After becoming a widow, I became the apple of a rough man's eye.

Song Weihe slammed her chopsticks on the table.

"Discuss a book?" She sized Chen Qinghe up and down, her eyes filled with disdain. "What do you want to discuss? Why don't you want to work and want to go back to the city? Or how to climb the social ladder through women?"

Chen Qinghe's face turned deathly pale instantly. "How...how could you say such a thing!"

"What did I say?" Song Weihe stood up. "My dad said that scholars are useless, especially scholars like you with wicked intentions. The country sent you to the countryside to build up rural areas, not for you to be sentimental and unable to resist a pretty girl."

She pointed to Chen Qinghe's pocket, where a pen was tucked inside, and said, "No matter how strong the pen barrel is, it still needs a gun barrel to protect it. You can't even plow the ground properly, yet you want to talk to me about poetry and literature? Give me a break."

These words were a thoroughly satisfying and scathing rebuke.

The room was silent for a few seconds.

Jiang He, with a steamed bun in his mouth, looked at Song Weihe and for the first time found the woman somewhat pleasing to the eye.

Su Jiaojiao stared blankly at Chen Qinghe's disheveled appearance, feeling both distressed and relieved.

She used to think Chen Qinghe was high and mighty, but now that Song Weihe had scolded him like that, that halo seemed to have shattered.

"Well said!"

Lin Qingqing couldn't help but clap her hands quietly.

Song Weihe turned her head and raised an eyebrow at her, looking smug.

Seeing the awkward atmosphere, the village chief quickly tried to smooth things over, "Um... Chief, please keep these things. They're all from our own farm, and they smell wonderful."

"Take it back." Mu Wenbin didn't put on airs, but his face was already cold. "I don't accept gifts."

"How can this be called accepting a gift? This is..."

"Take it back. I won't say it a third time."

The village chief was startled and quickly gave his wife a look, then picked up the things again.

"Then...then we won't bother you any longer." The village chief wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and led his group away sheepishly.

Only Li Ergou didn't leave.

He mingled at the very back of the crowd of onlookers; short and unsightly, no one paid him any attention.

His beady eyes were fixed on Song Weihe's exposed legs, then he turned to look at Lin Qingqing, who was clearing away the dishes.

So white.

Li Ergou swallowed hard, then reached into his pants and grabbed a handful. City women are just different; their skin looks so tender. If only he could touch it…

"What are you looking at?"

A sinister voice suddenly rang in his ear.

Li Ergou was startled and turned around abruptly, only to see Gu Qiangying standing behind him.

Gu Qiangying pushed up her glasses, obscuring her eyes, but the smile playing at the corners of her lips sent chills down one's spine.

"Dr. Gu... Dr. Gu," Li Ergou stammered.

"You don't want it anymore? I can pick it for you for free. I'd like to make a specimen anyway."

Li Ergou felt a chill in his crotch and, not daring to linger, turned and ran.

The main room was finally quiet.

Mu Wenbin took a rag and wiped the table three times until the oil stain was completely gone and even the wood grain was shiny. Only then did he stop.

"Sister Weihe, you're amazing!" Lin Qingqing sidled up to Song Weihe, her eyes full of admiration. "That Chen educated youth, he always thinks he's above everyone else."

"That kind of person deserves to be scolded."

Song Weihe pulled Lin Qingqing to sit down, reached out and touched her face, "Qingqing, how do you take care of your skin?"

Lin Qingqing blushed slightly. "I don't take care of my skin, I just... wash my face with rice water."

"Rice water?" Song Weihe looked incredulous. "Good heavens, what a waste! I'll get you a skincare set when we get back, I guarantee it'll make your skin even smoother."

As she spoke, her hands began to wander again, reaching down to touch Lin Qingqing's collarbone.

"Tsk, so smooth."

"cough!"

Qin Lie coughed heavily.

He walked over and pulled Lin Qingqing up. "Go and dry the medicine."

Song Weihe rolled her eyes at Qin Lie's possessive behavior, "You stingy guy, what's wrong with touching it? It's not like you'll lose a piece of your flesh."

"She's mine." Qin Lie coldly said this, then pulled Lin Qingqing towards the backyard.

Song Weihe scoffed and turned to look at Mu Wenbin.

"Mu Wenbin, I want one too."

Mu Wenbin, who was wiping his hands, paused upon hearing this. "What do you want?"

"You have to say it's yours!" Song Weihe looked at him expectantly.

Mu Wenbin glanced at her, folded the handkerchief, and put it in his pocket. "How old are you?"

"You!" Song Weihe was so angry that she grabbed the empty tea mug on the table and wanted to smash it, but then she thought that it belonged to someone else and put it down angrily.

The afternoon rain stopped, but the sky was still overcast, and the air was full of damp moisture, making it sticky and uncomfortable.

Song Weihe, a pampered young lady, couldn't stand this.

She walked around the room three times and felt like mushrooms were growing all over her.

"I want to take a shower," Song Weihe announced, standing in the middle of the main room.

"Take a bath?" Li Dongye looked up. "Miss, look at the weather, you should just bear with it."

"I don't care, I want to take a shower!" Song Weihe started to whine. "I'm so sticky and sweaty, I'll die if I don't shower!"

She ran up to Mu Wenbin, tugged at his sleeve and shook it, "Mu Wenbin, go boil some water for me."

Mu Wenbin felt a headache coming on as he looked at her coquettish manner.

"There's no bathtub here, only that big wooden tub," Mu Wenbin pointed to the large wooden tub used for washing clothes in the corner, "and you have to wash in the yard."

"Huh?" Song Weihe glanced at the wooden basin with disdain. "How are we supposed to wash it? Someone will see!"

"Hang up a curtain." Qin Lie returned from the backyard carrying two freshly killed pheasants. "Qingqing needs to wash too."

Upon hearing that Lin Qingqing also wanted to take a shower, Song Weihe's eyes lit up. "Then let's shower together!"

Qin Lie, Li Dongye, Jiang He, and even Gu Qiangying stopped moving at the same time.

"no."

The four voices spoke in unison.

Song Weihe was startled. "What are you doing? Can't we rub each other's backs?"

"No way." Qin Lie threw the pheasant into the basin. "Wash them separately."

Are you kidding me? Lin Qingqing's body is so good that none of them could compare to her. How could they let this woman take advantage of them?

With no other option, Mu Wenbin resigned himself to boiling water.

He, a dignified deputy commander, was wearing a shirt that cost several hundred yuan, with the sleeves rolled up, squatting in front of that earthen stove, tending the fire.

The smoke and flames made him cough.

Lin Qingqing felt a little embarrassed and wanted to help, but Mu Wenbin kicked her out.

Song Weihe just loves to tease him. If someone else did this job, who knows what new tricks they'd come up with later.

The water is boiled, filling two large pots.

Qin Lie and Li Dongye moved the large wooden basin behind a straw mat in the corner of the yard. To be on the safe side, Qin Lie even found a piece of oilcloth to cover the gaps in the straw mat completely.

"Sister Weihe, you go ahead and wash up," Lin Qingqing said, holding up her clean clothes.

"Okay, I'll go scout ahead first." Song Weihe grabbed a towel and soap and rushed behind the curtain like a soldier guarding a position.