Chapter 5

Ye Cangfeng spent half a month recovering in bed.

For that half month, my mother went to look after him every day in high spirits.

At last, he faced reality.

His father favored the adopted children. His mother favored me.

He was just a miserable little bitter gourd with no one to turn to.

So he changed his approach and began trying to please me.

First he gave me dresses and pretty jewelry. When he saw I didn’t like them, he switched to food.

That soothed me very effectively.

Once we were a little closer, he started playing the poor helpless victim.

Every so often, he’d tell me how Bighead and the others bullied him, and how pitiable and defenseless he was.

I’d been worrying about not having anyone to fight.

So I stepped forward, charged into the rear courtyard, and beat up Bighead and the rest, one by one.

When I returned victorious, Ye Cangfeng looked at me as though I were a god.

He sat beside me, his refined, otherworldly face full of admiration.

With his own hands, he peeled grapes and fed them to me.

“Little Zheng is unmatched in courage.”

“No one in the world treats me as well as Little Zheng.”

“What else would you like to eat? Your brother will buy you anything.”

Food and fights. I was so happy I could almost faint.

Rubbing my wrists, still eager for more, I said helpfully, “Brother, if they bully you again, you must tell me straightaway!”

Ye Cangfeng was silent for a few seconds. “I don’t think they’ll dare anymore.”

Because I really did pound them like glutinous rice cakes.

Over the next few months, I ran to the rear courtyard whenever I had a moment.

It happened so often that Bighead and the others weren’t the only ones who couldn’t take it. Even Ye Cangfeng broke down.

“Little Zheng, why don’t you rest for a few days? Look, you’ve beaten them so much your hands have calluses. It hurts me to see it.”

“You’ve almost beaten them beyond recognition. Keep this up and people will accuse our household of abusing prisoners of war.”

“Come on. I’ll take you out for a walk. Enjoy the good things in life.”

I caught his hand and asked hopefully, “Brother, are there people outside who bully you too?”

He choked.

“Little Zheng,” he said slowly, “surely I’m not that detestable?”

“So are there?”

“No!” he said firmly.

Bitterly disappointed, I let him pull me outside and stayed glum the whole way.

Until we encountered a group of well-born young gentlemen at a restaurant.

Their leader, the chief minister’s son, looked down at me standing beside Ye Cangfeng and said with a crooked smile, “Cangfeng, you do treasure this adopted sister of yours. You’ve kept her from us all this time.”

“Now that we’ve met, she certainly is different from those common sorts the general has adopted.”

“But why has your mother suddenly started adopting daughters too?”

“Was she afraid you’d be too sickly to find a wife, so she arranged a child bride in advance?”

They all burst out laughing. Ye Cangfeng’s face darkened, cold as frost.

Beside him, my eyes instantly lit up.

“Brother, are they bullying you?”