Now that he had been caught, Duan Pengyue stopped pretending.
But he still refused to admit it verbally.
“What was I pretending?”
Li Qinkuai pushed away the man leaning against her and said angrily, “You were pretending to be drunk!”
She had finally realized that Duan Pengyue must have deliberately taken the main road to be seen, all to solidify the fact that they were getting married.
In the village, nothing could stay hidden for long. In just one afternoon, everyone already knew that it was her who had failed to take responsibility for Duan Pengyue, which led him to make a big fuss by beating gongs and drums.
“Oh, since you’ve found out, I might as well ask you something.”
Duan Pengyue’s expression turned serious in an instant.
Li Qinkuai was startled by his sudden change, and a sense of foreboding rose in her heart. Still, she forced herself to ask, “What is it?”
“Did your father embezzle the village’s grain and ration coupons?”
“What nonsense are you talking about! My father is the production team leader—how could he possibly embezzle grain and coupons? Every bit of grain collected and every coupon distributed in the village is recorded in the accounts. What makes you say my father embezzled anything?”
Li Qinkuai was furious, her voice rising.
If her father had really embezzled grain and coupons, their family’s daily life wouldn’t have been so poor!
In both her lifetimes, Li Qinkuai had never seen her father embezzle any grain or coupons, nor had he ever used his position as production team leader to make things difficult for anyone in the village.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have held the position so steadily for so many years.
Wait.
Come to think of it, her father had indeed made things difficult for someone once—for her, his daughter, he had committed the only wrong thing in his life.
But that one thing had cost him his life in her previous lifetime.
In the end, he had only wanted his daughter to have a better life in the future.
And now, because of her, he was being suspected of embezzling the village’s grain and coupons.
So Li Qinkuai absolutely refused to let Duan Pengyue wrongfully accuse her father.
“Calm down first. Don’t get so worked up.”
“Then why do you say my father embezzled grain and coupons?”
She couldn’t calm down at all. Anyone whose father was wrongfully accused would be even more agitated and anxious than she was.
“Tonight’s meal is proof enough. That big bowl of braised pork and the new rice on the table, especially the rice—right now, the village is eating old, stored rice. Some families don’t even have rice to eat and have to rely on sweet potatoes for every meal.”
“But your family had braised pork. I can understand the pork—you might have been saving meat coupons and didn’t want to use them until now. But the rice? This new rice is only available at the grain station, and it’s more expensive than regular rice, requiring more grain coupons.”
“And tonight, everyone’s bowl was full. How many work points does your family of four earn in a day to afford such a lavish meal? Even city folks have to be frugal, and the amount of meat was absurdly generous.”
Every word Duan Pengyue said was undeniably logical. Li Qinkuai listened, her hands and feet turning cold.
She had harmed her father, and she had been careless, failing to keep a low profile.
But now, she couldn’t admit to anything. If she did, the trouble would be immense.
“Tonight’s meal was all because of you! If it weren’t for you, my parents wouldn’t have bought so much meat, and they certainly wouldn’t have bought new rice to eat. They just wanted to treat you warmly, hoping you’d treat me better in the future!”
“It seems their warm hospitality was a mistake. You eat your fill and then accuse my father of embezzlement. If you have evidence, go ahead and report him! Don’t think I don’t know you’re saying all this to threaten me. Pah! I won’t be threatened by you!”
Li Qinkuai cursed loudly, ignoring Duan Pengyue’s reaction, and turned to leave.
She had no intention of saying more to Duan Pengyue; the more she spoke, the more likely he would notice flaws.
When she returned home, Cheng Yun had just finished clearing the dining table. Seeing Li Qinkuai back so soon, she was puzzled.
“Why are you back so early? Didn’t I tell you to find an opportunity to spend time with him?”
Thinking of Duan Pengyue’s words, Li Qinkuai couldn’t help but feel aggrieved.
Her parents had warmly entertained Duan Pengyue, only to be met with his suspicion. If she had known this would happen, she would rather have fed the food to the dogs than give it to Duan Pengyue.
He only deserved two big sweet potatoes!
But Li Qinkuai couldn’t show any of this. She could only reach out and hug Cheng Yun: “Mom, do you think I can not get married? I don’t want to marry.”
“Silly child, how can you not get married? You can’t stay with us forever. Mom can see that Duan Pengyue is a good-natured boy. If you marry him, you’ll surely live a good life. Don’t think about unnecessary things. Only when you’re doing well will your parents feel at ease!”
Cheng Yun patted her shoulder, gently comforting her, her eyes also reddening.
That once tiny person was now about to get married in the blink of an eye. Time really flew by.
Listening to her mother’s words, Li Qinkuai felt even more upset and replied gloomily, “I know, Mom. Don’t worry, I will live well and won’t let you down!”
……
When Duan Pengyue returned to the educated youth dormitory, his mind was filled with the disappointed and angry expression Li Qinkuai had given him earlier, and he couldn’t shake it off.
He hadn’t spoken up with the intention of reporting the Li family; he only wanted to remind Li Qinkuai to tell her family not to do such things.
But Li Qinkuai’s reaction didn’t seem fake.
Had he really misunderstood?
Lin Sheng, returning from his bath, saw Duan Pengyue sitting by the bed looking agitated and exclaimed, “You’re about to get married, why do you look so unhappy? Do you regret making such a big deal out of this?”
Lin Sheng had known about Duan Pengyue’s plan to make a big fuss before he went through with it.
He had even advised Duan Pengyue not to escalate the matter.
But who knew Duan Pengyue would just toss out a line about having it under control and leave? Now, it was clear he regretted it.
Lin Sheng believed Duan Pengyue was driven by a sense of responsibility and wasn’t someone who absolutely had to marry Li Qinkuai.
To say Duan Pengyue had no feelings for Li Qinkuai wasn’t entirely true—few men could resist the passionate pursuit of a beautiful woman like Li Qinkuai.
Even he himself had feelings for Li Qinkuai…
But when it came to marriage, someone like Qing Shuangyun, with her status, would be more helpful to them.
“No, I don’t regret it.”
Duan Pengyue had never regretted making a big deal out of the situation; in fact, he wished he had made it even bigger.
After all, since that night, Li Qinkuai had stopped being affectionate toward him, was even avoiding him, and no longer wanted to marry him.
Her liking for him seemed to have vanished overnight after that evening, which Duan Pengyue couldn’t accept.
How could someone’s feelings disappear so suddenly?
Was he really that terrible that night?
After much thought, the only solution was to find a way to tie her to his side.
That was why Duan Pengyue had made such a big fuss, letting everyone know so she couldn’t refuse anymore—she had no choice but to marry him.
Everything had been progressing smoothly, so why had he spoken without understanding the situation clearly and made her angry?
“Then what are you worried about?” Lin Sheng was even more puzzled.
If it wasn’t about marriage, what else could there be to worry about?
“I made her angry.”
Duan Pengyue helplessly lay down on the bed, irritably running a hand through his hair.
“Huh? She would get angry with you? Are you joking?”
Lin Sheng sounded as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world, asking back in disbelief.
In all the time they had been in the countryside, no matter how cold Duan Pengyue was toward Li Qinkuai, he had never seen Li Qinkuai get angry with Duan Pengyue.