Chapter 616: Four Women and One Man

The mountain breeze stirred slightly, and the mist hung heavy. At the foot of the mountain in the distance, an old ox returning at dusk flicked its tail leisurely, and wisps of cooking smoke rose—a scene of pure serenity.

Before my eyes, a jade-like body lay stretched out, a boundless spring landscape. Amidst the green trees and fresh flowers, love and desire flowed wantonly.

I stared at this torso that had once stirred me so, my heart beating so hard it felt as if it might leap out of my throat.

The teardrops on Chen Meng's face had not yet dried, hanging on her cheeks which had begun to thin, giving her a pitiful, heart-wrenching appearance. I reached out to wipe away the tearstains, but the moment my hand touched her face, she opened her eyes, gave a shy smile, and grabbed the clothes beside her to pull them over herself.

Before I could react, she was already dressed, smiling as she reached out to pull me up.

I asked urgently, "Mengmeng, this... what is this?"

She gave a shy, charming smile and said, "Chen Feng, don't blame me! I suddenly thought of a problem. I am not just He Jiaxiao's wife now; I am also Dian Dian's mother. I cannot leave a stain on Dian Dian's life path."

My face went pale with anxiety as I said, "What does that have to do with anything?"

Chen Meng stopped smiling, turned her back to me, and said, "If you truly like me, let me keep my last shred of self-respect. Many things, once obtained, are not necessarily the best; rather, it is the longing that is often the most beautiful."

I was struck dumb, cursing myself inwardly: "Damn it, still hesitating?"

Yet, I feigned an expression of infinite attachment, sighed, stood up from the ground, brushed the grass clippings off my body, reached out to pluck a leaf, and crushed it into juice in my palm.

I smelled the fresh fragrance of the leaf in my palm and said softly, "I'm sorry, Mengmeng."

Chen Meng smiled faintly, looked at me, and said, "Chen Feng, this is best for us. If we really had obtained it, it wouldn't be beautiful; instead, it would be disgusting."

Since the beautiful moment had passed, staying by the lush, grassy water's edge lost all meaning.

I walked to the edge of the pool, scooped up a few handfuls of cool water, and poured it over my head.

My once-burning heart was extinguished completely by the cold water. I wiped my face and said, "Let's go down the mountain!"

She nodded gently, followed me through the waist-high grass and shrubs, and arrived at the road leading to the mountain peak.

We walked side by side, neither of us speaking.

Twilight began to shroud the area; temperatures drop quickly in the mountains, and darkness falls fast. Just as I was still lamenting the fleeting nature of time, the night, like water, flooded the entire mountain.

A small electric light was lit in the parking lot. Several men stood under the light; seeing us come down from the mountain, they exchanged glances and surrounded us.

They were local villagers, saying our car was parked in their lot and they wanted to charge a fee.

As soon as Chen Meng heard this, her willow-leaf eyebrows shot up, and she scolded them loudly. The men ignored Chen Meng's scolding, not saying a word, just blocking the front of our car in unison.

I had no choice but to go over, find the one who looked like the leader, and pull him aside to ask how much they wanted.

The villager held up two fingers, and seeing I didn't react, he immediately held up another finger.

I asked suspiciously, "Thirty yuan?"

He shook his head, a cunning smile on his face, and said, "There are five of us, we waited for you all afternoon, is that only worth thirty yuan?"

I laughed, "Three hundred, then?"

He laughed, pointed at the car behind me, and said, "Boss, one look and I can tell you're a rich man. Straightforward!"

I sneered, "And if I don't pay?"

He hesitated for a moment, then laughed loudly and said, "No problem, just leave the car here with us."

A surge of anger rose in my heart! Damn it, aren't you just slaughtering a pig! I quietly sized up the five farmers before me; they looked very plain, and you could see the muscles on their bodies. But the craftiness revealed in their eyes completely destroyed the beautiful image of my farmer brothers I had held in my heart.

I weighed it up; if it came to a fight, while I couldn't guarantee I'd win, I wouldn't necessarily lose either.

So I walked to Chen Meng's car, signaled for her to roll down the window, and whispered to her, "In a moment, I'll draw them away; don't worry about me, just run immediately."

Chen Meng looked at me in astonishment. I smiled gently, returned to my car, and fished out an iron rod from inside.

The villagers blocking the car saw me pull out the iron rod and shouted, "Hey, you want to fight!"

Before his voice had even faded, I swung the rod. It landed solidly on his back; he jumped away in pain.

The other four saw me take action, rushed over in a flurry, cursing, "Beat this son of a bitch to death, daring to run wild on our turf."

I didn't want to trade insults with them; I swung the iron rod and chased after them without hesitation.

The villagers hadn't expected me, one person, to dare fight the five of them, and since one had already been scared off far away after taking a hit from my rod.

The villagers must have sensed my murderous intent; before I could even swing my iron rod, the four of them had already scattered and fled in all directions.

I signaled for Chen Meng to leave quickly, but Chen Meng wouldn't go, leaning on the car window and laughing at me.

I was anxious; I had experience dealing with farmers. These five hadn't run away; they had gone to call for backup. If we didn't run now, we might not get another chance.

I threw the iron rod away, climbed into my car, started the engine, honked the horn, and brushed past Chen Meng's car.

Chen Meng also started her car and followed me onto the road.

As soon as the car hit the road, just as I was about to accelerate, I looked up and was stunned.

Ahead on the road stood a dense crowd of people, and the leaders were the very ones who had just fought me.

I thought to myself, it's over! I'm going to be buried here today.

I had dealt with farmers for ten years and knew their mindset like the back of my hand. On their turf, they were numerous and powerful, and in every place, there would always be one or two people who feared nothing but chaos. For example, the people who had just asked us for a parking fee; they might not be big shots, but they were definitely people who feared nothing but chaos.

I slammed on the brakes; I couldn't just ram through. If these people didn't know to dodge and I ended up killing someone, I'd be in deep trouble.

The crowd surged forward, shouting and brandishing hoes, rakes, and wooden sticks.

I was stunned, and just as I was thinking about how to handle this, I heard the horn sound behind me, and immediately saw Chen Meng's car rush past me.

Not only did she not slow down, she pressed harder on the accelerator.

I didn't hesitate to release the brake, shifted gears, and followed behind Chen Meng's car, roaring as I drove into the crowd.

The people surrounding us saw our death-defying posture and jumped to both sides of the road, not caring whether there were steep slopes or thorns below. I heard a chorus of wailing and cursing in my ears, but I didn't dare ease up on the accelerator for a second, and we burst through the encirclement in a rush.

Stones were thrown at the car like raindrops, but our cars had already left them far behind.

After a wild drive, we finally reached the national highway. Chen Meng pulled over to the side of the road in front.

I got out of the car and went over to see her slumped over the steering wheel, laughing until she shook.

"Chen Feng." She looked up at me and laughed, "So you're afraid of trouble too!"

I laughed sheepishly and said, "I'm not afraid of trouble. If I had killed someone, it would have been a huge disaster."

"Would it?" She tilted her head and looked at me, "Do you think they aren't afraid of death? Let me tell you, the people in this world most afraid of death are them."

"Why?" I asked.

"These people, they covet small gains, they have land at home, more grain than they can eat, they raise chickens for eggs, raise a pig for the New Year, and live a comfortable life. They work during the day and cuddle their wives at night; getting them to throw their lives away is harder than ascending to heaven!"

I chuckled, thinking of Zhao Dequan. Wasn't Zhao Dequan of Laoyingzui exactly the kind of person Chen Meng described? He couldn't accomplish big things, but he could incite people to cause trouble, and if something really happened, he'd run faster than a rabbit.

After such a commotion, my stomach began to growl. So I suggested, "Mengmeng, shall we go get something to eat?"

Chen Meng thought for a moment and said, "Okay! Follow me."

I returned to my car and began to follow her toward the city.

Once in the city, my phone rang, and Chen Meng said on the phone, "Chen Feng, I'm taking you to eat something good."

I replied, "Fine, as long as you like it, I don't mind."

We drove our cars one after the other into a large courtyard; there wasn't a soul to be seen in the yard, only light shining from two of the rooms.

I was hesitating when Chen Meng honked the horn.

The sound had barely ceased when the door opened, and three people came out of the room; seeing the cars in the yard, they let out a cry of surprise and surrounded us together.

By the light, I saw the people who had come out; they were actually Su Ya, Su Juan, and Su Mei.

They had disappeared from my life for a while, and just when I was about to forget them, they suddenly popped up.

I stayed in the car, blankly watching Chen Meng get out and beckon to me, signaling for me to get out.

I didn't move, watching Chen Meng and the others head toward the room.

Suddenly, Su Juan, who was following Chen Meng, turned around, walked gently to my car, and said softly, "Brother Chen, aren't you coming down?"

I woke from my surprise, smiled, and said, "It's you, Su Juan."

Su Juan smiled shyly, looking at Chen Meng and the others entering the room ahead, and said, "Of course it's me, Brother Chen, were you scared?"

I shook my head and said, "Scared? No, I'm just angry that you haven't contacted me for so long, Brother Chen is angry."

"Brother Chen, don't be angry!" Su Juan helped me open the car door and said, "Sister Mengmeng wouldn't let us find you, saying you were very busy. We just received Sister Mengmeng's call saying you were coming over for dinner. We were happy to death!"

"Is that so?" I feigned disbelief and said, "What good food do you have here?"

"You'll know when you get down." Su Juan dragged me out of the car without hesitation. I lost my footing and almost fell to the ground.

Su Juan quickly reached out to steady me and whispered, "Stand steady! Don't fall and break yourself. If you break, I can't afford to pay for it!"

Four women in the room, and only me, a man. If I went in, I would be in a bed of flowers. ===== CHAPTER 617 =====