Zang Ling had thought about what Yan Wenshu’s hometown might be like before she arrived, but it wasn’t until she actually got there that she realized her previous imagination had been far too conservative.

The village in front of her consisted mostly of wooden houses, with only one or two brick houses. The roads were still paved with cement, and the ground was damp, possibly from the rain that had fallen yesterday. She had only walked a few steps when her feet sank into the soft, muddy earth, and the brown dirt stuck to the soles of her shoes.

Yan Wenshu had been paying attention to her the entire time. He squatted down in front of her and turned to say, “Get on, I’ll carry you over.”

Zang Ling wasn’t shy. She jumped onto his back, wrapping her arms around his neck, and cheerfully said, “Thanks, I’m ready.”

Her voice and breath were close to his neck, and Yan Wenshu’s body stiffened for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure and stood up, carrying her forward.

Zang Ling silently laughed to herself. So, this was his sensitive spot.

“Yan Wenshu, am I heavy?”

“Not heavy.”

Zang Ling looked down and smiled, “Well, then it looks like I don’t need to lose weight. I can eat a bit more, hahaha.”

“You’re perfect just the way you are now.”

At the entrance of the village, a group of people were standing. As Yan Wenshu walked past them with Zang Ling on his back, a little boy suddenly pointed at them and mocked, “Grandma, look, this person is so old and still needs someone to carry her. How shameful!”

The grandmother replied, “So, Xiao An, when you grow up, don’t learn from them. It’s really shameful, adults still act all affectionate in front of children. Who knows where these indecent people come from? They have no sense of propriety!”

She spoke loudly, even raising her voice intentionally, clearly trying to make her point.

At first, Zang Ling didn’t care, but after hearing this, her brows furrowed slightly. She gently patted Yan Wenshu’s shoulder, signaling for him to let her down.

Once she got down, she walked up to the grandmother, forcing a smile and saying, “Excuse me, ma’am, but the behavior between me and my boyfriend is perfectly appropriate. Where’s the indecency? We just got off the bus, and you’re already staring at us. I haven’t said anything yet, so may I ask, what’s your problem?”

The grandmother didn’t expect Zang Ling to be so assertive. Her tone softened as she replied, “How do you know we were looking at you? Can’t we look at the trees outside?”

The little boy, thinking the grandmother was being bullied, picked up a small wooden stick from the ground and waved it, charging toward Zang Ling.

However, Yan Wenshu quickly pressed his hand against the boy’s forehead, and the little boy struggled, swinging the stick at Yan Wenshu, shouting, “Bad guy! Let me go! You dare bully my grandma, I’ll beat you up!”

The system was furious, [Where did this brat come from? Host, beat him up!]

Yan Wenshu looked at the little boy expressionlessly. He pushed his hand forward, and the little boy immediately fell to the ground.

“Grandma!” The boy started crying loudly.

The grandmother immediately ran to his side, comforting him, “Grandma’s here, Xiao An, did you hurt yourself? Get up quickly.”

The little boy acted spoiled, rolling on the ground, refusing to get up, “No! If you don’t help me hit him, I won’t get up!”

The grandmother, feeling embarrassed, could only direct her anger at Yan Wenshu, “You, a grown man, bullying a child! Aren’t you ashamed! Look at what you’ve done, you’ve scraped the child’s knee, you’re not even human! Now these outsiders are bullying us, grandmother and grandson, and you guys are just standing there watching? Someone help teach them a lesson!”

The people around them chuckled but didn’t step in. They were just there for the spectacle and didn’t want to get involved in any trouble.

“His skin wasn’t even scraped, so he’s not seriously hurt.” Zang Ling walked in front of Yan Wenshu and said coldly, “It was your grandson who just tried to hit me with a stick, and my boyfriend was only defending himself.”

“Why argue with a child? He’s still young and doesn’t understand. Don’t you know better?” the grandmother retorted.

Zang Ling laughed softly, “Sorry, I only follow reason and facts. Just because someone is young doesn’t mean they can’t be held accountable for their mistakes. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be juvenile delinquents.”

The grandmother, furious, gritted her teeth, “You little girl, I thought you looked decent, but you have a black heart. How dare you curse someone else’s child! Do you have any conscience?”

Yan Wenshu glanced at her, his eyes turning cold, “Grandmother Song, don’t go too far.”

His words made both women turn to look at him. Song Qinghua squinted at him for a long time, then suddenly slapped her thigh, saying, “Are you Yunxia’s child? Yan… Wenshu?”

“Why are you back?” Song Qinghua said unhappily. “And you brought such a woman back? If your deceased parents knew you found this kind of girlfriend, they’d probably come back to life out of anger!”

Zang Ling, hearing this, glanced at Yan Wenshu with concern. Then, she turned to face Song Qinghua with a cold expression, saying, “What nonsense are you talking about? Please mind your words, or I’ll have my lawyer talk to you.”

“What? You’re going to sue me?” Song Qinghua didn’t believe it. She pulled her grandson up and patted his clothes, scolding, “I didn’t do anything to you, suing me would be pointless.”

The little boy, taking the opportunity to stand up, secretly whispered to her, “Grandma, I’ve already asked Ah Hui to call Grandpa over.”

Song Qinghua, emboldened, straightened her back and said, “Yan, how do you usually control your girlfriend? Is this how she talks to her elders? She has no manners at all. I always said you wouldn’t find any good people outside.”

Her sarcastic and mean expression hadn’t changed in Yan Wenshu’s memory.

“I listen to my girlfriend. Whatever she says goes. You don’t need to worry about it,” Yan Wenshu replied.

Song Qinghua, upon hearing this, laughed so hard she almost fell over, pointing at Yan Wenshu and saying, “When did you become so spineless? Saying you listen to your girlfriend? Where did that stubbornness from your childhood go? This is just too funny!”

Zang Ling angrily pushed her hand away, “You don’t know that pointing at others and speaking like that is incredibly rude. Forget it, it seems you’re not unaware of that, but what’s the matter? Just because you obey other men, does that mean everyone else should do the same?”

Song Qinghua was shocked, a surge of anger rising in her chest, “What do you mean, you brat?!”

Zang Ling didn’t want to deal with her anymore and pulled Yan Wenshu forward. At that moment, she suddenly understood why he didn’t want her to come.

“Stop!”

Song Qinghua shouted angrily, “You think you can just leave without giving me an explanation?”

Seeing someone approach, she quickly waved her hand and shouted, “Old man, over here!”

An elderly man wearing a gray short-sleeve shirt walked over. He was very thin, with sunken cheeks, dark skin, and sharp eyes, giving off an intimidating aura.

But Zang Ling wasn’t afraid. She asked Yan Wenshu, “Who’s this person?”

As the man approached, the people around them respectfully nodded at him.

Zang Ling guessed that this old man didn’t have any special skills but must have some important status in the village.

“Zhao Chang, he’s the village head.”

Zang Ling tightened her grip on Yan Wenshu’s hand. Just as she was about to take another step, a cane suddenly blocked her way.

“Yan, you haven’t been back for years, and now that you’re back, you bring an outsider to bully your own people. Now you think you can leave? That’s not how things work.”

Zang Ling looked at the people who had been watching the drama and noticed that they were now lining up behind the village head, all of them glaring at her and Yan Wenshu with shared hostility.

Yan Wenshu stepped forward, shielding Zang Ling behind him. He stared coldly at the group of people, “The ones who should leave aren’t us. If you want to fight, then fight. But my girlfriend must leave first.”

Zhao Chang laughed loudly, “Let your girlfriend call the police? That’s impossible.”

“Yan Wenshu, I thought you’d be more mature after growing up, but it turns out you’re still so naïve. If your mom knew you were like this, she probably wouldn’t be able to rest in peace underground.”

Yan Wenshu’s expression darkened, his finger joints cracking as he raised his hand to step forward. Zang Ling grabbed the hem of his shirt, looked at the group in front of them, and spoke coolly, “You’re really good at turning things around. So, what do you want to do?”

The little boy next to them jumped up, shouting, “Kneel down and apologize to me!”

“I want ten toy race cars, and I want candy!”

Song Qinghua didn’t stop him and laughed, “First, you need to apologize to me and Xiao An. Second, you hurt Xiao An. You’ll need to pay for his hospitalization, nutritional expenses, compensation for mental distress, and all the other costs for him being unable to attend school normally.”

She had long noticed that Yan Wenshu’s girlfriend was dressed unusually. The gold earrings in her ears, the clothes, pants, and shoes—she couldn’t tell their exact price, but they must be very expensive. Just by looking at her, it was clear that she was different from them.

This woman was definitely rich. If she didn’t take advantage of the situation now, she’d just let Yan Wenshu get off easy later!

Zhao Cheng didn’t refute her; it was clear he agreed with his wife’s opinion.

“Do you know what I hate most in my life? Being threatened by others,” Zang Ling said ambiguously.

Song Qinghua laughed upon hearing that. To her, it seemed like nothing more than the last desperate resistance before compromise.

It was pointless.

“Apologize and pay me 50,000, and then you can leave,” she said.

Zang Ling once again held back Yan Wenshu, who was about to make a move, and whispered, “I have a way.”

Then she took a card from her bag and waved it in front of everyone. Casually, she said, “This card has one million on it, but only I can take the money. Now, if someone helps me teach them a lesson, I’ll split this money with them. Ten thousand each.”

Looking at the eager people, she calmly added, “Of course, if anyone tries to snatch it, I’ll break the card right now, and you’ll get nothing.”

“Oh, by the way, no one should think about taking my bag. The most valuable thing in it is this card.”

Zhao Chang stared greedily at the card in her hand and smiled kindly, “Little girl, my wife’s request is simple, as you heard. All you need to do is apologize to us and give us the money, and this matter will be over.”

“My money, I have the right to decide who to give it to,” Zang Ling said, smiling at the hesitant crowd behind him. “This is a rare opportunity. You all think about it.”

One person couldn’t help but ask, “If we help you, will you really give us the money?”

Zang Ling calmly nodded.

After that, without her saying anything else, the people who had just been united against them turned and surrounded their village head.

“What do you want to do?! Are you rebelling?!”

“Grandpa Zhao, don’t blame us. We’re just doing the right thing. We can’t bear to see you two trying to scam a little girl.”

Song Qinghua tightly held the little boy and angrily said, “You actually believe that brat? By the time you make your move, they’ll be long gone. Where would the money come from?”

“And that money is supposed to be for me. How can you steal it from me! If you all leave now, when I get the money, I’ll give you a share, right?”

Zang Ling smiled, “Don’t worry, I won’t leave. When the time comes, you can come to Yan Wenshu’s house to find me.”

Hearing this, the crowd stopped hesitating and began fighting the two of them. The little boy stood at the side, crying loudly.

The system was stunned, [Wow, amazing!]

Hearing the system’s praise for Zang Ling, Yan Wenshu pursed his lips and remained silent, looking rather displeased.