Inviting the Moon to the Farmhouse

Xia Lanyue believed Dai You's words and felt relieved, then walked back to the stone bench.

But before she could even sit down, she saw someone walking from the edge of the field in the distance. She looked at Dai You, and Dai You also spotted the person.

As the man drew closer, Xia Lanyue could finally make out his features. He was about 1.7 meters tall, with dark skin, small eyes, and thin lips that seemed out of place on his large, square face.

When the person got closer, Xia Lanyue could see clearly that the person's face was full of pits and pimples with yellow pus, which made Xia Lanyue feel nauseous.

Xia Lanyue suddenly realized that this person might be Zhang Mazi, the one they were looking for. She turned to look at Dai You, who understood her gaze and quickly stepped forward to block the man.

"Brother, wait a moment," Dai You said, looking down at the man. "May I ask your name, brother?"

"Just say what you want to say. Why do you care what I call you?" The man's eyes revealed a hint of fear, but his mouth wouldn't give an inch.

"It's just a title, and you're afraid to say it? Have you done something wrong?" Dai You said.

The man frowned, a hint of confusion and fear in his eyes. "Brother, what are you saying? I haven't done anything wrong."

Seeing that the man was going in circles, Dai You lost his patience. "Zhang Mazi, do I have to tell you what you did yesterday evening?"

Zhang Mazi was visibly taken aback when his secret was exposed, and he took a few steps back. "How did you know me? We don't have any grudge against each other, do we?"

"Why would I come all this way to find you if we had no grudge?" Dai You said, taking out his axe, his eyes flashing with murderous intent, and was about to chop off Zhang Mazi's head.

Due to the height difference and Dai You's sharp weapon, Zhang Mazi was so frightened that he raised his right hand to block his head, and then collapsed to the ground.

But Dai You wasn't just trying to scare him. Seeing him like this, he had to teach him a lesson. So he turned the axe in his hand and chopped at his leg.

At the critical moment, Xia Lanyue shouted, "Wait, it's not him."

With a loud crash, Dai You's axe was stuck into the ground at Zhang Mazi's feet.

Zhang Mazi recoiled in terror, crawled back two steps, and then stared at Dai You, too afraid to move.

Dai You asked in confusion, "It wasn't him?!"

“Yes, it’s not him,” Xia Lanyue said, shaking her head.

"Yes, it wasn't me," Zhang Mazi, who had been sitting on the ground, now knelt before them without any backbone. "Heroes, I didn't do anything wrong. I only slept with that widow Li at the village entrance, but that was with her consent. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to get into her bed, would I?!"

Dai You glared at Zhang Mazi, then looked at Xia Lanyue, but his gaze had softened. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. The person who raised his hand to block the axe just now was not the same one I saw, and he wasn't tall enough either."

Dai You looked at Zhang Mazi, but the fierceness in his eyes was gone.

"Yes, yes, it wasn't me. You've mistaken me for someone else. I'm innocent." Zhang Mazi not only knelt down but also clasped his hands together in front of his chest. This cowardly behavior only added to Dai You's contempt.

"What were you doing at this time yesterday?" Dai You asked Zhang Mazi.

“At Widow Li’s place…” Zhang Mazi said timidly.

"Hmph," Dai You snorted coldly, "It's not even dark yet, you think you can go to her house? Do you think I'm stupid?"

"No, no, you can ask her if you don't believe me," Zhang Mazi quickly explained, afraid that if he was too late, he might lose more arms and legs.

After hearing Xia Lanyue's words, Dai You didn't want to make things difficult for him anymore. "Are there any hooligans left in your village?"

"Huh?!" Zhang Mazi exclaimed in surprise, "What kind of hooligan?!"

“A scoundrel is a scoundrel, just like you,” Dai You said, stepping forward as if to kick him.

Zhang Mazi quickly curled up, "Hey, hey, have mercy, it's over. All the men in the village are married and behave themselves." Zhang Mazi timidly raised his head and explained to Dai You, "I'm not a hooligan. I just had a little affair with Widow Li, but if I marry her, no one will dare to say anything to me!"

"Someone like you, do you think she'd marry you?" Dai You said dismissively.

"I admit, I'm not good-looking, but once the lights go out, who cares? As long as I'm good in bed and make her comfortable..."

"Shut up," Dai You growled at Zhang Mazi, then quickly looked at Xia Lanyue, and was somewhat relieved to see her looking distracted.

Xia Lanyue was lost in her own thoughts and didn't hear their conversation. She had seen Zhang Mazi today, and his characteristics clearly didn't match, nor was he the reckless and lawless person she had imagined. If it wasn't him, then who could it be? Or rather, if it wasn't Zhang Mazi and the villagers, and her encounter was just a coincidence, then Xia Yao couldn't be blamed, since he couldn't predict every accident.

"Why are you looking for thugs? Did this girl get molested?" Zhang Mazi asked curiously.

Dai You kicked Zhang Mazi in the shoulder, knocking him to the ground. "Say one more word and I'll cut off your leg."

"I wouldn't dare, hero, please spare me," Zhang Mazi begged for mercy.

Dai You turned back to look at Xia Lanyue and saw that she looked unwell. He went over and pulled her aside. "Let's wait at the village entrance for a while and take another look."

Xia Lanyue nodded blankly.

When Dai You turned around, Zhang Mazi had already disappeared without a trace. "That bastard, he runs really fast," he said, pulling Xia Lanyue to the stone bench at the village entrance, where he waited with her.

The villagers gradually returned to the village. The men carried tools and pushed handcarts, while the women and children followed behind. As they passed by, people couldn't help but glance at them, partly because they were unfamiliar faces, and partly because they were intimidating. Dai You exuded a fierce and masculine aura that genuinely inspired fear. The villagers didn't even dare to look them in the eye, their gazes darting away, only daring to discuss them once they were out of sight.

Gradually, Xia Lanyue became increasingly anxious. She wanted to find that rude fellow, but she didn't want to see him in the village, and she was extremely conflicted. Perhaps deep down, she didn't want this matter to be related to Xia Yao.

Seeing her anxious expression, Dai You comforted her, "It's okay, we'll wait for him here every day, I don't believe we won't be able to wait."

Xia Lanyue shook her head; she wasn't worried about that.

Finally, it got dark, and no one passed by anymore. Xia Lanyue didn't see the thug appear either, so she breathed a sigh of relief.

Xia Lanyue stood up and said to Dai You, "There's no one we're looking for, let's go."

“We’ll come again tomorrow,” Dai You said.

“I’m not coming. Maybe he’s not even from this village. Anyway, I have nothing else to do, so let’s just let this go,” Xia Lanyue said to Dai You. She felt that she hadn’t been harmed in any substantial way. Whether or not she could find this person was no longer important. What was important was that she was relieved to be sure that Xia Yao hadn’t done it intentionally.

At this time, Xia Huifang waited for Xia Lanyue and Dai You for a while, but they couldn't find them, so she had dinner with Xia Yao first.

"You had a day off today. Did you have a good time with A-Yue in town?" Xia Huifang asked.

"No, she's selling rice cakes, she's very busy, how could she have time to even glance at me?!" Xia Lanyue said coldly.

Xia Huifang frowned. "If you don't take the initiative, in a few days, if Village Chief Zhao says it's all over, she'll leave. Where else can you find such a good girl?"

"Don't worry, Mother, they can't leave."

"Huh?!" Xia Huifang exclaimed in surprise, "What did you say?"

Xia Yao changed his words and said, "I didn't say anything. Let's eat, Mother."

Seeing his nonchalant expression, Xia Huifang felt a little helpless. "Give the flowers from your room to A-Yue. She'll be very happy."

“But those flowers were given to me by the girls,” Xia Yao said.

"Oh, you know, you don't even like them, so why are you accepting flowers? You're giving them hope, but you're not going to marry them. What are you trying to do!" Xia Huifang complained. "And what if A-Yue sees you accepting flowers? What will she think?"

"Hmm...you've already seen it, haven't you?" Xia Yao pouted.

"Hey, let me ask you, what is your attitude towards A-Yue? If you are willing, I will do my best to help you. If you are not, I will not care," Xia Huifang stared at Xia Yao, wanting him to make a statement.

“Well… all I know is that I don’t want her to leave,” Xia Yao said.

"Oh dear, that means you like her. As long as you have that in your heart, I'll be your matchmaker," Xia Huifang said happily.

“Mother, you don’t need to worry about it. I’ll handle this myself,” Xia Yao said to Xia Huifang with a smile.