Ruan Shujin, having experienced labor reform in her past life, naturally understood how difficult life could be for a woman.
Without any marketable skills, one could only rely on so-called men.
Li Yinglan had been emotionally out of control for a long time but gradually began to calm down.
She wiped her face haphazardly, her smile tinged with a sense of deep shame.
Ruan Shujin patted her back.
“Sister Yinglan, sometimes you have to look forward. To put it bluntly, now that Brother Cheng has passed away, maybe it’s actually a good thing for you.”
Li Yinglan agreed with Ruan Shujin in her heart, though naturally she couldn’t say it so directly.
Brother Cheng had bought her, originally intending to marry her off to his younger brother. But later, too much happened. He forgot his original plan and, like the man at the tavern, treated women as mere vases.
In the end, he had no choice but to marry her himself—and then she ended up with Cheng Xinfeng’s child.
Through it all, no one asked her consent.
And after things unfolded, they would still look at her with pitying, self-righteous eyes.
She was a living, breathing person, yet she didn’t even know what choice was right.
Ruan Shujin and Li Yinglan walked back to the inn in silence.
At the inn’s first floor, Xie Zheng and Cheng Xinfeng waited for them.
After confirming they were fine, both men relaxed.
Xie Zheng thought for a moment, then spoke.
“Sister Yinglan, why don’t you stay in the same room with Ah Jin tonight? You two girls can talk about personal things.”
Li Yinglan didn’t expect Xie Zheng to say that and didn’t know how to respond at first.
Xie Zheng wasn’t in a hurry.
After a while, Li Yinglan nodded.
Xie Zheng exchanged a glance with Ruan Shujin, then went upstairs first to move his things into Cheng Xinfeng’s room.
Cheng Xinfeng’s steps were hesitant—should he follow or not? He glanced quickly at Li Yinglan.
“Don’t worry about Minwa; he’s having fun with Ruan Feng and Ruan Yu. Uncle Dong said we should rest; he’ll watch the child.”
Li Yinglan softly murmured her acknowledgment.
Once Ruan Shujin and Li Yinglan were upstairs and the rooms were settled, Ruan Shujin pushed Li Yinglan into the room and looked at Xie Zheng.
“Thank you for being so thoughtful!”
Xie Zheng gestured for Ruan Shujin to enter, and she did without hesitation.
Then she turned back and nudged Cheng Xinfeng into the adjacent room.
Perhaps lost in thought, Cheng Xinfeng stumbled slightly, shooting Xie Zheng a questioning look, but thinking of who would be in the next room, he suppressed his displeasure.
Xie Zheng strutted to a single bed and teasingly stared at Cheng Xinfeng.
“Alright, stop being upset. Some things can’t be rushed. Take this time to think carefully—marriage is never a trivial matter.”
Cheng Xinfeng pinched the large ceramic jar and stared at the rippling tea inside.
“I… I’ve actually made up my mind. A person must marry—but I’m just afraid she won’t agree.”
Xie Zheng sighed as he looked at him.
Superstitions can sometimes really ruin a person.
Meanwhile, Ruan Shujin and Li Yinglan quickly tidied up and prepared to sleep.
It was Li Yinglan’s first time sharing a bed with another adult, so she felt awkward.
Ruan Shujin gave her a mischievous smile.
“Sister Yinglan, don’t be so formal. We’re not strangers.”
Li Yinglan touched her head.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve slept closely with another adult.”
After saying that, Li Yinglan slipped under the covers.
Both lay flat, eyes wide, staring at the ceiling.
Ruan Shujin noticed movement beside her. Turning, she saw Li Yinglan lying on her side, observing her.
Ruan Shujin made sure to control her tone carefully.
“If there’s anything you want to say, say it—tonight we’ll talk about anything and everything.”
Li Yinglan’s eyelashes flickered. After a moment, she organized her words.
“Ah Jin, do you think I should agree? Marry him?”
Ruan Shujin shifted her position and looked at Li Yinglan straightforwardly.
“Then tell me—do you want to marry him?”
Li Yinglan almost immediately responded.
“We were betrothed as children. I am willing to marry him.”
Ruan Shujin pinched Li Yinglan’s cheek.
“Sister Yinglan, if you want to marry, then marry him.”
Li Yinglan seemed to relax and lay back.
“Can I… really?”
“Why not? He asked to marry you. Why shouldn’t you? If Brother Cheng had been the obstacle, he’s gone now. You don’t need to continue tormenting yourself.”
Ruan Shujin’s mind was simple. She could tell that both Cheng Xinfeng and Li Yinglan had feelings for each other—but perhaps neither dared confront the shadow of Brother Cheng between them.
But that person was gone.
So why keep drawing lines for yourself, afraid to move forward?
Li Yinglan felt she hadn’t fully explained, so she looked at Ruan Shujin and recounted her history with the Cheng family.
“Ah Jin, Cheng Xinfeng and I were betrothed as children. But after his parents passed, his branch wasn’t favored, and life was difficult. My parents, being money-minded, broke off the engagement. No one expected my second intended to die young, and just before our ceremony, I earned the reputation of a jinxed woman.”
“Those years, my grandmother passed, and there was no one to care for my siblings, so my marriage was delayed.”
Li Yinglan paused briefly, then continued.
“Later, as I told you, my parents, needing money for my younger brother’s wedding, sold me. Brother Cheng said at first that it was under his name, but in reality, it was for his younger brother. I did my best for the Cheng family, managing the household and the fields.”
“But one day, Brother Cheng drugged me. Waking up, I could hardly accept what had happened. I tried to reason it out, but I couldn’t. I hadn’t gotten pregnant for a long time, and the village said I must be sick from affairs with men. Meanwhile, other branches of the Cheng family had children.”
“That year, Cheng Xinfeng brought your family back to visit. They argued, even fought. I don’t know what happened.”
The more she spoke, the more her voice trembled.
“Like before, he schemed against me and his younger brother. Cheng Xinfeng asked me to go with him, but I… I didn’t know if I was foolish or what, I didn’t choose to leave. Soon after, I became pregnant.”
“Brother Cheng liked Minwa, but he also hated him.”
“But I feel—I’m the one who was wronged. So why is he feeling wronged?”
Li Yinglan’s voice rose sharply, then she calmed herself and looked at Ruan Shujin.
“He couldn’t accept what his father did. Before confirming whether he liked men or women, he had relations with a young man.”
“He despises himself, but why should he ruin me?”