Chapter 10: The Irritable Bestie

"I won't refuse, I'll take it. I was already very poor; I was just pretending to be polite just now." Xu Qinghuan's eyes also grew a bit hot.

Lin Xialan was amused by her, her teardrops trembling on her eyelashes.

Lin Xialan was not a top-tier beauty, but her features were delicate and her eyes were spirited. Her only flaw was that she was a bit dark and her skin was somewhat coarse, which made her quite self-conscious.

In the book, she later married Du Jiakang, the second son of the Du family in Yan City. However, the latter had a childhood sweetheart, his foster sister Wu Kexin; due to moral constraints, the two only dared to engage in a clandestine affair.

This made life miserable for Lin Xialan. For many years after the marriage, Du Jiakang never touched her.

Lin Xialan always thought it was because she was ugly, dark, and coarse, and combined with the changes in her maiden family after her sister-in-law's accident, she eventually developed severe depression and died by jumping off a building.

"Open your mouth!" Xu Qinghuan held a Beauty Pill in her hand. It was a formula she had created based on medical books from her Space, using only medicinal herbs and spiritual water from the Space.

Lin Xialan didn't even ask what Xu Qinghuan was giving her to eat; she obediently opened her mouth wide. A pill was flicked into her mouth, and before she could even taste it, it dissolved instantly and flowed down her throat.

"What is it?" Lin Xialan only felt a slight sweetness and a hint of bitterness. She wasn't sick, so why was she taking medicine?

"Poison!" Xu Qinghuan teased.

"Fine! You actually dare to feed me poison! Say it, admit it, you're just jealous of my beauty and talent, aren't you? Aren't you?" As she spoke, she lunged forward to tickle Xu Qinghuan, the two of them playing around in the small grove by the hospital entrance.

"Sister!"

Xu Qinghuan straightened her back and looked toward the voice. It was Xu Manman. Her head was wrapped in gauze, and her small face was pale, looking as fragile as a little white flower in a storm, easily capable of triggering a man's protective instinct.

Lin Xialan glanced at Xu Qinghuan. Unlike Xu Manman, Huanhuan was lush and magnificent, like the blazing sun in the nine heavens; a man's protective instinct would be a profanity toward her.

She truly wondered what kind of man would be worthy of standing beside such a Xu Qinghuan—at the very least, it shouldn't be someone like Jiang Chengxu.

Therefore, Lin Xialan supported Xu Qinghuan's decision to break off the engagement with both hands and feet.

Unsurprisingly, Jiang Chengxu was walking beside Xu Manman.

As the two approached Xu Qinghuan, Lin Xialan suddenly jumped out and blocked the way in front of Xu Qinghuan. "What are you two doing?"

Xu Manman's gaze bypassed the top of Lin Xialan's head to look at Xu Qinghuan behind her. "Sister, don't misunderstand. Brother Chengxu just came to accompany me to change my bandages."

Xu Qinghuan smiled and shook her head. "I'm not misunderstanding!"

In any case, they were going to break the engagement very soon.

Lin Xialan cursed, "Truly shameless, utterly brazen! Jiang Chengxu, a man like you is simply devoid of character. You're engaged to my sister, yet you're flirting with her younger sister? The Qing Dynasty fell over a hundred years ago; are you trying to stage a restoration? Believe it or not, I'll go report you!"

Jiang Chengxu's face turned blotchy with anger. "Lin Xialan, if you don't know how to speak, then shut up! When did I ever flirt with Manman? Didn't Manman just make it very clear? I came to accompany her to change her bandages."

Lin Xialan cursed, "Heh, change bandages? What, has she become a third-class disabled person with no hands or feet, unable to move? Or is there no one at home to accompany her for bandage changes?

As far as I know, she has three brothers and one sister, right? Two are working, and isn't there one more who is a loafer? Even her own biological brothers don't care for her, yet here you are, a future brother-in-law, rushing around to be helpful. If anyone believed you didn't have some filthy intentions in your heart, they'd be fools!"

She pulled at Xu Qinghuan. "Huanhuan, three-legged toads are hard to find, but two-legged men? Look around, they're all over the streets. Leave this kind of scumbag to those who want him; we don't want him!"

Xu Qinghuan felt a headache coming on, but Lin Xialan had this volatile temperament. She didn't know what had triggered her sensitive nerves today, but her loud shouting had drawn the attention of the passersby at the hospital entrance to come and watch the spectacle.

Lin Xialan had been provoked by the fact that Xu Qinghuan was going to the countryside. How hard life in the countryside was didn't need to be said—working with one's face to the earth and back to the sky—how could Huanhuan endure such hardship?

Xu Manman was overjoyed. She even wanted to push things further; she grabbed Xu Qinghuan's sleeve and cried, "Sister, is it because of me that you misunderstood Brother Chengxu? Manman and Brother Chengxu are completely innocent. Please don't misunderstand, okay? I'm begging you, Brother Chengxu is sincere toward you!"

Xu Qinghuan's brow furrowed. Before she could say anything, Lin Xialan kicked Xu Manman to the side. "Shameless! I have truly never seen such a shameless thing in my life. While engaging in the business of seducing your brother-in-law, you still insist on claiming your innocence? Have all the men in this world died? Do you have to flirt with your own brother-in-law?

Bah! If it weren't for Huanhuan's sake, I would report you two as a scandalous couple right now and have people parade you through the streets!"

The crowd of onlookers grew larger. Jiang Chengxu had never lost face so badly; his face was ashen. "Qinghuan, Manman already said that there is only a pure friendship of revolution between us. Why won't you believe her?

You've never shown any concern for her forehead being injured like this, and yet you slander her relationship with me. Is this how an older sister should act?"

Xu Qinghuan laughed out of anger. "Jiang Chengxu, what your relationship is with anyone, or whether it's pure or not, has nothing to do with me! Can't you understand human language? I am breaking off the engagement with you. From this day forward, even if you sleep with someone, it has nothing to do with me!

Also, regarding the injury on her forehead, did you even ask the doctor what it is? Hurry up and change the bandages. If you wait any longer, what if it heals completely?"

"Pfft!" Someone burst out laughing.

Xu Manman closed her eyes, intending to pretend to faint as she leaned into Jiang Chengxu's arms. Lin Xialan lunged forward and ripped the gauze off Xu Manman's forehead. All that could be seen was a shallow scar; at most, the skin had been slightly scraped. It had bled a bit at the time, but after two days of care, it was indeed just as Xu Qinghuan had said—it was almost healed.

Xu Manman hurriedly covered her forehead with her hand and woke up, shouting angrily, "Lin Xialan, don't think that just because you're my sister's friend, I won't do anything to you!"

"Do what? You think you can do anything to me?" Lin Xialan sneered. "Shameless!"

Xu Manman turned to Jiang Chengxu to complain, "Brother Chengxu, wahhh, I didn't expect my sister to have such a huge misunderstanding of us!"

Jiang Chengxu also hadn't expected Xu Qinghuan to bring up the breaking of the engagement again. He thought that last time she was just talking and didn't mean it seriously. At this moment, for some reason, seeing Xu Qinghuan speak of breaking the engagement so easily made him feel a bit irritated.

"Qinghuan, I can overlook you bringing up the engagement breaking again today, but only this once. Don't be so reckless with your words in the future. Marriage is not a joke; how can you keep such words on the tip of your tongue?"

Someone nearby chimed in, "Yeah, engagement and breaking engagements aren't jokes, but it's not a huge deal either. They're sisters; if you're going to look after her, just look after her. Why be so petty?"

In the eyes of outsiders, Xu Qinghuan was truly being unreasonable. Was it really such a big deal that her fiancé had brought his sister to the hospital once?