"WOOF WOOF WOOF!" Da Huang saw things were going south and instantly blocked Zhang Guihua’s path, baring his teeth in a threatening snarl.

Xue Rui was right by Lin Ruoxi’s side, completely unafraid of what the other woman might do.

Da Huang’s appearance, however, made his eyes light up. ’Good boy,’ he thought. ’So eager to protect his master. He was definitely worth raising.’

"You beast!"

Zhang Guihua, furious and flustered, picked up a stick from the ground, intending to give Da Huang a vicious beating.

Just as Xue Rui was about to save Da Huang, a man squeezed through the crowd.

"Guihua!"

The man snatched the stick from Zhang Guihua’s hand and slapped her across the face.

"Li Jiansheng, you dare hit me! I..."

Before Zhang Guihua could finish, she was hit with another solid slap.

Zhang Guihua wanted to curse him again, but when she saw Li Jiansheng’s hand raise high once more, she hastily lowered her head and shrank back, not daring to say another word.

After a few slaps, the look in Zhang Guihua’s eyes cleared up considerably.

She knew her husband’s temperament. Usually, no matter how much of a scene she made, he wouldn’t bother with her. But when he got serious, she was the one who had to back down.

Xue Rui watched, clicking his tongue in amazement. Zhang Guihua didn’t look like a shrew now; she looked like a meek little wife.

"Damn, there really is a counter for everything. Is this some kind of animal chess game?" Ren Jun muttered.

After getting his wife under control, Li Jiansheng put on a sheepish smile and approached Lin Ruoxi.

"Xixi, you’ve been wronged. Why didn’t you tell me about this?"

He had only found out today that such a mess had occurred at home. His son, who was attending university in Chang’an, had been calling him nonstop, telling him to come home and check on things, saying that Zhang Guihua had caused huge trouble.

When he arrived at the village entrance, he saw that one of his family’s fruit trees had already been chopped down.

He had pleaded and reasoned with the workers, even buying them a carton of cigarettes, and had barely managed to convince them to wait until after lunch before resuming their work.

"Where’s Xixi’s family?" Li Jiansheng looked around before walking over to Ren Jun.

Ren Jun waved his hand and pointed at Xue Rui, indicating that he should talk to him.

"Um... We know we were wrong. We’ll definitely compensate Xixi. About the orchard..."

Li Jiansheng had an honest face and stammered a little as he spoke. He looked like a simple, hardworking farmer.

’The person in charge here is just a kid,’ he thought, surprised.

"I’m not interested in mediation, just as some people will never realize their mistakes," Xue Rui said coldly, without even looking at Li Jiansheng.

He had basically figured this family out. The father and son were decent enough, but they were unfortunately stuck with a shrew.

"Guihua, apologize to them!" Li Jiansheng snapped.

"Me?" Zhang Guihua hesitated, then suddenly saw Li Jiansheng’s tightly clenched fist.

With two red handprints on her face, she reluctantly walked up to Xue Rui. "I’m sorry!"

"Too stiff, too perfunctory. Besides, what’s the use of apologizing to me?" Xue Rui said coldly.

Zhang Guihua’s expression turned ugly. She knew what she had to do; she just didn’t want to bow her head and admit she was wrong.

Her son had also urged her to apologize to Lin Ruoxi.

Looking around, it seemed like everyone was waiting for it.

Helpless, she could only walk over to Lin Ruoxi and lower her head. "I’m sorry."

When Lin Ruoxi saw Zhang Guihua approaching, she instinctively wanted to back away. She was terrified of this woman.

But hearing her apologize, she felt a little happy, yet also inexplicably upset.

Lin Ruoxi didn’t realize it was because Zhang Guihua’s attitude was so terrible.

Xue Rui stepped closer and whispered in Zhang Guihua’s ear:

"If you keep this attitude, I’m definitely tearing down that orchard."

"And what you’ve done will appear in the Chang’an newspapers. It’s just a matter of paying for an ad. I’ll send it to your son’s university, hang up a banner... We’ll see if your ’university student’ can continue his studies then."

Xue Rui finished with a smile and lightly patted Zhang Guihua’s shoulder.

Zhang Guihua couldn’t stop trembling. Xue Rui was too ruthless. He wasn’t just going to destroy her family’s livelihood; he was going to ruin her son, too.

Only a day had passed since Xue Rui’s appearance, and now the orchard belonged to him.

She didn’t doubt for a second that he could do it. A luxury car worth millions was parked at the gate. A person like him was from a different world entirely.

Her usual tantrums and hysterics were completely useless against the young man before her.

An intense fear rose in Zhang Guihua’s heart. Looking at Xue Rui’s sunny smile, a chill ran down her spine.

"Unwilling?" Xue Rui chuckled.

Zhang Guihua shuddered. With a THUD, she fell to her knees before Lin Ruoxi and began slapping herself repeatedly.

"Xixi, I’m a beast! I’ve wronged you!"

"I’m not human, I’m a menace!"

...

The onlookers clicked their tongues in astonishment. It was the first time they had ever seen a shrew like Zhang Guihua bow her head and admit she was wrong.

And with such sincerity, it was almost moving.

No one stopped Zhang Guihua. In the quiet courtyard, there were only the sounds of slapping and curses.

Snot and tears streamed down Zhang Guihua’s face, and blood from her nose dripped onto the ground.

Her face was swollen beyond recognition, but she kept slapping herself. She had gone numb, unsure if she should stop or not.

Several times, Lin Ruoxi wanted to stop her, but Xue Rui held her back.

Lin Ruoxi looked troubled and whispered to Xue Rui, "Xue Rui, she... she knows she was wrong. Make her stop."

’This girl is really too soft-hearted,’ Xue Rui thought. ’It’s just a few slaps. Compared to how long you’ve been wronged, not to mention being framed, what’s a minor injury like this?’

"She doesn’t know she was wrong. She’s just scared." Xue Rui pinched Lin Ruoxi’s nose.

If Xue Rui hadn’t forced her hand with such drastic measures, a person like Zhang Guihua would never admit fault.

"Hey, young man, that’s enough. Something bad will happen if this keeps up!" an old man called out, trying to mediate.

Many people nodded in agreement. Zhang Guihua’s current state was truly pathetic. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

An uninformed passerby would never have recognized the face, swollen like a pig’s head, as Zhang Guihua.

Xue Rui also felt it was about enough.

He had enjoyed the show, the gossiping crowd had enjoyed the show, and most importantly, Lin Ruoxi’s anger had subsided.

"Alright. I won’t chop down the trees. Have your husband talk to me," Xue Rui said, his face still grim.

"Everyone go home now. It’s almost lunchtime. Disperse, disperse," Village Chief Hua said, waving his hand to tell the crowd to stop gawking.

"Hehe, today’s drama was really juicy," someone said, munching on a piece of watermelon.

"You said it. When there’s a good show to watch, the watermelon tastes better."

...

After the crowd dispersed, it was time to discuss business.

Xue Rui, Li Jiansheng, Village Chief Hua, and others gathered in Lin Ruoxi’s house to discuss the ownership of the land.

Zhang Guihua also huddled outside the door, listening in with a curious expression.

"Young man, about this land... do you think you could sublease it to us?" Li Jiansheng pleaded.

"You can. Fifty thousand a year," Xue Rui said, making an outrageous demand.

"What!" Zhang Guihua couldn’t help but cry out. The price Xue Rui quoted was way too high! It was dozens of times the market rate.

"Get back! We’re talking business, what are you interfering for?" Li Jiansheng scolded.

Xue Rui did it on purpose. He had noticed Zhang Guihua watching from the side a while ago.

"Young man, we’re all villagers here, life isn’t easy. Name a more reasonable price," Village Chief Hua said, trying to smooth things over.

"And it’s easy for my Xixi? You occupied her land without even signing a contract and made her work for free," Xue Rui retorted irritably.

"We’ll compensate Xixi. We were wrong," Li Jiansheng said, lowering his head.

Lin Ruoxi and the old woman listened from the side.

When she heard "my Xixi," a warmth spread through Lin Ruoxi’s heart. It was the first time someone had spoken up for her like this.

And in such a tone, too—it was so natural, so intimate.

It was as if she really had an older brother like him.