Well, this was just perfect. Ji Qin had only been pretending earlier, but now she was genuinely struggling to breathe. Her throat made a hissing sound as she gasped desperately, raising her hand to push Ji Chunhua away. She suddenly looked utterly disheveled.
Ji Qin was well aware that she must have looked terrible.
Unconsciously, anger flared within her. With a sharp slap, she pushed Ji Chunhua away. “Are you crazy?!”
“Trying to smother me to death!”
“…No,” Ji Chunhua said with an innocent expression, her plump cheeks, dust-covered yet faintly glowing with a soft sheen, wrinkling slightly. “I was just trying to help you catch your breath.”
“Huzi!”
Sun Qiaoyun’s eyes widened more and more as she raised her hand and pointed at Ji Qin, shouting, “Huzi, that, that girl over there!”
Ji Qin seemed to sense something. She looked up and was instantly overcome with wild joy.
Had her embarrassing display actually worked in her favor?
She forced herself to appear calm, though her slender waist straightened proudly.
“I’m fine now, thank you, sis.”
Ji Qin deliberately flashed a sweet, charming smile, convinced she was adding the perfect finishing touch.
Meanwhile, Duan Hu strode purposefully in the direction his mother was pointing.
The male comrades watched helplessly as Duan Hu walked toward Ji Qin, the undisputed village beauty, nearly jumping out of their skins with anxiety.
This couldn’t be happening, it just couldn’t.
That scoundrel better not take a liking to Ji Qin!
Such a wonderful girl marrying that brute would be like throwing her into a pit of fire!
Everyone couldn’t help but worry, even the cadres from the Women’s Federation were concerned.
Ji Qin was a girl who had been pampered by her family. Shouldn’t she marry someone with a clean background and decent character?
This ruffian was tall, burly, and dark-skinned.
And he looked downright ferocious.
Wouldn’t this ruin a perfectly good girl?
But despite their worries, everyone also believed that someone with Ji Qin’s standards would never be interested in Duan Hu.
Still, it wasn’t a guarantee. What if that scoundrel set his sights on her and refused to let go? He had even been in the Big prison—what morals did he have?
And if others knew this girl had caught Duan Hu’s eye, anyone who valued their life surely wouldn’t dare compete with him!
Ji Chunhua was on the verge of giving up.
She felt it was all over.
Was this simply fate?
What you fear most always seems to happen.
Maybe… after the matchmaking fair ended, she should go find Duan Hu herself. She could try to change his and his mother’s minds.
In the dead of winter, Ji Chunhua was so worried she broke into a sweat on her forehead.
As if she had lost all hope, she lowered her head again.
Duan Hu finally stopped in front of Ji Qin, who silently stared straight back at him.
Her gaze didn’t waver, faintly gleaming with confidence, her shoulders and back held straight.
She was certain Duan Hu would be interested in her.
Or perhaps he already was, ever since their encounter on the mountain at dawn.
Thinking this, Ji Qin’s heart pounded wildly.
She was utterly confident.
But just as her neck began to ache from tilting her head up and her eyelids grew heavy from the strain, Duan Hu finally spoke.
His fierce, dark face clearly showed intense disgust and disdain. He pointed at Ji Qin as if indicating a stray cat or dog, his voice coarse and loud as he asked Sun Qiaoyun, “Mom,”
“You’re not telling me it’s her, are you?”
His tone even carried a scoffing laugh at the end, dripping with contempt.
Then he clicked his tongue. “Her arms are as thin as twigs, just skin and bones.”
“Looks frail.”
“No fortune in her.”
“Oh my dear son,” Sun Qiaoyun laughed heartily, “how could your mother possibly look at that unlucky one?” Sun Qiaoyun raised her hand again: “The one next to her, the one who was just pounding on her back—Mom thinks she’s strong and plump!”
“She’ll definitely be able to have children!”
“…”
Ji Chunhua’s mind went blank for a long, long time. Before she could even react, Ji Qin beside her lost her composure and shouted hoarsely: “What?”
“You’re saying you want Ji Chunhua?”