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

Lin Qingqing held her chopsticks, feeling that this food was harder to swallow than medicine.

If she eats the chicken leg first, Li Dongye will definitely make sarcastic remarks...

If we drink the soup first, Xiao Yong's temper might cause him to throw his chopsticks again. What if we do that?

If she eats fish, her two older brothers will think she's favoring the fifth brother.

She looked up at Qin Lie sitting opposite her, as if pleading for help.

Qin Lie ate quickly, his cheeks puffing out as he held his bowl. He didn't look up, but he seemed to know what was happening.

Just as Lin Qingqing was wondering where to start, a large hand reached out.

Qin Lie simply took the bowl full of food from in front of her.

Then, he pushed the bowl of white rice he was holding, which he had only eaten half of, in front of her.

"Eat mine." Qin Lie placed the bowl of "mixed stew" in front of him and began to shovel it down, swallowing more than half of it in just a few bites. "Your bowl is too full; it'll spill easily."

The table fell silent instantly.

Xiao Yong stared wide-eyed as his older brother ate the chicken leg he had picked up.

Li Dongye raised an eyebrow and watched his older brother drink the bowl of fish soup.

Jiang He pursed his lips, watching his older brother chew the carefully deboned piece of fish.

No one benefited, and no one was left out. All the good intentions went into the eldest brother's stomach, while Lin Qingqing was left with only a bowl of ordinary white rice.

Lin Qingqing breathed a sigh of relief, held the bowl of rice that still carried Qin Lie's scent, and began to eat it in small bites.

But the meal still caused indigestion.

After finally getting through the meal, Lin Qingqing stood up and said, "I...I'm full. I'll go back to my room first."

Lin Qingqing had just placed her hand on the door frame and hadn't even had time to step over the high threshold when the two old wooden doors of the courtyard were suddenly pushed open.

The door hinges were out of lubrication, emitting a long, piercing creak before slamming against the wall and shaking off a layer of dust.

A girl in a floral dress burst in.

These days, most of the young women and wives in the village still wear blue-gray cloth jackets. Apart from Su Jiaojiao, the village chief's daughter, you can't find another one with two large peonies embroidered on the hem of their skirt.

Su Jiaojiao carried a bamboo basket on her arm, covered with a blue and white floral handkerchief. With her movements, the soft, crackling sound of eggshells colliding could be heard from inside.

"Brother Jiang He!"

That clear and bright voice immediately dispelled the somber atmosphere in the main room.

Su Jiaojiao didn't consider herself an outsider. She scanned the courtyard, and seeing no one, headed straight for the main room. She had barely stepped inside when she saw Lin Qingqing about to leave.

The two walked up to face each other.

The smile on Su Jiaojiao's face hadn't even settled on her round face before it instantly collapsed.

She looked Lin Qingqing up and down, her gaze lingering for two seconds on the face that was stunningly beautiful even without makeup, before finally settling on Lin Qingqing's lips, which were slightly pink from the steam.

Jealousy sometimes doesn't need a reason; it only takes a glance.

"Oh, who do we have here?"

Su Jiaojiao slung the basket over her arm, held her chin high, and her nostrils practically pointed at the roof beam.

"Isn't this the jinx from the Li family? What's going on? You just killed a man, and now you're here at the Qin family compound to freeload? Aren't you afraid of passing on your bad luck to others?"

That's a really harsh statement.

Rural people are particular, especially about these kinds of things.

Lin Qingqing wanted to retort, but her throat felt like it was stuffed with cotton, making her feel uncomfortable.

That's the fate of a widow.

No matter what you do, any living person who sees you can throw two buckets of dirty water on you.

Qin Lie was still sitting at the table when Xiao Yong slammed his chopsticks down on the table. Just as he was about to curse, a thin figure moved faster than him.

Jiang He walked around from behind Lin Qingqing and stood in front of her, completely blocking her slender figure from view.

"Su Jiaojiao".

The moment Su Jiaojiao saw Jiang He, her mean face vanished instantly; her expression changed faster than turning the pages of a book.

"Brother Jiang He, are you inside?" She took two steps forward, handing him the basket on her arm, a blush rising on her cheeks. "My mother said you're not very healthy, so she asked me to bring you twenty eggs to help you recover. They were just laid by our old hen, still warm."

Jiang He didn't take it. He put his hands in his pockets, his eyelids drooping, and didn't even glance at the basket of eggs.

"Take it back."

Su Jiaojiao paused for a moment, her hand holding the basket frozen in mid-air: "Brother Jiang He, I specifically picked one with a big head..."

"I told you to take it back." Jiang He finally raised his eyelids, his eyes, which usually always held a smiling expression, now dark and brooding. "Who gave you the right to talk about my sister like that?"

Su Jiaojiao felt uneasy under his gaze and subconsciously took a half step back: "Sister...sister? What kind of sister is she? Isn't she just that one from the Li family..."

"She's my sister."

Jiang He interrupted her and took a step forward.

He was a head taller than Su Jiaojiao, and now he looked down at her with an imposing aura. "If you can't speak like a human being, don't ever set foot in my house again. My house is too small to accommodate someone as big as you."

Su Jiaojiao was pampered by the village chief since she was a child, and she had never suffered such grievances.

Her eyes instantly reddened, tears welling up, as she pointed at Lin Qingqing behind Jiang He:

"You're cursing me over such a slut? Everyone in the village knows she's a jinx! Jiang He, have you been bewitched by this vixen?!"

"Bang!"

A muffled thud.

Qin Lie slammed his hand on the table, looked up, and coldly swept his hawk-like eyes toward the doorway.

Su Jiaojiao trembled with fright.

The eldest son of the Qin family was notorious in the village for his ferocity; even the village dogs would tuck their tails between their legs and go around him.

She dared to act coquettishly with Jiang He and throw tantrums with Lin Qingqing, but none of these little tricks worked in front of Qin Lie.

"You...you guys..." Su Jiaojiao stomped her foot, tears finally falling. She glared at Lin Qingqing, then turned and ran out, covering her face.

Standing behind Jiang He, Lin Qingqing looked at the boy's straight back, which was not broad and thick. The feeling of suffocation in her heart dissipated a little, and was replaced by an indescribable emotion.

Su Jiaojiao's string of insults felt like knives stabbing into her heart.

But the moment Jiang He stood in front of her, it seemed as if all those knives were blocked.

She watched Su Jiaojiao's fleeing figure, then looked at Jiang He standing in front of her, and a secret sense of satisfaction welled up inside her.

This feeling of being unconditionally favored and protected is so unfamiliar, yet so addictive.

Even when Su Jiaojiao fawned over Jiang He, she felt a little...uncomfortable. It was as if something that belonged to her was being coveted.

The thought had barely crossed her mind when it startled Lin Qingqing.

What is she thinking?

-------

Too much explicit content isn't safe, so let's focus on slice-of-life scenes in these chapters.

In the middle stages, Lin Qingqing will start to show a darker side, a bit of a yandere, which she learned from the fifth brother. After becoming fascinated with this feeling, our gentle Qingqing will start to secretly train the dogs. These five brothers are in a situation where they have been trained without even realizing it.

Of these people, the eldest is the most sensible, the second is the most naive, the third is cunning, the fourth is dashing, and the fifth is a puppy.

A persona will gradually emerge.