Chapter 1: Reasons for Betrayal

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Thursday morning, April 1993, 11:30 AM.

Liu Yingxue sealed the exam papers she’d collected from the classroom, placed them in the office, and greeted her colleagues.
She made her way to the bicycle shed, humming a tune as she pushed her bike out.

“Hey, Teacher Liu, where are you off to in such a hurry?” Teacher Wang, a fellow staff member, called out to her. “Are you missing your husband already?”

Teacher Lin, a middle-aged woman, burst out laughing after saying this.
“Isn’t it an early holiday? Go home and surprise your husband!” Sweetness filled Liu Yingxue’s heart.

“Look at you, desperate to get home! Newlyweds are always so eager. If only my son could find a wife like you,” Lin teased again.

Liu Yingxue’s face flushed with embarrassment. She said goodbye to Wang, mounted her bicycle, and sped away from the school.

On the way, Liu Yingxue took a detour to the market, buying a heap of ingredients—her husband’s favorites.

No wonder she longed to see her husband; although their school was only an elementary school, it was a closed campus.
They were allowed home only once a month; the young couple had been married less than four months.
Her husband Jin Junkai was the village chief, and by his own account, he was quite busy and had never visited Liu Yingxue at the school!

As the saying goes, a brief separation is sweeter than a new marriage!

At noon, Liu Yingxue arrived at her own courtyard by bicycle.
The gate was ajar.
It wasn’t locked, so her husband should be home.
She parked her bike in the yard, quietly unloaded the groceries, and carried them into the kitchen.

In the countryside, kitchens are separate from the main house.
She saw no sign of her husband in the kitchen.
Liu Yingxue wondered, “Has he already eaten lunch? Or maybe he’s taking a nap after eating?”

She turned and tiptoed to the main house’s door.
Her heart pounded as she imagined her husband’s delight upon seeing her—would he sweep her into his arms, or carry her straight to bed?
The thought made Liu Yingxue more excited, and she gently pushed open the door.

Inside, the room to the right belonged to her mother-in-law; the left was her and Jin Junkai’s bedroom.
She was just about to open the bedroom door when she suddenly heard a woman’s voice from inside.

“Easy, easy. Don’t let your mother hear.”

The voice was familiar. Liu Yingxue’s heart leapt into her throat.

“Sweetheart, my mother’s gone to my sister’s. I’ll be careful. Come, come!” Jin Junkai’s voice followed.

Liu Yingxue’s hand froze in midair. In that instant, her breathing quickened. God, who was in her bedroom?

A surge of rage rose from her feet to her head.
Liu Yingxue kicked open the door in fury, and the scene before her was like a knife to the heart—Jin Junkai and Wang Xiaoqian, shamelessly entwined on her bed.

Wang Xiaoqian was from Jin’s village, the daughter of the Jin family.
She had married into the neighboring Luo family last year, but was always returning home.
Each time she returned, her face was bruised, her clothes torn to shreds.
Kind-hearted Liu Yingxue often gave her recently bought clothes.
Her divorce papers had even been written by Liu Yingxue.

Never in her wildest dreams could Liu Yingxue have imagined that the woman she had helped countless times was already sharing her husband’s bed.

Tears streamed from her eyes, her heart drowned in despair and betrayal.

“You…” Liu Yingxue’s voice trembled. “What are you doing…?”

Jin Junkai looked at her with icy indifference. “Since you’ve seen it, there’s nothing left to say. Don’t tell anyone!”

Liu Yingxue bit her lip, unable to utter a word.

Wang Xiaoqian shamelessly echoed, “That’s right, Liu Yingxue, just accept it. You’ve only been married three months, but Jin and I have been together for years!”

Liu Yingxue’s chest heaved violently. “Shameless!” she cried, then rushed forward and slapped Wang Xiaoqian hard.

“Jin Junkai, this bitch dared to hit me, aren’t you going to teach her a lesson?” Wang Xiaoqian shouted in anger.

Jin Junkai stepped forward, grabbed Liu Yingxue by the hair, and mercilessly slapped her over twenty times before stopping.

At barely five feet tall, Liu Yingxue was powerless to resist, struggling in vain.

Her face swelled in an instant, her ears rang.

“Hmph! Liu Yingxue, you brought this on yourself. We were fine until you came home early. Serves you right!” Wang Xiaoqian laughed while insulting her.

Blood streamed from Liu Yingxue’s nose and mouth; she wiped it with her hand, smearing her face in gore, making her look terrifying and pitiable.

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“Why? If you two want to be together, just tell me. I’ll divorce him. Why treat me like this?”

“You fool, I grew up in the same village as him—we’re childhood sweethearts. Who are you? Besides, if you divorce, who’ll pay for us?” Jin Junkai sneered.

Liu Yingxue’s heart felt stabbed by a thousand blades. She sat on the floor, wishing she could disappear.

She forced herself to calm down. A wise person doesn’t suffer immediate loss.

She was no match for these two adulterers—better to leave first.

With that thought, she dashed out of the room, tears mixed with blood blurring her vision.

She ran aimlessly, and before she knew it, she reached the riverside.

Staring at the shimmering water, she felt dizzy…

She had once pursued pure love, giving all her heart to Jin Junkai.

Jin Junkai had been her classmate, from a poor family.
They had weathered five years of storms to finally marry.
Though they sometimes argued, nothing had ever shaken their bond.

They had finally joined hands in marriage, only to discover it was all a lie. Love? Affection? It was worth less than mud.

With all hope gone, Liu Yingxue was overwhelmed. The work at her private school was demanding, with constant pressure.
She barely had a moment to herself.

The love she had so ardently chased had been toyed with by others—five whole years…

She wanted to die, to end it all. Living felt like pain too deep to breathe.

Liu Yingxue crouched by the river, clutching handfuls of mud, her nails digging into her palms, the pain briefly waking her.

She raised her tear-stained eyes, the faces of those two villains swimming before her, rage burning.

No, why should she die? It was they who deserved death.

Revenge, revenge, revenge! Liu Yingxue whispered to herself.

Summoning her courage, she stood up, preparing to return to school.

By now it was two or three in the afternoon.

She didn’t want to go home for her bicycle—the wedding gift; just the sight of it made her sick.

So she slowly left the riverbank, taking the road back to school.

People stared at her the whole way.
Some asked what had happened; more shook their heads in sympathy.

Liu Yingxue drifted between clarity and confusion. By the time she reached the school gates, the moon had already risen.

Seeing the familiar entrance, she could endure no more, collapsing at the threshold.

…

When she awoke again, she found herself lying in the school dormitory bed, an IV dripping into her arm.

Lin’s son, Li Yucheng, was sitting at her bedside.

“Teacher Liu, you’re awake. What happened to you? How did you end up like this?” Li Yucheng’s handsome face was full of concern, his brows furrowed.

“You brought me back. Thank you!” Liu Yingxue said weakly.

“Sigh, how did it come to this? After dinner, my mom asked me to walk with her, and at the gate we saw you collapsed on the ground. My mom called the clinic doctor to put you on a drip.”

“Thank you, sorry to trouble you.”

“What are you saying? My mom’s your colleague.”

As they spoke, Teacher Lin brought in a bowl of egg custard.

“Teacher Lin…” Liu Yingxue choked up.

Lin hurriedly set the bowl on the desk by the bed, grabbed tissues, and wiped Liu Yingxue’s tears.

“Don’t cry, don’t cry. Look at your face, all swollen! Was it Jin Junkai who did this?”

Liu Yingxue nodded.

“This is outrageous. I’ll find a couple of guys to teach him a lesson!” Li Yucheng said indignantly.

“Enough! You can’t just hit people,” Lin scolded him.

“Why did he hit you? Doesn’t he know women are meant to be cherished?” Li Yucheng asked angrily.

Liu Yingxue shook her head, unwilling to answer.

“Never mind, you need to stay in the hospital. Eat this egg custard first.” Lin’s eyes brimmed with compassion.

Li Yucheng helped Liu Yingxue sit up and lean against the headboard.

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Teacher Lin picked up the bowl and spoon, ready to feed Liu Yingxue the egg custard, when her pager beeped.

She handed the bowl to Li Yucheng: “You feed Teacher Liu, I need to take this call.”

“Mom! I want to go play basketball,” Li Yucheng’s face flushed red.

Ever since his ex-wife left him for someone with a city job, dismissing him for his rural roots, Li Yucheng had been broken-hearted, lying low for over a year, avoiding work and refusing all blind dates.

Now his mother wanted him to feed Liu Yingxue—he simply couldn’t bring himself to do it.

Li Yucheng set the bowl on the table and turned to leave.

“You brat! For Liu’s sake, help your mother just this once. If you won’t help, then get out of the house!” Lin snapped.

Liu Yingxue hurried to interject, embarrassed, “Teacher Lin, Brother Li, thank you for your help. I can manage, please go about your business.”

“No way, you’ve got an IV in one hand and your other hand and face are swollen. How can you manage? Li, are you helping or not? I just need to return a call—maybe your uncle needs something.”

Li Yucheng, cornered, picked up the bowl and waved Lin out.

Lin finally left the dormitory, reassured.

“Sorry for the trouble, Brother Li,” Liu Yingxue said, still embarrassed.

Li Yucheng carefully scooped up the egg custard, blew on it, and held it to Liu Yingxue’s lips.

With swollen lips, it took her nearly half an hour to finish the small bowl.

With food in her stomach, Liu Yingxue felt a little better.

But the tightness in her chest wouldn’t ease, and she felt something flow beneath her, as if she’d gotten her period.

She panicked—could it be a miscarriage? Liu Yingxue was over two months pregnant.

Now that something was suddenly flowing out, how could she not be afraid?

“Brother Li, could you step outside for a moment? I… I need to use the bathroom.”

“Are you sure you can manage?” Li Yucheng asked, worried.

“It’s nothing, maybe just too much IV fluid.”

Li Yucheng glanced at the nearly empty IV hanging from the clothes rack by the bed.

“I’ll take the needle out for you. There’s barely any medicine left, no need to call the clinic doctor.”

Liu Yingxue extended her arm, and Li Yucheng gently peeled off the tape and removed the needle.

He turned to leave: “I’ll wait outside. Call me if you need anything. My mom will be back soon, and then we’ll take you to the hospital.”

“No need for the hospital. Brother Li, you should rest, it’s getting late.”

At the door, Li Yucheng turned back, “I’m still worried. I’ll wait outside. Just call me when you’re ready or when my mom returns.”

With that, he stepped outside and closed the dormitory door.

Because the old women’s dormitory bathroom had no door, that was why Liu Yingxue asked him to leave.

Liu Yingxue lifted the covers and found a pool of blood on the bed, her body trembling in fear.

She had barely gotten off the bed when a torrent of blood flowed down her legs and onto the floor.

Suddenly, her vision blurred and the world spun; she grabbed the bed for support, but the blood gushed like a breached dam, impossible to control, as if it would drain her completely.

She had no strength left, and collapsed heavily into the pool of blood.

Li Yucheng paced nervously outside, startled by the heavy thud from inside.

He called anxiously, “Teacher Liu, Teacher Liu, are you alright?”

Liu Yingxue heard him, but had no strength to respond.

Li Yucheng called several times, but there was no answer.

He panicked, wringing his hands in desperation.

He didn’t know whether to go in or not.

Besides their family, all other teachers had gone home for the three-day holiday after exams.

What should he do?

Thinking quickly, Li Yucheng pounded on the door, but Liu Yingxue still didn’t respond.

Was it over? Could Liu Yingxue have committed suicide?

Li Yucheng felt his head explode; he could no longer hesitate, and kicked the door open.

He saw Liu Yingxue lying unconscious in a pool of blood beside the bed.

Terrified, he rushed to her side, cradled her head, and shouted,

“Liu Yingxue, Teacher Liu, wake up…”

His frantic cries echoed through the empty campus, tearing apart the silence of the night. Suddenly, dark clouds gathered overhead.

A torrential rain was about to fall…