Chapter 19.1

During this period, Xie Yanzhao had done many good deeds for the villagers. That’s why the Team Leader would ask such a question. Otherwise, if it were someone else, the villagers would have acted directly. Didn’t you see how the onlookers were glaring at them?

The countryside was xenophobic, and this place was no exception.

Villagers would usually brawl among themselves, but if an outsider bullied them, the entire village would demand justice.

Zhou Peng was a lunatic, but he was also a villager. Others would not stand by and watch him be beaten by outsiders.

Xie Yanzhao replied calmly, “He was trying to strangle Ruan Mingfu.”

The old Team Leader was shocked, and the other villagers reacted similarly.

“How could that be?”

“Why would Zhou’s boy want to strangle Ruan Mingfu?”

“That’s murder…”

“Could it be a misunderstanding…”

They also saw the marks on Ruan Mingfu’s neck and swallowed their words.

Ruan Mingfu looked too miserable. Her originally fair and delicate neck had a large bruise, indicating how much force Zhou Peng had used.

The villagers were at a loss for words.

The Team Leader sighed, “Educated Youth Ruan, is there any…”

Before the old man could finish, Mother Zhou suddenly became agitated.

“Bullshit!” Mother Zhou, wary of Xie Yanzhao, did not advance to tear Ruan Mingfu apart. “I know how good my son was to this hussy. He wasn’t even that good to me, his own mother. How could my son strangle her?”

“He’s been beaten to this state by your lover, and you still want to frame him? You have a black heart!”

Mother Zhou’s anger intensified as she vented all her accumulated dissatisfaction.

“Shameless hussy! It’s all your fault. How could my son be so blind as to fall for you!”

“I don’t want to be with your son,” Ruan Mingfu, supported by Xie Yanzhao, said in a hoarse voice. “If you want to report to the police, then do it. You can accuse us of assault. I’m just as eager to report Zhou Peng for attempted murder.”

Ruan Mingfu had never hated anyone as much as she hated Zhou Peng.

Her gaze was filled with loathing as she looked at Mother Zhou.

Ruan Mingfu spoke each word with effort, her throat aching with every syllable. “Your son threatened and coerced me into marrying him. If I refused, he would have harmed my parents. I wouldn’t even want a man like him!”

Her throat was still sore, her brows furrowed tightly.

“Shameless hussy, speaking nonsense! My son never did such things!”

Under the skeptical gazes of the villagers, Mother Zhou’s fat face turned red with anger.

The villagers knew what kind of person Zhou Peng was.

Moreover, he had previously beaten up those who were affectionate towards Ruan Mingfu. This incident had caused quite a stir, and the villagers had talked about it at the time.

Since it did not directly affect them, they had turned a blind eye.

The mother of the beaten son, constrained by Zhou’s family’s influence, had to endure and only cursed Zhou’s family in private.

Now, bringing it up again made everyone’s faces look unpleasant.

“You clearly had an affair with this person and wanted to get rid of my son, so you framed him,” Mother Zhou said with increasing certainty. “You’re really shameless, deliberately inflicting wounds on yourself to frame my son.”

Mother Zhou started crying again, “My son is suffering, falling for such a shameless hussy!”

Xie Yanzhao’s face darkened. “Speak more civilly.”

“Team Leader! I want to report that these two are having an affair!”

The vulgarities she wanted to say were choked back. Mother Zhou almost fainted from the shock. Sitting on the ground, she stared, suddenly realizing something.

— Aren’t these two a bit too close?

After this incident, Ruan Mingfu looked as delicate as a frail willow. She was leaning against Xie Yanzhao, holding onto his clothes tightly. Xie Yanzhao, in turn, held her gently, adopting a protective stance.

If there was nothing going on between them, Mother Zhou would have wasted her years of living!

Ruan Mingfu glared at her.

At that moment, it was as if she saw Xu Pandi in Mother Zhou.

The villagers also looked over.

But Xie Yanzhao and Ruan Mingfu showed no signs of avoiding each other. They were as they had been before.

“Aren’t they too close?”

“Even though Ruan Mingfu is injured, men and women shouldn’t be so close, right?”

“There’s definitely something going on between them!”

“Could it be true, like Zhou’s family says, that these two are having an affair?”

The Team Leader was very troubled but couldn’t ignore the situation. Seeing Xie Yanzhao’s fierce face, he swallowed his questioning words and turned to Ruan Mingfu. “Educated Youth Ruan, do you have anything to say?”

Ruan Mingfu pressed her lips together, but Xie Yanzhao interjected firmly, “Ruan Mingfu is my fiancée. Once the marriage registration is approved, we’ll get the certificate.”

Team Leader: “!!!”

Villagers: “!!!”

Curious onlookers: “!!!”

But the most shocked was Xu Zhu standing aside: “……!!!”

Good grief, Xu Zhu had previously lamented that Xie Yanzhao wasn’t seizing his opportunity, and now his brother suddenly said they were together?

Xu Zhu felt very conflicted.

Moreover, even though he and Xie Yanzhao had been together, he was unaware of their relationship.

How outrageous!

It was too much. If it had been any later, would he be expected to attend their child’s full-month celebration?

Xu Zhu’s sharp gaze shot daggers at Xie Yanzhao.

Compared to Xu Zhu’s dismay, the female educated youth were much simpler.

Recalling Ruan Mingfu’s previous remark about winning over Xie Yanzhao within seven days, they had mocked and ridiculed her. Hearing this news now, the female educated youths felt their faces were slapped.

Although they had suspected something when Xie Yanzhao sent Ruan Mingfu back to the educated youth camp, they had only thought they were dating, not that they were planning to marry.

In the crowd, Xu Pandi was both angry and jealous.

How infuriating!

How did Ruan Mingfu do it? I really want to learn.

“Impossible!” Mother Zhou shouted. “They had no contact before, how can they suddenly say they’re getting married?! I don’t believe it. This must be a conspiracy!”

The Team Leader glared at her. “Mother Zhou, be quiet.”

Having served in the military, he knew the process of military marriage approval. Based on Xie Yanzhao’s statement, the marriage report had likely been submitted long ago, indicating it was a premeditated decision.

“Team Leader, are you going to let them get away with beating my son like this?”

Mother Zhou was furious, almost bleeding with rage.

“I don’t care! They injured my son, I want them jailed!”

“Mother Zhou, calm down,” the Team Leader said, not wanting to deal with Zhou’s family’s issues given their influential brother-in-law in the G Committee. “Now that Educated Youth Ruan says Zhou Peng tried to kill her, you should think carefully.”

Mother Zhou: “…”

She knew better than anyone that the injury on Ruan Mingfu’s neck was caused by her son.

Zhou Peng’s injuries made Mother Zhou seethe with anger. She was determined not to let this go easily.

When she saw Lin Yujiao, her eyes lit up.

“Yujiao, tell us what really happened.”

The Team Leader also looked at her.

The villagers also thought it made sense.

“Since Yujiao called us here. She should know what’s going on.”

“Yujiao, speak your mind!”

“That’s right!”

Compared to Zhou Peng’s attempted murder, the villagers were more willing to accept that Xie Yanzhao had beaten someone. The former was a scandal that could impact young people’s marriage prospects, while the latter made Zhou Peng the victim, which seemed more justifiable.

Lin Yujiao was in a difficult position. With everyone watching her, she found it hard to speak up.

She had seen everything and knew Zhou Peng was not innocent. In reality, Xie Yanzhao’s actions, even if they had killed him, would have been justified.

But if she said that, she would first offend Mother Zhou.

Her previous efforts to gain favor would be in vain, and it would be difficult to marry into the Zhou family in the future. If she said… Lin Yujiao suddenly locked eyes with Xie Yanzhao, and she was startled. Her body trembled, and she almost fell backward.

Her parents quickly caught her. “Yujiao has never seen anything like this, she must be scared.”

Mother Zhou: “…”

Even in critical moments, Lin Yujiao proved to be unreliable.

Ruan Mingfu: “…”

Seeing Lin Yujiao collapse and her still-trembling eyelashes, Ruan Mingfu felt a bit speechless.

At this moment, the stretcher bearers and a doctor arrived. They worked together to lift Zhou Peng onto the stretcher. A tractor came over and carefully placed Zhou Peng on it.

The Team Leader approached. “Comrade Xie, take Ruan Mingfu to the hospital.”

“No need,” Ruan Mingfu knew the Team Leader meant well but she saw Mother Zhou’s hateful expression and the hostile glares from the people standing beside her.

Ruan Mingfu declined the Team Leader’s offer.

After this incident, she was cautious about her safety and didn’t want to be around these dangerous individuals.

The Team Leader frowned. “But your injury…”

“The Team Leader is right, the wound on your neck is serious. You should go to the hospital,” Xie Yanzhao said, signaling to a military vehicle that quickly stopped in front of them.

Xu Zhu was in the driver’s seat.

Ruan Mingfu: “…”

He had been there the whole time, but when did he leave? How did she not notice?

The villagers’ eyes were almost popping out. If it weren’t a military vehicle, they would have wanted to touch it. The Educated Youth looked on with envy.

Xie Yanzhao picked up Ruan Mingfu and carried her horizontally.

She felt the world spin and, once she adjusted, found herself leaning softly in Xie Yanzhao’s arms, looking up at his strong jawline.

Ruan Mingfu clung to his clothes, her heart racing. Under everyone’s gaze, no matter how thick-skinned Ruan Mingfu was, she couldn’t handle this scene. Her face flushed red as if she had been dusted with rouge.

She buried her face in Xie Yanzhao’s embrace, trying to hide from everyone’s eyes.

Once they were in the car and the door closed, they were cut off from the envious gazes.

Mother Zhou watched the impressive military vehicle with frustration. Seeing it speed away while her tractor struggled to start, her face twisted further with anger.

The four-wheeled vehicle was much faster than the tractor, and they arrived at the hospital in no time.

At this hour, the hospital was not crowded.

The doctor examining Ruan Mingfu was a middle-aged woman. She frowned tightly as she examined the wound on Ruan Mingfu’s neck, her gaze shifting subtly between Xie Yanzhao and Xu Zhu.

“Girl, how did you get this injury?”

“Ah… it hurts…”

Ruan Mingfu’s face was pale, and tears were welling up in her pretty eyes. The bruise on her neck was even more swollen and painful than before.

The doctor sighed. “It seems you’ve injured the underlying soft tissues.”

“Is it serious?”

Xie Yanzhao watched the scene with a deep frown, his demeanor looking even more intimidating.

The doctor ignored him.

Xie Yanzhao: “…”