"Zhang Laoliu!?"
When Xue Bingbing recognized the newcomer, she gripped Zhou Yang's sleeve even tighter, letting out an involuntary gasp.
"Ha, if I hadn't shown up, what were you two scumbags planning to do?"
Zhang Laoliu's pockmarked face twitched a few times as he grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.
Seeing him like this, Xue Bingbing almost gagged.
Zhang Laoliu hated nothing more than such a reaction from anyone, especially from Xue Bingbing—a woman whose beauty he had long lusted after.
"Little girl, don't act so high and mighty now."
Zhang Laoliu turned up his nose, curling his lip as he continued.
"Let me tell you, Lao Liu, I've already offered a generous bride price and made arrangements with your family. Once three days are up, the two of us will be sharing a bridal chamber."
As he spoke, Zhang Laoliu used a black fingernail to pick at his teeth, looking thoroughly disdainful.
"You!"
Xue Bingbing was so enraged her face turned pale. Her body trembled uncontrollably as she pointed a finger at Zhang Laoliu.
Zhang Laoliu didn't care in the least. He arched his thin, caterpillar-like eyebrows, his eyes roaming uninhibitedly over Xue Bingbing's face.
"Shameless!"
In the end, Xue Bingbing could only grit her teeth and spit out those three words.
Zhang Laoliu narrowed his eyes, turned his head to pick his ear with his pinky finger, and looked back at Xue Bingbing.
"Little girl, what did you just say to your Grandpa Liu? I hope you can scream just as loud on our wedding night in the bridal chamber, hahahahaha!"
With that, Zhang Laoliu opened his mouth wide and burst into loud laughter.
"Enough!"
Zhou Yang could finally take no more and let out an angry roar directly at Zhang Laoliu.
"Oh my, you Zhou family boy sure are arrogant. Don't you know this is Grandpa Liu's own family business? What does it have to do with you if I'm talking to my wife?"
Zhang Laoliu looked Zhou Yang up and down, the look of contempt in his eyes growing even heavier.
Zhang Laoliu was merely a local landowner; not only was he hideous to look at, but he was also a complete rogue.
Zhou Yang had always looked down on this man.
Zhou Yang let out a cold snort, expelling a heavy breath through his nose.
"You want to marry Bingbing—has the girl agreed?"
Zhou Yang stared straight at Zhang Laoliu and demanded.
"Whether she agrees doesn't matter. It's enough that I've convinced her family."
Zhang Laoliu curled his lip again.
"Give it up! There's no way I could ever like you!"
Xue Bingbing stood behind Zhou Yang, her eyes locked onto Zhang Laoliu with utter disgust.
"You're not even a fraction of Brother Yangzi. You're completely useless, relying solely on a bit of land to act like a shameless bully. If I were to end up with you, it would be the misfortune of eight lifetimes—I'd rather die!"
Xue Bingbing cast a cold glance at Zhang Laoliu, rolling her eyes almost up to the sky.
Seeing Xue Bingbing and Zhou Yang together had already stirred up the jealous monster inside Zhang Laoliu.
He had long wanted to successfully win over Xue Bingbing, but he had never managed to get the slightest advantage from the very beginning.
Now, being compared unfavorably to Zhou Yang by Xue Bingbing, a nameless fire in his heart burned fiercely.
"The Zhou family brat isn't worth a damn!"
Zhang Laoliu suddenly bared his teeth and shouted, kicking fiercely at the bushes beside them and spitting a mouthful of saliva onto the muddy ground.
"Come on, do you dare throw down with me?"
Zhang Laoliu flexed his hands and came up right in front of Zhou Yang.
Zhou Yang originally had no desire to stir up trouble in a moment like this. Just as he was frowning and pondering how to handle it, Xue Bingbing suddenly stepped forward and grabbed Zhou Yang's arm.
"Brother Yangzi, let's not waste words with this kind of person. We aren't from the same world anyway. We can't afford to mess with him, so let's just leave."
Xue Bingbing pouted as she spoke, pulling Zhou Yang away to the side.
Zhou Yang had just been thinking that if worst came to worst, he would just teach Zhang Laoliu a lesson, but seeing Xue Bingbing speak up like that, he withdrew his gaze and followed her toward the path leading down the mountain.
Who would have thought that seeing the two of them try to leave would fuel Zhang Laoliu's unplacated anger even further?
He hurriedly stepped forward, reaching out to grab Xue Bingbing.
Xue Bingbing reacted by stepping back, but lost her footing, tripped over a stone, and tumbled heavily to the ground.
Her elbow struck a stone, scraping the skin raw.
Xue Bingbing let out a cry, crystal tears welling up in her eyes as she curled her body and clutched the injured spot.
"Bingbing!"
Anxious, Zhou Yang turned aside, squatted down, and began to check Xue Bingbing's injury.
"You little punk, still hanging around my woman, are you?"
With that, Zhang Laoliu moved to grab Zhou Yang.
Seeing that Xue Bingbing had only scraped her skin and was otherwise unharmed, Zhou Yang glared fiercely at Zhang Laoliu.
"Have you got a death wish!?"
Zhou Yang panted heavily, his fists clenched tightly together.
"Get out of my way!"
Zhang Laoliu raised his foot and kicked straight at Zhou Yang.
Zhou Yang didn't dodge. With a dull thud, he let Zhang Laoliu's leg strike his shoulder.
Zhou Yang didn't budge an inch.
Seeing this, Zhang Laoliu threw another punch.
Zhou Yang took in every single movement of Zhang Laoliu.
A flash of ruthlessness crossed his eyes, and this time, Zhou Yang moved.
Dropping low to duck beneath Zhang Laoliu's flying punch, he swept out a low kick. Zhang Laoliu's lower stance was compromised, his center of gravity instantly collapsing, and with a heavy thud, he crashed straight to the ground.
"Ah!!"
Zhang Laoliu's back made intimate contact with the stony path, the pain twisting his bumpy face so severely that he almost lost human form.
Enduring the excruciating pain, Zhang Laoliu drew in a couple of cold breaths, got onto his knees, crawled back up, and began unleashing a string of bitter curses at Zhou Yang.
"You brat have no martial ethics, resorting to sneak attacks! Don't think that just because you can protect Xue Bingbing now, she actually belongs to you!? If you really fancy her like that, get down on your knees and beg your grandpa here; maybe when the wedding night comes, I'll let you peek in for a bit."
Zhang Laoliu's speech was slurred as air escaped through his teeth, the lingering pain stabbing repeatedly at his cerebral cortex, making his face distort and twitch.
"You're a grown man, have you no shame at all?"
Zhou Yang finally spoke, his voice cold and utterly devoid of warmth.
"Shame?"
Zhang Laoliu retorted, his dark eyeballs darting around. Seizing the moment while Zhou Yang wasn't paying attention, he bent down, picked up a half-palm-sized stone, and swung it straight at Zhou Yang's forehead.
"Brother Yangzi! Watch out!"
By now Xue Bingbing had recovered her wits and cried out at the top of her lungs.
Zhou Yang was unfazed. He could even maneuver against a Siberian tiger, let alone a petty rogue like Zhang Laoliu who had zero training.
In Zhou Yang's eyes, Zhang Laoliu's movements were like slow motion.
With a side-slip, he dodged Zhang Laoliu's attack, naturally twisting his waist and hips to deliver a fierce left hook.
*Crack.*
A crisp sound rang out.
Zhang Laoliu's vagus nerve on his jaw was struck with pinpoint precision, and his entire body went flying backward!