“I’m telling you, bro, why do you keep staring at those three yuan?”
The moment Xu Shaoqin stepped through the door, he caught the sweet fragrance lingering in the room. He sniffed, but didn’t think much of it.
That was until Xiao Jingwen waved the three yuan in his hand and told him, “Yesterday, when my condition flared up, some girl barged into my room.”
Xu Shaoqin instantly exploded.
“What?!”
“She barged into your room, and then what?”
“Y-You two, what did you do?!” As he spoke, his eyes secretly drifted toward the bed.
A flash of red was swiftly covered by Xiao Jingwen with a pillow.
“Turn around.”
A sharp, icy glint flashed in the half-narrowed eyes of the man.
Xu Shaoqin immediately turned his back.
After a long moment, he asked in a trembling voice, “…Bro, are you saying that when your condition flared up, you slept with a female comrade?”
“She slept with me.” Xiao Jingwen pinched the bridge of his nose, laughing in exasperation.
His wrist trembled slightly as he held the banknote. “And before she left, she even left me payment.”
Three yuan?
Xu Shaoqin’s lips twitched.
With his Xiao-ge’s face, if he went into business selling himself, he’d be worth at least five hundred…
Three yuan? Who was she trying to insult?
His Xiao-ge was the commander’s second son!
Xiao Jingwen suddenly asked, “What do you think these three yuan mean?”
Xu Shaoqin hunched his shoulders. How would he know?
Don’t ask him!
He shook his head, then suddenly had a flash of inspiration and remembered something very important—
“Bro! Did you ask if she was single?”
“What?” Xiao Jingwen looked over with a cold laugh, as though he had just heard the funniest joke.
Xu Shaoqin’s face was full of indescribable awkwardness. “Uh… what if there’s a possibility…”
The possibility was so outrageous that Xu Shaoqin swallowed hard before gathering the courage to say, “Those three yuan were a hint left by that female comrade.”
“A hint that you should be her kept man!”
?
Xiao Jingwen laughed in exasperation again.
Just as he was about to curse, a knock sounded from outside the door.
“Uncle, are you awake?”
“Lin Xi! Who taught you to stay out all night!”
“You’re that desperate for a man? Shameless!”
“You don’t care about your reputation, but the Lin family does!”
Following the original owner’s memories, Lin Xi found her way home.
The moment she stepped inside, she was immediately blocked at the door by her scumbag father, Lin Jianguo, who launched into a furious tirade.
Oh, you old geezer. You eat her food and live under her roof, and now you’re getting cocky?
Lin Xi glanced at Lin Jianguo and sneered. “When you take your little wife and move out of the house my mother left to me, then you can come talk to me about whether the Lin family has any shame.”
The house had been Bai Keling’s dowry.
Under the old custom that a wife’s property passed to her husband after her death, Lin Jianguo had treated the house as his private property all these years.
Now that the issue had been put squarely on the table, his neck flushed with anger.
“Lin Xi! I’m talking about you fooling around with some wild man and staying out all night! Don’t you dare change the subject!”
“Fooling around?”
Lin Xi narrowed her eyes. “How do you know?”
Apparently, he wouldn’t stop until he saw the coffin!
“Fine!”
Lin Jianguo stormed over to the coffee table and grabbed a mirror.
He came back and shoved it directly in front of Lin Xi’s face.
“Look for yourself! Look at the marks from your little escapade!”
In the mirror, a red mark was clearly visible along the edge of Lin Xi’s shirt collar—a glimpse of the bite mark that man had left on her skin the night before.
Not too bad. It wasn’t very noticeable.
Lin Xi clicked her tongue and casually looked up. “Tsk, what does an old geezer like you know?”
“This is called gua sha.”
Still spouting nonsense!
Lin Jianguo was so furious that his hand trembled. He raised it and swung it straight toward Lin Xi’s face—
“You’re still talking back?! You drugged Zhao Mingze, then stole your younger sister’s marriage prospect! Do you really think your father and Aunt Fen don’t know about it?”
The old bastard actually dared to hit her?
Lin Xi stepped aside and dodged.
She was just about to strike back—
Her stepmother, Li Yufen, had chosen the perfect moment to appear and came hurrying downstairs.
“Old Lin!”
The woman had taken excellent care of herself. Her skin was fair and smooth, and her slender figure made her look more like she was in her early forties despite being in her fifties.
She wore a plain-colored dacron blouse, giving her an extremely gentle and kindly appearance.
“Oh, Old Lin! There’s no need to hit the child over a marriage prospect.”
Lin Jianguo didn’t actually dare hit her.
After Li Yufen pulled him back, he took the opportunity to sit down on the sofa and demand, “Explain yourself. Why did you steal your sister’s marriage?”
He hadn’t even gone to work that morning, just to wait here and confront her.
Heh.
Looks like Li Yufen wasn’t the only one who wanted her to marry Zhao Mingze.
Lin Xi said nothing.
Li Yufen then played peacemaker from the side.
“Old Lin, they’re sisters. Calling it stealing doesn’t sound very nice.”
She soothed Lin Jianguo for a couple of sentences.
Then she turned around and put on a concerned expression as she advised Lin Xi.
“Xiaoxi, you can’t really blame your father for being angry.”
“Actually, if you had just told Aunt Fen that you also liked Zhao Mingze, Aunt Fen would definitely have asked Xiaoran to give up the marriage for you.”
“But you acted first without telling anyone, and now our family is in a difficult position.”
“A girl’s chastity before marriage is a serious matter.”
Lin Xi silently watched Li Yufen perform.
Sure enough, Li Yufen was the type who couldn’t keep two ounces of sesame oil in her belly.
She didn’t even need anyone else to play along. She spilled every bit of her true intentions all by herself.
“This concerns our family’s reputation. Since the two of you have already had a physical relationship, the wedding will have to be arranged as soon as possible.”
“When the time comes… if the dowry isn’t as generous as you expect, don’t blame Aunt Fen for favoring one daughter over another.”
Lin Xi burst out laughing.
Just then—
The sound of a key turning in the lock came from the doorway.
Lin Ran was back.
The female lead of the original novel. She really was pretty, but that outfit…
Lin Xi looked at the wrinkled clothes Lin Ran was wearing.
Well, well. Looks like she had been fooling around with a man too!
Huh?
Was she coming straight from having a passionate night with the brigade commander’s son?
Out of the corner of her eye, Lin Xi glanced at the two older people on the sofa, whose expressions had changed dramatically.
She suppressed her laughter.
Then, before Li Yufen could say anything, she rushed toward Lin Ran and slapped her across the face!
Smack!
Lin Ran was completely stunned.
The drug Zhao Mingze had been given was far too potent. She had been tied up all night, and her legs were still trembling.
After Lin Xi’s slap, she couldn’t keep her balance and fell to the floor.
The pain made her scream.
“Lin Xi, have you gone crazy?!”
Lin Xi had used all her strength, leaving her own wrist numb from the impact. She rubbed it, then walked over to Lin Ran’s feet and looked down at her.
“I’m crazy? A young woman staying out all night and disgracing the family! I’m teaching you a lesson on Dad’s behalf.”
“You’re that desperate for a man? Shameless!”
“You’re filthy, but our Lin family still has its reputation to protect!”
Lin Jianguo’s own words were right there. She didn’t even have to come up with anything herself.
After repeating his words without missing a single one, Lin Xi turned around and smiled sweetly at Lin Jianguo.
“Dad, did I get it right?”
Lin Jianguo’s face turned red, then black.
“That’s enough! There’s no proof of anything, so stop making things up. The two of you, go back to your rooms!”
“That won’t do!”
Lin Xi interrupted him.
He could berate her however he pleased, but when it came to Lin Ran, he wanted to brush everything under the rug?
Dream on!
If she tolerated things now, she’d only make herself miserable. Whoever made her unhappy, she would pay them back five or ten times over.
Lin Xi gave a cold laugh and looked from Lin Jianguo to Li Yufen.
“What do you mean there’s no proof? How am I making things up?”
“Wasn’t Aunt Fen just saying that a girl’s chastity is a serious matter?”
“Dad, shouldn’t you be asking who Lin Ran spent the night fooling around with?”
“What do you mean, fooling around…” Li Yufen’s mind worked quickly, and she picked up the conversation. “Xiaoran was worried about you. She went out last night to look for you…”
“She looked for me all the way to a man’s room?”
Lin Xi took two steps toward Lin Ran. With a swift motion, she grabbed her collar and tore it open—