After eating and drinking her fill, Thu Quynh forced herself to walk around for a long while before finally accepting the fact that she could not escape.
Afterward, feeling sticky and uncomfortable, she took some water for a quick wash before drifting off to sleep again.
The moment she opened her eyes, she was met with the looming face of the rapist. She immediately let out a bloodcurdling scream, "Ah..."
Van Dai lunged forward in one long stride. His strong arm reached out, pulling her into his embrace, and then placed her on the wooden plank bed. His other hand moved even faster to clamp tightly over his wife's small mouth.
"Mmph... mmph..." Van Dai covered her mouth very tightly, afraid his wife's screams would draw others to them.
But the tighter he held, the more Thu Quynh struggled, refusing to give in, trying to break free from the brute's grasp.
She screamed until she was exhausted without making a single sound. The brute was covering her mouth too tightly; she was about to be suffocated to death by him.
Damn it!
Was he trying to kill her?
No, if this continued, she would really be smothered to death by this brute first.
At that moment, Thu Quynh was no longer thinking about her constant cries for death.
To avoid suffocating, her survival instincts kicked in.
Thu Quynh's eyes darted around. She stopped screaming and instead stuck out her tongue, licking the palm that was covering her mouth.
As her tongue curled, a sour, sweaty smell assaulted her nostrils, nearly making her vomit.
Son of a bitch!
This mad bull's hand, had he just used the toilet without washing it? How else could it stink so badly?
Van Dai felt the heat and the tickling sensation in his palm. The soft body in his arms occasionally brushed against his thigh, a feeling that clawed at his insides, sending a rush of heat from his lower body straight to his brain.
"Wife, promise me you won't scream anymore, and I'll let you go." Van Dai was honest, but not stupid.
To save her own life, Thu Quynh nodded her head repeatedly like a traitor upon hearing his words, but in her heart, she was cursing wildly: You damn rapist, let go already, I'm about to be smothered to death by you. Just you wait, I'll beat you to death later!
Seeing his wife nod, Van Dai happily released his hand. Who would have thought that the moment his hand left her mouth.
Without a second thought, Thu Quynh grabbed that hand and bit down hard to vent her fury.
This fierce demeanor of Thu Quynh's, however, did not anger Van Dai. On the contrary, he found his wife even more interesting now.
Van Dai had been worried that his wife, looking so frail and close to death, would be difficult to care for. But now, Thu Quynh's cub-like ferocity filled him with immense joy.
He knew his wife was angry, and he knew even better that he had almost violated her last night, filling her heart with rage.
So he decided to let Thu Quynh bite. As long as she could let off some steam, a few bites didn't matter.
"Wife, go on and bite. As long as you're not angry anymore, I'll let you bite all you want."
Let her bite all she wants?
Damn it!
I'm not a dog!
Thinking of that stinking palm, Thu Quynh finally threw up!
"Wife, wife, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell somewhere?"
What else could be wrong with her?
Wasn't it because he had made her sick to her stomach with the stench?
Thu Quynh hit and cursed simultaneously, "Who's your wife, who's your wife, you rapist! I'll bite you to death, beat you to death, that'll teach you to bully me, that'll teach you to bully me..."
Looking at this bear of a man with his honest and simple face, who was in fact no good person, Thu Quynh's anger flared. She let go of his hand and pummeled Van Dai's body with both fists.
Damn it!
How could she be imprisoned by such an old-fashioned country bumpkin?
Thu Quynh couldn't wrap her head around it. She, the veritable queen bee of Dai Hoan village, had nearly been taken by a man like this! Although she wasn't overly conservative in that department, she couldn't accept being with a brute like him.
The more she thought, the angrier she became, and the more she wanted to beat the man in front of her to death.
Van Dai felt wronged. He clearly hadn't done anything yet, so how had he been branded a rapist? But since he had scared his wife, he decided to let her vent. It didn't hurt anyway.
On the contrary, Van Dai was worried that his wife's small, soft hands would get hurt from hitting him.
"It doesn't hurt, it doesn't hurt. Go ahead and hit me, wife. I'm really not in pain, as long as you're not angry. Please don't be angry anymore, okay? If you get sick from anger, who will give me a baby boy?"
Van Dai was feeling very tender at that moment, thinking his words would appease his wife.
But to his surprise, the moment Thu Quynh heard the words "give me a baby boy," she fell back onto the wooden bed with a thud and looked up at the sky, lamenting, "Heavens, just let me die again!"
The sudden turn of events startled Van Dai. He rushed forward and held Thu Quynh tightly: "No, wife, you can't die! Heavens, you can't take my wife away! If you dare take her, I'll fight you to the death!"
Thu Quynh, deep in her sorrow, became even more furious upon hearing his words. She gritted her teeth and pushed Van Dai away forcefully.
"You rapist, get the hell away from me! I want to go home, I want to find the heavens and demand justice! I am a decent young person, I've never dared to do anything as petty as stealing chickens and dogs, let alone anything that harms the country and its people. Apart from flirting with a couple of handsome guys, I'm a very proper person. Why have the heavens made me suffer so much? Get out! Get out! I need to go find him and get this sorted out!"
His wife was cursing with every breath. Since she was angry, he let her curse. Besides, he also felt guilty for going too far and hurting her last night.
But now his wife was saying she would rather die than stay and be his wife, and was even calling him a rapist. This was a point Van Dai could not accept: "Wife, I am not a rapist!"
Held tightly in the arms of the nearly 1.9-meter-tall Van Dai, with his long limbs, the roughly 1.6-meter-tall Thu Quynh couldn't break free and could only resort to cursing.
"If you're not a rapist, then what are you? Taking advantage of me when I was sick to violate me, you are a rapist from head to toe. I'm going to report you!"
"But nothing happened yet, did it?"
"Failed rape is still rape! You're a scoundrel, the scum of society!"
Van Dai didn't agree with these words, feeling that his wife's head was probably still not clear. What husband doesn't make love to his wife?
If the wife was shy and unwilling, couldn't the husband make the decision on this matter?
Fearing his wife would hold a grudge, Van Dai had no choice but to say:
"Wife, I saved you, so you are my wife. It's natural for a husband and wife to have children, how can that be rape? Even the books say you should repay a life-saving debt with your body. If you go report me, the magistrate might even sentence you for the crime of ingratitude!"
Seeing him spouting nonsense again, Thu Quynh immediately reached out and pinched Van Dai.
"You bastard! You're a bastard! You saved me, but who decided I have to be your wife? Don't you know that marriage must be voluntary?"
Van Dai grimaced from the pinch, feeling utterly wronged: "Wife, but I really was willing."