The daily life of a space tycoon raising children, doting on his husband, and farming.

Chapter 109 meets both criteria.

Stone asked, "Sister, should we bring him over?"

"No need for now, let him spend more time with his relatives," Shang Wan said to him. "Go sharpen the knife."

"Okay!" Stone didn't hesitate for a moment and went to sharpen his knife.

He insisted on sharpening the cleaver until it could cut hair with a snap, so that Xiao Huan would be able to use it easily later.

Seeing that something was wrong, He Sizhi tentatively asked Lu Chengjing, "Scholar, are you really going to make a move?"

“We are all law-abiding citizens, so naturally we wouldn’t lay a hand on him,” Lu Chengjing smiled. “Gao Qi tried to force a respectable woman into marriage but failed. In a fit of anger, he tried to stab her with a knife, but his hand slipped and he accidentally castrated himself. Is there a problem with that?”

He Sizhi: "..."

You've really figured out how to lie through your teeth.

He discovered that his understanding of the family seemed to be more than slightly off.

"No, no problem," he said dryly, then turned to his two apprentices and said, "You've rested enough, get back to work."

Ma Jieyong was still eager to see what would happen, "Master, this person is still..."

"Get to work!" He Sizhi glared at him fiercely, and Ma Jieyong immediately shut up and obediently got up to work.

Gao Yan glanced at Xiao Huan again, then picked up his tools and followed.

While the stone was being used to sharpen the knife, Shang Wan unloaded the bricks from the oxcart, and Xiao Huan went over to help.

Shang Wan asked casually, "Are you scared?"

"I'm not afraid," Xiao Huan frowned, "I just feel disgusted!"

Shang Wan handed her the brick and asked, "Tell me in detail, how did he approach you?"

"I was squatting by the river washing clothes when he suddenly ran out from behind a tree and pounced on me to hug me."

Xiao Huan felt it was bad luck and spat on the ground twice.

“I wasn’t prepared and he almost pushed me into the river. I yelled for him to let go, but he not only wouldn’t let go but also tried to kiss me. So I grabbed a clothes-beating stick and hit him on the head. He cried out in pain and let go, and I took the opportunity to get away from him.”

Shang Wan narrowed her eyes slightly. "And then?"

"Then he yelled that I seduced him, that I had slept with him, and that I was pregnant with his child."

In a few words, Xiao Huan summarized that Gao Qi's words were actually much harsher than what she said, but she felt that saying them would not only dirty her own mouth but also Shang Wan's ears.

"Click——"

The red brick in Shang Wan's hand shattered into three pieces.

Xiao Huan's eyelids twitched. "...Sister, it cost money."

Shang Wan tossed the brick aside and continued, "Were there many people by the river at that time?"

“Quite a lot.” Xiao Huan nodded. “I don’t know what got into Lin Dajia, but he was washing pig offal in the river, making the area very smelly and attracting a lot of fish, so we couldn’t wash clothes at all.”

"Everyone then dispersed and went upstream to wash their clothes. Because there were too many people, I deliberately went a little further away and found an empty spot. Originally, Madam Rong wanted to come with me, but that man surnamed Gui pulled her away."

"I never expected Gao Qi to ambush me from behind a tree," she said bitterly. "I should have smashed his head open with a stick!"

If she had the strength to chop that big bone yesterday, she would have cracked Gao Qi's skull open long ago.

Shang Wan asked in confusion, "Do people often go to the river to wash those smelly things?"

"No, everyone usually gathers there to do laundry. If you want to wash dirty and smelly things, you go to a place further downstream." Xiao Huan pouted. "Sister, you didn't see it. Lin Dajia's face turned black from being scolded." Shang Wan sneered. "What a coincidence. Washing pig offal, changing places, dragging Rong Niangzi away and leaving you alone, and Gao Qi just happens to be hiding nearby."

If it wasn't a deliberate setup, then Gao Qi should be made to eat ten pounds of cow dung.

However, Shang Wan still had one question.

Xiao Huan is quite popular among the older women and young wives. How can the Gao family be so sure that Xiao Huan will end up alone?
"Perhaps the Gao family isn't targeting Xiao Huan." Lu Chengjing poured Shang Wan a bowl of herbal tea to help her calm down.

Shang Wan held the glass without drinking, saying, "Explain yourself more clearly."

Lu Chengjing said, "The Gao family is small, consisting of only Old Lady Gao, Gui Shi, and Gao Qi, the only son. Gao Qi is twenty-five years old by the traditional Chinese age reckoning. Men his age in the village should have been married long ago, but he is still a bachelor."

These days, there are only two reasons why men in the village don't get married: either their families don't have the money to help them find a wife, or they're simply not good enough for any reason, and the girls don't want them.

Unfortunately, Gao Qi fits both criteria.

The men in the Gao family all died young, and the family relied entirely on the two women to support it. Apart from farming, they had no other way to make money. It was already a miracle if they could keep the family from starving to death. Where would they get the money to marry Gao Qi?

Logically speaking, Gao Qi should be ambitious and hardworking in a family like this, but unfortunately he is a lazy bum who only wants to sponge off his parents and is known as a lazy bum in the village.

Which family would be willing to marry their daughter to such a person?
Shang Wan said, "You mean, no matter who is alone today, Gao Qi will do the same thing, ruin their reputation, and force the girl to marry him?"

Lu Chengjing nodded, "The Gao family probably wants to use this method to find a wife for Gao Qi and continue the Gao family line."

There are quite a few girls of marriageable age in the village, and they do most of the work, such as washing clothes. They also often go to the riverbank.

The Gao family probably planned to catch whoever they could, and Xiao Huan just happened to run into them.

Xiao Huan secretly cursed her bad luck, but then she thought that if it were any other girl in the village, the Gao family's wishful thinking would probably have succeeded.

Unlike the girls in the village, she was able to resist, and her family stood by her side. They wouldn't marry her off to Gao Qi just because of his slander, for the sake of face or anything else, under the guise of doing what was best for her, thus fulfilling the Gao family's wishes.

Thinking about all this, Xiao Huan's mood inevitably became somewhat heavy.

"The knife is sharpened!"

The gleaming kitchen knife broke the heavy atmosphere.

Shi Tou plucked a hair from the blade, placed it on the knife, and blew hard on it, cutting the hair in two.

Truly capable of cutting a hair in two.

Xiao Huan took the kitchen knife, and Shi Tou went behind the bushes to drag Gao Qi, who was gagged, over to prevent him from struggling. He also used hemp rope to fix his limbs so that Xiao Huan could do it.

Gao Qi still had a short arrow stuck in one of his legs. Shang Wan glanced at the spot and asked Lu Chengjing, "You shot pretty accurately. When did you start practicing?"

Lu Chengjing smiled helplessly, "It was just a coincidence."

At that moment, Xiao Hui bit Gao Qi's leg, and Gao Qi pulled out a bamboo splinter to stab Xiao Hui. He didn't have time to think much and hastily activated the mechanism in Gao Qi's direction.

Hitting the target is purely a matter of luck.

Shang Wan thought the skill of launching hidden weapons was worth developing, and after thinking for a moment, she said, "I'll get you a straw target tomorrow, so you can practice more when you have time."

Lu Chengjing shared the same idea and replied, "Alright."

While the two were talking, Xiao Huan and Shi Tou squatted down together, gesturing with a kitchen knife, carefully studying how to perform the castration surgery on Gao Qi.

Don't accidentally kill someone; it's not worth going to jail for someone like that.

(End of this chapter)