“Third Grand-Aunt, why have you come? Come inside and sit. Have you eaten? If not, I’ll get you some bowls and chopsticks.”
Third Grand-Aunt Zhao Shixiu wore a tight black-and-red knitted long robe that did an excellent job of accentuating her hunched back, flabby flesh, and sagging chest.
Her pair of old-lady leather shoes were polished to a shine, but her feet were a bit too large, making them look clunky when worn.
But she probably thought she looked quite good in this outfit, her chin slightly raised, her drooping triangular eyes sweeping over Li Suian twice. She didn’t answer Li Suian’s question, nor did she step inside—she just spoke directly.
“Zhaodi, did you curse at that young man you met for a blind date the day before yesterday, and splash red chili oil all over him? Don’t blame me for saying this, but with your situation, you should be grateful anyone wants you at all. What are you being so picky about?”
“That young man is my grand-nephew. If I hadn’t known the matchmaker, I wouldn’t even have known you were going on blind dates. I had to beg and plead to get that match arranged for you.”
“My grand-nephew has a house and a car, and he’s a handsome, presentable young man. Look at yourself—your parents died early, you have no family background, no money. Meeting someone from a family like that, you should be laughing all the way to the bank, but instead you cursed him out. What were you thinking?”
“Ah, I’m not saying all this to blame you. You grew up on this mountain, never had a proper education. Your father didn’t care, your mother didn’t teach you, and your grandmother is uneducated—it’s no surprise you lack manners. We’re all relatives, and as your grand-aunt, I can’t just abandon you.”
“So, I’ll arrange another match for you. Why don’t you just marry your older cousin? He’s only thirty this year, has a good temper, and knows how to drive. In this rundown village of yours, you won’t find anyone with such good qualifications.”
…
Li Suian watched her mouth open and close, and she was so angry she laughed. She felt that this woman’s face must be thick enough to be used as bulletproof armor. Maybe the government should consider recruiting her—at least she could make some contribution to the country.
That ugly, fat, cowardly grandson of hers—a lecherous, useless man who couldn’t find a wife even at thirty—and she had the nerve to call that good qualifications?
No wonder that blind date guy the other day seemed so similar to her family—utterly ordinary yet insanely confident. So they were from the same family. Well, that made sense. Most people in the world were normal; families as bizarre as theirs were truly rare.
While Old Lady Zhao was rambling on and spewing nonsense, Li Suian coldly swept her gaze over her “older cousin.” He was looking at her too, with a lecherous, appraising stare.
She rolled her eyes at him, then looked away.
Old Lady Zhao racked her brains and used every word she could think of to praise her grandson, talking until her lips were chapped and her mouth was dry.
In her view, her family had good circumstances—located on the outskirts of town, convenient to get into the city, with money saved up. They’d built a new flat-roofed house, and they’d even bought their grandson a car—130,000 yuan, a joint-venture brand at that.
A parentless orphan like Li Suian would surely be crying and begging to marry her grandson. The fact that their family was even willing to consider her meant her ancestors must have burned high incense.
With that thought, she gave Li Suian another once-over. The girl looked decent enough, but her family background was too poor. If it weren’t for the fact that her grandson was getting old and still couldn’t land a girlfriend, she wouldn’t have wanted such a destitute girl as a grandson’s wife.
Li Suian was ready to unleash a full-scale verbal assault once she finished speaking. Before, when her grandmother was still alive, she had held back for the sake of their childhood sisterhood, preserving a final shred of decency despite the woman’s harsh words.
But now she was the only one left in the family. She couldn’t care less about relatives or not—she’d just flip the table on them. These were the kind of relatives she wouldn’t even look at twice!
Just as she was about to open her mouth and curse them out, someone patted her shoulder. A person stood behind her, and the cool, clean scent of a man’s cologne drifted to her nose.
His light pat felt like both a comfort and a silent show of support.
Li Suian turned to look at him, only to see the man staring at the three people in the courtyard with icy fury in his eyes.
“Heh, earlier I heard you speaking from inside the house and thought some beast had cultivated into a spirit, able to speak human words. I was curious and came out to take a look, but I never expected to find actual humans—people with human mouths who can’t speak human words. You’ve got some talent there.”
Wen Qi’s words were cold and indifferent, without much emotional fluctuation, but it was precisely this calm, sharp speech that carried the most intimidation.
Old Lady Zhao hadn’t expected there to be someone else in Li Suian’s home. Under his cold sweeping gaze, goosebumps involuntarily rose on her skin, as if she were being stared down by some wild beast.
She took two steps back, then felt embarrassed for being intimidated by such a young man, so she puffed out her chest and cursed, “Who are you? We’re family talking here—what right do you have to butt in? Speaking so harshly, you have no manners at all!”
Wen Qi gave a cold, faint smile. “I’m merely a good Samaritan stepping in for justice. I can’t stand to watch beasts in human clothing bully a young girl.”
Then, he glanced at the grandson Old Lady Zhao had praised to the heavens as a dragon among men, his cold tone laced with contempt. “So you’re the old hag’s grandson?”
“From the way she described you, I thought you’d be someone of extraordinary bearing and talent. But now that I see you, are you not a toad in human form, or a grease vat reincarnated?”
“You don’t have a single shred of a man’s proper demeanor, yet your eyes are stuck on top of your head. Truly, when the upper beam is crooked, the lower beam is warped. You’d best be careful—your heart may be higher than the sky, but your fate is thinner than paper!”
“Tell me, what makes you think you’re worthy of Li Suian? Is it your height that doesn’t even reach 1.7 meters? Or your balding head with barely any hair left? Or perhaps your rough face with pores big enough to plant rice seedlings and blackheads practically bursting out? Or maybe that belly of yours, bigger than a woman nine months pregnant?”
Wen Qi spoke unhurriedly, calm and rational. Though his tone lacked dramatic rises and falls or righteous indignation, his cold stare and icy words could chill a person to the bone.
Old Lady Zhao’s grandson, Zheng Guangzu, felt his scalp crawl under Wen Qi’s gaze and didn’t dare utter a single word of rebuttal, hiding behind Old Lady Zhao instead.
Old Lady Zhao was so furious she nearly went mad. Where did this man come from? He’d insulted them without a single curse word—and especially that look in his eyes. One glance at him and they felt their hearts tremble.
They couldn’t out-curse him, couldn’t match his presence, and worst of all, they were hopping mad while he remained composed and cool as ice—which only made them angrier!
Unable to win against the man, she redirected her attack toward Li Suian.
“Li Zhaodi, this is how you let an outsider curse your own relatives?”
Li Suian listened to Wen Qi’s verbal takedown with rapt fascination. In all the time she’d known him, this was the first time she’d ever heard him speak so much.
It was absolutely exhilarating. Beyond the thrill, she felt a touch of emotion. In the past, whenever something like this happened, she had always charged into battle alone, single-handedly. But today, someone stood in front of her, shielding her from harm.
Wen Qi was truly wonderful, and Li Suian’s desire to marry him into her household grew even stronger.
But Old Lady Zhao’s roar snapped her out of her reverie. She cleared her throat, pulled Wen Qi behind her, and stepped forward—finally, it was her turn to take the stage.
If she didn’t speak up, people might mistake her for some meek little white rabbit they could push around.