Chapter 5 Provoke and come to the door

Seeing Wang Huimin walk off again, Tian Yongmei didn’t stop her. After all, the girl wouldn’t be staying at home much longer anyway. As long as she agreed to marry into the Song family—whether it was the uncle or the nephew—she’d already accepted the bride price, and that was enough.

When Wang Huimin arrived at the Xu household, the moment she stepped into the courtyard, the family dog started barking loudly. Xu Xiaowei’s mother, Aunt Xu, immediately came out upon hearing the noise.

“Xiao Min, you’re here! Come on in,” she greeted warmly.

Wang Huimin politely greeted her, “Auntie, are you home? Is Xiaowei here? I’ve got something to talk to him about.”

“He’s inside, talking with his father. Come on in, Xiao Min,” Aunt Xu said as she ushered her in.

As soon as they stepped inside, they saw Xu Xiaowei speaking with his father—who clearly didn’t look very pleased. Wang Huimin could guess that Xu Xiaowei was trying to convince him about something—probably about marrying Zhang Chunyan.

“Uncle Xu, I just need to speak with Xiaowei for a moment,” she said. “Xiaowei, can you come outside with me?”

Xu Xiaowei nodded. “Sure, let’s go.”

They didn’t go far—just stepped into the courtyard. Wang Huimin pulled a letter from her pocket and handed it to him.

“Xiaowei, this is a letter from Chunyan. She asked me to bring it to you.”

Zhang Chunyan may have had average looks, but she had a sweet tongue and had completely charmed Xu Xiaowei. He was dead set on being with her, and not even his parents could stop him. Just earlier, he had been trying to convince his father to agree to their relationship.

Zhang Chunyan had previously asked Wang Huimin to deliver letters to him before, so Xu Xiaowei didn’t suspect a thing. He opened the letter right there in front of Wang Huimin.

But the moment he saw what was inside, his expression changed drastically.

Wang Huimin pretended not to know anything. “Xiaowei, what’s wrong? What does the letter say?”

Xu Xiaowei looked grim. “Xiao Min, are you sure Chunyan gave this to you? You didn’t open it?”

Wang Huimin replied naturally, “Of course not! It was a letter meant for you—I wouldn’t open it. I brought it straight to you.”

“Chunyan didn’t address it by name, but she’s written you quite a few letters recently. And you two meet up almost every day, so this one is clearly for you.”

Xu Xiaowei’s face darkened even more. “We meet up every day?”

That was exactly the effect Wang Huimin wanted. She smiled teasingly and added fuel to the fire. “Come on, we all grew up together. You two are basically a thing now—no need to be shy.”

“Chunyan goes out every noon. Others may not know, but I do. I’ve bumped into her a few times when she came back. Obviously, she’s sneaking off to meet you.”

“Well, I’ve delivered the letter. I won’t keep you any longer—I’ll be heading back.”

With that, Wang Huimin turned and left, leaving behind a furious Xu Xiaowei clutching the letter in his hand.

In reality, Wang Huimin hadn’t written anything too complicated—just a typical love letter. Except she replaced the recipient with Song Fu and included some suggestive lines—ones that would infuriate any man reading it.

Even if Zhang Chunyan managed to sweet-talk Xu Xiaowei again, this marriage was over. Wang Huimin was just waiting for the drama to unfold.

Sure enough, right after she left, Xu Xiaowei’s parents came out. They had heard everything. Xu Xiaowei had not been sneaking out at noon, so something was clearly fishy.

Old Man Xu snatched the letter from his son’s hand and skimmed through it quickly. His face turned pitch black with rage as he glared at his son in disappointment.

“Xiaowei, do you see what this filth says? And you still want me to agree to you marrying her? Our Xu family will not accept a shameless girl like that! If you keep pining after her, don’t call me ‘Dad’ anymore!”

Aunt Xu read the letter too and looked equally displeased. “That Zhang girl is really something else. So young and already stringing along multiple guys? She’s nothing but a hussy.”

“Look at the disgusting things she wrote—I’m embarrassed to even read it out loud. If you bring someone like her home, she’ll probably run off with someone else in no time. You can’t be this foolish. Your father and I will not allow this!”

At this point, even if his parents hadn’t said anything, Xu Xiaowei was already starting to see clearly. Thank God Wang Huimin had “delivered the wrong letter” today and exposed the truth—or he would’ve remained in the dark.

If this was real, then there was no way he’d stay with Zhang Chunyan. He picked up the letter, stuffed it in his pocket, and said, “Dad, Mom, don’t worry—I won’t do anything stupid. I’m heading out.”

With that, Xu Xiaowei left the house and headed straight to the east side of the village—he wanted to confront Song Fu directly.

Meanwhile, Song Fu was in a foul mood too. Since Wang Huimin had left, his uncle hadn’t shown him a pleasant face either. He was stuck weeding in the garden outside.

He looked up and was startled to see Xu Xiaowei—face grim—approaching their house.

They were about the same age but had never gotten along. Xu Xiaowei was bigger and stronger, and had beaten him up more than once when they were kids. Even as adults, they never spoke to each other.

Seeing him now, Song Fu immediately scowled. “What are you doing at my house?”

Xu Xiaowei cut straight to the point, his face dark. “Song Fu, are you hooking up with Zhang Chunyan?”

Song Fu’s heart skipped a beat. His expression changed, and his eyes darted around nervously—he didn’t dare look at Xu Xiaowei.

“Wh-what nonsense are you talking about? Who told you that? It’s not true—nothing happened!”

But Xu Xiaowei knew him too well. Whenever Song Fu did something shameful, he always acted like this. That reaction alone confirmed it.

Furious, Xu Xiaowei punched him square in the face.

“You shameless bastard! You knew I was with her and still went after her?!”

Xu Xiaowei was burly and strong. Song Fu, who was lean and wiry, couldn’t withstand the punch. He fell to the ground with a loud thud, crying out in pain.

“Xu Xiaowei, are you insane? You actually hit me?!”

The noise outside startled Song Jianjun, who came out of the house and saw Song Fu on the ground. He frowned.

“What’s going on out here?”

Seeing his uncle, Song Fu immediately played the victim. “Uncle, he hit me!”

Xu Xiaowei, still seething, tried to control his temper. “Uncle Song, I didn’t come here to cause trouble. But Song Fu went too far.”

“He knew I was with Zhang Chunyan and still tried to hook up with her. I couldn’t hold back and hit him.”

Song Fu quickly scrambled to his feet and hid behind Song Jianjun. “Uncle, it’s not true! He’s lying! You can’t just stand by while he hits me!”

He was sure his uncle would take his side. As long as he denied everything, the matter would pass.

But Song Jianjun ignored him and looked at Xu Xiaowei instead. “Xiaowei, who told you this?”

Xu Xiaowei was a responsible person and didn’t want to drag Wang Huimin into it, assuming she had simply made a mistake delivering the letter.

“No one told me. I found out myself. Song Fu, if you’re really a man, come out and face me. Don’t hide behind your uncle.”

“If you dare swear—right here and now—that you never messed around with Zhang Chunyan, that everything between you two is clean, then I’ll believe you. Do you dare?”