Xia Ying, of course, was not embraced by him. From the moment she decided to open the door, she had already become a different person.
There was a local custom during weddings that the bride must not be exposed to sunlight, so she had been married off under a large black umbrella. When she came to open the door, she was holding that very umbrella. As Zhou Yiming lunged toward her recklessly, she thrust the tip of the umbrella directly at him, striking the soft flesh of his outstretched right arm.
“Ah—” The umbrella tip jabbed into his arm, and Zhou Yiming stumbled back two steps in pain. When he looked up, there was an unmistakable flash of anger in his eyes that he hadn’t had time to conceal.
Xia Ying sneered, “I thought you were speaking from the heart, but it turns out you weren’t.”
Zhou Yiming stiffened and quickly put on a different expression. “Yingying, I meant every word, I really did!”
“Yingying?” Xia Ying said, “How dare you call me that? Aren’t you afraid your big brother will find out and beat you up?”
At the mention of Zhou Qingbai’s name, Zhou Yiming’s expression soured. With a look of disgust, he said, “Don’t bring him up with me!” Seeing that Xia Ying had indeed fallen silent, he let out a soft sigh and continued, “Yingying, you heard what I said just now, right? What do you think? Come back with me, okay? I mean it—I’ll treat you well for the rest of my life, love only you, have only you…”
Xia Ying cut him off. “No!”
“Wh-what?” Zhou Yiming, interrupted before he could finish, immediately responded in disbelief, “Why?”
Xia Ying said, “Because your big brother is a hundred times, a thousand times, ten thousand times better than you.”
Zhou Yiming roared, “Do you even know what you’re saying?!”
Xia Ying replied calmly, “Of course I do. There’s no reason for me to choose you over such a good man. Zhou Yiming, you must have forgotten what I said earlier—I told you I think you’re dirty and I look down on you!”
He was dirty?
He was a man!
“Dirty” was a word used to describe women, wasn’t it?
Zhou Yiming glared at Xia Ying in fury, and a sudden surge of malice rose within him. He thought, You say I’m dirty? Fine, I’ll make you dirty too. Let’s see if you still dare to look down on me then, and let’s see if that Zhou Qingbai, who’s supposedly ten thousand times better than me, will still want you!
Having been entangled with this man for half a lifetime, Xia Ying could easily sense the sudden malice emanating from Zhou Yiming.
But she wasn’t afraid. Thinking of Zhou Qingbai’s ways, she didn’t retreat. Instead, she took two steps forward toward Zhou Yiming, still holding the umbrella. “What? Are you so angry you want to teach me a lesson? Zhou Yiming, let me remind you—if you dare lay a hand on me today, Zhou Qingbai will make sure you’re half-dead afterward. Are you willing to do something that harms the enemy a thousand while damaging yourself eight hundred?”
Zhou Yiming actually hesitated.
Yes, if he forced himself on Xia Ying, Zhou Qingbai might indeed no longer want her, but he would also likely beat him half to death. Was it worth being beaten like that for Xia Ying?
He wasn’t sure.
“Even if you survive such a beating, whether you’ll suffer lasting effects aside, one thing is certain—you won’t be able to take the college entrance exam this year,” Xia Ying said, then smiled. “That’s what Zhou Qingbai would do. As for me—if you dare touch me, afterward, I’ll make a scene at your school. Let’s see which university would dare accept a rapist.”
This time, Zhou Yiming was truly frightened, his face turning pale.
Getting into college, leaving his hometown, and living a life everyone would envy—that was his dream!
Xia Ying took a step forward, and he immediately retreated two steps in fright. When Xia Ying advanced again, he turned and fled back into the East Wing Room, slamming the door shut with a loud “bang.”
Xia Ying chased him to the doorway: “Zhou Yiming, listen to me. Unless you plan to spend your whole life stuck in the countryside farming, you’d better not offend me in the slightest. Remember, for someone with a tarnished reputation, even thinking about going to university or getting a government job is out of the question! If you dare cross me, I can make sure you never walk that path in your lifetime!”
It was quiet inside for a long while before Zhou Yiming’s voice finally came through: “Aren’t you annoying? Get lost! Get lost!”
Separated only by the door, Xia Ying smiled.
It wasn’t hard!
It really wasn’t hard! Find someone’s weakness and strike right at it—it truly wasn’t difficult!
Why had she been so foolish in her past life?
Still, this change now was because she had seen Zhou Qingbai’s way of handling things. She should thank Zhou Qingbai.
Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. As soon as she turned her head, she saw Zhou Qingbai leaning against the doorframe. When their eyes met, he immediately gave her a thumbs-up.
Xia Ying understood what he meant. Thinking back to what she had just said, her face grew a little warm.
How much had he heard?
Would he think she was too fierce?
Zhou Qingbai had actually only heard the last part—the harsh words Xia Ying had delivered at the doorway after chasing Zhou Yiming. But just that one outburst changed his impression of her once again. Initially, Zhou Qingbai had only thought Xia Ying was an interesting girl, with secrets, a demeanor steadier than her age, and a strange attitude toward her own family.
Now, however, he felt she had become completely vivid—flesh and blood, someone who would bite back if hurt. This version of her made Zhou Qingbai think that Xia Weiming would eventually meet his downfall.
After all… earlier, when he had locked her outside the courtyard gate, the threats he had made to Xiang Meilan and the others were quite similar to hers.
He liked this kind of person.
Being a meek, long-suffering goody-two-shoes didn’t suit him, nor did he admire it. Instead, this kind of person—someone who could let things slide as long as they didn’t cross a line, but who wouldn’t let it go lightly if they did—was more to his liking.
Just like Xia Ying now, striking decisively to subdue the other party and force them to think twice before acting out again.
Xia Ying walked over to him, changing the subject: “How did things go with the Jiao family?”
“Well done!” Zhou Qingbai first praised her with a smile, then headed toward the West Wing Room. As he walked, he said, “The Jiao family isn’t particularly skilled with words, but this matter directly affects the loss of a daughter, so they brought in reinforcements this time. Zhou Yiming got his wish—the girl he’s in love with is going to become his wife!”
Xia Ying was speechless.
This guy, how could he be so mischievous!
The two of them returned to the West Wing Room. Just as they had carried Jiao Qinqin’s few trunks out and placed them by the door of the East Wing Room, footsteps sounded from outside. First came Zhou Zheng, hunched over and hanging his head, followed by Xiang Meilan, her hair disheveled, face scratched with several bloody marks, both angry and tearful. Behind them were Zhou Xiaocao and Jiao Qinqin.
It seemed that after the scuffle, even Zhou Xiaocao had been injured.
Jiao Qinqin, however, was fine, though her expression was grim. When she entered the room and saw Xia Ying and Zhou Qingbai, her expression briefly turned complicated.
Living under the same roof, even if they could avoid speaking to each other, they would inevitably cross paths frequently. In her previous life, Zhou Qingbai had left home early and traveled far. Among the Zhou family, only Zhou Xiaocao and Xia Ying were not disliked by her. However, for Zhou Xiaocao’s sake, Xia Ying couldn’t speak to her in front of Xiang Meilan. Aside from her, Xia Ying had no desire to interact with anyone else.
In the early days, Xiang Meilan had been unconditionally kind to her because she wanted something from her. But later, after Zhou Yiming passed the university entrance exam and used Zhou Xiaocao’s death to extort others for a promotion, Xiang Meilan’s attitude changed as quickly as flipping a page in a book.
As for Jiao Qinqin, in her previous life, she had been oppressed by Xiang Meilan early on and had hardly enjoyed a single good day. Later, although she was taken away by Zhou Yiming because she had a child, it was said that by then Zhou Yiming already had mistresses in the city. Even after going there, she could only endure humiliation to maintain her livelihood.
As for this lifetime, judging by Zhou Yiming’s behavior just now, it seemed her days were about to become dark and hopeless from this moment on.
It was a pity that Xia Ying still remembered the grudges from her past life; otherwise, she could have warned Jiao Qinqin now.
Of course, Xia Ying also knew that such a warning would be useless to Jiao Qinqin.
And indeed, it was useless. Jiao Qinqin’s expression briefly turned complicated, as if she had thought of something, but soon her gaze toward Xia Ying was filled with smug satisfaction. With so many people in the room, she didn’t dare say anything at the moment, but she couldn’t wait to let her defeated rival know of her victory—having married Zhou Yiming over Xia Ying.
Xia Ying almost wanted to laugh but quickly averted her gaze and headed toward the West Wing Room.
Jiao Qinqin felt somewhat displeased, but Xiang Meilan didn’t give her time to dwell on it. The moment Xiang Meilan saw Xia Ying, she felt a pang of resentment. And thinking about how she had been humiliated at the Jiao family earlier and had no choice but to bring back Jiao Qinqin as her daughter-in-law only fueled her hatred, making her wish she could torment Jiao Qinqin to death.
“What are you doing? As soon as you come back, you want to hide in your room. Are you the Queen Mother of the West that I have to serve you?” As she spoke, she reached out and roughly pulled Jiao Qinqin outside. “Can’t you see what time it is? The pots and bowls in the kitchen haven’t been washed yet. Hurry up and wash them so we can prepare lunch!”
The watery vegetable and rice they had for breakfast, coupled with the two incidents that had just occurred, had left Xiang Meilan genuinely hungry.
Jiao Qinqin was pulled so hard that she crashed into the door with a loud thud, but no one in the room showed any concern. After waiting a moment and hearing no response from Zhou Yiming in the East Wing Room, her voice trembled with grievance: “I’m not the only new daughter-in-law in this family. Why should I have to do all the work?”
She was targeting Xia Ying.
In the local countryside, it was indeed customary for new daughters-in-law to start working the day after entering the household, regardless of the family’s status. Jiao Qinqin was a new bride, and so was Xia Ying. This was the norm in every household, so Jiao Qinqin wasn’t afraid of displeasing Zhou Qingbai by saying this.
“After years as a daughter-in-law, one finally becomes a mother-in-law”—this saying was well-known to every woman in the area.
Xiang Meilan immediately looked at Zhou Qingbai. Seeing his expressionless face and no sign that he intended to speak up, she quickly turned her gaze to Xia Ying. Truth be told, Xiang Meilan’s feelings were complicated at this moment: she both hated and feared Zhou Qingbai, and while she resented Xia Ying, she still had to curry favor with her for the sake of the money in her hands.
Suppressing her hatred, she spoke to Xia Ying in a relatively gentle tone: “Yingying, you…”
Zhou Qingbai frowned, but Xia Ying spoke before he could: “Alright, I’ll go help with the cooking too.”
Xiang Meilan wanted to smile but found nothing amusing about the situation.
It’s just cooking, what daughter-in-law doesn’t cook?
Jiao Qinqin felt she had won again. Ignoring the pain from bumping into the door, she gave Xia Ying a triumphant look and went out first.
However, Xia Ying and Zhou Qingbai returned to the West Wing Room first.
“I’m not rushing to do the work. I’m just afraid that if I don’t go, what if Jiao Qinqin spits in our food later?” This wasn’t Xia Ying making things up—in her previous life, Jiao Qinqin had actually done this, though she spat in Xiang Meilan’s bowl and was unlucky enough to be caught red-handed by Xiang Meilan.
Zhou Qingbai never doubted some people’s malice, but hearing this, his already tightly furrowed brow creased even deeper.
If even eating a meal comes with such worries, it seems they can’t keep eating together all the time!
Xia Ying continued, “Besides, even if I go, I don’t necessarily have to do the work. After all, if the work isn’t finished, it won’t be me who gets beaten or scolded.”
Zhou Qingbai’s brow relaxed slightly, but when he looked at Xia Ying’s smiling, radiant face, he suddenly froze.
Although their time together had been short, this wasn’t the first time he had seen Xia Ying smile, but… it was the first time he felt her smile was so beautiful—so beautiful that his heart couldn’t help but beat faster, thumping uncontrollably.