Chapter 21: The Brother-Supporting Witch

Though Shen Yingying looked down on Xie Fangzhu’s behavior, she soon saw it from another angle.

Considering all the outrageous things the original owner had done, even if Xie Fangzhu locked her up at home, no one would criticize him for it.

But he hadn’t done that. Instead, he had someone keep an indirect watch on her, which was already quite considerate.

Shen Yingying decided to begrudgingly accept that Chen Qingqing was probably just here to pass the time with her.

But soon, her reluctant acceptance turned into a pleasant surprise.

Though Chen Qingqing was shy, quiet, and had one leg injured, she was extremely hardworking and eager to help.

When she saw Shen Yingying cleaning the original owner’s messy room, she immediately rolled up her sleeves and offered to help.

The original owner had never been fond of cleaning and had a hoarding problem, unwilling to throw anything away. The room was filled with piles of things.

The mess was so bad that Shen Yingying would have to spend an entire day cleaning it up. But with Chen Qingqing’s fast work, they finished in just one morning.

The trash piled up outside the door into a small mound, and there was all sorts of junk—leftover food, used items, and even half a dustpan full of rat droppings.

Shen Yingying was stunned. She had never seen so much rat droppings in her life.

She had always thought the original owner’s room was just messy, but she hadn’t realized it was this bad.

Last night, she had actually slept in this room for half the night, and who knew—besides snakes—if any rats had crawled onto her bed and shared it with her.

Thinking about this made her stomach churn.

Without hesitation, she went inside, opened the closet, and shoved all her frequently worn clothes into Xie Fangzhu’s closet next door.

Although the room had been cleaned, she had developed a psychological barrier and just couldn’t bring herself to sleep there.

After putting the clothes away, there was still space in the original owner’s closet, but instead of more clothes, it was filled with brand-new fabric.

The original owner’s third brother, Shen Jiacai, was getting married in three months.

His bride was the daughter of the next-door village’s team leader, a beautiful girl.

The bride price was unreasonable, beyond the usual city girls’ three sets of furniture and a radio—she also demanded a television.

The Shen family barely got by on the work points from farm labor, so how could they possibly afford such a high bride price?

So, they decided to ask the original owner to prepare the bride price.

The original owner was a typical “brother-supporting witch,” never feeling that there was anything wrong. She thought it was her job to help her brother get married.

That’s why, before running away, she hadn’t hesitated to steal the 500 yuan from Xie Fangzhu.

She intended to send the money back after she got to S City to help pay for her brother’s wedding.

The fabric in the closet was enough for seven full outfits—spring, summer, autumn, and winter sets. Five for the bride’s side and two for the groom’s side.

The original owner could sew, so she planned to make the clothes herself.

Before Shen Yingying transmigrated into the book, she was a fashion designer working at her adoptive parents’ company. Making clothes was nothing more than a trivial matter for her.

However…

She slammed the cabinet shut. She was not the original host, that “brother-supporting” fool. Whether the Shen family’s men could marry had nothing to do with her.

If she had the time, she’d rather make a few outfits for herself.

As for the rest of the betrothal gifts? She wouldn’t even consider it.

Today, Xie Fangzhu came up from the mine shaft a bit earlier than usual—before five o’clock.

Han Wei followed closely behind, thinking to himself that his brother was unusually eager to get off work today.

Normally, he’d linger underground for another ten or twenty minutes before coming up. But today, he left right on time.

After coming up, the two of them went to the lamp room to return their mining lamps.

There were four windows at the lamp room, each responsible for different lamp tags.

Xie Fangzhu and Han Wei’s lamp tags were handled by Window 1, which was manned by a particularly slow-moving female worker.

This female worker’s older sister, Zhou Ronghua, also worked in the lamp room and was the mistress of the lamp room team leader.

The team leader had connections in the mine’s disciplinary office, so any complaints about the lamp room would ultimately go back to him. He had the power to either punish or protect.

Naturally, he chose to protect his mistress’s sister.

So, just like her sister, this woman acted arrogantly in the lamp room, taking her sweet time with everything—especially returning the lamps.

If she was in a good mood, she’d be a bit faster. If not, she’d slow down even more.

Today, she was clearly in a bad mood, moving so sluggishly that it was as if she were in slow motion. While the workers at the other windows had already returned three or four lamps each, she had only processed one.

The miners queuing at Window 1 were frustrated but dared not complain.

Because they all knew how she was—if anyone complained, she would slow down even more just out of spite.

Xie Fangzhu was second in line, watching as the workers at the other windows moved along while the miner in front of him was still waiting.

He was growing impatient.

Although he’d already told Jiaozi and Chen Qingqing to keep an eye on Shen Yingying, he wasn’t sure if they could actually manage it.

One was just a kid, and the other was an honest girl.

Would they be able to stop her if she tried to run?

And if she did run, would he be able to catch up…?

His eyes darkened, brows furrowing. He impatiently snapped at the worker at the window, “Are you trying to rub flowers out of it? Hurry up! If you’re so slow, why are you even working here?!”

Han Wei: “!!!”

His brother was usually only harsh with him, but with others, he was always mild-mannered.

Even when this woman was slow, no one was ever more anxious than his brother.

What was going on today? Was he possessed? Did he eat gunpowder?

The miners behind Han Wei were also distressed.

What the hell was Fangzhu thinking? Picking a fight with that woman?

Now they were all doomed.

Sure enough, the woman at Window 1 got angry and sneered, “So what if I’m slow? I can be even slower if I want. What, you gonna hit me?”

But she was immediately met with a sharp retort.

“You think I won’t?”

Her heart skipped a beat, and she looked up at the speaker.

His face was covered in coal dust, with only his eyes visible. But his tall, imposing figure was unmistakable.

It was Xie Fangzhu.

His eyes were dark and cold, terrifyingly so.

She suddenly recalled what he had done in the cafeteria that morning, as well as his legendary showdown with men from a neighboring village years ago.

Although he was usually easygoing, when he lost his temper, it seemed like he could do anything.

She was the type to bully the weak and fear the strong, so she immediately changed her attitude. Her hands moved faster—twice as fast, even.

She didn’t even bother inspecting Xie Fangzhu’s lamp in detail, giving it a quick glance before handing him his tag with a forced smile. “Sorry, my hands were a bit slow today!”

Han Wei: “???”

The miners behind him: “!!!”

Without even looking at her, Xie Fangzhu grabbed his tag and walked out.

After that, the woman at Window 1 worked faster, speeding up the whole queue.

By the time Han Wei finished returning his lamp, Xie Fangzhu had already left the room. Han Wei hurried to catch up.

What was going on with his brother today? Why was he in such a rush?

Had something happened?

Just as he was about to ask, he noticed that the miners ahead were unusually excited.

Their gazes were all fixed in the same direction—toward the row of poplar trees near the lamp room.

Some were even so mesmerized that they stopped walking altogether.

Han Wei knew they were looking at the women under the trees.

Those women were newlywed young wives, unable to bear being apart from their husbands for even a moment.

So, before their husbands even came up from the mine, they would be waiting eagerly under the trees.

Women were a rarity in the mining area, and no matter if they were married or single, the men couldn’t help but sneak glances at them.

But today, the reaction was way too exaggerated.

Had an exceptionally beautiful woman shown up?

Han Wei instinctively looked over as well.

And the moment he spotted someone under the trees, his eyes widened in shock.

He nudged Xie Fangzhu with his elbow, over and over.

“Bro! Bro! Look! It’s… it’s sister-in-law!”