Chapter 44: Send a Woman to Seduce Xiao Heshuo

Several aunties alternated between envy and amazement.

"Xiao family daughter-in-law, you're way too impressive! That's middle school we're talking about!"

"If my boy could go to middle school, I'd wake up smiling from my dreams."

Yan Ziyue didn't show a hint of pride or smugness; she just smiled faintly. "As long as you study primary school knowledge well, it's not that hard to pass the middle school entrance exam."

"Having a middle school diploma makes it so much easier to find a job in town."

"I've heard that quite a few places in town specifically want people with middle school diplomas. A high school diploma would be even more popular."

Hearing this, several aunties began asking her questions about attending middle school and finding jobs in town.

Yan Ziyue answered whatever she could, but she kept strictly silent on matters not meant to be shared.

Just as they were talking, she heard a sweet, girlish voice.

"Xiao Heshuo, are you home?"

Following the direction of the voice, Yan Ziyue saw a young girl with two braided pigtails and a small floral-print shirt standing shyly at the courtyard gate, searching around for a glimpse of Xiao Heshuo.

The girl merely glanced at Yan Ziyue and the others before resuming her search for Xiao Heshuo.

"You're looking for my husband. Is something the matter?" Recognizing her as Gao Zhaodi, the youngest daughter of the Gao family, Yan Ziyue's tone was neither warm nor cold.

Gao Zhaodi ignored her and called out again, "Xiao Heshuo, are you home?"

"I must say, you have zero shame, woman!" Miao Lanlan quickly stepped up to her and pointed right at her nose, scolding, "The Xiao family's daughter-in-law asked if you were looking for her husband, but instead of answering, you keep yelling for Xiao Heshuo."

"Judging by your behavior, aren't you just trying to seduce Xiao Heshuo and act as a home-wrecker?"

She spat in disgust. "The Gao family really knows how to raise a daughter—teaching her to be a mistress. Absolutely shameless!"

The surrounding aunties looked at Gao Zhaodi with utter contempt.

"Calling Gao Zhaodi shameless is an insult to the word. In my eyes, Gao Zhaodi and Zhang Qingqing are cut from the same cloth; they simply can't live without a man."

"Xiao Heshuo made it clear long ago that he'll only ever have his wife in this lifetime, yet this woman still comes crawling shamelessly and won't even answer the mistress of the house."

"She probably thought she could marry Xiao Heshuo and replace the Xiao family's daughter-in-law as the mistress of this house."

Gao Zhaodi was just a young girl after all; how could she possibly withstand such harsh words from Miao Lanlan and the others?

Furthermore, she still didn't see Xiao Heshuo coming out, so she turned around and ran off in tears.

"Gao Zhaodi, weren't you quite smug when you were trying to seduce another woman's husband? Why are you crying now?" Miao Lanlan shouted loudly, "I'm thoroughly embarrassed for your family, raising such a shameless piece of work!"

Immediate neighbors poked their heads out one after another, asking, "What's going on here?"

Miao Lanlan vividly recounted how Gao Zhaodi had tried to seduce Xiao Heshuo and how she completely disregarded Yan Ziyue.

Hearing this, the neighbors gasped in disbelief.

"Has the Gao family lost their minds? Sending Gao Zhaodi over to seduce Xiao Heshuo when the man already has a wife!"

"I bet the Gao family has their eyes on Xiao Heshuo's money. You all know how it is—the Gao family has always wanted to sell Gao Zhaodi off for a high price, which is why they haven't betrothed her to anyone."

Hearing these words, a sense of crisis arose in Yan Ziyue's heart.

If there was a first Gao Zhaodi, there would surely be a second and a third...

She hadn't fully won Xiao Heshuo back yet. If something happened at a critical juncture like this, or if someone managed to exploit a vulnerability, she would die of grief.

She had to appease him as soon as possible.

After Miao Lanlan and the others left, Yan Ziyue went into the kitchen, stood behind Xiao Heshuo, and began massaging his shoulders with a sweet smile. "Husband, how's my pressure?"

Xiao Heshuo saw right through her little scheme, his thin lips curving upward slightly. "Not bad at all."

"Let's eat first. After we eat, I'll help you preview the first-year middle school curriculum."

Yan Ziyue hastily chimed in, "I'll carry the dishes! I'll carry the dishes! Husband, you just go sit in the main room."

Ignoring her, Xiao Heshuo carried the dishes together with her to the main room.

A bowl of egg drop soup and a plate of stir-fried Chinese cabbage made up their lunch.

Such a lunch was considered quite decent in the village.

Yan Ziyue placed plenty of food into Xiao Heshuo's bowl and asked tentatively, "Husband, Gao Zhaodi came looking for you earlier. Why didn't you go out?"

Xiao Heshuo glanced at her with a half-smile. "Finally decided to ask, huh?"

Yan Ziyue rubbed the tip of her nose and chuckled sheepishly, "I was just worried that my good husband might get snatched away by someone else."

"Although I have a lot of confidence in you and don't believe you'd be seduced by wild flowers outside, as the saying goes, dirty tricks are impossible to guard against."

Her trust in Xiao Heshuo wasn't enough; some people in the village would resort to any underhanded trick imaginable just to marry off their daughters.

Xiao Heshuo lightly tapped her forehead, a helpless expression on his face. "You're overthinking it."

"First of all, I am not like those other men; I will never do anything to wrong you."

"Secondly, I won't be easily manipulated... and even if I were somehow trapped, I would never grant those people their wish."

Having experienced such things in his youth, he despised manipulative schemes executed by any means necessary.

Yan Ziyue's heart settled, and she leaned close to him with a radiant smile. "I knew my husband was wholly and solely devoted to me."

Her bright eyes sparkled as if filled with a river of stars, looking exceptionally pretty.

Yet, at this close distance...

Xiao Heshuo's gaze swept across her slightly parted red lips, and his Adam's apple bobbed a few times.

It took the utmost willpower for him to force his head away.

"As long as you know." His voice sounded somewhat husky.

Unaware of his internal turmoil, Yan Ziyue smiled sweetly, "With my husband's word, I can rest easy."

No matter how hard certain people in the village tried, it would all be in vain.

Meanwhile, Gao Zhaodi ran home in tears and complained to her parents, "Dad, Mom, that wretch Yan Ziyue went too far! She deliberately ruined my reputation!"

Hearing this, Gao's father and mother were furious.

"That little vixen Yan Ziyue is vicious! She deliberately ruined your reputation just to make it impossible for you to marry Xiao Heshuo!"

"We can't let this stand. If Zhaodi's reputation is truly ruined, she won't be able to marry into the Xiao family."

Wiping away her tears, Gao Zhaodi spoke in a mix of anger and fear, "Dad, Mom, what should we do now?"

"Should I ask my older and younger brothers to go to the Xiao family's house for me?"

Gao's mother looked at Gao's father. "Old man, what do you think we should do about this?"

Gao's father pondered for a moment. "With Yan Ziyue at home, going over to find Xiao Heshuo like that won't work."

"We need to wait until Xiao Heshuo is by himself, and then send Zhaodi to find him."

Unconvinced, Gao Zhaodi asked, "Dad, will that really work?"

With the look of someone holding a winning hand, Gao's father replied, "It will!"

"Zhaodi, if you do as I say, you will definitely marry Xiao Heshuo."

"Your dad is a man too; I understand what goes on in Xiao Heshuo's mind."

He lowered his voice to share his plan, specifically instructing Gao Zhaodi on what to do and say when she met Xiao Heshuo.

"Hey, Gao family! Are you trying to make your daughter a home-wrecker?" Someone shouted from outside the Gao household at that very moment.