Chapter 50 Asking for Trouble
As soon as Aunt Liu finished speaking, Wu Yuetang saw a man and a woman walking up from behind.
The man wore a moon-white robe, his figure slender and upright. His eyebrows were clear and bright, like ink, and his gentle eyes shone with a scholarly air. He had a high nose bridge and pale lips. A few strands of hair hung at his temples, and he appeared to be elegant, exuding a calm and refined aura.
The woman beside him wore a scarlet embroidered gauze skirt, the few pearl hairpins in her hair tinkling with a shimmering golden jingle. Her brows were slightly furrowed, as if frosted, her eyes cast a hint of disdain. She clutched an embroidered handkerchief to her lips, covering her mouth and nose with her fingertips. Even the crabapple flowers in her hair seemed tinged with pride and impatience.
Wu Yuetang lowered her eyes to suppress the disgust welling in them, her long eyelashes casting a fine shadow across her face. As the two men approached, crushing the shadows of the locust trees scattered across the ground, she slowly narrowed her eyes, her peripheral vision catching sight of the jade pendant faintly visible between the man's wide sleeves—the object had been a token of love stolen from Li and the eldest and second sisters-in-law by its original owner in exchange for their dowries.
A sharp, stinging pain rose in her chest, and a sweet, fishy sensation welled up in her throat, as if she wanted to vomit out all the foolish, wasted years. Her fingertips unconsciously dug into her palm, and she sneered inwardly: True love misplaced is truly the most despicable. Even the gentle smile on the man before her seemed like icing sugar laced with poison.
Wu Yuetang dug her nails deep into her palms, forcing the spit in her throat into a forced smile. She raised the corners of her lips, and the arch of her eyes looked like a poisoned blade: "Isn't this the young master of the Wang family? In the past, the wealthy and powerful looked down on the humble, but why, here on this deserted road, is he thinking of his old friend?"
As Wang Xiaobin bowed, the hem of his blue shirt brushed against the gravel on the ground. His voice, deliberately softened, was laced with sweet, flattering words: "I heard Miss Yuetang's convoy was at the front. I've been worried about her all this time, and now that I've finally found the opportunity, I naturally have to come and pay her a visit."
Wu Yuetang suddenly let out a low laugh, the sound as clear as jade shattering on bluestone. She spoke slowly, each word hammering home, "The Wang family is truly particular about etiquette—they didn't visit during the famine, when we were gnawed at tree bark, but now that they've fled with their families, they remember etiquette? Such refinement is truly eye-opening."
Wu Shoutian's knuckles turned white as he gripped the pancake, and Li's hand, which was pinching the corner of her clothes, trembled slightly. She wanted to take a step forward to protect her daughter, but she froze in place when she caught a glimpse of the cold light in Wu Yuetang's eyes - that sinister smile was like a poisoned silver needle, which stopped the two elders in their tracks.
Wang Xiaobin kept his eyes downcast, but the veins in his sleeves throbbed beneath the fabric. The woman beside him couldn't contain herself any longer, her gold-embroidered skirt sweeping across the gravel. Her almond-shaped eyes widened, her pearls trembling. "How dare you, a country wretch! Brother Xiaobin will surely win first place in the imperial examination someday. How dare you, a filthy thing, interfere with him?"
Wu Yuetang tilted her head and chuckled softly, her fingertips twirling the hair that had become scattered by her busy life. The redness at the corners of her eyes was quite endearing. She suddenly took a few steps closer, taking in the lines of the red hairpin on the woman's head. "Isn't this the sister of the Wang family's classmate? I heard your father was able to secure a sinecure thanks to a cousin in the capital?"
Before he even finished speaking, he clapped his hands and burst into laughter, startling the crows in the trees. "Wonderful! A top scholar and a daughter of an official, they truly are... a perfect match made in heaven!"
The ending tone was long, like holding half a bitter almond that could not be chewed, bringing a biting chill on this hot and dry road of fleeing from famine.
Wang Xiaobin hurriedly grasped the woman's raised wrist, stumbling half a step to block her path. The hem of his blue shirt swept across the gravel on the ground, raising a gray mist. He clasped his fists and bowed, the jade pendant at his waist swaying slightly. His voice was shrouded in deliberate tenderness. "Please forgive Miss Tang. Miss Linlin has been raised in seclusion since childhood, so please forgive her for her unguarded words. She's originally from a neighboring town, and we happened to meet when the disaster struck, so she joined us."
Wu Yuetang seemed oblivious. As she turned, her skirt wafting a wisp of burnt food, she walked straight toward the wooden table piled with earthenware bowls beside the bonfire. As she picked up half a steaming meat pie and was about to eat it, she heard a deliberately suppressed gasp behind her. Wang Xiaobin was staring intently at the golden meat pie in the bamboo basket, his Adam's apple rolling up and down, his eyes almost filled with greed.
He hurriedly straightened his crooked collar, his voice rising sharply: "No wonder the villagers on the road were all talking about the Wu family's excellent cooking skills."
His eyes were glued to the greasy crust, unable to move away. "That bowl of Yangchun noodles in the alley behind the school, I still remember it to this day. The cooking skills now... wow, even the imperial chef in the capital would be impressed."
Wu Qingeng stood before the bonfire like an iron tower, the axe hanging from his waist making a cold clinking sound as he moved. His clenched fists were white at the knuckles, and his eyes pierced Wang Xiaobin. "Back then, my little sister copied books for you, rubbed all ten of her fingers raw. She brought me an umbrella in the rain and got gonorrhea for half a month. And yet, you treated her like a servant! Now that disaster has struck, you're begging for food with a servile face? Have the integrity of scholars been thrown to the dogs?" His spit practically splashed onto Wang Xiaobin's pale face.
Wang Xiaobin's neck flushed red from the choking, but the sizzling meat patties in the bamboo basket were emitting an alluring aroma. The excruciating pain in his stomach made him grit his teeth. His Adam's apple rolled twice with difficulty, his nails almost digging into his palms before he could steady his trembling voice.
Wu Yuetang leaned against a rough tree stump, slowly wiping the oil stains from his fingertips without even raising his eyelids: "Want one? Ten cents each." His voice was light, but it was like a hot iron hitting the ground.
"Ten cents?!" The woman called Linlin suddenly jumped up, her jeweled hair nearly falling off. She pounced on Wang Xiaobin's three-inch golden lotus feet, pointing her handkerchief directly at Wu Yuetang's nose. "You're robbing me! Brother Xiaobin condescended to ask for your help because it's a huge honor for your Wu family!"
The sharp voice startled the birds perched on the treetops and made them fly away in panic. Her flushed face was distorted, like a wild cat whose tail was stepped on.
Wang Xiaobin completely tore off his gentlemanly disguise, the veins on his neck bulged like twisted earthworms, and his bloodshot eyes almost popped out of their sockets: "Why are you pretending to be so noble! The bamboo basket is piled high, but you only want two buns to fill your stomach, and you are so mercenary!" His trembling fingers almost poked Wu Yuetang's nose, and his heavy breathing exhaled a sour smell.
Wu Yuetang slowly picked up the golden, crispy pancake and broke it into crumbs in front of everyone. She gently tapped the puppy's moist nose with her fingertips, and the crumbs fell into its mouth like snowflakes. "See? This is a special supply for the dogs. If you're greedy, young master..." Her voice trailed off in a trembling tone, and her eyes flickered with mockery, "Are you trying to compete with the beasts for food?"
"You!" Wang Xiaobin's forehead throbbed, his elegant face cracking into a ferocious expression. Before he could react, the hyena cub in his arms suddenly let out a deep roar, its fangs flashing coldly, and its sharp teeth had already bitten into his indigo trouser leg.
Linlin's piercing scream pierced the sky, her pearl-studded embroidered shoes stomped frantically in the dust, and the pearls and jade scattered from her hair jingled and rolled all over the ground.
"Back when you treated me like an ox or a horse, did you ever show me any kindness?" Wu Yuetang stepped on the debris on the ground and approached, her toes accurately rolling over Wang Xiaobin's struggling instep. "Want to eat? That's easy—"
She suddenly smiled brightly, but there was ice in her eyes. "Either you admit in public that you were born to eat raw meat and drink blood, or you move your family to Dayao Village. Maybe in the future you can get a share of some vegetables and half meat made by my Wu family." Before she finished speaking, the onlookers burst into laughter, making Wang Xiaobin's face, which had turned the color of liver, look even more ridiculous.
The hyena cub whimpered menacingly, its saliva leaving dark stains along its trouser legs. Wang Xiaobin's face flushed red as he tore at his trouser legs. His hair was askew, and the hem of his long gown was stained with mud. He no longer looked like a scholar.
He roared at the top of his lungs, "Wu Yuetang! I will make you pay tenfold for today's humiliation!"
Wu Yuetang flicked the puppy's head with her finger, then slowly brushed off the dust as everyone stared at her with suppressed laughter: "We'll see."
When she turned around, the bonfire made the silk flowers on her temples look as seductive as blood. Wang Xiaobin's angry curses came from behind her, which seemed like the funniest footnote to this farce.
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