“Zhenzhen, why aren’t you calling me Yanqing-ge anymore? The way you are now makes Yanqing-ge feel so distant!” Xu Yanqing said with a pained frown.
“Xu Yanqing, sometimes I really want to throw you into a boiling oil pot,” Lu Zhenzhen said stiffly.
Xu Yanqing froze, furrowing his brow. “What do you mean?”
“I want to see whether the oil splashes out first, or you prove to be more despicable,” Lu Zhenzhen said with impatience.
“……”
Xu Yanqing couldn’t handle Lu Zhenzhen’s cold tone and barely registered what she was saying.
In the past, when Lu Zhenzhen spoke to him, her voice was soft and lingering, with a slightly drawn-out cadence.
It was as if it had been soaked in water, tinged with a hint of anxious flattery, making one’s heart itch.
Seeing Xu Yanqing gazing at her “with deep affection,” Lu Zhenzhen felt utterly disgusted and wanted to punch him.
So she bent down, gently placed the wooden bucket in her hand on the ground, and quickly took a step forward.
Seeing this, Xu Yanqing thought Lu Zhenzhen was trying to hug him again to get back the 663 yuan from yesterday. Suppressing his disgust, he closed his eyes and waited.
He silently thought to himself: Just let her hug me once. It’s not like I’ll lose a piece of meat.
Last time, to coax her into taking the place of the bride, she lifted her skirt and let him touch her thigh, and he went along with it!
Lu Zhenzhen quickly walked up to Xu Yanqing, lowered her stance, and suddenly pressed her right shoulder under his armpit. With her left hand tightly gripping his wrist, she used his forward momentum to exert force.
She sent him tumbling through the air in a parabolic arc before he crashed heavily to the ground. Dust instantly billowed up, nearly covering him completely.
As a low-tier actress who relied on her skills, although she wasn’t proficient in all forms of martial arts, she knew a thing or two.
The shoulder throw emphasized using minimal force to overcome greater strength, making it especially suitable for someone like Xu Yanqing, who was a head taller than Lu Zhenzhen.
Looking at the blood on his palm, Xu Yanqing screamed in disbelief, “Lu Zhenzhen, how dare you hit me?”
Lu Zhenzhen said coldly, “I wish I could beat you to death!”
“Why?” Xu Yanqing asked incredulously. Whether in the past or after marriage, she had always accommodated and flattered him.
“Why? Don’t you have any idea? The Lu Zhenzhen who loved you died yesterday. Don’t let me see you again in the future.” Lu Zhenzhen stepped on Xu Yanqing’s chest.
“Zhenzhen, I know you’re trying to get my attention, but playing hard to get has its limits,” Xu Yanqing growled angrily.
“Limits, my foot! Let’s not beat around the bush anymore. I originally didn’t want to hit him.
Because I made it very clear yesterday: as long as Xu Yanqing returns the money and writes an IOU, I won’t go to Xujia again in the future.
He didn’t listen and insisted on seeking me out. Everyone, please bear witness for me again today.
I, Lu Zhenzhen, will have nothing to do with Xu Yanqing for the rest of my life. If he bothers me again, I’ll beat him up every time I see him.”
The aunt who received two yuan yesterday stepped forward and said, “Youth Xu, you’re in the wrong here. Harassing Comrade Lu to deliberately ruin her reputation—you deserve to be beaten.”
“I always said Comrade Lu, as a teacher, wouldn’t be shameless. It turns out Comrade Lu just wanted her money back, the money she spent on the Xu family.”
“Comrade Lu is truly unfortunate! Just for trying to get her own money back, she was misunderstood by us and even lost her job!”
“Oh my, do you think the Xu family deliberately ruined Comrade Lu’s reputation to snatch her job for Youth Xu’s sister?”
“Heavens! The Xu family is utterly heartless!”
“……”
Seeing everyone condemning the scumbag, Lu Zhenzhen lifted her foot from his chest, picked up the wooden bucket, and retreated from the crowd to go home and cook.
Xu Yanqing endured the pain and sat up, glaring darkly at Lu Zhenzhen’s retreating figure. Suddenly, he felt that Lu Zhenzhen looked exceptionally beautiful today.
Such a beauty was actually going to be wasted on Gu Ye, that rough soldier. What a shame.
Fortunately, Lu Zhenzhen, being so foolish, had always admired him, and Gu Ye had been so angered by her that he ran off to the military.
This stupid woman came to him every day, trying to get his attention. Out of respect for the village chief’s family, he only intended to make her suffer a little longer.
But Lu Zhenzhen was already growing restless. If he didn’t take some real action soon, she might slip out of his control!
Xu Yanqing had always planned to enjoy the best of both worlds and never truly intended to give up on Lu Zhenzhen. After all, she was so obedient and so in love with him.
Lu Zhenzhen had no idea what Xu Yanqing was thinking. The villagers’ earlier comments had reminded her.
When the original host first arrived in Shuanghecun three years ago, the village chief, seeing that she was both beautiful and educated, arranged for her to teach at the village elementary school.
Two months ago, the original host had taken marriage leave, and Xu Yanqing’s sister, who had just turned eighteen, had substituted for her.
Later, after the original host relentlessly pursued Xu Yanqing, the villagers collectively deemed her morally corrupt, and the matter of her returning to the school was quietly dropped.
Lu Zhenzhen thought it might be fine not to return to the school, but she also didn’t want to stay in the same village as the scumbag—it was too unlucky.
Beating him up every time she saw him wasn’t exactly revenge, but killing someone would mean paying with her life. Revenge would require careful planning.
Lu Zhenzhen couldn’t quite understand why Li Xuemei would choose to marry the scumbag over the far more outstanding Gu Ye.
Over the past three years, even though the original host had been completely focused on the Xujia family, she had still heard that although Gu Ye kept his distance from women and was quite cold toward people, no fortune-teller had ever said he had shallow familial ties or that his fate brought misfortune to those around him.
In her previous life, Lu Zhenzhen had been an orphan. Coming to this unfamiliar era, having a family would make up for her regrets.
Whether she continued living with Gu Ye or divorced him, she needed to contact him first.
After divorcing, returning to Hushi to build a life wouldn’t be a bad idea. The original host’s family was there, and in her memories, Grandpa Lu, her parents, and her three older brothers all loved the original host dearly.
However, Lu Zhenzhen didn’t trust the original host’s memories, because her way of thinking was quite bizarre. For example, the original host thought Xu Yanqing was wonderful, while Lu Zhenzhen thought he was a scumbag.
There’s a saying: If your foot gets blisters from your shoes, but you still can’t bear to throw them away, it means you like them.
Only when the wound repeatedly becomes inflamed and burns day and night do you suddenly realize that such persistence is nothing but self-destruction.
Just as Xu Yanqing never cherished the original host’s efforts, kindness must be given wisely, and sincerity should be reserved for those who deserve it.
As Lu Zhenzhen reached the doorstep, she heard Mother Gu’s timid voice, “You said you’d cook, so I killed and cleaned the hen. Should I start the fire now?”
“Yes, I’ll be there as soon as I finish hanging the laundry,” Lu Zhenzhen replied softly, afraid that speaking too loudly might startle the frail elderly woman—no, middle-aged woman—in front of her.
After hanging the laundry, she walked into the kitchen and swiftly began chopping the chicken. She cut the parts below the two drumsticks into pieces, planning to stir-fry them.
The rest would be used to make soup. The Gu family didn’t have a clay pot for soup, but fortunately, they had two iron pots. She would just have to add more water and let it simmer slowly.
She had all the ingredients for chicken soup in her Kongjian, as well as beer for stir-frying the chicken. She was eager to showcase her skills and prepare a delicious meal to reward herself.
First, repeatedly rinse or soak the chicken pieces in clean water to effectively remove blood and impurities, reducing any gamey taste.
Then, marinate them evenly with cooking wine, ginger, green onions, salt, light soy sauce, and pepper for 15–30 minutes to enhance flavor and lock in moisture.
In the meantime, Lu Zhenzhen hand-tore the bok choy, which Mother Gu had already washed beforehand, into strips.