Su Shuochi’s thoughts were interrupted by his sister’s pitiful voice. "Big Brother, you have to help me."

"How do you want me to help you?" Su Shuochi asked softly, suppressing his simmering anger.

’She’s my sister, after all. No matter how foolish she is, I have to tolerate it. I learned from the village chief that her heart isn’t in the wrong place; she’s just simple and a little too honest for her own good.’

"Hu Meili, the third daughter of the Hu family... Big Brother, do you remember her?"

"I don’t. Why? Did she bully you?"

"She does more than just bully me! She bullies your two nieces, too, and she shows me absolutely no respect as her sister-in-law."

"Just worry about yourself. Why do you care if others respect you?"

"She wasn’t like this before! She used to always suck up to me, but now she’s getting her whole family to walk all over me."

"So what do you want me to do?"

"I’m not asking for much. I just want things to go back to how they were. But Hu Meili has gone too far..."

Just as Su Ermei was about to launch into a long list of Hu Meili’s wrongdoings, a sharp voice cut her off.

"Su Ermei, I heard you’ve caused trouble again! Can you please give me a break? If my older brother wasn’t so dead set against divorcing you,

our family would have kicked you out long ago! Stop coming to me every other day to clean up your messes."

Hu Meili’s voice preceded her as she stormed into the house, berating her sister-in-law.

"Well, well. I was wondering who it was. Turns out it’s our esteemed ’town mayor’s wife.’ And where, exactly, have I caused trouble?

Your Hu family goes around bullying everyone in the village, and I’m the one who always gets scapegoated for it—fine, I can let that slide.

But you even tried to convince your brother to divorce me! I haven’t even settled that score with you yet.

And you have the audacity to show up at my door and point fingers at me? Who the hell do you think you are?

How dare you throw your weight around in front of me, Su Ermei? Remember, this is the Su family’s house. Now get the hell out."

Su Ermei was already full of pent-up anger, and hearing Hu Meili’s voice, which sounded even more arrogant than her own, made her blood boil.

She stormed to the entrance of the main hall, planted her hands on her hips, and rattled off that furious tirade.

"I’m going to have my husband speak with the police. I’ll make sure you rot in jail for this."

"Who did you say is going to rot in jail?" Su Shuochi’s voice was freezing, each word like a shard of ice.

Hu Meili flinched at the voice. She looked up at Su Shuochi in disbelief, her eyes fixed on him as if she were in a trance.

The way her eyes brimmed with deep, tender emotion... anyone who didn’t know the situation might think she was about to give her very heart to Su Shuochi.

Hu Meili had been pampered by the Hu family since childhood. Her two older brothers and one younger brother never let her do any manual labor.

Despite being born in the countryside, she was fair-skinned and beautiful. Now married and living in town, she had even adopted the fashion of a city dweller.

The long, pure-white down jacket she was wearing made her look particularly sweet and vivacious.

Her alluring air, in particular, would make any ordinary man take a second look.

But Su Shuochi was no ordinary man. His eyes were dark and brooding, as deep and cold as the dead of night, their blackness unnerving.

He held himself aloof, like a glacier, and his gaze on her was like he was looking at a piece of trash.

How could Hu Meili possibly stand this? She asked in disbelief, "You... you’re... Shuoci..."

"Who gave you the right to call me by that name? This is the Su family home, not a place for you to run wild."

"You... You..." Hu Meili was so furious she seemed about to collapse. She staggered toward Su Shuochi, looking as if she might fall into his arms at any moment.

Su Shuochi instantly backed away a good ten feet. ’His wife had made it clear: no other woman was allowed near him.’

Whenever Hu Meili appeared in Shuanghe Village, a large crowd of admirers naturally followed in her wake.

The young men came purely for the eye candy, as she was the prettiest girl in the village.

The older women would approach her, hoping she could help arrange a good marriage for their daughters.

The young women also wanted to get close, hoping some of her good fortune would rub off on them and help them find their own ideal husbands.

Now, the villagers stared wide-eyed, watching in disbelief as Brother Su dodged Hu San as if she were carrying the plague.

"See? What did I tell you? Brother Su would never be interested in the Third Miss of the Hu Family. He wasn’t before, and he certainly isn’t now."

"Tsk, tsk... She should take a good look in the mirror. Brother Su is so handsome!"

"That’s Brother Su for you. He’s been the best-looking guy in Shuanghe Village since we were kids, not to mention the most successful."

"Get out! All of you, get out!" Hu Meili shrieked, her carefully crafted image shattering. She couldn’t bear to hear the villagers praise anyone else.

"This is the Su family’s house, and Brother Su invited us for a feast! What right do you have to tell us to scram?"

"You... You’ve all got some nerve. My husband won’t let any of you get away with this," Hu Meili warned viciously.

The villagers were, in fact, quite afraid of her husband, so the crowd scattered in an instant.

A few of the braver ones, wanting to save face, declared as they left, "I’m not afraid of you! I’m just going to get the tables and chairs."

After spitting her threat, Hu Meili turned and stalked away, her high heels digging into the ground with each deliberate step.

’She wasn’t a fool. She had only sucked up to Su Ermei in the past because she was down on her luck.

Back then, she often thought that if someone just gave her a lever, she could move the world.

That was why she had wanted to marry Su Shuochi, the most successful man in Shuanghe Village. But who would have thought he’d refuse her?

The more he refused, the deeper her infatuation grew. She put off all her matchmaking appointments, just waiting for the day he would have a change of heart.

Then she heard he’d been crippled. She thought her chance had finally come, but he still refused to marry her.

Completely disheartened, she had no choice but to marry a powerful older man. And just as she’d planned, her life became a roaring success.

Everyone in Shuanghe Village scrambled to get on her good side, which gave her vanity a tremendous sense of satisfaction.

Her love had curdled into hate. She despised Su Ermei most of all, conveniently forgetting how kind she had once been to her. She didn’t care that Su Ermei was her sister-in-law; she just wanted to crush her.

She would go home and get her husband to back her up. It was also the perfect chance to put that man in his place and show him just how powerful she had become.’

"Big Brother, her husband is the..." Su Ermei started, worried. She had an impetuous personality, but she wasn’t a complete idiot. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

"What is there to fear?" Su Shuochi said calmly. "If her husband is as incapable of telling right from wrong as she is, then her tenure as the ’town mayor’s wife’ will end tomorrow."

"Really? Big Brother, could you just... give her husband a warning? Don’t let anything truly bad happen to him."

"You want her to remain the town mayor’s wife?" Su Shuochi asked, frowning.

"Big Brother, honestly... I don’t want her life to be ruined. It would be enough if she just stopped trying to get her brother to divorce me and leading the Hu family to bully me."

Su Shuochi: ...

’His sister’s naivety left him utterly speechless. It looked like he would have to stay in Shuanghe Village for a few days and sort out this mess with the Hu family before he could leave.’

"Su, we’re back with the supplies!" Song Zijie’s excited voice rang out.

"Mm. Ermei, take them to move the supplies into the kitchen for Mom and Dad to prepare the feast," Su Shuochi said wearily, rubbing his temples.