USWHC -Chapter 189 Miss, You’re Too Modest (Part 9)

“Miss Ji likes plum blossoms?”

Plum Blossom

Sun Shaoyan walked softly into the plum grove. Beneath the flowering trees stood a young woman swaying gently in the breeze; from behind, her figure looked cold and solitary.

“The noble purity of plum blossoms always intoxicates the heart. They do not compete with other flowers for beauty, nor do they fear the snow weighing down their branches. Blooming alone in this biting cold—this kind of beauty always makes me both admire it and feel a little heartache.”

Zhu Jie slightly raised her head, gazing at the scattered petals on the treetops.

At that moment, Sun Shaoyan suddenly felt that this girl was the plum blossom, and the plum blossom was this beautiful girl.

Yes—within this barren and impoverished little village, only this beautiful girl bloomed alone with such fragrance. If she was not a plum blossom, what else could she be?

Almost unconsciously, Sun Shaoyan reached out and gently snapped off a branch of plum blossoms. Yet when he was about to hand it to her, he hesitated. He simply held it in his hand, cheeks flushed red, looking like a young man who had just begun to discover love—dazed and nervous.

“This flower is truly beautiful,” Zhu Jie praised first.

“It’s for you, Miss.”

As Sun Shaoyan spoke, he could even hear the trembling in his own voice. His hand remained stiffly extended, his movements awkward and uncoordinated.

But Zhu Jie didn’t accept it. Instead, she lightly plucked a half-blooming bud from a branch, smiling as she tucked it behind her ear.

“How does it look?” she asked softly.

“Beautiful!”

When she smiled, the bud that had not yet bloomed seemed to blossom as well. Sun Shaoyan swallowed hard, his heart pounding loudly in his chest.

Hearing his praise, she laughed even more brightly. Her slender figure swayed with the laughter, and the flower by her temple trembled along with it, as if it might fall at any moment.

In a daze, Sun Shaoyan unconsciously reached out. His hand trembled slightly as he adjusted the plum blossom by her hair, pinning it more securely in place.

When Sun Shaohui returned, this was exactly the scene she saw.

The beautiful young girl slightly lifted her head, smiling with gentle eyes at the man standing very close to her. Her smile was soft and ambiguous. And he—the infatuated man—seemed to tremble entirely because of that smile.

Sun Shaohui began trembling as well.

But the expression on her face was clearly far from pleasant.

She’s only been gone for a moment and she’s already seducing my brother!

Sun Shaohui rolled her eyes toward the sky in disgust.

Just then, however, she suddenly felt someone staring at her from nearby. A chill ran down her spine—the gaze was clearly unfriendly.

Sure enough, beside her stood a cold-faced young man, glaring at her icily. That look wasn’t merely unfriendly—it seemed capable of freezing someone solid.

And that icy-faced person was none other than the foolish boy from the Ji family—Ji Yi.

Apparently, he had already seen that eye-rolling gesture she had just made.

Sun Shaohui quickly forced a friendly smile and walked over gracefully.

“Your sister and my brother seem to get along quite well.”

Yes—she had decided to follow her mother’s opinion and properly placate these poor people. She would just treat it as taking pity on her brother. After all, he didn’t have it easy—marrying such a shrewish wife who couldn’t even bear him children.

She might as well consider this girl a sow meant for producing offspring. And since this “sow” clearly pleased the male master more, she would endure it for the time being.

But Ji Yi’s expression remained ugly. Looking at the two people in the distance, he didn’t seem like a brother watching his sister flirt with a man.

Instead, he looked like someone witnessing a wife committing adultery.

Sun Shaohui stared at him in confusion, unable to understand why he was so angry.

Is this how older brothers react when they see their sisters dating someone?

Her own brother certainly wasn’t like this.

“You must have suffered quite a lot growing up, right?” Sun Shaohui asked cautiously.

She actually had a mission—she needed to probe deeper into Ji Mei’s background.

Ji Yi, however, smiled calmly.

“What counts as suffering? Is poverty the same as hardship? I don’t think so. Sometimes the suffering of the body isn’t real suffering. A person cannot choose their birth, but at least they can choose what kind of life they wish to live.”

Hearing him speak like this, Sun Shaohui was momentarily speechless.

Seriously? Even a fool speaks with such Zen-like wisdom?

Yet inwardly she sneered coldly.

Choosing what kind of life to live—does that mean climbing up the social ladder and marrying into wealth?

No wonder this entire family was scrambling to cling to higher branches.

Turns out they were simply terrified of being poor.