After reaching climax, Yu Xiaoqiu’s heart was racing. She thought Chen Maocai had hurt her stomach by moving too roughly.
She clutched her stomach and pushed him away. “Okay, let’s call it a day.”
“Let’s do it one more time—it’s been almost a month since we last did it.” With that, he ignored Yu Xiaoqiu’s resistance and leaned down again.
Yu Xiaoqiu was truly terrified of him now. After all, she was carrying the son of the future richest man in the country—her future source of support—and she couldn’t afford to lose him.
She pushed Chen Maocai away once more, her voice rising in agitation: “I’m pregnant with your child!”
“What?”
“You’re actually pregnant?!”
The sound of the door being pushed open clashed with their conversation. The wrinkles on Old Lady Chen’s face deepened as she pushed the door open—especially upon hearing that Yu Xiaoqiu was pregnant out of wedlock.
Her voice was like a ghost of death at midnight, dark and terrifying: “Well, well, you shameless Yu Xiaoqiu, having an affair and even getting pregnant.”
“You shameless slut! Tie her up!”
“Give that man a good beating!”
Chen Maocai, who had just been about to cover his face and hide: “……”
How dare they hit him too?
“Stop it! You know I’m—” Chen Maocai hadn’t even finished speaking when a slap came flying at him with a loud “smack.”
The slap was brutal. No one expected Old Lady Chen to strike at that moment; it knocked Chen Maocai’s face askew.
Just then, Yu Yin and Zhao Ping’an walked in, and both stopped in their tracks.
Yu Yin turned to Zhao Ping’an and asked, “Are you still going to go in there and hit him?”
Zhao Ping’an: “……”
Are you sure he wasn’t the one getting hit just now?
Zhao Ping’an tensed his dark face and glared at Yu Yin.
Yu Yin stifled a laugh, then pulled Zhao Ping’an over to find a good vantage point to watch the show.
It seemed, for now, that they weren’t needed in this scene.
Old Lady Chen was the village chief’s own mother, and rumors had long circulated that the village chief and the village secretary didn’t get along. Judging by the slap Old Lady Chen just delivered, this wasn’t just a disagreement—it was outright hostility.
Old Lady Chen didn’t feel satisfied after just one slap; before Chen Maocai could react, she slapped him again.
Don’t let the fact that Chen Maocai is a grown man fool you—as the most pampered member of his family, he’d hardly ever done any farm work in his life.
He wasn’t even as strong as a rural old woman.
After two slaps, Chen Maocai was knocked to the ground.
Seeing him face-down on the ground, Old Lady Chen pointed at him with disgust as he struggled to get up. “Beat him!”
“We don’t have any good-for-nothing scum in Cuizhu Village who sleep around and corrupt the village’s morals. Beat him mercilessly, then drag him back to the village for a public shaming session.”
The crowd gathered there consisted of elderly village women and idle housewives, but most of them shared one thing in common: they were the decision-makers in their households, and they detested men who cheated on their wives.
Since Yu Xiaoqiu was pregnant and couldn’t be beaten, the men had to take it out on him instead.
As soon as the crowd heard Old Lady Chen’s words, they immediately rolled up their sleeves and began pounding Chen Maocai mercilessly.
At first, Chen Maocai tried to fight back, but by the end, he could do nothing but take the beating.
He was weak and frail, and before long, he fainted.
Old Lady Chen spat out, “Carry him back.”
It wasn’t until he was lifted off the ground that the crowd realized who they’d been beating.
Chen Maocai—
The Secretary’s most beloved youngest son.
Some were stunned.
“W-well… the Secretary isn’t going to give us trouble, is he?”
Old Lady Chen sneered, “He’s the one having an affair—why would he give you any trouble?”
Yu Yin knew it was time for her to step in. She rubbed her eyes until they were bloodshot, then spoke up, “I can testify to all of you aunts that they’re having an affair, and they’re spreading rumors that I forced a marriage and an exchange of brides.”
Old Lady Chen slapped her thigh. “That’s right! I’d completely forgotten that this adulterous pair was scheming against our little Yin Yin.”
“Carry them all back. Even if the King of Heaven himself showed up today, this old woman would still teach them a lesson.”
Since the village chief’s own mother had spoken up—and she held the most authority here—no one dared to resist. In the end, they had no choice but to tie up Yu Xiaoqiu, whose mouth had been gagged, and the unconscious Chen Maocai, and drag them back to the village.
As they passed the entrance, Yu Xiaoqiu—who had finally recovered from her shock—spotted Yu Yin and glared at her with hatred.
If looks could kill, Yu Yin would surely have died under that hate-filled gaze.
Yu Yin sneered, about to retort, when a small figure suddenly stepped in front of her.
He was clearly not even as tall as Yu Yin, and his frame was frail and thin, yet as he stood in front of her, Yu Yin felt he was towering.
The aggressive crowd came and went just as fiercely. As Yu Yin watched them gradually fade into the distance, she placed her hand on the boy’s head and ruffled his hair.
“Let’s go. We should head back, too.”
“This time, I definitely won’t let them get away with it.”
“Keep your word.”
“Of course.”
“Are you… going to get married in the provincial capital?”
As Yu Yin’s hand left his head, Zhao Ping’an slowly lowered the foot he’d been lifting.
Instead of following closely behind Yu Yin, he kept his head down as he asked about the truth he’d been vaguely sensing lately.
For a moment, Yu Yin felt a pang of guilt and was at a loss, but she didn’t hide anything. Instead, she turned to face the boy with his head bowed.
“Yes, I’m going to marry into the provincial capital. It’s the only way I can leave.”
“Don’t worry,” Yu Yin smiled. “Once I’ve settled down in the provincial capital, I’ll definitely find a way to bring you over.”
Zhao Ping’an’s eyes, fixed on the ground, narrowed slightly, and the bitterness in his heart vanished in that moment.
He wiped his face, then looked up and strode toward Yu Yin with a scowling expression. “Who said you could bring me over?”
“Me!” As he approached, Yu Yin wrapped her arms around his shoulders, her smile growing even brighter. “I’m your older sister, after all. An older sister can’t possibly leave her little brother behind.”
Zhao Ping’an wanted to break free but couldn’t bring himself to do so, his expression a strange mix of stiffness, awkwardness, and shyness. So he snapped back even more sharply, “You’re only five years older than me!”
“Five years older means I’m your big sister.”
“Come on, call me ‘Sister Yin Yin’ so I can hear it.”
Zhao Ping’an’s face flushed red: “…Yu! Yin!”
……
The sun was setting, and as it neared five o’clock, the air began to cool. Some villagers couldn’t stand the chill anymore; they put down their farming tools and headed to the edge of the fields to fetch warm clothes.
Just then, a commotion erupted from the bamboo grove.
If you listened closely, it sounded like someone was shouting “slut”?
The shouts grew louder and louder, reaching even the villagers who were working in the fields.
“Why are so many people heading to the bamboo grove? I thought there was no work scheduled there today.”
“You know that? Chen Mu, I remember you didn’t get elected as brigade leader last time, did you?”
A sarcastic voice came from behind Chen Mu; he didn’t even need to turn around to know who it was.
The village secretary’s powerful brother-in-law, Zhao Liqiang.
Two years ago, the two had run against each other for the position of village brigade leader. Later, this man had resorted to underhanded tactics—not only causing Chen Mu to lose the election, but also nearly costing his own father his position as village chief.
Chen Mu despised—even hated—Zhao Liqiang, as well as the village secretary standing behind him.
But—
Chen Mu took a deep breath, turned around, and glared coldly at Zhao Liqiang. “Even if I didn’t become the village chief, I’m not blind.”
Zhao Liqiang was taken aback, his face turning grim.
Before he could retaliate, the commotion coming from the bamboo grove grew even louder.
The sounds of an affair were clearly drowning out his voice, and there was also… Chen Maocai’s name?
Chen Maocai was his favorite nephew—the one Zhao Liqiang doted on the most, because he felt the boy resembled him the most.
He immediately looked over and saw a large group of women coming out of the bamboo grove.
Leading the group was the old woman from the village chief’s family—the one he detested most—and behind her were two people tied up.
Looking closely, they appeared to be a man and a woman.
The man was being carried, so his face was obscured.
But the woman was being dragged along, her clothes hanging loosely; anyone unaware of the situation might have thought she’d been up to some unsavory business.
As they drew closer, Zhao Liqiang’s eyes widened instantly.
That woman was none other than Yu Xiaoqiu.
Zhao Liqiang knew about Yu Xiaoqiu’s affair with his nephew, Chen Maocai, and the whispers of “adultery” grew louder in his ears.
A sudden realization struck Zhao Liqiang, and his face turned pale with horror.
Zhao Liqiang saw Old Lady Chen and Yu Xiaoqiu, and Chen Mu, who was standing beside him, naturally saw them too.
Worried that his grandmother might suffer consequences from causing such a scene, Chen Mu rushed over before anyone else could react.
“Grandma, why are you back from the bamboo grove?” ” As he drew closer, Chen Mu could finally make out the face of the man being carried.
His brow twitched. “Grandma, what are you—”
This is going to be a huge mess!
“Stop messing around. Hurry and find your dad and the village officials—tell them to come to the village entrance immediately.”
“Wait, why?”
“What else could it be? An affair, of course—a sexual scandal!”
An affair?
A scandal!
Chen Mu’s eyes were fixed intently on Chen Maocai, who was being carried away. His heart began to race faster and faster, then he spun around abruptly and shouted, “Grandma, wait for me! I’m going right now!”
Feeling that wasn’t enough, he shouted even louder to the villagers in the fields—who hadn’t yet realized what was happening—that Chen Maocai was having an affair and told them to gather at the village entrance.
That shout sent the entire village into an uproar.
“Isn’t Chen Maocai the village secretary’s youngest son? How could he be having an affair?”
“With whom? It can’t be Yu Yin from the Yu family, can it? They’re supposed to be engaged.”
“But the one being carried away isn’t Yu Yin!”
“What? It’s not Yu Yin? Then who is it?”
The murmurs, arguments, and even insults ringing in his ears grew louder and louder.
When Zhao Liqiang came to his senses, he was filled with nothing but hatred for Chen Mu.
He glanced at his nephew—who was either genuinely faint or faking it—clenched his teeth, and slipped away amid the chaos.
He couldn’t handle the situation right now; he had no choice but to go find his brother-in-law first.
As soon as Zhao Liqiang left, Yu Yin leaned down and whispered a few words into Zhao Ping’an’s ear.
Following Yu Yin’s instructions, Zhao Ping’an also left.
Yu Yin took a deep breath.
This was going to be a tough battle, but only by winning it could she leave this place for good.