Chapter 15 Zhao Yunjing looked at Zhou Mujiao with a deep gaze.
Peach Blossom Village is very large, and the houses are scattered. Only when you reach the center of the village do the houses become more concentrated. When she left in the morning, it was still dark, so she didn't notice what Peach Blossom Village looked like. However, on the way back, she had a chance to take a closer look.
Peach Blossom Village is actually quite poor. The houses in front of us are not much better than the Zhao family's. Among the houses in front, only one tile-roofed house looks a bit new. It is the most common style nowadays, which looks very out of place among this row of dilapidated houses.
A girl wearing a light blue floral dress stood in front of the house. She looked to be about 1.7 meters tall, with a strong physique and a healthy appearance.
The closer Zhou Mujiao got to the girl, the more nervous Zhao Yunjing became. She went through her mind and understood.
It seems that Zhao Yunjing and that girl have some unspeakable secrets.
Zhou Mujiao rummaged through the pile of things and pulled out a bag of maltose candy, striking a pose as if she were watching a melon.
Zhao Yunjing seemed to sense something and suddenly turned around. Their eyes met, and Zhou Mujiao blinked: "Hello, Brother Zhao, do you want some?"
Zhao Yunjing quickly turned back: "I won't eat."
The oxcart arrived in front of the house, and a girl in a little blue dress came up to greet him: "It really is Brother Zhao! I thought I was seeing things! Brother Zhao, whose goods are you hauling for?"
Zhao Yunjing remained silent, his handsome face appearing several shades darker. The girl, however, seemed oblivious, cheerfully saying, "Coming back at this hour, you must have left before dawn, right? Brother Zhao, come inside, have a drink of water, and rest a bit before you go on your way!"
The girl was standing in front of the oxcart, so Zhao Yunjing had to speak up: "Thank you, Miss Chen, but I won't drink the water, I'm in a hurry."
"Oh, why call me Miss Chen? Just call me Xiuxiu, like when we were kids!" Chen Xiuxiu said, then reached out to pull Zhao Yunjing. "Brother Zhao, I haven't seen you for a long time. I have so much to tell you. Come down!"
Zhao Yunjing pulled his hand away, expressionless: "Miss Chen, it's best to stay away from me. Be careful not to be affected by my bad luck and bump into something or fall."
Chen Xiuxiu: "Brother Zhao, you care about me? Xiuxiu is so happy! Xiuxiu thought you would never talk to her again! Brother Zhao, I don't believe in fate. Good luck and bad luck are just nonsense. Besides, those people who said you were unlucky haven't become very successful!"
This girl has pretty sound values.
Zhou Mujiao called out, "Xiuxiu-gu—"
Before she could even open her mouth, Chen Xiuxiu's expression changed, and she questioned Zhao Yunjing: "Brother Zhao, who is she? You've been ignoring me all this time because of her?! You vixen, I'll tear you apart!"
Zhou Mujiao silently retracted her previous compliment.
Chen Wan'er, Chen Liangjin, and Chen Xiuxiu—she's managed to offend three people with the surname Chen in just one day. She must have dug up the Chen family's ancestral graves in her past life, otherwise, how can this ill-fated relationship be explained?
As soon as Chen Xiuxiu moved, Zhao Yunjing stepped in front of her to block her way: "Miss Chen!"
"You like her, don't you?! Brother Zhao! We agreed to get married when we grew up! How could you like someone else! And such a vixen at that!" Chen Xiuxiu was devastated. "Get out of my way! I'm going to beat her to death! How dare she seduce you!"
Zhao Yunjing didn't dare to look back at Zhou Mujiao's face. He said in a deep voice, "Miss Chen, please have some self-respect. You may not care about your reputation, but I'm afraid I might lose my innocence!"
Chen Xiuxiu stomped her foot: "Zhao Yunjing, you clearly said it! I remember it all! Every single word!"
"I didn't say that."
"You said it! You did say it!"
Seeing that the plot was getting more and more like a melodramatic soap opera, Zhou Mujiao quickly brought the conversation back on track: "Miss Chen, when did Yun Jing tell you this?"
"You call him Yun Jing? You shameless! What gives you the right to call him Yun Jing?!"
"So you yourself can't say for sure when Yun Jing said it, maybe it's just something you made up."
Chen Xiuxiu became anxious: "It's not something I imagined! It was Brother Zhao himself who said it! He said he would marry me when we grow up! He said it when I was five years old! In front of all our friends!"
"Five years old, and you said it in front of all your friends?" Zhou Mujiao couldn't help but burst out laughing. "Miss Chen, are you sure you weren't just playing house back then?"
"...Anyway, he said he has to take responsibility! Brother Zhao, have your father come over tomorrow, we—"
Zhou Mujiao slowly interrupted, "If you have to take responsibility for what you say in a game of house, then if Miss Chen dreams that she is the empress, would she also rush into the palace and make the empress abdicate in your favor?"
Chen Xiuxiu's expression changed, but Zhao Yunjing had already pushed her away and driven off in the oxcart.
Zhou Mujiao waved with a smile: "Xiuxiu, I wish you all your dreams come true soon!"
Chen Xiuxiu wanted to chase after him, but a woman ran out of the house and grabbed Chen Xiuxiu's arm: "Chen Xiuxiu! I told you not to play with that unlucky guy, I've told you every day and every month, but you just ignore me! Do you only realize you're scared when he kills you? Huh?!"
"Mother, don't believe those nonsense people say. Brother Zhao's bad luck is nothing but—ah!"
Chen Xiuxiu suddenly lost her footing and fell face-first into the mud.
"I told you he was unlucky, look at you now!"
"Mother, this is an accident, it's because the ground is uneven, I'm sure—ah!!"
Chen Xiuxiu fell again, and the mother and daughter of the Chen family were both cursing and crying, making quite a scene.
"Brother Zhao! I won't give up! I'm determined to marry you in this lifetime!"
Zhou Mujiao clicked her tongue, looked away, and silently peeled a piece of candy and popped it into her mouth.
Zhao Yunjing held the chariot, his whole body tense.
Once the noise behind them had subsided, Zhao Yunjing's muffled voice came through: "She's lying. I didn't say those things."
Zhou Mujiao initially didn't take it seriously, thinking it was just a game, but Zhao Yunjing's certainty made her want to get a piece of the story: "You said it when you were five, and more than ten years later, you still remember it, Brother Zhao?"
The oxcart stopped, and Zhao Yunjing turned around, staring at her seriously: "I've never played house with them."
He paused for a moment and then said, "When I was born, a fortune teller said that I would be plagued by bad luck for the rest of my life, and that anyone who got close to me would suffer misfortune."
As the first child of the Zhao family, Zhao Yunjing was a source of great joy for the entire family. His grandparents immediately chased away the fortune teller. However, less than two months later, his grandparents fell ill and passed away one after the other. Other members of the Zhao family also suffered setbacks and falls. Even the Zhao family's fields gradually became unusable for growing anything.
Later, the neighbors who lived near the Zhao family also experienced a decline in their harvests, and the fields adjacent to the Zhao family also became unable to grow anything.
Zhao Yunjing was subjected to endless scorn in the village. The villagers forbade their children from playing with him, and when they saw him, they would point at him and tell their children, "Look, this is the unlucky guy. If you play with him, you will lose your father and mother, and you will have no food to eat!"
Zhao Yunjing lived a life of being ostracized in the village, growing up alone until he was five years old. The Zhao family split up, and his family moved to the mountains, which brought his life to an end.
Some people use their childhood to warm the rest of their lives, while others need to use the rest of their lives to heal from their childhood.
Zhou Mujiao peeled a piece of candy and put it in Zhao Yunjing's mouth, asking, "Brother Zhao, is it sweet?"
The maltose melted in his mouth, its sweetness spreading across his tongue. Zhao Yunjing looked at Zhou Mujiao with a deep gaze: "Sweet."
"Then let's hurry back. There's food, clothes, and candy. Shiba will be ecstatic."
Not only will Shi Ba be ecstatic, but the entire Zhao family will be ecstatic, because in addition to food, drink, and clothing, an even bigger surprise is on its way.
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