"I won't refuse. I'll take it. I’m quite poor, you know; I was just being polite earlier." Xu Qinghuan’s eyes grew warm as well.
Lin Xialan was amused by this, and tears trembled on her eyelashes.
Lin Xialan wasn't a stunning beauty, but she had refined features and bright, spirited eyes. Her only drawback was that she was a bit dark-skinned and her complexion was somewhat rough, which made her feel quite insecure. In the book, she would later marry Du Jiakang, the second son of the Du family in Yanshi. However, he had a childhood sweetheart, his sworn sister Wu Kexin, and due to social norms, the two could only carry on an illicit affair. This made Lin Xialan’s life miserable; for years after their marriage, Du Jiakang never touched her. Lin Xialan had always believed it was because she was ugly, dark, and rough, and following her sister-in-law's accident and her own family's misfortune, she fell into a deep depression and jumped to her death.
"Open your mouth!" Xu Qinghuan pinched a beauty pill between her fingers. She had made it based on a formula from the medical books in her Space, using only medicinal herbs and spiritual water from within it.
Lin Xialan didn't even ask what Xu Qinghuan was giving her; she obediently opened her mouth wide. A pill was flicked into her mouth, and before she could even taste it, it melted instantly and slid down her throat.
"What was that?" Lin Xialan felt it was slightly sweet with a hint of bitterness. She wasn't sick, so why take medicine?
"Poison!" Xu Qinghuan teased.
"Oh, really? You dare feed me poison? Tell me, admit it, you’re just jealous of my beauty and talent, aren't you? Aren't you?" As she said this, she lunged forward to tickle Xu Qinghuan, and the two began to play around in the small grove by the roadside outside the hospital entrance.
"Sister!"
Xu Qinghuan straightened up and looked toward the voice. It was Xu Manman, her head wrapped in gauze, her face pale and delicate like a small white flower in a storm, a look that easily stirred a man’s desire to protect her.
Lin Xialan glanced at Xu Qinghuan. Unlike Xu Manman, Huanhuan was lush, vibrant, and magnificent, like the scorching sun in the sky; for her, a man's desire to "protect" was an insult. She truly couldn't imagine what kind of man would be worthy of standing beside this version of Xu Qinghuan—at the very least, it shouldn't be someone like Jiang Chengxu. Therefore, when Huanhuan talked about breaking off the engagement, Lin Xialan was entirely in favor of it.
Unsurprisingly, Jiang Chengxu was following right behind Xu Manman.
As the two walked toward Xu Qinghuan, Lin Xialan suddenly jumped out and blocked their path. "What do you two want?"
Xu Manman’s gaze drifted over Lin Xialan’s head to look at Xu Qinghuan behind her. "Sister, don't misunderstand. Brother Chengxu is just here to accompany me to change my dressing."
Xu Qinghuan smiled and shook her head. "I didn't misunderstand."
Regardless, they would be breaking off the engagement soon anyway.
Lin Xialan scolded, "Have you no shame? Jiang Chengxu, a man like you is absolutely bottom-tier. You’re engaged to the elder sister and then carrying on with the younger one? The Qing Dynasty collapsed a hundred years ago; are you trying to stage a restoration? Do you believe I’ll report you?"
Jiang Chengxu’s face turned a mixture of blue and white. "Lin Xialan, if you don't know how to speak properly, keep your mouth shut. When have I been 'carrying on' with Manman? Didn't Manman explain clearly? I am just accompanying her to change her dressing."
Lin Xialan retorted, "Haha, changing a dressing? What, has she become a third-degree invalid with no hands or feet, unable to move? Or is there no one at home? As far as I know, she has three brothers and a sister. Two of them have jobs, but isn't there another one who's just loafing around? Their own blood brothers don't even care, yet you, a future brother-in-law, are so eager to run around and serve her. If you expect anyone to believe you don't have some sordid intentions, you're mistaken!"
She tugged at Xu Qinghuan. "Huanhuan, a three-legged toad is hard to find, but a two-legged man—look around, the streets are full of them. Leave this trash for whoever wants him; we don't want him!"
Xu Qinghuan had a headache, but Lin Xialan was just that kind of fiery person. Who knew what had triggered her today? With her loud shouting, the people passing by the hospital entrance all stopped to watch the commotion. Lin Xialan had been triggered by the news that Xu Qinghuan was going to the countryside. Everyone knew how bitter life in the countryside was—facing the earth and the sky—and she couldn't stand the thought of Huanhuan suffering that.
Xu Manman was thrilled. Wanting to push things further, she grabbed Xu Qinghuan’s sleeve and cried, "Sister, is it because of me that you’ve misunderstood Brother Chengxu? Brother Chengxu and I are perfectly innocent. Please don't misunderstand, okay? I beg you. Brother Chengxu is sincere toward you!"
Xu Qinghuan frowned. Before she could say anything, Lin Xialan kicked Xu Manman aside. "Shameless! I have never seen anything so shameless. You’re busy seducing your brother-in-law while simultaneously parading your 'purity.' Are all the men in the world dead, that you have to hook up with your own sister’s fiancé? Ugh, if it weren't for Huanhuan’s sake, I would report you two for adultery right now and have you paraded through the streets!"
The crowd grew larger. Jiang Chengxu had never been so humiliated, and his face turned ashen. "Qinghuan, Manman has already said it’s a pure, revolutionary friendship. Why won't you believe her? Her forehead is injured like this, and you haven't shown any concern, yet you continue to slander our relationship. Is this how you act as an older sister?"
Xu Qinghuan laughed in disbelief. "Jiang Chengxu, what kind of relationship you have with anyone, and whether it’s innocent or not, what does that have to do with me? Can you not understand simple human speech? I am breaking off our engagement. From today on, even if you sleep with her, it has nothing to do with me! And as for the injury on her forehead, haven't you asked the doctor about it? Hurry up and go get the dressing changed. If you wait any longer, it might actually heal!"
"Pfft!" someone laughed out loud.
Xu Manman closed her eyes, ready to feign fainting, and began to lean into Jiang Chengxu’s arms. Lin Xialan abruptly stepped forward and yanked the gauze off Xu Manman’s forehead. A shallow scar was visible; it was at most a surface scratch that had bled a little at the time, but after two days, just as Xu Qinghuan had said, it was already almost healed.
Xu Manman hurriedly covered her forehead with her hand, "woke up," and raged, "Lin Xialan, don't think that just because you're my sister's friend, I won't do anything to you!"
"And what will you do? What do you dare do to me?" Lin Xialan sneered. "Shameless!"
Xu Manman turned to Jiang Chengxu and cried, "Brother Chengxu, *sob*, I never thought my sister would have such a deep misunderstanding about us!"
Jiang Chengxu hadn't expected Xu Qinghuan to bring up breaking off the engagement again. He had assumed that last time, she was just venting and didn't mean it. For some reason, hearing her say it so casually now made him feel inexplicably irritable.
"Qinghuan, I can overlook the fact that you brought up breaking the engagement again, but this is the last time. Don't speak so recklessly in the future. Marriage is not a child’s game; how can you keep saying such things?"
Someone nearby echoed, "That's right. Getting engaged and breaking it off isn't a game, and it’s not that big of a deal. You’re sisters—taking care of each other is normal. Why be so petty?"
To the outsiders, Xu Qinghuan seemed to be making a scene over nothing. Wasn't it just her fiancé taking her younger sister to the hospital?