Dressed in a pink spaghetti-strap bodycon dress, the beautiful Xiang Yingxin said teasingly:
"Young Master Su, everyone here knows you like Lin Xi and have been pursuing her for years. Are you really willing to let her marry a pig butcher?"
As soon as she said this, everyone present looked at Su Lei with mocking amusement. They all hoped Su Lei would use Shen Huamei's birthday party to thoroughly put that pig butcher in his place, adding a lively spectacle to the celebration!
At the mention of the pig butcher, a muscle in Su Lei's left cheek twitched. He said:
"Of course I'm not willing, and I'll never let that pig butcher off. But I won't ruin Shen Huamei's birthday party for my own affairs."
Just then, Shen Huamei walked over and said:
"As Lin Xi's good friend, I will never allow her to stoop to marrying a pig butcher. Feel free to use this opportunity to humiliate and punish that butcher. It would be best if you can make him fly into a rage and divorce Lin Xi."
Ye Huan and Lin Xi arrived outside the Superface Bar to find a crowd of people standing near the entrance, discussing something animatedly. Among them was Su Lei.
"Are those the people attending tonight's birthday party?" Ye Huan asked.
"Mm-hmm!"
Lin Xi nodded, looking puzzled. "Strange, why are they all hanging out outside the bar?"
Ye Huan couldn't answer that, but he finally understood why Lin Xi wasn't wearing an evening gown: everyone attending the birthday party was dressed in casual clothes.
Not a single girl was wearing an evening dress.
"Lin Xi is here!"
Someone in the crowd at the entrance of the Superface Bar spotted Ye Huan and Lin Xi.
Instantly, the chatter died down completely. Everyone turned to look at Ye Huan and Lin Xi, their gazes fixing entirely on Ye Huan as if inspecting a farm animal!
"Xixi, you're finally here! Everyone has been waiting just for you!"
Shen Huamei took the initiative to welcome Lin Xi, giving her a hug.
"I went home after work to change my clothes, so I'm a bit late," Lin Xi explained with a smile. Noticing Shen Huamei sizing up Ye Huan, she was about to introduce him as her driver.
Instead, she heard Shen Huamei sneer:
"Lin Xi, is this the marriage match Grandpa Lin arranged for you? He looks alright, but he doesn't look like a pig butcher at all."
While Shen Huamei was sizing up Ye Huan, Ye Huan was sizing her up too. The girl had a nice figure and appearance, possessing a somewhat classical charm, but compared to Lin Xi, she fell a bit short!
"How do you know about this?" Lin Xi asked, completely stunned, unable to figure out how Shen Huamei had learned of Ye Huan's existence.
"What do you mean, *how* do I know? By now, probably everyone in Pengcheng knows. You got tricked into getting a marriage certificate with a pig butcher, and you've already become the laughingstock of Pengcheng," Shen Huamei said, glaring angrily at Ye Huan as if looking at a pile of dog crap.
"Did you spread this?" Lin Xi looked angrily at Ye Huan and asked.
Ye Huan shrugged. "You'll have to ask that guy named Su Lei about that."
Just as Su Lei walked over, he heard Ye Huan's words and saw Lin Xi looking at him. He awkwardly explained:
"Aunt Li told me."
Lin Xi was furious. "And then you told everyone?"
"I've been wronged!" Su Lei panicked, explaining: "After Aunt Li told me the news, I didn't tell a single soul. When I got here, everyone already knew. I was even wondering who leaked the news myself."
Lin Xi's expression grew even uglier. By now, she had already guessed who the culprit behind the leaked news was. Knowing her mother, Li Meiya, she had likely told everyone chasing her about her relationship with Lin Xi, and then one of those suitors had leaked it.
"I'm going to make the front page of tomorrow's financial section!" Lin Xi sighed.
Other people had fathers or mothers who dragged them down, but in her case, she was sabotaged by her own mother!
"Don't be upset, Xixi. If anyone's to blame, blame this pig butcher." Shen Huamei comforted Lin Xi while glaring furiously at Ye Huan.
Ye Huan looked at Shen Huamei as if she were mentally deficient, thinking to herself that if this girl had even graduated from kindergarten, she wouldn't say something so idiotic.
To rush into attacking someone without understanding the situation—just how stupid could you get?
"I'm not upset. Actually, this was well within my expectations; I just didn't expect it to come so soon!" Lin Xi didn't blame Ye Huan—after all, she was the one who had dragged him off to get their marriage certificate, so there was no one else to blame. She said, "Since everyone already knows, let me introduce you all."
With that, she turned to Ye Huan and said, "This is the guest of honor for tonight's birthday party, Shen Huamei. Huamei, this is Ye Huan."
"Hello!" Out of politeness, Ye Huan took the initiative to extend his hand.
Shen Huamei refused to shake hands with him, instead curling her lip in utter disdain and sneering:
"A pig butcher isn't worthy of shaking my hand. Take your dirty hands and get out of my sight before you offend my eyes."
A flash of cold light crossed Ye Huan's eyes. This girl seemed determined to turn her own birthday party into a memorial service.
"Well, well, well, your expression looks like you're angry!"
Seeing that Shen Huamei had already opened fire, Su Lei immediately chimed in with a sarcastic sneer:
"What, did Shen Huamei say something wrong? You're just a pig butcher. What right do you have to shake hands with a high-society heiress like Shen Huamei? Your dirty hands are only fit for gripping pig trotters."
Ye Huan was amused to the point of laughter by Su Lei's taunts. He asked:
"Does your face not hurt anymore?"
No one understood what he meant, because no one had seen Ye Huan slap Su Lei.
"You—" Su Lei flew into a rage out of embarrassment.
Right now, he wasn't afraid of Ye Huan at all. First, he had brought bodyguards; second, there were so many people here while Ye Huan was all alone; and third, Lin Xi and Shen Huamei were close friends, so Lin Xi would never allow Ye Huan to start a fight here and ruin Shen Huamei's birthday party.
However, Su Lei didn't order his bodyguards to beat Ye Huan up, because the moment he gave that order, everyone would find out about the time Ye Huan had slapped him.
"Did I say something wrong? Go take a piss and look at what you're worth. You're just a lowly butcher, completely beneath Shen Huamei's notice. What qualification do you have to shake hands with her? If you hadn't come with Lin Xi, Shen Huamei wouldn't even spare you a glance." Su Lei continued his verbal assault and humiliation against Ye Huan.
"Sigh!"
To save face for Lin Xi, Ye Huan suppressed the urge to slap Su Lei across the face again and sighed:
"I really wonder what blood type your parents are to have given birth to a mental defect like you."
The subtext of his words was: *You're humiliating me in public right now and enjoying the rush, but aren't you afraid of running into me alone one of these days and getting beaten into a pig's head?*
No one present understood the underlying meaning of Ye Huan's words, simply taking it as Ye Huan bluntly calling Su Lei an idiot.
But Su Lei understood, and he wasn't scared at all. He had already decided to bring bodyguards wherever he went from now on.
"So this is Lin Xi's butcher husband?"
At that moment, other guests at the birthday party gathered around, making uninhibited, critical remarks just like spectators at a zoo:
"He's quite handsome, actually. I thought he'd be crude and reek of filth."
"A kept man. You can tell at a glance he's the kind of loser who excels at living off women."
"God knows what kind of wrong medicine Grandpa Lin took to forcefully coerce Lin Xi into marrying a man like this. He has no background, no ability, and no money. Aside from butchering animals, he's completely useless."
"Poor Lin Xi, a fine flower stuck in cow dung."
Seeing the crowd begin to "dogpile" Ye Huan as if holding a struggle session, Lin Xi didn't get angry. Since everyone already knew about her relationship with Ye Huan, there was no point in hiding it anymore. She might as well use this opportunity to let these people help her put Ye Huan through the wringer.
Yet, to her frustration, facing the crowd's humiliating taunts and jeers, Ye Huan remained remarkably calm, not looking angry in the least.
*Do pig butchers all have psychological resilience this strong...?* Lin Xi thought to herself.
"Lin Xi, congratulations on marrying such a fine man."
At that moment, Xiang Yingxin—the only person who hadn't joined in the pile-on and mockery of Ye Huan—walked up to Lin Xi and said with a sarcastic drawl:
Her target wasn't Ye Huan; it was Lin Xi!
Seeing Xiang Yingxin, Lin Xi immediately wore an expression of disgust and snapped:
"What kind of man I marry is none of your damn business!"
"Because I'm happy!"
Xiang Yingxin wore a smug look, deliberately trying to rile Lin Xi up as she said:
"Ever since we were kids, you've been better than me at everything—better grades, higher education, better job, greater ability. The only exception is marriage, where you probably can't compare to me. After all, even if I were blind, I'd never marry a pig butcher..."
Lin Xi was so angry her face turned green. In this world, aside from Ye Huan, Xiang Yingxin was the only person capable of making her lose her emotional control.
Yet right now, she couldn't think of a single comeback against Xiang Yingxin.
She couldn't exactly tell her that she and Ye Huan were in a contract marriage, and that she did it just to exact revenge for the humiliation of being taken advantage of by Ye Bai back then.
If she blurted that out, Xiang Yingxin would laugh herself to death!
"Why aren't you talking? Isn't your eloquence supposed to be great? Aren't you good at debating? Whenever we argued in the past, I hardly ever won."
Seeing Lin Xi's pale, speechless face with rage, Xiang Yingxin grew even more arrogant and said:
"Oh, I get it. Marrying a pig butcher must mean you've eaten too much pork, and the fat clogged your cerebral blood vessels, messing up your language functions so badly you can't even argue anymore."
Saying this, she looked at her with envious pretense:
"I really envy you for never having to worry about pork again. With pork prices so high right now, I can barely afford it myself. Hahaha..."
Lin Xi's face was livid with fury. In the past, she would have slapped her across the face long ago. But tonight she was attending Shen Huamei's birthday party, and Xiang Yingxin was Shen Huamei's invited guest. If she hit someone here, it wouldn't look good.
Xiang Yingxin's loud laughter drowned out the jeers directed at Ye Huan. Only then did the crowd realize that while they were attacking Ye Huan, Xiang Yingxin had opened up a second battlefield.
"Who is this?"
Although Ye Huan had been the target of the collective attack, he had heard every word of the conversation between Lin Xi and Xiang Yingxin, figuring this must be the person Lin Xi loathed.
He immediately walked over and asked, feigning ignorance.
"A bitch!" Lin Xi viciously introduced.
"Oh!"
Ye Huan took the initiative to extend his hand toward Xiang Yingxin and said, "Hello, bitch!"
Those four words alone completely extinguished the rage burning in Lin Xi's chest, almost making her burst out laughing. She hadn't expected Ye Huan's counterattack to be so razor-sharp.
Shen Huamei, Su Lei, and the others had originally intended to break things up when Xiang Yingxin started giving Lin Xi a hard time—especially Su Lei, who planned to play the hero saving the damsel in distress.
They hadn't expected Ye Huan to make a move before them, and his first move was a heavy-hitting ultimate skill.
"Interesting!"
Xiang Yingxin didn't get angry at all. In fact, she even took Ye Huan's hand, but instead of shaking it, she toyed with his fingers and said:
"Such thick calluses on your palms. You must have ground them down from gripping a knife to slaughter pigs every day, right? But if you stroke Lin Xi with hands like these, won't you scratch her delicate skin?"
Ye Huan pulled his hand back and gave Xiang Yingxin's pretty face a light stroke, saying:
"Didn't scratch her. Is it that the calluses on my hands aren't sharp enough, or is your skin just too thick?"
*Well played...* Lin Xi cheered for Ye Huan in her heart.
Shen Huamei, Su Lei, and the other onlookers were completely dumbfounded. None of them expected Ye Huan to pull a stunt like that—a mere pig butcher had the incredible audacity to actually stroke Xiang Yingxin's face.
And right in front of Lin Xi, no less.
"Lin Xi, your man just stroked my face..."
Xiang Yingxin still didn't get angry; instead, she exaggeratedly complained to Lin Xi, asking:
"Your man is stroking my face right in front of you and everyone else. Could it be that he likes me?"
Ignoring Xiang Yingxin, Lin Xi looked at Ye Huan and asked, "Do you like her?"
Ye Huan shrugged. "She's so pretty and her figure is so sexy, an overnight stay must be really expensive. I can't afford to play with her!"
*Great answer...* Lin Xi gave Ye Huan a mental thumbs-up and said, "I'll pay. Go ask her how much for an overnight stay."
Ye Huan looked at Xiang Yingxin: "One hundred?"
Pfft!
Everyone failed to hold back and burst out laughing!
Lin Xi laughed the loudest!
Lin Xi telling Ye Huan to ask Xiang Yingxin the price for an overnight stay was already humiliating enough, but Ye Huan directly asking if a hundred was enough was equivalent to saying that in his eyes, Xiang Yingxin was only worth a hundred. That was a devastating level of humiliation!
"I'll give you ten thousand. When the birthday party's over, come with me!"
Xiang Yingxin still didn't get angry. Instead, she looped her arm around Ye Huan's and acted coquettishly.
The expressions of everyone present changed instantly. Xiang Yingxin's counter-move was absolute genius—she was openly poaching Lin Xi's husband and hanging a green hat over Lin Xi's head right in public.
Yet Lin Xi didn't look angry at all. She didn't even like Ye Huan anyway!
"Alright!"
Taking advantage of the moment, Ye Huan wrapped an arm around Xiang Yingxin's slender waist and said:
"No need to wait until the end of the birthday party. The bar has private booths; we can head straight to one right now."
As he spoke, his arm slid lower and lower down Xiang Yingxin's back.
Xiang Yingxin's delicate body instantly stiffened, and her mind went blank with a loud hum. She had only wanted to provoke and anger Lin Xi; she never dreamed that Lin Xi's pig-butcher husband would have the guts to go this far.
As for Shen Huamei, Su Lei, and the rest, they were struck collectively dumb!
They simply couldn't believe their eyes. Ye Huan, the pig butcher, had clearly married into the Lin family as a matrilocal husband, essentially marrying beneath his station. Logically, he should have acted like an obedient grandson within the Lin family, never daring to do anything to wrong Lin Xi.
Yet the scene before them shattered their understanding of kept husbands—especially seeing Ye Huan's hand active behind Xiang Yingxin's back, which utterly reshaped their perceptions of live-in sons-in-law.
Look at that!
Just look at that!
Is this what a kept husband looks like?
Since when did any live-in husband dare to flirt with another girl right in front of his wife, practically heading off to open a hotel room right then and there?!
"Alright then. Tonight the bar has been rented out by Shen Huamei, and all the private booths on the second floor are empty."
Recovering her wits, Xiang Yingxin put on a seductive smile and took the initiative to lead Ye Huan by the hand toward the bar entrance.
By this point, Xiang Yingxin had figured it out: everything Ye Huan was doing to her was just to help Lin Xi spite her. Ye Huan would never dare actually go with her to a bar booth, and Lin Xi would certainly never allow Ye Huan to do such a thing.
"Are they really just going in like that?"
Watching Ye Huan and Xiang Yingxin walk hand-in-hand toward the bar entrance, Shen Huamei looked at Lin Xi in shock and said, "Aren't you going to stop them?"
Lin Xi shrugged. "Why should I?"
Shen Huamei: "???"
Su Lei: "???"
Everyone else: "???"
*Why should you?!*
*Dammit, Ye Huan is your husband! He's about to go into a private booth with your sworn enemy to play hide-the-salami, and you're asking why you should stop them?!*
At that moment, Shen Huamei and the others suddenly realized that Ye Huan and Lin Xi actually didn't like each other at all. Their union had been entirely forced upon them by Lin Tai.
That was why Ye Huan could flirt with Xiang Yingxin in public without caring about Lin Xi's feelings in the slightest;
And why Lin Xi didn't care at all if Ye Huan went off to sleep with another woman.
While Xiang Yingxin and Ye Huan walked hand-in-hand toward the bar entrance, she deliberately walked with an exaggerated sense of urgency and seductive flair, swaying her hips with every three steps.
She wanted to show Lin Xi that she was truly going to a private booth with Ye Huan.
She was convinced that Lin Xi would never allow Ye Huan to enter a booth with her; long before they reached the door, Lin Xi would inevitably break and call out to stop them.
And she was equally certain Ye Huan wouldn't dare actually go inside with her.
Yet!
Just as they were about to reach the bar entrance, Lin Xi still hadn't called out to stop them, and Ye Huan showed no intention of stopping either. Xiang Yingxin suddenly began to feel nervous.
*Why aren't they calling out to stop us yet?*
*Call out!*
*Lin Xi, you bitch, say something!*
Finally!
The two of them crossed the threshold into the bar!
At that moment, tension gripped Xiang Yingxin to the absolute extreme.
"Why are your palms sweating?" Ye Huan teased.
"Huh? Sweating? Oh, well, the weather is just too hot, haha..."
Awkward and nervous, Xiang Yingxin stammered incoherently, suddenly thinking to herself:
*What am I nervous for? The ones who should be nervous right now are Lin Xi and Ye Huan. They're both waiting for me to stop first. I won't stop—whoever stops first loses.*
She firmly believed Ye Huan wouldn't dare enter a booth with her;
She firmly believed Lin Xi would never allow Ye Huan to enter a booth with her;
The only reason Ye Huan and Lin Xi hadn't yelled for them to stop yet was simply a contest of psychological endurance to see who would crack first.
"Let's go, to the private booth!"
Having reasoned this out, Xiang Yingxin recovered her previous seductive air and sense of urgency, pulling Ye Huan toward the second floor!
Yet all the way up the stairs, she still didn't hear Lin Xi shouting for them to stop, nor did Ye Huan show any sign of halting.
When they finally stood right outside the private booth door!
Xiang Yingxin's psychological defenses finally collapsed completely!
Panic finally set in!
"Get in here!"
Ye Huan wrapped an arm around Xiang Yingxin's waist and shoved the door open.
As they entered and the booth door clicked shut behind them, Xiang Yingxin's heart skipped a heavy beat.
In that instant, it finally dawned on her: Ye Huan and Lin Xi had been forcefully thrown together by Lin Tai. The two of them had no feelings for each other whatsoever, didn't care what the other did, and might even have reached some kind of mutual agreement not to interfere in each other's private lives. That was why Ye Huan dared to brazenly flirt with her and touch her right in front of Lin Xi.
Realizing this, Xiang Yingxin's heart rate skyrocketed to 180 beats per minute. An unprecedented wave of tension and terror washed over her, making her instantly spin around to try and escape the booth.
She had lost!
She had to run—if she didn't run now, she was going to get thoroughly ruined by this pig butcher!
"Where do you think you're going?"
Ye Huan suddenly grabbed hold of her and asked.
"Ah..."
Startled into a violent shudder, Xiang Yingxin forced a look of calm composure and said:
"Oh, um, I just remembered I forgot to bring a condom. You, uh, wait here, I'll go get one from my car!"
"I brought my own!" Ye Huan said playfully.
*Holy shit, what is wrong with this pig butcher, carrying that kind of crap around with him?!* Xiang Yingxin cursed inwardly and blurted out:
"I, I need to use the washroom."
"There's a washroom right inside the booth!"