Hearing Chen Xiao say this, Qi Chuyao pouted angrily.
She was already this old, and up until now, she had never even dated a boyfriend, all because of this marriage arrangement.
And yet, he was actually being picky about it.
Qi Zhenguo thought for a moment, then persuaded her, "My girl is as pretty as a flower, and she's also smart, clever, and refined in both appearance and character."
"Those other nine girls simply can't compare to Chuyao. You should just marry Chuyao directly."
"As for the other nine marriage proposals, you can just leave them with me, your father-in-law, for safekeeping."
At that moment, he was planning to get his hands on the nine marriage proposals and then destroy them all together.
That way, Chen Xiao would have no choice but to marry his daughter.
"No, I'll keep the marriage proposals myself so I can be sure they're safe," Chen Xiao refused decisively.
Qi Zhenguo let out a sigh. "Very well, then."
"Chuyao, take my son-in-law out to buy some clothes first. It won't do for him to keep wearing that Taoist robe."
Qi Chuyao pouted. "I won't go."
"He won't even register our marriage certificate with me, so I'm certainly not going to take him to buy clothes."
As soon as the words left her mouth, she instantly regretted them, her cheeks blushing even deeper as she realized how unreserved she sounded.
"Orders from my master are hard to disobey, so we truly cannot register our marriage right now. But aside from that matter, everything else can be done," Chen Xiao said with a completely serious expression.
Qi Chuyao felt a rush of blood to her head and said indignantly, "Without getting the marriage certificate, I am not going to do that kind of thing with you!"
Chen Xiao blinked. "What kind of thing are you talking about?"
"It's just..."
Qi Chuyao choked on her words, stamping her foot in a mixture of shame and anger.
How could a girl like her bring herself to say out loud?
Seeing this, Qi Zhenguo smoothed things over, saying, "Alright, alright, don't argue."
"Chuyao, since you've already agreed to my son-in-law, let's do things his way. No marriage certificate for now—you two can just take your time."
Seeing Chen Xiao's resolute attitude, he knew this couldn't be rushed. He needed to steady Chen Xiao first before plotting the next steps.
Right at that moment, a commotion broke out from outside.
"What the fuck! Where is that bastard, get the hell out here!"
Qi Zhenhui pushed the door open roughly, followed by four burly men in black.
He couldn't swallow this humiliation; after getting beaten, he had called in a few thugs.
Hearing the noise, the three of them turned around to look.
Seeing that his eldest brother had already woken up, Qi Zhenhui was utterly shocked, his eyes going blank in disbelief.
"What the fuck! A corpse waking up in broad daylight!"
Qi Zhenguo's eyes narrowed, and he said in a deep voice, "Third Brother, it seems you aren't very happy to see me awake."
A flash of panic crossed Qi Zhenhui's face before he forced a laugh. "I was just so excited to see Big Brother wake up."
Qi Zhenguo snorted coldly. "What are you doing here with these people?"
Qi Zhenhui pointed a trembling finger at Chen Xiao, his teeth gritted with hatred. "Big Brother, this little bastard just beat me up!"
"I'm here to drag him away and teach him a harsh lesson, damn it!"
Qi Chuyao's heart tightened, and she instinctively stepped in front of Chen Xiao.
"He's my fiancé, and he saved my dad! You can't take him away!"
"I don't give a damn!"
Qi Zhenhui waved his hand and shouted angrily, "Niece, get out of the way right now, or don't blame your third uncle for not showing you any mercy either!"
In a flash, Chen Xiao suddenly appeared right in front of Qi Zhenhui.
Qi Zhenhui was startled.
So fast!
"Ah—!"
Qi Zhenhui let out a miserable scream.
Before he could even react, Chen Xiao had grabbed his fingers and bent them backward.
"You really never learn!"
With a displeased expression, Chen Xiao stared coldly at Qi Zhenhui.
Qi Zhenhui's face twisted in agony as he shrieked in pain.
"It hurts, it hurts! Let go!"
Seeing this, the four thugs swarmed forward all at once.
Chen Xiao frowned, tossed Qi Zhenhui aside, and met the four thugs head-on.
In the blink of an eye.
All four thugs were sprawled on the ground, unconscious and barely breathing.
Qi Chuyao's jaw dropped, and she froze on the spot, too stunned to even think.
This fiancé of hers was ridiculously good at fighting.
Qi Zhenguo was also dumbfounded, but he quickly recovered, his eyes lighting up as he looked at Chen Xiao.
I must not let this kid fall into the hands of those other nine girls.
This son-in-law—I, Qi Zhenguo, am claiming him for sure!
Groaning in pain, Qi Zhenhui collapsed to the floor. The moment he looked up, he saw Chen Xiao standing before him with a face as cold as frost.
"What... what are you going to do?"
Chen Xiao asked coldly, "Didn't you just say you weren't going to show my fiancée any mercy?"
"About that..."
Qi Zhenhui's nerves were stretched to the limit, and he was terrified out of his wits.
He asked timidly, "If I said no, would you believe me?"
Without wasting another word, Chen Xiao pulled a long face and hoisted Qi Zhenhui straight up into the air.
"What are you doing? I'm Chuyao's third uncle..."
Ignoring Qi Zhenhui's pleas for mercy, Chen Xiao carried him right over the bodies of the four thugs and walked out of the room.
Out of sheer curiosity, Qi Chuyao followed behind them.
Whoosh!
Standing on the second-floor hallway, Chen Xiao gave a mighty swing of his arm and hurled Qi Zhenhui down.
With a heavy thud, Qi Zhenhui crashed hard onto the ground below, his head covered in blood.
Qi Chuyao covered her mouth, gasped, and stood frozen in place.
Falling from the second floor wouldn't kill him, but it would definitely result in severe injuries.
The members of the Qi family stared in utter bewilderment at the fallen Qi Zhenhui, having no clue what had just happened.
One by one, they raised their heads to look at Chen Xiao standing behind the railing, a trace of fear creeping into their eyes.
This fiancé of Chuyao's was far too ruthless.
Looking down at Qi Zhenhui on the first floor, Chen Xiao muttered, "Asking to get beaten up like that—must be something wrong with his head."
Turning around, he caught sight of Qi Chuyao standing there in a daze, flashed a grin, and urged, "Let's go, take me to buy some clothes."
"Ah, sure..."
Qi Chuyao remained in a daze, seemingly still unable to snap out of the shock.
At that moment, Qi Zhenguo also got down from the bed and walked out to the hallway.
Seeing his younger brother lying half-dead on the first floor, a jolt of shock went through him as well.
Once he had calmed his emotions, Qi Zhenguo said in a low voice, "Everyone, don't worry about me anymore. I've already woken up."
The people exchanged glances, looking at one another in dismay.
Compared to you, we're a lot more worried about Qi Zhenhui. Is this guy even still alive?
Qi Zhenhui's body twitched a few times, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.
Seeing this, everyone let out a sigh of relief.
As long as he wasn't dead, it was fine.
Qi Zhenguo looked at Chen Xiao and waved with a smile. "I'll handle things here. You two go ahead and go shopping."
"Alright."
With that, under the watchful eyes of everyone present, Chen Xiao and Qi Chuyao walked out of the house.
Suddenly, Chen Xiao rubbed his rumbling stomach, pouted, and said, "Let's hold off on the clothes for a minute. I'm a bit hungry, so why don't you take me out to eat?"
As he spoke, he made a move to grab Qi Chuyao's hand.
Suddenly, Qi Chuyao felt as if she had been struck by lightning, and she yanked her hand back in a panic.
"What are you doing?"
Qi Chuyao glared at Chen Xiao with a guarded expression.
Looking utterly baffled, Chen Xiao retorted, "You're my woman now, isn't holding hands perfectly normal?"