Just as expected, the moment that thought crossed her mind, she saw Xie Fangzhu suddenly step into view from behind her and casually walk toward the two men.
The next second, his fist flew out.
Bang!
With a loud crash, the burly man who had called Shen Yingying a “slut” was sent flying like a torn sack, smashing hard onto the ground.
The man had never imagined Xie Fangzhu would attack so suddenly and had no chance to defend himself. He took the full force of the punch head-on.
A metallic sweetness filled his mouth, and the pain was so intense it felt like his entire face had split apart.
Being a man, he still had some pride left in him. Instinctively, he tried to scramble up and fight back. But Xie Fangzhu gave him no chance at all. Before he could even react, Xie Fangzhu’s foot was already planted on his face.
“Heh.” Xie Fangzhu sneered, cracking his knuckles with sharp popping sounds. His foot twisted against the man’s face like he was grinding out a cigarette butt. “Wasn’t that mouth of yours running pretty smoothly just now? Go on. Say it again.”
The burly man’s vision blurred. He struggled desperately to get up, but Xie Fangzhu’s foot felt like a thousand-pound weight pressing him down.
In just moments, all his masculine bravado disappeared. Gasping painfully, he begged for mercy.
“B-Brother Xie… I was wrong… Please, be magnanimous… spare me…”
“Heh.” Xie Fangzhu laughed coldly. “Pathetic trash.”
He finally lifted his foot. Just when the man thought he had escaped disaster, Xie Fangzhu jerked his chin toward Shen Yingying.
“Go apologize to my wife. If she forgives you, I’ll let it go.”
That one move had scared the man out of his wits. He scrambled over to Shen Yingying on hands and knees.
His apology was extremely grand. The moment he reached her, his knees hit the floor with a thud.
“Sister-in-law! I’m sorry, truly sorry! I’m garbage! I’ve got a filthy mouth that only spits nonsense. Please don’t take it to heart! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”
As he spoke, he banged his head against the ground several times.
Shen Yingying had never in her life received such a dramatic apology. Her eyes widened in shock.
But in the next moment, she felt absolutely delighted inside.
Though she was secretly thrilled, none of it showed on her face. She merely lowered her eyes and looked at the man silently.
Her silence terrified him even more. Afraid she wouldn’t forgive him, he immediately slapped himself several times.
“Sister-in-law! Please spare me! I’ll never dare again! If I do, let Brother Xie beat me to death!”
Only then did Shen Yingying’s expression soften slightly. She turned to Xie Fangzhu.
“Forget it.”
Hearing that, Xie Fangzhu withdrew his gaze and swept his eyes across the cafeteria crowd.
“There was another one too, wasn’t there?”
His tone was calm and flat, without the slightest rise or fall, but his face was icy cold. The dark menace in his eyes was impossible to miss. He looked nothing like the easygoing Xie Fangzhu people usually saw.
The noisy cafeteria gradually fell silent.
Some people suddenly remembered something.
Xie Fangzhu might usually be friendly and helpful around the mining district. Around his wife, he might even seem spineless.
But in reality, he was far from weak.
He was capable, terrifying in fights, and ruthless when it came to dealing with problems. A man with real backbone—except when it came to his wife.
Back in the mining district, he’d once had a legendary reputation.
Years ago, a worker’s wife had caught the eye of a local bully from a neighboring village. The bully led a group of villagers to the mine, causing endless trouble and demanding the woman be handed over.
The husband cried and begged helplessly, but the villagers were descendants of bandits—rough, savage, and completely unreasonable. They could beat black into white if they wanted to.
Every day they came to the mine to make trouble, threatening that if they didn’t get the woman, nobody in the mining district would have peace.
The husband had no choice but to ask the mine security team for help.
At first, the security captain tried reasoning with them politely.
The villagers responded by sending young men carrying clubs and weapons, forcing the captain to retreat in panic.
Then the captain tried force.
The villagers weren’t afraid at all. They simply sent elderly men and women to lie in front of the mine gates, crying about pain here and aches there, accusing the giant mining district of bullying innocent civilians.
The captain nearly lost his mind. He wished some heavenly warrior would descend and wipe those scoundrels out.
And in the end, one really did appear.
Xie Fangzhu.
He volunteered personally, carrying tools and leading the tunneling team brothers straight into the neighboring village.
Though Xie Fangzhu usually looked refined and gentle, he was actually terrifyingly fierce. His fighting ability was explosive, and his methods even more shocking.
The young villagers were savage? Then Xie Fangzhu’s group became even more savage, beating them until they couldn’t fight back.
The old villagers acted shamelessly? Then Xie Fangzhu’s group became even more shameless, frightening those unreasonable elders into hiding in corners trembling.
They didn’t even spare the children. They caught whichever kid they saw and smacked them around. For several days, children’s cries filled the neighboring village. Whenever they saw people from the mine, they looked as if they’d seen demons.
The villagers had never imagined the supposedly civilized mining workers would be even more shameless and brutal than they were.
In the end, they couldn’t win by force, nor by shamelessness. The bully immediately abandoned all thoughts about the pretty young wife and fled with his tail between his legs.
That one incident solved not only the leaders’ problem, but also a long-standing issue for the mining residents.
Before that, villagers frequently sneaked into the mining district to steal coal. After the incident, they didn’t dare approach anymore.
The mining residents could leave coal piles outside for days without losing a single piece.
From then on, Xie Fangzhu’s image in the mining district became towering and heroic. Brave, capable, and ruthless—everyone admired and respected him.
Which was why, even after Shen Yingying had supposedly “cuckolded” him countless times, nobody considered him weak for tolerating her. Instead, they thought he was loyal and devoted, while Shen Yingying was the ungrateful one.
After all, if Xie Fangzhu ever seriously turned against her, Shen Yingying’s tiny frame wouldn’t stand a chance.
Still, nobody dared openly insult Shen Yingying in front of him. At most, they’d gently advise him otherwise.
Because everyone knew how obsessively protective Xie Fangzhu was of Shen Yingying.
Upset him, and nothing good would happen.
The reason people dared gossip openly today was because yesterday’s scandal between Shen Yingying and Xie Fangzhu had simply been too outrageous.
A woman had run off with another man, yet today he still treated her like a treasure and brought her out for breakfast.
People were furious—furious at Shen Yingying’s shamelessness, and furious that Xie Fangzhu refused to wake up.
Just as everyone silently celebrated that they themselves hadn’t spoken too loudly, a fat man in a sleeveless undershirt suddenly tried sneaking through the crowd toward the cafeteria exit.
Watching what had happened to his companion had scared him half to death.
Sure, he had plenty of meat on his body, but that didn’t mean he could survive a beating!
Unfortunately, the crowd showed him no mercy.
The instant Xie Fangzhu spoke, people around the fat man scattered like frightened birds, terrified they’d be implicated.
In seconds, the fat man stood completely exposed in Xie Fangzhu’s line of sight.
The fat man: “…Fuck.”