Chapter 6: Let's Break Up

“Qi Xuan-ge!” Yang Min spoke up again.

Shao Qi Xuan snapped back to reality. He looked at Yang Min and pointed toward a large tree in front of them: “Yang Min, I have something to tell you today. Come over here with me.”

Yang Min followed closely behind him. Once they reached the tree and the Shao family courtyard was no longer in sight, she stopped.

“Qi Xuan-ge, what is it?” Yang Min felt both nervous and excited as she asked. Could it be that Qi Xuan-ge had finally persuaded Hou Yuexia to let them get married? At the thought of this, two blushes appeared on her cheeks.

Seeing her shy expression, Shao Qi Xuan felt a surge of annoyance. This woman was always putting on an act. If she liked him so much, why had she left without a word when he was at his lowest, only to rush into a flash marriage later?

“Yang Min, let’s break up. We aren’t a good match. I suddenly realized that I don’t actually like you.” Shao Qi Xuan turned to leave as soon as he finished speaking, giving Yang Min no chance to argue.

Yang Min’s face turned pale, and she looked at him in disbelief. She quickly caught up to Shao Qi Xuan and reached out to grab him: “Qi Xuan-ge, is it because your mother won’t let you be with me? I’ll go beg her, I’ll go beg her! Please, don’t break up with me, okay?”

As she spoke, Yang Min began to sob, tears streaming down her face like rain, her eyes looking at Shao Qi Xuan with a soft, pleading gaze.

But Shao Qi Xuan only felt hatred for her now; that bit of seductive charm had no effect on him at all.

“Yang Min, I’ve made myself very clear. I don’t like you, and I won’t marry you. Save yourself the trouble!”

After saying this, Shao Qi Xuan shook off her hand and walked home without looking back. When he reached his gate, he remembered something and turned his head: “Oh, right. I’ve given you many things over the time. Consider those my breakup fee to you.”

Yang Min’s eyes turned red with anger at these words. She stared daggers at Shao Qi Xuan’s retreating back. She couldn’t lose Qi Xuan-ge; he was the only one who could help her escape that family for the rest of her life.

Besides, within a few miles of the village, only Qi Xuan-ge was educated, handsome, and had a well-off family.

It was all that bitch Li Siwen’s fault. It must be that she threatened Qi Xuan-ge with her life; otherwise, he wouldn’t have broken up with her.

Having decided who was the source of the trouble, Yang Min headed straight for the Li house, filled with rage.

When she arrived at the Li family’s gate, Yang Min suppressed her anger. Seeing the neighbors standing nearby watching the spectacle, she immediately put on a pitiful, fragile act. After fidgeting for a long time, she finally called out into the courtyard.

“Siwen-meimei, are you home?”

When Grandma Li heard the voice, her whole body trembled. Furious, she grabbed a broom and ran out. Seeing the person at the gate, she didn’t hold back and started swinging: “You shameless little vixen! You dare show your face at my door? I’ll beat you to death, you immoral, man-stealing slut!”

This little bitch—her own Siwen had been so good to her, treating her like a sister, sharing all her good food and drink. When she had no friends, Siwen introduced her own to her. But look at her—she went and snatched her own granddaughter’s man.

Just thinking about it made her blood boil.

Yang Min was terrified, dodging the broom in Grandma Li’s hand as fast as she could. What kind of people were these? They started hitting people with brooms at the slightest disagreement—so uncouth.

“Grandma Li, I’m looking for Siwen! I know I let her down, but I can’t help how I feel! Qi Xuan-ge likes me, not Siwen, and I can’t control that! You can’t blame me for this!” Yang Min scrambled around, clutching her head.

“Zhu Ying! That’s not how the logic goes, girl. Your granddaughter doesn’t have the ability to keep her man, how can you blame Yang Min? Haha!” Xiao Hong watched the scene, grinning from ear to ear, the wrinkles on her face bunching up. She loved seeing Li Zhu Ying get humiliated.

She and Li Zhu Ying were bitter rivals who couldn’t stand the sight of each other. So what if she had a daughter married in the city? What was there to show off? And that Li Siwen, relying on her brute strength, didn’t respect her elders at all. She deserved to be dumped by her man; she could just be an old maid for the rest of her life.

“You old shameless hag, say that again if you dare! See if I don’t tear your mouth apart!” Grandma Li rolled up her sleeves, charged straight at Xiao Hong, grabbed her hair, and started pulling.

Xiao Hong wasn’t a pushover either. She winced in pain as her hair was grabbed, but immediately retaliated by scratching and pinching the flesh on Grandma Li’s arm.

The two of them tangled together, shrieking in pain, but neither would let go first: “You let go first!” “No, you let go!”

Li Siwen heard the commotion from the courtyard. When she walked to the gate and saw her grandmother being grabbed by an old woman, she was furious and rushed over.

“Siwen is out. She’s fine, thank goodness!” the auntie at the gate said with a smile.

As soon as Xiao Hong heard Siwen’s voice and looked up, her expression changed drastically. She immediately let go of Grandma Li’s arm: “Zhu Ying, I was wrong, please let go, okay?”

This girl was a wolf cub; she didn’t recognize anyone when she got angry. She couldn’t afford to provoke her!

Grandma Li wasn’t one to go back on her word. Seeing Xiao Hong let go, she released her hair. The moment she let go, Xiao Hong scrambled away in a panic, running back home. Grandma Li clutched her stomach, laughing at her cowardly appearance.

“Sister Xiao, why are you running? Look at how timid you are.”

Xiao Hong heard Li Zhu Ying’s mocking voice from her own courtyard and kicked things in frustration: “Damn Li Zhu Ying, what’s there to be so smug about? I’m not afraid of her! If I weren’t too lazy to bother with her, I’d have scratched her to death!”

Shao Mingzhu heard this and chuckled, taking a deep drag of his cigarette as he looked at her: “If you aren’t afraid, go beat her then! Stop—don’t worry about what happens, I’ll back you up. I just don’t think you have the guts.”

Xiao Hong’s face turned the color of a pig’s liver. This old man didn’t give her any face at all, not even giving her a way to back down. Who was Li Siwen? She was the boss of Shao Village; no one dared to provoke her. She certainly didn’t.

“Hmph, if you’re so capable, you go deal with her! Are you even a man?”

“I don’t dare. If I’m not a man because I don’t dare, then there isn’t a single man left in Shao Village. You go find someone who dares to deal with that girl.” Shao Mingzhu rolled his eyes at her. If not daring to deal with that girl meant he wasn’t a man, then there wasn’t a man left in the village. Hmph, what kind of logic was that?

“Where am I supposed to find someone like that?” Xiao Hong said, deflated. She touched her hair—most of it had been pulled out. That wretched Li Zhu Ying really played for keeps!

“You shouldn’t have provoked her in the first place.” Shao Mingzhu stood up, put his hands behind his back, and walked out of the courtyard to lean against the gate. He couldn’t even enjoy a good show without her having to go and get herself beaten. She deserved it.

“Siwen-meimei, I came to ask you for a favor today.” Yang Min looked at Li Siwen’s fair, white face, burning with jealousy. You couldn’t compare people—Siwen never had to work in the fields since she was a child, keeping her skin soft and fair, while she had to work in the fields and had endless chores to do.

Li Siwen looked at the woman before her, her memories quickly surfacing. She felt disgusted to her core: “Don’t. I don’t have a sister like you who likes to snatch other people’s men. Aren’t you ashamed?”

From the original owner’s memories, Li Siwen saw that the original had been truly good to this woman. Yang Min’s parents were the middle children; they had an older brother who was the eldest son, and a younger brother who was the pampered treasure. Yang Min’s father was treated poorly, let alone Yang Min, who was considered a “losing investment.”

At home, she was bullied by everyone, and she had no real friends outside. Once, Yang Min helped the original owner, and the original owner’s maternal instincts kicked in. She felt Yang Min was pitiful, so she often shared game she hunted with her, and gave her a portion of whatever good things she had at home.