Chapter 6

Chapter 6

“I do not like him!” I felt deeply insulted.

It was as if someone had compared me to a pile of poop. I truly felt wronged.

He said, “Then let’s get revenge together.”

“As if it’s that easy? Do you think I don’t want to? I just don’t have any ideas. What wicked little scheme do you have?”

“Come up here and talk!”

He reached out to pull me up into the tree.

I gave a soft scoff, avoided his hand, lifted my skirt, and climbed up the tree myself.

Sitting up in the tree, with a light breeze drifting by and the view stretching far into the distance, everyone below seemed much smaller.

I suddenly missed home a little. I missed Grandmother.

Ah Shi clicked his tongue. “Didn’t expect that. You’re pretty good at climbing trees.”

I chuckled. “I’m also pretty good at listening to dogs bark.”

Ah Shi realized I was calling him a dog.

“Well, well, Li Caicai. I originally had a good idea, but since you called me a dog, I won’t tell you now.”

“You didn’t come up with anything at all.”

“Hah. I know you’re trying to provoke me, but there’s no harm in telling you. I have a water pouch. We can loosen the cap a little. As soon as Xie Rujue sits on it, it’ll soak his pants. I was going to give the water pouch to you, but since you insulted me… hmph!”

He crossed his arms, turned his face away, and looked unbearably smug.

Me: “…”

Grandmother used to say trouble comes from the mouth. She was right.

Three times a day, I should examine myself: Did I keep my mouth shut today? Did I? Shut up already, you chatterbox!

I opened my mouth. “Woof, woof!”

Ah Shi stared at me in shock, then clutched his stomach and burst into wild laughter. “Hahahahahahaha!”

He took out the water pouch, and together, we went to do something wicked.

He was in charge of luring the tiger away from the mountain, drawing off the people watching the carriage yard. I was in charge of placing the water pouch on Xie Rujue’s seat and disguising it a little.

Later, I got into the carriage with the Xie Family girls and kept my ears perked for any movement. Sure enough, I heard Xie Rujue’s startled cry come from another carriage.

I was secretly delighted, and the whole ride back, I felt refreshed and at ease.

When we arrived at the Xie Family and got out of the carriages, I hid off to the side. Only after everyone had left did I see Xie Rujue climb out of the carriage with a face full of bad luck, covering himself as he hurried back to his own courtyard.

Now, Xie Rujue looked utterly shocked, his face filled with humiliation.

“So you were in league with Prince Chen from that early on. You ate and lived in my Xie Family for three years. After doing something like that, how can you face us? Even if I wronged you, what about my mother? What about my father? They never wronged you!”

In the end, he finally asked the question.

I thought perhaps this was Madame Zhou’s question as well.

They believed that using one marriage contract in exchange for three years of my food and lodging at the Xie Family meant I had benefited, and they had suffered a loss.

“Then what did you want me to do? Did you want me to throw away the marriage contract and simply leave?”

“Then you could happily say I repaid kindness without seeking reward, that I was noble and righteous, that I understood the greater good. You would have been satisfied, but… what good would that have done me?”

“Perhaps I would have gained a good reputation, but I was about to starve to death. What use did I have for reputation?”

“Just like your father. Back then, when he was on the verge of death, my grandmother saved him. He wanted my grandmother to use good medicine to treat him, so he made all sorts of promises.”

“But my grandmother remained unmoved. When he saw that my grandmother valued me dearly, he praised me as if I were a flower and betrothed you to me.”

“In truth, even if he had said nothing, my grandmother still would have saved him. He was the one who felt uneasy, afraid, terrified. He only wanted to survive, and that was why he said those things.”

“He was the one who forced the marriage contract on us. My grandmother kept it because she was truly afraid your father would walk away and never return. After all, those medicinal herbs were not cheap. She was waiting for your family to bring money and exchange it for the marriage contract.”

“But she waited two years, and not one member of your Xie Family came to our door with money to redeem that marriage contract. If you had given me the money back then, I could have bought medicine and food. Perhaps my grandmother might have held on for another two years.”

“You think your family suffered a loss? But your father stayed in my home for three months! My grandmother and I carefully cared for him for three whole months!!!”

“Those medicinal herbs, that food-things your Marquis Manor could obtain with a snap of your fingers-were things a family in the mountains had to trade their lives for.”

“I lived in the Marquis Manor for three years, but I didn’t consume your family’s precious medicines, and I didn’t ask for fine clothes or delicacies. What I did receive was three years of your scowling face.”

“If my grandmother were still alive, if I still had her protecting me, why would I have traveled such a long road to your Xie Family just to suffer three years of humiliation?”

“You feel wronged? Xie Rujue, what right do you have to feel wronged!!!”

“Even the least clever girl in our village knows not to get involved with a good-for-nothing. Do you think fine clothes and rich food can cover up the empty-headed fool inside you? Dream on!”

“The moment you open your mouth, I know exactly what sort of trash you are. In this lifetime, there will never be anything like affection between you and me.”