In the evening, Wen Jiaojiao sat on the stone mill in the courtyard, fanning herself with a palm leaf fan to cool off. With her shamelessness as her skill, she didn't care about her drunkenness at all.
After taking a shower, Wen Zhaoye came out and, remembering Li You's words, finally couldn't help but ask:
"Didn't you just tell me a few days ago that you escaped from Xu Dajun? Why would Li You say that Xu Dajun sold you out a long time ago?"
Wen Jiaojiao paused, a flicker of panic crossing her face. She quickly composed herself, lowering her long eyelashes to conceal the fear in her eyes, and mumbled:
"I don't remember very clearly. I vaguely remember that we couldn't agree on a price. Anyway, I got injured later and forgot most of it. So I ran away from him."
Wen Zhaoye felt something was off, and stared directly at her, saying:
“You’re different from before. You weren’t such a bad drinker before, and you wouldn’t act crazy after just a few beers.”
Wen Jiaojiao swallowed hard and said slowly:
"People always change, and I haven't drunk it for a long time, so it's normal to regress."
“That doesn’t mean that following him would have turned him into this.” Wen Zhaoye retorted.
Wen Jiaojiao broke out in a cold sweat, not daring to meet his gaze at all, and stammered:
"Because...because we were involved in a honey trap scheme—I was responsible for seducing the victims, and he was responsible for blackmailing them—we made a lot of money, and our living conditions improved considerably."
Later, he got the toughest blackmailer, so he stopped doing it. His life got worse, which is why he thought of selling me; otherwise, he would have sold me countless times already.
Moreover, when Li You first saw me, I was in a pretty bad state. But later, since he was planning to sell me again, he started to treat me better and took good care of me. However, by then I didn't want to stay with him anymore, so I ran away and came back.
There was nothing wrong with what she said, but Wen Zhaoye sensed that her expression and tone were hiding something.
He walked two steps away from her, his dark eyes filled with inquiry as he gazed at the girl who had lowered her gaze.
"Is that really true? Look at me and say that."
Just then, Aunt Pang stood in front of her house and called out from a distance:
"Cuifen, it's all settled. We'll meet at the state-run restaurant in the county tomorrow."
Wen Zhaoye frowned slightly, looked up, and then heard Xu Cuifen happily exclaim:
"Honey, Mom has found you a boyfriend. Dress up nicely and go on the date tomorrow."
Taking advantage of the moment when the man in front of her looked away, Wen Jiaojiao breathed a sigh of relief and said:
"I'm not going."
Wen Zhaoye knew she was used to looking for something better while still employed, and he was completely relieved to hear Wen Jiaojiao's straightforward rejection.
You're lucky you have any conscience. Otherwise, if you ever lust after me again, I won't even let you take a second look.
The two didn't notice his expression. Xu Cuifen pulled Wen Jiaojiao into the kitchen and whispered:
"Daughter, go take a look. Mom has gone to great lengths to arrange your marriage. Can you just take a look?"
“I’m not going. I’ve already said that I don’t plan to find a partner or get married for the time being.”
“You silly child, now that the rumors about you and Zhaoye are spreading like this, if you don’t go to see him, won’t that just cause more gossip? Listen to your mother, go see him, and that will shut other people up.”
Wen Jiaojiao paused, then nodded, realizing that whether it was a blind date or not wasn't important; as long as she could distance herself from Wen Zhaoye, it would be good.
"Okay, but how am I going to get there tomorrow?"
Xu Cuifen laughed heartily:
"Your second uncle will drive an oxcart into town tomorrow to deliver watermelons, and my mother and I will go with him."
Although Wen Zhaoye couldn't hear their conversation, the angle allowed him to see through the kitchen door that Wen Jiaojiao's expression of reluctance gradually turned into helplessness and she nodded.
I can roughly guess that Xu Cuifen must have said something that forced her to compromise and agree.
He lowered his long eyelashes, an unknown emotion welling up inside him, a mixture of bitterness and angst:
She probably felt the same way last time...
The next morning, Wen Jiaojiao got up early and sat in front of the dressing table. Under Wen Zhaoye's cold gaze, she stiffly tidied herself up, feeling a pang of guilt.
I don't think I did anything else to offend him, right? Why is he giving me that constipated look first thing in the morning?
Wen Zhaoye leaned against the headboard with a cold, dark expression, and said in a sarcastic tone:
"Where are you going today? Aren't you going to harvest the wheat in the field? You're drawn like a monster. Aren't you afraid of scaring people when you go out? I'll have to pay you back for it."
Wen Jiaojiao gritted her teeth. She glanced at his dark and gloomy face through the mirror, her anger vanished instantly, her heart leaped into her throat, and she said sullenly:
"I'll be back to harvest this afternoon."
Wen Zhaoye's breathing became heavy and labored: "..."
Using the cosmetics I bought you to go on blind dates with other men, you're really something, Wen Jiaojiao.
After tidying up, Wen Jiaojiao, Xu Cuifen, and Aunt Pang arrived at Second Uncle's house. She had just sat on the flatbed cart pulled by a water buffalo.
"Plop plop~" a few times.
The buffalo produced a very impressive pile of waste, creating a stench that wafted through the air.
Wen Jiaojiao's eyes stung from the smell, and her face turned pale as she got out of the car and walked a short distance before finally getting back in.
"Plop plop~" The water buffalo hadn't taken two steps before it pooped again.
Uncle Er, driving the ox, watched as Wen Jiaojiao's eyes rolled back from the smell and explained with a smile:
"Some of the watermelons that weren't sold a few days ago were a little rotten, but we couldn't bear to throw them away."
I dug up that little bit last night and fed it to the cow. I think it got diarrhea. I'm going to the county town to buy some medicine for it; it definitely won't be like this when we get back.”
Wen Jiaojiao got out of the car again and walked away, a stiff smile appearing on her greenish face:
"fine."
On the other side, Wen Zhaoye felt increasingly uncomfortable as he thought about it, and walked out:
"Dad, I have some business at the factory, so I need to go back to the county town first."
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