After hearing the whole story, the captain was speechless at the old lady Lü's family: "Tell me, who did you have to extort money from?"

Why did they choose to extort money from the educated youth?

Didn't you see that when Ruan Zhiqing went to work, he was able to bring a military-style water bottle to quench his thirst?

While others wore headscarves to shield themselves from the sun and dust, or straw hats, Ruan, the educated youth, wore a military cap.

Even though it's an old model that's been phased out, what does it prove that someone dares to wear an old model out at this time?

This proves that the person has a powerful family background, not only was they not implicated, but their current position is probably not low either.

So, did you not see how incredibly polite his wife was to Ruan Zhiqing?

Zhou Jianguo was speechless; these were all his own speculations, and he dared not say them aloud.

Otherwise, wouldn't the villagers be scared to death?

These short-sighted people actually thought that Ruan Zhiqing was easy to bully?

I really want to die!

Didn't you see that they didn't even go easy on their ex-girlfriends?

Would I go easy on a stranger like you?

******

"Brother Yun, I heard you just went to help Ruan Zhiqing beat up Zhou Tieniu?"

As Zhou Jingyun walked along the mountain path carrying a large basket of corn, Gou Dan asked curiously.

Zhou Jingyun didn't shy away from the topic; instead, he gave some instructions to several of his regular underlings:

“From now on, I will protect Ruan Zhiqing. If any of you see Ruan Zhiqing being bullied, you must help me beat her up and protect her.”

Upon hearing this, Gou Dan felt that Zhou Jingyun was overthinking things:

"Brother Yun, with the ferocity with which Ruan Zhiqing beats people, only those blind fools like Old Lady Lü and Zhou Tieniu in the surrounding villages would dare to bully him!"

Zhou Jingyun, however, remained unconcerned, his expression still grave.

"I'm afraid some people will be blind and try to bully the weak with their numbers."

Remember, when I'm not in the village, look after Ruan Zhiqing for me. Make sure no one bullies her!

He knew Ruan Zhiqing was very good at fighting, but he just wanted to stand in front of her and protect her.

Upon hearing this, Gou Dan and the others looked up and saw the man with deep features, a calm expression, and a firm look in his eyes.

"Yun, Brother Yun, you, you wouldn't really have fallen for Ruan Zhiqing, would you?"

As soon as Gou Dan said this, Tie Zhu immediately nudged him: "Ruan Zhiqing is so beautiful, who among us doesn't like Ruan Zhiqing?"

Gou Dan glared at Tie Zhu: "I'm not talking about that kind of liking, I mean liking someone so much that I want to marry them and make them my wife!"

Zhou Tiezhu shrugged dismissively: "Hey, marrying Ruan Zhiqing is an incredibly auspicious thing, it's definitely the kind of love I have for her that I want to bring her home as my wife!"

"No, you can't do it!"

Before Gou Dan could even retort, Zhou Jingyun interrupted Zhou Tiezhu before he could finish speaking.

The man's chiseled face was full of domineering power. His deep eyes swept over the group, and he spoke in a cold, warning tone:

"Ruan Zhiqing is my woman, Zhou Jingyun's woman. None of you are allowed to like her!"

"Brother Yun, we just wanted to..."

Gou Dan opened his mouth, but Zhou Jingyun scolded him back:

"It's impossible to even think about it; how can a pheasant be paired with a phoenix?"

A toad is no match for a swan!

Dog Egg muttered to himself: We grew up together. If I'm a toad, aren't you the same?

However, when faced with Zhou Jingyun's fierce gaze, she immediately deflated and could only repeatedly promise to take good care of Ruan Zhiqing for Zhou Jingyun.

“Ruan Zhiqing…”

As night fell and darkness enveloped the earth, Ruan Miaomiao was packing things in the house, preparing to deliver them to her parents at the cowshed, when she heard a commotion in the yard.

Upon hearing the familiar voice, Ruan Miaomiao didn't take out her knife; she simply pushed open the door and went out.

Seeing that tall, strong, and reassuring figure in the dim moonlight, Ruan Miaomiao teased:

"You've been deliberately avoiding me these past few days. I thought you regretted confessing to me that night and wanted to be a jerk!"

Hearing Ruan Miaomiao's teasing tone, Zhou Jingyun's heart instantly relaxed.

God knows, when he saw Ruan Miaomiao return to the courtyard with a gloomy face in the afternoon, he felt extremely distressed and worried.

Now that I can still joke around, I must be in a much better mood.

The pragmatic man took out a piping hot roasted chicken wrapped in pumpkin leaves from his pocket and handed it to Ruan Miaomiao.

She was secretly delighted: Ruan Zhiqing said that she had been avoiding her these past few days, which proved that Ruan Zhiqing had been paying attention to her.

Now, if you just focus on yourself, won't you eventually come to like yourself?

"Beggar's Chicken?"

Ruan Miaomiao opened the pumpkin leaves, smelled the aroma, and couldn't help but swallow.

Seeing that Ruan Miaomiao liked it, Zhou Jingyun was delighted and nodded.

"Yes, I specially baked it on the mountain and brought it back. Try it while it's hot."

Ruan Miaomiao wasn't a coy person, and knowing that the person in front of her was pursuing her, she felt there was nothing wrong with eating some of his food.

He readily sat down under the eaves and began to tear apart the beggar's chicken with his hands.

However, as soon as their hands touched it, they were burned and pulled back.

Seeing this, Zhou Jingyun became extremely nervous.

He quickly took the beggar's chicken back, asking as he did so:

"Are you alright? Should I go buy you some medicine?"

Ruan Miaomiao put her burned finger in her mouth and smiled at Zhou Jingyun: "If something happens, why don't you hurry up and buy some medicine? It won't hurt at all."

Zhou Jingyun was infected by Ruan Miaomiao's smile, and the worried frown on his face relaxed.

While helping Ruan Miaomiao tear the chicken, she thought to herself: Ruan Zhiqing's skin is so tender. I sometimes bring back roasted chicken from the mountain, and Zhou Taohua always eats it like a vicious dog pouncing on its prey, and she has never been burned.

Seeing Ruan Miaomiao eating chicken in small bites, Zhou Jingyun wore a satisfied smile, as if she were eating him, not chicken.

"Aren't you going to eat anything?"

Seeing that the person next to her was staring at her, Ruan Miaomiao asked somewhat shyly.

Zhou Jingyun shook his head and pointed to the remaining chicken, saying:

"Keep this chicken meat and heat it up tomorrow morning. You can also cook the chicken bones with some rice to make porridge."

After saying that, he added, "Don't worry about not having enough rice, I'll bring some over in a couple of days."

Tell me what you're missing, and I'll get it for you. From now on, don't trade with the villagers anymore. There are plenty of bad people there; you're so kind, I'm afraid they might hurt you!

Ruan Miaomiao felt a warmth in her heart upon hearing these words.

Her watery eyes looked at the man, and she asked with a light laugh, "Are you planning to support me like this?"

Zhou Jingyun had given a lot of instructions, but he didn't expect Ruan Miaomiao to ask this question. He immediately nodded vigorously and said firmly:

“Ruan Zhiqing, whether you like it or not, I, Zhou Jingyun, want to take care of you and don’t want you to suffer!”

To be honest, it was hard for Ruan Miaomiao not to fall for such a frank and passionate gaze.

However, she still managed to maintain her composure and giggled sweetly:

"It's very expensive to raise me, can you afford it?"