Chapter 28: When Dogs Turn on Each Other

Yan Ziyue’s expression turned cold in an instant. She did not even spare Xu Lecheng a glance. "What a piece of bad luck!"

"Isn't it just?" Miao Lanlan chimed in with a sarcastic tone. "Hey, father of her child, what do you think is going through the mind of this scumbag, Xu Lecheng?"

"He's already married to Zhang Qingqing, yet he still has the audacity to try and seduce the Xiao family's daughter-in-law."

"Could it be that he thinks his charm is so great that he can seduce anyone he pleases?"

Miao Lanlan’s husband looked on with utter disgust. "As a man myself, I know exactly what kind of thoughts are running through Xu Lecheng’s head."

"He isn't just here to seduce the Xiao family's daughter-in-law; he's also looking to wring some benefits out of her."

"My guess is that it’s mostly about money."

"I heard from people at the Educated Youth Dormitory that Xu Lecheng has been busy making connections lately, trying to find a way to return to the city early."

Miao Lanlan let out a hollow laugh. "What kind of daydream is Xu Lecheng having?"

"Wait! Daughter-in-law of the Xiao family, you should make him pay back the money. He has taken plenty of cash and valuable things from you!"

Yan Ziyue was reminded.

She stood up and looked coldly at Xu Lecheng. "Pay me back."

"The money and the various items I lent you add up to about four hundred yuan."

She held out her hand. "Are you going to pay it back all at once, or in installments?"

"Don't you dare talk to me about past sentiments or claim that I gave you those things for free."

"If you dare say such a thing, I will take this straight to the Educated Youth Dormitory and see if you still have any chance of returning to the city."

Hearing this, Xiao Heshuo felt a surge of comfort and pleasure. This time, he was truly certain that Yan Ziyue had not the slightest bit of interest left in Xu Lecheng.

Xu Lecheng’s face cycled through shades of green, black, and red, looking like a painter's palette. "Ziyue, given the relationship you and I had..."

"Stop right there!" Yan Ziyue looked repulsed. "I have no relationship with you whatsoever."

"The so-called relationship was merely a deception you and Zhang Qingqing orchestrated to swindle money and goods out of me."

"Otherwise, you wouldn't have gone behind my back to marry her."

Miao Lanlan nodded vigorously. "Xiao family's daughter-in-law, you are absolutely right."

"A piece of trash like him is just looking to swindle money and women. It’s a good thing you finally woke up."

Yan Ziyue ignored Xu Lecheng, who stood there paralyzed by a mix of fury and helplessness. "Xu Lecheng, I’ll give you two days to scrape the money together."

"In two days, my husband and I will go to the Educated Youth Dormitory to collect it. If I don't get the money, I can't guarantee what I might do."

She knew that given Xu Lecheng’s family background, repaying this sum wasn't difficult, but he was a man obsessed with his reputation. He would never go to his family for money for such a reason.

Xu Lecheng clenched his fists, so humiliated he wished he could crawl into a crack in the ground.

"Ziyue, please help me one last time, and I’ll pay you back all at once."

He forced the words through his gritted teeth. "Just lend me another hundred..."

*Slap!*

Yan Ziyue struck him across the face, her voice cold and sharp. "Xu Lecheng, what do you think you are?"

"One hundred yuan? People in the village work themselves to the bone all year and don't even earn that much, yet you have the nerve to ask me for a hundred."

She could roughly guess what Xu Lecheng intended to do with that money.

Xu Lecheng pressed his tongue against the inside of his cheek, barely restraining the urge to retaliate. "Ziyue, I know I let you down, but I was deceived by Zhang Qingqing."

Yan Ziyue dug at her ear, looking impatient. "Enough. Save the excuses; they make me sick."

"Mark my words: if you don't pay up, I have plenty of ways to deal with you."

Xiao Heshuo stepped in front of her, his gaze like icy blades as he glared at Xu Lecheng. "If anything happens to Yan Ziyue, I will break your arms and legs."

Xu Lecheng felt a phantom pain in his limbs. He knew Xiao Heshuo was serious; this man was truly terrifying.

"You... Xiao Heshuo, if you dare do that, I will report you to the Public Security Bureau!"

A cold smirk played on Xiao Heshuo’s lips. "Are you sure you want to go to the Public Security Bureau?"

"The charges of hooliganism you’re already carrying, combined with defaulting on debts, are enough to get you a bullet."

Xu Lecheng turned as pale as a ghost, shivering, unable to utter a single word. He knew perfectly well how severe a charge of hooliganism was.

"Xu Lecheng, instead of wasting your time plotting against me, you’d better worry about whether Zhang Qingqing and the Yan family will help you." No sooner had Yan Ziyue finished speaking than she heard Zhang Qingqing’s sharp, hysterical wails.

"Yan Ziyue, you shameless slut! How dare you seduce my husband in public!"

Yan Ziyue glanced indifferently at the disheveled Zhang Qingqing, a faint smile on her lips.

Zhang Qingqing was covered in bruises, with several clear palm prints on her face, looking absolutely wretched. Yet, no one present felt any sympathy for her.

Even Xu Lecheng looked at her with nothing but disgust and impatience. "Zhang Qingqing, what are you blathering about?"

"Ziyue didn't seduce me; I came to find her."

Zhang Qingqing pointed an accusing finger at Yan Ziyue and sobbed at Xu Lecheng, "If that slut Yan Ziyue didn't seduce you, why would you come begging to see her?"

"You told me yourself many times that you hated Yan Ziyue, and that you only put on a nice face to use her and swindle her out of money and benefits."

She could not accept that she had become a woman shared by many! It was supposed to be Yan Ziyue who ended up in that position!

Yan Ziyue stood with her arms crossed, watching, stopping Xiao Heshuo and Miao Lanlan from intervening. Why would she stop a good show of dogs biting dogs?

Now, every time Xu Lecheng looked at Zhang Qingqing’s face, he was reminded of her being used by several other men, which filled him with disgust and shame. He had already lost all his dignity because of this woman, and yet she still had the nerve to come here and cause a scene.

"Zhang Qingqing, shut your mouth!"

He turned purple with rage and shouted, "I never said any of those things! You’re the one who’s always bad-mouthing Ziyue!"

"You’re jealous that Ziyue is prettier than you, jealous that she has a good family, jealous that she married a good man... You’re jealous of everything about her!"

"That’s why you and your mother secretly ruined her reputation, sowed discord between her and Yan Zhuangshi, and you even tried to seduce Xiao Heshuo multiple times to destroy her marriage... Ah!"

Zhang Qingqing suddenly lunged at him, punching and kicking him wildly. "I'll make you lie! I'll make you not help me! I'll make you come looking for that slut Yan Ziyue!"

"Xu Lecheng, you promised you would take me back to the city and let me live like a city person!"

"Why are you going back on your word?"

Xu Lecheng hadn't expected this. He was caught off guard, and she managed to scratch his face and pull out a large clump of his hair.

"Zhang Qingqing, have you lost your mind?"

He struck her with a heavy, thunderous slap, knocking her to the ground, and then began kicking her in the stomach repeatedly.

"You were the one who used despicable, low-down tricks to force me to marry you in the first place."

The more he spoke, the more enraged he became. "Now that you’ve become a woman who’s been with everyone, you still want to cling to me?"

"What kind of daydream are you having?"