Chapter 2: A Situation That Can Be Described as a Battlefield

In the original novel, the author didn’t describe how Xie Fangzhu looked, so all of his appearance was imagined by Shen Yingying.

Based on his actions and the original character’s cruel attitude towards him, Shen Yingying had always thought he was an ugly and repulsive man.

After all, a man who is completely obedient yet still treated like an animal is most likely horrifically ugly.

But as she looked at the man in front of her, Shen Yingying realized she had been too naive.

He was tall—at least over 1.8 meters.

His facial features were sharp and well-defined, his appearance refined but not lacking in masculinity. If not for the chilling, sinister aura in his eyes, he would have been someone difficult to look away from.

Shen Yingying was deeply shocked.

How could the original character treat someone with such a perfect face so cruelly?

If only she had been a little kinder to him, maybe the ending wouldn’t have been so tragic.

And there wouldn’t have been any need to drag her, an innocent person from the 21st century, into this mess.

The “scapegoat” Shen Yingying felt increasingly wronged, unable to stop cursing the original character’s ancestors in her mind.

She had only read a novel—who had she offended? Why was she the one left to take the fall?

A fall that was so disastrous, she might not even survive it.

Although her mind was full of all sorts of curses, her face showed no sign of it. She still looked flustered, just as if nothing had changed.

“No, no! Xie Fangzhu, you’ve misunderstood!” she hurriedly denied the accusation he had made, while secretly gathering her strength.

The next moment, the actress in her took over, and tears welled up in her eyes.

Through her misty, tear-filled eyes, she looked at the man whose expression was still cold and murderous, then gently reached out to hold the hand that was gripping her chin.

“The reason I took the money is because I lied to you. I really didn’t plan to take care of the money—that was my fault, my mistake.”

She bit her lip, her long, curled eyelashes trembling. Her voice was tinged with sobs, as if she had suffered an immense grievance.

“But you can’t accuse me of running away. I didn’t run away. I was just going to work with that person. He told me he was the factory director and that if I gave him 500 yuan, he would arrange a job for me at the state-run factory. I was so desperate to get a job, I was afraid you wouldn’t agree, so I lied to you…”

She hiccupped, looking into Xie Fangzhu’s eyes.

Xie Fangzhu’s gaze met hers unexpectedly.

Her jet-black eyes were filled with tears, and her expression was full of grievance.

But they were clear and sincere, with no trace of guilt.

Xie Fangzhu felt his heart tighten uncontrollably.

Shen Yingying continued, her eyes now red, “Although I haven’t been good to you, I’ve never done anything to hurt you. I’m innocent. I only… only did this wrong thing because I saw so many girls at the mine with jobs, and I was so envious…”

She closed her eyes in pain, tears streaming down her pale cheeks, falling onto the fingers that were gripping her chin.

The warm tears made Xie Fangzhu feel as if he had been burned.

Her reaction was completely unexpected to him.

He had thought that, given Shen Yingying’s personality, she wouldn’t only refuse to admit it, but would also stubbornly fight back, cursing him to no end.

But to his surprise, she didn’t admit to it, but instead showed this attitude.

After a moment’s hesitation, his hand, which had been gripping her chin tightly, loosened involuntarily.

When Xie Fangzhu came to his senses, Shen Yingying had already unconsciously grabbed his hand, her soft palm pressed against his rough, large hand.

“Xie Fangzhu, I know I was wrong. I promise I won’t do it again. Please don’t be angry, okay?”

She tilted her head, tears clinging to her long eyelashes, looking at him with a pleading expression.

Her voice, still tinged with sobs, was soft and pleading, even a bit coquettish.

Xie Fangzhu felt a jolt, a tremor in his heart, and even considered letting her off the hook for today.

Realizing this, he was shocked and quickly pulled his hand away from hers.

He had always been a man of firm will, and no one had ever been able to sway his decisions, yet Shen Yingying had just done so.

He had initially thought Shen Yingying was just a pretty face with no brains, but he hadn’t expected this side of her. He had underestimated her!

Thinking of all he had endured in the Shen family, Xie Fangzhu’s expression grew colder.

“Arrange work? Do you think I’m stupid? Shen Yingying, you’re finished today!” Xie Fangzhu gritted his teeth, his temples throbbing, his voice no longer as calm and steady as before.

He grabbed her waist, hoisted her onto his shoulder, and strode towards their living quarters in the mining area.

He was definitely going to take action today! He’d start by breaking her legs!

Thinking this, his pace quickened.

Shen Yingying felt like she had been struck by lightning. Her “seduction” plan had failed.

She had seen the sudden, ruthless change in Xie Fangzhu’s expression the moment he hoisted her onto his shoulder. He looked ready to kill.

She didn’t understand why this had happened. He had clearly softened just a moment ago.

Though it was subtle, she had definitely seen it…

“Xie Fangzhu… I didn’t lie to you. I really didn’t!”

Shen Yingying panicked, tears streaming down her face – these were genuine tears.

She was afraid of losing her legs, afraid of losing her freedom, and even more afraid of being locked in a dark room forever.

“Don’t do this. I’m so scared… Waaah…”

“Xie Fangzhu… Waaah… I’m really timid…”

Xie Fangzhu: “…”

His temples throbbed even harder. He had never known she was so noisy.

Xie Fangzhu walked quickly and soon arrived at their living quarters, where a crowd had gathered, waiting for him.

The mining area was a small town, but very different from the towns of the future.

Most people here knew each other, and gossip spread quickly.

That’s why, even though Xie Fangzhu had only told the shift supervisor about going to catch her, the news had spread among the residents in less than two hours.

Seeing him bring her back, the residents felt relieved for him, but also indignant.

“Little Xie! That wife of yours is too much! You need to give her a good beating! Teach her a lesson!”

“Yeah, if she dares to run off with someone today, she’ll definitely do it again. You have to give her a good beating! A hard one! You’re too nice to her, that’s why she doesn’t respect you.”

When the original Shen Yingying was in the mining area, she barely glanced at anyone other than the leaders, so she wasn’t popular.

Coupled with Xie Fangzhu’s deliberate manipulation, now that something had happened, everyone was criticizing her, and no one spoke up for her.

One woman, getting particularly worked up, went behind Xie Fangzhu and pointed at Shen Yingying’s head, cursing:

“A loose woman who can’t keep her pants on will never wear them properly. I think you should break her legs, Little Xie, and lock her up at home! That’s the only way she’ll behave and stop seducing people!”

Shen Yingying was already worried about her legs, and she was flustered and anxious, holding back a lot of pent-up anger.

She was feeling wronged but didn’t dare to lash out at the crazy Xie Fangzhu.

Now that the woman was maliciously hitting her sore spot, how could she hold back?

Her pent-up anger exploded.

“Which eye of yours saw me run off with someone?! My relationship with my man is great, mind your own business! If your mouth spews filth, go spew it in the fields, don’t spew it on me! It’s smelly! Disgusting!”

The woman who told Xie Fangzhu to break her legs was Liu Guizhen, who worked in the mining area’s cafeteria. She had long disliked Shen Yingying.

She thought Shen Yingying’s foxy eyes were constantly wandering, disturbing the peace of the mining area’s men.

The last time, her man had been swayed by just a few glances and words from Shen Yingying, and he had lost his mind.

He spent all his time staring at Shen Yingying’s backside, neglecting his home.

She was furious but couldn’t find any concrete evidence, so she couldn’t confront anyone.

Now that she finally had an opportunity, she didn’t expect Shen Yingying to be so tough.

Shen Yingying not only cursed her back but also indirectly called her mouth a cesspool!

Liu Guizhen worked at the cafeteria window, and everyone fawned over her, trying to please her. Who dared to curse her like this?

How could she tolerate it?! She pointed at Shen Yingying and cursed: “Stop pretending! Everyone in the mine knows you’re a slut!”

Seeming to feel that cursing alone wasn’t enough, she rolled up her sleeves and lunged at Shen Yingying’s hair while still cursing. “You ill-mannered thing! Today, I’ll teach you a lesson in place of your parents, teach you to be foul-mouthed! Teach you to seduce people! I’ll beat you to death!”