Chapter 64.1

Under the dog man’s relentless questioning, Ruan Mingfu swallowed hard.

“…No… not at all…”

Help!

This bastard was so scary today that she couldn’t handle it.

“Really?”

Ruan Mingfu quickly nodded. “Really.”

“Little liar.”

Xie Yanzhao chuckled softly, then turned his gaze dangerously toward her.

“You just said so many things I didn’t want to hear. What do you think I should do to punish you?”

“Um… that’s not necessary. We’re married, right? Punishment sounds too formal…”

Ruan Mingfu panicked.

She reached out to push against his chest, but he didn’t budge. Instead, he grabbed her hand and pressed a gentle kiss on it, his dark eyes locking onto hers.

“Tell me, what happened today?”

All her fluster and fear disappeared, and Ruan Mingfu scoffed.

She felt herself regain confidence, glaring at the dog man. “Do you know that your stepmother came to bother me today?”

The romantic tension between them vanished completely.

Xie Yanzhao’s brows furrowed tightly.

His face darkened, and a wave of fierce energy radiated from him, making her uneasy.

“What trouble did she cause you? Did she lay a hand on you?”

Thinking again, he realized something was off. That woman was known for her theatrics. There was no way she would confront Ruan Mingfu directly. She would probably pretend to be kind to showcase her generosity.

“She better not try to touch me.”

If she did, Ruan Mingfu planned to have Mrs. Ruan take revenge and deal with her.

Seeing Ruan Mingfu’s proud expression, Xie Yanzhao sighed in relief.

“Good.”

He sat up and lifted her into his arms. Ruan Mingfu immediately jumped, but the dog man caught her deftly.

“Where are you going?”

“You… I’m still angry,” she huffed. “I’ve decided to ignore you tonight. I’m going to sleep with Gu Yilin, don’t pull me in!”

Xie Yanzhao’s eyes narrowed.

Gu Yilin?

Great, time to get rid of this light bulb.

Ruan Mingfu felt him grip her arm tightly, and she couldn’t break free, starting to get angry again.

“Let go!”

“Not letting go,” Xie Yanzhao replied, his eyes flashing with displeasure. “We’re married. We should sleep together.”

“Well then, we—”

The word “divorce” was on the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed it when she met Xie Yanzhao’s dark gaze. She still remembered how terrifying he had been earlier. Ruan Mingfu had no intention of provoking him.

“What then?”

Xie Yanzhao stared at her intently.

“We’ll sleep separately,” Ruan Mingfu said, struck by inspiration. “We’ll stay together on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and separate on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday.”

The more she thought about it, the better it seemed.

When the dog man was intimate, he was fierce and often left her in tears. She couldn’t take it, and when she said no, he acted like he didn’t hear and kept going strong.

Ruan Mingfu hated him so much that she wanted to bite him every time.

“No!”

Xie Yanzhao refused.

“You don’t have the right to say no. I’m still mad at you!”

There was a flash of guilt in his eyes.

The dog man pursed his lips, staring at Ruan Mingfu’s angry profile. After frowning and thinking for a moment, he said, “How about I vent your anger tomorrow by beating up Commander Xie?”

“Xie Yanzhao!”

Ruan Mingfu grabbed a pillow and hurled it at his face!

Taking advantage of the moment, she pounced on him, reaching out to fiercely grab his neck.

“You bastard, do you really not know why I’m angry, or are you just pretending?!”

She was tempted to strangle him to death on the spot.

Worst case scenario, she’d just become a beautiful widow and wouldn’t have to deal with this jerk’s constant aggravation every day!

Xie Yanzhao easily knocked the pillow away, his large hand resting on her lower back. Seeing the seriousness in her eyes, he sighed.

After a moment of silence, he finally spoke.

“I saw him… kill my mother with his own hands.”

Ruan Mingfu furrowed her brow, looking at him in shock. Her hand, which had been squeezing his throat, trembled and released its grip involuntarily.

The dog man took advantage of the moment, wrapping her small hand in his palm.

“How… how could that happen?”

“How could it not?” Xie Yanzhao had long severed any father-son bond with Commander Xie. “He’s even colder than you can imagine.”

Killing his mother was true, as was using a young nanny to frame him. Otherwise, how could he have shed the label of being just a son-in-law? When he was young, he didn’t understand, but as he grew up, he realized why Commander Xie did what he did.

It was all a matter of pride, an attempt to rid himself of the blemish that was them, the mother and son.

What a filthy, despicable man!

The young nanny thought she had Commander Xie wrapped around her finger, but she didn’t know he had another woman stashed ten kilometers away from the family compound. That woman was nearly ready to give birth, and once it was confirmed to be a boy, the young nanny and her child would be kicked out to make room for them.

Yet she was still blissfully unaware.

Xie Yanzhao’s lips curled into a mocking smile.

While the dog man recounted his story calmly, Ruan Mingfu was utterly shaken, horrified by the thought of such a ruthless father and husband.

She couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy for the dog man.

“After my mother died, the nanny who had been looking after me moved in with him. Beatings and scoldings were minor compared to the way my stepmother treated me. Whenever she was in a bad mood, she made me kneel at the foot of the stairs for an entire afternoon. She’d even deliberately lock my door, and when Commander Xie asked, she’d claim I was throwing a tantrum and refused to eat.”

“She had no idea Commander Xie was fully aware of her behavior.”

Those dark days felt as though they had only happened yesterday to Xie Yanzhao.

“Eventually, my reputation in the compound was ruined by my stepmother.”

“And later, in an effort to get rid of me, she pretended to fall down the stairs while heavily pregnant. That winter, they locked me outside, and if my grandparents hadn’t arrived in time, I would have frozen to death.”

Ruan Mingfu’s heart ached for him.

She had no idea that the dog man had such a tragic past.

“Honestly, I should thank my stepmother. If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t have been able to escape his control.”

Some people truly aren’t fit to be parents.

Even though Xie Yanzhao spoke with a casual air, Ruan Mingfu could feel the despair and agony behind his words. Enduring such experiences would be too much for most adults, let alone a child of seven or eight.

For someone so young to go through all of that, it was a wonder his mind didn’t become twisted.

Xie Yanzhao patted her head. “It’s all in the past now. I’ve long since let it go.”

Let it go?

Ruan Mingfu didn’t believe a single word.

If he had truly let it go, he wouldn’t have hidden it from her all this time. It took her threatening divorce before this stubborn man finally opened up.

Suddenly, something clicked in her mind.

“Isn’t it because you answered Commander Xie’s call that you agreed to marry me?”

“…Did you hear everything?”

Speaking of old things, Xie Yanzhao felt a little guilty.

Ruan Mingfu had wanted to escape from Zhou’s family pressure to marry, and similarly, he had wanted to break free from Commander Xie’s constant meddling.

After Xu Zhu found out about this, he also made this comment.

If either of them had been a little less calculating, they never would have ended up together.

Xie Yanzhao squeezed her hand gently.

“And after that?”

“After that… I lived with my grandparents until I was sixteen and was selected to join the military. I’ve been there ever since,” he explained while stroking Ruan Mingfu’s head. “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to worry about such things.”

Ruan Mingfu sighed inwardly.

The dog-man had terrible luck with parents, but fortunately, he later encountered good people. People like Lin Shu, Grandpa Bai, and Commander Li… Their influence was probably the reason he didn’t become vengeful towards society.

She gazed at Xie Yanzhao with newfound affection.

His life had been so hard that she didn’t even feel like arguing with him anymore.

Maybe she should just let it go…

Just as she was about to get off him, he grabbed her by the waist. She patted his hand. “Let go.”

But the dog-man narrowed his eyes dangerously.

“Now that I’ve talked about me, it’s time to talk about you.”

“Me?”