Xiao An also felt guilty. He asked, "Sister Jiang, do you think my arrival was orchestrated by someone else?"
Jiang Bai looked up at him and said, "I'm not sure."
But what Xiao An did was something that no normal person would do.
Xiao An bit her lip and said, "I don't care whether someone deliberately made me run into you or not. If so, I'm very grateful to them because I really like you."
When Jiang Bai heard him steer the conversation back to the topic, she couldn't help but ask, "What do you like about me?"
"I like anywhere." Seeing that Jiang Bai was willing to chat with him, Xiao An suddenly became shy.
Jiang Bai said, "I don't believe it. We've only met once or twice. You don't know me at all. All your information comes from other people."
"You don't like me, you like a woman you've imagined."
Xiao An was taken aback by Jiang Bai's bluntness, then shook her head: "I just like you. You are the most outstanding person I have ever met."
“But you’re not the best I’ve ever met.” Jiang Bai smiled sarcastically. “You’re not good enough for me.”
"Does that mean that people who aren't outstanding don't have the right to like others?" Xiao An asked indignantly, biting her lip.
He said, "I'm still young, and I still have time to work hard. Maybe I can give you a good life in the future."
"Stop making empty promises," Jiang Bai said, rubbing his forehead. "The 'don't underestimate a young man' ruse doesn't work on me. I'm already married. No matter how outstanding or mediocre you are, it has nothing to do with me."
"You can get married and then divorced," Xiao An couldn't help but say.
“It’s possible to get a divorce,” Jiang Bai glanced at him coolly, “but even if I break up with Zhao Yi, I won’t be with you.”
"Why?" Xiao An asked.
“Because you have no sense of responsibility or accountability.” Jiang Bai counted on his fingers for him.
"First, you knew perfectly well that I was better off than you and that you were not good enough for me in any way, yet you still pursued me with such confidence, which proves that you are unrealistic and have high aspirations but low abilities."
"Secondly, although you've been pursuing me in your words, you haven't brought me any real benefits. You've only added unnecessary troubles, proving that you're just a smooth talker who doesn't do anything practical."
"Third, you know perfectly well that I am already married, and people have always been very strict with women, yet you still say all sorts of nonsense in front of my husband. This only proves that you don't really love me. If you really loved me, you wouldn't have let me suffer like this."
“But your husband didn’t hurt you…” Xiao An couldn’t help but defend herself.
“That proves Zhao Yi is a good person, and it has nothing to do with you.” Jiang Bai looked at him. “When you said those words, you already put me in a position of being unjust and immoral.”
She was right. If she had really encountered a stingy and suspicious husband, Xiao An's behavior could have led to her being divorced, or even drowned in a pig cage and losing her life!
Xiao An had no way to refute it, tears streaming down her face, and said, "Sister Jiang, if you don't accept me, I really won't be able to go on living."
"You have hands and feet, you're strong, and you know how to raise cattle, what can't you do to survive?" Jiang Bai was shocked.
“You don’t understand,” Xiao An shook her head, “Once a woman gets married, she can live a life of comfort and security. How could she understand the pain and pressure that men face?”
Jiang Bai couldn't help but chuckle when he thought about how he had no money for food but still had to support these two children, and how he had endured hardship last year. When he was gathering herbs on the mountain, he couldn't stop all day, and at night he had to prepare and soak them in spiritual liquid. He could only sleep for two or three hours a day, and his feet were covered in blisters. Sometimes, he could even tear off a layer of skin when he took off his shoes.
She said, "Men and women are the same. From what you just said, I know that people with different paths cannot work together."
"You should leave as soon as it's light."
“I’m not leaving,” Xiao An said, completely bewildered as to what she had done to anger Jiang Bai. She just gritted her teeth and said, “If I leave, I’ll have nowhere else to go.”
It makes sense; after all he did, Li Xinxiang wouldn't want him anymore.
Jiang Bai didn't argue with him anymore. After gesturing for him to leave, he locked the door and left.
She walked to the bedroom door, where the maid was sitting. Seeing Jiang Bai enter, she stood up in shock: "Madam..."
"Where did you go just now?" Jiang Bai asked her.
"I didn't eat well for dinner," the maid said, rubbing her stomach. "Since there was no sound in the room, I assumed you were asleep, so I went to relieve myself."
Jiang Bai nodded, didn't ask any more questions, and went inside to sleep.
The next day, Jiang Bai woke up a little late, disturbed by the noise in the courtyard.
After she opened her eyes, she first rubbed her face, then looked to the side. Zhao Xile's seat was already empty. She had been woken up by Nanny Xu early in the morning, washed up, and sent to school.
Jiang Bai called in the maidservant who was serving at the door and asked, "What happened outside?"
The maidservant glanced timidly at Jiang Bai and replied, "Madam, Master has returned, bringing with him a couple and several children. When those people saw Xiao An, they were hitting and cursing him while trying to drag him away. Xiao An refused to leave, and the two groups started arguing in the courtyard."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Bai instantly sobered up and asked incredulously, "Zhao Yi found this?"
"Yes." The little maid nodded.
Jiang Bai suppressed his doubts, washed up properly, got dressed, and couldn't wait to go into the courtyard.
The family seemed to have exhausted themselves arguing, and they all sat on the ground. Xiao An gripped the decorative stone lion tightly and insisted, "I want to wait for Sister Jiang to come so she can tell me herself that she wants to kick me out."
"How could you be so foolish?" The only woman in the house cried, pointing at Xiao An's head. "You went against the nobleman, what good could come of it? Now the nobleman is magnanimous, not only sparing your life but also giving you a lot of money. Why don't you hurry up and come home with us?"
"Mother, I don't want the money," Xiao An gritted her teeth and glared at Zhao Yi. "I only want Sister Jiang."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Bai remained silent, but instead looked at the woman with great shock.
The woman had a full head of white hair and her face was crisscrossed with wrinkles, making her look at least fifty or sixty years old. However, Xiao An called her "Mother," and she had a newborn baby in her arms, so she was probably not very old in reality.
Before Jiang Bai could speak, the hunched-over middle-aged man spoke up; this man must be Xiao An's father.
He said, "You've probably been bewitched!"
Xiao An shook her head: "I just want to pursue my own happiness."
Jiang Bai couldn't help but step forward and stand shoulder to shoulder with Zhao Yi, saying, "It's fine for you to pursue happiness, but it's wrong to daydream every day."
"For the sake of your parents and brothers, hurry up and go."
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