Chapter 156 Guilt

With the final shudder of his soul, Chen Liang had just come to a stop when he heard a gasp from the doorway.

His mind instantly blanking out, Chen Liang turned his head with a dazed look and saw Qin Jingru standing at the door, her hands covering her mouth in utter shock.

His physical reactions outpaced his brain; instinctively, Chen Liang lunged forward like a tiger and pulled Qin Jingru into the room.

Only then did Chen Liang's wits return, leaving him feeling somewhat at a loss as he held onto this naive little simpleton.

This was a massive mess. Chen Liang never expected that Qin Jingru, who had gone to cut bamboo at Western Mountain, would return at this exact moment and catch him in the act with the little cabbage.

Countless thoughts flashed through his mind until Chen Liang finally gritted his teeth. To cover up the truth, he decided he had no choice but to wrong little Qin. He couldn't let her run around spreading the word—he had to make her his.

He reached out and slapped the bottom of the little cabbage, who was lying paralyzed on the bed in a daze.

"Come over here and hold her hands down!" Chen Liang called the little cabbage over to help, freeing up both of his hands to strip off Qin Jingru's pants in one swift motion.

Pinned beneath Chen Liang and struggling haphazardly, Qin Jingru suddenly let out a muffled groan. To prevent her from making noise, the little cabbage—who was helping hold her down—instantly sealed Qin Jingru's lips with her own mouth, after which Qin Jingru quieted right down.

That's right, what Chen Liang meant by making her his was simply to take the plunge and sleep with her too, dragging her down into the same boat.

Qin Jingru, that little fool, had been caught off guard and struggled instinctively for a moment, but after Chen Liang actually possessed her, a trace of secret delight welled up in her heart.

Seeing Qin Jingru begin to cooperate and move along with Chen Liang, the little cabbage grew intensely jealous. She let go of the hands she was holding and spitefully pinched the big-breasted girl twice to vent her spite.

As the old saying goes, there are only oxen worked to death, never fields plowed to ruin. Chen Liang was thoroughly exhausted from this double kill.

When it was all over and all three of them had put their clothes back on, Chen Liang pulled up his pants and his tone became a lot more forceful.

"Qin Jingru, speak up. What are your thoughts?"

"Brother Chen, I don't know, I..." Qin Jingru was clearly still rather dazed, unsure of what she ought to say.

Chen Liang glanced at the young woman standing before him with her head lowered so much she couldn't even see her own toes, and finally gave her two options.

"Here is what I'll do. I'll give you two paths. The first is that we part ways; I'll arrange for you to go to the Northeast and guarantee I'll find you a good family to marry into."

Pausing for a moment to let Qin Jingru absorb his words, he continued, "The second path is that both you and Liu Siyuan become my women, and I guarantee I won't treat you poorly."

Upon hearing these choices, Qin Jingru didn't even hesitate for a second before blurting out her decision, "Brother Chen, I choose the second path!" With that, her face flushed crimson.

Qin Jingru wasn't a complete idiot. This second choice allowed her to become the woman of the man she had a crush on, and she wouldn't have to marry far away to the Northeast. Only a total fool would pick the first option.

Hearing this, Chen Liang felt a secret surge of smugness that his charm had certainly not faded, though he maintained a very serious expression on his face as he said, "Since you've chosen to be my woman, there are some things I need to make crystal clear to you."

"Once you are my woman, you must never flirt or mess around with other men. If you ever grow tired of this lifestyle and want to get married, you can tell me, and I will give you a financial settlement for a peaceful separation. But if any of you dare to mess around behind my back, I will make your lives worse than death! Little cabbage, that goes for you too!"

As soon as Chen Liang's voice fell, the little cabbage hugged his arm with a displeased look and acted spoiled, "Brother, I would never! If you hadn't made me marry Silly Pillar, I'd rather stay single for the rest of my life and follow you!"

Chen Liang stroked her cheek and said, "What foolish things are you saying? If you stayed single forever, do you have any idea how much trouble that would cause?"

On the other side, Qin Jingru, that country girl, also walked over timidly and hugged his other arm. "Brother, my reputation is ruined anyway, so I'll stay single forever and be with you!"

Damn it, having too many women really does ruin things. They hadn't even settled in yet, and the secondary wife and the third concubine were already at each other's throats.

Chen Liang muttered inwardly, *You two idiots, have you forgotten there's still a main wife of the Chen household sitting above your heads?*

"Alright, cut the act, both of you. Go clean up the battlefield now and then go cook a pot of hangover soup!" Impatiently interrupting their petty rivalry, Chen Liang issued his orders.

"In a couple of days, I'll look for a house to use as a secret base. Just wait quietly for my news!"

After restoring the room to its original state, he fed some hangover soup to the drunken trio, and then Chen Liang sat out in the courtyard, smoking a cigarette out of sheer boredom as he waited.

It wasn't until evening, after Qin Jingru and the little cabbage had prepared dinner, that the intoxicated people in the room finally began to wake up one by one.

Having gotten drunk for the very first time, even though she had sobered up, Little Rain still walked with a swaying, crooked gait, just like a little tipsy kitten.

When she caught sight of Chen Liang, she immediately threw herself heedlessly into his arms. "Brother, why do you have three shadows?!" There she went—she hadn't fully sobered up yet!

Holding the intoxicated Little Rain in his arms, Chen Liang was filled with tender affection and plunged deeply into a well of self-reproach.

Blackie: Oh, give me a break! You were more eager than anyone else when you were doing it, and now you're playing the sentimental card for crying out loud!

Whitey: Exactly, Boss. I can't even bear to watch anymore. You should hurry up and dump those two women, and devote yourself entirely to Little Rain!

Blackie kicked Whitey flying with one blow. What kind of pipe dream are you having? It took over a hundred chapters just to get a taste of it; how could he possibly break up with them? Get lost already...

Exactly. Chen Liang silently gave Blackie a thumbs-up. Exactly, from now on Whitey won't even get farts to eat!

During dinner, as the warmth of the piping-hot cornmeal porridge settled in their stomachs, the drunken group—with the exception of Little Rain—had virtually fully sobered up.

When they returned home, Chen Liang tended to Little Rain and helped her wash up. Perhaps out of a guilty conscience over his infidelity as a scumbag, he was exceptionally gentle with Little Rain that night.

"Brother, get up quickly!" Woken up by Little Rain teasing him with the tips of her hair, Chen Liang pulled her right into bed with a sweep of his arms.

"Little beauty, tell me, since you interrupted this young master's sleep, how are you going to compensate me?"

Waking up in the morning came with a heavy breath, and Chen Liang didn't give Little Rain too much trouble; after rolling around in bed for a few rounds, he let her go.

After getting up and washing, Chen Liang sat at the table acting like an absolute lord, with not a trace of last night's guilt remaining on his face.