Chapter 38.1

“That’s not necessary,” Zhou Yao chuckled, looking at Wen Yue’s expression as he leaned closer. “Don’t be angry. Today’s incident was truly an accident.”

Of course, they didn’t return from Shencheng empty-handed. They brought back some trinkets to sell and recover some expenses since they had spent quite a bit in the city. Things were fine while they were setting up their stall in the morning, but in the afternoon, a group of people suddenly showed up and claimed that the stall was theirs, demanding that Zhou Yao and his friends move aside.

Zhou Yao obviously refused, and the other party directly smashed their stall.

With his explosive temper, Zhou Yao kicked back, sending one of them sprawling. A fight broke out between the two groups. The other side had clearly come prepared, armed with sticks, while Ren Yeliang and Fang Shitao ended up getting beaten badly.

But Zhou Yao was no ordinary person. He had been a local bully in the village since he was a child. He quickly grabbed the weapon from one of them and threw it to Ren Yeliang and Fang Shitao, while he fought bare-handed, his fists harder than any stick.

Even with more than ten people on the other side, they were left crying for mercy after Zhou Yao’s onslaught.

If the police hadn’t arrived quickly, the injuries to some of those people might have been much worse.

“What if such an accident happens again tomorrow or the day after?” Wen Yue looked at him. “Are you just going to go in swinging again?”

Zhou Yao rubbed his nose. “I won’t.” But that was a lie.

It wasn’t his nature to let a provocation go unpunished.

Having spent some time together, Wen Yue understood Zhou Yao’s temperament. After he finished speaking, she let out a cold laugh. “Fine, I can’t control you. You can do whatever you want.”

Zhou Yao knew Wen Yue was more upset now and sighed, “I’ve had this bad temper since I was little. It’s not something I can change overnight.”

Thinking about how Zhou Yao’s mother had died young and his father didn’t care about him, Wen Yue put down her book and turned to look at him. “Zhou Yao, I know you’re strong, but not every problem can be solved with violence. For example, today, your injuries aren’t serious, but what about Old Fang and Yeliang? Their injuries are much worse than yours. You can fight, but they can’t. You’re only one person and can’t protect both of them. What if something happened to them? How would you explain that to Grandma Fang?”

Her tone wasn’t harsh, and her voice was almost soft, but the content of her words left Zhou Yao speechless.

He really hadn’t thought about those things.

“If you go out to start a business or work, are you going to rely on violence to solve problems when they come up? Is your brain just for decoration?”

Zhou Yao: “…” Was she calling him stupid?

Wen Yue continued, “If you get into a conflict and end up hurt, breaking your hand or leg or messing up your head, what will I do?”

Zhou Yao frowned. “That won’t happen.”

Wen Yue’s eyes curved as she smiled and asked, “Why wouldn’t it happen? Do you think you’re the only one who can fight? This time they were only using wooden sticks. What if next time they bring knives? Do you think you’re Superman?”

Zhou Yao asked, “What’s Superman?”

“Is that the point?” Wen Yue shot him an exasperated look.

Zhou Yao scratched his face, inadvertently brushing against the injury, causing him to wince in pain. His gaze fell on a pair of delicate white hands that moved up to meet his eyes, only to find Wen Yue’s stern expression.

“Medicinal alcohol.”

Zhou Yao immediately brightened and pushed the medicinal alcohol towards her, leaning in closer. His cheek was a mess of bruises, and he had cuts at the corners of his eyes and mouth, but other than that, it didn’t look too serious.

As Wen Yue thought about it, her gaze shifted down, and she noticed a patch of red on his trapezius area peeking through the collar of his shirt. Frowning, she said, “Take off your shirt.”

Zhou Yao hesitated for two seconds.

Wen Yue raised an eyebrow.

Zhou Yao clicked his tongue and then took off both his jacket and the undershirt. His back was covered in angry, intersecting welts from the beating.

Wen Yue felt a sharp pain just from looking at Zhou Yao’s injuries. It was surprising that he could sit here chatting with her, showing no signs of how serious his wounds were.

She mimicked Zhou Yao’s earlier actions, pouring the medicinal alcohol into her palm, rubbing it in, and pressing it against his face for a moment.

Zhou Yao inhaled sharply. “Hiss.”

Wen Yue lifted her eyelids. “Does it hurt?”

Zhou Yao replied with a slight pout in his dark eyes, “It hurts.”

“Good, then.” Wen Yue applied a bit more pressure, smiling as she said, “Pain is a good reminder.”

Zhou Yao: “Hiss.”

When Grandma Fang woke up and saw the injuries on their faces, she was heartbroken. Fortunately, they managed to distract her with their excuse, and she didn’t think much of it, instead repeatedly reminding them to be more careful while walking. “How can you still be tripping at your age?”

After dinner, Wen Yue returned to school for evening self-study.

As soon as she got back, her classmates surrounded her.

“Wen Yue, why did the police come looking for you this afternoon?”

“Did your man do something bad? I heard he’s a little thug who steals. Did he get caught by the police for stealing something?”

“…Tsk, tsk.”

“Is this the ‘good’ partner you found?”

“…”

The group chattered away, but Wen Yue didn’t catch most of what they were saying and didn’t plan to share her family matters with them. She simply smiled, not saying a word.

Seeing her silence, the crowd slowly dispersed with a few sneers.

Once everyone left, Li Nianqiu turned to her. “What happened?”

Wen Yue sighed and whispered, “They got into a fight while setting up a stall.”

Li Nianqiu shook her head. “Your man is a bit too impulsive.”

Wen Yue supported her chin with one hand. “Yeah, I don’t know how to persuade him.”

“A few bumps will teach him a lesson,” Li Nianqiu replied.

Wen Yue sighed again.

She was just worried he’d hurt himself too badly. Men could be so troublesome.

She tilted her head, blinking her eyes, and leaned against Li Nianqiu’s arm. “I really don’t want to deal with him. It’s exhausting. He just doesn’t listen.”

Wen Yue’s voice was soft, sounding almost like she was whining.

“Then don’t deal with him,” Li Nianqiu teased with a smile.

Wen Yue blinked her watery eyes, not responding.

Li Nianqiu knew she was just saying that. She wouldn’t actually ignore Zhou Yao. Wen Yue cared too much, though she liked to act tough. No, not just tough. She was soft-spoken and never really said anything harsh.

Zhou Yao had truly struck gold by marrying Wen Yue.

Li Nianqiu was starting to feel that Zhou Yao didn’t deserve her good friend. Zhou Yao’s temper was too explosive. He easily lost his head in a situation. If he didn’t fix that flaw, he would inevitably attract trouble.

She stroked her chin. “You should tell him that if he does this again, you’ll get a divorce.”

Wen Yue blinked her eyes again. “We haven’t even gotten our marriage certificate.”

Li Nianqiu clapped her hands. “Isn’t that even better? Let’s just walk away.”

Wen Yue whispered, “…Let’s talk about it later.”

Li Nianqiu huffed.

“Actually, Zhou Yao is pretty good to me.” Wen Yue started to praise Zhou Yao, trying to improve his image in her friend’s eyes.

Li Nianqiu scoffed.

Without a teacher during evening self-study, it relied entirely on the students’ self-discipline. After chatting with Li Nianqiu, Wen Yue opened her extracurricular book to read. After a short while, Li Nianqiu tossed a note her way.

The classroom was quiet, and even soft whispers could be easily overheard.

Wen Yue picked up the note and glanced at it.

[Did you tell others about your marriage yourself? ]

Wen Yue picked up her pen to reply: Why would I say that?

[Everyone in the class knows you got married.]

Wen Yue: It must have been Wen Xiaoyu who said it. Maybe she’s jealous?

[She definitely said a lot of bad things about you. Be careful. I have a feeling some people’s attitudes are really strange. If someone invites you out, don’t go.]

Wen Yue: Okay, I understand.

Li Nianqiu tore up the note and stuffed it into her pocket.

As evening self-study ended, Wen Yue stood up to leave, but a girl approached her with a question, causing her to lose track of time while she helped answer it.

After spending quite a bit of time solving the problem, the students started to leave the school one by one, and Wen Yue was among the last to go. She turned off the classroom lights and closed the door before leaving the building with that girl.

The girl was a boarding student, and they parted ways once they reached the playground.

The playground was a bit far from the school gate, and the school’s streetlights were very dim. The nearby trees cast eerie shadows that looked like twisted, bizarre monsters under the faint light, as if something could jump out from behind the trees at any moment.

Wen Yue frightened herself with her imagination and quickened her pace.