“It’s a misunderstanding, Hero Zhou! This is all just a terrible misunderstanding!”
The patrol captain spoke in a trembling, ingratiating voice and bowed deeply.
The market had fallen silent.
Every eye was fixed on Zhou Yu’an and the young woman standing behind him.
Lin Wanxia looked at his broad back, her heart pounding.
His intervention had given her something she desperately needed: an opportunity to escape the Zhou family’s control.
She couldn’t afford to waste it.
Zhou Yu’an said nothing more.
He simply turned slightly and extended his large hand, its skin marked by scars and thick calluses.
Then, as naturally as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world, he took the heavy greenish stone from Lin Wanxia’s arms.
The stone was enormous.
She had carried it for so long that her arms had gone numb from the strain.
Yet the instant he took it from her, their fingers brushed.
A sudden jolt shot through her fingertips, almost like an electric shock.
An intense warmth raced up her arm and spread through her chest.
Lin Wanxia stiffened for a moment.
Before she could make sense of the strange sensation, Zhou Yu’an had already turned away.
He carried the stone effortlessly in one arm while supporting himself with his cane in the other hand.
His injured leg made his movements slow, but every step was remarkably steady.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
The rhythmic sound of his cane striking the stone-paved road carried through the silent market, making the watching crowd even more uneasy.
Lin Wanxia didn’t hesitate.
She immediately followed him.
The crowd instinctively parted before them, leaving a clear path as everyone hurried to get out of Zhou Yu’an’s way.
Widow Liu, who had been so arrogant and vicious only moments earlier, now looked utterly terrified.
Her face was ashen.
She had collapsed onto the ground, and when she saw Zhou Yu’an approaching, she scrambled backward on her hands and knees, desperately trying to disappear into the crowd.
She was terrified that his icy gaze might fall on her again.
Neither Zhou Yu’an nor Lin Wanxia spoke as they walked.
Only the wind and the rhythmic tapping of his cane disturbed the silence.
Lin Wanxia followed a few steps behind him.
His old military uniform had been washed so many times that its original color had faded.
The breeze pressed the worn fabric against his broad back, revealing the powerful lines of his shoulders and the lean strength of his body.
A faint scent of tobacco lingered around him, mixed with a cold, austere fragrance that reminded her of smoke and gunpowder.
Walking behind him, Lin Wanxia felt the hostility of the crowd gradually fade.
She had spent so long facing everything alone that his quiet protection unsettled her more than she wanted to admit.
For the first time in years, she felt safe.
But she couldn’t allow that feeling to cloud her judgment.
Her mind was already racing.
She understood that Zhou Yu’an’s appearance had given her a chance to survive.
Perhaps her only chance.
But she couldn’t simply accept his protection without offering anything in return.
In her experience, the strongest relationships were built on mutual benefit.
If she wanted Zhou Yu’an to become her ally, she needed to give him a compelling reason to stand beside her.
She needed something valuable enough to make him willingly accept her proposal.
And fortunately, she possessed something no one else in this world could offer.
Knowledge of the future.
Zhou Yu’an didn’t take her back to the village.
Instead, he turned onto a narrow, rarely used path leading toward the barren hills behind Hongqi Village.
The area was overgrown with wild grass and tangled shrubs.
Few villagers ever ventured there.
Some even considered the hills an unlucky place, best avoided.
After walking for a while, Zhou Yu’an finally stopped beside a large, flat boulder.
He carefully lowered the heavy greenish stone to the ground.
Then he turned around.
His dark, unfathomable eyes settled on Lin Wanxia.
“Go on.”
Only two words.
His voice was low and slightly hoarse, but there was a sharpness beneath it, as though he had already seen through her intentions.
Lin Wanxia understood immediately.
He was waiting for her explanation.
More importantly, he was waiting for her decision.
She took a deep breath.
Then she lifted her head and met his gaze without flinching.
“Comrade Zhou, does what you said last night still stand?”
Zhou Yu’an raised an eyebrow ever so slightly.
He didn’t answer.
Instead, he remained silent, signaling for her to continue.
“I want to ask you for a favor.”
Lin Wanxia spoke slowly, making every word clear.
“I need a legitimate position that will allow me to cut ties with Zhou Jianbin completely. I also need to make sure my parents can hold their heads high in this village again.”
Zhou Yu’an watched her calmly.
“And?”
Lin Wanxia’s eyes flashed with determination.
“So, let’s get married.”
The words hung between them.
She stared directly into his eyes, carefully watching for the slightest change in his expression.
“I know it sounds ridiculous. We barely know each other, and you’re Zhou Jianbin’s uncle…”
She paused.
There was no point in dressing up her intentions with pretty words.
She decided to be straightforward.
“This would be a partnership.”
“A transaction, if you prefer.”
She straightened her shoulders.
“And in exchange, I can offer you two things.”
Lin Wanxia raised one finger.
“First, I may be able to help you recover from your leg injury.”
For the first time, Zhou Yu’an’s expression changed slightly.
She continued before he could interrupt.
“I know your injury isn’t necessarily incurable. You simply haven’t received the right treatment.”
“I know of a skilled traditional Chinese physician named Sun Jingren in Yun Province. He has experience treating injuries that other doctors have given up on.”
She paused, studying Zhou Yu’an’s expression.
“I know where to contact him. I can’t promise he’ll cure your leg, but I believe he may be able to help. If you’re willing, I’ll write to him and ask whether he’ll examine you.”
Zhou Yu’an’s expression changed.
Military specialists had already examined his injured leg. Their verdict had been devastating: the nerve damage was permanent.
Yet this young woman spoke of a physician who might be able to help him.
More troubling was her certainty. She knew details about his condition that he had never shared with her.
How had she learned so much?
For the first time, he found himself genuinely curious about the secrets Lin Wanxia was hiding.
Before Zhou Yu’an could question her, Lin Wanxia raised a second finger.
“Second.”
Her voice dropped.
This time, her words carried an almost irresistible temptation.
“I know certain things about the future.”
Zhou Yu’an’s gaze sharpened further.
Lin Wanxia continued.
“For example, I know that the country will soon restore the national college entrance examination.”
“I know which industries will prosper once economic reforms begin, which businesses will become profitable, and which areas of land will eventually become extremely valuable.”
“I know opportunities that ordinary people won’t recognize until it’s too late.”
She looked directly into his eyes.
“I can help you avoid mistakes that could ruin your life.”
“And I can help you seize opportunities that could change your future completely.”
Her voice was steady.
She wasn’t making empty promises.
She had lived through those years once already.
She knew what was coming.
In her previous life, Zhou Jianbin had stolen the opportunities that should have belonged to her.
He had taken advantage of the information she possessed, used it to make profitable decisions, and gradually accumulated wealth.
By the 1980s, Zhou Jianbin’s family had become one of the first ten-thousand-yuan households in the area, a remarkable achievement at the time.
And what had she received in return?
Betrayal.
Humiliation.
The destruction of her entire family.
Not again.
This time, she would never allow Zhou Jianbin to steal her future.
Instead, she would use everything she knew to help the person willing to stand beside her.
And together, they would make those who had wronged her pay.
The air seemed to freeze.
Zhou Yu’an stood perfectly still.
His expression was as unreadable as a stone statue, but his eyes had grown frighteningly sharp.
He studied Lin Wanxia as though he were trying to see straight into her soul.
During his years in the military, he had encountered countless people.
He had interrogated prisoners, confronted enemies, and learned to recognize fear, deceit, and desperation in a person’s eyes.
Yet he had never seen eyes quite like hers.
They were clear and bright, but hidden within them was a weariness that no girl her age should possess.
There was pain.
There was hatred.
And beneath her seemingly fragile appearance burned the fierce determination of someone who had already lost everything and was prepared to risk whatever remained.
After a long silence, he finally spoke.
“What do you want out of this?”
Lin Wanxia didn’t hesitate.
“A chance to live.”
Her voice was quiet, but every word carried unmistakable conviction.
“I want justice.”
The hatred she had been suppressing finally surfaced in her eyes.
“And I want Zhou Jianbin and Li Xue to lose everything!”
“I want their reputations destroyed!”
“I want them to suffer the consequences of what they’ve done!”
She no longer bothered to hide her resentment.
It burned openly in her gaze.
Strangely enough, that undisguised hatred made Zhou Yu’an more inclined to believe her.
Only someone who had been pushed to the very edge would possess such reckless determination.
Only someone with nothing left to lose would dare approach a man like him and offer such an extraordinary bargain.
He watched her for another moment.
Then, without warning, he asked an entirely different question.
“Why did you buy that stone?”
Lin Wanxia’s heart skipped a beat.
So he had noticed.
Of course he had.
A man as observant as Zhou Yu’an would hardly overlook a penniless village girl spending her last few coins on an enormous, seemingly worthless rock.
She had already revealed more about her knowledge of the future than she had intended. But the stone was different. If she told him she knew what lay beneath its rough exterior, he might begin asking questions she wasn’t ready to answer.
She kept her expression calm.
“I liked the look of it.”
Zhou Yu’an stared at her.
For a brief moment, she felt as though his gaze could strip away every secret she possessed.
But he didn’t press the matter.
Instead, he shifted his cane and took a step closer.
His tall figure cast a shadow over her, completely blocking the sunlight.
The faint scent of tobacco and gunpowder surrounded her once again.
Then he spoke.
“All right.”
Just two words.
But they were enough.
The tension that had been holding Lin Wanxia together suddenly vanished.
Her knees nearly gave way.
She had done it!
Her gamble had paid off!
Zhou Yu’an had agreed!
But before she could fully relax, his deep voice sounded again.
“We can get married.”
He paused, his gaze steady.
“But I need you to understand something. I won’t marry you simply to put on a show for the village.”
Lin Wanxia looked up sharply.
“What do you mean?”
“If we register our marriage, we’ll be husband and wife in the eyes of the law. I’ll stand by you, and I’ll expect us to treat each other with honesty and respect.”
His voice softened slightly.
“I won’t demand your affection. But I won’t treat our marriage as a bargain we can discard whenever it becomes inconvenient, either.”
Lin Wanxia’s heart began pounding again.
Zhou Yu’an continued.
“Once you become my wife, no one in the Hongqi Production Brigade, or even the entire commune, will dare spread rumors about you again.”
His words were simple.
Blunt.
Almost arrogantly confident.
Yet the certainty in his voice carried a powerful sense of security.
Lin Wanxia stared at him.
A real marriage.
She had proposed a partnership, but Zhou Yu’an was offering something far more permanent.
They barely knew each other. She couldn’t predict what kind of husband he would become, or whether their arrangement could ever grow into genuine affection.
But he had made one thing clear: he would take their marriage seriously.
Behind her lay Zhou Jianbin’s schemes and the hostility of the village. Ahead lay an uncertain future with a man who had already protected her twice.
It was a risk.
But for the first time since her rebirth, it was a risk she was willing to take.
After a long silence, she finally answered.
“…All right.”
Her voice was dry, but there was no hesitation in it.
Zhou Yu’an gave a slight nod.
“Tomorrow morning. Nine o’clock.”
Lin Wanxia blinked.
“What?”
“We’ll go to the commune office and register our marriage.”
He delivered the decision as casually as though he were deciding what to eat for breakfast.
There was no discussion about wedding preparations.
No elaborate promises.
No unnecessary words.
He had made up his mind.
And apparently, that was that.
Before Lin Wanxia could say anything else, Zhou Yu’an bent down and picked up the heavy greenish stone once more.
Then he turned and began walking down the mountain path.
Lin Wanxia hurried after him.
Her thoughts were in complete disarray.
She had come to the market hoping to obtain a valuable piece of jadeite.
Instead, she was returning home with both the stone and a future husband.
And not just any husband.
Zhou Yu’an.
The feared Living King of Hell.
Zhou Jianbin’s own uncle.
The absurdity of the situation almost made her laugh.
Yet beneath her nervousness, a strange sense of anticipation had begun to grow.
Perhaps this was what changing one’s fate truly felt like.
By the time they reached the Lin family’s courtyard, the sun was already beginning to sink.
Lin Wanxia’s parents had just returned from working in the fields.
Both looked exhausted.
Her father sat on a small wooden stool, smoking his pipe and sighing repeatedly.
Her mother sat nearby, her expression filled with worry.
The scandal at the engagement banquet had left them anxious and miserable.
They had no idea how their family would face the village in the coming days.
Then they looked up.
And saw their daughter walking through the gate.
With Zhou Yu’an right beside her.
Both parents shot to their feet.
“W-Wanxia?”
Her mother stared at the man in the faded military uniform.
“Y-You… Why are you two…”
She was so frightened that she couldn’t even finish her sentence.
What was going on?
Why was this terrifying man accompanying their daughter?
Everyone in Hongqi Village knew Zhou Yu’an’s reputation.
He was a decorated veteran who had returned from the battlefield with a crippled leg and a fearsome temper.
Even the village’s most troublesome men avoided provoking him.
And now he was standing in their courtyard.
With Lin Wanxia.
What could he possibly want?
Zhou Yu’an paid no attention to their frightened expressions.
He walked directly into the middle of the courtyard.
Then he lowered the enormous greenish stone from his arm.
Thud!
The heavy rock struck the ground with a dull, solid sound.
After straightening up, he turned toward Lin Wanxia’s parents.
His expression remained as cold and composed as ever.
“Uncle. Auntie.”
It was a respectful form of address, but his voice carried none of the nervousness one might expect from a man meeting his future in-laws.
He looked directly at them.
“I intend to marry Wanxia.”
Lin Wanxia’s parents froze.
Zhou Yu’an continued without changing his expression.
“We’re registering our marriage tomorrow.”
Clatter!
The pipe slipped from Lin Wanxia’s father’s fingers and struck the ground.
He stared at Zhou Yu’an as though he had just heard something utterly impossible.
Lin Wanxia’s mother looked even worse.
Her eyes rolled upward, and her body swayed.
She nearly fainted on the spot.
The courtyard fell into complete silence.
No one spoke.
No one moved.
Even Lin Wanxia, who had already agreed to the marriage, felt her cheeks grow warm at how directly Zhou Yu’an had announced it.
Then, in the middle of that suffocating silence, a faint cracking sound came from the stone.
Lin Wanxia’s breath caught.
The impact had widened the narrow fracture she had noticed at the market. A small fragment of the stone’s outer crust loosened and fell onto the packed earth.
Beneath its dull, dusty exterior, a brilliant flash of green appeared.
It was a color so rich and vivid that it seemed almost unreal.
Deep.
Pure.
Radiant.
The green glistened with a watery translucence, as though light itself had been trapped inside the stone.
Imperial-green jadeite!
And not just any jadeite.
The exposed portion possessed the extraordinary color and clarity prized above almost every other variety.
Zhou Yu’an suddenly stopped moving.
His sharp eyes caught the unusual glimmer immediately.
Slowly, he turned around.
His gaze settled on the ordinary-looking stone he had carried all the way from the market.
For the first time since entering the courtyard, a trace of genuine curiosity appeared on his stern face.
He stared at the brilliant green shining through the crack.
Then he looked toward Lin Wanxia.
His deep voice broke the silence.
“What is this?”