USWHC -Chapter 21 The Runaway Bride (Part 1)

Just as Zhu Jie leaned closer, Ji Yi suddenly shoved her away as if he had been electrocuted. The force was so strong that Zhu Jie nearly fell to the ground.

“I’m about to throw up!” Ji Yi looked at Zhu Jie without the slightest courtesy and said with absolute certainty, “Your head wasn’t kicked by a donkey—it was caught between a door!”

With a pfft, everyone almost spat out their food. Their jaws, which had dropped onto the table because of Zhu Jie’s affectionate confession, started trembling uncontrollably. For a moment, coughing and choking on rice filled the entire room.

Zhu Jie felt waves of irritation rising in her heart. She even secretly rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. Did he think she wanted to say those disgusting, mushy words? She was only doing it to numb the enemy and look for a chance to escape! But who would’ve thought she’d run into such a tactless guy? When someone praises you, you’re supposed to humbly accept it! Who cares whether it’s true or not? Taking life too seriously is no fun!

Zhu Jie really wanted to pounce on him and scratch his face into a flowery mess. Unfortunately, she had to admit that this guy possessed tremendous strength, so she didn’t dare to actually do it.

“Erhan, what nonsense are you talking about!” Fortunately, Ji Yi’s mother stepped forward at that moment with a strong sense of justice. With a furious shout, she raised her chopsticks and almost smashed Ji Yi’s unambitious, foolish head. “A girl liking you is something you should cherish!”

Ji Yi didn’t dodge. He simply took the blow from her chopsticks head-on. Only then did he suppress the look of disgust on his face and continue eating his meal in silence.

But everyone could tell that he clearly didn’t believe it.

Yes—unless the sun rose from the west, or the girl had squeezed in through a crack in the door, he absolutely wouldn’t believe it!

In winter, there really wasn’t much work to do in an ancient rural courtyard—especially on a snowy day like this. After finishing their meal, everyone returned to their rooms. Only Sister-in-law You stayed behind to clear the table and went into the kitchen.

Zhu Jie immediately put on the act of a “virtuous and gentle” future daughter-in-law. She volunteered to help Sister-in-law You wash the dishes and followed her into the kitchen.

Having someone help was naturally welcome, so Sister-in-law You instantly became friendlier.

“There are only a few bowls. I can wash them myself. You were lying in the snow for so long yesterday—your body probably hasn’t recovered yet, right?”

“It’s fine. Why be so polite with me, sister-in-law? From now on we’re family!” Zhu Jie rolled up her sleeves, took a bowl, and began rinsing it in the water.

Everyone had eaten rice-washing-water porridge and sweet potatoes again, so there weren’t many bowls to wash. Besides, the bowls used for porridge had been licked practically clean, so rinsing them once in water was enough.

In truth, Zhu Jie only volunteered because she saw there was barely anything to wash. If there had been a pile of dishes, she certainly wouldn’t have volunteered to suffer.

Besides, she had another purpose for getting close to Sister-in-law You.

“Sister-in-law, you must have been married into this family for many years, right? I’ll need to learn a lot from you in the future,” Zhu Jie said in a soft, obedient tone.

Hearing this, Sister-in-law You immediately beamed. “What learning? If there’s anything you don’t know in the future, just ask me!”

“Sister-in-law, I’ve only just arrived and I’m a bit confused. May I ask what village this is? And where exactly it is in Liang?” Zhu Jie asked tentatively.

“Our village is called Lijia Lower Village. It’s right on the border of Liang. If you cross Mount Qi over there, you’ll reach the State of Qi!” Sister-in-law You said, vaguely pointing toward the sky.

Zhu Jie silently memorized that direction. “But when I stretched my head out earlier to look outside, I didn’t see any mountains.”

“That’s because our house isn’t built right against the mountain. You have to walk for about the time it takes to burn one stick of incense, then turn three corners before reaching the Qishan mountain range,” Sister-in-law You explained with a smile.

Zhu Jie was stunned.

Wait—so yesterday that guy Ji Yi had carried her all the way back from that far away?

In such heavy snow, too. He really had some perseverance.

For a moment, Zhu Jie suddenly felt a little embarrassed. She even wondered if she had been too harsh on Ji Yi. After all, he had saved her life.

But that thought lasted only a moment. What his family did afterward was simply too immoral! If you save someone, you should see the good deed through to the end!

Zhu Jie sighed and washed the last bowl in her hand. Only then did she finally have time to take a good look at the house in front of her.

It was a dilapidated mud-brick house. In the middle, a crude stove made of piled mud served as the kitchen. Aside from the cold stove, there was almost nothing inside. There were only a few bowls—forget about chickens, ducks, fish, or meat. In the corner of the wall, there was just a basket filled with sweet potatoes.

“You eat sweet potatoes all winter?” Zhu Jie couldn’t help asking.

It seemed Sister-in-law You was afraid Zhu Jie might look down on the family for being poor, so she hurriedly explained, “We also have a cellar near the fields where we’ve buried a lot of sweet potatoes. Don’t worry—you’ll definitely have enough to eat!”

Sweet potatoes. Still sweet potatoes.

Zhu Jie smiled faintly.

This family was indeed just as poor as she had imagined.