11
Just as the atmosphere was growing tense, Song Yuxue suddenly spoke up: “What were you doing just now?”
“Huh?” Jiang Suisui snapped back to reality and quickly said, “Nothing much. I just wanted to lie down and rest for a bit.”
Song Yuxue found it a bit hard to understand. “You came all the way up the mountain… just to lie down and rest?” She had been startled at first when she saw someone lying behind a tree, thinking something had happened to them.
“No, no, that’s not it…” Jiang Suisui waved her hands quickly, pointing at the basket and satchel beside her as she explained, “I came up to gather some firewood and dig up some wild vegetables while I was at it. But… I didn’t find any wild vegetables, and since I had nothing to do, I just decided to lie down for a while.”
Song Yuxue blinked. “Why didn’t you find any? There are so many wild vegetables on the mountain.”
Jiang Suisui was speechless. Could she really say that? Was it that she couldn’t find them? No—she simply didn’t even know what wild vegetables looked like!
But before she could answer, Song Yuxue said, “Want to go together?”
Jiang Suisui’s brain hadn’t even processed the question before the words tumbled out of her mouth: “Sure!”
And so, the two of them who had only just met ended up walking side by side through the forest.
Jiang Suisui followed closely behind Song Yuxue, digging wherever she dug. Slowly but surely, she began to memorize what the wild vegetables on the mountain looked like.
Watching Song Yuxue quietly digging vegetables with her small trowel, Jiang Suisui sighed inwardly. What a good kid, so warm-hearted too. She really lives up to being the male lead’s little sister! Then she lowered her head and got back to work, grunting with effort.
But when she wasn’t paying attention, Song Yuxue secretly glanced up at her several times.
Song Yuxue wasn’t actually that warm-hearted by nature. She never took the initiative to get close to people, let alone someone like Jiang Suisui, who was notorious in the village for being bossy.
However, after hearing Jiang Miaomiao’s words that morning and then seeing Jiang Suisui’s current somewhat silly demeanor, she couldn’t help but worry about her brother.
What Jiang Miaomiao had said that morning had indeed made her angry and upset for a while. The thought of having such an unreliable sister-in-law, and that her mother might end up being mistreated, made her want to tell her brother to call off the engagement.
But after walking off by herself and gradually calming down, she didn’t dare to bring it up with her brother anymore.
Her brother was turning twenty this year. Most young people in the village his age were either already married or had been engaged for a long time, but her brother had always been alone.
Even though her brother was so good-looking, hardworking, and gentle, no one wanted to marry him.
Song Yuxue knew why—it was because of their mother, and because of her, the little burden. Plus, her brother had often gotten into fights in the past to protect them, earning a reputation in the village for being fierce. She’d heard that people were actually quite afraid of him behind his back.
Sigh…
Song Yuxue let out a quiet, adult-like sigh. She didn’t want her brother to remain a bachelor for the rest of his life.
And their mother had always wanted to see him settle down soon. Her brother had probably agreed to this engagement just to put their mother’s mind at ease.
Oh well, Song Yuxue told herself silently. Since her brother was already engaged, she’d just have to try her best to accept it.
At worst… at worst, she’d just wash a few more clothes and cook a few more meals in the future. It wasn’t a big deal.
As long as this sister-in-law could at least treat her mother and brother well… that would be enough.
Song Yuxue secretly glanced up again, stealing a look at Jiang Suisui beside her. But this time, she was caught red-handed—Jiang Suisui had also just looked up, and their eyes met.
The two stared at each other, neither moving for a moment. After a few seconds, Jiang Suisui suddenly let out a chuckle and said, “Why are you looking at me?”
Song Yuxue quickly shook her head and, as if to cover it up, hurriedly lowered her gaze and busied herself with the task at hand.
Seeing that her little basket was just about full, Jiang Suisui raised a hand to wipe the sweat from her brow and said, “Looks like it’s almost noon. The sun’s getting stronger, are you feeling hot?”
She glanced at Song Yuxue’s downcast face. There wasn’t much sweat on her, but her cheeks were slightly flushed, which only made her look even more delicate.
Just as Jiang Suisui was about to pull her up and suggest they head back together, a somewhat familiar voice suddenly rang out from ahead: “Brother, look Jiang Suisui is actually hanging out with that little menace.”
Hearing this, Jiang Suisui and Song Yuxue both looked up at the same time.
Well, well—wasn’t this the same group of brats she’d run into earlier? Jiang Suisui thought to herself.
The one who had just spoken was the little girl who had earlier whispered behind her back that she’d come to steal mushrooms.
She looked quite delicate, so why did she never have anything nice to say?
“Who exactly are you calling a little menace?” Jiang Suisui frowned and shot back.
Song Yuxue’s expression faltered at the words, her face stiffening as her fingers unconsciously curled tighter.
For some reason, the little girl didn’t seem intimidated by Jiang Suisui at all this time. She raised her hand and pointed straight at Song Yuxue, declaring loudly: “Who else could it be? Her! If you keep playing with her, you’d better watch out you’ll end up with bad luck!”
At this, Jiang Suisui’s expression darkened completely. She glanced at Song Yuxue, who had lowered her gaze, her face dim and shadowed, but making no move to refute the accusation.
And it didn’t end there. The “brother” the little girl had addressed suddenly spoke up: “Hongxia, don’t bother with them. Haven’t you heard what Mom said? Song Weizheng is engaged to her they’re family now.”
“Yeah, I heard my grandma say a few days ago too Jiang Suisui finally got herself married off!”
“She’s not married yet, just engaged!”
“Isn’t that the same thing?”
“So does that mean she’s going to be the little menace’s sister-in-law now?”
“She wouldn’t side with the little menace to bully Hongxia, would she?”
“Hard to say.”
…………
The gaggle of brats in front of her chattered on and on, and with every word, Jiang Suisui’s face grew darker and darker.
She suddenly stood up and strode forward. After all, the original owner was already a teenage girl in her teens, and these brats—the oldest of them was probably only eleven or twelve, were still a fair bit shorter than her.
Jiang Suisui crossed her arms, putting on an air of someone not to be messed with, and said coldly, “What are you all going on about? Don’t you have any manners? Didn’t your families teach you anything? Do you know what you’re supposed to call someone older than you? Say ‘sis’! Got it?”
The little girl named Hongxia, standing at the very front, was startled by her barrage of questions and couldn’t help shrinking back a step, but she still talked back defiantly: “No way! You stole my stuff, why should I call you ‘sis’?”
“And what gives you the right to call someone a ‘little menace’? Has she ever done anything to harm you?” Jiang Suisui pressed on.
Hongxia had been about to retreat behind her brother, but upon hearing this, she couldn’t help but raise her voice: “She is a menace! The moment she was born, she jinxed her father to death, her mother’s about to be jinxed to death too, and her brother’s always getting into fights for her! Menace, menace, menace!”
“Oh, for crying out loud!” Jiang Suisui had had enough. She rolled up her sleeves, stepped forward, and yanked Hongxia out from the group—none of the boys beside her managed to stop her.
“I’ve always thought little girls were the cutest things—how is it that there’s a girl as insufferable as you?” Jiang Suisui held onto her firmly, not letting her struggle free. “Apologize! What year is this, still going on about jinxes? Careful, or I’ll report you for spreading feudal superstition!”
Hongxia looked thin, small, and delicate, but on this matter, she was inexplicably stubborn. She twisted and squirmed, trying to escape Jiang Suisui’s grip: “I won’t! My grandma said it—and what Grandma says is true! I’d rather die than apologize to that menace!”
“Your grandma? Who does your grandma think she is—God almighty? Just because she says something makes it true?”
“My grandma is that menace’s grandma! She saw it with her own eyes, so of course what she says is true!”
Oh? What a coincidence! Of all people, she’d run straight into someone from the Song family—the same bloodline as the male lead.
This girl in front of her was probably one of the male lead’s grandmother’s granddaughters, named Song Hongxia.
Jiang Suisui felt a bit speechless. They were all flesh and blood, yet the male lead’s grandmother had such a grudge against his immediate family.
By now, the other boys had also crowded around, trying to help Song Hongxia break free.
“Jiang Suisui, stop bullying people! I’m going to tell your grandma when I get home!”
“Go ahead, tell her!” Hmph, her grandma wouldn’t do anything to her anyway—Jiang Suisui was utterly unafraid.
“Waaah! Brother! She hit me! I’m telling Mom, I’ll get her to teach Jiang Suisui a lesson!” Song Hongxia, unable to break free, started wailing and crying.
Song Hongxia’s brother panicked too. Forgetting everything else, he suddenly charged at Jiang Suisui with all his might. Seeing this, Jiang Suisui quickly let go, and he lunged into empty air, tumbling to the ground.
“Brother!” Freed from Jiang Suisui’s grip, Song Hongxia lost her balance and also fell.
Jiang Suisui took two steps back, hands on her hips, and watched the panicking bunch of brats before her. She muttered to herself under her breath, “Never thought I’d actually end up bullying a bunch of kids. Ah, what a sin, what a sin.”
Though she mumbled about sins, there wasn’t a trace of guilt on her face. She was even about to step forward again to teach Song Hongxia a thing or two about manners.
But the moment she took a step, she felt a tug at the right sleeve of her shirt.
Jiang Suisui looked down and saw that Song Yuxue had somehow come to stand beside her, her fingertips gently pinching the cuff of Jiang Suisui’s sleeve, holding her back.
“?” Jiang Suisui immediately switched to a warm and gentle big-sister mode, leaning down to ask, “What’s wrong?”
Song Yuxue raised her dark, grape-like eyes and quietly gazed at her for a moment before saying, “Let it go.”
Jiang Suisui crouched down at once, bringing herself face to face with her, and said earnestly, looking at her expression, “It’s okay. Don’t be afraid. With your big sister here, they can’t bully you.”
Song Yuxue shook her head. Her voice was very calm, but there was something in her eyes that Jiang Suisui couldn’t quite read. “Don’t bother with them anymore. Let’s go back.”
Jiang Suisui held her gaze for a while. Seeing that she was firm in her decision, she didn’t press further and simply nodded. “Alright, let’s go back.”
“But…” She paused for a moment. “Wait for me just a second, I’ll be right back!”
Before Song Yuxue could react, Jiang Suisui stood up and crossed over to the group of children in a few quick strides.
She crouched down in front of Song Hongxia and, with an eerie tone and an inscrutable expression, said slowly, “You know what? This world is really, really big. Every day, people are born, and every day, people die. So… on the day you were born, in some other place you don’t know about, someone was dying too. Would you say, by that logic, that you jinxed that person to death?”
Song Hongxia and the other little boys were all stunned by her words. For a moment, they just stood there with blank faces, completely at a loss.
Seeing that her words had achieved the desired effect, Jiang Suisui flashed a satisfied smile, turned around, and strode off with Song Yuxue.
“WAAAAAH!!!” It took a while before Song Hongxia suddenly snapped back to reality and burst into terrified sobs.
**