Volume 1, Chapter 22: Next time, it won't just be your hand I take.

Huo Chenyuan’s voice was not loud, but it carried a bone-chilling pressure that instantly silenced the noisy department store.

Jiang Weimin was stunned by his presence for a moment, but fueled by alcohol and the long-held habit of throwing his weight around, he quickly turned his shock into indignant rage. How could he lose face like this in front of so many people, being lectured by a mere junior?

"Who the hell do you think you are! I’m disciplining my own girl, it’s none of your damn business!" he roared frantically, casting aside his last shred of reason as he lunged forward again.

A stinking girl—how could anyone genuinely want to protect her? She was nothing more than the baggage that pathetic woman had dragged along! A piece of trash, a good-for-nothing! And now she was trying to use the Huo family to step all over him, Jiang Weimin!

As Jiang Weimin threw a punch, Huo Chenyuan didn't even move. With a slight shift of his body, he easily evaded the aimless blow. His gaze, however, never left Jiang Yu’s face. He saw her eyes squeezed shut, not daring to dodge, her hands clenched at her sides until her knuckles turned white. It was as if she had endured this kind of domestic violence and humiliation many times before.

His heart felt as if it had been pierced by something sharp.

Huo Chenyuan’s voice resonated in the tense air once more, unexpectedly gentle. He looked at her and asked cautiously, "Has he always hit you like this?"

Her breath hitched, and her long eyelashes trembled violently, casting fragile shadows on her pale cheeks. She didn't answer. The days and nights of being beaten by fists and lashed by leather belts—all the grievances and sacrifices she had swallowed down surged into her throat, choking off all her words.

Her silence was her response.

The last trace of restraint vanished from Huo Chenyuan’s eyes. He moved.

It was too fast for anyone to follow. Amidst the sharp intakes of breath from the crowd, he had already seized the wrist of the hand Jiang Weimin had swung again. With a tightening of his arm, he slammed the hundred-plus-pound man hard against the solid terrazzo floor.

"Bang!"

Following the heavy thud came Jiang Weimin’s agonizing wail. But Huo Chenyuan did not stop. He took a step forward, the heel of his military boot pressing heavily onto the wrist Jiang Weimin had used to try and snatch the money and ration coupons.

"Crack!"

A sickening sound of bone fracturing echoed clearly through the deathly silent hall.

"Ah! My hand! My hand is broken!" Jiang Weimin rolled on the floor in pain. He looked at Huo Chenyuan in terror, then, as if something occurred to him, he pointed his uninjured hand at him and shrieked at the surrounding crowd, "He’s hitting someone! A PLA officer is committing assault in public! Is there no justice left? I’m going to report you!"

Jiang Yuehua screamed and rushed over to pull at Huo Chenyuan, but was shoved aside by Huo Siye.

"Get lost! Don't touch my big brother!" Huo Siye glared viciously at the remaining members of the Jiang family. "Try taking another step forward and see what happens!"

The Jiang brothers were so intimidated that they shrank back, not one of them daring to step forward to help their own father.

Huo Chenyuan slowly squatted down, looking down at the cursing, writhing Jiang Weimin. "This fracture is to repay him for the years of raising her."

He stood up and blocked Jiang Yu’s front once more. He looked at the man on the floor. "Remember, if you ever touch anyone from the Huo family again," he paused, "next time, it won't just be one hand I break."

Without another glance at the man, he turned to Jiang Yu, his voice softening involuntarily: "Let’s go home."

Jiang Yuehua couldn't believe it. Did this mean they were treating Jiang Yu as part of the Huo family? But Jiang Yu was stupid, clumsy, and had hands always stained with rust and oil—she couldn't compare to her. Were these people blind? She remembered the scene of being driven out of the Huo family in her past life all too clearly; back then, not a single person had stepped up to help her.

Huo Chenyuan held Jiang Yu’s hand as they got into the car. Jiang Yu felt the warmth from his palm; she didn't know whether to grip back or pull away, her fingers numb and motionless. Sensing her tension, Huo Chenyuan gripped her hand even tighter.

Did she... actually have someone to protect her now?

The journey back was filled with a heavy atmosphere. Huo Siye talked the whole way, while Huo Chenyuan drove in focused silence. Jiang Yu leaned against the window, watching the streetscape recede rapidly, her heart feeling an unprecedented sense of calm.

In her previous life, she had been pinned to the ground and beaten by Jiang Weimin countless times whenever he drank. But now, someone was shielding her. The words Huo Chenyuan had used kept echoing in her mind: "the Huo family."

Tears streamed down Jiang Yu’s cheeks, but she held back the sound. This time, it wasn't out of sadness or grievance, but the overwhelming emotion of finally having a home.

A few days later, after school, Jiang Yuehua approached her on her own. She put on a tearful expression and apologized softly, "Sister, I’m sorry. Dad had too much to drink that day... please don't blame him."

"Actually, Dad and my brothers really want you to come home."

"Why don't you go back and visit him? He was hurt quite badly by that man from the Huo family."

Jiang Yu didn't even lift her eyelids. She said coldly, "No. That is not my home."

Jiang Yuehua was choked by the response, but she sat down opposite her and asked, seemingly casually, "Sister, you’ve changed a lot. I remember before, you didn't like to speak in front of people. And didn't you used to love studying with our eldest brother and researching the factory with our second and third brothers? Why are you so distant now?"

She was probing.

Jiang Yu sneered inwardly but remained calm on the surface. She put down her pen, looked up, and met Jiang Yuehua’s gaze steadily. "A person can't be a fool forever." If she had been a fool in her first life, it would be a waste of the second chance heaven had given her to be one again.

Seeing her expression was frank and didn't look like a lie, Jiang Yuehua felt a slight sense of relief. Perhaps it really was just a coincidence.

Jiang Yu suppressed the curve of her lips and changed the subject, asking instead, "Speaking of which, I’ve always been curious. Jiang Yuehua, your health isn't good. The Huo family that Mother married into has far more power and status than the Jiang family, and the material conditions are much better. Why did you cry and beg to stay in that small courtyard of the Jiang family back then?"

Jiang Yuehua looked up abruptly.

As if she hadn't noticed, Jiang Yu continued in a tone of innocent confusion, pressing closer: "Staying at the Jiang house meant living a hard life, but going with Mother would have made you the daughter of a division commander immediately. You’re so smart, why would you choose a harder path? Unless..."

She leaned in, her voice dropping to a whisper like a curse, piercing clearly into Jiang Yuehua’s ears: "Unless you knew all along that staying at the Jiang house was better than going to the Huo family. Or perhaps, you couldn't stay in the Huo family. Or maybe, you already knew that the old tractor factory would eventually flourish due to certain policy support, right?"

"You... what nonsense are you spouting!" Jiang Yuehua jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. Her face turned deathly pale, and her voice cracked.

Jiang Yu leaned back into her chair, still wearing that innocent expression. "I was just guessing, why are you so agitated, sister?" She tilted her head and asked the final question, softly yet with absolute clarity:

"Or is it... that you know what will happen in the future?"

Jiang Yuehua could no longer bear the terror of being seen through. She stared at Jiang Yu in a panic, her lips trembling, unable to say a word. Finally, she stumbled out of the library as if fleeing for her life.

Watching her panicked silhouette, the last trace of warmth in Jiang Yu’s eyes vanished completely.