Zhou Ye touched his face. His fair, smooth skin always made people assume he held a desk job in the military.
But in the eyes of the wife he’d only met three times, he had become a combination of a black bear and a wild dog?
A bear?
A bear-dog?
“How do you want to divide the wild boar?” Zhou Ye asked teasingly, amusement dancing in his eyes as he looked at Su Xiaoqi.
“Half for each of us.”
“Half each, and our friendship will never fall apart.” Zhou Ye replied without missing a beat. “We’ll do it your way.”
Su Xiaoqi jumped up, grabbed a rotten stick nearby, and raised it like a weapon.
Her face darkened.
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
“Sorry.”
Zhou Ye apologized immediately before adding after a brief pause,
“Should I go to the village and find someone to butcher the pig?”
Su Xiaoqi thought about it and realized something wasn’t right.
A wild boar this big would become village property the moment it entered the village.
By the time it reached her hands, she probably wouldn’t even get a set of pig intestines.
Then she remembered the man had a gun, and an idea instantly came to her.
“Do you have a way to sell it?”
“I do. But we’d have to wait for a dark, moonless night. We can’t sell something like this in broad daylight.”
Zhou Ye felt rather depressed.
His little wife was actually face-blind.
The more Su Xiaoqi looked at the man before her, the more familiar he seemed.
But because she couldn’t recognize faces, she couldn’t remember where she’d seen him before.
She simply assumed it was a side effect of watching too many videos in her previous life.
“Will you come with me?”
Selling it in the middle of the night with a lone man?
People would definitely gossip.
This dog of a man looked like trouble.
Su Xiaoqi wasn’t stupid.
“Just give me twenty yuan. You can do whatever you want with the boar.”
Zhou Ye looked at the boar for a moment before nodding.
“Alright. Twenty yuan it is.”
He generously handed her two ten-yuan bills and even thoughtfully asked,
“Do you want a little more?”
This overly familiar man was honestly a bit annoying.
Su Xiaoqi wasn’t impressed.
“Who wants your money?”
Zhou Ye laughed.
“Fine. Remember what you just said.”
Remember it?
Fine.
A lady should earn her wealth honestly.
Taking the twenty yuan, Su Xiaoqi headed down the mountain. Once she was sure no one was around, she released one of the wild rabbits.
She tied it with a few strands of cogon grass.
Then she stuffed it into her basket and continued home.
She had walked less than half a mile when hurried footsteps came from behind.
With his long legs, Zhou Ye quickly caught up, a travel bag slung over his shoulder.
“Su Xiaoqi. Fancy meeting you.”
Su Xiaoqi fell silent.
“How do you know my name?”
Then realization struck.
“You’re from Xu Family Brigade too?”
“Mm.”
“Comrade, you’d better keep your distance. If the villagers see us together, they’ll start spreading rumors.”
She silently estimated her martial arts skills.
She’d probably be knocked down by him before she even made her first move.
Forget it.
Better endure it.
“Don’t worry. No one will gossip about us.”
Zhou Ye effortlessly matched her pace with his long strides.
Yeah right.
As if I’d believe you.
You’re a sly dog of a man.
Su Xiaoqi turned around a bend.
Zhou Ye followed.
Alarm bells immediately rang in her mind.
He was deliberately following her.
She spun around and glared at him, only to find him wearing an infuriatingly carefree grin.
“Hmph. I may be pretty, but that doesn’t mean you can covet me.”
She tried to look fierce.
“My husband…”
“I know. He looks like a black bear and has the temper of a wild dog.”
Zhou Ye almost laughed himself to death holding it in.
Neither the day he saved her nor the day they got married had he realized Su Xiaoqi had such an adorable side.
He had assumed he was simply forced into marrying a woman who had blackmailed him, and that they would spend the rest of their lives merely tolerating each other like most village couples.
Now…
Life suddenly seemed worth looking forward to.
Since he’d already said everything, there was nothing left for Su Xiaoqi to say.
Just then, a man carrying a hoe walked over from a nearby path.
“Zhou Ye! You’re back! Did you two newlyweds go up the mountain together?”
The middle-aged man greeted them with a warm smile.
Su Xiaoqi froze.
Someone open a crack in the ground.
She wanted to crawl inside and hide.
Zhou Ye?
She stared at him in shock before meeting his teasing eyes.
So this rotten man had known everything all along.
He had easily tricked her out of half the pork with just twenty yuan.
Zhou Ye pulled out a pack of cigarettes, took one out, and handed it to the man.
“Uncle Youcai. Heading to work?”
“Double harvest season is almost here. Going to do some work in the fields.”
Xu Youcai tucked the cigarette behind his ear and continued down the road.
When Zhou Ye turned around, he saw Su Xiaoqi glaring at him like an angry little wildcat.
She shoved her basket toward him.
“Carry it.”
“So now you’re ordering your black bear and wild dog husband around?”
His eyes sparkled with amusement as he took the basket with one hand while reaching out with the other to pat her ruffled hair.
Su Xiaoqi shot him a vicious glare.
“Black bear plus wild dog equals bear-dog husband.”
With that, she turned and walked toward home.
Zhou Ye was speechless.
He’d gotten too careless.
The courtyard was unusually quiet.
Su Xiaoqi tiptoed to Yang Huaihua’s window and overheard Yang Huaihua, Xu Yong’an, and Xu Meizhen secretly plotting how to deal with her.
“Meizhen, don’t let her eat well these next couple of days. Starve her until she doesn’t even have the strength to go to the commune.”
“Yong’an, stop dragging your feet and make up with Wen Anning. She’s the lucky star of the Wen family. Once she marries into our Xu family, she’ll become our family’s lucky star.”
Xu Meizhen and Xu Yong’an nodded repeatedly like pecking chickens.
Su Xiaoqi listened with great interest, resting her chin on the windowsill.
She secretly looked forward to Wen Anning’s arrival.
Maybe then her deceased “Sang Biao” would come back to life and restart its robbery system.
“Mom, what about that bitch Su Xiaoqi?” Xu Meizhen asked resentfully.
She couldn’t stand Su Xiaoqi.
Xu Yong’an’s face turned cold.
“Why don’t we let one of the village bachelors sleep with her? Then we can marry Zhou Ye to the daughter of Widow Shen.”
He knew exactly what Yang Huaihua wanted.
His words struck right at her heart.
Yang Huaihua was tempted.
“Should we pick that thug from the west end of the village, or the mute from the south?” Xu Meizhen asked excitedly while counting on her fingers.
Out of the corner of her eye, Su Xiaoqi spotted Zhou Ye.
She immediately put a finger to her lips, signaling him to stay quiet, then beckoned him over with the guilty excitement of someone inviting an accomplice to eavesdrop.
Confused, Zhou Ye walked over.
Just in time to hear his own heartless mother, her daughter, and his stepbrother discussing which bachelor should ruin Su Xiaoqi’s innocence.
He immediately burned with rage.
Sensing it, Su Xiaoqi quickly reached out and hooked her fingers around his large hand.
Her fingertips gently rubbed his palm.
As if soothing him.
The people inside were too busy fantasizing about their perfect future to notice the main characters listening outside.
“We should find one who beats his wife,” Yang Huaihua said.
“That thug has a terrible temper. He’s lazy, steals chickens, and even climbs over widows’ walls. He’s the perfect match for Su Xiaoqi.”
Xu Meizhen’s eyes lit up.
“Exactly! Then we can take all of Su Xiaoqi’s money back.”
“That’s right,” Xu Yong’an agreed.
“She hasn’t even sent Zhou Ye’s bride price back to her parents yet.”
His greedy eyes were already fixed on her property.
“That thug may be ugly, but he’s perfect for Su Xiaoqi.”
Village windows were made of wooden lattice frames, and Su Xiaoqi’s head fit perfectly through one of the openings.
“You three rotten eggs full of evil. That thug isn’t even as handsome as Zhou Ye. Why would I ever agree?”
Without thinking, Xu Meizhen replied,
“It doesn’t matter if you agree or not. We’ll have him force himself on you until it’s a done deal.”
The moment those words left her mouth…
All three people inside stared at the window in horror.
Su Xiaoqi flashed them a playful grin and waved.
“Hi! I have to criticize you three. If you’re going to plot evil, at least do it more carefully. You’ve bullied me every day. Aren’t you afraid Zhou Ye will find out?”
Her fingers continued gently stroking Zhou Ye’s hand.
The blazing anger inside him remained suspended.
Given his temper, he should have kicked the door open long ago, beaten Xu Yong’an to a pulp, and smashed everything inside.
His little wife…
She was simply too kind.
That wouldn’t do.
With people constantly trying to harm her, how could she not be scared?
Especially when Xu Meizhen and the others were plotting something this vicious.
Yang Huaihua glared fiercely.
“Zhou Ye is the son I raised. Of course he’ll listen to me and beat you to death, you shameless woman!”
“Brother Zhou Ye will deal with you sooner or later,” Xu Meizhen added, trying to sound intimidating.
“You vicious old hag.”
Su Xiaoqi suddenly let go of Zhou Ye’s hand.
She shot him a cold look while secretly thinking about how to escape.
The anger Zhou Ye had been suppressing instantly exploded.
“You people are plotting to have village bachelors violate my wife, and you still expect me to beat her?”
“Do I look like an idiot to you?”
He lifted his leg and kicked the door.
Village doors were flimsy to begin with.
With one violent kick, the entire house shook.
Dust and dirt rained down from the thatched roof.
Everyone inside instantly felt their hearts leap into their throats.
What rotten luck.
How had they overheard everything?
“Why is Zhou Ye back already?” Xu Yong’an paled.
He feared Zhou Ye’s fists.
Yang Huaihua didn’t.
She believed her son had to obey her.
“What are you doing? Did that unreliable wife of yours fill your head with nonsense? Are you trying to tear this house apart?”