After the Scholar Rejected Me, I Married the Rogue and Got Rich - Chapter 63

Zhou Han felt a chill run down his spine, thanked her, and immediately ran home quickly.

Pushing open the door, his gaze immediately fell towards the main room. Hearing faint voices and rough laughter coming from inside, his heart tightened, and he immediately turned around and rushed into the kitchen next door.

Aunt Zhou was standing in front of the stove with her back to the door, holding a rag in her hand. She seemed to be wiping the already clean stove, but her slightly trembling shoulders and overly forceful fingers betrayed her inner tension and unease.

An atmosphere of deliberate restraint, yet unable to conceal the underlying anxiety, permeated the kitchen.

“Mother!” Zhou Han lowered his voice, took a step to his mother’s side, and quickly and carefully scanned her body to make sure she was unharmed.

Aunt Zhou turned around abruptly and saw her son return. Her face, which had been trying to maintain its composure, instantly revealed a look of relief mixed with panic.

She grabbed her son’s arm, her voice low and trembling with urgency: “Han’er! You…you’re finally back! There are several men in the main room…they look fierce and menacing. They…they’re up to no good! Did you get into some trouble outside? My heart is pounding!”

Zhou Han grasped his mother’s cold, rough hand and felt the cold sweat on her palm.

His eyes were calm as he squeezed his mother’s hand tightly, trying to convey some strength and comfort. He deliberately kept his voice steady and low: “Mother, don’t be afraid, nothing will happen. You can trust me.”

He glanced around the kitchen, making sure it was safe for the time being, and quickly whispered, “You stay in the kitchen. Don’t come out no matter what you hear. Leave the outside to me.”

Looking into her son’s calm and resolute eyes, Aunt Zhou’s panic subsided slightly, but her worries still lingered.

She gripped her son’s hand tightly: “Han’er, there are so many of them… You… you have to be careful! Don’t be reckless!”

“I know,” Zhou Han squeezed his mother’s hand again and gave her a reassuring look. “Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.”

After saying that, he gently released his mother’s hand, turned around, took a deep breath, and the warmth on his face was instantly replaced by coldness. He walked with steady but powerful steps toward the turbulent main room.

As she watched her son’s retreating figure, Aunt Zhou clasped her hands together in silent prayer, her heart still hanging in suspense.

Pushing open the door to the main room, one could see Wu Laizi sitting imposingly in a chair with four or five of his men. As soon as he entered, all eyes turned to him, and the atmosphere instantly became tense.

Zhou Han stood at the door, his cold gaze sweeping over everyone before finally settling on Wu Laizi. His voice was steady yet imposing: “Wu Laizi, what do you want? Our feud can be settled privately. What’s the point of coming to my house?”

Looking at Zhou Han’s calm and composed demeanor, as if he didn’t take them seriously at all, Wu Laizi felt his anger rise again, but remembering the miserable state of his men last time, he forcibly suppressed it.

He said with a forced smile, “Zhou Han, let’s not beat around the bush. You’ve ruined my plans and beaten my brother time and time again. How do you plan to settle this score?”

Zhou Han said expressionlessly, “You provoked me first. We set up stalls at the docks, and everyone has to rely on their own abilities. If you don’t mess with the Lin family’s stalls or the people around me, I, Zhou Han, have no interest in making trouble for you.”

He paused, his tone carrying a warning, “I only want to protect the people I care about and live peaceful lives. Anyone who doesn’t let me live in peace, I’ll make sure they don’t live in peace.”

Wu Laizi was speechless at his words, and his expression changed. Having been in the underworld for many years, he could tell that Zhou Han was not bluffing; he truly had the ability and ruthlessness to back it up.

To risk a bloody battle with a tough nut like Zhou Han for the sake of saving face and dealing with Yang Laowu would come at too high a price and be a losing proposition.

He took a deep breath, trying to regain some ground: “Hmph! Easier said than done! You think you can just let my brother’s injury go like this?”

Zhou Han sneered: “You attacked first, and you’re outmatched. Who can you blame? Why don’t you draw your own line now, and I, Zhou Han, will fight you to the bitter end!”

He took a step forward, his eyes sharp as knives, and the fierce courage honed on the battlefield instantly spread out.

Wu Laizi and his men were intimidated by this imposing aura and subconsciously shrank back. Wu Laizi remained silent for a moment with an ugly expression, but in the end, reason prevailed.

He stood up and waved his hand with a fierce but weak expression: “Alright! Zhou Han, I’m not here today to fight you to the death. Since you’ve put it this way, let’s talk about some terms.”

He stared at Zhou Han: “From now on, my men will not touch the Lin family’s business, and you should not cause us any more trouble. Let’s keep to ourselves! How about that?” This was practically an admission of weakness.

This was the result Zhou Han wanted. He didn’t want to cause any more trouble. He nodded, his voice still cold and hard: “Fine, as long as you follow the rules, I naturally won’t provoke you.”

“Alright! It’s a deal!” As if afraid that Zhou Han would go back on his word, Wu Laizi immediately got up with his men and hurriedly left the Zhou family courtyard, his back view even showing a bit of haste.

Watching them disappear into the night, Zhou Han’s tense back finally relaxed slightly. He returned to the kitchen and smiled reassuringly at his worried mother: “Mom, it’s alright, everything’s taken care of.”

Outside the window, the snow continued to fall silently, covering all traces, as if the tense standoff that had just occurred had never happened.

———

After several days of overcast skies and heavy snow, the sky finally cleared up completely.

Although the winter sun wasn’t scorching, it was dazzlingly bright, making the snow on the eaves and branches sparkle. As the snow melted, it dripped down, as if heralding the arrival of spring.

Lin Sang had just carried the quilts that had been drying in the house to the yard and was about to go to Xiaoman to ask her for embroidery lessons when she heard a familiar, clear voice calling from outside the yard gate:

“Sang Sang!”

Lin Sang turned around and saw Chen Xiaoman carrying a small cloth bag, her face flushed from the cold wind, standing at the door waving at her with a smile.

“I was just thinking of looking for you, and here you are!” Lin Sang greeted her with a smile, taking her hand. “Come in quickly, I have something important to ask you.”

The two entered Lin Sang’s room hand in hand. The bright red wedding dress fabric and various colored silk threads were still spread out on the kang (a heated brick bed).

Lin Sang pointed to her friend somewhat embarrassedly: “Look, this is it. My mother asked me to start preparing the patterns for my wedding dress, but my hands are used to holding spatulas and scales, and I just can’t seem to control the embroidery needle. The stems and leaves of the lotus are always crooked and uneven, and the feathers of the mandarin ducks look stiff. Can you teach me quickly!”

Xiaoman leaned closer and carefully examined Lin Sang’s half-finished, slightly clumsy embroidery. She chuckled, then quickly suppressed a laugh, rolling up her sleeves and saying, “What’s so difficult about this! My mother always says ‘practice makes perfect.’ Come on, look at me—”

She took the needle and thread from Lin Sang’s hand, sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), and, by the bright window light, demonstrated and explained in detail: “Look, when embroidering this vine, the stitches must be fine and even, you can’t rush it, just follow one direction, and your wrist must be flexible… Yes, like that, take it slow… The feathers should be embroidered with different shades of thread, layer by layer from the inside out, the stitches should be light and delicate, that’s how you get a fluffy feeling…”

Lin Sang studied with utmost seriousness, watching Xiao Man’s nimble fingers intently before carefully trying it herself.

The room fell silent, save for the soft rustling of silk threads through the fabric and the gentle breathing of the two girls.