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

Jiang He turned around, and the gloomy expression on his face vanished instantly. He bent down slightly, approached Lin Qingqing, and put his hands behind his back, like a child who had done a good deed and wanted praise.

"Sister, I chased her away."

He smiled broadly, "Her mouth is too foul. I won't let her in the house anymore. Sister, don't be angry. I'll be worried if you get sick from it."

Looking at his obedient appearance, Lin Qingqing felt the thrill of being protected still pounding in her chest.

She opened her mouth, about to say thank you, when a commotion of voices suddenly came from outside the courtyard.

"Did you catch him?"

"They ran that way! Go after them!"

"Oh my god, that's the lifeblood of the whole village!"

The noise grew louder and louder, as if half the village had come out.

Xiao Yong, always eager for a good spectacle, couldn't sit still at the sound of the commotion. He rushed into the yard, standing on tiptoe to peer outside: "What's going on? Which house is on fire?"

Li Dongye also strolled out slowly and leaned against the door frame: "Judging from the noise, it doesn't sound like a fire, but more like someone's livestock has run away."

Qin Lie stood up, casually picked up a cloth hanging on the wall to wipe the bloodstains on his hands, and said in a deep voice, "Go out and take a look."

Lin Qingqing didn't want to join in the fun, but Jiang He tugged at her sleeve and shook it gently: "Sister, let's go take a look too. We've already finished eating, let's digest a bit."

His fingers were slightly cool as he touched Lin Qingqing's wrist through her sleeve, and Lin Qingqing nodded as if possessed.

The group left the courtyard and walked along the dirt road towards the village entrance.

Not far along, we saw a group of people gathered under the big locust tree at the village entrance.

In the middle of the crowd, an old ox was leisurely swishing its tail and grazing on the grass, while a young man stood next to it being scolded by several elderly men and women.

The young man looked to be in his early twenties, dressed smartly in a white shirt and black pants, with black-rimmed glasses perched on his nose.

However, his white shirt was covered in mud splatters, his trousers were rolled up unevenly, and his canvas shoes were all muddy, making him look quite disheveled.

"Chen, you educated youth, I'm not trying to criticize you, but how could you lose the cows while shepherding them?"

The speaker was Old Liu from the village, holding a pipe and pointing at the young man's nose. "If this ox is lost, how will our whole village get our crops this season? You're going to wipe out our entire family!"

The male educated youth named Chen Qinghe blushed bright red, his hands were clasped together, and he lowered his head, wishing he could bury his head in his crotch.

"I'm...I'm sorry, I...I was just reading for a little while and didn't notice it..."

"Reading? Can reading put food on the table?" Old Liu banged his pipe in anger. "You city educated folks, you can't lift a finger, you're useless at everything, and you're always hungry! Getting you to do farm work is harder than climbing to heaven!"

The surrounding villagers echoed this sentiment, their pointing and whispering like the buzzing of countless flies.

Chen Qinghe was so scolded that he didn't dare to say a word. His timid and submissive appearance only made people angrier.

Just then, a bright figure pushed through the crowd and squeezed in.

It was Su Jiaojiao, who had just run away from the Qin family.

Her face still bore traces of tears, but when she saw Chen Qinghe being attacked by the crowd, her eyes suddenly lit up.

Although Chen, the educated youth, looks disheveled now, he is indeed good-looking.

He was fair-skinned and clean-cut, with a scholarly air about him, completely different from the rough men in the village who toiled in the fields all day and were tanned dark by the sun.

The anger Su Jiaojiao felt at the Qin family earlier vanished almost entirely when she saw this face.

"Alright, alright, let's all keep quiet!"

Su Jiaojiao stood in front of Chen Qinghe, hands on her hips, adopting the air of the village chief's daughter. "The ox has been found, hasn't it? It wasn't lost! Chen, the educated youth, is from the city, so it's normal that he doesn't know how to do these manual labor jobs. He can learn slowly later. Is it really necessary to make such a big deal out of it?"

When Grandpa Liu saw it was Su Jiaojiao, he swallowed the curse that was on the tip of his tongue and just snorted, "Jiaojiao, are you protecting your own? It's a fact that this kid lost the cow!"

"Well, it wasn't lost!" Su Jiaojiao turned around and glanced at Chen Qinghe. Seeing him looking at her gratefully, she felt extremely satisfied.

She was always ignored and disliked by the Qin brothers.

But with Chen Qinghe, she felt needed.

This contrast made her instantly forget her earlier obsession with Jiang He.

"Chen Qinghe, don't be afraid, I'm here." Su Jiaojiao took out a handkerchief from her pocket, wanting to wipe the sweat from Chen Qinghe's face. Her actions were unusually intimate. "You haven't eaten yet, have you? Come on, let's go to my house to eat. I'll have my mother cook meat for you."

Chen Qinghe was clearly not used to such enthusiasm and stepped back slightly, but looking at the villagers around him who were eyeing him with predatory intent, he did not dare to refuse Su Jiaojiao's kindness and could only nod awkwardly: "Thank... thank you, Comrade Su."

The Qin brothers stood on the periphery of the crowd. Xiao Yong crossed his arms, looked at Chen Zhiqing who didn't even dare to raise his head, and sneered.

"A pretty boy."

Xiao Yong's face was full of disdain, his expression as if he were looking at a lump of mud that couldn't be plastered on a wall. "He can even lose a cow while herding it. What can a man like that do besides his face? If something really happens, he'll probably run away faster than a woman."

Li Dongye's eyes held a hint of amusement: "You're mistaken. Those are cultured people who make a living with their pens, unlike us, who can only rely on our physical strength."

As he spoke, his gaze fell on Su Jiaojiao's eager back, and he clicked his tongue twice, "But our village chief's daughter changes her mind quickly. Just a moment ago she was crying her eyes out at our door, like she wouldn't marry anyone but Lao Wu, and now she's hooking up with someone else."

Lin Qingqing stood between them, looking at Chen Qinghe, who was being protected by Su Jiaojiao, and then at the tall and strong men around her.

The contrast is too stark.

Chen Qinghe's frailty and helplessness appeared particularly pale in comparison to the wildness and power of the Qin brothers.

In this village, so-called culture and refinement are sometimes less practical than sheer physical strength.

If you don't have the ability to protect yourself, you can only be at the mercy of others or depend on them.

Just like Chen Qinghe now has no choice but to rely on Su Jiaojiao.

Just like... she had no choice but to rely on the Qin brothers.

This thought made Lin Qingqing's heart tremble slightly. She subconsciously glanced at Qin Lie.

Qin Lie felt her gaze and turned his head to look back. His gaze, which had been as cold and hard as iron, softened almost imperceptibly the moment it touched the top of her head.

He didn't say anything, but simply moved half a step to the side without making a sound.