"What nonsense are you spouting!"
Song Nuan's cheeks flushed bright red. She slapped his chest and scolded him playfully, "You dare to act like a hooligan anywhere? Don't you have any bottom line?"
Li Jingchen slowly put on his clothes, "What's wrong with me being a hooligan with my woman? Besides, this isn't even considered being a hooligan."
He hadn't even finished putting on his clothes, just pulled them around his neck, when he bent down and whispered in her ear, "This is a romantic gesture between lovers. I think this place is nice, how about..."
"Shut up!"
Song Nuan immediately covered his mouth with her hand, feeling an electric current run through her body, making her scalp tingle and her blood boil.
She was actually somewhat looking forward to it...
He's really sick!
Li Jingchen is ill, and she has become quite ill from spending so much time with him.
His eyes were full of laughter, almost overflowing. He leaned back slightly, dodging Song Nuan's hand, and said calmly, "I was wondering if you would consider watching the sunrise here."
"That's all?" Song Nuan was dumbfounded.
"What else did you think?"
"..."
Song Nuan really wanted to beat him up. She was both angry and speechless. "Standing here in the cold wind all night to watch the sunrise, did you hit your head just now?"
"Okay, let's go to Qiu Rong's house to get the groceries, and then go home."
As soon as he finished speaking, a slight noise was heard.
It sounded like footsteps, but it didn't quite sound like footsteps. Song Nuan shuddered and instinctively grabbed Li Jingchen's arm.
"What's wrong?"
"It looks like someone's there."
Upon hearing this, Li Jingchen frowned, picked up the flashlight that had just fallen to the ground, and carefully shone it around the area, but did not find a single person.
"No," he reassured her. "You must have misheard. Let's go."
Song Nuan nodded, not bothering to argue with him, and followed him away.
...
The next day, Song Nuan was awakened by a series of banging sounds on the door.
Li Jingchen was not by her side.
She rubbed her eyes, went to open the door, and saw that it was a member of Qiu Rong's team. She thought it was some urgent work matter.
Unexpectedly, he said, "President Song, something bad has happened! President Qiu is arguing with the villagers and can't be persuaded no matter what we do. He's over at the ancestral hall. You should go and take a look right away."
Song Nuan was stunned for a few seconds, then immediately went back into the house to put on her clothes.
"How did they end up arguing?"
She has always been in charge of negotiating with the villagers at work. Although a small number of villagers have objections to building the hotel, it is only a very small minority; the majority of them are very supportive.
Those who oppose it also feel that the construction will disturb them or affect their crop harvest.
These problems are all easy to solve, as long as enough money is paid.
Logically speaking, there shouldn't be an argument with Qiu Rong.
“I don’t know either. This morning, Mr. Qiu said he was going out to check out the site, but he never came back. When I went out, he was arguing fiercely with the villagers, and they were almost fighting.”
Is it that serious?
Song Nuan quickened her pace, ignoring the extent of her ankle injury.
It's not far from the hotel to the ancestral hall, just a few hundred meters, which takes about five minutes if you walk fast.
Even from a distance, Song Nuan could hear a huge argument, a mix of male and female voices, Mandarin and local accents, rising and falling, making her head buzz.
"President Qiu!"
Upon seeing Qiu Rong, Song Nuan called out to him loudly, ran to his side, and pulled him behind her, saying, "Everyone, stop arguing!"
"Oh, she's here." A woman who had been watching the spectacle laughed out loud. There was little goodwill in her laughter; there was veiled mockery and, more obviously, a desire to watch the drama unfold.
Turning her head, Song Nuan saw Ding Zhuang.
He pulled the woman who was arguing with Qiu Rong. The two even looked somewhat alike. Could they be family?
The next second confirmed her guess.
"Zhuang'er, ask her yourself what she was up to last night! You're still defending this slutty, shameless woman? Are you trying to drive me crazy?"
What?
The short sentence was overwhelming with information; Song Nuan frowned, having no idea what she was talking about.
Qiu Rong became even angrier upon hearing this, "President Song, you should go back. I will handle this matter properly."
"What exactly happened?"
Ding Zhuang's eyes were red-rimmed and looked swollen, making his already small eyes appear even smaller.
He looked at Song Nuan with a pitiful expression and asked, "Miss Song, they said... you went to the fields with a man last night, is what they said true?"
Song Nuan's expression froze. What had she just heard?
"What did you say?"
The woman scoffed, "Look at her, she's probably the one! When have people in our village ever talked nonsense? You're coming home with me right now, and you're never allowed to associate with this woman again!"
Song Nuan was completely stunned. She turned to look at Qiu Rong with pleading eyes.
Qiu Rong was also quite helpless, and relayed the whole story to her.
"I don't know what happened this morning, but suddenly a bunch of people came up to me asking about you, saying whether you came to accompany... I found it very strange, and after pressing them, I learned that rumors about you were circulating all over the village."
"What scandal?"
"They said you were fooling around with a man in the fields last night, and that you took off his pants."
"..."
Feeling her blood surging, Song Nuan rubbed her temples, telling herself to calm down.
She called out to the woman, walked up to her, and asked coldly, "Auntie, where did you hear these things? Or did you see them with your own eyes?"
"What?" the woman asked, staring at her warily.
Song Nuan roughly guessed her identity, glanced at Ding Zhuang, and then looked at her.
"Are you Dingzhuang's mother? First of all, thank you very much for the steamed buns you made for me that day. As for what you said, it's all a rumor, and I don't want to pursue it. I hope you will stop spreading rumors."
Ding Zhuang's eyes lit up. "Really?"
Ding Zhuang's mother pinched his thigh in exasperation, "You good-for-nothing! Those pretty women are all vixens; they'll seduce men without batting an eye! Why don't you believe me?"
"Mom, Miss Song isn't that kind of person!"
"You stubborn brat! How can you be so narrow-minded! She's only been here a few days, and she's already had so many different men around her. Haven't you seen it with your own eyes?"
Ding Zhuang's mother was furious. In order to make her son realize his mistakes, she gritted her teeth and listed Song Nuan's crimes in front of everyone.
"On the first day, when she entered the village, this man surnamed Qiu personally went to pick her up."
“She went up the mountain a couple of days ago. I wasn’t there, but so many villagers were there to help. Everyone saw her sleeping with that pretty boy all night.”
“My son was asked by a man surnamed Qiu to go up the mountain to rescue her, but that pretty boy wouldn’t let my son touch her. Even though he was injured, he had to endure the pain and carry her down the mountain himself.”
"Not to mention last night!"
Song Nuan smiled and took the opportunity to ask, "What happened last night? Tell me about it."
Ding Zhuang's mother choked, her face turning pale and then red. "I didn't see it with my own eyes last night, but you've been sharing a room with another man since yesterday. Don't think I don't know!"
Song Nuan knew that the person she was referring to was probably Li Jingchen.
"so what?"
A cold, deep voice rang out.
Ding Zhuang's mother pointed at Song Nuan's back and screamed in surprise, as if to convince everyone, "It's this man who lives in the same room as this shameless woman!"
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