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

Jiang Chunhua happened to be handing over a jar of face cream.

Chen Xiaomeng, standing to the side, immediately adopted the air of an elder and began to lecture Qiao Qingyan earnestly:

"Qingyan, as your older sister, I have to give you a few words of advice. I heard from Mom that the Xiao family is having a hard time. Jinye's mother is in poor health and has to take medicine often, his younger sister has mental problems, and Jinye doesn't have a proper job; he's just a hunter. You need to be more considerate of your man and not spend money so extravagantly."

"Look at your brother-in-law. Although he works at the radio station, which is a respectable job with a high salary of over sixty yuan a month, I still have to be careful with my money. We women can't be too selfish; we always have to think more about our in-laws."

Qiao Qingyan was speechless, her face full of confusion.

Before she could speak, Xiao Jingye curled his lips into a cold smile and spoke first in a deep voice:

"Who told you my family is struggling financially?"

Chen Xiaomeng pursed her lips: "Jingye, I understand that men care about their image, but don't go too far. Your mother takes medicine all year round, and the little money you earn from hunting all goes to support your family. You live frugally every day. I know very well what kind of situation your family is in Nanjiaping Village. I'm saying all this for your own good."

"You stayed at my house?" As soon as Xiao Jingye opened his mouth, a cold and sinister aura emanated from him, sending chills down one's spine.

Chen Xiaomeng was immediately speechless.

Xiao Jingye scoffed lazily, "Do you know my family's situation better than I do? Are you some kind of mouse hiding in my house? Getting nothing in return, so you're jumping over the wall and gossiping?"

Chen Xiaomeng's face flushed red with anger, and she snapped, "Xiao Jingye! I'm practically your older sister, don't talk to me like that!"

"I only acknowledge you as my sister because my wife does; if she didn't, in my eyes you wouldn't even be as good as a mouse."

Seeing Chen Xiaomeng's discomfiture, Jiang Chunhua couldn't suppress her smile.

Chen Xiaomeng had never been criticized like this before; she was so angry that her face contorted.

Qiao Qingyan was very grateful to Xiao Jingye for helping her in front of outsiders, putting on such a convincing act.

Suppressing her anger, Chen Xiaomeng suddenly scoffed, "You've only been married a few days, and your relationship is already this good? Before you married Qingyan, she absolutely refused to marry you. I heard you didn't even come home on your wedding night, so you were quite dissatisfied with this marriage."

Qingyan's heart skipped a beat; Chen Xiaomeng was really not someone to be fooled.

She didn't expect Xiao Jingye to be so quick-witted, and he quickly said, "That's because I initially thought I was marrying you, so I didn't want to go home."

As he spoke, he naturally put his arm around Qiao Qingyan's shoulder, looked at Chen Xiaomeng, and lazily added:

"Your intelligence network doesn't seem to be very accurate. I fell in love with my wife at first sight, and we've been living a blissful life since we got married. Haven't you noticed how happy she is that she's gotten quite plump?"

A smile played on his lips as he reached out and pinched Qiao Qingyan's chin, making her mouth into a round "O" shape.

Although Qiao Qingyan was a little dissatisfied with his frivolous actions, she went along with Xiao Jingye when she saw Chen Xiaomeng's face turn green with anger.

Then, in front of everyone, she affectionately took his arm and said, "Never mind, Brother Jinye, let's go home."

Brother Jinye?

Xiao Jingye lowered his eyes and glanced at her delicate face, his gaze flickering slightly.

To be honest, half of his heart went numb.

He quickly agreed, picked up the packed net bag, and the two greeted Jiang Chunhua before heading out together.

Chen Xiaomeng gritted her teeth, her gaze fixed on the two people's intimate backs, her eyes burning with two raging flames of anger.

After they got married in their previous life, Xiao Jingye never even touched her, and his cold eyes never looked at her directly.

Could it be... that he has fallen for Qiao Qingyan in just a few days?

No, absolutely not!

Chen Xiaomeng knew that Xiao Jingye had been hiding a woman in his heart for many years.

No one could shake that woman's place in his heart.

Even if she cheated on him in his past life and cheated on him, he wouldn't be angry, wouldn't get upset, and wouldn't care.

His eyes showed nothing but disgust for her; there was no other emotion in them.

Chen Xiaomeng was certain that the two of them were deliberately putting on a show of affection in front of her. She wanted to see how long they could keep up the act.

As he walked out of the supply and marketing cooperative, Xiao Jingye tied the net bag to the front frame of his bicycle.

He straddled the car seat, and Qiao Qingyan followed suit, sitting in the back seat and gently clutching the hem of his shirt behind him.

Several seconds passed, and seeing that the car still hadn't moved, Qiao Qingyan asked softly, "Aren't you going to leave?"

He turned to look at her. "Say it again."

"What's your name?" Qiao Qingyan didn't react for a moment.

"It's that phrase you just called me..."

Which sentence?

Qiao Qingyan pondered for a long time.

Then, her brows furrowed deeper and deeper...

"Xiao Jingye, are you leaving or not?" Qiao Qingyan asked, her tone tinged with embarrassment and annoyance.

Xiao Jingye scoffed: "Just kidding. I knew you'd turn your back on me after using me."

Qiao Qingyan gazed at his broad back and unconsciously curved her lips into a smile.

She had initially thought Xiao Jingye was a cold and difficult person to get along with, but now it seemed that his personality wasn't so dull after all, and she felt much more relaxed in front of him.

On the way, the two chatted idly.

Qiao Qingyan said, "Thank you for cooperating with my acting just now."

Xiao Jingye: "Your sister seems to be upset that you're doing well."

"Yeah, the more she can't stand seeing me doing well, the more I want to do better than her."

"Does she often bully you?"

"Actually... before she married you, she and my stepmother wanted to sell me to an old bachelor in our village."

The bicycle braked suddenly—

Qiao Qingyan instinctively hugged his waist due to the force, her cheek stinging slightly from the impact. She complained softly, "What are you doing?"

Xiao Jingye's face was dark, as cold as ice shards wrapped in the wind on a cold winter's day.

After a moment of silence, he slowly started pedaling again. "Sorry, there's a big pothole ahead."

"Oh..." Afraid of being jolted off by his terrible driving skills, she didn't let go of his waist.

When she arrived home, Qingyan saw her mother-in-law weaving bamboo baskets in the yard.

Upon seeing her son and daughter-in-law return, she quickly put down her work, a kind smile on her face.

"You're back! I've already cooked all the dishes, just waiting for you to come back and eat."

Xiao Jingye carried the things from his bicycle into the house. Zeng Yumei glanced at them and asked, "Have you prepared all the cigarettes, alcohol, sugar, and tea?"

Qiao Qingyan: "Yes, I've bought everything."

"That's good, that's good."

Qiao Qingyan glanced at the bicycle outside and asked Xiao Jingye, "Are we still using the bicycle tomorrow?"

Xiao Jingye nodded, "Of course, I'll take you back by bike tomorrow."

"it is good."

The family sat together and enjoyed a peaceful meal.

......

On the other side, Chen Xiaomeng strolled leisurely on the street to kill time, until Jiang Runsheng came to pick her up after get off work.

Upon meeting, she threw herself into Jiang Runsheng's arms and began to sob.

Jiang Runsheng looked troubled and quickly looked around.

At that moment, he felt embarrassed because a woman he wasn't particularly proud of was hugging him.

"What's wrong?" Jiang Runsheng pushed her away.

"Runsheng," Chen Xiaomeng hugged his waist tightly, complaining aggrievedly, "I ran into Qingyan today."

Jiang Runsheng paused for a moment, then remained silent.

Chen Xiaomeng gritted her teeth angrily: "Your wife was bullied, do you even know that?"

"How did she bully you?"

"It's all because of you, because we're together. She seems magnanimous on the surface, but she harbors resentment and has always been jealous of me..."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Runsheng's heart skipped a beat for a few seconds. "Really?"

He knew that Qingyan wasn't completely indifferent to him; on the contrary, she cared about him a lot.

Chen Xiaomeng: "Yes, right there at the supply and marketing cooperative, she publicly humiliated me!"

At this point, she became even angrier, "Your sister stood by and watched the whole thing coldly, without offering to help me in the slightest."

"But Runsheng, Qiao Qingyan isn't acting this way because she loves you that much. She's just upset and jealous because I took something from her."

With just a few words, he shattered the last vestiges of hope in Jiang Runsheng's heart.

"Runsheng, in this world, only I truly and wholeheartedly love you."

That night, Chen Xiaomeng whispered in Jiang Runsheng's ear.

She bought the same face cream as Qiao Qingyan at the supply and marketing cooperative today, and her body exudes a faint fragrance that is intoxicating.

The dim light bulb cast a faint, warm glow. She knelt on the edge of the bed, head tilted back, trying her best to please the man before her.

Jiang Runsheng raised his hand and turned off the light, avoiding looking at her face.

Less than two minutes later, his low breathing could be heard from the shadows.

His stiff back trembled slightly, and then bent over helplessly in an instant.

Chen Xiaomeng was stunned and then climbed into bed.

No matter how much she teased him after that, Jiang Runsheng showed no further reaction.

In the darkness, she heard a man's slightly hoarse and weary voice: "Xiaomeng, I'm sorry..."