Linda's beautiful face turned frighteningly dark, as if the surrounding temperature had suddenly dropped to freezing. She spoke coldly, "I don't see you all this enthusiastic when it comes to studying. Why are you so interested in such useless gossip?"
Bucktooth, Big Luo, and Little Luo were all terrified of Linda and immediately lowered their heads, not daring to make a sound. Linda shifted her gaze to my face, her tone filled with anger: "Andrew, didn't I already tell you not to believe any rumors about me? Why are you so interested in this kind of nonsense?"
I thought to myself, *I'd love not to believe it*, but I saw you flirting with David on the first day of school. David clearly has intentions toward you, and lately you've even asked him for help with your professional title. Who knows if he's taken advantage of that? If I could stay calm under these circumstances, I'd be the crazy one.
Of course, I could only keep those thoughts to myself. I was merely Linda's husband in name. If I said it out loud, she'd only get even angrier.
Seeing me stay silent, Linda, still fuming, scolded all of us fiercely. As she spoke, her eyes turned red, and in the end, she angrily turned and stormed off.
The others looked at each other in dismay. Bucktooth said, "We're screwed. Ms. Zhang looks like we made her cry. Who knows if she'll make our lives miserable when we go back to class on Monday?"
Seeing that Linda had cried, I started to panic. I quickly handed all the money I had to Bucktooth to settle the bill and rushed after her alone.
Originally, because I was good at studying and had even taken her to the hospital last time, Linda's attitude toward me had softened a bit. But the things I said tonight clearly hurt her again. If I didn't handle this well, our relationship might drop back to freezing point.
"Ms. Zhang! Ms. Zhang..."
Linda walked quickly, completely ignoring my calls behind her. She climbed into her Buick Excelle in a huff and started the car.
Due to nearby construction sites, the road was muddy and dusty. Although Linda wasn't driving fast, clouds of dust billowed from behind her car. I chased after her, getting covered in dust.
"Ms. Zhang, wait..."
I ran for a bit and noticed that Linda's car was moving at a steady but not too fast pace. I suddenly understood—she was deliberately making me eat her dust. Women really do have a strong sense of vengeance, especially beautiful ones.
Pedestrians along the road looked at me strangely as I chased after the car. Some even pointed at me, as if I were some kind of lunatic. It made me feel both embarrassed and frustrated. Linda's car kept moving steadily—not fast enough to lose me, but not slow enough to catch. I was left following behind, inhaling more dust.
But it was pointless to just chase her car like an idiot. Glancing at the curious passersby, I couldn't take it anymore and shouted loudly while running: "Ms. Zhang! You forgot your wallet!"
Sure enough, Linda's Buick screeched to a halt. The window rolled down to reveal her still-angry face. She glared at me and snapped, "Where's my wallet, then? Hand it over!"
I scratched my head, feeling awkward and not knowing what to say.
Perhaps seeing me so dusty and disheveled eased her anger a bit. She gave a cold snort and said, "So stubborn."
Her eyes then fell on the white bandage wrapped around my head. "What happened to your head? Got into another fight?"
I quickly shook my head. "No, I slipped on the stairs and hit my head."
Linda said with exasperation, "You even manage to fall while walking. Amazing. Get in the car."
Since my head was injured and it was hard to explain things to Linda—and considering she didn't like me going home—I'd already planned to stay on campus over the weekend. But to my surprise, she actually told me to get in the car. I was a little shocked, a bit happy, and didn't even bother saying goodbye to the others. I just opened the door and sat in the passenger seat.
"Ms. Zhang, I'm really sorry about earlier."
I hadn't forgotten what happened and apologized cautiously. Our relationship had only recently started to improve, and I didn't want tonight's incident to push us back to square one.
Linda shot me a sideways glance. "Andrew, didn't I already tell you not to believe those gossipy rumors? Don't you trust me?"
"I do!"
Deep down, I did believe she was innocent. I had eavesdropped in the campus cafeteria restroom before, and I heard David saying Linda was a tough one—he'd been eyeing her for a long time but never succeeded.
"If you believe me, then why were you joking around with them?" Linda's anger had finally subsided. She took out a handkerchief and handed it to me. "Your face is covered in dust. Wipe it off."
Surprised by the gesture, I accepted the handkerchief and gently wiped my face. The soft fragrance on it, unique to Linda, was pleasant and comforting.
She seemed to notice me sniffing the scent and blushed slightly, giving me a reproachful but not angry look. "Andrew, from what I observed during the first week of school, while you're usually not very useful, you do have talent when it comes to academics. So I hope you can focus all your energy on studying. Maybe one day you'll get into a good university. That could be your path forward."
I looked at her in surprise, wondering why she was saying all this. Had she finally accepted that I was her live-in husband and decided to help me improve so that we could eventually live properly together?
Linda was sharp. She immediately read my expression and warned me: "Don't overthink it. Actually, here's the situation—my dad keeps pestering me about when I'm going to give him a grandchild..."
I thought: *You've never even held my hand since we got married. If you got pregnant, that would be a miracle.*
Linda looked a little embarrassed talking about it, her cheeks turning red as she avoided my gaze, continuing as she drove, pretending to be calm. "You know, we've never... done anything, so how could I get pregnant? So I told my dad you were... having some issues."
I nearly jumped out of the seat. "Linda! You can't slander me like that. Who's having issues?!"
She blushed bright red and awkwardly said, "It was just to pacify my dad. He's desperate for a grandson to carry on the Zhang family line."
I was getting frustrated. "Even so, you can't make up something like that! How do you expect me to face people after saying I'm... 'not working' in that area?"
Linda muttered, "I didn't say you were completely incapable. I told him you just... overdid it, and the doctor said you'd need two to three years to recover."
"Overdid it?! Need two to three years of recovery?!" My eyes rolled back as I shook my head. "No way. I'm not taking the fall for this. It's humiliating. I'm going to tell your parents the truth. Otherwise, how can I ever face them again?"
The moment Linda heard I wanted to come clean to her parents, she panicked and raised her voice: "Andrew, don't you dare!"
Her shout reminded me of my awkward position. In the past, I would've stayed quiet, but after everything that's happened this past week, I'd begun to change. I remembered what that gangster at the hospital once told me: "When someone's more difficult than you, go harder. When they're fiercer than you, be even fiercer. Otherwise, you'll just keep getting bullied."
For the first time, I felt defiance toward Linda. I bit my lip and said, "I can endure everything else, but not this. It's too humiliating. I'd rather break off the engagement, stop being your live-in husband, and go to Shenzhen to work than be slandered like this."
Linda clearly didn't expect me, the usually submissive one, to suddenly push back. Hearing that I would rather quit being her live-in husband and explain everything to her parents, she panicked. She slammed the brakes and glared at me threateningly. "Andrew, if you dare talk to my parents, I'll find someone to teach you a lesson."
I fell silent but stared her down boldly. I refused to carry this kind of shameful burden.
My stance caught her off guard. After locking eyes for a while, she finally gave in. Her gaze darted around nervously, then she softened her tone and said, "Andrew, you know in Guangxi we place great importance on continuing the family line. A family without a son gets looked down upon by neighbors and ancestors alike. My dad is very traditional and only has me as his daughter. That's why he's desperate for a grandchild—to carry on the Zhang family line."
I thought: *Well then, why not just have a child with me and get it over with? Why make it so complicated?*
Linda could probably read my thoughts from my expression. She glared at me and continued, "Our marriage was arranged by our parents. There's no real love between us. I, Linda, won't be with a man I don't love."
I couldn't help but say, "Then why agree to it in the first place? If this is a mistake, wouldn't splitting up be better for both of us?"
Linda fumed, "You think I don't want that? But my dad's obsessed with having a grandchild. If you stop being our live-in son-in-law, he'll just go and find another one. That's why I won't let you go."
Hearing that, I looked at the radiant Linda, unsure if I should feel happy or sad. Maybe she just thought I was easier to control, so she didn't want to let me go.
For once, I stood firm and said, "I can put up with anything else, but not this. You can't just say I have problems in that area and expect me to live with it."
Linda, still stubborn, said, "Too bad. You *will* take the fall. At most... I'll give you a little reward, okay?"
I was stunned. Looking at her exquisite face and those crimson lips, my heart skipped a beat. I blurted out, "What kind of reward?"