"Second Master, Xiaocui and I are completely innocent. You can't ruin our reputations just because we weren't wearing our shirts."
Deep in the woods, Xia Yunfan stood righteously before an alluring and peerless beauty.
Hiding behind him was a sweet-looking village girl.
Second Master was so furious that the veins on her forehead throbbed. "Before you say that, at least pull up your pants!"
"Alright." Xia Yunfan didn't blush or skip a beat as he pulled his pants up.
Second Master sighed helplessly. "You rebellious disciple, go down the mountain. There's no room for you here anymore."
Xia Yunfan's expression remained unchanged, but Xiaocui was so scared that tears welled up in her eyes, looking completely pitiful.
"Everything was my idea. Please don't banish Brother Fan from the mountain."
Xiaocui cried and pleaded, "I don't need a formal title, and I won't make Brother Fan take responsibility. I'm willing to be his concubine."
Second Master looked at Xiaocui and said, "Xiaocui, your father is rounding up the villagers from ten miles around to beat this little bastard to death."
What?!
Her father must have seen her and Brother Fan sneaking up the mountain together.
This was bad. Hearing this, Xiaocui bolted down the mountain.
She had to hurry and stop her father; she couldn't let Brother Fan come to the slightest harm.
"Sigh..."
Second Master let out a long sigh and pleaded, "Every girl within ten miles around has been ruined by you!"
"Xiaocui's dad has already gathered hundreds of people at the foot of the mountain. I'm begging you, please go down the mountain."
Xia Yunfan shook his head like a rattle-drum.
"If Second Master can agree to one condition, I might consider going down the mountain." The corners of Xia Yunfan's mouth curled up slightly, his eyes full of mischievous smiles.
"Spit it out."
Second Master gritted her teeth as she looked at this rebellious disciple, knowing from that wicked grin that it was nothing good.
If she weren't afraid of losing to Xia Yunfan in a fight, she really would have liked to purge the sect.
"First Master and Third Master both said that Second Master, you are most skilled at the Seductive Dance from the Bedchamber Arts, best at arousing the desires in a man's heart—something even 'eunuchs praise when they see it'."
Xia Yunfan chuckled mischievously, "Second Master, just dance it for me, won't you? It doesn't matter if it looks good or not, I just want to temper my willpower."
Second Master's face alternated between pale and flushed. This rebellious disciple was trying to master his teacher every single day.
If she didn't ship him off soon, this little scoundrel might actually succeed.
After much deliberation, Second Master pulled out an envelope and pushed it toward Xia Yunfan.
"You can't see the Seductive Dance right now," Second Master said helplessly. "This is your marriage certificate. Take it and get lost."
"A marriage certificate?"
Xia Yunfan looked bewildered. He had been an orphan since he was little; why would he have a marriage certificate?
Curious, he opened the envelope and pulled out the document inside.
The names on the marriage certificate were Xia Yunfan and Xinyue Chu.
Second Master teased from the side, "Xinyue Chu is the eldest daughter of the Chu Family in Lanhai City, hailed as the number one beauty in Lanhai. The Seductive Dance or a beautiful fiancée—you can only pick one."
Xia Yunfan's eyes lit up. "Only children make choices. Of course, I want both. Wait, the name Xinyue Chu sounds a bit familiar."
Second Master asked, amused and exasperated, "Fifteen years ago, when I took you to Lanhai City to travel at age nine, you begged me to save an old man. Do you remember?"
Xia Yunfan scratched his head. Did that really happen?
"You were a little pervert even back then. We saw an old man suffering a sudden heart attack in a Lanhai City park, and a cute little girl was crying next to him."
Second Master reached out a slender finger and poked Xia Yunfan on the forehead. "You thought the little girl was pretty, so you begged me to save him."
"After I saved the old man, he promised to give his granddaughter to you in marriage. Today, he sent someone to deliver this marriage certificate to me."
Xia Yunfan's eyes brightened as he remembered. She had been an extremely pretty, mixed-race little girl.
Even though he was only nine years old back then, he loved to brag and told the little girl that his Second Master was invincible and could save anyone effortlessly.
The little girl had chased after him, crying and calling him 'big brother,' which had tugged fiercely at his heartstrings.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Xia Yunfan laughed. "I was already showing a protective instinct for beauty at nine years old. I really am a good man, dammit."
"Stop flattering yourself. Your fiancée is in big trouble now."
Second Master smiled. "The Chu Family is in the metal materials business, and your fiancée has researched something extraordinary."
Xia Yunfan's eyes lit up.
If his wife was capable, wouldn't that mean he could live off a woman?
Don't talk to him about how young people should strive.
What is the purpose of striving?
It's so you don't have to strive in the future.
With a wife who is both gorgeous and capable, saving decades of detours sounds wonderful—isn't living off a woman amazing?
Xia Yunfan asked, "What kind of trouble did she run into?"
"She's been researching a new type of vanadium alloy. Through a special process, this vanadium alloy can be converted into vanadium compounds."
Seeing Xia Yunfan's head spinning from the explanation, Second Master simplified: "Put simply, vanadium is expensive and can be used in metal smelting, glass coloring, and battery manufacturing."
"The vanadium alloy your fiancée accidentally created can reduce the production cost of vanadium by fifty times. Do you understand what that means?"
Fifty times?!
Xia Yunfan didn't know metallurgy, but he understood business.
The most famous quote from Das Kapital:
When profit reaches 10%, they are eager to act; at 50%, they take risks;
at 100%, they trample all human laws; at 300%, they dare commit any crime.
If triple the profit can do that, just how much madness would fifty times the profit cause?
"Someone is going to make a move against her?"
Second Master nodded. "Several underground syndicate bosses have let it be known that they already consider Xinyue Chu to be within their grasp."
"Give me the identities of those people. Anyone who dares touch my woman will pay with blood!"
Xia Yunfan put away his cheeky grin, his expression turning icy cold.
Nobody was allowed to bully his woman.
Second Master smiled. "Don't rush. Those little earthworms domestically are just small fries. There are also major international forces eyeing your fiancée."
"There are a lot of them, and they aren't even in the same country. It's quite troublesome!"
Those massive international underground organizations had tens of thousands of members. Even if Xia Yunfan killed one person with a single strike from dawn till dusk, he wouldn't finish them off.
However, to capture the bandits, you first capture their leader. Xia Yunfan could completely eliminate their bosses, making them too terrified to harbor any thoughts about his fiancée.
If killing one boss wasn't enough, he'd kill a few more, until they were terrified to their bones.
"I received news that in three days at most, those domestic earthworms are sending people to find your little cutie. Hey, hey, hey! What are you blindly groping around on my body for?"
Second Master had been smiling, wanting to see Xia Yunfan anxious, but this brat had actually rushed right up to her.
Even more infuriating was that those wicked hands had reached directly inside her clothes.
"It's not like I haven't touched them before," Xia Yunfan said indifferently. "I massage you every day, and you've never reacted this strongly."