In the blink of an eye, winter came, and the whistling north wind blew and made people shiver with cold.

When Ye Zhen ran away from home, it was still the Mid-Autumn Festival, and she didn't bring a few clothes with her. The hunchbacked old lady looked at her thinly dressed, so she reached into the room where she lived, and dragged out a wooden box with great difficulty. The wooden box was large and looked very old, to say the least, decades old.

The hunchbacked old lady dragged the wooden box outside the house, put it in the sunlight, found a key that was already a little rusty, and fumbled for a long time, and finally opened the big box. The hunchbacked old lady took out a few old cotton clothes from under the box, held them in her hand and shook them a few times against the sun, and then handed them to Ye Zhen who was standing aside with a smile on her face.

The corners of the hunchbacked old lady's mouth moved and said, "It looks old, but I haven't worn it a few times." It's said it's new, but it can't be counted, it's still worn by McDaer's mother before. After Mai's mother left, no one wore it anymore, and it was always in the box. Every year when the plum blossoms come out, I take them out to dry. ”

Ye Zhen looked at the few cotton clothes, and when they were taken out of the wooden box, they exuded a strong musty smell, although the hunchbacked old lady said that they should be dried every year, after all, they had been in the box for many years. However, the cotton clothes still looked very thick, and the hunchbacked old lady told her: "The cotton in them is all grown in the field, and it is very warm to wear." Ye Zhen had no choice, it was too cold, she put the thick cotton coat on her body, and immediately felt a lot warmer.

Mai Daer went out again early in the morning, and did not say where she was going, nor did she say what she was going to do. The hunchbacked old lady wanted to ask Ye Zhen, and Ye Zhen wanted to ask the old lady, neither of them knew where Mai Da'er had gone.

Until the evening, there was no shadow of Mai Da'er, Ye Zhen felt a little strange in her heart, how could she guess where Mai Da'er went? After three or four days, Mai Daer finally came back in a hurry with a plastic bag.

He looked at Ye Zhen and said with a smile on his face, "Guess what's in here?" Ye Zhen looked at him strangely and said, "I can't guess, where can I guess what my eldest brother did." ”

Mai Da'er opened the package with a smile, and Ye Zhen took it over to see that it turned out to be a brand new set of women's cotton clothes. There is also a delicate brand hanging on the cotton clothes, and the color is also popular outside, which still looks good. She felt that Mai Daer was not like his appearance, just a man who knew how to do rough work, and he was also a somewhat careful person.

Mai Da'er looked at Ye Zhen and said, "This is for you, I went to the city to find some work temporarily, earned some money, and bought you these clothes on the street, you can try to see if you can wear them." The weather is cold, no cotton clothes will definitely not work, those old cotton clothes are too big, you will definitely not fit if you wear them. ”

Ye Zhen looked at Mai Da'er gratefully, turned around and entered the house with the cotton clothes, closed the door and tried it on, she felt that the size was still very suitable, and the color was also what she usually liked, so she knew that Mai Da'er must have put a lot of thought into buying clothes.

Ye Zhen walked out after getting dressed, and Mai Da'er's eyes lit up: "Ye Zhen, you look better in this dress." I'm still worried that you're wearing it that doesn't fit? If it doesn't fit, I'll go to the city again, and the owner of the shop promised me that I can change it if it doesn't fit. ”

Ye Zhen hurriedly said, "Big brother bought it very well, thank you." These two sets of clothes cost a lot of money, and when I find something to do, I'll return the money to you when I earn it. I have to take the money myself, otherwise I won't be able to wear this dress. ”

Mai Da'er knew that Ye Zhen was still thinking about her part-time job, so she persuaded her: "Let's talk about it after you earn money, look at the weather, it will snow in a few days, and there will be no work outside." In the past few days, I have found a few odd jobs with my own skills. If you want to work, you can only wait until after the spring of next year, when you will have the opportunity to go out. ”

When Ye Zhen followed Mai Da'er, although she worked for a few months, she didn't get a penny of salary, and now she was even more penniless, she could only look at Mai Da'er gratefully and said, "Thank you, big brother, I will pay you back when I have the money in the future." Mai Da'er didn't answer, just looked at Ye Zhen and smiled. Laughing so much that Ye Zhen panicked, and didn't know what to say.

That night, Ye Zhen lay on the bed tossing and turning and couldn't sleep, she thought that she had followed a man she had known for a short time and was more than ten years older than herself, to such a strange place, she thought that she could earn money by working to support herself, but she didn't expect to stay in someone else's house and not be able to leave.

After coming to this place, Ye Zhen didn't think about that home in the mountains, because she felt that no one in that family cared about her, she didn't know what she would do in the future, and she didn't dare to think about what she would do in the future, listening to Mai Da'er's snoring in the next room, her mind was blank, and she fell asleep unconsciously.

When she got up in the morning, after Ye Zhen opened her eyes, she felt that the room was brighter than usual. She quickly looked out through the small window, and found that the ground and trees outside were already white, and then she knew that it was snowing at night.

The snow was falling heavier and heavier, and the fields and villages outside were shrouded in heavy snow and soon turned into a white world. Jiang Xinzhou rarely sees people in normal times, and now he can't see a single figure. Except for the occasional sound of chickens and dogs barking, and the occasional sound of dead branches being crushed by falling snow.

The hunchbacked old lady was not able to get up as she usually did. Before the winter, the hunchbacked old lady moved to a row of small houses in the back, and occasionally she could be heard coughing and wheezing. She was probably sick, and Mai Da'er took the meal to the small house.

Ye Zhen put on the new padded jacket given to her by Mai Da'er, Mai Da'er looked at her blankly and said with a smile: "Ye Zhen, you are so good-looking." I don't know why, Ye Zhen heard Mai Da'er speak like this, and her heart was even more panicked, so panicked that she didn't dare to look at Mai Da'er's eyes looking at her, she felt a kind of uneasiness from those eyes.

Dinner was made by Mai Da'er, and there were several more dishes than usual. Ye Zhen heard the hunchbacked old lady say that according to the local living habits, after the beginning of winter, there is no work to do, and she only eats one meal a day, either lunch or dinner.

When dinner was ready, Mai Daer filled a large bowl and sent it to the back room for the hunchbacked old lady. When the old lady had finished eating, McDaer came out of the room with an empty bowl.

Seeing Ye Zhen's face full of doubts, Mai Da'er explained: "Grandma has asthma, which is grandma's old problem. Every year during the winter, it will attack, and once the winter is over, as long as it is spring, the weather will slowly warm up, and grandma's old problem will naturally and slowly improve. It's been like this for many years, and there's no need to worry. The elderly in rural areas suffered a lot when they were young, and some of them fell into a lot of diseases. Grandma is also like this, the old problem that fell when she was young. ”

The dinner that day was a bit long, Mai Da'er drank a few large glasses of wine and said a lot of things, Ye Zhen couldn't remember what he said, he only remembered that he watched Ye Zhen keep praising her for her good looks. Under his persuasion, Ye Zhen also drank a lot of wine. Ye Zhen had never drunk alcohol before, and after a few sips, she felt like her face was on fire, and her heart was beating hard.

The snow outside was getting heavier and heavier, and it seemed like there were only two of them left in the world.

After Ye Zhen finished eating, she habitually helped Mai Da'er clean up the dishes and chopsticks, and Mai Da'er looked at her from the side. I don't know if it's because of the alcohol or because of other reasons, Mai Da'er's face is always red, and his eyes are also red.

It was too cold, and the little wine Ye Zhen drank finally worked. She was already overwhelmed by the wine, and felt that she was a little top-heavy, so she walked into the room. Ye Zhen took off her coat and went to bed, covering her body tightly in the quilt.

In the middle of the night, McDale pushed open the door and walked into the room, his face still red, and his eyes were still red. Mai Da'er looked at Ye Zhen and said, "I'll show you something." ”

Ye Zhen asked a little confused, "Big brother, what do you want to show me?" Mai Daer took out a red book from her pocket and handed it to her, Ye Zhen opened it and saw that it was a marriage certificate, which turned out to be the names of Mai Daer and Ye Zhen, as well as photos of him and her.

Ye Zhen thought that Mai Daer was joking with her: "Big brother, why do you have my photo?" McDale said, "You forgot? You gave it to me. ”

Ye Zhen then remembered that Mai Daer said that if she wanted to help her find a job, she had to have a photo if she didn't have an ID card. McDale affirmed: "You have to have a photo to find a job." She listened to him, and from the package she had brought with her, she found two photos taken at the end of elementary school and gave them to him.

Ye Zhen looked at the marriage certificate with her name written and her photo pasted, and suddenly felt panicked. Ye Zhen said fearfully: "Big brother, you can't joke with me." ”

Mai Da'er grinned: "I won't joke with you, I really want to marry you." Then he walked over and sat on the edge of the bed, hugged Ye Zhen, Ye Zhen wanted to push him away, but found that his whole body was soft and had no strength at all, so he let him take off the last piece of clothing on her.

Ye Zhen shrunk numbly in the quilt with her hands and feet, crying and begging Mai Da'er: "I have always regarded you as my eldest brother, you shouldn't lie to me like this, let alone bully me like this." ”

Mai Da'er leaned his face to her with a mouth full of wine and said, "I didn't lie to you, nor did I bully you." Since you are willing to come back with me, I will begin to treat you as my wife, and there is nothing wrong with you being my wife. I'm a good man, you'll get to know it slowly. ”

Ye Zhen knew that it was too late to regret it, so she looked at Mai Da'er with some despair and said, "What if I don't want to be your wife?" Are you going to rape me? ”

Mai Da'er stretched out two hands, hugged Ye Zhen tightly and said, "Don't we have a marriage certificate?" With a marriage certificate, it can't be considered rape, have you ever heard a wife say that her husband raped herself, I am your husband now, and I can't be considered rape if I engage my own wife. ”

Ye Zhen couldn't figure out where Mai Da'er got the marriage certificate, so she could only look at Mai Da'er in fear. Mai Daer stripped off Ye Zhen's clothes, also stripped off her own clothes, climbed onto the bed where Ye Zhen slept, pressed on her body, and forcibly had sex with her, Ye Zhen cried all night, but Mai Daer fell asleep after finishing the incident.

When she woke up the next morning, Mai Da'er saw Ye Zhen's eyes red and swollen from crying, so she comforted her with some weakness and said: "Don't cry, you have become my wife, you are my person, it is useless to cry, you can live with me with peace of mind." You can rest assured, you also know that I am good to you, I will take care of you, as long as you are willing to follow me, I will not let you suffer. ”

The matter has come to this, Ye Zhen looked at the heavy snow flying in the sky, and there was only a white expanse of ice and snow on Jiangxinzhou. In this small village, there is no one but Mai Daer and her hunchbacked grandmother. There is no one to help her, she can't escape even if she wants to, so she can only resign herself to fate.

That winter night became Ye Zhen's saddest memory, and she was unwilling to become someone else's wife in such a daze. This man, who is more than a decade older than himself, no longer calls her name, only her wife. She spent five years with Mai Daer on the continent and gave birth to two children for him in a daze.

When Ye Zhen felt depressed alone, he would also go to the river embankment to see the river scenery and see the river flowing endlessly to the east. She occasionally thinks that if her parents were not so partial, not so patriarchal, in the past five years, she might have been on the campus of a certain middle school, holding a book in her hand, and like other girls, lying on the grass in the sun, enjoying the good times of youth. She thought desperately that this dream would never be again.

Five years have passed in a flash, and Ye Zhen has never left the land of Jiangxinzhou once in Mai Daer's house.

Because to leave Jiangxinzhou, there is only one ferry boat to go out. Later, she learned from other people's mouths that the person who ferried was Mai Daer's uncle. Mai Da'er had greeted his uncle in advance, if Ye Zhen wanted to leave Jiang Xinzhou, his uncle would not let her get on the boat, so Ye Zhen could only hide the idea of escaping in his heart.

Ye Zhen later said that in addition to not letting her go out to work again, Mai Daer still took good care of her in terms of life, and indeed did not let her suffer much. The hunchbacked old lady was also very concerned about her, and when she saw that Mai Da'er was messing with Ye Zhen, she would curse Mai Da'er, and she would pick up a stick and beat Mai Da'er, and Mai Da'er didn't dare to speak anymore.

(Next Preview: Chapter 84: The Bottom Line of Human Nature)