“What’s so scary about hitting someone? I’m not afraid to do that!”
Ji Yang had never been the type to let herself suffer in silence. The moment her mother finished speaking, she bit her lower lip, and tears instantly streamed down her face.
At the same time, she swiftly raised her arm and, before anyone could react, delivered two vicious slaps across Ji Man’s face.
Just as her mother had said, one slap was not too many, and one was not too few. Exactly two.
Afterward, without paying any attention to the stunned people around her, Ji Yang took the initiative and spoke first.
“Ji Man, haven’t I always treated you well? As your older sister, I’ve taken care of you since we were little. I carried your schoolbag, brought you your water bottle, carried your lunchbox, and even copied your homework for you.”
“From your padded winter jacket to your summer shirts, from the undershirts you wore on your upper body to the socks you wore on your feet and even those bloodstained panties of yours I was the one who washed them all for you!”
“Even though you treated me like a slave, just like a young lady from a landlord’s family would, what could I do? I’m your older sister! We’re sisters who are supposed to love each other deeply. Helping you with a little housework was nothing.”
“But what about you?”
Ji Yang roughly wiped the corner of her eye, rubbing so hard that even her eyelids turned red. Her eyes were bloodshot, yet the smile tugging at her lips looked even more miserable than crying. Her voice trembled slightly with emotion, as though she could hardly believe that her sweet little sister would do something like this.
“But what about you, Ji Man? Tell me, how have you treated me? Huh? How exactly have you treated me?”
“You fell for my fiancé, but instead of telling me directly, you secretly flirted and carried on with him behind my back!”
“If I hadn’t caught you today, were you planning to wait until I got married before becoming the other woman behind my back and getting involved with my husband?”
“Is that what a good younger sister is supposed to do?”
“Tell me yourself. Do you think you’ve treated me fairly?”
“No, that’s not” Jiang Zhiyuan interrupted Ji Yang. “Ji Yang, Manman”
“Did I give you permission to speak? It’s not your turn yet, so why are you in such a hurry?”
“We’ve been on blind dates for more than half a month. We’ve already agreed to get married on the eighth of next month, and we’ve told all our relatives and friends about it.”
“If you weren’t interested in me, you could have just said so!”
“Am I an unreasonable person?”
“I certainly wouldn’t have stood in the way of your happiness. I would have simply called off the engagement with you.”
“But what about you? Look at what you’re doing now! Instead of breaking off our engagement, you’ve been secretly getting intimate with my younger sister behind my back.”
“What? Do you think my sister and I are too close, so you deliberately want to ruin our relationship?”
“Besides, if I hadn’t seen you today, were you planning to go ahead and marry me as usual, then continue sneaking around with my younger sister behind my back, enjoying the company of both sisters and having the best of both worlds?”
When you go out into the world, you get to decide what kind of person you want others to see.
Today, Ji Yang had decided to play the innocent, fragile girl betrayed by both her beloved younger sister and her own fiancé. All the moral high ground belonged to her. Even if she had been in the wrong, she could still twist the situation to her advantage. And now that she actually had a legitimate grievance, she had even more reason to make her case.
After finishing her speech, she didn’t forget to look at the scumbag, Jiang Zhiyuan, with her tear-filled, reddened eyes.
She wanted to see whether he could look at her like that without feeling guilty.
Did Jiang Zhiyuan feel guilty?
Actually, to some extent, he did.
When he went on the blind date, he had been introduced to Ji Yang, and he had been quite satisfied with her because she was beautiful.
However, Ji Yang’s appearance wasn’t the plump, wholesome kind of beauty that was popular at the time. She was simply too beautiful, with a striking appearance that made her seem intimidating and difficult to approach.
Ji Man, on the other hand, had a round face, a soft personality, and fair skin. Whenever she smiled, she would lower her head shyly, making people instinctively feel tenderness toward her.
Later, he happened to run into Ji Man twice by chance.
The first time, he saw her at the supply and marketing cooperative buying soy sauce. She had been in such a hurry on her way back that she scraped her knee and ended up sitting on the ground, hugging her leg and crying. The soy sauce she had bought was spilled all over the ground.
Only after seeing her did he learn that the reason Ji Man had been walking so quickly was that she needed to hurry home to cook for her older sister.
At the time, he had thought, What is this? A story about Huang Shiren oppressing Yang Bailao? Is Ji Man’s life at home really that miserable?
That was the first time he had developed a negative impression of Ji Yang.
The second time he encountered Ji Man, her face was swollen and red, and she was running down the road while crying.
As his fiancée’s younger sister was crying so miserably, he couldn’t simply pretend not to notice. He was also worried that someone might have bullied her, so he went over to ask what had happened.
But it turned out that nobody else had bullied her at all.
She had accidentally spilled some water on her own bed and, having no other choice, had sat on her older sister’s bed for a little while. When her older sister saw her, she beat her and sternly warned her not to touch her belongings.
His blood pressure had practically shot through the roof when he heard that.
How could there be such an evil older sister? Couldn’t she treat her own younger sister a little better?
And so, he gradually grew closer to Ji Man. After spending time together on several occasions, he came to feel that she was a decent person who got along well with him.
Today, he had been the one to invite Ji Man out for fun. When he was walking her home, she kissed him. He was a grown man in the prime of his youth, full of vigor, and when a beautiful girl kissed him, he simply couldn’t resist kissing her back.
Even now, when he thought about it, he could still remember the way Ji Man had pressed her little mouth against his while trying to hide her shyness.
So soft. So fragrant.
How could he have known that Ji Yang would see them?
Now, looking at Ji Yang’s reddened eyes and the way she appeared wounded yet tried to act strong, he suddenly felt that perhaps what he had done really wasn’t very honorable.
Ji Man noticed Jiang Zhiyuan’s wavering expression and grew anxious. She clung to his arm and said, “Sis, we didn’t think that far ahead. We just kept putting off telling you because we were afraid of hurting you. Now you’ve hit me, scolded me, and let out all your anger. So let’s just put this behind us. I know you’re the most broad-minded person, Sis. You’ll give your blessing to Zhiyuan and me, won’t you?”
Ji Man placed particular emphasis on the words you’ve hit me.
Although she had no idea why Ji Yang, who usually acted like a pitiful little victim, had suddenly slapped her today, this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it was the perfect opportunity to let Jiang Zhiyuan see how domineering her older sister could be.
That way, he would believe even more firmly all the things she had said about Ji Yang bullying her.
Sure enough, after hearing Ji Man’s words, Jiang Zhiyuan’s wavering heart swung back in her favor.
He helped Ji Man wipe away her tears, then gently touched her swollen cheek, looking at her with deep concern.
Turning toward Ji Yang, he glared at her furiously.
“Ji Yang, don’t push things too far!”
What an idiot.
If someone tried to scam this fool with a honey trap, they could probably strip him of every last hair on his body. And this guy was supposed to become the richest man in the capital? Did his money simply fall from the sky?
Ji Yang was just about to speak when her father made the final decision.
“That’s enough. Tomorrow, we’ll inform the in-laws’ family. Ji Yang and Zhiyuan’s engagement is off. Let Manman marry him on the eighth instead. You’re sisters from the same family, after all. The bride price and everything else will remain unchanged. We’ll simply replace one daughter with the other.”
After saying this, he even offered Ji Yang a few words of comfort.
“Don’t be upset. Before you leave for the countryside, I’ll find you another good man.”