Thud.
Xiao Changhe leapt to his feet as though he’d heard something utterly unbelievable, taking a step back and knocking over his chair.
“You… you’re being… being a Hooligan!”
Seeing his flushed face—a sight completely at odds with his usual composure—Jiang Fuseng suddenly felt a surge of mischief. She pouted, lowered her head, and said with feigned hurt, “Brother Changhe, we’re about to get married. If you don’t want to kiss me, does that mean you look down on me?”
“I don’t…”
“Brother Changhe, you really do look down on me, don’t you? You look down on me because I’ve been married before…” Jiang Fuseng lifted her head again, her eyes red.
“No, I don’t!” Xiao Changhe hastily denied it, rushing back to her side and explaining earnestly, “I don’t… I don’t look down on you, I just…”
For the first time, he loathed his stutter; at this crucial moment, he couldn’t even speak clearly.
In his haste, he hadn’t noticed the mischievous glint in her eyes, nor the subtle way she’d clenched her own thigh.
Jiang Fusheng sniffed and blinked her pitiful eyes. “Brother Changhe, you don’t need to explain so much to me. I know—you do look down on me. It’s me who’s being so shameless as to insist on marrying you. It’s my fault, I…”
Before she could finish, a shadow fell over them.
He bent down and cupped her face in his hands.
His dry lips pressed against hers.
Startled, she snapped her eyes wide open and froze in her tracks.
No, no!
She’d only meant for him to touch her face, not her lips!
007: Clever move! A reverse psychology tactic! It’s a shame you’re not an actor, Master!
Jiang Fuseng: Shut up! That was my first kiss! Gone!
In her previous life, she’d been too busy honing her culinary skills, earning money and enjoying life to ever consider romance; at most, she’d daydream a little about the handsome streamers on Douyin.
After all, when someone provides eye-catching videos for free, it’d be a waste not to watch them.
But now, her first kiss… had just been ruined by her own antics?!
[Master, points have been credited!]
Jiang Fuseng snapped back to her senses, pushing the still-reluctant Xiao Changhe away with a shove. She swallowed nervously and took a step back. “All right, all right. I believe you don’t find me repulsive now.”
Xiao Changhe was rather taken aback by her sudden push. The lingering warmth on his lips made him reluctant to pull away, but when he saw her face, flushed as red as a tomato, he instantly realised she’d tricked him.
Every single one of her actions just now had been a sham—she’d been putting on a show!
Right then, if this little minx dared to do that, wouldn’t it be a real blow to his pride if he didn’t give her a taste of her own medicine?
“You… what are you doing?” Watching him bend down towards her once more, Jiang Fuseng was so nervous her tongue tied itself in knots.
Xiao Changhe reached out and, before she could dodge, grabbed the back of her head, forcing her to face him. “Didn’t you just… …didn’t you just say I… I despise you?”
“So… so what?” Jiang Fuseng crossed her arms over her chest, adopting a defensive stance.
How odd.
Is stuttering contagious?
Why can’t she get her tongue to stop twisting!
“I’ll prove… I’ll prove it to you!” Xiao Changhe leaned in once more.
“No…”
Good heavens!
Who on earth is being a bit of a rascal here!
However, he’d only said that on purpose, deliberately leaning in to scare her; in reality, he’d merely given her a light kiss on the forehead.
Eh? That’s it?
Jiang Fuseng froze.
007: Oh! Wasn’t that enough? You two-faced woman!
Jiang Fuseng: “……”
“I’ll stop messing about.” Xiao Changhe reached out to pinch her soft, delicate cheek and ruffled her hair. “Have your porridge. I’m going… to have a look in the fields.”
He couldn’t keep scaring her; otherwise, the young wife he’d worked so hard to find would run away.
Jiang Fuseng nodded like a chick pecking at grain, turned around, hugged her bowl, and said with her head down as she ate, “Go on, hurry up!”
Xiao Changhe felt a bit exasperated.
This little girl really was afraid of him; she was practically shooing him away!
“Stay at home. Don’t go… running about.”
“Got it!”
Seeing this, a smile broke across Xiao Changhe’s stern face.
This girl was becoming more and more amusing.
Jiang Fuseng, seeing him still smiling, gave him a push. “Stop laughing. Go on now. Be quick—the sooner you go, the sooner you’ll be back. I’ll be waiting for you at home.”
“Right.”
Waiting for him at home…
Apart from his family, she was the first person to ever say that to him.
With her by his side, life was bound to get better and better!
Xiao Changhe strode out, his long legs carrying him away.
……
A moment later, once Jiang Fusheng was certain he had left, she quickly finished the porridge in her bowl, stood up to stretch her limbs, and instinctively touched her forehead with her right hand before moving it to her mouth.
“007, I’ve just gone above and beyond on my mission. Is there a reward?”
【Eh? Wasn’t a thousand points enough?】
“Points are like money—who’d say no to more?”
【Alright then, since you’re my favourite master! I’ll see what I can do for you.】
“Hmm… Money?”
【No way!】
“So what can you give me?”
【I can give you one blind box draw.】
“That’s not bad! Let’s do it!”
Immediately, a massive spinning wheel appeared on the screen.
The wheel was dotted with question marks, representing the blind boxes.
【What would the master like?】
“What? Just because I say what I want, does that mean you can actually give it to me?”
【I was just asking. QAQ】
Jiang Fusheng clasped her hands together, closed her eyes, and prayed devoutly: “If it’s possible, I’d still like some money! Money, come to me, money, come to me, money…”
The wheel began to spin.
Ding!
【Wow! Master, you’re so lucky! You’ve actually won money!】
“Really?” Jiang Fusheng snapped her eyes open, staring in delight at the red envelope that had appeared out of thin air in her hand.
The envelope was very much in the style of the 1980s, wrapped in a single sheet of red paper.
She carefully unwrapped the red paper.
When the character ‘拾’ (ten) appeared, she was overjoyed.
“It’s actually ten yuan! It seems this body’s good fortune hasn’t been completely drained by the Qian family after all—I’m still lucky!”
【Master, could it be that you brought this good fortune with you?】
“Is that so? Ah, never mind. Anyway, I’m just lucky!”
【Master, you must complete more tasks in future!】
“I know, I know.”
Jiang Fusheng put the money away, then carried her bowl to the water trough in the courtyard to fetch water for washing.
The 500 yuan she’d extorted from her scumbag parents had already been given to Xiao Changhe; she now had only these 10 yuan left, so she had to make the most of it.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
Just as she was about to wring the water out of the bowl, she was startled by the sudden pounding on the door.
Judging by the noise, she suspected it wasn’t Xiao Changhe and his mother.
Sure enough.
Accompanying the pounding came a furious shout: “Xiao Changhe! Get your arse out here!”
Bloody hell!
It was Xiao Changhe’s enemy!
Jiang Fuseng cringed, glanced around, and finally decided to hide in the kitchen, clutching a kitchen knife for protection.
“Xiao Changhe, if you’ve got the guts to make a pass at my little sister, don’t be such a coward and hide in your house!”
Hearing this, Jiang Fuseng looked utterly bewildered.
Had she heard correctly? Xiao Changhe had made a pass at another girl?
Never mind whether the book contained such a plot; given his character, he didn’t seem the sort to do such a thing!
“Bang!”
The courtyard gate was kicked open.
“Brother Wuren, it looks like no one’s home at the Xiao residence?”
“That’s perfect. Smash it to smithereens! Break everything to bits!”
Upon hearing that they actually intended to smash up the Xiao residence, Jiang Fuseng gritted her teeth. Pushing her fear aside, she grabbed a kitchen knife and charged out, her hand trembling slightly. “Don’t move!”
The ringleader stopped short upon seeing her. “Jiang Laidi, you really are here?”