Chapter 16

Truly a Sneaky One

The person who arrived was covered head to toe in mud.

Their hair was dripping wet, with muddy water constantly falling off.

When they opened their mouth, they even spat out a rice planthopper.

Xu Jiajia stared at them for a long time before finally recognizing him. “Li Chengye, how did you end up like this?”

Li Chengye wiped the mud from his face and said angrily, “I wasn’t watching the road while riding my bike and fell into a field.”

Xu Jiajia had never seen someone so clumsy before. Her mouth twitched uncontrollably as she said, “Go take a shower and change into some dry clothes.”

Li Chengye handed her a red envelope. “Here, take this.”

The money wrapped in red paper was already soaked through.

With just a slight poke, it would tear apart.

Xu Jiajia accepted it. “Come with me.”

She then led Li Chengye toward a side room.

After they left, the guests began murmuring among themselves.

“Who is this guy? Showing up like that to a wedding banquet—he must hold a grudge or something!”

“He looks unfamiliar. I’ve never seen him before.”

“…”

Hearing their comments, Li Chengye looked apologetically at Xu Jiajia. “Sorry for causing trouble.”

Xu Jiajia wanted to pat his shoulder to comfort him but hesitated when she saw how muddy he was, retracting her hand. “It’s fine. I’m just happy you came.”

When they reached the side room, Li Chengye was startled to see Wang Bo lying unconscious on the floor. “Ah! Who’s that? Is he dead?”

Xu Jiajia rolled her eyes. “He’s just passed out, not dead. You can shower here.”

Li Chengye pulled at his clothes and pointed to himself incredulously. “You—you want me to shower here?”

Xu Jiajia didn’t understand why Li Chengye was so worked up. “If not here, do you want to shower in the yard?”

Li Chengye: “…”

Is that what he meant?

Xu Jiajia continued, “Even if you wanted to shower in the yard, I wouldn’t let you! There are guests out there. How could you stand out there bare-chested and shower?”

Li Chengye widened his eyes. “I didn’t mean that, but can’t we find another place?”

Xu Jiajia shook her head. “Nope, this is the only place.”

Left with no choice, Li Chengye resigned himself.

“Where do I get water?”

Just as he finished speaking, Shen Yuebai walked in with a bucket of water.

Scratching his head in embarrassment, Li Chengye said, “Thanks.”

Grandma Xu had also found some clothes and brought them over for Li Chengye. “These are your uncle’s. Make do with them.”

Li Chengye took the clothes. “Thanks, Grandma Xu.”

Grandma Xu waved her hand. “No need to be so polite.”

Once everyone left, Li Chengye quickly stripped off his clothes.

He washed his hair first and then his body, standing with his back to Wang Bo.

When he finished and turned around, he was met with a pair of lewd eyes.

“Ahhhh!” Startled, Li Chengye instinctively covered himself and screamed.

Hearing the commotion, Shen Yuebai kicked the door open. “What’s going on?”

Li Chengye hesitated to point at Wang Bo, fearing exposure. Covering himself tightly, he cried, “He—he saw me! I feel violated!”

Shen Yuebai glanced at Li Chengye and remarked, “You’ve got what he’s got. What’s there to see?”

Afraid the noise would attract others, Li Chengye hurriedly put on the clothes.

Being slim and shorter than Xu Jianguo, the clothes Grandma Xu found for him were still too big.

But he couldn’t worry about that now.

Rolling up his sleeves, Li Chengye stormed up to Wang Bo, loosened his waistband, and said coldly, “You saw mine, so I’m seeing yours. Fair’s fair.”

Wang Bo glared at him in rage. “Mmmph! Mmmph!”

Ahhhh!

This pervert! Stop it! Stop it!

Shen Yuebai: “…”

What a sneaky move!

When the underwear came off, Li Chengye burst out laughing at the sight of Wang Bo’s miniature-sized equipment. “Hahaha! This is hilarious! A grown man with such a tiny thing! How do you manage?”

Having his shortcomings pointed out, Wang Bo was so angry he could have killed Li Chengye.

“Mmmpff! Mmmpff!”

Damn it! I’ll kill you!

Shen Yuebai glanced over. That small? Can it even function? Though curious, he kept a straight face and said, “Hurry up and pull his pants up! What kind of behavior is this?”

Feeling balanced after his discovery, Li Chengye grinned. “Got it.”

All the tables were full except for Shen Dazhu’s table, which still had empty seats.

Li Chengye plopped down there without hesitation and casually struck up a conversation with Shen Dazhu. “Are you a relative of the groom’s family or the bride’s?”

Shen Dazhu, in a foul mood, ignored him.

Not bothered, Li Chengye turned to Shen Zhou. “What about you?”

Shen Zhou replied honestly, “I’m a relative of the groom’s family. The groom is my brother.”

Li Chengye scrutinized Shen Zhou. “You don’t look anything like Shen Yuebai.”

Shen Zhou shrugged. “My brother takes after my mom. I inherited the best features of both my parents.”

Li Chengye looked puzzled. “If you inherited their best features, why aren’t you as handsome as Shen Yuebai? Since he takes after your mom and is that good-looking, shouldn’t you, inheriting the best of both, be even better-looking?”

Shen Zhou’s lips twitched. “My brother and I have different mothers. My birth mother wasn’t attractive.”

Thankfully, Zhao Chunlan wasn’t at the banquet; otherwise, she’d have been furious hearing that.

Li Chengye nodded with a half-understanding expression. “Oh, that explains it. But your dad’s taste is questionable. To go for someone so unattractive, was he blind?”

Shen Dazhu couldn’t hold back his anger. “You’re the blind one!”

Li Chengye was taken aback by the outburst. “I wasn’t even talking about you. Why are you so worked up?”

Shen Zhou clarified with a smirk, “He’s my dad.”

Li Chengye froze. “Oh, so you’re Shen Yuebai’s dad? Why didn’t you say so? Shouldn’t you, as the father, be sitting at the main table?”

In the village, it was customary for the bride’s family to sit at the main table as a sign of respect. By pointing this out, Li Chengye indirectly implied that Shen Yuebai was marrying into the bride’s family, and the groom’s father should also be at the main table.

This was the last thing Shen Dazhu wanted to hear. His face turned livid as he gritted his teeth and said, “I don’t need to.”

Li Chengye looked utterly confused. “Isn’t that the custom around here?”

Shen Dazhu: “…”

To hell with customs! He wanted to flip the table.

Meanwhile, Xu Xiaoyao, busy serving dishes, noticed Li Chengye and paused in surprise. “Why are you here?”

Li Chengye shot back, “Why wouldn’t I be here?”

Xu Xiaoyao: “…”

His reasoning was so sound that she couldn’t argue.

Grandma Xu’s planning was spot on.

The number of guests was just right—exactly ten tables.

Despite the short preparation time, the banquet turned out well.

There were eight dishes at each table, with generous portions.

But as soon as the food was served, it was devoured instantly.

Li Chengye watched in shock. “Goodness, are they reincarnated starving ghosts?”

Noticing he hadn’t taken any food, Shen Zhou warned him, “If you don’t grab something now, there won’t be anything left.”

Snapping out of his daze, Li Chengye quickly reached for his chopsticks. “Right, right—”

Just as he was about to take the last piece of braised pork, Shen Dazhu snatched it.

Fuming, Li Chengye glared at him. “How could you? That’s definitely revenge!”

Shen Dazhu stuffed the meat into his mouth, his face greasy with satisfaction. “Delicious! Absolutely delicious! I wonder where they found the chef?”

Li Chengye gritted his teeth. “You…”

Before he could finish, he saw Wang Bo appear at the doorway.

His hands were tied, and because his waistband wasn’t secured, his pants had fallen down as he walked, revealing a pair of torn red briefs.

The miniature-sized “package” beneath was shriveled and barely visible.