My Wife, So Fierce! (GL) - Chapter 1

The sky in March was overcast with continuous rain.

The road was slippery, especially this kind of muddy path. The driver didn’t even dare to speed up, so the car jolted and swayed, taking forever to make any progress.

Zheng Yao, sitting in the passenger seat, was jostled until her face turned pale. Her eyelids drooped, and she looked utterly miserable.

She thought this was already enough to drive anyone to despair, but little did she know, worse was yet to come.

The tires skidded, sinking into the muddy road. No matter how much the driver struggled for half an hour, the car didn’t budge an inch.

In this remote mountain hollow, even calling for a tow truck was out of the question.

After braving the rain and struggling inside and out for what felt like ages, the driver was a complete mess soaked to the bone, his pants caked in mud. He looked on the verge of tears. “Miss Zheng, you see,  there’s really nothing I can do…”

Time was running short. In just that brief period, the sky had already darkened.

Seeing his employer remain silent, the driver steeled himself and continued, “The village entrance isn’t far from here. Would you mind… if I walked you there?”

Zheng Yao’s mood instantly plummeted to rock bottom.

But there was no other choice.

She took a deep breath and reluctantly nodded. “Fine.”

Holding an umbrella, she stepped out of the car, her feet sinking into the soft, slippery mud. A shadow of gloom settled between her brows.

She lifted her gaze. The muddy path stretched endlessly into the distance. It was hard to believe that in the 21st century, such roads still existed. Even harder to believe was that her mother had abandoned her husband and daughter to live in a place like this.

She had always been such a delicate woman.

The rain grew heavier, the ground beneath her feet slick and sticky. Zheng Yao walked slowly, managing not to faceplant into the mud. But by the time she reached her destination, she was already a disheveled mess.

“Miss Zheng,” the driver set down her luggage and said cautiously, “This is Shen Sanguang’s house.”

Zheng Yao responded quietly, “You can go back first.”

After dismissing the driver, she stood outside the gate under her umbrella, silently observing the small rural courtyard.

The sky was pitch black by now, yet the house remained dark, as if no one lived there.

Expressionless, she pushed open the half-ajar gate.

Before she could step inside, she was met with a pair of fierce eyes, a yellow rural dog.

Woof!

The warning barks came one after another. Zheng Yao’s face paled, and she instinctively took a step back. Just as the dog seemed ready to pounce, a hoarse voice rang out:

“Dahuang.”

How could one describe this voice?

Though hoarse, it carried a magnetic softness, like a pine tree after snowfall, clear and crisp.

Zheng Yao tilted her umbrella slightly, her gaze landing on the figure emerging from the corner.

It was a thin, petite girl.

Suppressing her emotions, Zheng Yao asked with surprise and doubt, “Are you Shen Baiyi?”

From what she knew, Shen Baiyi was eighteen, but the girl before her was so small and frail, nothing like an eighteen-year-old.

“Yes.”

The girl turned and pressed a switch on the wall. The lights flickered on instantly.

Under the dim glow, Shen Baiyi’s appearance was laid bare. Zheng Yao’s breath caught, her eyes flashing with astonishment.

She had seen photos of Shen Sanguang, a burly, simple man who resembled a bear, exuding an air of rustic honesty. They say daughters take after their fathers, but Shen Baiyi bore no resemblance to him whatsoever.

Shen Baiyi’s features were strikingly defined. Her deep-set eyes were dark and bright, her skin fair and flawless. Yet her lips were a tender red, adding a touch of vivid color to her pale complexion.

At this moment, she stood quietly in the dilapidated courtyard, beautiful as a fairy, completely out of place in this small village.

If not for the faded and overly thin clothes she wore and her excessively slender frame, one might have mistaken her for some young lady from a wealthy family.

“Are you Sister Zheng Yao?” Shen Baiyi asked softly.

“Don’t call me sister.” Zheng Yao quickly averted her gaze, lifting her chin coldly. “Control your dog.”

The dog named Dahuang was sniffing around her feet, stretching its neck toward her.

A foul, fishy smell, utterly disgusting.

Shen Baiyi immediately called out, “Dahuang!”

Hearing its owner’s voice, Dahuang wagged its tail enthusiastically, gave Zheng Yao one last sniff, and reluctantly trotted back to Shen Baiyi, glancing back every few steps.

With the crisis averted, Zheng Yao subtly exhaled in relief.

Carrying her suitcase, she stepped inside and was immediately met with two large photographs hanging on the wall.

Her footsteps halted.

She silently stared at the woman’s funeral portrait.

It had been years since she last saw Bai Yuanzhu. After Bai Yuanzhu divorced Zheng Kang, her name became taboo in the household. Zheng Yao had never reached out, and neither had Bai Yuanzhu.

Until a few days ago, when she received a phone call.

At this thought, she turned to look at Shen Baiyi.

Up close, she noticed Shen Baiyi’s eyes were red and swollen. Against her pale skin, the redness stood out starkly.

Her thin shoulders, delicate facial features, and pallid complexion made it seem as though she might collapse at any moment.

Despite her ethereal beauty, there was an illusion of fragility like some delicate, sickly maiden.

Zheng Yao hastily averted her gaze and coldly asked, staring at the corner of the table in the hall, “Is she still at the funeral home?”

Silence stretched in response.

Puzzled, Zheng Yao glanced over and saw Shen Baiyi hanging her head low, like a child who had done something wrong, radiating guilt and remorse.

Her heart sank, and a chill crept into Zheng Yao’s eyes. “Did you cremate her?”

Finally, Shen Baiyi lifted her head, her beautiful face streaked with tears. She choked out, “Aunt Bai and my dad were holding each other so tightly when the car hit them… they were stuck together. We couldn’t separate them, so they had to be cremated together.”

“…”

Zheng Yao knew she shouldn’t take her anger out on a child, but at this moment, the fury she had bottled up for so long finally found an outlet. She sneered, “Together in life, together in death, what enviable love!”

Shen Baiyi bowed her head even lower.

The hall fell into silence, the sound of rain outside growing heavier. A gust of wind blew in, and Zheng Yao shivered from the cold.

This godforsaken place was freezing, far colder than outside. To make matters worse, her pants were soaked, and her clothes damp, the chill seeping into her bones.

After a moment, she took a deep breath and said icily, “I need to take a bath.”

“Okay!” Shen Baiyi nodded quickly. “The water’s already heated. I’ll bring it to the bathroom for you.”

Then, hesitantly, she glanced at Zheng Yao and pointed to a door on the right side of the hall. “That was Aunt Bai’s old room. Would it be alright if you stayed there tonight?”

“No other rooms?” Zheng Yao frowned, temporarily ignoring the repeated “sister” address.

The thought of staying in the same room where her mother had slept with another man made her feel nauseous.

Shen Baiyi shook her head pitifully, “There aren’t any others. Besides this one, there’s only my dad’s room left.”

So they didn’t sleep together?

Zheng Yao’s brows relaxed slightly as she carried her suitcase into the room on the right.

The room was clean and elegantly simple, decorated warmly with a faint scent of perfume lingering in the air.

Exactly the same as she remembered.

Zheng Yao lowered her gaze, a shadow of irritation crossing her expression.

Before high school, she had always believed her parents were deeply in love and their family was happy. But later, every time she returned home during breaks, Bai Yuanzhu was never there. Only her father, red-eyed, would coax her, saying Bai Yuanzhu was away on business. That was when she finally sensed something was wrong.

Bai Yuanzhu couldn’t even wait until she graduated high school before abandoning her and her father to elope with Shen Sanguang. The last time Zheng Yao saw Bai Yuanzhu was years ago when she returned to divorce her father.

No wonder people called her father a fool.

Bai Yuanzhu was like a delicate flower, one Shen Sanguang couldn’t afford to keep. Their elopement was funded by her father’s money. The moment Zheng Yao finally convinced her father to freeze Bai Yuanzhu’s credit cards, the woman rushed back to file for divorce. It was laughable.

She opened the tightly shut window, letting the cool, damp air rush in, diluting the lingering perfume.

Grabbing her change of clothes, she stepped out.

She couldn’t possibly let a young girl wait on her. Though she disliked the Shen family, she wasn’t despicable enough to mistreat a child.

But she underestimated Shen Baiyi’s diligence.

Shen Baiyi was already mopping up the muddy footprints on the floor. When she noticed Zheng Yao emerge, she shrank back timidly like a little quail. “Sister, I’ve already brought water into the bathroom for you,” she said, pointing toward a small room in the corner.

Zheng Yao glanced briefly before looking away, her expression tightening as she stared at the muddy tracks she’d left behind. “I’ll clean it up later,” she said stiffly.

Shen Baiyi offered a small, ingratiating smile. “It’s no trouble, Sister. You should go bathe first.”

“……”

Still clutching the mop, her sleeves slid up slightly, revealing slender wrists so delicate they seemed thinner than the mop handle. A chilly breeze swept through, making Shen Baiyi’s oversized, faded clothes rustle, as if she might be blown away at any moment.

Zheng Yao pressed her lips together, forcing herself to look away.

The wooden bathroom door creaked shut. Shen Baiyi watched silently until the sound of running water reached her ears. Only then did her timid demeanor fade.

Her dark eyes glinted coldly as she glanced down at the muddy footprints, an impatient frown flickering across her face.

After a moment’s thought, she tugged her sleeves up further, exposing the faint bruises mottling her pale arms.

Would it seem too deliberate?

Shen Baiyi pondered for a while before adjusting the sleeves slightly lower.

Yet even after all her efforts, the person in the bathroom still hadn’t emerged.

The living room was spotless now. She straightened up, her gaze landing on the memorial portrait hanging on the wall, her eyes turning icy.

The next moment, the sound of a door opening came from behind.

Tears instantly welled in her eyes as she turned, but all emotion froze the moment she saw the other woman.

No wonder Zheng Yao had taken so long, she had washed her hair.

Her long hair hung damp and disheveled, softening her sharp edges. Shen Baiyi immediately thought of the phrase “a lotus flower emerging from clear water.”

Zheng Yao was strikingly beautiful, unlike anyone she’d ever seen before with fair skin, delicate features, and a graceful figure, like a celebrity from television.

If Xu Laohan were to see her…

At this thought, Shen Baiyi quickly lowered her gaze and said softly, “The nights are chilly, sister. You should put on a coat.”