As autumn approached and the weather grew cooler, coupled with the fatigue and travel of the past few days, the siblings were sent back to their room to rest by Li Xiuju after dinner.
Zhou Chenyu washed her hair, but it wasn't completely dry yet.
She opened one of the windows, lay down on the bed, her neck and above hanging off the edge of the bed, her beautiful, black, silky hair cascading down to the chair.
During the past ten days or so of hunting in the mountains, she was either roaming all over the mountains and fields or traveling non-stop. It would be a lie to say that she wasn't tired.
But Zhou Chenyu wasn't sleepy at all. With her dark, watery eyes blinking, she wished time would pass quickly so that she could set off for the market to sell her prey as soon as it was light, and if she was lucky, she might even meet a man she hadn't seen in a long time.
After this incident, he probably won't hate her anymore, right?
She was his savior.
He dares?
Zhou Chenyu stroked her soft hair, closed her eyes, and pictured Yang Xi's frowning, cold face in her mind, followed by his embarrassment at seeing something he shouldn't have seen and then turning red in the face.
She couldn't help but smile. "Being a female hooligan is great! I want to be that kind of female hooligan, I'm determined to be one!"
As night deepened, most of the lights shining through the screen windows of Zhoujia Village went out, except for Zhou Wenwu's house near the roadside entrance, which was still brightly lit and bustling with activity.
At the dinner table, Qian Rushan, Zhou Wenwu, and Zhou Wenwu's eldest son were sitting together. The eldest son was slumped over the table, completely drunk and unconscious.
Qian Rushan lay back in the chair, his cheeks flushed, already seven or eight parts drunk. He waved his hand in resignation, "Uncle Zhou, the old fox is still the best. I can't outdrink you, I can't outdrink you."
Zhou Wenwu, who was quite drunk, smiled and said, "Young Master Qian, it's rare for you to come here today. Have a couple more drinks with me!" He picked up the wine pot and poured into a cup, but after a few drops of wine fell, he said, "Hey, where's the wine? Old woman, quickly get me some wine, quick!"
Chen Cuiping was setting out the dishes when she smiled and replied, "Okay!" She then looked at Zhou Wanqiu, who was helping out, and said, "Quick, go to the storage room and get another pot of wine for your father."
Zhou Wanqiu looked at Qian Rushan in the room, then turned her head away coldly, "Mother, I'm not going!"
"You brat, it's just getting a pot of wine, how could it tire you out?" Chen Cuiping's expression changed drastically, her eyes pressing down on him. "Are you going or not?"
Zhou Wanqiu looked up with a wronged expression, her eyes brimming with tears. "Mother, have you forgotten how Qian Rushan bullied me months ago? Why did you invite him to our house for dinner? Why?!"
"Me!" Chen Cuiping couldn't get her to do anything, so she wiped the rag herself and went into the house to get the wine pot.
The servant waiting outside the door noticed the time and quietly approached Qian Rushan to remind him, "Young master, the master forbids you from staying out all night. It's late, we must go back."
"Really? It's so late?" Qian Rushan looked up in a daze, staggered to his feet, and was helped up by the servant. "Uncle Zhou, did you hear that? My father forbids me from staying out all night. If I go back late, I'll get a beating. I'm going back now."
Zhou Wenwu shook his head, pressed his hand on the table, and stood up to see the guest off. "In that case, I won't keep you any longer. Take care on your journey."
"Hey." Qian Rushan bowed respectfully. Chen Cuiping came out carrying a wine pot. "Hey, I just took this wine out, and you're already leaving? Aren't you going to drink it?"
“It’s time to go back.” Zhou Wenwu explained. Qian Rushan pushed the servant aside, walked slowly to Chen Cuiping, grabbed her hand, and smiled with narrowed eyes: “Auntie, although I’m leaving tonight, I still need your help with the matter of marrying your niece.”
Chen Cuiping, clutching the jade thumb ring tucked into her palm, smiled like a fox, "Young Master Qian is so sincere, I imagine it won't be long before we become in-laws."
Hearing this reply, Qian Rushan was very satisfied, his sinister eyes revealing a wicked glint. "Then I'll wait for Auntie's good news."
Chen Cuiping silently put away the jade ring, smiled and nodded, "Don't worry, young master, I will do my best to handle it."
Zhou Wanqiu gripped the plate tightly. Once Qian Rushan was out of sight, she rushed to Chen Cuiping and asked, "Mother, what did you promise him? Who are you going to help him marry?"
Chen Cuiping gave her a cold glance, her expression displeased. "This is a matter between adults. What are you doing, a little kid, meddling in this? Go and collect your bowl."
Zhou Wanqiu stood rooted to the spot like a statue. "I only have one older sister, Sister Chenyu, and you only have one niece. Are you trying to harm Sister Chenyu?"
Zhou Wanqiu was furious, only to be slapped across the face by Chen Cuiping. "Sister? What sister? Don't think that just because you run over there every few days, she's your real sister! Her real brother is Zhou Baoyu, who do you think you are? You remember this, you only have two older brothers, no older sister!"
"Brother?" Zhou Wanqiu sneered in disappointment. "When have they ever treated me like a sister?"
"If he's not your brother, then who is he to you? Is he your enemy?" Zhou Wenwu's cold voice rang out from behind.
"..." Zhou Wanqiu was so frightened that her hair stood on end.
“Your father is right. You’re not standing on your own side, you’re betraying your own people. You’ve wasted your time.” Chen Cuiping glanced at Zhou Wenwu, then walked up to Zhou Wanqiu. “I’m warning you, don’t tell them a word of what you heard tonight. Otherwise, because of your meddling, this matter didn’t go through, and we’ll send you to apologize to Young Master Qian!”
"Mother!" Zhou Wanqiu looked up in disbelief, tears welling in her eyes. "For a few coins, you're even willing to push your own daughter into the fire?"
Chen Cuiping grabbed her face, glared at her, and cursed, "Since you don't want to jump into that fire pit, then shut your mouth tightly, hmph!"
Hot tears streamed down Zhou Wanqiu's face. "The villagers are right. Father and Mother, you are a bunch of heartless people. For profit, you don't even care about your own flesh and blood. You treated Uncle and Aunt like that before, and you treat me the same way now!"
"What nonsense are you spouting in the middle of the night?!" Zhou Wenwu walked down with a wooden stick and lashed Zhou Wanqiu hard with it.
Zhou Wanqiu stared at Zhou Wenwu's cold and indifferent face, clutched her throbbing leg, and ran outside in tears.
"You dare to run? I'll beat you to death!" Zhou Wenwu was about to chase after her when Chen Cuiping stopped him. "Her arms and legs are so thin. If you break them, who will do all the housework?"
Zhou Wenwu slammed the stick down hard. "What if she goes to Li Xiuju and spouts nonsense?"
Chen Cuiping looked at the gate and smiled coldly, "I know this brat very well. She wouldn't harm us for the sake of outsiders."
As the autumn winds rose at night, they rustled the bamboo leaves, and sounds echoed from the depths of the woods.
Zhou Wanqiu walked in the dark for a while, then heard a sound coming from the woods. She turned around in fright, not knowing whether it was a toad or a poisonous snake running past her feet.
Terrified, she ran crying to her front door, only to find it locked from the inside and she couldn't open it no matter how hard she tried.
Zhou Chenyu stared at the figure through the crack, her mouth opening and closing repeatedly. Tears welled in her eyes as she walked to a hidden corner, sliding down against the wooden door and crouching down into a small ball. "What should I do? What should I do?"
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