CHAPTER 84: CHAPTER 83: LOVE VINE, LOVE MANMAN

Gao Huifang ran out not knowing where to go, as the villagers always whispered about her whenever they saw her.

Words like disgusting, dirty, used for several days, might be pregnant, really ruthless, and so on, kept drilling into her ears from time to time.

Gao Huifang was furious, but she couldn’t fight with these villagers, as they all had families, mostly with many siblings, so she had no chance of winning, and might even get beaten up.

And she couldn’t out-argue those genuine rural folks; their language was filthy, and they could start talking about all sorts of organs. She was also in the wrong, with others only needing to latch onto the fact that she had been bullied to leave her speechless.

Gao Huifang could only avoid people as much as possible, to avoid drawing attention to herself, and unknowingly, she ended up at the He Family’s house.

Unfortunately, the He Family’s door was locked, and the person she kept thinking about was not inside.

Even during those days when she was enduring humiliation and serving Liu Tiejun at the Liu Family, her mind was filled with thoughts of He Chen.

She touched the wall of the He Family’s courtyard, leaned weakly against it, and silently shed tears, not understanding what she had done wrong to end up in such a state.

Clearly, she liked He Chen so much and didn’t mind that he had been married.

Even when she was kneeling to do that nauseating thing to make Liu Tiejun happy, she fantasized that the person in front of her was He Chen, and that’s how she managed to escape that situation.

Why didn’t he wait for her?

"Wuuu... He Chen..."

Gao Huifang couldn’t hold back anymore and started crying softly.

The sky gradually darkened as the lights began to turn on in every household, the aroma of food wafting through the air, making Gao Huifang’s stomach growl.

She knew there was no point in squatting outside the He Family anymore since He Chen had moved away, so she had to lower her head and walk back towards the Zhiqing house.

At least someone would be cooking there, and she would get a meal.

Gao Huifang’s body was still unwell. After all, it had been a few hectic days, and even with some ointment applied, she was walking unnaturally and slowly.

The village was quiet outside, with only some lights illuminating the houses, leaving the rest of it in darkness.

Gao Huifang kept thinking about how she could find He Chen again, or whether she should wait for his return to find him, feeling restless and oblivious to someone watching her from nearby.

Just as she walked on the road leading to the Zhiqing house, passing by that shabby old house where Liu Tiejun was once discovered, a strange man’s voice suddenly came up behind her.

"Yo, isn’t this Gao Zhiqing? Out wandering alone so late? Missing a man?"

The man’s voice was lewd and full of malice.

Gao Huifang felt her back suddenly pressed against a hot body, her scalp tingled, and just as she was about to turn to see who was following her, the person grabbed her wrists, not even covering her mouth.

"Who are you? Why are you following me? I’m telling you, if you dare do anything to me, I’ll have you locked up with Liu Tiejun in no time!"

She attempted to threaten the man to let her go, however, he approached her neck from behind.

The scalding breath on the back of her ear made Gao Huifang involuntarily shiver, her skin prickling with goosebumps.

The man said, "It’s so dark, you can’t see me, and you don’t know me, so how would you catch me and take me to jail, huh?"

He pressed tightly against Gao Huifang’s back, deliberately rubbing against her, scaring her to the point of almost bursting into tears.

She hurriedly started pleading.

"Please, let me go, I won’t report you, okay? I’m begging you, please..."

She cried out loudly for mercy, but the place was remote, and at this late hour, no one would walk by.

The man felt at ease, letting her speak.

While she pleaded, he dragged her into a dilapidated room through a nearby broken wall, saying nothing, only holding her, gripping her waist tightly with one hand.

Gao Huifang felt utterly hopeless, wanting to seize a moment and escape while the man wasn’t paying attention.

However, his grip on her was strong, and she couldn’t escape, instead getting shoved harshly onto the ground littered with debris and unknown objects.

Sharp and unknown things pierced her painfully, yet the man felt no pity, pinching her chin to examine her face closely, his tone incredibly lewd.

"Still trying to run? What’s there to run from? It’s not like you’ve never done it before."

"If you obey, I could at least be gentle, but now you’ve asked for it!"

In the darkness, the man’s filthy words echoed, accompanied by Gao Huifang’s increasingly desperate cries.

...

After moving, He Chen cleaned up the house thoroughly. Once Ye Manman arrived, he let her sit down and rest, quickly arranging most of the simple, large items in the same positions as they were at home.

It was the first time they had dinner together in their new home in the evening when Ye Manman suddenly thought of the store-opening matter. She always felt that with He Chen’s blunt mouth, it wouldn’t be easy for him to come up with a pleasant store name.

"He Chen, what are you planning to name our store? It wouldn’t just be called Sweet and Spicy Duck, would it? That’s too plain."

She didn’t understand much about business, but she also believed that opening a store required a catchy name to establish a brand and make the store well-known.

Hearing her question, He Chen’s face turned slightly red, with a hint of embarrassment in his voice.

"The name was decided long ago; otherwise, the business license wouldn’t be granted."

As he said so, Ye Manman became curious.

"Oh? What’s our store called then?"

He Chen’s face turned even redder, he glanced at her awkwardly, and then spoke softly.

"Love Vine Sweet and Spicy Duck."

"Pfft~"

Ye Manman couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

"Isn’t that a little too obvious? He Chen, you big dummy, who names a brine shop something so artsy? It sounds like the name of a flower shop."

He Chen’s face turned even redder from her laughter.

"Love Vine is indeed a type of flower... Its leaves are heart-shaped."

"Additionally, your name is in the name too, so I just..."

He really wanted to express that his loved one was Ye Manman; the store’s name didn’t actually mean the flower, just simply Loving Manman. If not for the fact that "Loving Manman" sounded too blatant, he would have used that name.

He initially considered using the flower name Love Vine to somewhat forcibly explain to Ye Manman that he named the store because Love Vine flowers were beautiful.

Now, however, it was directly exposed by her.

It seems having a smart wife isn’t always beneficial.

"Hahaha..."

Ye Manman laughed so hard she was nearly breathless.

"He Chen, you’re so cute~"

She moved forward to cradle He Chen’s flushed face, rubbing it, finding him too embarrassed to bear, so she gradually calmed down, trying to remain normal without teasing him.

"Okay, I wasn’t trying to make fun of you, but you’re really cute! You see, such a grown man opening a brine duck shop but naming it like a flower shop. Aren’t you embarrassed yourself?"

"If someone asks you why the store is named after a flower, what will you say?"

Though Ye Manman still found the name peculiar, her face nonetheless glowed with a sweet smile.

He Chen scratched his head and awkwardly cleared his throat.

"I didn’t think it through at the time..."

"If someone really asks, I’ll just say my wife’s name has the word ’man’ in it..."

"...Is that okay?"