As soon as Hong Jiaxin heard Luo Yang's "hehehe," her ears turned beet red.
"Why are you slapping Sister's thigh, what are you implying?" Hong Jiaxin reached over to twist Luo Yang's thigh.
Qin Piao and Tang Guihua giggled, both looking toward An Yuying.
In the Hongyun Brigade, although An Yuying hadn't publicly declared Luo Yang to be her boyfriend yet, she had tacitly accepted him as her other half. The villagers all knew about it.
Naturally, An Yuying was jealous, and she said gloomily, "Niu Zai, she's not paying attention to you now, is she?"
At that moment, as his thigh was being twisted severely by Hong Jiaxin, waves of pain rushed to his cerebral cortex, Luo Yang grimaced, initially wanting to grab Hong Jiaxin's hand, but he endured it, thinking that An Yuying would get even more jealous.
Seeing the jealousy in An Yuying's tone, he reached out with his left hand and patted her thigh as well, laughing, "Sister An, I'm just fooling around with the squad leader, okay?"
All four beauties were itching to bite him.
Seeing Luo Yang wincing from the twists by Hong Jiaxin, An Yuying's heart ached for him and she quickly urged, "Jiaxin, he's really in pain, stop twisting him now."
Qin Piao chuckled, "Oof, it's hit him, but it's paining Yuying's heart."
The teasing made An Yuying even more embarrassed, her pretty face blushing so much it seemed like water could be squeezed out, her gentleness tinged with allure.
Hong Jiaxin occasionally liked to tease An Yuying, enjoying the sight of her getting jealous.
Hearing her try to mediate, Hong Jiaxin didn't stop but instead laughed, "I need to twist him until it hurts so he won't dare to talk about buying a five-person bed again."
Luo Yang had no choice but to grab Hong Jiaxin's wrist to keep her from twisting further, chuckling, "Squad leader, men and women should not touch hands when giving or receiving objects. How about showing some virtue, okay?"
She refused to relent, "Then, what about you slapping Sister's thigh? How does that fit in?"
With a laugh, Luo Yang explained, "We're all so close, don't sweat the small stuff. Living like a family, isn't it happier? Right?"
Hong Jiaxin raised her brows and swung her little pink fists at him.
Luo Yang lay down on the bed, dodging her punches.
Every time she sparred with Luo Yang, Hong Jiaxin couldn't even touch his clothes, let alone beat him.
"Squad leader, calm down," he said.
With a sweep and a grab, Luo Yang precisely caught her two wrists.
With her hands restrained, Hong Jiaxin tried to stand up to kick him.
"Niu Zai, Jiaxin, stop fighting now. Stop it!" An Yuying was getting anxious on the side but didn't know what to do.
Seeing them refuse to stop, she got even more flustered.
"Are you gonna let go?" demanded Hong Jiaxin, her face red.
"Squad leader, let's talk this out. We're all family, why start hitting each other?" Luo Yang said with a smile.
She struggled fiercely but could not free herself.
At this point, An Yuying, Tang Guihua, and Qin Piao all came over to intervene.
He knew that if he let go now, given Hong Jiaxin's competitive nature, she would undoubtedly strike again; but if he didn't let go, An Yuying would feel even more jealous.
"Come on, help me with a massage," he said.
As he spoke, Luo Yang released Hong Jiaxin, turned around, and lay flat in the middle of the bed.
Once free, Hong Jiaxin gave him a brutal twist on the back.
After a few twists, with the persuasion of the other three beauties, she finally stopped.
"Hurry up and give me a massage," urged Luo Yang.
"Ladies, he wants to play the grand lord; we can't indulge him. Let's teach him a lesson first," Hong Jiaxin said with a smile.
"Exactly, he keeps wanting to play the grand lord all day long, we can't allow that," Tang Guihua laughed.
So the four beauties attacked him together.
Luckily, they were just playing around and weren't seriously hitting him; they either lightly pounded his back with little pink fists, brushed his body with fluttering palms, or playfully twisted his thigh.
The room was filled with laughter and cheer as they found a common topic and bonded over the fun.
In the midst of their merriment, Luo Yang's phone ringtone sounded, "only you, can bring me to the Journey to the West..."
The call was from Xia Yun. After connecting, he heard her say, "Niu Zai, my friend has arrived at my shop, can you come over now?"
Luo Yang sat up and said, "I'll be right there at your shop."
Then he heard Xia Yun continue, "Uh... there's something... let's talk when you get here. My friend wants to buy skincare products, can you give a discount?"
From her words, it was clear there was something more serious; she didn't elaborate, and since they were about to meet, Luo Yang didn't rush to ask.
"Sure. We'll talk when I get there," Luo Yang replied.
Hearing that Luo Yang was leaving to gather evidence, Tang Guihua said, "Niu Zai, I want to come too."
Luo Yang advised, "Sister Guihua, you and your brother stay at home and wait for my news. I'll take care of this for you."
He was considering her tendency to get too emotional; if she showed up looking for trouble, it might scare off the bad guys before they could gather any evidence, making it difficult to act without proof.
After some persuasion, Tang Guihua agreed to wait at home for news.
Wherever Luo Yang went, Hong Jiaxin wanted to follow; otherwise, he couldn't protect her.
Taking Hong Jiaxin with him naturally made An Yuying jealous.
"Niu Zai, I want to go too," demanded An Yuying.
This trip might involve a fight, and if An Yuying came along, Luo Yang would have to spare efforts to protect her.
"Can I have a private word with Sister An?" asked Luo Yang, looking around.