Chapter 43: Procrastination

Luo Bi sighed. Thinking back to a few months ago, who would have thought she and Feng Ling would end up with an engagement?

Technically, the marriage was an alliance of interests, but as long as those interests remained, such engagements were usually unbreakable. She had no intention of going all the way with Feng Ling, so when he proposed living together, she had flatly refused.

Marriage? That was even more out of the question.

Luo Bi had her own plans. She couldn't defy her family's arrangements for the time being, but it was hard to say what would happen later; once a suitable opportunity arose, she would certainly dissolve the engagement. Her eyes narrowed slightly; the current situation was truly quite bad.

The more she thought about it, the more irritated she became, so she decided to stop thinking about it. As noon approached, she wandered to the vegetable patch in the back to pick some greens for cooking. Nutritious ingredients were not easy to grow; the young sprouts in the three-acre plot grew with thin stems and yellow leaves, looking sparse and ragged. She had to move to several different spots before she managed to gather a handful.

No matter how poorly they grew, these young sprouts were still nutritious ingredients, but when cooked with ordinary seasonings, the taste was astringent and honestly quite subpar.

In the afternoon, several more groups of people rang Luo Bi's doorbell. No one answered, and the visitors seemed to have short tempers; they rang the bell incessantly, as if chasing someone to their death, and it took a long time before they finally left.

It was only after much effort that the supervisor, Wu Yue, managed to get through to Luo Bi on her communicator. He opened with, "Why didn't you come to work today?"

Luo Bi was extremely depressed. "I'm being watched. I probably won't be able to go to the pharmacy for a while."

"What happened?"

Luo Bi explained the situation. Wu Yue came from a large family, and as soon as he heard, he knew the problem was serious. "The news of your awakening has only just spread; the situation is bound to be bad. Hurry and have your father and Hua Ran come back. Without a Thunder-Flame warrior protecting you, things could go wrong if someone has ulterior motives."

As if something had occurred to him, Wu Yue hesitated for a moment before saying, "If you really don't want to work as a contract master's assistant, I suggest you go to Feng Ling. He is a soldier and an active-duty high-ranking officer. As long as he is willing to protect you, your current troubles won't be an issue at all."

Luo Bi fell silent, only speaking after a short while. "Feng Ling wants me to marry him."

"Hmm?" Wu Yue was surprised, but after a moment's thought, it made sense. "Then just marry him. If you become a military family member, the military will find a way to get you into the Contract Master Academy."

The high status and high benefits of soldiers had always been envied. Wu Yue listed the advantages of marrying an officer one by one, but Luo Bi remained silent into her terminal. No matter how many benefits there were, she had no desire to marry Feng Ling.

In truth, Feng Ling was outstanding in every respect. If it weren't for that Qiu Qiu, marrying him would have been a step up for her. But the problem was that a Qiu Qiu had once existed between her and Feng Ling, and that was an unchangeable fact.

Luo Bi had severe psychological perfectionism. She had witnessed everything during the time Feng Ling and Qiu Qiu were seeing each other; how could anyone stand suddenly turning an acquaintance's man into their own husband?

But circumstances were forcing her hand, and there weren't many people she could turn to for help. Her father and Hua Ran lacked the capability; her grandfather had the capability, but only on the condition that she serve as Luo Yan's assistant—which was absolutely impossible and out of the question.

As for Wu Yue? Luo Bi dismissed him immediately. Wu Yue was not alone; he had the Wu family behind him, and the Wu family would only intervene under certain conditions, which Luo Bi had no intention of accepting.

Work as a contract master's assistant? Dammit, she wouldn't agree to it even if she were dying.

After that day, people came to Luo Bi's door every day to discuss the matter of the contract master's assistant position. Luo Bi didn't dare offend anyone, so she used stalling tactics to deal with them.

Luo Feifan and people from the Administration Bureau also came to find Luo Bi several times. Luo Bi couldn't afford to offend anyone, so she repeatedly played the diplomat with a smile, continuing until she had politely ushered them out the door.

(End of Chapter)