Ji Qin grew anxious. “That’s completely different! We’re your family!”
Ji Chunhua rolled up her sleeves, revealing plump arms covered in fading bruises that even the dust and grime couldn’t conceal.
“Family?”
Ji Qin was utterly speechless.
Ji Chunhua didn’t speak to her further, turning to head home.
This indifferent, gloomy attitude suited her character—she had always been submissive and accepting of her fate.
But if that were the case, why did she suddenly want to leave this family now?
And she was using the scars from her beatings to shut me up!
Ji Qin followed beside Ji Chunhua, her throat choked up as if she were crying. Anyone unaware would think she was deeply worried about her sister. “Sis, what’s really going on with you? You weren’t like this before.”
“Why could you bear with our family before but not now? Even if you can’t, you shouldn’t just give up on everything!”
As they spoke, the two entered the house.
Ji Chunhua knew there was no need to waste words on her. Once Xu Li and Ji Yang saw this engagement money, they would be overjoyed in an instant.
If possible, they might even start packing her things tonight.
“Mom,” Ji Chunhua had called this word for over a decade, yet it still disgusted her.
The only reason she had managed to say it in the first place was thanks to Ji Daqiang’s beatings.
“I’ve been chosen. This is the engagement money.”
Ji Chunhua spoke matter-of-factly, but Xu Li and Ji Yang inside the house were so shocked their jaws nearly dropped.
“What did you say?!”
Xu Li dropped what she was doing and rushed out from the kitchen, only to have Ji Chunhua thrust a stack of ten-yuan bills into her hands.
Ji Yang tumbled off the kang without even fastening his pants. “What? Chosen?”
“…”
Xu Li stared at the thick stack of ten-yuan bills in her hand, trembling all over.
Ji Yang was practically drooling.
After a long pause, he asked, “You’ve been chosen, but what about our Qin? Oh my goodness… It seems today’s matchmaking fair was really reliable after all!”
“Haha, Qin, hurry up and show me your engagement money. It must be several times more than this fat girl’s!”
“…”
Ji Qin buried her head deeply, her eyes dark and venomous.
Through gritted teeth, she said, “I don’t have any. I ran out halfway.”
“What?!” Xu Li exclaimed suddenly. “Why did you do that?”
“Mom, do you know who chose my sister?” Ji Qin said with reddened eyes. “It’s that disgusting foreman, Duan Hu! The one who’s been to the Big Prison!”
“Isn’t she out of her mind?”
Hearing this, Ji Yang was stunned for a moment, but his focus quickly shifted. “I think it’s Duan Hu who’s crazy! Is he blind?”
“It wasn’t Duan Hu who chose her!”
Ji Qin said through clenched teeth, “It was his mother! Duan Hu’s mother!”
“Oh,” Xu Li said, “then that’s not surprising. Duan Hu’s mother is from the old society, with that kind of mindset. She wants to find someone who looks fertile for her son. Your sister has wide hips!”
Ji Chunhua blinked. “Mom, I think Qin just can’t bear to see me get married.”
“Otherwise, why don’t we go ask that pig farm owner, Yu Guang? I saw him today, and he kept staring at Qin.”
“That way, we can both get married together, and Qin won’t be lonely.”
“Hey, Chunhua’s idea is a good one!” Xu Li felt like she could almost smell pork the moment she heard “pig farm.” Ji Yang also grew restless: “Hey, don’t say that about the fat woman—she finally said something smart!”
“Our Ji Qin is so outstanding. If we really send someone to propose to the Yu family on her behalf, wouldn’t Yu Guang be over the moon!”
“Shut up!!! All of you, shut up!!”
Ji Qin finally couldn’t hold back and exploded on the spot, clenching her fists and shrieking miserably: “What Yu Guang! I don’t like him!!”
“If you mention him again, I’ll jump into the river! I’ll kill myself!!”
Ji Qin strode toward the side room on the right, went inside, and slammed the door shut with a loud bang.
“……”
“……”
Xu Li and Ji Yang were both terrified.
What… what was going on?
Ji Chunhua chuckled: “Oh dear, Ji Qin is just embarrassed!”
“She’s angry out of shame!”
…
Naturally, Ji Qin couldn’t give up so easily. She understood her family’s snobbishness better than anyone.
Ji Chunhua’s engagement money had already been given to Xu Li, and her mother would never spit it back out.
So, she still set her sights on Ji Chunhua.
After dinner, Ji Chunhua went to wash the dishes as usual.
Carrying a large basin, she sat on a stool, soaking her plump, tender hands until they turned red in the winter’s cold wind.
The chilblains on her hands began to ache and itch again, but the itch in her heart overshadowed it.
Ji Chunhua pursed her lips, her thick, delicate eyelashes trembling slightly.
That itch, of course, was anticipation for her new life.
She knew Duan Hu wouldn’t hit her.
Thinking back to his wide grin earlier that day, Ji Chunhua couldn’t help but let out a timid laugh.
“…Sis.” Ji Qin appeared like a ghost behind her, her tone faintly tinged with resentment. “What are you laughing at?”
Ji Chunhua’s fingers twitched, but she reacted quickly.
Turning her head, she revealed her pearly teeth and said, “I’m happy for you.”
“Thinking about how you used to chase after me when you were little—it feels like just yesterday. Now you’re all grown up and know how to be shy.”
“That’s why I’m happy for you.”
“……”
Ji Qin felt a surge of anger in her chest, almost fainting on the spot.
Was this topic never going to end?