“Auntie Liu was the one who said it. I wasn’t making things up. She saw it with her own eyes, so how could it be fake?
“You people have the nerve to do it, but won’t let others talk about it?”
The woman spoke defiantly. If it weren’t for Nan Jing’s dark expression, she would have said far more than that.
Nan Jing’s sword-like brows knitted tightly together as he said displeasedly, “It’s not a widow’s place to interfere in the affairs of my Nan family. Instead of meddling in other people’s family matters, you’d be better off going home and repairing that mud wall of yours that gets knocked loose night after night.
“If that courtyard wall collapses one day, then I won’t be the only one who knows about it anymore. Or perhaps you’d actually be happy to let the entire village know about the disgraceful things you’ve been doing.”
…
Nan Jing’s words struck like a bolt from the blue.
The air seemed to freeze.
The woman’s previously arrogant face instantly turned pale.
Her lips opened and closed, while her eyes widened until they were nearly as large as copper bells.
Nan Jing glanced at her, his eyes filled with warning.
Seeing the woman standing there in stunned silence, Nan Jing didn’t bother wasting any more words on her and strode toward Fu Nanxun’s house.
After walking a few steps, he turned around and said, “Fu Nanxun is the future son-in-law of my Nan family. If anyone keeps running their mouth and talking nonsense every day, I, Nan Jing, will tear that person’s mouth apart.”
After leaving those words behind, Nan Jing truly walked away without looking back.
The woman was still standing there in a daze.
She thought to herself that she was finished.
How did Nan Jing know?
If that brat went around spreading word that she had been secretly seeing another man, what was she supposed to do?
“Ahem… Li Hongmei, what that brat Nan Jing said couldn’t actually be true, could it?”
Hearing the voice beside her, Li Hongmei finally came back to her senses.
Her heart immediately went cold.
She was really doomed now.
How had she forgotten about the two women standing beside her?
Once the two of them found out about something, it wouldn’t even take until nightfall before the entire village knew.
Don’t ask her how she knew.
Because the three of them were famously known throughout the village as the “Three Big-Mouthed Musketeers.”
Once anything reached their ears, both the speed and efficiency with which it spread were remarkably high.
“Don’t listen to that brat’s nonsense. Don’t you two know what kind of person I am? How could I possibly do something like that? He only deliberately slandered me because he heard us gossiping about that money-losing girl from his family.”
As Li Hongmei spoke, her hand subconsciously wiped the sweat from her forehead.
But such an ordinary action, in the eyes of people who knew her well, was clearly the reaction of someone whose secret had been exposed and who had a guilty conscience.
“Oh? That Nan Jing brat really knows how to make things up. He described it as though he had seen it with his own eyes. I almost believed him.”
The two women exchanged meaningful glances.
Then one of them said, “Sigh, it’s getting late. I need to go home and cook. Otherwise, my man will get angry again when he comes back.”
“That’s right, that’s right. Let’s go home together. I haven’t cooked either. We came straight here to chat after getting off work and completely forgot about making dinner.”
The two women echoed each other and were about to leave when Li Hongmei grabbed them.
“Where are you two going? Are you going to spread nonsense? I won’t allow it!”
Li Hongmei’s eyes turned red with anxiety, and even her voice became shrill.
She knew them far too well.
When had cooking ever been more important than spreading someone else’s business?
After all, she was exactly the same!
“Li Hongmei, let go of me!”
The two women wanted to leave, but being grabbed like this inevitably made them unhappy.
“I already told you that brat Nan Jing was making it all up. He only framed me because he heard us gossiping about his family.”
Li Hongmei couldn’t imagine what she would do if her disgraceful affair really spread throughout the village.
How would she have the face to go on living?
And if she left the village, where could she possibly go?
“We didn’t even say anything. Why are you getting so worked up? Could it actually be true?”
“Exactly. Looking at you like this, that brat must have hit the nail on the head.”
The two women exchanged another glance.
Each of them thought that among the three of them, Li Hongmei was usually the one who liked acting as though she knew best.
No matter what they discussed, she always had to have the final say.
Now that they had stumbled across such enormous gossip, could they possibly let it slip away?
Obviously not.
In the end, Li Hongmei could only watch helplessly as the two women left with excited expressions.
By now, she regretted it so much that her intestines practically turned green.
She should have gone straight home after finishing work.
Why had she insisted on coming out to gossip with them?
Now look what had happened.
What was she supposed to do?
Li Cuihua wore a miserable expression. She was so anxious she was practically smoking, yet she had no way to stop what was about to happen.
She thought to herself that once the rumors spread, she would simply deny everything to the death.
As long as she refused to admit it, they wouldn’t have any real evidence.
Without evidence, it couldn’t be considered the truth.
When the time came, she could even turn around and accuse Nan Jing instead.
Let’s see what he would do then.
The more she thought about it, the more feasible the idea seemed.
Li Cuihua’s earlier anxiety gradually disappeared.
Instead of remaining passive, she might as well strike first.
…
When Nan Jing arrived outside Fu Nanxun’s house, he heard heavy but desperately suppressed groans coming from inside.
“Fu Nanxun, what’s wrong with you?”
Nan Jing hurriedly asked.
The door was locked from the inside. He pushed hard several times, but it wouldn’t open.
Nan Jing pounded heavily on the door, producing a series of loud bangs.
Seeing that the person inside didn’t respond, Nan Jing frowned slightly.
The door wouldn’t open, and no one was answering.
He had promised his little sister that he would come check on Fu Nanxun.
What if something had really happened?
Nan Jing didn’t have time to think further.
He put down the things in his hands and prepared to ram the door open.
But just as he got into position, the door suddenly opened from the inside.
Fu Nanxun’s face was somewhat pale, and large beads of sweat covered his forehead.
“Fu Nanxun, what happened to you?”
Nan Jing asked with a frown.
Looking at him like this, Nan Jing couldn’t help feeling uncomfortable.
Speaking of which, the two of them had even played together when they were children.
Fu Nanxun was about the same age as him.
If Fu Nanxun hadn’t later joined the army, the two of them probably would have had a very good relationship.
“Why are you here?”
Fu Nanxun asked hoarsely.
Without Nan Jing noticing, his dark eyes instinctively glanced behind him.
Seeing that Nan Jing was alone, he inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief.
“I came to bring you food. By the way, what were you doing just now? Why did it take you so long to open the door?”
As Nan Jing spoke, he carried the food and water flask straight into the room without the slightest hesitation.
Fu Nanxun unconsciously touched his leg, which had gone somewhat numb after aching for a while, and slowly said, “It’s nothing.”
Nan Jing placed the things on the table and thoughtfully opened the packed food.
He wouldn’t have known if he hadn’t looked.
But the moment he did, he was shocked.
He had never seen this kind of bowl before?
Not only was it beautiful, but it even had a lid.
No wonder not a single drop of the milky-white soup had spilled.
And more importantly, the food was far too sumptuous.
It was better than what their family ate during the New Year.
There was fragrant fish soup, stir-fried pork with green peppers—with plenty of meat—another plate of green vegetables, and a large bowl of snow-white rice?
This?
How long had it been since he had tasted meat?
As for white rice, he couldn’t even remember what it tasted like anymore.
Seriously, what kind of joke was his little sister playing?
She was really determined to be with Fu Nanxun!
Fu Nanxun looked at Nan Jing, who kept staring at the food on the table with an incredibly colorful expression.
He couldn’t help frowning.
The rich aroma of the food filled his nose.
When he walked closer and took a look, he too froze.
This food…
When she had said she would go home and cook for him, he had thought she was only saying it casually.
He hadn’t expected…
Fu Nanxun glanced at the food on the table before looking at Nan Jing again.
Judging by his expression, even the person delivering the food clearly hadn’t known how sumptuous the meal inside was.
It seemed she had done this without her family’s permission?
And she had even extravagantly taken food from her own household to give him.
Fu Nanxun found himself increasingly unable to understand what Nan Qianqian was trying to do.
“I’m not hungry. Take it home.”
Nan Jing froze.
Before he could speak, someone else beat him to it.
“No.”