Song Qingya seized the opportunity to hide behind Fei Jin, her voice trembling as she said pitifully,
"Fei Jin, my mom hit me."
Fei Jin frowned. "Really?" he asked.
He found it somewhat hard to believe.
After all, this was the first time something like this had happened in their family.
When Yang Yunhua heard this, an embarrassed smile appeared on her face.
The hand she had raised slowly lowered, as if she didn't know how to explain herself.
"N-No, that's not it. Qingya just recovered, so she might be a little confused. I was just playing with her."
Seeing this, her stepfather, Sun Qiang, who was standing nearby, quickly chimed in.
"That's right, that's right. Don't listen to Qingya's nonsense. Our family has always been peaceful and harmonious."
Sun Qiang's expression also looked a bit strained.
However, Song Qingya was sneering inwardly.
'She knew that as long as her acting was good enough, she could make people believe her. It didn't matter if it was true or a complete fabrication.'
At this thought, her eyes immediately reddened, and she clutched tightly at the corner of Fei Jin's shirt.
"I'm not lying."
Fei Jin had never seen his wife look so aggrieved, and his heart couldn't help but soften.
His voice became much deeper as a result.
"Dad, Mom. Qingya is still my wife. If she does something wrong, you can just tell her. Why do you have to resort to hitting her?"
Everyone in the family was well aware of Fei Jin's standing at home.
No one dared to easily defy his words.
Now that he had spoken, everyone felt they had to show him respect.
Even the normally assertive Yang Yunhua was no exception.
Faced with Fei Jin's stern questioning, Yang Yunhua was momentarily speechless and could only stammer, "Okay... I'll never hit her again."
'When did this girl's acting get so good?'
Just a few minutes ago, Song Qingya had been fiercely talking back and resisting.
But in the blink of an eye, she had completely switched roles, transforming into the image of a young wife who had been wronged in every way.
Besides, the girl was now hidden behind Fei Jin, so she couldn't see her at all.
And when Fei Jin turned to look at her, Song Qingya quickly covered her face with her hands, not letting anyone see her expression.
From Fei Jin's perspective, he could only see her tears.
This was Song Qingya's specialty.
Her heart-wrenching tears and pitiful expression had made her a trending topic online many times.
[Who wouldn't want to see Song Qingya cry every day? That heartbroken feeling is just so infectious!]
Fei Jin never expected her to have such a fragile side.
He didn't expect Song Qingya to be secretly wiping her tears, not wanting him to see.
It made his heart ache for her.
He was used to her cold, indifferent treatment of him, but he had never seen her look so aggrieved.
It was clearly the same face, but she felt completely different.
A moment ago, Fei Jin had actually wanted to wipe away her tears.
But in front of his father-in-law and mother-in-law, the hand he had started to raise froze in place.
Yang Yunhua and Sun Qiang, watching from the side, were stunned.
The two of them rushed to explain, "We didn't hit her! Look, there isn't even a mark on her face."
Yang Yunhua's voice was frantic.
She was terrified of being misunderstood.
"It's true, I swear!"
Sun Qiang hurriedly chimed in, "We haven't laid a hand on her since she got married!"
Song Qingya almost burst out laughing.
'Their reactions were just too comical.'
But her thin body trembled slightly.
To Fei Jin, it looked as if she had turned away to cry, which made his heart ache for her even more.
'These two are so foolish,' Song Qingya thought. 'The more they rush to explain, the more they give themselves away.'
Their panicked excuses were practically an admission that they had often been violent with the original owner of this body.
'Sure enough, sometimes it's better to say less and listen more to protect yourself.'
Fei Jin's expression grew uglier, his brows tightly furrowed.
He had originally planned to give his in-laws some grain ration coupons as a token of his goodwill.
But now, he had completely abandoned that plan.
He said coldly, "I need to speak with Qingya alone."
Fei Jin closed the door and handed her an assortment of ration coupons and a bank passbook.
These were things he had painstakingly saved over the years; they meant a great deal to him.
And now, he was handing them all to her.
"What's this for?"
Song Qingya took the items, feigning ignorance as she asked.
"They're for you. Consider it a safety net for after the divorce."
Fei Jin explained faintly.
"This is all my savings from over the years. I don't use much money in my unit, so you take it. It should be enough for you to live on for a while."
He was very direct. Song Qingya opened it and saw that there was six thousand yuan inside!
In this era of material scarcity, this was a fortune, a sum large enough to change one's destiny.
'The male lead is a genuinely good person. The original owner treated him so horribly and did so many unbearable things to him.'
'But he still doesn't hold a grudge. He's still doing his best to be responsible and provide for his soon-to-be ex-wife.'
'No wonder the original female protagonist was so happy every day after marrying a man like him.'
Song Qingya didn't immediately take the passbook. Instead, she began the second act of her crying performance.
In an instant, her eyes reddened again.
"Are you really determined to divorce me?"
Fei Jin was taken aback for a moment.
He hadn't expected her to ask that.
"Weren't you the one who wanted a divorce?"
he retorted.
"My head really hurts right now... I can't clearly remember anything that happened before I jumped in the river."
Song Qingya deliberately put on a weak and helpless act, pinning all the problems on her 'past' self.
"Fei Jin, I want to go home. My mom... she doesn't like me. She only likes my little brother. And my stepfather..."
At this, Fei Jin grew alert.
"What about your stepfather?"
In fact, he had felt it before when visiting Song Qingya's family home. The way Sun Qiang looked at Song Qingya wasn't right.
It wasn't the way a man should look at his own daughter.
But he was afraid he was overthinking it.
Song Qingya was shy and easily embarrassed; she never brought those things up with him.
And he truly didn't know how to ask about it, so he had never dared to say much.
Just now, when she mentioned her stepfather, she clammed up again, as if she'd touched on something she couldn't bring herself to say.
She lowered her head, her voice low.
"It's nothing, please don't ask."
Her voice was still choked with sobs.
"I can't even sleep well here. I'm on edge every day. I'm afraid my mother will hit me, and I'm afraid my stepfather..."
She didn't continue.
Fei Jin's heart twisted into a knot.
He finally understood why she would rather he take her home than stay here.
He was filled with guilt.
He hadn't taken it seriously before.
'Truly, he hadn't fulfilled his role as a husband.'
She barely reached his shoulder.
Song Qingya reached out a fair, delicate hand and tugged on the corner of his shirt, looking up at him pitifully.
"Fei Jin, take me home, okay?"
Her voice trembled.
Fei Jin swallowed hard and squeezed her hand.
"Okay."
Before they left, Fei Jin asked Song Qingya to wait for a moment.
It seemed he had something important to discuss with Yang Yunhua and her husband.