A man who knew how to respect women was truly someone you couldn’t find fault with!
Zhong Yi pressed her lips together before asking in a much gentler voice, “Then what are you planning to do?”
Zhou Shu had already given the matter some serious thought.
“I’ll investigate everything thoroughly. If things really happened the way you said, I’ll take responsibility for you.”
“How exactly do you plan to take responsibility?” Zhong Yi asked curiously, lifting her eyes to look at him.
To her surprise, Zhou Shu was looking straight at her, too. His gaze was exceptionally firm. Perhaps it was because his eyes were so dark that whenever he looked at someone, he seemed especially sincere and affectionate.
“Marry you.”
Zhong Yi was genuinely stunned.
When she finally came to her senses, she hurriedly turned her face away. She felt rather pathetic—even her cheeks were beginning to grow warm.
In a way, Zhou Shu was innocent, too.
Liang Feng had wanted to get rid of him, so he had randomly picked an unlucky person to take his place. And Zhou Shu had ended up being that unfortunate soul.
A faint sense of guilt rose in Zhong Yi’s heart.
“You know I have a fiancé, yet you’re still willing to marry me? You should also know that I haven’t broken off the engagement yet. If you want to marry me, things won’t be that simple. It’ll be difficult for both of us to preserve our reputations.”
Her voice grew quieter and quieter, a far cry from the aggressive attitude she had displayed at the beginning.
Seeing her like this, Zhou Shu couldn’t help feeling a little sorry for her.
This young woman was pitiful, too. Her fiancé’s family had schemed against her so cruelly.
Regardless of what had happened, the two of them had shared such an intimate relationship. He couldn’t simply stand by and do nothing.
“Leave it to me. I’ll handle this.”
Zhong Yi stared at him blankly.
As expected of the male lead! His moral compass was truly admirable.
According to the original novel’s plot, if Gu Qingtang hadn’t shamelessly impersonated her, the original owner should have been able to live a peaceful and stable life.
Even if she and Zhou Shu didn’t fall in love, marrying such a responsible man would probably still have given her a decent life—as long as she didn’t expect romantic love from him.
“Actually, I can pretend none of this ever happened.”
Suddenly, Zhong Yi found herself unwilling to ruin Zhou Shu’s life.
He was an upright man with a promising future in the military. He could easily find a woman he genuinely liked and spend the rest of his life with her.
A flicker of surprise quickly crossed Zhou Shu’s eyes, followed by a hint of approval.
This girl had a good heart!
“It’s settled, then. Let’s go back first. The most urgent thing right now is to explain why you were away from home all night.”
Zhong Yi had wanted to ask how he planned to handle it, but seeing how confident Zhou Shu looked, she silently swallowed her questions.
It was strange. For some reason, she simply felt that Zhou Shu was someone she could trust!
…
After leaving the small hut, Liang Feng looked as though he had lost his soul. His steps were unsteady, and his mind was in complete disarray.
How had things turned out this way? They weren’t supposed to!
Since Zhou Shu had been drugged, how could Zhong Yi not have been there?
He desperately wanted to go back and question his mother about what had gone wrong. Hadn’t he specifically instructed her to lure Zhong Yi to the small hut by the river?
Clutching his stomach, he grimaced in apparent agony, looking as though he could barely hold it in any longer.
“Aunt Zhong, my stomach suddenly hurts terribly. How about this? You all keep looking for her while I go home to use the toilet. I’ll come back afterward.”
Seeing that he genuinely seemed unable to hold it any longer, Zhong Huilan didn’t think much of it.
“Then hurry up and go.”
“Okay, I’ll be right back. Aunt Zhong, don’t worry too much. We’ll definitely find Xiao Yi.”
After saying that, Liang Feng clutched his stomach and hurried away. He ran so fast that he really did look as though he was about to soil his pants.
Although Zhong Huilan was also worried about her future son-in-law, her thoughts were entirely occupied by her daughter at that moment. She simply didn’t have the energy to spare for anything else.
“I’ll have to trouble everyone to keep helping me look for my Xiao Yi.”
Zhong Huilan was usually a fiery, outspoken woman, but the villagers of Laotianwan were still very united, especially when something serious happened.
Of course, much of that was thanks to the sound leadership of Village Chief Zhou and his family.
When everyone heard Zhong Huilan’s request, they grew anxious as well and readily agreed to help.
The group continued searching every nook and cranny of the village.
“Mom!”
About ten minutes later, the group came across two young women.
One of them was Zhou Yue, the youngest daughter of Village Chief Zhou. The other was none other than Zhong Yi.
“You child! Where have you been? Look how many people you’ve made come out to search for you!” Zhong Huilan scolded, unable to control her temper. Her tone came out harsher than she intended.
She had always been hot-tempered, and everyone in the village knew it.
Zhong Yi had inherited the original owner’s memories and knew that Zhong Huilan was the sort of person whose mouth was harsh but whose heart was soft.
However, considering how complicated the situation was, Zhong Yi decided to endure the scolding rather than explain everything in front of so many people.
“I went to Zhou Yue’s house to visit her. It got too late, so I simply stayed the night at the Zhou family’s home. Zhou Yue and I shared a bed. I’m sorry for making everyone worry.”
Zhong Yi thanked them sincerely. Regardless of the circumstances, these uncles and aunties had spent so much time searching for her. The least she could do was express her gratitude.
“That’s right! We girls got carried away chatting about our little secrets and lost track of time,” Zhou Yue added, helping explain the situation.
Both girls were polite and apologetic. They were young, lovely women who spoke so gently and harmoniously that everyone’s hearts softened just looking at them. No one felt the need to make things difficult for them.
Everyone said that finding Zhong Yi safe and sound was what mattered most. Some even advised Zhong Huilan not to lose her temper, while others said that since the girl had been found, it was time for everyone to head home.
To thank them, Zhong Huilan invited everyone to come to her house the next day to collect some tofu.
The tofu made by the Zhong family was exceptionally delicious. Since Zhong Huilan had extended the invitation, no one stood on ceremony. They readily agreed before dispersing.
“Then I’ll head home, too,” Zhou Yue said, winking at Zhong Yi.
Zhong Yi nodded. “I’ll come find you later.”
After watching Zhou Yue leave, Zhong Huilan voiced the question that had been bothering her.
“Xiao Yi, since when have you and Zhou Yue become so close?”
In Zhong Huilan’s memory, her daughter had always been close to Tian Yunzhi from the neighboring village. She hadn’t had much contact with Zhou Yue.
It was true that Zhong Yi hadn’t been particularly close to Zhou Yue before. But wasn’t Zhou Shu involved in all this?
Everything had been arranged by Zhou Shu, and his purpose was obvious: to protect her reputation.
It was rather strange. Zhong Yi herself wasn’t particularly concerned about her reputation, yet Zhou Shu was such an upright man that he insisted a woman’s reputation was extremely important.
This man…
“Xiao Yi? Xiao Yi! What are you thinking about?”
Zhong Yi came back to her senses and saw Zhong Huilan waving a hand in front of her face. She curled her lips into a smile and said that nothing was wrong.
“Mom, let’s head home, too. There’s something I need to talk to you about.”
The Zhong family’s house in Laotianwan was considered quite impressive. It consisted of five spacious brick rooms.
Much of this was thanks to Zhong Huilan’s father, Grandpa Zhong, who had mastered the art of making tofu. It was this skill that had allowed him to build up the family’s wealth.
Grandpa Zhong and Grandma Zhong had fallen in love freely before getting married. Unfortunately, Grandma Zhong fell ill and passed away just a few years after their wedding, leaving behind only one daughter, Zhong Huilan.
Grandpa Zhong had loved his wife so deeply that he never remarried. Instead, he raised Zhong Huilan on his own and later took in his son-in-law, Ji Mingxuan, who married into the Zhong family.
Ji Mingxuan was tall, dignified, and exceptionally handsome.
After getting married, the couple had four children in total.
Zhong Yi was the second child. She had an older brother named Zhong Shu, followed by a younger sister and a younger brother named Zhong Wan and Zhong Qiang.
The family made a comfortable living from selling tofu, and their days had once been prosperous and peaceful.
But after Grandpa Zhong passed away, less than half a year later, Ji Mingxuan unexpectedly proposed divorcing Zhong Huilan.
His reason was that Zhong Huilan was too fierce and hot-tempered, with none of the gentleness he expected from a woman.
It was true that Zhong Huilan had a fiery temper. Hearing those words nearly made her so furious that she felt like spitting blood.
Although she was livid, she was also a proud woman. She believed that if a man couldn’t be kept, there was no point in trying to hold on to him.
Besides, when Ji Mingxuan had married into the Zhong family, he hadn’t brought anything with him. Now he could leave just as empty-handed as he had arrived.
Ji Mingxuan, however, turned out to be quite capable of looking after himself. He really did leave—but he took their son, Zhong Qiang, with him.
The main reason was that Zhong Qiang had willingly chosen to go with his father.
Ji Mingxuan was also a deeply calculating man. He had secretly stolen the Zhong family’s tofu-making techniques, set up his own stall, and married his first love, Lin Fengxian, who had also divorced her previous spouse.
Before long, the two of them were living quite prosperously.
After that, although Zhong Huilan never said anything about it, her temper grew worse and worse.
Now that her daughter had finally been found, Zhong Huilan marched ahead, muttering and striding along, while Zhong Yi followed silently behind her.
At first, Zhong Yi could just about keep up. But after being thoroughly worn out the previous night, her entire body ached. She struggled to follow for only a short distance before falling behind.
If the original owner had been in her place, she would have been gentle and considerate toward her mother. No matter how uncomfortable she felt, she would have silently endured it.
But Zhong Yi was different.
Watching Zhong Huilan walk farther and farther ahead, Zhong Yi realized that she simply couldn’t keep up. Since she had a mouth, she certainly wasn’t going to stay silent.
“Mom, wait for me!”
Her voice was soft and pleasant, gentle without sounding affected.
Zhong Huilan heard her. Although she grumbled that her daughter was such a bother, she still stopped and waited.
Zhong Yi smiled and slowly caught up. Then mother and daughter continued walking home together.