Su Jincheng had no choice but to make his stance clear, “I haven’t seen her, and I don’t like her either.”
“Ruan Tang is just a block of wood—stiff and boring. She won’t even let me hold her hand. You’re much better; you know what I want. Once she goes to the countryside, we’ll get married.”
At home, Wu Mengzhi was extremely controlling, leaving Su Jincheng with almost no autonomy, including the arranged marriage she had set for him. As a result, Su Jincheng instinctively resented it.
Ruan Tang, on the other hand, hadn’t yet awakened to romance and felt no love for Su Jincheng, so she had no intention of indulging or coaxing him.
Cai Xiaolan was different. She knew exactly how to handle Su Jincheng, giving him a novel experience and a sense of respect.
Su Jincheng’s eyes grew hazy, “I only like you, and I only want you.”
Cai Xiaolan was so pleased by his sweet talk that soon, the sound of collisions could be heard from inside.
Ruan Tang gritted her teeth in anger.
No wonder they ended up married in her dream—they had already been sneaking around together.
But this time, Ruan Tang didn’t act impulsively. Instead, she turned her gaze to Jiang Ye.
This guy, standing over six feet tall and looking every bit the part of a handsome man, was actually the most notorious good-for-nothing in Sijiucheng. Even though his mother was the neighborhood committee director, it didn’t stop him from causing trouble everywhere.
In her dream, he was the type to land himself behind bars and live off government rations. Today, she wanted to see just how capable he was.
Jiang Ye felt unnerved by Ruan Tang’s stare.
Her eyes, which usually resembled those of an adorable kitten, now looked like a tiger’s—full of aggression and provocation.
Hah, interesting!
Jiang Ye curled his lips, neither avoiding nor retreating from her gaze.
What could he do? He was born rebellious—he loved pulling the tiger’s whiskers.
Inside the room, the two were moaning and groaning passionately, while outside, the other two stared each other down without a hint of awkwardness.
Before long, Hou Lin arrived with a group of elderly women.
Hearing the footsteps, Jiang Ye pulled Ruan Tang into the bushes to hide.
Granny Li, the former director of the neighborhood committee, never expected that even in retirement, she’d get another chance to catch adulterers in the act.
She was both furious and excited.
The sixty-something-year-old woman strode with the vigor of an eighteen-year-old youth.
“Xiao Linzi, where are they?”
“Granny, don’t rush. They’re in the east wing room in the backyard.”
As soon as Hou Lin finished speaking, the women rushed to the backyard and barged through the wooden door of the east wing room.
The loud “bang” disrupted Su Jincheng and Cai Xiaolan’s rhythm.
The two froze for a moment.
When Cai Xiaolan realized what was happening, she let out a terrified scream.
At that moment, she was sitting on top of Su Jincheng.
In her panic, she hurriedly pulled down her skirt and tried to get up, but Su Jincheng wrapped his arms around her waist, preventing her from moving.
His first instinct was to fear that his little brother would be exposed to everyone.
Granny Li scolded angrily, “Shameless creatures! Hurry up and put your clothes on. Young as you are, you’re not learning anything good—doing such disgraceful things in a temple!”
“Utterly shameless!”
“Exactly. They look so proper, yet they do such improper things. You really can’t judge a book by its cover,” one of the women chimed in.
The other women nodded in agreement.
A kinder-hearted woman reminded them, “Young lady, hurry up and get up. Your red underwear has fallen on the floor. Do you need me to pick it up for you?”
“And you, young man, your clothes are all wrinkled and dirty. Can you still wear them?”
No one had noticed until she mentioned it, but with her reminder, everyone’s eyes turned to the red underwear on the floor.
Cai Xiaolan’s face flushed red then pale, wishing she could vanish into the ground from sheer humiliation.
Su Jincheng wasn’t faring much better either. Pushing Cai Xiaolan aside, he endured the women’s scorching gazes and stubbornly pulled on his soiled clothes, his trembling hands misbuttoning his shirt.
Though retired, Granny Li’s ingrained work procedures remained. She immediately began interrogating them.
“State your names and your relationship.”
Feeling utterly ashamed, Su Jincheng remained silent.
Seeing this, Cai Xiaolan cursed inwardly and spoke first, “I’m Cai Xiaolan, he’s Su Jincheng. We both work in the cotton mill’s propaganda department.”
At this point, she glanced at Su Jincheng, gritted her teeth and said, “He’s my boyfriend. We’re getting married soon.”
If they claimed no relationship, today’s incident would be labeled as hooliganism – illicit relations without proper matchmaking. The punishment could range from public shaming to being sent down to labor farms.
Besides, she had her own motives.
She had to tie herself to Su Jincheng. On one hand, to prevent his mother from opposing their marriage.
On the other hand, Su Jincheng’s father was in the Ge Weihui. As Su Jincheng was their only son, they would never abandon him. So long as she was connected to Su Jincheng, the punishment wouldn’t be severe.
Su Jincheng hadn’t thought that far, but he knew the consequences of being accused of hooliganism, so he quickly explained.
“We are indeed dating. What happened today was because we couldn’t control our emotions and made a mistake.”
“We’ll never do it again. We’ve learned our lesson.”
Su Jincheng knew when to yield, showing excellent attitude in admitting his fault.
Granny Li looked skeptical. “Is everything you said true? You’re not deceiving me?”
“Yes, yes, it’s all true,” they replied in unison.
The women’s faces showed disappointment, as if saying: Is that it?
Just this little gossip? Not explosive enough!
Granny Li had her doubts – Xiao Linzi had specifically sought them out, so things couldn’t be this simple.
Where had he gone? Granny Li looked around but couldn’t find Hou Lin.
That rascal always disappears at critical moments!
Meanwhile, Hou Lin, who had run to the cotton mill to gather more people, sneezed three times in succession.
Seeing the women’s aggressive demeanor fading, Su Jincheng and Cai Xiaolan both sighed with relief.
Exchanging glances, they began considering how to silence the women. If this matter spread, their reputations would be ruined.
But then…
“What’s everyone looking at? So lively?” Ruan Tang pushed through the crowd.
Spotting Su Jincheng, she showed surprise.
“What are you doing here? I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”
“How are you considering our marriage proposal?”
“Hey, why are your buttons misaligned? And why is the front of your shirt wet?”
Ruan Tang’s casual remarks struck like thunderbolts, leaving Su Jincheng and Cai Xiaolan thoroughly stunned.
Once again thrust into the spotlight, their faces turned beet red, wishing they could disappear on the spot.
The crowd looked at Su Jincheng’s chest – the light blue shirt was clearly damp. While the young girl might not know what it was, these older women certainly did.
They found the pair even more shameless.
They had all heard clearly – this young girl was the man’s proper intended match.
The women began whispering among themselves, casting contemptuous looks at the two.
Su Jincheng squirmed under their gazes, hanging his head in shame, unable to look at Ruan Tang or answer her questions.
Granny Li wasn’t idle either, first giving Ruan Tang a thorough head-to-toe inspection.
This girl was truly beautiful, with clear bright eyes that still held a touch of innocent naivety untouched by worldly affairs.
Two thick braids hung over her chest, and the white floral-patterned blouse made her complexion appear even fairer and more delicate.
Then she glanced at that other one – at best her looks could be considered delicate, but the key point was the constant calculating gleam in her eyes. Anyone could tell she wasn’t someone easy to deal with.
That man was blind too, only focused on that bit of flesh.
“Young lady, what’s your relationship with them?” Granny Li immediately switched to a different expression, her tone gentle.
She’d seen plenty of such situations – from the girl’s fragmented words she’d already guessed most of the story. But still, proper procedures couldn’t be skipped.