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

"Brother Qin... Brother Qin?" Lin Qingqing subconsciously took a step back.

Qin Lie spat out the smoke from his mouth and stood up.

The towering shadow fell once more.

He approached step by step, cornering Lin Qingqing against the cabinet in the wall.

"Is it all taken care of?" His voice was low and husky, with a hint of dangerous playfulness.

"Hmm..." Lin Qingqing was pressed against the cabinet, with nowhere to retreat.

"Then let's settle the score."

Qin Lie stretched out a hand and braced it against the cabinet beside her, then lowered his head until the tip of his nose almost touched hers.

"I saved your life, how will you repay me?"

Lin Qingqing's mind went blank.

Money? She didn't have any.

She had nothing but this body.

"I...I can cook, I can do laundry, and I'm good at mending..." she stammered, listing her skills, trying to prove that she was a useful member of the workforce.

Looking at her flustered little face, Qin Lie suddenly found it a little funny.

This woman is so adorably naive.

This is the Qin family home.

Five hot-blooded bachelors lived there.

She thought that cooking and washing clothes would make up for the debt.

"We don't need a nanny." Qin Lie gently stroked the bloodstain on her cheek with his thumb. The rough fingertip scratched her skin painfully, but it also brought a strange tingling sensation.

"Then... what do you want?" Lin Qingqing asked in a trembling voice, her eyelashes fluttering like butterfly wings.

Qin Lie remained silent.

His gaze fell on her full, rosy lips, and his Adam's apple bobbed again.

Just then—

"Clang!"

A sudden noise came from the neighboring yard, like the sound of a ladder falling over.

Immediately afterwards, Wang Dazui's signature loud voice, though lowered, still drifted over through the not-so-soundproof earthen wall.

"Oh my goodness! Did the eldest son of the Qin family really drag that young widow into the house? I knew it! No cat can resist stealing fish! The way she screamed just now was enough to make anyone blush..."

Lin Qingqing's face instantly turned a deep liver color.

She was so ashamed and indignant that she wished she could disappear into the ground.

This is it.

Tomorrow the whole village will know that she spent the night at the Qin family's house.

Qin Lie, however, seemed completely unconcerned about the commotion next door.

He looked at Lin Qingqing's face, which was so red it was almost bleeding, and a faint smile appeared on his lips, with a hint of roguishness.

"Did you hear me?"

He leaned close to her ear, his warm breath tickling her ear, and said, "Now the whole village knows you're my woman."

"Since you've lost your reputation..."

Qin Lie's hand slid down her cheek and stopped on her slender neck, his fingertips lightly pressing on her throbbing pulse.

"Why not just confirm it?"

Lin Qingqing's eyes widened suddenly, staring at him in horror...

Looking at her frightened rabbit-like appearance, Qin Lie's violent expression subsided somewhat, replaced by a deep sense of helplessness and restraint.

He didn't want to take advantage of someone's misfortune.

But this woman is just too attractive.

***

"Don't move."

He pressed down on her fidgeting hands, his voice low and husky, "If you move again, I really won't be able to hold back."

He buried his head in the crook of her neck, took a deep breath, and greedily inhaled her scent.

The aroma made his blood boil, clamoring to possess and plunder it.

But he just held her.

The rain was still falling, pattering against the tiles.

Lin Qingqing stood stiffly, not daring to move, and could only let this dangerous man hold her.

A long time passed.

Qin Lie finally raised his head.

The crimson in his eyes faded somewhat, and he regained his usual coldness and hardness.

"Go sleep in the inner room."

He released his grip, took a step back, and increased the distance between them.

"That's the third brother's room; he's not here tonight."

Lin Qingqing felt as if she had been granted a pardon. She hurriedly jumped down from the cabinet, not even bothering to put on her shoes, and rushed into the inner room as if her life depended on it.

The door slammed shut.

Qin Lie stood there, looking at the closed door, took out the flattened cigarette from his pocket, and put it back in his mouth.

……

After the rain, the air in Qingshan Village was filled with the smell of earth and grass.

Before dawn, just as the village rooster crowed twice, Wang Dazui was already sitting down at the foot of his wall with his peeling little stool.

Clutching a handful of melon seeds, his beady green eyes darted furtively toward the Qin family's courtyard wall next door, his ears practically standing up longer than a donkey's.

"Oh dear, what a terrible thing to do..."

While cracking sunflower seeds, Wang Dazui winked and made faces at Old Zhang, who was passing by early in the morning carrying manure. His voice was low, but just loud enough for everyone around to hear.

"Did you hear that noise last night? Tsk tsk tsk, that sound was like a cat scratching its heart."

The eldest son of the Qin family seems like a quiet, reserved person, but it turns out he's quite reckless. I doubt that young widow will even be able to get out of bed today.

Old Zhang chuckled, revealing a mouthful of large, yellow teeth:

"That's Qin Lie. He can kill a wild boar in the mountains with one hand. That little wench from the Lin family is so fragile, how could she withstand such torment?"

The dirty jokes spread like wildfire under the wall, and before long, half the village knew that Qin Lie had brought a woman back last night and had "slept with" her.

Inside the house.

Lin Qingqing was awakened by the noise outside.

She opened her eyes groggily, and what she saw was an unfamiliar roof beam. A strong, masculine scent lingered in the air.

It was a peculiar smell, a mixture of cheap tobacco, soapberry, and male hormones, that forcefully assaulted the nostrils.

She sat up abruptly, and the men's jacket she was wearing slipped off.

This is Qin Lie's coat.

Memories of last night flooded back like a tide. The torrential rain, the chase, the bleeding arm, and that burning embrace…

Lin Qingqing looked down at herself. She was still wearing the same tattered, wet clothes from yesterday, though they were now completely dry. They were wrinkled and clung to her body, making her feel very uncomfortable.

Wang Dazui's shrill voice drifted in through the window crack: "...If you ask me, she's a slut. Her husband died and she won't stay a widow. She sneaks into a bunch of men in the middle of the night. Doesn't she worry about ruining her genitals...?"

Lin Qingqing's face flushed bright red instantly, then turned deathly pale.

She bit her lip, her fingers gripping the straw mat beneath her tightly. Although nothing actually happened, her reputation was completely ruined.

Just then, a cacophony of shouts and curses erupted outside the courtyard gate, accompanied by violent banging on the door, which shook the paper windows.

"Qin Lie! You son of a bitch! Open the door for me!"

"Hand over that shameless slut of mine! She's from the Li family, and she'll die in the Li family!"

It was the voice of her former mother-in-law, Li Liushi.

Lin Qingqing shuddered and instinctively curled up into a ball. That wicked mother-in-law always beat and scolded her; if she were caught and taken back, she would be severely injured, if not killed.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The gate was pounded on loudly.

Li Ergou's hoarse voice was also shouting outside: "Boss Qin! I know she's in there! You're kidnapping people! I'm going to report you to the commune! Hand over that slut Lin Qingqing!"

Qin Lie was sharpening his knife in the yard.

It was a broad-backed, thick-bladed butcher knife. Water was poured onto the whetstone, and the blade made a "whoosh" sound as it rubbed against it, a sound that sent chills down one's spine. He was shirtless, revealing his muscular upper body, and a little blood seeped through the gauze that had been bandaged up the night before.

He didn't even lift an eyelid when he heard the shouting and cursing outside.

Until the insults outside became increasingly offensive, even involving the Qin family's ancestors for eighteen generations.

Qin Lie stopped what he was doing.

He straightened up and tested the blade with his thumb.

Sharp.

It can blow hair off.

He carried the knife, strode to the courtyard gate, and pulled open the bolt.

"Squeak—"

The heavy wooden door opened.

Li Ergou, who was about to ram the door, stumbled in and nearly fell into Qin Lie's blade.

"Holy crap!" Li Ergou was so scared that he scrambled backward and landed hard on his bottom in the mud.

Li Liu was sitting on the ground throwing a tantrum, her hair disheveled, her face covered in snot and tears. When she saw the door open, she was about to open her mouth to scream when she was choked back by the gleaming knife in Qin Lie's hand.

"Why are you howling like that?"