24 – Fell in Love with the Enemy’s Daughter
Gu Pingting’s little face flushed bright red. She hurriedly closed the book and pressed it against her chest, stammering, “N-no, I don’t like it.”
Seeing her acting so strangely, Feng Shan chuckled, “Why are you stuttering? What’s written in the book? Let me have a look.”
Feng Shan reached out to snatch it, but Gu Pingting quickly hid the book behind her back, her face still flushed as she refused to hand it over.
When Feng Shan had bought these books, he hadn’t examined their contents. He had only glanced at the titles, thinking at the time that he absolutely couldn’t buy Gu Pingting any romance novels about handsome, noble young masters. So he had casually picked a few books that matched his own image instead.
Feng Shan didn’t know what was written inside, but seeing the girl’s earlobes turn red, he immediately understood. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he deliberately leaned closer to her and asked, “Why aren’t you answering? What’s written in the book?”
Gu Pingting whispered, “N-nothing much. It just writes about a village man and… and his wife living their lives.”
She seemed like a child caught doing something wrong—flustered and panicked. Feng Shan chuckled softly and asked mischievously, “How do they live their lives?”
Gu Pingting didn’t dare to look at Feng Shan. Clutching the book, she shrank under the blanket, covering both herself and the book beneath it. Muffled, she said, “I’m tired. I want to sleep.”
Feng Shan curled his lips but didn’t rush to leave. Instead, he sat by the bed and picked up the other books on her bedside table to flip through.
To his surprise, the books were filled with indecent descriptions. Feng Shan shook his head with a smile. It seemed he had bought from the wrong bookstall today…
Such books were of no benefit to read. Feng Shan decided to take them away and burn them. As for the book in Gu Pingting’s hands, he thought, he’d let her handle it herself.
The little woman was feeling shy right now. If he exposed her now, wouldn’t she cry from embarrassment?
It was already late summer. The nights weren’t hot but were somewhat stuffy. Worried that his little wife might suffocate under the blanket, Feng Shan reached out and pulled her head out from under the covers. Before he could say a word, Gu Pingting burrowed back under the blanket again.
Seeing how deeply embarrassed she was, Feng Shan laughed and said, “Since you’re tired, I’ll go back to my room. Sleep well.”
Gu Pingting listened from under the blanket as his heavy footsteps grew fainter and fainter, followed by the sound of the door closing. She peeked out from under the blanket to confirm that Feng Shan had left, then threw the covers off and sat up.
Gu Pingting let out a long sigh—she had been suffocating under there.
She glanced at the book in her hand. No, she had to throw it away. She couldn’t keep reading it.
It was so late, she didn’t dare go outside. Gu Pingting thought about tearing it up, but then she’d have nowhere to put the scraps.
So she decided to hide it for now. She was afraid Feng Shan might find it under her pillow, so she stuffed the book firmly between the bed boards and covered it with the blanket, planning to throw it away first thing in the morning.
With it hidden securely, Gu Pingting finally felt at ease and went to sleep.
As she drifted off, she couldn’t help but wonder: What exactly was that enormous, furious dragon?
She was so curious…
After finishing ten doses of medicine, Gu Pingting was basically able to walk without crutches. The day she threw away her crutches, she was overjoyed.
Although her legs still hurt after walking for long periods, she was recovering well. She thought it wouldn’t be long before she could walk and move completely normally again.
Once her legs were more mobile, Gu Pingting wanted to go out for a walk around the village. On one hand, it would help with her recovery, and on the other, she was bored staying cooped up at home all day. She wanted to go out and find someone to talk to.
At home, she could talk to Feng Shan, but that rough man sometimes spoke too crudely and was always trying to bully her. Gu Pingting didn’t want to pay him any attention.
The weather had cooled down a bit, and the women in the village liked to gather at the village entrance to work and chat, either mending clothes or picking small stones out of the rice and flour.
There was a large tree at the village entrance, and the women sat in a circle under its shade while the children played games nearby.
The villagers were simple and warm-hearted. When they saw Gu Pingting arrive, they invited her to sit and chat. Gu Pingting didn’t know anyone except Aunt Zhang, so she sat on the stone bench at the very edge, listening to their conversation.
“Hey, did you all hear? The marriage between Old Li’s third son and Old Qian’s eldest son’s family has fallen through!”
“What? What? Didn’t those two families say they were going to arrange a marriage? Old Li even built a wedding house for his son. How could the marriage fall through?”
“Hah! This all started with Old Li’s son, Li Wen. Originally, Old Li and Old Qian’s parents had secretly discussed it, and Old Li was about to propose, but Li Wen refused! He said he likes Wang Mei, the daughter of the fourth Wang family!”
“Oh my! What kind of fate is this?”
“Heavens, this is going to be troublesome!”
Seeing how surprised everyone seemed, Gu Pingting couldn’t help but grow curious. She moved closer to Aunt Zhang to hear more clearly.
“The Li and Wang families have never gotten along. Whenever they meet, they turn red in the face, and they can’t even sit at the same table to eat. This marriage is going to be difficult!”
Gu Pingting nodded. Oh, so these two families had a feud. In the stories, this would be like Li Wen falling in love with the daughter of his enemy!
Finding it interesting, Gu Pingting asked, “Does the Wang family’s daughter like Li Wen?”
Gu Pingting’s voice was soft and delicate, and with her fine clothes and noble demeanor, she looked like a young lady from an official’s family. The village aunts and sisters-in-law hadn’t expected someone as refined as her to be interested in gossip.
They pulled her into the conversation circle and whispered mysteriously, “I heard that Wang Mei is also making a fuss at home, insisting on marrying Li Wen!”
Gu Pingting clicked her tongue twice. Two people who should be enemies falling in love—this was exactly like a tragic romance story!
Growing even more curious, Gu Pingting asked, “Why do these two families have a feud?”
Aunt Zhang, who had been picking small bugs out of the rice, slapped her thigh and said, “Hah! It was about twenty-two years ago. On a stormy night with thunder and lightning, a bolt of thunder struck, and the Wang family’s chicken coop collapsed. A bald chicken ran into the Li family’s yard and was bitten to death by their dog.”
Gu Pingting: …
So it was all because of a bald chicken. How annoying.
How could a bald chicken appear in her tragic romance story?
And this feud was too trivial…
Aunt Zhang was still talking, saying the bald chicken weighed three jin and two liang, how heartbroken the Wang family was when it died, and how angry the Li family was.
Gu Pingting sighed. Probably the only one happy about this tragic romance was the Li family’s watchdog, since it ate a whole chicken weighing three jin and two liang.
Just as they were talking, a girl walked over from the village entrance. She was sixteen or seventeen years old, with a round face, big eyes, a tall stature, and a slightly plump figure. She wore a clean and tidy floral dress, and her dark hair was neatly combed. She looked like a hardworking mountain girl.
As the girl approached, she said to Aunt Zhang, “Mom, the meal is ready. Let’s go home and eat.”
Gu Pingting looked at the girl and thought she must be Zhang Rou’s older sister, named Zhang Yue. Zhang Rou had told her that her eldest sister was already married off, while her second sister Zhang Yue was still at home.
Upon hearing this, Aunt Zhang chuckled and stood up, saying she needed to head back.
Zhang Yue also spotted Gu Pingting at a glance—not for any other reason, but simply because Gu Pingting was strikingly beautiful and dressed elegantly. Wearing a peach-red waist-cinching gauze dress, she stood out far too much among the group of women at the village entrance.
It was impossible for Zhang Yue not to notice Gu Pingting.
Between women, there exists a kind of sixth sense. With just that one encounter, that one exchanged glance, Gu Pingting faintly sensed that this Zhang Yue harbored hostility toward her. And Gu Pingting herself, for no apparent reason, also disliked Zhang Yue.
That mutual feeling of dislike was subtle—no words or actions were needed for the two women to understand it perfectly.