Chapter 539 - 539: That's Right, I Am a Farmer

The small living room instantly fell silent, the atmosphere turning oppressive and awkward.

Everyone stared at Hu Dajun, their gazes filled with astonishment and disbelief.

'Declaring himself a suitor right in front of Lin Xue's boyfriend. Is he serious? He's just trying to stir up trouble and break them up!'

"Hu Dajun, what are you talking about? That kind of joke isn't funny in the slightest!" Zhaoling stepped forward to play peacemaker, inwardly cursing Hu Dajun.

After all, today was her birthday, and Zhao Yuan was only here because she'd prodded Lin Xue into bringing him. But now, Hu Dajun had popped up to cause trouble. This was a blatant slap in the face to her!

The truth was, Zhaoling hadn't even invited Hu Dajun to the birthday party. The guy had somehow found out Lin Xue would be there and had shamelessly called Zhaoling to invite himself.

Since they had all been classmates, Zhaoling felt she couldn't refuse, so she'd agreed. She never imagined it would lead to this infuriating situation. And now, she had to bite back her anger and play peacemaker.

'This is so damn frustrating!'

Zhaoling shot Hu Dajun a fierce glare, as if to say, 'Knock it off, and don't you dare cause any more trouble for me!'

Unfortunately, Hu Dajun had no intention of saving her face. He just smiled and said, "I'm telling the truth; I'm not joking. We were all in the same class in high school. Are you telling me you don't know I've been pursuing Lin Xue this whole time?"

With that, he shot Zhao Yuan a provocative glare.

Zhao Yuan almost burst out laughing.

'So what if he's a suitor? He didn't succeed, so what's there to be proud of? What's so great about that?'

His words were like an iron fist in a velvet glove. "Xiaoxue is so beautiful and exceptional; it would be strange if she *didn't* have suitors. Even at our university, as the Sweetheart Goddess, she has countless admirers. It's just that her standards have always been high, and she wouldn't look twice at an ordinary person. I'm both honored and delighted to be her boyfriend."

Hu Dajun was a sharp guy and immediately caught the underlying taunt in Zhao Yuan's words: 'You're just one among many suitors, utterly ordinary, while I'm Lin Xue's one and only boyfriend! What right do you have to be proud? And what gives you the right to challenge me?'

"You..." Hu Dajun was furious. He wanted to lash out but didn't know what to say, so he trailed off after a single word.

Zhaoling was completely fed up. Ignoring him, she turned to Zhao Yuan and said, "Come on, have a seat. The food in the pot is ready to eat. We didn't wait for you, so please don't mind us."

Zhao Yuan replied graciously, "Of course not. I'm the one who showed up unannounced. I hope you all don't mind me crashing the party."

"You're with Xiaoxue, so you're not an outsider. Of course we don't mind!" Zhaoling said with a cheerful laugh.

The contrast was stark. Seeing Zhao Yuan's attitude only made Zhaoling more irritated with Hu Dajun.

Zhao Yuan sat down next to Lin Xue. It was only then that everyone noticed she was holding two little pigs. A White Cat had also followed them into the room and was now curled up on Zhao Yuan's lap.

The two adorable Little Dang Kangs and the impeccably aloof White Cat immediately stole the show, doing a lot to diffuse the awkward atmosphere in the room.

"Wow, these two little pigs are so cute!"

"This White Cat is so aloof! It has such a queenly air about it!"

"Zhao Yuan, are the cat and pigs your pets? Can we pet them?"

Everyone whipped out their phones for pictures and selfies, and came over to pet the White Cat and the two Little Dang Kangs.

The two Little Dang Kangs were well-behaved, letting everyone rub and pet them. The White Cat, however, was a different story. It would glare and bare its teeth at anyone who dared to reach for it. While this scared many people away, it paradoxically made others fall even harder for its aloof charm.

Hu Dajun was already fuming. Seeing that not only Zhao Yuan but also his cat and pigs were so popular, he grew even more incensed. Wanting to reclaim his lost pride, he sneered, "A cat and pigs... Did you bring them for us to add to the hot pot? A shame we don't eat cat, and those two pigs are so small they wouldn't even be a mouthful..."

He hadn't even finished his sentence when two jets of liquid shot out, hitting him square in the face before he could dodge. He quickly realized the sticky, smelly liquid was saliva from the two little pigs in Lin Xue's arms.

"What the hell!" Hu Dajun was a bit of a germaphobe; getting a face full of pig spit nearly made him lose his mind.

But no one sympathized with him. Instead, the crowd erupted in laughter. Someone even gloated, "Hu Dajun, looks like the little pigs understood you wanted to eat them and decided to get some payback. Let's see if you'll still be so quick to run your mouth in the future."

As Hu Dajun wiped the saliva from his face with a napkin, he muttered to himself in shock, 'What just happened? Could those two little pigs actually understand what I said? That's impossible! It must have been a coincidence! Dammit, even pigs are messing with me now. This is intolerable!'

He couldn't take his anger out on two pigs—that would just make him a bigger joke. He could, however, direct all his fury at Zhao Yuan.

So he sneered, "Raising cats and pigs... It's a shame you're not a farmer out in the countryside!"

Zhao Yuan knew what he was attempting and didn't get angry. He just smiled and said, "You're actually right about that. I do come from a farming background, just not from the countryside around Rongcheng City. I'm from the mountains. You're all welcome to visit my hometown sometime. There may not be any breathtaking scenery, but at least the air is fresh and clean."

Everyone responded enthusiastically, saying they would definitely take him up on the offer to visit his hometown if they ever got the chance.

But Hu Dajun sneered again, "So you're just a hillbilly from the mountains. No wonder you came empty-handed, without a gift—it's because you're poor. Xiaoxue, I'm not trying to cause trouble, I'm saying this for your own good. You'll never be happy with a poor boy like him! He's obviously just trying to use you to climb the social ladder..."

"Hu Dajun, shut your mouth!" Even good-tempered Lin Xue was furious. Zhao Yuan was her boyfriend, the man she loved, and she would not allow anyone to slander or insult him.

Zhao Yuan reached out and took Lin Xue's hand, saying gently, "It's okay, don't be angry. He's just jealous of me. He did remind me of something, though. Today is Zhai's birthday, and I really should have brought a gift."

He hadn't bought any gifts on his trip to Huashang, but Cheng Haoyu had given him a bunch of local specialty products. He could make do with one of those as a present.

Zhao Yuan opened his travel bag and reached inside. Under the bag's cover, he accessed his Storage Ring Space, pulled out a gift bag, and handed it to Zhaoling. "I was in a rush, so I didn't get to buy anything fancy," he said apologetically. "It's just a local specialty. I hope you don't mind."