"Evans family! Get the hell out here!"
Ethan hadn't been asleep long when a commotion erupted outside the gate. In the courtyard, the two children huddled by the door, trembling. Awakened so rudely, Ethan sat up in bed, furious. "System, what's going on outside?"
"I'll go see." A small illusory Pixiu zipped out. After a quick look around the gate, the Little Pixiu zipped back, sounding rather gleeful, "Master, Master, there are two women outside! Seems like they're here to collect a debt from you?"
"Women? Collecting a debt?" He didn't recall owing anyone anything this life, especially not romantically. "I'll go see."
Ethan got out of bed, put on his shoes, and grabbed a broom from the corner as he headed out the door. Feeling maybe that wasn't enough protection, he asked the Little Pixiu, "They don't have weapons, do they?"
"...No."
"Good." Ethan hefted the broom, his eyes gleaming with battle readiness.
The system sighed mentally, reminding him, "Please maintain your image, Master. We are aiming for 'Good Wife and Virtuous Mother,' not 'Bandit'!"
People are already banging on the door, who cares about being a good wife? Ethan ignored it, shouldering the broom angrily and marching towards the gate.
"Papa!"
"Papa!"
Seeing Ethan, the two children finally felt they had someone to rely on and quickly ran over. "Good boys~ Hide behind me." After instructing the children, Ethan took a few steps forward and yanked the courtyard gate open...
"Well, well~ Finally decided to open the door." Outside, Mrs. Huang, hands on her hips, was ready to unleash a torrent of curses on whoever opened the door. However, as she opened her mouth, she was met with a cloud of dust.
"Cough, cough!"
"Cough, cough~"
The two women outside quickly stepped back, covering their mouths and noses, waving the dust away with their sleeves.
"Oh my~ So sorry! I didn't know anyone was behind the door! See, I was just sweeping," Ethan exclaimed, then stopped sweeping, looking apologetic. "Ladies, standing at my gate so early in the morning, is there something important?"
"Who are you calling 'ladies'?" As the dust settled, Lily Huang's angry face was revealed.
Seeing who it was, Ethan put on an apologetic expression. "Oh, it's little sister Lily~ So sorry, I was just sweeping, didn't notice you."
"You did it on purpose!"
"Of course not." Ethan waved his hand dismissively. "I wonder, little sister Lily and Mrs. Huang, what brings you to my humble home so early? Don't tell me you're here with a marriage proposal?"
"Pah! What marriage proposal?" Mrs. Huang stepped forward, shielding Lily behind her.
Ethan dodged backward, avoiding Mrs. Huang's spittle, patted his chest, and said with relief, "Good thing it's not. I thought you were here proposing for my husband to take you as his concubine. I wouldn't agree to that."
"You!" Lily, still an unmarried young woman, flushed red with embarrassment at his words.
"Me?" Ethan pointed at himself, shaking his head frantically in refusal. "That's even less possible! I'm already married, how could I marry you, little sister Lily? You can forget about that, sister."
"You... you..." Lily couldn't believe Ethan's audacity and shamelessness in twisting things around. She pointed a trembling finger at him, too angry to speak.
Experience counts. As one of the most notorious shrews in the three villages, Mrs. Huang had never lost a verbal battle. Planting her hands on her hips, she glared at Ethan and started spraying insults: "Pah! Who'd want either of you? So poor you're practically drinking the northwest wind! Why don't you take a piss and look at your own reflection!"
Finn and Maeve snarled angrily behind Ethan, but Ethan himself just grinned brightly. "That's a good idea! How about I do it right now? We can look together?" With that, Ethan dropped the broom and put his hands on his waistband.
"Host! Stop! Stop!" The system screamed frantically in Ethan's mind, clearly terrified first.
Across from them, Lily shrieked, covered her eyes, and spun around.
Hmph! Scared you, didn't I!
Mrs. Huang, being more experienced, just sneered, looking boldly at Ethan. "Go on, take it off! I want to see what you've got down there!"
"Heh heh, just kidding." Ethan took his hands off his pants, rubbing his nose.
"Vulgar! Shameless!!!" The Little Pixiu rolled around furiously in Ethan's mind.
"There, there~ don't be angry. She's just a village woman; we can't expect her to be as refined as some high-society lady, can we?"
You weren't much better! The Little Pixiu turned away angrily.
Losing an argument to a village woman was expected; Ethan wasn't too upset. It was her specialty, after all. "So, Mrs. Huang, little sister Lily, what business brings you to grace my humble abode so early?"
"Pah! Stop with the fancy talk! We're here to collect a debt!" Mrs. Huang spat forward again.
Ethan frowned and stepped sideways with disgust. "Collect a debt?" He tilted his head, looking at them curiously. "Is it the Evans family's debt, or the Huang family's... wait, I mean, Damian's family's?"
"Damian's, of course! Your husband borrowed a bowl of white flour and a steamed bun from my house a few days ago. When are you paying it back?"
"..." Ethan was speechless. He thought it was something serious. Still, he hadn't expected the items were borrowed from the Huangs. It made sense, though; the Huangs were relatively well-off in the village. Other families might not even have white flour. He just hadn't thought the Huangs would be willing to lend. Ethan chuckled, "I didn't realize Mrs. Huang was so generous." This truly surprised him; he'd assumed the Huang family must utterly detest them.
Hearing this, Mrs. Huang shot a glare at her daughter behind her, then snapped back, "Are you paying it back or not?"
"Yes, yes, yes." Not wanting to waste time over a bit of flour, Ethan turned and headed towards the kitchen.
"Mom, do you think he can really produce white flour?" Lily stepped out from behind her mother, craning her neck to peer into the house.
"Hmph! In that dump? Even rats wouldn't visit. Forget white flour, they probably couldn't even produce a peck of coarse grain." Mrs. Huang snorted dismissively, then turned and grabbed Lily's ear, warning her sternly, "See? You can't marry into a family like this. Marrying him means suffering! You'll be eating husks and wild greens every day! Then you'll have plenty to cry about!"
Lily rescued her ear from her mother's grasp, pouting, "I know, Mom, you've said that hundreds of times."
"As long as you know. Don't blame me for not letting you get close to Damian's family. I'm doing this for your own good."
"I know, I know, how many times have you said it," Lily fiddled impatiently with the handkerchief in her hand. She still thought Damian was wonderful – handsome and good to his family.
Ethan, emerging with the flour, saw this exchange and couldn't help but sigh inwardly: Mrs. Huang may be arrogant and bossy usually, but she does treat her own child well. "Here are the things. Returning them to you."
Under their astonished gazes, Ethan handed the items over. "You... you really have white flour?" Lily gasped, looking at the items in Ethan's hand. The white flour looked even finer than their family's, and the steamed bun was large and soft.
"Of course. Anyway, I've returned them. We're even now." Thankfully, today's breakfast ingredients were provided by the system; otherwise, he really wouldn't have been able to produce them on such short notice.
"Of course, of course." Mrs. Huang snatched the items from Ethan's hand and pulled Lily away, afraid Ethan would change his mind.
"Hey! Lily Huang! Don't come running to my house for no reason in the future! Otherwise, I'll go to the village entrance and tell everyone you're trying to seduce my man!" Ethan shouted loudly at their retreating backs.
Lily stumbled, wanting furiously to turn around and argue, but her mother pulled her away quickly...
"Master, I just found something out," the Little Pixiu said angrily in Ethan's mind.
"What?"
"The 'accident' during your wedding – it was that Lily Huang who caused it!" the Little Pixiu reported indignantly.
"Fuck!" Ethan swore, furiously punching the air in the direction the Huang women had gone. "If I'd known, I would have put rat poison in that flour just now!"