When Zuo Feng and Yue Jiaxue arrived at the archery range, inside apartment 1301 of Kaitian Community.
Yun Qianqian was happily teaching Kong Ling numbers.
Xiao Mi Tao was sprawled on the sofa, offering suggestions.
The young married woman and Li Jiajia sat on the sofa, whispering to each other from time to time, discussing who knows what.
Next to the young married woman was Tongtong, a small, exquisite girl who was holding a bag of snacks and constantly putting them into her mouth.
Li Jiajia's mindset was quite strong; in just one night, she seemed to have emerged from her sorrow.
Wu Yanyan, however, seemed a bit out of place, sitting silently with her head down, clearly not yet recovered from her grief; the scene of her parents being tortured to death in front of her was still deeply etched in her heart.
“Wife, I know I was wrong, please just come out and see me, I really was wrong.”
At this moment, the crying plea from outside the door instantly made the smile on Li Jiajia’s face disappear. This voice was too familiar to her; it was the voice that had once lingered in her ears day and night, the voice of her husband, You Huanghe!
Li Jiajia’s heart sank sharply, her lips twitched a few times, and a complex emotion flashed in her eyes.
The other women, hearing the crying plea, stopped what they were doing and looked at each other, thinking that the person outside seemed to be looking for his wife.
The women instantly understood what was happening. Among them, it seemed only Tao Yanyan and Li Jiajia were married. Tao Yanyan’s husband was already gone, so it must be Li Jiajia he was looking for!
They were all part of the same team, so they all knew about Li Jiajia’s and Tao Yanyan’s experiences and basic information.
Seeing Li Jiajia’s cold face, it was clear that the man outside was Li Jiajia’s husband; that man who had watched Li Jiajia being humiliated, cowering and silent, how could he still have the nerve to ask for forgiveness?
Yun Qianqian frowned and sighed softly, Xiao Mi Tao pouted in disdain, the young married woman’s eyes were cold, Tongtong curiously peeked out, and Wu Yanyan remained silent with her head down, as if nothing concerned her.
“Qianqian-jie, I’ll go out and handle it.”
Li Jiajia didn't go out immediately but turned to ask Yun Qianqian’s opinion. With the leader and vice-leader not present, all team matters had to be decided by Yun Qianqian.
Even if it was her husband, whom she detested, coming to find her, she couldn't act on her own, what if her husband had ill intentions?
“He’s so shameless, how dare he come to see you?”
Before Yun Qianqian could speak, Xiao Mi Tao said indignantly. After hearing Li Jiajia’s story, she greatly looked down on Li Jiajia’s cowardly husband.
“Alright, you can go see him, but don’t let him into the house.”
Yun Qianqian pondered for a moment and agreed to Li Jiajia’s request; things always had to be dealt with.
Moreover, early in the morning, a grown man crying at the door—how inauspicious! Her Xiao Nan Ren was still out gathering supplies!
She wasn't worried about safety either; with Kong Ling around, ordinary people couldn't harm them in the slightest.
“I’ll go with you!”
The young married woman also got up and followed Li Jiajia. She wasn't looking for gossip, but was worried that Li Jiajia might soften.
Li Jiajia nodded gratefully, took a deep breath, and walked towards the door with the young married woman.
The crying outside grew more desperate, Li Jiajia’s hand trembled slightly, but her eyes showed a hint of determination.
She knew that at this moment, she had to face the past and completely sever ties with that man.
The young married woman held her hand tightly, offering silent support.
The door slowly opened, and Li Jiajia looked out, momentarily stunned by the man in front of her. He was disheveled, his clothes ragged, his eyes full of pleading and regret.
Even though she had prepared herself mentally before coming out, and thought of countless ways to reject the man—seeing this unkempt, haggard man in front of her, she couldn't help but soften. Was this still her husband, who was even cleaner than a woman and extremely meticulous about his appearance?
He seemed to have suffered a lot. After all, they had lived together for so many years, and this was the first time Li Jiajia had seen her husband so disheveled and messy, so she couldn't help but soften inside.
“Jiajia, I’m sorry, I was useless, but there were too many of them. After you were taken away, I thought of many ways. I wanted to find someone to help save you, but I couldn’t find anyone! I knocked on many people’s doors, but no one paid attention to me!
I really thought of many ways, it’s my fault, I let you down, Jiajia. I know it’s hard to ask you to forgive me, but I can’t live without you. For the sake of our many years as husband and wife, will you please forgive me just this once?”
You Huanghe choked, tears streaming down his face, his eyes red. He immediately fell to his knees, his attitude sincere and earnest, his tightly clenched fists with nails deeply embedded in his palms.
Although You Huanghe had made full preparations, as soon as he saw Li Jiajia, he still thought of the scene of that fat black man pressing down on Li Jiajia—it made him feel incredibly disgusted.
He had a psychological obsession with cleanliness; this woman in front of him was already dirty. This woman, his former wife, now disgusted him with just a glance. If she were a chaste and virtuous woman, wouldn't she have died?
He didn’t feel he had done anything wrong; there were too many people on the other side, and his resistance would have been useless. He felt he was blind—how could he have chosen a woman like Li Jiajia?
When something like that happened, she could have completely committed suicide, why live on?
It made him now have to force himself to apologize despite his disgust. He had secretly observed carefully yesterday; these people had a lot of supplies, and he had considered joining them.
It just so happened that Li Jiajia was still alive, and it seemed she had joined these people.
You Huanghe knew that if he wanted to join these people now, he had to first get Li Jiajia to forgive him.
His red eyes were from rubbing them with a shriveled onion this morning. The haggardness was real; the damned Tiger King Alliance had ransacked all the food in his house when they left. He hadn’t eaten for two days and was so hungry he couldn’t sleep, so how could he not be haggard?
He was there to apologize, so he naturally deliberately dressed shabbily.
Li Jiajia took a deep breath, a complex emotion flashing in her eyes, and slowly began, “You should go. Let the past be the past. We can’t go back to how things were, and from now on, we have no relationship.”
Seeing the haggard You Huanghe, Li Jiajia felt a pang of reluctance, but she couldn't get past the hurdle of being defiled while her husband stood by weakly, not daring to resist.
Now, she only wanted to cut ties with the past. As for this husband, she never wanted to have any contact with him again.
“Jiajia, can’t you forgive me? Just once. Put yourself in my shoes, if you were me at that time, would you have made a futile resistance, or would you have protected yourself first and then thought of a way to rescue?.
My not resisting was the only way at the time! If I had resisted, neither of us would have had a good outcome. I could only not resist and then think of a way to save you after they left.
I've also been trying to find help. What did I do wrong?
My only mistake was not being impulsive, choosing the most rational approach!
Jiajia, why are you so heartless now? Are our many years of affection just gone because of one rational choice I made?”
You Huanghe's voice was pleading, but a hint of hatred flashed in his eyes, though he quickly hid it. The most important thing now was to survive!
He had to endure. This woman, who disgusted him, had a new backer and showed no regard for their old affection!
Li Jiajia looked troubled. What this man said wasn't wrong; his not resisting and then trying to rescue her afterward seemed logical, but the resentment in her heart was hard to erase.
After all, that moment of cowardice had made her completely lose trust in him.
“How come I didn’t notice you asking others for help? I live right across from you. Afterward, you closed your door and hid inside, never coming out. Where did you go to ask for help?”
Tao Yanyan’s lips curved into a slight sneer; she knew it was time for her to speak up.
Tao Yanyan’s words stunned Li Jiajia, and pain showed in her eyes. She had been tormented by Hai Huzi for almost a day and a night, and You Huanghe had actually been hiding in his room, not daring to come out. It was laughable that she had just believed You Huanghe’s words, which were all lies; Li Jiajia’s heart felt like it was being twisted, and tears welled up in her eyes.
“You just didn’t notice me asking others for help, that doesn’t mean I didn’t. I asked for help, you just didn’t see it! What evidence do you have that I didn’t ask for help?”
You Huanghe’s voice even carried a hint of accusation. You Huanghe had discovered yesterday that Tao Yanyan, who lived across from him, had also joined these people. He had already thought of a countermeasure—to deny it to the death!
Tao Yanyan couldn’t possibly have been watching him constantly, could she? I asked for help, you just didn’t see it.
Even if Tao Yanyan was constantly watching, could she have been recording all the time? There’s no surveillance, as long as Tao Yanyan can’t produce evidence, as long as he denies it, then he, You Huanghe, did ask for help!