Liu Guizhen hated Shen Yingying so much her teeth itched with anger.
She put her full strength into the attack, wishing she could rip out every strand of Shen Yingying’s glossy black hair.
But just as she reached out to grab it, the Xie Fangzhu carrying Shen Yingying suddenly turned around and swiftly stepped backward twice, neatly dodging her attack.
Liu Guizhen grabbed nothing.
Not only that, because she had used too much force and lost her balance, she fell headfirst onto the ground in an ugly tumble.
Everyone was stunned. No one had expected things to develop this way, and they hurried over in a panic to help her up.
“Guizhen, are you okay?”
“Hey, hey, talking is enough. Why hit someone?”
“…”
Liu Guizhen was so furious her lungs felt ready to explode. Even after being helped up, she could barely stand steadily.
She stared at Xie Fangzhu in disbelief.
“Little Xie, your wife cheated on you! I was helping you teach her a lesson, and you’re actually protecting her?”
Xie Fangzhu shot her a cold glance.
“Which eye of yours saw her cheating?”
The moment those words fell, the entire place went silent.
Even Shen Yingying, who had still been struggling on his shoulder, froze instinctively.
Twisting her waist, she tried to look behind her and see what expression he had right now.
But because of her awkward position, she couldn’t even get a full view of the back of his head.
In the original novel, after the original host was carried back by Xie Fangzhu, she had also been attacked by the “well-meaning” crowd from the mining district.
At the time, the original host had been so furious her lungs nearly exploded. All her firepower had been focused entirely on cursing Xie Fangzhu, leaving her no energy to argue with the gossiping crowd.
That woman had deliberately stirred up trouble. Even though the original host never cursed her, she still used the excuse of “helping Xie Fangzhu discipline his unruly wife” to attack her.
That was why, even while in such a dangerous situation earlier, Shen Yingying had still insisted on cursing the woman back.
Since she was going to get beaten whether she cursed or not, she might as well curse. Otherwise she’d be beaten for nothing.
But she hadn’t expected Xie Fangzhu to dodge the attack for her—or even speak up against the woman.
She remembered clearly that in the original story, when the woman attacked, Xie Fangzhu hadn’t said a single word.
He had simply stood there motionless with the original host over his shoulder like a wooden post.
His eyes had been slightly red, as though his wife’s betrayal had shattered his entire world, leaving him unable to react to reality at all.
Only after the original host had half her hair ripped out and her face swollen into a pig’s head did he finally move.
With tears glimmering in his eyes, he silently carried her into the house.
Sometimes silence spoke louder than words.
And the effect had been even more shocking.
Especially with tearful Xie Fangzhu.
The onlookers had been stunned. Back when Little Xie was injured underground and lay in the hospital for days, he hadn’t shed a single tear.
Yet today, this man who “bled but never cried” had actually cried!
It showed just how deeply that woman had hurt him.
And because of that, when he shut the door and broke the original host’s legs inside the house—
No one pitied her.
Instead, they pitied Xie Fangzhu so much they practically wanted to rush inside and help him beat her.
When Shen Yingying first read that part of the novel, her mouth had literally fallen open in an O-shape.
This man really knew how to act.
Now, fully aware of the plot and believing she couldn’t escape the fate of having her hair ripped out, Shen Yingying was shocked that Xie Fangzhu had actually protected her and saved her beautiful hair.
She nearly cried tears of joy.
She was absolutely terrified of getting bald patches. That would be so ugly!
At the same time, she became even more certain that her original strategy had been correct.
Xie Dog was like a hard sword. There was no winning against him head-on.
The only way was softness.
She had gambled right.
Meanwhile, on Liu Guizhen’s side—
She had never seen this side of Xie Fangzhu before.
The look he gave her was like a blade, radiating overwhelming pressure that made her heart pound wildly. She couldn’t help recalling Xie Fangzhu’s once-glorious reputation, and cold sweat began pouring out unconsciously.
Although Xie Fangzhu was a spineless pushover in front of his wife, he definitely wasn’t one in the mining district.
If not for the excuse that Shen Yingying had eloped with another man, Liu Guizhen would never have dared raise a hand in front of him.
But she was also considered an important figure at the mine. How could she just swallow this humiliation?
Forcing herself to stay stubborn, she asked stiffly:
“Little Xie, h-how can you talk like that? Your wife—”
The only reply she got was a loud bang as the door slammed shut.
Xie Fangzhu carried Shen Yingying straight past her and entered the house.
The crushing pressure vanished instantly, and only then did Liu Guizhen finally feel like she could breathe again.
But once she realized she had actually been frightened by Xie Fangzhu, the anger she had just suppressed surged back up, twisting her face crooked with rage.
“Did you all hear what he said?! I was worried he couldn’t bring himself to do it, so I kindly helped him, and this is how he repays me!”
Her voice trembled with fury.
“And he even looked at me like he wanted to kill someone! Did I say anything wrong? The whole mining district knows his wife cheated on him!”
Seeing the fat on her face trembling nonstop, looking close to fainting from anger, someone nearby finally spoke up.
“Oh, Guizhen, calm down. Little Xie’s just furious right now and not thinking clearly. Why bother getting angry with him?”
“Guizhen means well, but honestly this time you crossed the line… Even though everyone knows what kind of person Shen Yingying is, she’s still Little Xie’s wife. If anyone should beat her, it should be Little Xie—or at the very least her mother-in-law. You’ve got no relation to her at all. Your hand stretched too far…”
Someone else chimed in:
“Exactly, exactly. How can outsiders interfere in another family’s private matters? Guizhen, you’re just too enthusiastic.”
Liu Guizhen hadn’t expected that not only would nobody support her, but they would all start criticizing her instead.
Her face turned green and purple with anger, yet she couldn’t refute them. She could only swallow her resentment and force out an awkward smile.
“I was only concerned for Little Xie. I couldn’t stand seeing him bullied like this. I never thought I’d make him angry instead… I just hope he properly teaches that woman a lesson this time and doesn’t get tricked by her again.”
But silently, she viciously added in her heart:
It’d be best if he broke her legs for real so she could stop seducing people.
Meanwhile, inside the house—
As soon as Xie Fangzhu entered, he set Shen Yingying down.
The movement wasn’t gentle, but it wasn’t rough either.
Shen Yingying remembered that in the original novel, he had simply thrown the original host onto the floor.
This neither-light-nor-heavy treatment reassured her immensely.
At least today, her legs might finally be safe.
Still, to guarantee everything went smoothly, she once again stirred up her emotions, trying to force her eyes to sting with tears.
Once she felt the tears coming, she softly said:
“Xie Fangzhu, I knew you believed—”
But halfway through her sentence, she suddenly saw Xie Fangzhu, after bolting the door shut, walking toward the corner of the room.
There, leaning quietly in the corner, was a carrying pole.
Instantly, Shen Yingying’s eyes widened in terror.
All her fake tears were scared right back in, and even her voice cracked:
“What are you doing?!”
She lunged forward and wrapped herself around his waist, but she was still one step too late.
The carrying pole was already in his hand.
Every hair on her body stood on end.
She remembered very clearly that in the novel, the original host’s legs had been broken by “the carrying pole in the corner.”
“Xie Fangzhu, calm down…” she said, clutching his waist desperately, her face pale green with fear. “We can talk this out properly. Don’t hit me. I really didn’t lie to you. I didn’t run away with anyone. The money’s still in my pocket. I was afraid he might scam me, so I didn’t give it to him first. I wanted him to arrange the job before—”
Xie Fangzhu lowered his head and looked at the hands tightly wrapped around his waist.
It was obvious she was terrified.
Not only was her body trembling violently, even her knuckles had turned white from gripping so hard.
He had never seen her afraid before.
Even when her parents beat her as a child, she would only glare stubbornly with wide eyes.
He had always wondered what she looked like when frightened.
He had even fantasized about ruthlessly tormenting her while she trembled in fear.
That feeling, he imagined, would certainly be wonderful.
But now that he was actually seeing it, he felt none of the satisfaction he had expected.
Today’s events had strayed too far from the plan he originally imagined.
Earlier, when Liu Guizhen attacked, he shouldn’t have dodged.
He should have let Shen Yingying experience Liu Guizhen as an appetizer first.
Yet his body had instinctively moved her out of harm’s way.
With how she was, how could she possibly be Liu Guizhen’s opponent?
If they had really fought, she probably would have cried even harder than she did in the woods.
And somehow, that thought made him uncomfortable.
Not only had he protected her from Liu Guizhen, he had even exposed his true nature by snapping at Liu Guizhen.
That made him realize something.
Ever since catching Shen Yingying, things had slowly begun slipping out of his control.
If this continued, sooner or later he would lose the resolve to act against her at all.
He needed to do it now, while his rationality still remained.
“I haven’t even done anything yet, and you already know what I’m planning to do?”
Expressionless, he pried her fingers off his waist one by one, his voice cold as ice.
“Fine. I’ll try to go easy on you.”