“Brother Lu, this is the Xu Jie you’re looking for, from the neighboring village, he went to junior high, he didn’t run!” A burly boy grabbed Xu Jie by the collar and threw him in front of Yan Qinglu.
Beside them, Chen Hou, skinny as a monkey, chewed on a piece of straw and kicked Xu Jie, “Tsk, looks shifty, who would think you’ve been to school?”
Xu Jie covered his head, looking wary at the three of them. “I know you guys, from Datang Village, right? What do you want?”
He had seen them in town several times, once even feeling ashamed of their idleness, always loafing around doing nothing.
As he spoke, he tried to get up, but Lin Daxiong pushed him back to the ground. “Brother Lu has questions for you, just be honest!”
Yan Qinglu squatted in front of him. “What did you do three nights ago?”
Xu Jie’s eyes flickered with panic, then he became cautious again. “What do you mean?”
Yan Wan’ying had also approached him later, saying Yan Wantong hadn’t died, so he didn’t need to feel guilty. But when Yan Qinglu asked like this, he had to be careful with his answers.
Lin Daxiong clenched his fists and swung them towards Xu Jie’s face, startling Xu Jie into shouting, “Ah!”
“Why so much nonsense? Brother Lu asked you a question, just answer it.”
Xu Jie felt relieved seeing the fist didn’t land on his face, but the cold sweat still flowed on his forehead.
“I really don’t know what you want to ask.”
“I want to know about Yan Wan’ying.”
After Yan Qinglu’s question, Lin Daxiong and Chen Hou exchanged glances, both with unreadable expressions.
Brother Lu likes Yan Wan’ying?
But wasn’t she the one who threw stones at him a few days ago? That kind of woman… Tsk, disgusting.
When Xu Jie heard that Yan Qinglu was asking about Yan Wan’ying, he naturally breathed a sigh of relief. After all, that woman hadn’t suffered any substantial harm. After Yan Wantong accidentally fell down, Yan Wan’ying even wanted to run away with him, but then suddenly changed her mind.
He was worried that Yan Wan’ying might say something, so he had been inquiring about the situation in Datang Village these past two days. Knowing the news that Yan Wantong hadn’t died, he finally relaxed.
“Yan Wan’ying said she wanted to go to work with me outside the village. Later, her sister came and took her back. That’s it.” Xu Jie intentionally concealed some details.
But as soon as he finished speaking, Yan Qinglu grabbed Xu Jie’s arm and twisted it. “I want you to tell me everything.”
Xu Jie wailed, and couldn’t hold on for long before he spilled the beans about that night, including pushing Yan Wantong down the hill and escaping with Yan Wan’ying.
After listening, Yan Qinglu’s expression became darker.
[Mission target favorability -30, current favorability value is -5.]
*Snap!* Yan Wan’ying slammed her chopsticks on the table, her face full of shock as she stood up.
“Youngest Sister, what are you doing?” Eldest Brother Yan put down his bowl and chopsticks with a stern face.
The Yan family was having dinner, and now everyone’s attention was on Yan Wan’ying.
Wan Tong also heard the reminder from Shishi and knew that the boss’s favorability for Yan Wan’ying had dropped, but the reason was unknown.
It’s really ‘a person stays at home, and disaster strikes from the sky.’1
What is Yan Qinglu up to now?
Because Wan Tong is injured, there has been a strong smell of blood at the dinner table these past few days. And the three brothers are also doting brothers to their sister, making sure she eats and drinks well every day, without having to do any chores.
Wan Tong feels like she’s gaining weight.
Yan Wan’ying didn’t say anything and immediately ran off.
Wan Tong wanted to go after Yan Wan’ying to see what was going on, but was stopped by Eldest Brother Yan, “Tongtong, don’t worry about her, she’s been really unreasonable lately.”
So Wan Tong sat back down.
That night, Yan Wan’ying didn’t come back until very late, and it seems she didn’t see Yan Qinglu either. When she got home, she threw a tantrum.
Wan Tong ignored her and chatted earnestly with Shishi.
After Yan Qinglu’s favorability towards Yan Wan’ying dropped to negative, all Shishi’s skills were indeed lit up2, and she successfully activated the ‘beauty skill.’
A course of treatment, lasting for a month.
Fall asleep before eleven every night to ensure sleep.
The achievable result is full-body beauty.
Wan Tong didn’t know what the so-called full-body beauty would look like, probably all the scars on her body would naturally heal?
As she thought about it, sleepiness also came over her, but Shishi suddenly woke her up, [Tongtong, the boss has been circling outside your house for a long time.]
Wan Tong opened her eyes and there was no movement on the opposite bed, so Yan Wan’ying was probably asleep.
Wan Tong got up, put on her coat, and went out. The cold wind poured into the gaps in her neck and clothes, making her shiver.
It was only a little after ten o’clock, but everyone went to bed early.
But she still went out of the yard and saw the figure walking back and forth outside the yard wall from afar.
Although she couldn’t see his expression, that anxious and nervous figure seemed a bit cute to her.
Perhaps hearing the sound, Yan Qinglu suddenly turned towards her.
Wan Tong stood in front of him across the wall, he seemed to confirm it was her, leaning against the wall that only reached his waist, slightly bending down, his voice tinged with a hint of teasing, “Yan Wantong, not sleeping in the middle of the night, what do you want to do?”
Wan Tong yawned, “I got up to use the bathroom.”
“Without light?” Yan Qinglu squinted slightly, there was only a shadow in front of him, which made him very uncomfortable.
He just wanted to pull her over and take a good look.
“…” Wan Tong hesitated for a moment, suddenly remembered that there was only a place for peeing in her house, and if she needed to poop, she had to go to the nearby pit latrine.
She went out of the yard, and he thought she was going to poop…
She was just talking nonsense, and now, she couldn’t back out.
But it was pitch black and stinking, she really didn’t want to deliberately go to the pit latrine.
“I suddenly don’t want to go anymore,” she squeezed out a sentence.
Yan Qinglu naturally knew that she just got up suddenly and didn’t intend to go to the pit latrine.
“Are you not afraid that I’ll eat you? After all, you’re the little prey that caught my eye.” His words were intriguing.
Wan Tong reached out and waved her hand in front of him, unsure if he was actually looking at her, but she felt more like he was staring at her head.
It was a cloudy night, with little light, yet he, a night-blind person, dared to roam around.
She suppressed a smile. “But you need to be able to see your prey clearly too.”
Yan Qinglu was surprised. She knew about his weakness?
But he wasn’t angry; instead, he felt a tingling sensation. She seemed to be increasingly unrestrained around him lately. Was she trying to seduce him now?
“Alright,” he suddenly responded.
While Wan Tong was still puzzled, he accurately reached out and grabbed her under the armpits, lifting her up and carrying her outside the earthen wall.
“!!!” Wan Tong was dumbfounded.
Yan Qinglu chuckled softly, then, holding her in his arms, he pressed her against the low wall, leaning down to face her, his handsome face shining even in the darkness. “It seems I can indeed see clearly now.”
Wan Tong gradually regained her senses. The cold air couldn’t cool down her cheeks. Yan Qinglu was shameless; who could endure this?
“Don’t you dare lay a hand on me…” Her voice lacked confidence, as being this close to him made her warmer.
Yan Qinglu wanted to tease her a bit more, but then he noticed the lights turning on in the main hall.
“GLet’s go back.” He released her and pushed her towards the door, then leaned in again, saying, “I’ll be leaving for a while, you…”
He didn’t finish his sentence. Wan Tong glanced in the direction behind her, nodded, and hurried inside.
Eldest Brother Yan heard the commotion and seeing Wan Tong return, he quickly spoke up, “Why did you go out without a light?”
He also thought she was going to the pit latrine.
Wan Tong cleared her throat. “It’s okay, I’m back now.”
With that, she hastily returned to her room.
Eldest Brother Yan opened the door again to look outside but didn’t notice anything unusual. But just now, did he hear Fourth Sister talking to someone?
Perhaps he misheard.
In the following days, as expected, Yan Qinglu was nowhere to be found in the village, and Yan Wan’ying became increasingly irritable. Finally, she suggested going to the city for two days to visit their father, who was still working on the construction site.
Wan Tong learned from Shishi that Yan Qinglu had indeed formed his own demolition team in the city, so it was highly likely that Yan Wan’ying was going to find him.
Eldest Brother Yan thought Yan Wan’ying still had the idea of working in the city, so he angrily forbade her from going out again.
At this moment, Wan Tong also proposed her request to go to the city, and that instead of letting Yan Wan’ying sneak out, it was better to go openly with her.
In the world’s plot, Yan Qinglu killed Xu Jie and Yan Wan’ying, took his mother to the city, and never returned. But now he had no reason to kill anyone, his fate was already changed. He left alone without her mother, so it was unknown how long he would stay there.
But he wouldn’t leave his mother alone for long.
When Wan Tong suggested leaving with Yan Wan’ying, all three brothers were somewhat surprised.
In their eyes, Wan Tong was introverted and timid, but now she proposed to go to the city?
“Fourth Sister, are you sure you can handle it?” Eldest Brother Yan asked.
Their father Yan Zheng usually followed the contractor outside, occasionally bringing the children along for a stroll when he returned the village. However, only Wan Tong, due to her fear and insecurity, had never been out.
“Mm.” Wan Tong nodded, her ponytail swaying behind her.
Today, she uncommonly tied up her hair, revealing a small face the size of a palm.
The wound on her forehead had scabbed over, leaving behind a pink scar. As for the scar on her cheek, it seemed to have lightened, perhaps due to the lighting.
Due to rarely going out, her skin was fairer than average. Even Yan Wan’ying, who always clamored for skincare, didn’t have skin as good as hers.
Second Brother Yan leaned in, carefully inspecting, and spoke somewhat relievedly, “It seems like the medicine I bought really works. Hopefully, there won’t be any scars on your forehead.”
Wan Tong reached out to touch the scar, then pinched her own cheek, “It’s all your fault. I’ve gained weight recently.”
“Where did you gain weight? You’re still the elder sister, but Youngest Sister is even sturdier than you.” Third Brother Yan said loudly, looking proudly at Wan Tong’s slightly plumper cheeks.
‘Sturdy’ isn’t a flattering term for a girl.
Yan Wan’ying immediately glared, discontentedly saying, “Third Brother, why are you so biased now? You secretly give snacks to Fourth Sister whenever there’s something good, and yet you say I’m fat!”
Third Brother Yan rubbed his nose and fell silent.
Indeed, he had always been closer to Fourth Sister since childhood. After all, Youngest Sister had been spoiled since childhood and would throw tantrums at the drop of a hat.
“Alright, let Second Brother take you. He’s more familiar.” After careful consideration, Eldest Brother Yan said.
Second Brother Yan also nodded, “Coincidentally, I need to buy some New Year goods recently. It’s also a good idea to visit Dad and see when he can come back.”
Yan Wan’ying immediately became excited and rushed back to her room to pack.
Two days later, Second Brother Yan took his two sisters on a bus out of Datang Village.
Yan Zheng had only recently sent a letter home, also mentioning his address, so the three of them went directly to his work site.
It had been almost half a year since Yan Zheng had seen his children, so he was happy and took them out for a meal before arranging for them to stay in a hotel.
But as soon as Yan Zheng left, Yan Wan’ying slipped away quickly. Wan Tong suggested splitting up to look for her with Second Brother Yan, agreeing to meet back at the hotel if they couldn’t find her.
Of course, Wan Tong didn’t actually go look for Yan Wan’ying. She asked Shishi to check Yang Qinglu’s location and went there directly.
Though she had access to all of Shishi’s skills, she could only use three in each world at most.
The low, squat houses made the road dirtier and damper due to the visible garbage everywhere.
When Wan Tong saw Yan Qinglu, he was holding a black stick, his head slightly lowered, black bangs covering his eyebrows and eyes. He looked lazy, yet several people in front of him were trembling, eventually kneeling before him.
“Brother, are you trying to kill us…”
Yan Qinglu’s expression was indifferent, a strange curve even appearing at the corner of his mouth, as if devoid of any human emotion. He slowly rested the black stick beside the man who spoke, as if he might crack the man’s skull open like a watermelon in the next second.
“I didn’t force you. Didn’t I give you the choice?”
Behind Yan Qinglu were about a dozen equally fierce-looking young men, who now impatiently spoke up, “Brother Lu, just take action. Without a bit of a lesson, how can we expect them to behave?”
Yan Qinglu lazily glanced at them, and they immediately shut up and quieted down.
“Just say one word, move or not?” Yan Qinglu enunciated clearly.
The people kneeling down all turned pale.
These devils, would they dare to not move when their loved ones are threatened?!
Yan Qinglu got the answer he wanted, led the group away in a grand manner, but after walking a few steps, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.
A girl with a ponytail, wearing a long plain cotton coat, stood charmingly not far ahead.
It’s unknown how long she had been standing there, or what she had seen, but at this moment, her expression was very calm, and her eyes gave nothing away.
After Yan Qinglu’s footsteps froze, his hands felt extremely stiff, and the black stick in his hand fell to the ground, picked up again by Chen Hou.
“Brother Lu, what’s wrong?”
Yan Qinglu didn’t respond, feeling even the stick had become burning and piercing.
He pushed it away, then said in a deep voice, “You guys go work first.”
Chen Hou was stunned for a moment, then glanced at the girl ahead, rubbed his head, and waved to the others to leave.
After walking a distance, he suddenly remembered, damn, isn’t that girl Yan Wantong?
Yan Wantong used to be the most beautiful girl in the village, gentle and quiet, especially those big eyes, so beautiful. Every weekend she would come back from town with a stack of books on her back, and the boys would secretly gather at the village entrance to watch.
But later, she was disfigured, and became somewhat withdrawn…
Tsk, just now, why did she seem even more beautiful than before?
- It is a proverb often used to describe the unexpected and unpredictable nature of misfortune. In English, it’s similar to saying ‘When it rains, it pours’ or ‘You can’t catch a break.’ ↩︎
- Previously, it was like a grey button that cannot be clicked, but now it’s lit up and can be clicked ↩︎