Chapter 264: Xu Damao's Action

Summer thunderstorms came quickly and left just as quickly. The day-and-night-long sweet rain finally ceased; the sky looked as if it had been washed, revealing a rare azure. Sunshine fell again, bringing the freshness unique after rain, yet it could not dispel the scorching clouds of anxiety over Xu Damao's head.

After the brief joy brought by Yushui, the Siheyuan returned to its former silence, and each household began to worry about the next meal's rations.

Only Xu Damao, his thoughts nowhere on food. Those restless, darting eyes constantly flicked toward his own home, especially toward Wang Cuihua's old wooden box, lacquered and mottled, brought from the countryside.

That thin yet weighty "confession letter" was like an invisible lock, firmly binding him in this marriage that filled him with shame. If he did not smash that lock, Xu Damao would never have a day to rise!

A few nights later, an opportunity seemed to arrive. The factory arranged for Xu Damao to go to the Remote Suburb Commune the next day to screen a film, requiring him to first go to the factory to check the equipment and film.

Upon hearing this, Wang Cuihua said she wanted to take advantage of the good weather and return to her natal home in the countryside the next day to visit her elders, and perhaps exchange some eggs or sweet potatoes from the village. With their separate schedules, this was a heaven-sent opportunity!

Xu Damao suppressed his inner joy, feigning calm as he cautioned Wang Cuihua to be careful on the road, and hypocritically slipped her two coins, telling her to buy something for the elders. Wang Cuihua rarely saw him so "thoughtful"; although a little surprised, she didn't think much of it and slipped the money into her pocket.

Early the next morning, Wang Cuihua left with a cloth bag on her back. Xu Damao watched her retreating figure, confirmed she turned the corner at Alley Kou, and immediately, like a dog off its leash, rushed back inside and slid the bolt shut.

His heart pounded with excitement and nervousness. Time was limited; he had to find it quickly!

His first target was that old wooden chest. The chest wasn't locked; he eagerly flung open the lid, and a camphor-and-old-clothes smell hit him.

He violently pulled out the contents one by one—torn cotton jacket, old trousers, several half-worn shoe soles… He probed every inch of the chest's bottom boards, knocked on the walls, hoping to find a hidden compartment. Nothing, nothing at all!

Sweat seeped from his forehead. Not in the chest? Then where could it be?

Like a headless fly, he began a frantic search of the room. He flung open the kang mat, revealing the dry straw underneath and several dust-covered coins.

He turned out every pocket of each garment in the wardrobe, pulled out the drawers and upturned them on the floor, and even shoved his hand into the mouse hole at the corner of the wall.

Time ticked by second by second; the room looked as if it had been ransacked by bandits, yet that deadly paper remained nowhere to be seen.

"Where is it hidden? Where could that stupid woman have stashed it?!" Xu Damao panted, his eyes bloodshot with anxiety and anger. He slumped to the floor, gazing at the wrecked room, a sense of despair welling up.

Could Wang Cuihua have had it on her person? Impossible—such a thing couldn't see the light; she wouldn't be that foolish. Or perhaps… she never regarded that paper as important, just shoved it somewhere he'd never think to look?

He forced himself to calm down and recall Wang Cuihua's habits. This woman lacked education, but she valued money and anything that could give her leverage over others immensely. The place she hid things must be where she deemed safest and least likely to attract notice.

His gaze swept the room again and finally settled on the oily, large bundle at the kang head used as a pillow. It was a pillow Wang Cuihua had made by rolling a few ragged garments, wrapped in a piece of bleached‑white old cloth.

He had felt it before and thought it was just soft clothing inside. But now a thought flashed—could the most dangerous place be the safest?

He lunged for it, grabbed the bundle‑pillow, which felt heavy in his hands. He impatiently untied the cloth straps and dumped out the contents. Besides a few ragged garments, there was a small roll tightly wrapped in red cloth.

Xu Damao's heart nearly leapt out of his throat! He trembled as he unfolded the red cloth layer by layer.

Inside lay several neatly folded sheets of paper and a small stack of money! The money was part of what Wang Cuihua had extorted from him earlier; he had always known she kept private savings. And beside it lay those few sheets of paper…

He held his breath, picked up the sheets and unfolded them. One was Wang Cuihua's yellowed marriage certificate with her former husband; another was her household transfer permit. And there was… that very confession letter, its handwriting crooked, bearing his fresh red thumbprint!

"Found it!!" Xu Damao nearly shouted aloud. He clenched the paper tightly, as if grasping the ticket to his own freedom and rebirth!

Without hesitation, he rushed to the stove, struck a match. The orange‑yellow flame leapt, greedily licking the paper that bore his shame and leverage. The paper quickly curled, blackened, and turned to a pinch of ash.

Xu Damao watched that wisp of blue smoke, exhaled a long, satisfied breath of foul air. It felt as if a thousand‑pound burden had been lifted, and his whole being grew light.

Burned! Finally burned! From now on, Xu Damao would no longer be restrained by that country shrew!

He surveyed the mess filling the room, but didn't bother to tidy up. The urgent task was to wait for Wang Cuihua's return, then confront her and demand a divorce! Without the confession letter, let's see what tricks she could still pull! A rural widow, daring to challenge Xu Damao?

He had even begun to calculate whom he'd ask to set him up after the divorce— the factory's broadcaster Xiao Liu? Or the new female clerk at the street office? Imagining the blissful life with a future beautiful wife in his arms, Xu Damao's face broke into a triumphant, almost twisted grin.

He carefully repacked Wang Cuihua's other belongings as they were, stuffed them back into the bundle‑pillow, and tried to restore everything to its original state. Then, in good spirits, he whistled, locked the door, and headed to the factory to prepare for the film screening. He felt today's sunshine was especially bright; every person he passed on the way seemed more pleasing to the eye.

However, Xu Damao had no idea that, while he was rummaging through chests and baskets, basking in his own "cleverness," Wang Cuihua had not actually gone far. Just after leaving Alley Kou, she ran into Li Dama from the same courtyard, who was queuing at the vegetable station; after a few words, she realized she had forgotten the cloth bag for exchanging eggs, and turned back.

Just as she reached the back‑yard gate, she peered through the half‑open window and saw Xu Damao's frantic figure rummaging inside. Her heart jolted; she dared not cry out, and hid silently beneath the windowsill.

When she saw Xu Damao produce the red‑wrapped bundle and burn one of the sheets inside, although illiterate she instantly guessed what it was—the one thing she could use to hold Xu Damao in her grasp!

Wang Cuihua's face darkened instantly; a surge of betrayed fury and deep chill rose in her heart. She did not rush in to confront him, but gritted her teeth and slipped away once more from the back yard.

Xu Damao thought he had acted flawlessly, his schemes clicking like abacus beads, unaware that the woman he deemed a foolish wife had already seen through his malicious intent.

A family storm, ignited by his own hand and destined never to be quelled, was quietly brewing. What he burned was not merely a sheet of paper; it was the last fig leaf covering this deformed marriage, and… his own retreat that seemed clever but was in fact utter stupidity.