In the past, Old Lady Mu had been too arrogant. Now, everyone’s words were increasingly harsh. They said that Mu Xue only wanted rich men, that she would rather marry an old widowed rich man than a poor young man. It was just that there were no concubines these days. Otherwise, she might have gone to a rich family to become a concubine.

  There were also those who used to like Mu Xue a lot and hated her after being rejected. They said that Mu Xue had probably lost her innocence long ago during her amorous relationship with Tang Moling, which was why she didn’t dare get married.

  As the rumors spread, Mu Xue became increasingly silent. Old Lady Mu’s expression also became increasingly dark.

  Previously, when those people had come to propose marriage, they had been very annoyed. But now, every household in the village that had a daughter had someone show up to propose marriage. The only exception was Mu Xue. They also felt uncomfortable.

  Mu Xue started to dislike life in the village. Except when she had to return to the village to teach, she stayed in the county at all times.

  She hadn’t wanted the car and house that Tang Moling had given her in the past, but in the end, they became her safe haven.

  That Friday, after Mu Xue finished class, she walked out of the village. When she met some non-villagers at the entrance, she could tell at a glance that they were there to propose marriage. She avoided them because she didn’t want to see them. She didn’t expect to hear gossip about her.

  The matchmaker blurted out her thoughts freely. “There’s also a girl who’s a teacher in the village. She’s very eligible, but no one goes to propose marriage. Their family situation is a little special. She’s very old and probably won’t be able to give birth in two years.”

  Mu Xue stabbed her fingernails into her palm and did not say anything.

  The matchmaker then talked about the other old lad in the village, Shao Qiyang. Shao Qiyang and Mu Xue were the same age and had turned 26 that year.

  However, unlike Mu Xue’s situation, many people had proposed marriage to Shao Qiyang. This was because Shao Qiyang was now a promising person in the village, and his delivery company was doing quite well.

  “He’s quite promising and good-looking, but he’s not looking for a wife. There are many girls who want to marry him, but he doesn’t fancy any of them. Everyone says that there might be something wrong with him.”

  Mu Xue sneered when she heard that. So there were also people who said that there was something wrong with Shao Qiyang.

  Mu Xue left the village with a dark expression and drove to the county.

  Just like the house, Mu Xue hadn’t planned on touching the car at first, but later on, she had gone to get a driver’s license to drive it. However, she kept a low profile every day and didn’t want people to pay too much attention to this car because it had been obtained by breaking off the engagement.

  \r \r \r

  When she arrived at the county city, Mu Xue felt a little better. She cooked at home and went out for a walk.

  In the past, she hadn’t known how to cook at all, but recently, she had learned how to wash clothes and cook.

  When Mu Xue arrived at the movie theater and started wondering if she should watch a movie, she suddenly saw Shao Qiyang.

  Recalling the villagers’ evaluation of Shao Qiyang, Mu Xue felt that they were in the same boat. Just as she was about to muster up the courage to greet him, she realized that something was wrong with him.

  He seemed to be drunk, and someone was holding him up. “Why are you drunk? Don’t move!”

  Behind the two of them was a girl with braids. The girl looked a little nervous as she followed them step by step.

  When she walked past Mu Xue, she heard Shao Qihai say, “Let go of me. Let go of me!”

  But because his voice was too soft and he didn’t seem to have much strength, no one noticed.

  Mu Xue paused. Seeing Shao Qiyang’s expression, she felt a little worried. Upon thinking that they were from the same village and he had helped her before, she thought for a moment and quietly followed him.

  She was just taking precautions. If Shao Qiyang needed help, she would help him.

  The three people in front of her turned left and right. Later on, they approached a remote house. Shao Qiyang didn’t want to go in and was still struggling at the door, but in the end, he was pushed in anyway.

  Then, the young man came out. Mu Xue couldn’t hear what they were saying, but she saw the man take out a bag and hand it to the girl. Then, he pushed her. “Hurry on in.”

  Mu Xue pricked up her ears and listened. That person seemed to say, “I’ll come back tomorrow morning.”

  After a while, the young man left.

  Mu Xue suspiciously walked over and took a look. She only saw light coming out. After a while, the girl with the braids entered the kitchen and got a cup of water.

  Mu Xue remembered the paper bag they had secretly taken earlier. Worried that it contained something bad, she gritted her teeth and knocked on the door.

  The girl with the braids was nervous to begin with. When she heard the knock on the door, she was frightened. She thought that someone was looking for her and quickly opened the door, but when she did, she didn’t see anyone. Suddenly, she was pushed by someone, and then someone darted in from the side.

  By the time she realized what was going on, the door to her house was already closed and locked from the inside.

  “Who are you? Open the door!”

  Mu Xue ignored her and ran in as quickly as she could. Then, she saw Shao Qiyang lying on the bed. His clothes were undone, and he was unconscious.

  If Shao Qiyang was not a man, Mu Xue would have thought that he had been defiled.

  “Shao Qiyang, get up!” Mu Xue quickly went forward to wake him up. “Wake up.”

  Hearing her voice, Shao Qiyang opened his eyes with difficulty. “Help me quickly. They want to harm me…”

  Mu Xue heaved a sigh of relief when she heard Shao Qiyang’s voice. She quickly went forward to help him up. “What’s going on?”

  Shao Qiyang felt weak all over. He bit the tip of his tongue to stay awake. “Let’s talk after we get out.”

  Shao Qiyang didn’t even want to talk about the terrible things that had happened to him. One could say that he had a successful career now. In the past, both those who were on good terms and bad terms with him would always smile when they saw him.

  He wasn’t young and he was still single. It wasn’t like no one had introduced a marriage partner to him before. He just didn’t intend to get married.

  He knew very clearly that it was impossible for anything to happen between him and Mu Jingzhe. Every time Mu Jingzhe enthusiastically asked around about a girl who was interested in him, he would feel angry in his heart. Even now, Mu Jingzhe still didn’t know anything about his feelings.

  After being angry for so long, Shao Qiyang started having ambitions. To avoid being angered to death by Mu Jingzhe, he swore to fall in love with someone else.

  He was very determined, but he couldn’t find such a girl in a short time, so he had become an old bachelor of this era.

  Initially, it had been fine. He felt that he could just work a little harder and things would work out. If worse came to worst, he could just find a female driver. Back then, he had accidentally seen Mu Jingzhe drive, which was why he had been obsessed. He thought that she was not bad. In that case, he could find a female driver who drove better than her.

  However, before he could even find a female driver, he had been tricked. He hadn’t expected his good friend to scheme against him like this.

  The young man from before was Shao Qiyang’s former colleague. They were all temporary workers who had been exposed to the rain and the sun. He’d had a good relationship with Shao Qiyang at the time, and they had supported each other a lot.

  Later on, Shao Qiyang had wanted to start his own business and asked him if he wanted to join. However, when he’d heard that Shao Qiyang had taken a loan to do it, he had refused without hesitation. He was timid and he was afraid that Shao Qiyang wouldn’t be able to repay the money and would implicate him as a result.

  Unexpectedly, Shao Qiyang had actually succeeded. Not only had he repaid the loan, but he’d even earned a lot of money. Slowly, his mentality had changed and his words had become bitter.

  This was in spite of the fact that Shao Qiyang hadn’t changed his attitude after getting money. He was still the same around his brothers and friends, he was generous all the time, and he was never stingy. He would welcome anyone who wanted to work at his place.

  This colleague also went to work there, but he was dissatisfied. He kept feeling that since they were close, Shao Qiyang should give him a higher position and pay him a bigger salary. However, Shao Qiyang didn’t fulfill his wish.