Chapter 61: Beast Trap

Chapter 61: Chapter 61: Beast Trap

Their eyes met. Deng Yuyuan looked down and picked up Tuantuan. "Thank you. Tuantuan is sleepy, so I’ll take her back first."

"Take these with you." Zhang Ci Hao handed her the wrapped handkerchiefs.

Deng Yuyuan took the handkerchiefs. Her fluid gaze fixed on him for a moment before she turned and left.

Zhang Ci Hao stood rooted to the spot, dazed. After a long while, he left as well.

Anyone with an ounce of sense could see the strange atmosphere between them.

"Your third son has grown up, haha. I see this Deng Zhiqing playing hot and cold with him. The way she looks at him is like a hook. Be careful not to let Little Hao be led astray!"

"It’s really quite improper. She already has a child, yet she’s tangling with a man. Little Hao is going to suffer."

The village chief’s wife calmly took a sip of her tea. "It’s Little Hao who likes her, not Yuanyuan who likes Little Hao. Two young people are courting; why should we old bones join in the fuss?

"If they get together, I’ll be happy. If they don’t, I won’t mind. They’re young, and it’s good to have relationship experiences. It’s not the old society anymore; marriage and divorce are both normal.

"I remember your daughter was pestered by that hooligan Ma Lao Liu the year before last, and it was my husband who went to help settle it. So it turns out your daughter was being improper! If you had told me earlier, I wouldn’t have let my husband go."

The woman gave an awkward smile. "Ma Lao Liu and your third son can’t be compared."

"In both cases, it’s just the man getting caught up in a one-sided infatuation. What does it have to do with a good girl?"

After saying this, the village chief’s wife felt a bit guilty. Her husband absolutely detested this kind of pursuit against a woman’s will, especially when it caused unnecessary trouble for her reputation. If it wasn’t their precious son making a fool of himself, he would have been warned long ago.

However, the village chief’s wife ate a peanut, thinking she would need to talk to Zhang Ci Hao about this later. Deng Yuyuan’s reputation was already caught in the storm, so he needed to be more careful and cautious in his pursuit.

Her sister-in-law—the village chief’s eldest sister—had drowned herself in the river years ago because she couldn’t bear the gossip after her engagement was called off. It was a good thing her husband wasn’t present today, or he really would have treated their third son to a beating with a firewood stick.

Some other women saw the village chief’s wife’s firm defense and secretly shook their heads. They had originally planned to ask a matchmaker to sound out Deng Yuyuan after the New Year, but they hadn’t expected the village chief’s youngest son to beat them to it. In terms of family background, they couldn’t match the village chief’s family. In terms of open-mindedness, they couldn’t compare to the village chief and his wife. And as for success, who knew if Zhang Ci Hao might just be a late bloomer?

It seemed their own boys had completely lost out. They used to think the third son of the Zhang Family was childish, but when it came to finding a wife, he was remarkably sharp. Look at him, fighting and scrambling for her. He hadn’t even married yet, but he was already taking care of the child decently.

Despite walking in the cold wind, Deng Yuyuan’s mind felt messy and overheated. By the time she calmed down, she was already home.

She ground her molars resentfully, furious at how Zhang Ci Hao dared to do such a thing. She didn’t want to consider matters of the heart right now at all. Yes, she was willing to admit she had some affection for him, but if he wanted to break the paper window and make things official now, she would have no choice but to let the relationship go.

Deng Yuyuan’s goal in life had never been to stay in Dazhang Village to serve a husband and raise children. She had her own ambitions and a future she was determined to fight for. Establishing a relationship with a villager before getting into university would undoubtedly add another layer of difficulty to her already challenging life.

Looking at the bare courtyard with a complex expression, she decided to lay some traps first regardless of the situation. She closed the courtyard gate, then told Zhao Erdong that she had actually secretly bought some Beast Traps earlier and could set them up right now. She swept aside the thick layer of snow, placed the Beast Traps down, and covered them back up. Before the male knowledge youths returned, the only safe path left in the courtyard was a single trail leading from the house to the gate.

She had no choice. Finding a puppy took time, and waiting for it to grow up took time too, but setting Beast Traps didn’t require much time at all. Deng Yuyuan had even specially asked the AI customer service to check the laws and recent cases. If a thief with malicious intentions sneaked into the yard and got accidentally injured, the owner wouldn’t have to bear any responsibility.

Since the courtyard was covered in Beast Traps, they could only go outside to play in the snow and build snowmen. Tuantuan was dressed like a solid ball—the kind that would sink straight down if thrown into the snow. Deng Yuyuan exerted a great deal of effort to build her a sturdy snow chair. Just as she placed Tuantuan on it, an auntie who had been watching from the sidelines snatched the child away and glared at her.

"It’s one thing if you play by yourself, but if you put a child on that, her clothes will get wet and she’ll catch a cold!"

"Go play. I’ll watch Tuantuan for you," she said, waving her hand.

Tuantuan tried to mimic her and wave her hand as well, but she was wearing so many clothes that she couldn’t lift her arms at all. The little one froze, trying to turn her head to look at her arms, only to realize her head couldn’t turn either. After standing there dazed and thinking for two minutes, Tuantuan melted comfortably against the auntie’s body like butter, albeit butter that wouldn’t actually melt.

Meanwhile, Deng Yuyuan successfully joined the children’s snowball fight. Relying on her quick reflexes and height advantage, she defeated all the kids and became the undisputed Snowball King!

Her pretty red coat was soaked by snowballs. The parents watched from the sidelines with trepidation, but the person in question didn’t mind at all. She even cunningly ambushed the children from behind a snowbank, catching them completely off guard. It wasn’t until the sky grew dark that Deng Yuyuan reluctantly said goodbye to the kids. Each of them also received an orange-slice candy.

Zhao Erdong had helped her tidy up the handkerchiefs Zhang Ci Hao had given her. Seeing Deng Yuyuan return with Tuantuan after playing, she pointed to the embroidered mandarin ducks playing in the water on the handkerchief. Everything was understood without being said.

"Why do these mandarin ducks look like a pair of regular ducks? Haha." Deng Yuyuan was carefree and laughed first.

Zhao Erdong said quietly, "You’d better pray these weren’t embroidered personally by the person who gave you the handkerchiefs."

The laughter stopped abruptly.

Surprisingly, the Beast Traps were put to use that very night. Perhaps the thieves thought the women would let their guard down during the New Year, and they wanted to steal before the male knowledge youths returned.

On a starry night, terrible screams woke up the roosters before they even had a chance to crow.

Everyone got up to look and found the village hooligans. There were three of them, scattered in three different spots. They had probably tried to dodge the Beast Traps after climbing over the wall, only to find them everywhere. The men marched them straight to the village chief’s house that night. Rumor had it that Gou Ya’s uncle was involved behind the scenes, and one of the hooligans ended up crippled because of it.

However, that was none of Deng Yuyuan’s business. Everyone now felt a sense of dread toward the Knowledge Youth Institute, realizing that even with only women around, it was not a place to be trifled with.

After the New Year, the knowledge youths returned to the village one after another. There was also an unexpected guest who had come to the countryside to replace the bespectacled male knowledge youth. The familiar face featured sharp eyebrows and a broad, powerful back.

He raised his gloomy but handsome eyes, stared straight at Deng Yuyuan, and extended his hand. "Meng Deyin."

It was the man from the Meng Family who had been pushing the wheelchair that day.