...
Zheng Xiaoyu's face turned red, and she crossed her arms over her chest. Then, puffing out her chest, she angrily said, "How am I an A? I'm clearly a B!"
"Alright, then I'll guarantee to take you from a B to a D." Yan Xiaobao muttered under his breath: What B? It's obviously an A...
"Really?" Zheng Xiaoyu seemed a bit tempted. In this era where curves were coveted, every flat-chested woman wished to be bigger, and then a bit bigger...
"I never lie."
"Fine, I'll give it a try," Zheng Xiaoyu stepped closer. "What's the secret recipe?"
Yan Xiaobao extended his hand. "First, give me the money."
"How much?"
Yan Xiaobao glanced at the busy Xia Rou nearby, pondered for a moment, and replied, "For the sake of knowing my wife Rourou, I'll give you a discount—ten thousand bucks."
"Are you crazy!" Zheng Xiaoyu spat at Yan Xiaobao and added, "Lousy scammer!"
Xia Rou, after a round of busy work, looked at the clock. "It's late; let's prep dinner. Are there groceries in the shop?"
"Not much. I'll head to the market to get some," Zheng Xiaoyu said as she walked out the door. Chen Long, on the other hand, headed to the kitchen at the back of the shop to wash rice and start cooking.
"Get more lobsters; I love them!" Yan Xiaobao called out to Zheng Xiaoyu's retreating figure. Back when he lived on the island, diving for ten-pound lobsters was one of his favorite things—the taste was unbeatable.
"Lobster? Dream on, you lousy scammer!" Zheng Xiaoyu scolded, running toward the market without looking back.
But she had barely run a few meters from the door when she suddenly darted back as if she'd seen a ghost, panic plastered across her face as she yelled to Xia Rou, "Sister Xia Rou! Trouble! Sunx Peng is here!"
Hearing this, Xia Rou's expression subtly shifted. She was about to tell Zheng Xiaoyu to close the shop door, but it was already too late. A man with dyed red hair swaggered through the door.
Yan Xiaobao shot him a glance, immediately displeased. The man, Sunx Peng, walked in shirtless, with a sweaty undershirt slung over one shoulder, a pair of garishly patterned beach shorts below, and cheap plastic sandals. He radiated sleaziness—a clear lowlife.
"Wife," Sunx Peng leered at Xia Rou, his gaze crawling over her body, his expression both lecherous and greedy. "Only a few days apart, and you've gotten prettier, wife."
"What are you doing here?" Xia Rou's face turned icy as she snapped, "I'm NOT your wife!"
"By parental arrangement, the matchmaker's word, the dowry paid, and the wedding drinks served—you can't just deny it," Sunx Peng chuckled at Xia Rou. "A few days ago, you gave me five thousand bucks; it's spent. Give me another five thousand."
Xia Rou coldly replied, "I've been out these past few days, and the shop hasn't had much business. There's no money right now. Come back in a few days."
"No money?" Sunx Peng plopped himself onto a chair. "Then I can't afford food or a place to stay. Guess I'll just crash here for now."
"You're not welcome here! Get out!" Xia Rou angrily pointed to the door.
Sunx Peng leisurely crossed one leg over the other, picked his nose, and smugly said, "Why should I leave? You're my wife. Living with you is natural and justified."
"You…" Faced with Sunx Peng's shamelessness, Xia Rou, a refined beauty, was at her wit's end.
This was far from the first time Sunx Peng had caused trouble here. Xia Rou had reported him to the police several times before, but they were powerless. The whole situation was a tangled mess. Sunx Peng hadn't committed any outright crime, so they couldn't arrest him.
"Are you really his wife?" Yan Xiaobao stepped up to Xia Rou, looking very tense.
If Xia Rou truly were this scoundrel Sunx Peng's wife, it would be devastating. It'd be like a fresh flower growing in cow dung… No! Worse—like a fresh flower shoved into dog shi*t!
"No!" Xia Rou firmly denied, then explained.
Turns out, years ago, when Xia Rou's younger sister Xia Yan fell ill, their family borrowed a lot of money from Sunx Peng's family. Later, when they couldn't repay the debt, Sunx Peng's family proposed that if Xia Rou married Sunx Peng, the debt would be canceled as the bride price.
Xia Rou's parents, desperate and seeing Sunx Peng's family as one of the wealthiest in the village, agreed. But Xia Rou staunchly refused. On the wedding day itself, she fled from home.
To repay the debt and to treat her sister, Xia Rou ran off to Binhai City, working at Dexi Hall while studying for her certification. After years of hard work, she finally became a licensed physician.
A few months ago, Sunx Peng found out Xia Rou worked at Dexi Hall, and he tracked her down. Xia Rou gave him all her savings, but it wasn't enough to cover the debt. So, Sunx Peng began showing up frequently, demanding more money and pressuring her to marry him.
"Got it," Yan Xiaobao said after hearing the story, visibly relieved and happy. As long as Xia Rou hadn't actually married Sunx Peng, everything was fine.
"Hey, you red-haired monkey! Trying to snatch my wife? You've got a death wish!" Yan Xiaobao swaggered over to Sunx Peng, pointing a finger at him. "Get lost, or I'll poke you to death with one finger!"
"Heh! You little punk, barely out of diapers, and you dare act tough in front of me? I'll slap the life out of you!" Sunx Peng stood up, raising his hand to slap Yan Xiaobao hard.
"Smack!" A crisp sound echoed.
Before Sunx Peng realized what happened, he was sprawled out on the ground like a dead dog, two teeth knocked out and lying in front of him.
"Don't kill him!" Xia Rou urgently pleaded. She knew Yan Xiaobao had once killed an armed hijacker on a plane. If he killed Sunx Peng here, it would be a disaster.
"Alright, Rourou, I'll listen to you. I won't kill him," Yan Xiaobao said, grabbing Sunx Peng by the ankle and casually tossing him out the door.
"Ahh—!" Sunx Peng let out a long, miserable scream as he flew several meters through the air and landed heavily at the doorstep. He writhed and struggled on the ground for ages before finally crawling up.
"Xia Rou, you treacherous wench! How dare you keep a young man behind my back? You… you just wait!" Sunx Peng shouted as he sprinted out the door at full speed.
"How dare you insult my wife!" Yan Xiaobao roared, grabbing a white porcelain teacup from the table and hurling it at the fleeing Sunx Peng.
"Bang!" The white porcelain teacup shattered upon impact.
"Ahh!" With the cup smashing squarely on his head, Sunx Peng fell to the ground again.
This time, he didn't dare linger or curse anymore. Clutching his blood-soaked head, he scampered off in a straight line, utterly defeated.
Hearing the commotion, Chen Long emerged from the kitchen, carrying an electric rice cooker. He stared wide-eyed at Yan Xiaobao, his face brimming with admiration. "Brother Xiao Bao, you're incredible—my idol!"
Yan Xiaobao glanced at Chen Long, slightly displeased, and nodded. "Calling me bro is fine, but drop the 'Xiao' in front."
"Yes, yes, Brother Bao."
Watching Chen Long nod and grovel, Zheng Xiaoyu sneered coldly. "Does violence really solve problems? Sure, you beat Sunx Peng away today, but you've only stirred a bigger mess. His brother-in-law Zhao Erhu is the local tyrant of this street. Sunx Peng will definitely get him involved after this beating. Then what?"
...