Pawned Wife for Three Years: The Rough Husband Refuses to Let Her Go

Lin Suier is a young woman trapped in a loveless marriage within the rural Apricot Blossom Village. Her husband, Chen Wenqi, is a pretentious scholar who has failed the provincial exams twice and refuses to work, believing any manual labor would disgrace his status. Consequently, Lin Suier bears the entire burden of household survival, including cooking, cleaning, farming, and caring for their three-year-old daughter, Xiao Cao. She endures constant verbal abuse from her mother-in-law, Madam Zhou, who blames Lin Suier for not producing a son and for the family’s poverty. Despite her suffering, Lin Suier remains devoted to her husband’s academic ambitions, finding solace only in her daughter.

The narrative shifts when Jiang Liao, a widowed traveling cook known for his fierce temperament and physical strength, begins to notice Lin Suier. Their initial encounter occurs at a village well, where Jiang Liao helps her with her water buckets. The interaction is charged with unspoken tension; Jiang Liao is visibly aroused by Lin Suier’s presence, while she is unsettled by his intense gaze. The dynamic deepens when Lin Suier slips and injures her ankle while gathering wild vegetables to stretch their meager food supply. Jiang Liao finds her in the mountains and carries her back on his背, a physical intimacy that stirs conflicting emotions in both of them. He delivers medicinal plaster and a crutch to her home, an act that humiliates Chen Wenqi and further enrages the mother-in-law.

As Lin Suier’s injury heals, her dependence on Jiang Liao grows. He assists her with heavy chores, such as washing laundry by the river, actions that defy social propriety but provide her with tangible relief from her oppressive domestic life. During these encounters, the physical and emotional distance between Lin Suier and her husband becomes starkly apparent. Chen Wenqi remains indifferent to her pain and only seeks her body for his own satisfaction, treating her with roughness and entitlement. In contrast, Jiang Liao’s attention is attentive and physically engaging, awakening desires and sensations in Lin Suier that her husband has never provided.

The core conflict intensifies as Lin Suier’s internal struggle between societal duty and personal desire reaches a breaking point. She begins to compare her husband’s incompetence and coldness with Jiang Liao’s strength and care. The tension culminates in a series of clandestine meetings where the boundary between neighborly assistance and romantic involvement dissolves. Jiang Liao’s growing possessiveness and Lin Suier’s surrender to her newfound physical and emotional needs mark a decisive turning point in the story.

The narrative concludes with the consummation of their affair. After a night of wine and vulnerability, Lin Suier and Jiang Liao engage in an intimate encounter that contrasts sharply with her previous marital experiences. She acknowledges that her husband has never provided her with such pleasure or emotional connection. Jiang Liao asserts his dominance and care, promising to fulfill her needs. This act solidifies their relationship, moving it from secret glances and accidental touches to a committed, albeit illicit, partnership. The story ends with Lin Suier fully embracing this new reality, leaving her oppressive marriage behind in favor of a passionate connection with Jiang Liao.