two lines of clear tears slid down her thin cheeks, flowing into her mouth, bitter and astringent.
Zhao Gang, if you have a spirit in heaven, open your eyes and see how your mother drove your wife to her death!
Xianglian kicked off with her feet.
Just then—
"Bang!"
A muffled thud drowned out the thunder.
The wooden window of the woodshed, which was originally locked, was broken off by a large hand, along with half of the window frame.
Wood chips flew everywhere.
A cold wind, carrying rain, rushed in.
Before Xianglian could react, a tall figure, as big as a black bear, covered in rainwater and smelling of mud, climbed in.
The man moved as fast as a black lightning bolt.
Xianglian felt a tightness around her waist as someone grabbed her and lifted her up.
Before she could even scream, a rough, hot hand covered her mouth tightly.
"Well……"
Her eyes widened in horror.
By the light of a pale flash of lightning streaking across the window, Xianglian could see the man's face clearly.
My breathing stopped for a moment.
How could it be him?
Qin Rushan!
The "evil spirit" living next door!
The man had a scar on his left cheek that ran from his brow bone to his chin. It was a scar left from the battlefield years ago, a mark of flesh that had rolled over and healed, and it looked particularly gruesome in the night.
The village children would cry when they saw him, and even the dogs would tuck their tails between their legs and go around him.
I heard he was a tough guy when he was in the army, but he was injured and had to leave.
The gossipy women in the village whispered among themselves that Qin Rushan had injured his manhood, rendering him useless and destined to be childless.
He usually keeps to himself, has a gloomy look in his eyes, and never looks people directly in the eye.
At this moment, this legendary "useless person" was pinning her tightly against the pile of firewood.
The two were standing very close together.
The man was soaked to the bone, his thin shirt clinging tightly to his body, his hard muscles branding Xianglian like blocks of iron.
His usually gloomy eyes were now burning like two balls of fire as he stared intently at her.
"Want to die? Did you even ask me?"
His voice was terribly hoarse, as if he had a handful of sand in his mouth, making one's eardrums ache.
His chest heaved violently, and his scalding breath sprayed into Xianglian's neck, making her shiver and get goosebumps.
Xianglian was terrified!
She tried to struggle, but the man was incredibly strong; his arms gripped her like iron clamps, rendering her unable to move.
"Qin...Qin Rushan...let me go..."
Xianglian's voice was as thin as a whisper, tinged with sobs.
"Let you go? Let you go to die?"
Qin Rushan not only didn't let go, but instead hugged her even tighter.
He pulled hard with his other hand.
"collapse--"
The hemp rope that held Xianglian's life in its grasp was torn apart in his hands like a noodle.
This display of strength terrified Xianglian.
"Are you really that desperate?"
Qin Rushan looked down at the woman in his arms.
The lightning flashed and the woodshed was plunged into darkness once more.
But he could feel the body in his arms trembling; it was so thin that it was just skin and bones, and it hurt his heart.
"If the Zhao family won't give you a way out, I will!"
The man growled, his tone domineering and unreasonable.
Xianglian was stunned.
Qin Rushan usually has a cold face and never associates with the Zhao family. What's wrong with him tonight?
Her body was limp and weak, so she could only let him hold her.
"I...I don't want to live anymore...Living is just suffering..."
Xianglian's tears welled up again; her grievances and despair, in this firm embrace, suddenly erupted.
"My husband isn't coming back... My mother-in-law is forcing me to take out a loan... I have no face to live..."
"Borrow my ass!"
Qin Rushan suddenly swore, his voice filled with barely suppressed anger.
"That old hag, her heart is completely black!"
He lowered his head and, in the dim light, stared at Xianglian's tear-streaked face.
So lovely!
Even though she's become incredibly thin, she's still so beautiful that you can't take your eyes off her.
Three years.
Every night he listened to the woman next door, to her being scolded, to her working, and to her secretly crying at night.
This foolish woman is living like a widow for a scoundrel.
"That bastard Zhao Gang isn't coming back, not because he's busy, and not because he's dead!"
Qin Rushan gritted his teeth, as if he wanted to chew that name to pieces.
He decided to stop hiding it and dropped a bombshell.
"He's having an affair!"
Xianglian's body stiffened abruptly, and she even forgot to cry.
She looked up in disbelief, only able to see the man's blurry outline and those frighteningly bright eyes in the darkness.
"What...what did you say?"
"I saw it with my own eyes, last month at the county supply and marketing cooperative."
Qin Rushan's large hand unconsciously caressed her slender arm, the smooth texture making him reluctant to let go.
"He was dressed smartly, and he was with a woman next to him who was heavily pregnant."
Boom!
Another clap of thunder sounded outside, but it couldn't compare to the shock that Qin Rushan's words had on Xianglian.
Is someone else outside?
And he got another woman pregnant?
She stayed at home like a slave, eating meager rations, serving his mother, and guarding the family for him.
While he's away, his wife and kids are at home in comfort?
"No...it's impossible..."
Xianglian's lips trembled, "Zhao Gang did it all for this family..."
"For the sake of the family, my foot! He just wants to leave you at home as a free babysitter, to take care of his mother until she dies!"
Qin Rushan was also a rough man, speaking bluntly and without any understanding of tact.
He wanted to expose this bloody truth and make this woman see it clearly.
"If Zhao Gang still cared about this family, would he have gone three years without sending a single penny back? Would he have let you become this thin and emaciated?"
"If he cared about you, would he have let his mother force you to sleep with a mentally challenged man?"
Each rhetorical question was like a sharp knife, stabbing deeply into Xianglian's heart.
Insert it, then stir it a couple more times.
It turns out that the three years of living like a widow I had endured were a complete joke.
What about being virtuous and kind, what about being faithful to one's husband until death?
It's all bullshit!
Despair, shame, and resentment welled up in my heart.
Xianglian felt dizzy and her throat tasted sweet.
Her body went limp, and she collapsed completely into Qin Rushan's arms.
As luck would have it, she fell right into the man's crotch.
Although Xianglian was a virgin, she was still married and had seen the world.
Of course she knew what it was.
And... this... why does it feel a little scary?
Her eyes widened suddenly, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, staring at Qin Rushan in terror.
His body was as stiff as a piece of wood.
"You...you..."
Xianglian was incoherent, her mind completely blank.
"You're not... injured...?"