Wang Qiuyue’s face alone was enough to cause chaos in a remote village.
The village where she was born was even more isolated than Ji’s village, deep in the mountains. It would take several days on foot just to get there, and as a result, the village’s customs were far harsher.
Preference for sons over daughters, domestic violence, child prostitution… female infants who were unwanted were simply killed. Over the years, the cliffs behind the village had piled up with children’s corpses. Out of every twenty boys in the village, there wasn’t a single girl. Many men grew up unable to marry, or had to trick girls from outside the village, sometimes sharing one girl among several men.
Wang Qiuyue was considered a rare exception.
Her late grandmother had a keen eye for people. When Wang Qiuyue was born with red skin, she predicted that the girl would grow into a beauty, perfect to marry off to the eldest grandson, and thus ensured she survived.
Later, when her elder brother reached marriageable age, they finally found a bride from a neighboring village. Her parents immediately tried to marry her off for money. No matter if the suitor was remarried or disabled, they agreed to any offer—the highest bidder would win.
Wang Qiuyue tried to escape, but her parents discovered it and tied her up, refusing to feed her.
Three days went by; she was so weak she could barely move.
She was about to be sold to a man prone to domestic violence and with cruel tendencies…
Ji Xiu arrived just in time.
When he was young, Ji Xiu had gone hunting in the mountains, lost his way, and stumbled into her village. He had caught a glimpse of her then, unforgettable and etched into his memory.
Upon hearing her story, he spent all he had to bring her out of the mountains, married her, and rescued her from that terrifying place.
After arriving in Ji’s village, the local women heard of it and watched with a mix of curiosity and envy.
In a place with such customs, the prettier the woman, the lower her status.
Beauty meant weakness, inability to work, serving men only in bed.
Men could take or kill her as they pleased.
But the treatment Wang Qiuyue received was completely different from what others expected.
Ji Xiu was a hunter. Even if marrying her cost him everything, he didn’t mind, knowing he could earn it back with hard work. Before the world had tainted him, he had seen Wang Qiuyue.
In his heart, she was a goddess, his eternal first love.
He handled everything outside personally, leaving her only to wash clothes and cook at home. He never hit her, never raised his voice, and supported her through hunting alone, providing a comfortable life and children.
In the village, giving birth to sons was highly valued. Some women, when giving birth to girls, saw their treatment drop drastically.
Wang Qiuyue was lucky. Her first child was a boy, making other women envious beyond measure.
Even more shocking, in a village where men were lazy and relied on women for labor, Ji Xiu left the village to work outside for her and their child.
For villagers who had never left the mountains, the outside world was unknown, frightening, and full of trickery.
Most preferred to farm and sustain themselves rather than risk the unfamiliar.
Ji Xiu, however, did it all for Wang Qiuyue.
She became the envy, jealousy, and resentment of every woman in the village.
Ji Xiu was gone for six years.
For the first three, villagers respected his name and ignored Wang Qiuyue to avoid internal conflict.
By the fourth year, with no sign of him, impatience grew.
From initial sarcasm and ridicule to physical harassment, pushing, and bullying, it became inevitable.
Village men, coveting Wang Qiuyue’s beauty, did not help, watching coldly, scheming in secret.
If Ji Xiu hadn’t returned in time, one of them might have laid a hand on her.
The women, feeling guilty yet envious, gritted their teeth. “Wang Qiuyue is lucky. Ji Xiu returned yesterday. I wonder if she told him everything…”
She herself had participated in bullying Wang Qiuyue.
Or rather, in that village, no one had not tormented her.
The six years Wang Qiuyue endured were unimaginable.
But the women wouldn’t admit it. Though appearing docile, having lived there and taken part, they were far from kind.
Since hearing from Third Sister-in-Law that Ji Xiu had returned, she had been terrified, telling her husband—weak and unwilling to confront Ji Xiu—to let her handle it herself.
After all, Ji Xiu had followed his father into the mountains hunting, the village’s only strong hunter, feared by all.
Had Ji Xiu not been gone so long, no one would dare touch a hair on Wang Qiuyue.
Thinking back, they realized how foolish they had been, acting collectively against her.
The players appeared, and the woman confided in them, seeking understanding and agreement.
“I didn’t mean it. It’s just that Wang Qiuyue was too lucky. We all thought the same. Honestly, if she tells Ji Xiu, she’s too sensitive. Everyone in the village’s been through it, got hit, and nothing happened. We weren’t even too harsh—just pinched her a little, took a few things. Yet she’s always sulking and refusing to interact. Is it necessary…”
Fear of punishment forced her to twist her thoughts.
Huang Wenli, listening, eyes blazing, could not stand it.
“Nonsense! You clearly took part in group violence. If the boss punishes you, you deserve it!”
The woman froze, turning to Huang Wenli with a suddenly pale face.
“What’s wrong with you? I answered your question kindly, but now you act like you don’t know me.”
Huang Wenli, with a headstrong personality, had been admired everywhere before entering the game.
“You call that kindness?” she raised her chin, eyes burning. “Your heart is rotten. You think it’s normal to be beaten, but feel resentful when others aren’t? I’ve never seen people like you. You deserve every hit. Had I known, I wouldn’t have come to save you.”
The woman’s face darkened further, attempting to argue but couldn’t match Huang Wenli, whose words cut like a knife through vegetables. She lunged, pretending to scratch her.
Wu Letong frowned and stepped forward.
The woman froze.
Though young, Wu Letong was tall, projecting authority. She dared not attack.
Huang Wenli took advantage of this, smirking. “You think you can hit me? You’re not worthy.”
The woman’s face turned ashen. Glaring at Huang Wenli, she turned and left.
“Don’t leave! I haven’t finished. Don’t worry. The boss treats the lady well. No one will hit her. You can envy all you want, but it won’t matter. The boss just returned and doesn’t know what you did. Once he finds out, you’re done. He won’t let you off!”
Huang Wenli, furious, turned to complain to Lu Zhizhen: “She dares glare at me when it’s clearly them at fault.”
“Enough, let’s stop fighting and go back,” Wu Letong raised a hand to restrain Huang Wenli. “We’ll discuss today’s events properly.”
Huang Wenli, helpless, nodded. “Fine, let’s go back.”
The group returned to the Ji family just as Ji Xiu and Ji Chuncheng arrived, carrying two hunted animals. Wang Qiuyue greeted them at the gate, smiling.
Wu Letong and Lu Zhizhen instinctively stepped back.
Huang Wenli, seeing Wang Qiuyue, felt a surge of sympathy and ran over. “Lady Boss, don’t let others influence you. You did nothing wrong. If you’ve been wronged, tell the boss. Don’t keep it in your heart.”
Seeing that everyone feared the boss, once Wang Qiuyue reported it, he would surely protect her.
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