Chapter 54: How Bold of You

"Liu Xiaowu, let go of me!"

Xiaolian desperately clutched her clothes, struggling with all her might.

However, being a woman, she was no match for Liu Xiaowu's strength. Pinned firmly beneath him, she found it impossible to escape.

"Xiaolian, why bother going to Chen Dabao? You might as well just be with me. Why let outside water flow into someone else's field?"

A lewd grin spread across Liu Xiaowu's face as he choked Xiaolian's neck with one hand and grabbed her clothes with the other, ripping them apart with a violent yank.

Xiaolian shuddered all over, staring at Liu Xiaowu in utter disbelief.

"Was it you that night?"

Two days prior, Xiaolian and Liu Tianjie had gone to Chen Dabao to borrow seed. Before anything could happen, halfway there, they had heard a rustling sound as if someone was spying on them. Never had she imagined the peeper was Liu Xiaowu.

"That's right, it was me. Otherwise, how would I have known about your little secret?"

Liu Xiaowu said triumphantly.

Xiaolian was exceptionally beautiful, as lovely as a flower, and he had been coveting her for a long time. It was just that previously he had the criminal intent without the courage, but things were different now.

Even if he were discovered now, he wouldn't be afraid. Both Liu Fugui and his mother would support him; taking her wouldn't mean giving the advantage to an outsider. At least it was better than involving that outsider, Chen Dabao.

"Liu Xiaowu, you can't do this! If you keep going, I'm going to scream!"

Stunned for a moment, and seeing Liu Xiaowu reach to tear at her clothes again, Xiaolian began to struggle fiercely. She had merely come to the fields in the back village to pick some vegetables, never expecting that shortly after she started, Liu Xiaowu would drag her into the cornfield.

If she truly let Liu Xiaowu do that to her, how could she ever face anyone in the Liu family again? Liu Tianjie and Liu Xiaowu had always been on bad terms, and she could never betray Liu Tianjie.

"Scream then, shout as loud as you can! In the middle of the day like this, who's going to come into the cornfield?" Liu Xiaowu grinned smugly, forcefully tugging at Xiaolian's garments. "Besides, even if someone finds out, I'm not the one who'll lose face!"

"Xiaolian, if you make a big fuss out of this, you'll just be shaming my older brother!"

"If my brother thinks it's too shameful and ends up hanging himself, it'll all be your fault!"

As Liu Xiaowu finished speaking, a look of panic and despair washed over Xiaolian's pretty face, and she no longer dared to scream. Liu Tianjie was a man who cared deeply about his pride; if word of this got out, he probably wouldn't have the face to stay in Peach Blossom Village any longer.

"Xiaolian, be a good girl and stop moving around. I'll be quick!"

Seeing that Xiaolian had stopped struggling, Liu Xiaowu let out a lewd laugh, stripped off his own clothes in a flash, and prepared to consummate the act. But right at that moment, a figure suddenly burst out from the cornfield.

"Liu Xiaowu, you son of a bitch, you've got some nerve!"

Chen Dabao roared as he lunged forward, planting a vicious kick squarely in Liu Xiaowu's backside. With a miserable howl, Liu Xiaowu face-planted headfirst into the dirt like a dog eating mud, flattening several cornstalks and burying his snout right in the soil.

"Sister Xiaolian, are you alright?"

After kicking Liu Xiaowu flying, Chen Dabao quickly stripped off his own shirt and draped it over Xiaolian.

Glimpsing Chen Dabao's well-built and muscular physique, Xiaolian flushed scarlet. Her eyes flickered away, only to steal another shy glance.

"Dabao, I'm fine!"

Xiaolian lowered her head, her face still flushed as she shook her head.

"Chen Dabao, you bastard, how dare you hit me?"

Clambering up from the ground, Liu Xiaowu spat repeatedly to clear the dirt from his mouth, glaring at Chen Dabao with a mixture of shock and rage. He thought to himself that he was having terrible luck today to run into this son of a bitch, Chen Dabao. Otherwise, he would surely be enjoying himself by now.

"Liu Xiaowu, a dog can never change its habit of eating shit. So what if I hit you?"

Chen Dabao stared coldly at Liu Xiaowu. It seemed the lesson he had taught him last time hadn't been enough. The bastard had actually set his sights on Xiaolian.

When Xiaolian and Liu Tianjie went to his place last time, Liu Xiaowu must have noticed them without them realizing it, followed them, and thus discovered their attempt to borrow seed.

"Chen Dabao, do you think I'm afraid of you?"

Roaring with fury, Liu Xiaowu fumbled around on the ground and pulled a switchblade out of his discarded pants pocket. With a sharp *shlick*, he flicked the blade open, the razor-sharp edge glinting coldly as he aimed it straight at Chen Dabao.

"Liu Xiaowu, what do you think you're doing? Hurting someone is illegal!"

Xiaolian's heart tightened as she cried out in alarm.

"Illegal? I wouldn't even bother if it weren't illegal!"

With a ferocious grin, Liu Xiaowu lunged forward, slashing the knife directly at Chen Dabao's chest.

Chen Dabao had ruined his good deeds time and time again; otherwise, given ten times his courage, Liu Xiaowu would never have dared to stab at Chen Dabao's chest. Liu Xiaowu wasn't entirely stupid—usually, in fights, he would only aim for non-fatal areas. But consumed by rage, he had lost his mind and thrust the blade right toward Chen Dabao's heart.

Unfortunately for him, the person he had run into today was Chen Dabao.

"Liu Xiaowu, you're fucking asking for death!"

A cold glint flashed in Chen Dabao's eyes. Moving with lightning speed, he grabbed Liu Xiaowu's wrist, his fingers clamping down like iron vises. Liu Xiaowu let out a miserable shriek as the switchblade slipped from his hand and fell to the ground.

"Chen Dabao, you motherf..."

Liu Xiaowu's eyes widened, his mouth opening to hurl more abuse, but Chen Dabao's heavy slap was already whistling through the air.

*Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!*

Swinging with both hands, Chen Dabao rained heavy slaps across Liu Xiaowu's face one after another. The blows wrung continuous screams from Liu Xiaowu, leaving his mouth covered in blood.

After landing a dozen or so hard slaps, Chen Dabao delivered a final, vicious kick that sent Liu Xiaowu flying backward.

"Chen Dabao, you just wait!"

Dizzy and disoriented, Liu Xiaowu snatched a corn leaf to cover his groin. Too panicked to even retrieve his clothes, he turned tail and fled in disgrace, vanishing without a trace shortly after.

"Son of a bitch!"

Pulling out a lighter, Chen Dabao decided to make a clean job of it and set fire to all of Liu Xiaowu's discarded clothes, preventing the scoundrel from sneaking back later to pick them up. Now that he was left without clothes, he wanted to see how Liu Xiaowu planned to make it back.

"Xiaolian, come on, I'll take you back to the village!"

After burning the clothes, Chen Dabao helped Xiaolian up, preparing to escort her home.

"Brother Dabao, why is my life so bitter? Sob, sob, sob!"

Suddenly, Xiaolian threw her arms around Chen Dabao, her tears soaking through the back of his shirt.

Chen Dabao stiffened all over as a surge of hot blood rushed to his head.

People wore very little clothing in the summer to begin with. Now that Chen Dabao had stripped off his shirt and was bare-chested, Xiaolian's full, voluptuous figure pressed directly against him, leaving virtually nothing to the imagination. The heavy, yielding contact was painfully clear.

"Sister Xiaolian, please don't cry. It won't look good if someone sees us, and besides, Brother Liu treats you quite well!" Chen Dabao said hastily.

At the mention of Liu Tianjie, Xiaolian let out a melancholy sigh and slowly loosened her arms.

Liu Tianjie treated her decently, but he was completely incapable of working the land. If Liu Tianjie were of any use at all, Liu Xiaowu would never have dared to act so recklessly.

With her head lowered, Xiaolian allowed Chen Dabao to escort her home.

Just as they reached the front gate, Liu Fugui happened to push the door open and step out. Seeing the scene before him, the veins on his forehead instantly bulged with violent rage.

"Chen Dabao, you motherfucker, how dare you seduce my daughter-in-law?"