A delicate beauty takes a place in a marriage, while a cold, rough man seduces her every night.

After venting her pent-up emotions from the past few days, Qingyan gradually calmed down, with only occasional soft sobs remaining in the air.

Xiao Jingye lowered his head and kissed her moist eyes: "Go to sleep, maybe everything will be alright when you wake up tomorrow."

She blinked, her eyes glistening with tears: "You're lying."

"I'm not lying to you."

Qingyan grabbed his clothes and wiped her eyes haphazardly, puffing out her cheeks: "Are you very busy? Why haven't you come home for three or four days?"

Xiao Jingye didn't want her to know the difficulties he faced in humbling himself and having to go through all sorts of trouble.

Concealing the weariness in her eyes, she replied lightly, "Yes, I've been a bit busy."

"What are you busy with?"

"Business matters."

Qiao Qingyan gave a soft snort, a slight awkwardness rising in her heart. She turned her back to him and refused to speak again.

"What's wrong?" Xiao Jingye leaned down, his long arms encircling her slender waist from behind, holding her tightly in his embrace, his nose brushing against the soft flesh of her nape: "Are you angry?"

"No," Qingyan said, biting her lip, sounding annoyed. "You might as well just stay in the city from now on and not come back."

"That won't do." The man's palm was warm as he lifted her clothes and gently stroked her soft belly with his fingertips.

His warm breath brushed against her sensitive earlobe: "I can't sleep at night without touching you for days."

Qingyan blushed and gently struggled, saying, "Go touch someone else!"

"I don't want to." As soon as he finished speaking, he exerted a little force to flip the person over and pin him down, then lowered his head and kissed him.

The dim night enveloped their tender feelings, and the longing of the past few days was transformed into a passionate kiss, melting between their intertwined lips.

The next day.

The day after Qingyan was suspended.

Early in the morning, Principal Zhou of Guangming Elementary School personally visited the Xiao family.

"Teacher Qiao, the Education Bureau has verified the facts, and your teaching qualification and public school position have been fully restored."

Qingyan was utterly astonished. She instinctively gripped Xiao Jingye's hand tightly beside her, her voice trembling, "Really?"

Zeng Yumei, holding a teacup, couldn't hide her excitement as she said, "It's good that it's been investigated, it's good that it's been investigated."

"Absolutely true." Principal Zhou nodded with a smile. "I just came back from the Education Bureau. The list of successful candidates for the entrance exam is already posted at the bureau's entrance. Your combined written exam score is firmly at the top of the list—you're number one!"

In just three days, a series of upheavals occurred, the low point was turned around, and the situation was completely reversed.

Qiao Qingyan was in turmoil and hesitated before asking, "Then... what about Teacher Yu?"

She knew in her heart that her exoneration and successful employment meant that Teacher Yu's spot was gone.

Teacher Yu just lost her mother, and after finally passing the civil service exam, she failed to get the job. She must be feeling terrible.

This whole affair has been incredibly complicated and embarrassing.

Principal Zhou took the hot tea handed to him by Zeng Yumei, took a big gulp, and smiled reassuringly:

"Don't worry, Teacher Yu will be transferred to a permanent position along with you. It was a special approval from the higher authorities, who added two more public school places to our school."

"This is a win-win situation!" Xiao Jingye said.

The reversal came too suddenly, leaving Qiao Qingyan completely bewildered and unable to figure out what was going on.

"Principal Zhou, the Education Bureau officials came to the school the day before yesterday and said they would suspend my classes. How come they've already investigated and clarified things today?"

Xiao Jingye put his arm around her shoulder, interrupting her doubts: "Isn't it better to find out the truth?"

He changed the subject and said to Principal Zhou, "Thank you for making the trip. When will Qingyan be able to return to class?"

"Anytime is fine," Principal Zhou replied. "Just rest well at home today, and you can return to school as usual tomorrow."

After giving his instructions, Principal Zhou took his leave.

As soon as the guests left, Qiao Qingyan could no longer contain her joy and leaped onto Xiao Jingye.

She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, her eyes sparkling with excitement: "Xiao Jingye, I'm not dreaming, am I?"

"No." His strong arms firmly supported her hips, and he lowered his head to kiss her rosy lips. "It's not a dream. You passed the exam for a public school teacher with the highest overall score. The honor roll is posted at the Education Bureau, and everyone in the surrounding villages can see it."

She pinched and twisted him wildly, overjoyed and flustered: "Xiao Jingye, take me there! I want to see for myself if it's true!"

Motorcycles sped by, and the autumn grass and trees on both sides of the road were golden.

It wasn't until Qiao Qingyan saw the large red notice board covering the entire bulletin board that she was convinced she had finally received a fair result.

She suddenly remembered what Jiang Runsheng had said before, that he would use his connections to give her an explanation.

At the time, I thought he was just saying it casually, but I didn't expect Jiang Runsheng to actually take care of it.

As evening fell and night descended.

A dining table was set up in the Xiao family's courtyard, and the family sat together to eat dinner.

The autumn evening breeze was cool, and the tall locust trees rustled their yellow leaves. Fu Bao wagged its tail and circled around their feet.

After Qingyan finished gnawing on a piece of tender meat bone, she was about to throw the bone to Fubao at her feet when suddenly, Xiao Jingye picked up the bone from the bowl and took it away.

The girl blushed: "Hey, have you no shame? That's a bone I've gnawed on."

"There's so much meat left on the bones, it's such a waste," Xiao Jingye said. "You're not even as good as Duoduo. Look how clean Duoduo gnawed the bones."

Hearing her brother praise her, Duoduo's eyes lit up, and she took a big bite of the meat in her hand.

Qingyan was embarrassed and annoyed, so she lifted her foot and gently stepped on his instep under the table.

The man remained calm and focused, carefully sucking out the marrow from the bones.

The slurping sounds reached Qingyan's ears, and her face inexplicably turned even more intensely red.

While Zeng Yumei went into the kitchen to get something, she whispered reproachfully, "Can you please stop making such rude noises while you eat?"

Xiao Jingye tossed the bone to Fu Bao, a glistening sheen of oil on his thin lips, and looked up at her: "Isn't this how everyone eats bones? What's so rude about it?"

Qingyan stared at his lips, her earlobes suddenly burning, and she gritted her teeth and muttered, "Shameless."

"How is it shameless of me to eat a bone?" Xiao Jingye wiped his lips with a tissue, leaned forward slightly, and tried to get closer to kiss her, but Qingyan pushed him away.

He lowered his eyes slightly, stared at her for a long while, and said with a roguish smile, "You don't actually want to be this bone, do you?"

When Zeng Yumei came out of the kitchen with the food, she saw Qingyan chasing Xiao Jingye with a red face, and Duoduo holding a piece of meat in her hand, giggling non-stop.

In the small courtyard, laughter and cheerful voices rose and fell.

-

late at night.

In a secluded mountain valley behind Shidianzi Village, a vibrant scene is unfolding.

"You slut, that old man can't satisfy you, can he?"

"Jia Er, you bastard, you might as well just kill me..."

After a while, Chen Xiuying looked down at the marks on her body, feeling both angry and anxious. She raised her hand and slapped the man in front of her hard.

"Are you crazy? Leaving so many marks on me, are you hoping Qiao Nianshan will immediately notice something amiss?"

Yesterday, Qiao Nianshan had a big argument with Qiao Qingyan over her suspension. Qiao Nianshan insisted that it was her daughter who caused his daughter to lose her job, which Chen Xiuying naturally refused to admit.

Qiao Nianshan had no evidence, and he wasn't as good with words as her, so in the end he could only sulk on the sidelines.

Jia Er narrowed his triangular eyes, staring intently at her, a layer of murky greed swirling in his gaze.

He leaned closer with a grin: "The way you were being so flirtatious just now, you practically wanted to skin me alive..."

"Shut up! Get away from me!" Chen Xiuying hurriedly sat up and reached up to button her clothes.

"Where's the money?" Jia Er grabbed her waist and eagerly stretched out one hand to ask for it.

He understood Chen Xiuying's personality; this woman was lonely and empty, and only by appeasing her could he get a steady stream of money.

Chen Xiuying slapped his palm hard: "All you ever think about is money, money, money! You heartless bastard, you called me out here just to get money from me."

Jia Er, with a slick and oily face, softly promised, "I need capital to start a business. Once I make money, I'll take you away from this poor mountain village, and we'll live a carefree life in the city."

Chen Xiuying snorted, pulled a wad of cash from her pocket and gave it to him, frowning as she said, "I've saved this for a long time, so use it sparingly and don't gamble anymore!"

"Ah~" Jia Erxi smiled broadly, cupped her wrinkled face and kissed her hard, "You are truly the apple of my eye."

Chen Xiuying said she was disgusted, but the corners of her mouth unconsciously turned up. She raised her hand and shoved him, saying, "Stop being so glib."

The two lingered and entangled for a long time before finally tidying their clothes and leaving the mountain valley one after the other under the cover of night.

On the other side of the ravine, in the grass, Chun Ya, whose legs had gone numb from squatting, slowly moved her legs and breathed a sigh of relief in a low voice: "Finally gone."

Fang Zhijie, standing beside him, straightened up, hands on his hips, watching the two figures disappear into the distance, a mixture of shock and disdain in his eyes.

"Damn, isn't this Xiao Jingye's father-in-law's second wife? How did she end up hanging out with that scoundrel Jia Er?"

The night was clear and bright. Chunya slowly stood up, her whole face as red as a tender apple.

After finishing my work in the city today, I went back to the village with Fang Zhijie in the evening, thinking we could take a shortcut to get home earlier. Little did I expect to stumble upon this sordid affair.

The young woman heard every word of the two men's flirtatious banter and explicit remarks.

She was both ashamed and angry, regretting that she had taken this path.