Chapter 45 Rough guys always protect their shortcomings!

“Earlier today, Aunt Zhao already told me about the arranged partner switch. She was afraid people would gossip if Comrade Xie Jianguo married Chang Meili, so she wanted me to marry Comrade Xie Yu instead. I said I’d consider it,” Chang Suisui took a deep breath and then stared directly at Zhao Xiulan as she questioned, “Aunt Zhao, I already agreed to consider it, so why are you being so aggressive? Pulling a stunt like this in the middle of the night, making sure the whole village knows—are you afraid I might change my mind?”

“Aiya, this Zhao Xiulan is really ruthless. Just for her son’s marriage, she’s even resorting to this kind of scheme.”

“No kidding. Look at Comrade Chang—such an honest and proper girl, how could she handle this kind of treatment?”

“Who in the village doesn’t know that Zhao Xiulan always skimps on her brother-in-law’s food? Now she wants to pawn off the educated youth as a substitute bride—this is basically fraud!”

“Tsk tsk, Zhao Xiulan’s always been cunning, but I didn’t expect her to go this far.”

“If this marriage really goes through, Comrade Chang’s future will be bitter.”

…

Zhao Xiulan’s face twisted into a contorted expression. “Don’t talk nonsense! Our Jianguo would never want a piece of trash like you! If someone can steal your man, maybe you should be asking what’s wrong with you!”

She would never let Chang Suisui drag her son into this mess! Her son was the most promising man in Hongqi Village—he was going to be a big official someday! She wouldn’t allow Chang Suisui to taint his name.

With Zhao Xiulan’s outburst, the crowd’s opinions began to shift again.

“Aiya… now that she says it like that, could there be something wrong with Comrade Chang?”

“Who knows? She always keeps to herself. Maybe she’s hiding something.”

“Tsk tsk, wasn’t it her fiancé who ended up liking her cousin? If there wasn’t something wrong with her, why would that happen?”

“Exactly. She couldn’t even hold on to her man—what does that say?”

“Better not get involved, or we’ll just be inviting trouble.”

…

Zhao Xiulan listened with satisfaction as the crowd turned against Chang Suisui, raising her chin proudly, as if she’d already crushed her opponent underfoot.

“Enough!” Xie Yu’s expression grew darker with every word he heard. His usually composed face was tense, the veins on his temples bulging with rage. His sharp gaze swept across the villagers, silencing them in an instant.

Everyone froze under the weight of his presence.

Xie Yu scanned the crowd with his cold black eyes and shouted, “Qian Weimin!”

“Here!” Qian Weimin instinctively stepped forward from the crowd to stand at attention in front of Xie Yu.

Clearly, their Commander was seriously angry this time. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be summoning him in public like this.

But truth be told, Qian Weimin had already been itching to deal with these gossipy villagers.

“If the commander hadn’t said something, I would’ve dealt with them myself,” he thought.

“Go to town and bring back Police Chief Li Dayong. Tell him there’s someone here publicly slandering and spreading rumors about a retired soldier! Tell him to deal with it seriously!” Xie Yu’s voice was low, forceful, and carried undeniable authority.

Qian Weimin immediately beamed. Without hesitation, he responded, “Yes, sir! Consider it done!”

Chief Li Dayong had once served under Xie Yu. He followed orders to the letter. If not for Xie Yu protecting him back in the day, he’d never have become police chief.

With that in mind, Qian Weimin picked up the pace.

Just as he was about to leave, Zhao Xiulan lunged forward and grabbed his arm. “You can’t go!”

She wasn’t sure what kind of relationship Xie Yu had with Li Dayong, but anything involving the Public Security Bureau couldn’t be good. Especially when they were the ones being accused!

Defaming and slandering a retired soldier—that sounded like serious trouble.

Her face turned deathly pale and her lips trembled. “You… you can’t sue us! We were just speaking the truth!”

Xie Yu ignored her excuses completely. His gaze, sharp as a blade, sliced through Zhao Xiulan’s false facade. “The truth? Your so-called truth is built on slander and lies? If you think there’s nothing wrong with that, then let the Public Security decide!”

Now the other villagers began to panic. They’d just come to watch some drama—how had this escalated to the police getting involved?

“We were just chatting, how could we know it’d blow up like this?” one villager said timidly, eyes darting nervously.

“Yeah, we didn’t mean any harm. Just let our mouths run a bit.”

“Xie Yu, we’re all neighbors here, can’t you let this slide?”

“Right, right, we realize we were wrong. We won’t do it again.”

…

Standing beside Xie Yu, Chang Suisui watched him fight for her, even revealing his connection with Qian Weimin. She suddenly felt that this rugged man wasn’t as rough as she’d thought. In fact… he was a little endearing.

Honestly, if she wanted to handle Zhao Xiulan, it would’ve been easy. But Xie Yu’s fierce loyalty had truly touched her heart.

Since he was protecting her so earnestly, she couldn’t let him suffer for it.

If they really got everyone arrested, even if they married in the future, life in the village wouldn’t be easy.

Chang Suisui gently patted Xie Yu’s arm and spoke softly, “Comrade Xie, I think the villagers meant well. They were probably just misled by someone…”

The moment she said this, the crowd immediately turned and threw all the blame on Zhao Xiulan—each insult sharper than the last.

“Comrade Chang is right! It’s that loudmouth Zhao Xiulan stirring up trouble all over the village! We were just led astray!”

“Exactly. That mouth of hers never stops—always gossiping and spreading rumors.”

“And she’s the village head’s wife? Can’t believe our village chief married someone like her!”

“Yeah! If it weren’t for her, we’d never have misunderstood Comrade Chang. Now we look like criminals!”

“Right, right! From now on we’re staying far away from her—don’t want her dragging us down.”

“Zhao Xiulan deserves to be taught a real lesson—lock her up so she finally learns what ‘trouble starts from the mouth’ means!”

…

Chang Suisui’s lips curled into a slight smile. She raised an eyebrow at Zhao Xiulan’s ashen face and mouthed two words:

“Game over.”