Tie Dan and Gang Pao, one holding a flashlight and the other a shovel, watched warily as the group of people were furtively pulling and tugging at each other on the beach.
The guard quickly loosened the young lady's trouser leg, turned his head and exchanged a deep glance with Qin Jin. They both saw the excitement of hunting a lamb in each other's eyes.
As Qin Jinshen threw away the cigarette in his hand, the guard Ma leaped up and slammed Tie Dan, who was still holding a shovel and hadn't reacted yet, to the ground.
Before Tie Dan could even utter a sound, the shovel in his hand flew out, and half of his face was buried in the sand, his mouth and eyes crooked.
Steel Cannon was completely terrified. He hurriedly handed over all the cloth coupons and money he had in his pocket, crying and begging for mercy, "Two pirate giants, we work at the cooperative. We just couldn't sleep and decided to come to the beach to build sandcastles. This is all we have. Please let us go..."
Before he could finish speaking, Guard Ma threw another flying knife, knocking him unconscious.
He completed the entire routine without even breaking a sweat.
He turned his head somewhat timidly to observe the young lady's reaction.
He thought the young lady would pout and scold him for being ruthless.
But Qin Zhizhi had already jumped off the boat at some point and was standing to the side, stunned. She clapped her hands excitedly, "Wow, Guard Ma, you're so amazing!"
"Really? Young lady... I'm not only good at fighting, I also..."
Ma, the guard, was about to boast again when Qin Jinshen glared at him, puncturing his boastful act.
"You can't even tell which way is which? If we hadn't rowed the wrong way at sea, would we have arrived at the island so late?"
Qin Jinshen rebuked him mercilessly, causing Guard Ma to lower his head in shame.
He pointed to the two unconscious men on the ground and asked, "Sir, what should we do with these two? And what should we do?"
Qin Jinshen's gaze fell on the handsome Steel Cannon's face. He noticed that although the man was muscular, he was about the same height as Qin Zhizhi. A cruel smile appeared on his face. "Throw these two into the sea, and from now on, Guard Ma, you'll be Iron Egg."
Finally, his gaze fell on his younger sister, who was tilting her head with clear yet foolish eyes. "And Zhizhi, if you don't want to be Gou Cuihua, then you'll be Gangpao from now on!"
"As for Zhou Jiuzhen, I won't let him get away with this, hahahaha..."
A sinister laugh echoed across the sea.
Qin Zhizhi and the guard Ma couldn't help but shudder, feeling a chill for Zhou Jiuzhen.
The last time Qin Jinshen smiled like that was on the eve of him taking over as the head of the Qin family.
He stormed into his rival's cousin's house alone, armed with a knife.
When they returned, all that remained was the blood dripping from the tip of the knife.
In the end, he became the head of the Qin family, while his cousin's entire family of five disappeared without a trace in Hong Kong.
*
Four o'clock in the morning.
Ling Huanwu was still having a sweet dream when she was shaken awake.
"Xiao Ling, get up and cook. I'll teach you how to make eight-treasure porridge."
Chu Mei pulled Ling Huanwu, who was yawning, out of bed and urged her to cook immediately.
Ling Huanwu rubbed her eyes, looked at Zhou Jiuzhen who was still fast asleep on the bed, and then glanced at the pitch-black sky outside. She was completely exasperated. "Aunt Chu, it's not even dawn yet. Can we skip this eight-treasure porridge? I'm so sleepy..."
"No, you have to make it. This eight-treasure porridge is no ordinary eight-treasure porridge. If you eat it for a month, I guarantee you'll have a boy."
Chu Mei disregarded the fact that it was dark and cold outside at four o'clock, and dragged the person to the stove outside.
Ling Huanwu had just stepped out of the warm blankets when a sudden gust of sea breeze startled her.
Before she could even react, a bucket of cold water was splashed in her face, chilling her to the bone. Her drowsiness vanished instantly, and she couldn't help but sneeze.
"Oh dear, Xiaoling, I was just about to pour you some water to wash your face and wake you up, but I didn't mean to splash it on you. Are you alright?"
Ling Huanwu's anger was abruptly cut off by her explanation, the fire burning inside her that she couldn't express.
Early in the morning, she slowly simmered the eight-treasure porridge over low heat, just as Chu Mei had requested.
It was almost six o'clock when I finished doing all this.
She went to wake Zhou Jiuzhen, but found that she couldn't wake him up no matter how she called him.
There was nothing she could do; she wanted to finish breakfast and leave this difficult elder as soon as possible.
Unexpectedly, Chu Mei grabbed her hand that was holding the eight-treasure porridge, took out a bowl of dark medicinal soup from behind the stove, and said with a mysterious smile, "Xiao Ling, you should eat this every morning from now on. You can't eat rice. I guarantee I'll help you get in shape and have a son."
Ling Huanwu stared at the bowl of dark, unidentified medicinal herbs, her heart sinking completely. "You mean I can't eat rice, and I have to eat this medicine you brewed with who-knows-what?"
"Xiao Ling, this stuff is really expensive. You don't want people to keep saying that Jiu Zhen is going to die out, do you?"
Chu Mei's face immediately fell, seemingly very dissatisfied with Ling Huanwu's performance.
Ling Huanwu gritted her teeth, took the soup bowl, and scooped the soup into the bowl with a spoon.
It would have been better if they hadn't tried to scoop it up; instead, they scooped up something that looked like a gecko's leg.
At that moment, Ling Huanwu clutched her stomach and almost vomited bile.
But what followed was overwhelming anger.
From beginning to end, she only refrained from holding a grudge against Zhou Jiuzhen for drawing her blood.
He didn't hold Chu Mei accountable for making him cook but not letting her eat a single bite.
Even now, she has been suppressing her grievances at being given the cold shoulder, and has been humbly obeying Chu Mei's instructions to cook.
But now this elder who considers herself her mother-in-law thinks she's easy to bully and is taking advantage of her.
The combined age of their two lifetimes makes her older than her, so why should Ling Huanwu put up with her attitude?
Under Chu Mei's expectant gaze, Ling Huanwu raised her hand and splashed the already simmering soup onto Chu Mei's face.
"Oh dear, Aunt Chu, I noticed your lips are pale, so I wanted to give you some soup to help you recover. But my hand slipped and I spilled some on you. Are you alright?"
Ling Huanwu pretended to be concerned and picked up a rag from the stove to wipe Chu Mei's face, deliberately pressing the gecko leg firmly into her sunken eye socket.
She was going to make Chu Mei taste the bitterness and anger she felt, just as she had just splashed water on her.
Chu Mei froze on the spot.
Clearly, she hadn't expected Ling Huanwu to treat her this way.
She cried out in surprise and rushed into the room to find a mirror to check her face.
The noise was so loud that Zhou Jiuzhen inside the room finally woke up.
He got up, rubbed his eyes, and looked at Chu Mei, whose face was covered in black soup, looking in the mirror. It took him a long time to recognize her.
"Aunt Chu, what's wrong...?"
Tears streamed down Chu Mei's face, and she began to accuse her in a choked voice, "It's all because of your wife, she's lawless! She actually tried to smear her mother-in-law..."
Ling Huanwu walked straight in, not wanting to give Chu Mei a chance to smear her reputation. Leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, she looked at Chu Mei with a half-smile on her lips. "Oh, Aunt Chu, you said that was dirty water? If that's the case, why did you make me drink dirty water just now? Is this how you treat your daughters-in-law in the city?"
In an instant, Zhou Jiuzhen turned his head and stared intently at Chu Mei, his expression darkening instantly.
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