Chapter 9
The moment those words were spoken, the atmosphere in the room instantly froze.
But Zhou Yao acted as if he hadn’t noticed at all. He ate with easy satisfaction, tilting his head toward Wen Yue as he commented that the fried pork cracklings tasted pretty good. Then, without hesitation, he poured the entire plate into her bowl.
“Eat more. You’re too thin.”
Wen Yue met his dark, steady eyes. After a brief pause, she broke into a soft, sweet smile.
“Thanks.”
Then she lowered her head and quietly continued eating, as if handing control of the situation over to him.
Wen Guoqiang was silent for two seconds before speaking again. He glanced at Wen Yue.
“So this is Yueyue’s intention?” he said slowly. “Well… that makes sense. She’s already married, so this land should naturally be returned to her. But Xiao Yao, I heard yesterday that you sent her to the hospital after hitting her. Don’t you think you owe me an explanation?”
He paused, then continued.
“If you hadn’t come, I was planning to find you myself. Yueyue lost her parents early, but I raised her like my own daughter. I’m her family from her mother’s side. If anyone dares to wrong her, I’ll be the first to object!”
He turned to Wen Yue, his voice suddenly warm and reassuring.
“Yueyue, your uncle will always stand behind you. If you’ve suffered any grievance out there, just say it. I’ll make things right for you!”
Wen Yue blinked.
“Really, Uncle?”
Wen Guoqiang smiled and nodded. “Of course.”
“Then I’ll say it.”
She put her chopsticks down and glanced at Zhou Yao. In the next second, her eyes turned red. Tears fell instantly, as if they had been waiting for permission.
“Just now… Aunt said I have nothing to do with your family anymore,” she said softly, voice trembling. “She even picked up a broom and hit me. Uncle… you have to stand up for me.”
“……”
“Pfft.” Zhou Yao let out a short laugh.
This little crybaby was actually kind of interesting.
He narrowed his eyes slightly, smiling as he backed her up.
“Yeah, I can testify. If I hadn’t been there, that broom would’ve landed straight on her face.”
Wen Yue sniffled harder.
“How could she hit my face…” she sobbed. “What if I got disfigured? If I got disfigured, I wouldn’t want to live anymore… sob…”
Zhou Yao nodded casually. “Yeah. She’s not exactly pretty to begin with—”
“……”
Before he could finish, Wen Yue shot him a tearful glare. Under the table, her hand twisted hard into his waist.
Say that again?!
Zhou Yao: “……”
Alright. Wrong thing to say.
At that moment, Li Huahong stormed back into the room.
She had twisted her waist earlier when she was shoved, and the pain made her walk in stiff, but the moment she saw the rice porridge and pork cracklings on the table, her eyes bulged instantly.
She let out a sharp, pig-like screech and started cursing at the top of her lungs, her gaze like she wanted to eat them alive.
Wen Yue cried even harder.
“Uncle, look… Aunt clearly doesn’t welcome me. You should just return the land to me… I won’t come back again…”
“Return it my ass!” Li Huahong shouted. “That land is ours! It has nothing to do with you! I raised you for two years and never even asked you for a cent—”
Raised her for two years?
Zhou Yao glanced at the frail girl beside him. Recalling what the doctor had said when she was sent to the hospital, he couldn’t help letting out a cold, low laugh.
Raised properly and she still ended up like this—if she hadn’t been raised “properly,” wouldn’t she have been raised straight into the grave?
Wen Guoqiang snapped, his voice suddenly harsh.
“Shut up!”
Li Huahong immediately stopped screaming.
“Yueyue…” Wen Guoqiang forced his expression back into something gentle. “Your aunt didn’t mean it that way—”
“Uncle,” Zhou Yao interrupted lazily, shifting slightly in his seat, “just answer one thing. Are you giving the land back or not?”
His posture was relaxed, but his presence filled the room. Nearly 190cm tall, sitting there like a pressure drop in the air, his dark, sharp eyes fixed on Wen Guoqiang.
Even Wen Guoqiang felt a chill crawl up his back.
That gaze was unsettling—like a beast locking onto its prey, ready to strike at any moment.
After two seconds of silence, Wen Guoqiang finally exhaled.
“…It’s Yueyue’s land. Of course I’ll return it.”
He forced the words out.
“The crops in the field—I won’t take them either. Consider it a wedding gift for you two.”
In truth, he had made a quick decision. The land couldn’t be kept anyway, so giving it away would at least earn him a good reputation.
Li Huahong tried to protest, but a single look from Wen Guoqiang shut her up.
Wen Yue stopped crying. Her red, rabbit-like eyes blinked innocently… then she gave Li Huahong a small, almost teasing smile.
Ah. So the land really came back.
She lightly tugged at Zhou Yao’s sleeve.
“Can we go home now?”
“Not yet.” Zhou Yao said lazily. “I still have one more thing.”
He lifted his eyes toward Wen Guoqiang.
“Pay me the bride price too.”
Before anyone could react, Li Huahong exploded again.
“You took the land and still want money?! Why don’t you just take everything from our house while you’re at it?! Bride price doesn’t get returned! Do you think marrying a wife doesn’t cost money?!”
To her, losing the land was like having flesh cut off.
But losing money—that was cutting out her heart.
Her voice grew sharper and sharper, nearly piercing through the roof as she screamed nonstop, glaring at them like they were enemies.
Wen Yue sat quietly, surprisingly calm now, even drifting slightly into thought—already wondering who she could sell the land to later.
Zhou Yao smiled faintly.
“Marriage costs money, sure,” he said evenly. “But is she really your daughter?”
He pointed casually at the girl beside him.
“I remember I offered a thousand yuan in bride price. The money was prepared by my father anyway. I don’t care where it ends up.”
“But now I’ve changed my mind. That money goes to whoever I decide—not you.”
A thousand yuan.
In 1987, in a rural village like this, that was an astronomical sum.
“We raised her for years!” Li Huahong screamed. “It’s already in our hands—you’re not getting it back!”
Zhou Yao narrowed his eyes.
“Oh?”
The next second—
He flipped the table.
Bowls, plates, and chopsticks crashed to the ground in a violent explosion of sound.
The entire room froze.
Wen Yue stared blankly at the mess, mouth slightly open. For a second she even wondered—should she also smash something to match the atmosphere?
But… there was nothing left to smash.
Zhou Yao remained seated, still calm, still smiling faintly at Wen Guoqiang.
“One sentence,” he said. “Give it. Or don’t.”
Wen Guoqiang’s face finally dropped its polite mask.
His expression darkened.
“…Xiao Yao, aren’t you going too far?”
“Too far?” Zhou Yao stood up, looking down at him. His tone was lazy, but dangerous.
“You’re a smart man. Smart people know when to adapt.”
He raised two fingers.
“Option one: hand over the land and the money voluntarily.”
“Option two: I take both anyway.”
He smiled again—almost bright, almost casual.
But it made everyone’s spine crawl.
Wen Guoqiang clenched his jaw. “We’re still family. There’s no need to make this ugly—”
“That means you’re not giving it.”
Zhou Yao nodded as if he understood.
“Fine. I’ll come again tomorrow—with people.”
“Let’s go. We’re going home.”
“Ah? Oh—okay.”
Wen Yue quickly stood and followed him obediently.
She still hadn’t fully processed what had happened.
They were just… leaving like that?
Zhou Yao spoke casually as he walked.
“Tomorrow might be a little crowded. Uncle, you’d better prepare yourself.”
Wen Guoqiang’s expression changed instantly.
He knew exactly what that meant.
Zhou Yao’s group of idle young men from the village—reckless, impulsive, not afraid of trouble. Nobody wanted to truly cross them.
But that was a thousand yuan.
Even Wen Guoqiang felt unwilling.
Then—
“Oh, right.”
At the doorway, Zhou Yao stopped again.
“I heard Wen Hua is a teacher at the county primary school?”
Wen Guoqiang stiffened instantly, wiping sweat from his palm.
“Why are you asking that?!”
Wen Hua was his pride—his eldest son, the first college-adjacent graduate in the family. A stable teacher in the county.
Zhou Yao smiled faintly.
“Nothing. Just haven’t seen him in a while. I kind of miss him. Thought I’d pay him a visit sometime.”
“……”
You’re not even close—what kind of “visit” is that?!
Li Huahong screamed, “You’re not allowed to go!!”
It was a threat.
A naked, unmistakable threat.
And it landed exactly where it hurt most.
Wen Guoqiang’s face darkened completely.
After a long silence, he finally exhaled in defeat.
“…Fine. We’ll give you the land and the money.”
“No! You can’t!” Li Huahong shrieked. “That money was for our son’s wedding—”
“Shut up!” Wen Guoqiang snapped.
And just like that, it was over.
A thick stack of cash was brought out, counted, and handed over.
Zhou Yao checked it casually, then nodded.
“Uncle really is a smart man.”
He tucked the money away.
“Tomorrow I won’t bring anyone. Don’t worry.”
Wen Guoqiang’s voice was hollow.
“…And Wen Hua?”
“I’m not familiar with him.” Zhou Yao said lightly. “Won’t go.”
Only then did Wen Guoqiang finally relax.
But as the thousand yuan slipped away from his hands, all he could taste was bitterness.
A full thousand yuan.
Gone.
Just like that.
