Chapter Sixty-Eight: Peerless in the World

Guo the Lefty was someone Chen Liang also knew. According to television dramas, he was the type who relied on his many brothers to swagger about the factory, acting like a tyrant. But in reality, this fellow couldn’t even stand up to Chen Liang, let alone someone like Xiao Liu from the security department—anyone who caught him slipping could mess with him as they pleased. Run rampant in the factory? He wasn’t nearly qualified. If Chen Liang wanted to deal with him, it would be over in minutes.

“All right, enough about Widow Qin. Tell me, what are you really thinking?” Chen Liang grew impatient as Xiao Liu kept going on about how alluring Widow Qin was. Damn it, he knew he’d never get a taste of that, so why keep talking about her? Didn’t he have any sense?

“What can I be thinking? I don’t even have a girl right now, so I’m just passing the time!” Xiao Liu was puzzled, wondering why Liang was suddenly so concerned about him.

“Liang, you don’t think I’d actually marry Widow Qin, do you?” Xiao Liu’s words snapped Chen Liang back to his senses. Right! He was getting worked up for nothing. With Widow Qin’s standards, she’d never even considered that lovesick fool Sha Zhu, so how could she ever look at an ordinary guy like Xiao Liu?

“Enough. Stay away from Widow Qin. That woman is definitely trouble,” Chen Liang said earnestly, his tone full of warning.

They chatted as they walked. When they reached the security office, Chen Liang took three hundred yuan from his pocket and handed it to Xiao Liu.

“Take this. Have your mother find you a wife soon. Just take it as a loan from me—pay it back when you can.”

Xiao Liu’s gaze was troubled, and inside he was howling in despair. Damn, now there’s real trouble—maybe Liang also has his eye on Widow Qin.

He accepted the money without protest, hesitant to speak. His constipated expression made Chen Liang’s head ache. “Just say what you want or cut the crap. If you’ve got something to say, spit it out and get lost.”

Cautiously, Xiao Liu probed, “Liang, you’re not interested in Widow Qin too, are you? That woman really isn’t any good!”

He parroted back Chen Liang’s own words from before. “She’s not only involved with Guo the Lefty—she’s been mixed up with plenty of others, like Xu the big shot from Publicity, old Wang who tends the boilers, Xiao Qian from the union…”

The more Xiao Liu spoke, the more outrageous it became, listing off everyone who’d ever been rumored with Widow Qin. In the end, he wore a mournful face. “Liang, you can’t betray your wife for a woman like her!”

Xiao Liu had met Xiaoyu before. In his eyes, Sister Xiaoyu was the most beautiful and kind-hearted woman in the world. For Liang to cheat on her with Widow Qin—what a foolish move!

“What nonsense are you spouting, Liu? When did I ever say I was interested in her?” Chen Liang was exasperated.

“Then why did you give me money?”

“Damn it, I gave you money so you’d get married soon and stop spending all your time with Widow Qin. That woman is scheming—one day she’ll sell you out!”

“Oh, is that it? I thought you were going to do something you’d regret with Sister Xiaoyu!” At the mention of Xiaoyu, Chen Liang felt a wave of irritation. Damn, why did he marry so early? Now, even if he wanted a widow, he was out of luck.

“All right, keep the money. If you have nothing else, get out!” Chen Liang dismissed Xiao Liu, then sat alone in the security office, lost in thought.

Was Chen Liang tempted by Widow Qin? Of course he was—otherwise, how could he call himself a real man?

Who played Widow Qin in the television series? It was Teacher HL—a true beauty who’d played the famed Aunt Thirteen, a woman who’d spent years portraying noble ladies in the palace dramas. Even in her forties, with some makeup, she could still pass for a girl in her twenties. She and Yu Feihong were both renowned for their ageless grace.

In this era, Chen Liang was twenty-five, Sha Zhu three years older, and Widow Qin two years older than Sha Zhu—a perfect thirty, the age when a woman is as ripe as a peach. Who wouldn’t be tempted?

Yet Chen Liang could only look, never touch, and the more he thought about it, the more dissatisfied he felt. In a fit of annoyance, he skipped work, told his uncle, and went off to find his wife, Xiaoyu.

At the library, he pushed open Xiaoyu’s office door to find her lying languidly in her chair, reading. Her serene beauty stirred a longing in him.

Without a word, Chen Liang turned and locked the office door. Xiaoyu, noticing, rolled her eyes at him flirtatiously, then got up to draw the curtains.

After that, Chen Liang taught Xiaoyu how to quickly retrieve a chess piece that had fallen under the table during a game of Chinese chess.

They played chess together all afternoon. As the workday ended, Xiaoyu, cheeks flushed like a peach blossom, drank a large cup of fragrant rose tea to mask any lingering scent, then playfully pounded Chen Liang’s chest with her little fists.

“All you do is tease—next time, don’t mess around here again!”

While mopping the floor, Chen Liang scoffed. Sure, it was easy for her to sound tough now—let’s see her say that without her trousers on next time!

Xiaoyu went downstairs to tally numbers, leaving Chen Liang to mop the office in misery. Damn this damp weather—it wasn’t even past the New Year festival yet, and it was already this humid. How bad would it get during the rainy season?

Life was easy for Xiaoyu at the library. Old Lu had even promoted her to the staff cadre, making her a grade twenty-four clerk.

Yet Chen Liang couldn’t help feeling that Old Lu was subtly mocking him. Chen Liang was still just a worker in the security department, while his wife was now a cadre. It was a classic case of yin flourishing over yang.

As the saying goes, don’t underestimate a steamed bun—it can still be a meal. And don’t look down on the village chief—they’re still an official. Even though grade twenty-four was the lowest cadre rank, Xiaoyu’s salary and benefits far outstripped Chen Liang’s.

Xiaoyu now earned thirty-two and a half yuan a month—almost twice Chen Liang’s pay. Her food ration had also risen from twenty-seven to thirty-two pounds, and all her other ration tickets increased as well.

Every time Chen Liang dropped Xiaoyu off at work, Old Lu’s sarcastic look made Chen Liang want to set fire to his beard.

After finishing the mopping, Chen Liang collapsed into the leather sofa, waiting for Xiaoyu to return from her tallying. When she sat at her desk to write her reports, Chen Liang gathered her into his lap, playing with her hands from behind.

Xiaoyu nestled into his arms, the two of them leaning quietly together, savoring the tenderness of the moment.

Damn it, with such a treasure as Xiaoyu, who needed Aunt Thirteen? No matter how alluring she was, she could never compare to his own incomparable, natural beauty, his beloved Xiaoyu. Madness!

Heh… ptooey! You scoundrel—you certainly didn’t say that a moment ago!