The village chief and the village party secretary were sitting on the tractor, listening intently with their chins in their hands, when this sudden "bad news" startled them so much that they fell off the tractor.

"What did you say?"

The village chief thought he had misheard. While those youths from the educated youth compound were still a drag on the village, they hadn't caused him any major trouble lately. How could they suddenly...?

Without a second thought, the village chief took off running. Although Zhou Zhiqing couldn't do heavy work, he was a warm-hearted person and had recently brought several orders to their village. How could something happen to such a good kid?

"Is Zhou Zhiqing alright?"

The more flustered he was, the more likely he was to make mistakes. He even lost a shoe while running, but he had no intention of going back to pick it up and continued walking slowly.

"Luckily, Gu An'an came back and kicked Xie Yuan away, otherwise Zhou Yue might have been strangled to death by now."

I heard that Xie Yuan rushed into the courtyard and grabbed the man by the neck, shouting that he was going to beat him up. The village chief's eyes turned fierce. This man could no longer stay in the village.

The village is busy these days, unlike before when someone would be home from time to time to take care of things.

If we let him off easily this time, the consequences will be unpredictable next time, whether he directs his malice at a specific person or at a major event the village is planning.

Those who were originally just listening to the commotion also heard what Li Yumei said. They followed the village chief and the others towards the educated youth compound, cursing as they ran, "I knew that Xie guy was no good. He's a grown man who doesn't know how to put in the effort and is always thinking about taking shortcuts."

“An’an just got back. I don’t know if he’s hurt. If even a hair on his head is hurt, I’ll skin him alive.”

"No, we absolutely cannot let this kind of person stay in the village, otherwise our lives will be in danger."

Everyone was talking at once. When they arrived at the courtyard, they saw that Gu An'an was fine, Zhou Yue had obvious red marks on her neck, and the culprit was sitting on the ground with a pained expression.

"An'an, are you alright?"

Gu An'an shook her head. "I had just gotten into bed and was about to sleep when I heard Xie Zhiqing come over and interrogate Xiaoyue about her engagement to Zhao Zhiqing. When he heard that the two were already engaged, Xie Zhiqing started to frantically choke Xiaoyue. If I hadn't been there, it's hard to say what would have happened now."

Zhou Yue's skin was already fair, and the red ring around it made everyone feel sorry for her, while also sending chills down their spines.

This week, the educated youth never agreed to date Xie, but Xie was always the one who wanted more than he had.

Now that Zhou Zhiqing has found a partner, he's gone crazy like this. This guy is terrifying!

The brigade leader's wife, in particular, thought of her own daughter when she saw Zhou Yue.

After that incident, they took strict precautions to protect their daughter, basically not letting her go to remote places alone, just to prevent Xie Yuan from giving up.

If they hadn't been so vigilant, would their own daughter have suffered such a terrible fate?

“Village chief, this is premeditated murder; he cannot be let go easily.”

The brigade leader had the same concern. "Ah Cai, although Zhou Zhiqing is not in any life-threatening danger, she is indeed quite frightened. If we handle her lightly, it might upset her family and affect the development of our village. That would be a loss."

Of course, he said this to the villagers who were easily swayed, since the orders Zhou Yue brought were all related to the Zhou family.

Only when the current facts are presented, concerning their actual interests, will those people put away their unnecessary sympathy.

Sure enough, upon hearing his words, someone echoed, "Yes, we can't let him off lightly; he must receive the punishment he deserves."

"Call the police and send him to the commune. We can't keep someone like that in our village."

......

As Xie Yuan listened to the crowd's condemnation of him, his rationality slowly returned, and the fear in his heart gradually grew.

"Village chief, I didn't mean it. I made a mistake because I was provoked by my family. Please give me another chance."

Even when he pleaded, he was met with the village chief's cold, emotionless eyes.

Looking at the others, he saw they were all staring at him like he was an enemy, and he knew that asking them for help was useless.

So he turned to look at Zhou Yue, who was nestled in Gu An'an's arms, and tried to stand up and move closer to Zhou Yue despite the pain.

"Don't come any closer! Don't come any closer!"

Zhou Yue was genuinely terrified because she met Xie Yuan's gaze directly, and she knew that Xie Yuan truly wanted to kill her.

Seeing this, Gu An'an hugged Zhou Yue tightly, then looked at Xie Yuan with a fierce expression, "If you take another step, believe me, I'll break your legs."

Believe it or not? Xie Yuan certainly believed it. Gu An'an not only had the ability, but even if she hit him, the whole village would probably protect her.

Xie Yuan was filled with hatred!

To say that everything is Zhou Yue's fault is not so much to say that everything is Gu An'an's fault. If it weren't for this woman's sudden appearance, things certainly wouldn't have turned out this way.

If he were given another chance, he would definitely not act impulsively like this time. He would plan carefully, not only to kill those two vile women, but also to escape unscathed.

Concealing the hatred in his eyes, Xie Yuan pleaded, "Xiao Yue, please forgive me this time. You know me; I've never been well-liked by my family. This time, they wrote me a letter about your engagement to Zhao Zhiqing and gave me a severe dressing-down, belittling me to the point of being worthless. If it weren't for that, why would I have thought of hitting you?"

"Xiaoyue, although I have done many wrong things in the past, we really did grow up together. For this reason, can you help me and not let them send me to the commune? Otherwise, my life will be ruined."

......

Xie Yuan was good at pretending; he spoke while crying, making it seem to anyone who didn't know better that he had suffered a great injustice.

Zhou Yue remained buried in Gu An'an's arms without saying a word, still completely dazed.

Just then, Zhao Hu, who had returned with wild game, saw so many people gathered in front of the courtyard and immediately sensed something was wrong. He ran into the courtyard and overheard Xie Yuan's words. He immediately raised his fist and charged forward.

"Go to hell with your feelings! What kind of feelings do you have? You were messing around with other people while you were pursuing Xiaoyue. You don't deserve to be by Xiaoyue's side at all."

"I'll beat you to death, you bastard! You and your family are a den of bastards. You're corrupt and get punished, but you like to blame others. Like father, like son, you're all dogs."

"Don't let me hear the name 'Xiaoyue' come out of your mouth again, or I'll risk my life to kill you."

Zhao Hu's strength goes without saying; even a weakling like Xie Yuan couldn't withstand five punches from him.

When Zhao Hu appeared, Zhou Yue regained her senses. Seeing that if Zhao Hu continued fighting, someone might die, she quickly stopped him, saying, "Hu, stop fighting. Let the village chief take him to the commune."