Breaking free

He Huaizhi returned to the village chief's house with a gloomy face.

He had never suffered such humiliation before, but his inherent pride allowed him to maintain his dignity in his confrontation with Zhou Lexing.

Something's not right, very wrong.

From the moment he couldn't meet Gu Jiansheng again, and then after discovering that Zhou Lexing had changed, things that were originally going smoothly suddenly went awry, like a wild horse galloping off into the unknown.

He could feel this elusive panic, but the untamed spirit within him also gave him a different kind of boiling excitement.

This is a challenge.

He hadn't experienced excitement in a long time, but this craving for excitement quickly turned into a raging fury under Zhou Lexing's iron fist.

How dare this person?!

No, it should be said that how could Zhou Lexing remain unmoved by his appearance and words?!

His understanding of Zhou Lexing is probably clearer than Zhou Lexing himself.

But this was originally just a pitiful dog under his feet. The person he had controlled for several generations not only changed his appearance, but also his personality and skills. Could he be the variable that caused everything to go wrong?

He Huaizhi grew angrier and more anxious as he thought about it. He strode toward the house he was staying in, his steps quickening, the soles of his expensive leather shoes tapping the ground. But he stopped just before pushing the door open, the rustling sounds inside disappearing in an instant.

He stopped abruptly, a flash of malice crossing his eyes. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a razor blade that he hadn't had a chance to use before, then pushed open the door and entered.

The room was pitch black, but He Huaizhi's good eyesight allowed him to see the asymmetrical cabinet doors. It looked like something big was stuffed inside, preventing one side of the cabinet door from closing completely and leaving a gap.

He Huaizhi walked to the desk, poured himself a glass of water, and then suddenly put down the kettle amidst the sound of water. He abruptly opened a cabinet door on one side, and the blade in his other hand slashed out. Immediately afterward, a deafening scream was heard.

"Ah—! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" the man wailed, his plump body huddled awkwardly in a corner of the cabinet. By the dim moonlight outside, one could see that he was Zhou Zhi, the eldest son of the old village chief.

"what are you doing here?"

He Huaizhi's voice had its own unique tone, deep and magnetic.

Zhou Zhi was covered in sweat, and a cut on his cheek from a sharp blade was flowing down his face. He was unaware of it, only feeling a stinging pain on his face, and he was already terrified at the sight of He Huaizhi's imposing figure.

"I...I...I went to the wrong place..."

He Huaizhi stared at him intently, but before he could say anything more, people outside had already been drawn by his earlier screams.

The old village chief had two sons and a daughter. His daughter had long since married into a neighboring village, and his eldest and second sons were not good people.

The whole family has only one belief: greed.

Because of their greed, the old village chief's family would argue every day about who got an extra bite of food, and because of their greed, no matter how fierce the arguments got, they never separated and lived together.

"Oh dear! What happened?!" The first person to rush into He Huaizhi's room was none other than Zhou Zhi's wife, Zhou Qinyu.

She waved her flashlight around wildly, making He Huaizhi squint in disgust, but then she let out another scream.

"Ah! My husband, what's wrong with you! Ah! Blood! Help! Someone help! Murder!"

Zhou Qinyu's shout was quite something; a large group of people suddenly rushed in from outside.

Zhou Tian, ​​the eldest son of the Zhou family, who is twenty years old, and Zhou Qing, who is eighteen years old, along with Zhou Li and his wife Zhou Pandi, their twelve-year-old son Zhou Junjun, and even their mother Zhong Chunlan, rushed over, leaning on her cane.

He Huaizhi frowned, immediately noticing something amiss. His gaze swept over the disheveled Zhou Li family, then landed on Zhou Qinyu, who had entered at just the right moment, carrying a flashlight. A flash of malice crossed his eyes.

Zhou Qinyu visibly flinched under his gaze, then quickly straightened up: "What are you doing? What are you doing?! You think you're so great just because you're from the city?! Second brother, look at the kind of people you brought back! Why are you carrying a knife? Look what you've done to your brother's face!"

Zhou Li supported his mother, his gaze sweeping over his eldest brother hiding in the closet, his aggressive sister-in-law, and He Huaizhi, who exuded a chilling aura. In a flash, he immediately understood what was going on.

So his older brother came here to break in!

No wonder his older brother always asked him about He Huaizhi. His questions were so detailed, and he would occasionally make sarcastic remarks, asking how much He Huaizhi's watch and clothes cost. Zhou Li thought his older brother was jealous that he had hooked up with a rich city guy and was taking this opportunity to show off. But he never expected this!

Zhou Li was both angry and annoyed. He was about to retort, but when he saw the fierce look that appeared on He Huaizhi's face after he stripped away his gentle facade, he hesitated and said, "Well, Brother He, let's talk this out. No matter what happened, it's not right to just resort to violence. We're all civilized people, aren't we?"

Although his relationship with his elder brother was so-so and the two families often clashed, they were still family after all. If He Huaizhi used this as an excuse not to pay rent and food expenses, he would be at a huge loss.

As Zhou Li was speaking, he saw his frail old mother push his hand away, lean on her cane and walk forward, seemingly to help her older brother Zhou Zhi, whose limbs were weak.

Zhong Chunlan was the old village chief's second wife. His first wife had been sent back to her parents' home because she had not borne him any children for many years.

At that time, the old village chief was already in his early forties, while Zhong Chunlan was only in her twenties. After that, Zhong Chunlan gave birth to two sons for the old village chief and quickly established herself in the family.

The old village chief, having sons late in life, doted on them, resulting in two spoiled brats.

The villagers have watched them grow up, so they know what kind of people they are. That's why the old village chief is still clinging to his position at his age, hoping that one day they can gain the villagers' trust and succeed him.

"My son—".

The old man screamed pitifully, his hands trembling as he tried to pull his eldest son out for a closer look, but he was too weak. However, he was still furious and turned to He Huaizhi, who had a cold face, and struck him directly with his cane.

"You heartless outsider! You ruined my son! You ruined my son..."

At this, everyone in the room gasped.

Although there were no lights on inside, the weather was nice tonight, and the moonlight outside was bright. The room was still dimly lit, and people could make out the general shape of things. Not to mention, Zhou Qinyu's flashlight was still on. Anyone present who could clearly see He Huaizhi's face felt a chill run up their spines in the middle of summer. An indescribable fear and awe arose spontaneously, like mice seeing a cat. They could barely manage to say a few polite words to gain some advantage, but they would never dare to lay a hand on him.

You can see that they still don't dare to approach the area where He Huai's cold aura spreads.

However, the old man's eyesight was poor. Although he felt that this tall and strong man was not someone to be trifled with, he was not afraid at all because of his age and seniority. He quickly got down with his cane.

While everyone around was still stunned, He Huaizhi grabbed the cane, his face as black as the bottom of a pot. He no longer cared about maintaining his gentle and refined image and shouted, "What?! You came to my house to steal things, and I caught you red-handed, so you want to hit me?!"

He has no conscience to uphold the bullshit morality of respecting the elderly and caring for the young, let alone towards this bunch of scum.

He Huaizhi used a sudden force to snatch the cane away.

The old man was already frail, and now he staggered and fell to the ground.

The change happened too quickly. The old man let out a scream, and everyone was jolted awake from their daze, recovering from the oppressive aura of He Huaizhi. But no one dared to step forward to help him up.

Zhou Li, with a pained expression, tried to persuade him in a gentle tone, "Brother He, let's talk this out, let's talk this out, why make things so ugly?"

Before He Huaizhi could speak, Zhou Qinyu jumped out: "So, you're a stranger who came to Zhoujia Village! And you even dare to kill and fight! You you you you you..."

Her next words caught in her throat under He Huaizhi's terrifying gaze.

He Huaizhi glanced at everyone in the room, his eyes overflowing with disgust.

Previously, when he came to Zhoujia Village, he stayed directly at Gu Jiansheng's house and did not have any deeper contact with this family. However, whether it was Gu Jiansheng or anyone else, as long as they saw his speech and behavior, they would all be impressed by him.

However, He Huaizhi couldn't wait for Gu Jiansheng to appear in the city. After hesitating for a long time, he took the initiative to go to a nearby village to avoid trouble and look for someone. He happened to run into the Zhuang family and the Zhou family, who were causing trouble in the next ward. He simply hitched a ride with the old village chief's son and stayed at the old village chief's house under the pretext of a college student sketching and looking for inspiration for his writing.

Here, you can't even see a bite of meat every day. And yet, this family is always arguing and bickering. They stir their chopsticks in every dish before eating, making him lose all appetite.

That was bad enough; the clothes he brought were washed and thrown away one by one. Regardless of whether he was in the house or not, everyone took turns trying to sneak into his room. The younger generation coveted him for who he was, while the older generation coveted his money.

He Huaizhi knew without a doubt that Zhou Zhi had come to steal something from his house tonight.

There wasn't a single thing about his life that pleased him—food, clothing, shelter, or transportation!

He Huaizhi finally managed to catch Gu Jiansheng in Zhoujia Village today, but unexpectedly he also ran into Zhou Lexing, the most useful tool he had used in his previous life. He thought it was a glimmer of hope, but after seeing Gu Jiansheng's terrified appearance, everything took a sharp turn for the worse.

Where exactly did the problem lie?

Tonight's fight made He Huaizhi feel like he was vaguely touching the edge of the truth, but now that the old village chief's family has stirred things up, his head is buzzing with anger. He can't figure out where the problem lies anymore; he's so angry that he just wants to kill someone!

"roll!"

He Huaizhi took his cane and lashed it hard at Zhou Zhi, who was still trembling in the closet. Zhou Zhi let out a scream and immediately forgot about his mother who was slumped on the ground. He staggered and ran outside.

Zhou Qinyu and the others were so frightened that they trembled and hurriedly ran outside.

Only Zhou Qinyu's son, Zhou Tian, ​​bit his lower lip, looking at He Huaizhi's fierce profile, feeling both fear and an irrepressible urge to get closer.

Since meeting He Huaizhi, Zhou Tian experienced love at first sight for the first time.

He knew clearly in his heart that this was a man of great stature, but Zhou Tian just couldn't suppress his fluttering heart. Even in this dangerous moment, he could still feel He Huaizhi easily touching his heartstrings, allowing him to taste a little bit of unknown bitterness amidst the shame and anger of his father's theft.

"Brother He."

Zhou Tian called out hesitantly, taking slow and hesitant steps closer, not even glancing at his grandmother who was wailing and throwing a tantrum on the ground, his mind and eyes completely focused on the tall and imposing man in front of him.

He Huaizhi glanced at Zhou Tian and knew what he was thinking.

That's the correct way.

Although He Huaizhi disliked this plain-looking and timid man, he also felt a sense of security and certainty of victory from Zhou Tian.

In the past, He Huaizhi would never hesitate to give Zhou Tian a single glance, but today he narrowed his eyes, sized up Zhou Tian, ​​and then beckoned someone over.