Gongsun Shinian looked around in confusion, then brought his gaze back to Li Qingge. Strange—who had just spoken? Could it be the woman across from him?
“Ouch! You black-hearted thing, are you blind?”
The old woman sat up with a jolt, as if rising from the dead.
Li Qingge cast her a sidelong glance. “Oh, still breathing, are you? I thought you’d kicked the bucket. Stealing someone else’s seat and then playing deaf and dumb while throwing your age around—what a nerve.”
The old woman shot to her feet, pointing at Li Qingge’s nose and cursing at the top of her lungs: “Who said you died? You’re the one who’s dead! You little vixen, looking like a fox spirit—anyone can see you’re no good.”
“Slap! Slap!”
Without a word, Li Qingge delivered two resounding slaps to her face.
“Tsk tsk. At your age, spewing filth from your mouth—let me teach you some manners on behalf of your parents.”
The old woman was used to bullying others and had never suffered such humiliation. She lunged with claws bared, trying to scratch Li Qingge’s face.
“Slap. Slap.”
Two more slaps. The old woman was completely stunned. Her only thought was that this woman looked soft and delicate—how could her slaps hurt so much? Her face was burning.
Li Qingge looked at her with a half-smile. “What? Not convinced?”
The old woman wanted to curse again, but when she saw Li Qingge raise her palm, she flinched and shrank back, shielding herself with her arms.
Just then, someone decided to speak up. A sweet, delicate female voice said, “Miss, you should know when to stop. You’ve already hit her—don’t keep going. Besides, it takes two to make a quarrel. Surely you bear some blame too?”
As she spoke, her gaze drifted meaningfully toward the man across from Li Qingge. He must think she was kind-hearted, right?
Then she saw that Gongsun Shinian’s gaze was fixed unblinkingly on that beautiful woman across from him.
This made Bai Wei seethe inwardly. The old woman was right—that woman was nothing but a fox spirit.
“What are you doing?”
In her moment of distraction, Li Qingge had already walked over and was now looking down at her from above.
“It takes two to make a quarrel?”
“Slap!”
Li Qingge gave her a slap.
“I just slapped you. Did you hear how loud it was?”
“You—”
Bai Wei had been raised like a princess her whole life. This single slap left her completely stunned, and tears streamed down her face uncontrollably. The sight broke Mu Chuan’s heart as he sat beside her.
“Weiwei, are you okay? Does it hurt?”
Bai Wei looked at him through tearful eyes. “Chuan-ge, I’m fine.”
Mu Chuan raised his head, his gaze sharp as he fixed it on Li Qingge with disgust. “What kind of woman hits people without a word? You’re utterly uncultured. Weiwei was just saying a few words for the old lady, and you still won’t let it go.”
“Heh. If being cultured means swallowing your anger, then I’m uncultured. What are you going to do about it?”
Li Qingge shot him a provocative look.
“You—you—”
Mu Chuan had never seen such a shameless woman in his life. He was about to say something when the train attendant came over.
Li Qingge sat back down. The old woman behind her, having been struck, no longer dared to provoke her and sat quietly in her seat.
The girl whose seat had been taken also sat back down. She glanced timidly at Li Qingge, then quickly lowered her eyes.
[Phew. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. My palm hurts a bit after those slaps. Maybe I should use my foot next time?]
Gongsun Shinian across from her stared intently at her lips.
He could confirm that the woman across from him hadn’t opened her mouth. She was the only one who had been hitting people just now—what he was hearing was this woman’s inner thoughts.
Li Qingge suddenly stood up, and the old woman tensed as if facing a great enemy, terrified she might come over for another slap.
[Seriously? I’m just going to the bathroom. Look how scared she is. Typical bully—all bark and no bite.]
Gongsun Shinian: …
Li Qingge glanced toward the carriage across the aisle and felt quite shaken.
The aisle over there was packed full of people—you could barely find room to put your feet down. It looked like their side was much better off.
Li Qingge had just sat down after using the bathroom when the people from the carriage across the way apparently noticed there was more space here. Not wanting to squeeze over there, a dozen or more of them came flooding over.
A woman leading a child walked up to Li Qingge’s side and called out to the old woman, “Mother, watch the kid for me, will you? I need to go to the restroom.”
The old woman shot her a glare. “Useless thing that can’t show your face anywhere. Watch your own child. I don’t have time.”
The woman was embarrassed by the scolding.
Bai Wei suddenly spoke up: “Auntie, I’ll watch him for you. Go on.”
The woman looked at her gratefully… “Oh, thank you, comrade.”
With that, she turned and hurried toward the restroom.
The old woman stared at her daughter-in-law’s retreating back with displeasure. That cursed, unfilial thing—she only knew how to dump the kid on her. Couldn’t she see her face was swollen? Blind thing, didn’t even think to ask about it.
A few minutes later, the woman returned and thanked Bai Wei again before finally noticing the old woman’s face.
“Mother, what happened to your face?”
The old lady shot her a glare, snorted through her nose, and turned her back—clearly unwilling to acknowledge her.
The woman had no choice but to tug her child along and sit directly in the aisle beside them.
When lunchtime rolled around, the passengers on the train each pulled out the food they had prepared.
Across from them, Gongsun Shinian and his childhood friend Wen Shaoqing were eating meat buns.
The moment they took a bite, the aroma of the buns flooded the entire carriage. The old lady and the woman stared fixedly at their buns, as if they wanted nothing more than to lunge forward and take a bite themselves.
Li Qingge brought out a mantou stuffed with meat, topped with a bright green leaf of lettuce—meat and vegetables together, a feast for the eyes that was enough to whet anyone’s appetite.
The old lady and the woman shifted their gazes to her stuffed mantou. Having already tasted her sharpness earlier, the old lady could only stare helplessly with craving, chewing her tasteless cornbread without any flavor.
Bai Wei came from a well-off family. She took out a box of dumplings, ate one, then said to Mu Chuan, “Brother Chuan, there are too many dumplings—I can’t finish them. Why don’t you help me eat some?”
Mu Chuan’s gaze toward her grew even more tender. Weiwei was just so considerate—she wanted him to have the dumplings but was afraid he’d feel embarrassed.
His eyes dimmed slightly. What a pity she was already engaged. But he wouldn’t give up. A girl as wonderful as Weiwei—only he was worthy of her.
The little child stared longingly at the dumplings in Bai Wei’s lunchbox.
Reluctantly, Bai Wei handed him one.
The child took the dumpling and wolfed it down in a single gulp.
Annoyed by his staring, she gave him four or five more, leaving herself without enough to eat. She cursed inwardly: Little brat, you eat like a starving ghost reincarnated—haven’t you eaten in eight hundred years?
Li Qingge chatted with Xiao Gua as she ate.
“What? He’s Gongsun Shinian?”
[I have to say, the male lead Gongsun Shinian really is handsome and dashing—just my type.]
A faint, almost imperceptible smile tugged at the corner of Gongsun Shinian’s lips. Wen Shaoqing couldn’t help rubbing his eyes, thinking he must have seen things.
[Too bad Gongsun Shinian’s eyesight isn’t so great—he actually married that pretentious little white flower Bai Wei.]
Gongsun Shinian: What do you mean his eyesight isn’t good? This woman was spouting nonsense. Besides, he wasn’t even married yet—someone like Bai Wei, he’d never marry.