Kang Qingyun was rendered speechless, his face flushed red.
From childhood to now, he had always been the top student in class and the best-looking one.
Though life had its frustrations, he was already far better off than most people. Kang Qingyun had always believed this wasn’t just because of his family background, but because he was exceptional.
Yet today, at the school gates, being called out like this by a fool—it was infuriating!
In his anger, Kang Qingyun blurted out, “If Shen Junshan is so much better than me, then why were you clinging to me before? Do you know how annoying you were and how much trouble you caused me? Now you come telling me all this—don’t you feel ashamed?”
“I was young back then and didn’t know what a good man looked like. Now that I’ve grown up, I’ve learned to tell the difference!”
“What?”
Young back then… it’s only been a few days, and she’s grown up?
Kang Qingyun nearly choked on her words.
But Han Jiaojiao smiled gracefully.
“Besides, I’m a fool. It’s only normal for me to make mistakes. Teacher Kang is an intellectual—surely you wouldn’t settle accounts with a fool?”
Kang Qingyun nearly lost his footing.
He was a highly educated intellectual who would soon go abroad to study. It really wouldn’t be proper to quibble with a fool.
But…
Kang Qingyun looked at Han Jiaojiao.
She spoke with reason and logic, her thinking clear. How was she anything like a fool?
And she was so beautiful…
Kang Qingyun looked at her smiling face and found he wasn’t angry anymore—just a little disappointed.
At that moment, someone approached the two of them and said in a shocked tone, “Jiaojiao, what are you doing here? Could you be here to see Teacher Kang?”
Han Jiaojiao furrowed her brow.
First an overconfident, off-putting man, and now a white-lotus girl.
It seemed she should buy an almanac to keep at home and check it before going out—to ward off evil spirits.
Han Jiaojiao shot back, “Me, looking for him? Then what are you doing here—catching someone in the act? At the school gates, in broad daylight? You’ve got quite the taste. Though I suppose it’s a nice thought.”
“Jiaojiao, you’re talking nonsense again. I’m here to pick up my little brother from school.”
“Heh, then what do you think I’m doing?”
Han Jiaojiao tightened her grip on Han Fang’s hand.
Only then did Chen Xiaoying realize she’d been too impulsive.
She’d seen Han Jiaojiao talking to Kang Qingyun and thought she’d caught Han Jiaojiao red-handed.
She hadn’t expected to shoot herself in the foot.
She tried to explain, “I just saw the two of you talking and thought you liked Teacher Kang, so I—”
“Chen Xiaoying, you like my husband, don’t you?”
“Jiaojiao, how can you say such a thing? Don’t talk nonsense. I’m a girl, after all.”
“You’re a girl, and I’m a boy? You’re the one spreading rumors about me and Teacher Kang in front of all these people. You come to my house every few days dropping off gifts, and you even give movie tickets to my husband. If that’s not liking him, what is? Am I lying?”
Qin Fang nodded vigorously.
Seeing the situation, everyone knew Han Jiaojiao was telling the truth and began whispering about Chen Xiaoying’s character.
A vegetable-selling auntie was so furious she spat on the ground and cursed, “Shameless!”
Chen Xiaoying’s eyes reddened as she bit her lower lip hard. “Han Jiaojiao, how could you do this! You’re the one secretly meeting Kang Qingyun, yet you’re framing me. I’m going to tell Shen Junshan!”
“You’d better tell me about the movie tickets first!”
Qin Mu suddenly darted out from behind Kang Qingyun and stomped hard on Chen Xiaoying’s foot.
Creases immediately appeared on her new leather shoes.
The ache in her heart was deeper than the pain in her foot.
Chen Xiaoying immediately clutched her foot and shouted, “Qin Mu! What are you doing?!” “You said you bought new leather shoes because you had to go out to work and couldn’t dress too shabbily and embarrass the family—so what about the movie tickets? How come our family doesn’t know anything about that?!”
“Qin Mu, don’t listen to her. Jiaojiao is an idiot—how can you believe what an idiot says?”
Han Fang, hearing someone insult his older sister, said indignantly, “My sister is telling the truth! You came to our house in the middle of the night to stuff movie tickets at my brother-in-law, and when he refused, you ran off crying.”
The phrase “in the middle of the night” was used to great effect.
Going to someone else’s house in the dead of night meant either something urgent and unavoidable, or something shady.
Chen Xiaoying was the latter.
Qin Mu had never liked the Qin sisters, always feeling that one was hypocritical and the other insufferable.
Now that he knew Chen Xiaoying had bought movie tickets to poach Han Jiaojiao’s husband, he was nearly in tears from anger.
“Shameless!”
“Qin Mu! I’m your sister—how can you side with outsiders and bully your own sister?”
“You’re not my sister! My sister’s long married off! My mom’s right—you’re full of schemes, spinning my dad around your finger. I’ve had it with you for a long time! You’re just a freeloader, a shameless woman!”
Hearing the snickers from the people around, Chen Xiaoying’s cheeks flushed bright red, and tears welled up in her eyes.
Her hometown was poor. There had originally been a factory position, but unfortunately her mother was a woman, and her maternal grandparents were partial, so it went to her uncle instead.
That was how their family managed to settle down in the county town.
Although her uncle had taken her and her sister in, every month she paid five yuan and Chen Amin three yuan—eight yuan total—as living expenses to their aunt, and on top of that, she’d chip in small amounts now and then.
Her younger cousin’s nutritional supplements, the household electricity bill, even her aunt’s monthly bus pass.
Half of her uncle’s household expenses were covered by her—so how had she become a freeloader now, and been called shameless to boot?!
Chen Xiaoying covered her face and sobbed quietly.
“I’ve taken care of you and the family with all my heart, and yet you let others stir you up and treat your own sister like this. Just yesterday I gave Aunt two yuan to buy you something nice to eat—why don’t you remember my kindness?”
Han Jiaojiao sneered, “You buy yourself new leather shoes and little skirts, and movie tickets to send to someone else’s husband, while your own cousin’s pants are patched in several places and his shoes are worn through without him getting new ones. Do you two even live under the same roof? Anyone who didn’t know better would think you and Teacher Kang were the real family, both dressed so finely.”
Chen Xiaoying and Kang Qingyun exchanged a look across the distance.
One in a crisp, starched shirt, the other in brand-new clothes from head to toe.
Standing side by side, they looked like a golden boy and jade girl—a perfectly matched pair.
Kang Qingyun’s face turned pale with fright, and he quickly said, “How can you say such things recklessly? That’s going too far!”
Han Jiaojiao was an idiot, so even if she did something out of line, no one would really hold it against her.
Besides, her husband was Shen Junshan—he’d cover for her.
But Chen Xiaoying was different. She was a normal person. If any rumor got out, he’d have nowhere to shift the blame, and it would become a matter of his personal conduct.
Kang Qingyun had long decided he would go abroad for further studies in the future—he absolutely could not afford any misstep.
“So Teacher Kang understands after all? When we were talking just now, you kept your mouth shut. I thought you didn’t grasp the stakes of these matters—turns out it was just because it had nothing to do with you.”
“Han Jiaojiao, you’ve really gone too far!”
“I’m being excessive, so what can you do about it? I’m the apple of Shen Junshan’s eye. If you come after me again, watch out for your bones!”
Han Jiaojiao stomped hard on Kang Yunqing’s instep, then pulled Han Fang along and walked away without looking back.