USWHC -Chapter 28 The Runaway Bride (Part 8)

“Ah? What should we do now?” Zhu Jie said when she heard that, immediately putting on a look of regret. But was she really regretful inside?

Not at all. She was secretly delighted!

Hehe—she wasn’t blind. She had seen what their rice-washing water looked like. How could she not know that the rice shouldn’t be cooked like this? But she just wanted to eat rice—so what? Who told them all to be away!

Yes, Zhu Jie had deliberately taken advantage of the chaos to help herself. They had simply come back too early. If they had returned any later, she wouldn’t have minded finishing all of it for them!

“If you do this, how can my mother eat?” Ji Mei said with a sigh.

Unexpectedly, Zhu Jie immediately put on a shocked expression. “Really? It’s all my fault!”

As she spoke, she quickly pushed the bowl of rice in front of Ji Yi. “Then, Brother Yi, why don’t you eat all the rice? If Mother can’t see it, she won’t feel upset.”

Looking at her utterly sincere expression, Ji Yi almost burst out laughing. Unfortunately, before he could even taste the delicious rice, he suddenly heard Old Madam Ji draw in a sharp breath and abruptly come to her senses.

“Don’t! I can eat it! I can eat it!”

With that, she snatched the rice back in one swift motion.

Old Madam Ji no longer cared about anything else. She began wolfing it down immediately. The rice was already cooked—if she didn’t eat it, would she really let someone else enjoy it instead?

The rest of the Ji family watched as the fragrant rice was gulped down by Old Madam Ji alone, and they all couldn’t help swallowing their saliva.

In modern times, few people would think much of a bowl of rice. But in those years, when the poor masses still struggled just to get enough to eat, having a meal of white rice was practically a luxury.

“Mother, is the rice delicious?” Ji Mei asked eagerly, staring at her.

Unfortunately, Old Madam Ji couldn’t even spare attention for her now. She simply kept her head down and continued eating with all her might—tears streaming down her face as she ate.

Everyone had been busy all morning, running around in the snow until they were already exhausted. Then they had eaten such a stifling breakfast. As soon as the meal was over, they all returned to their rooms to rest, like deflated balloons.

Zhu Jie followed Ji Yi back to the room.

She saw him climb onto the bed without saying a word, turning his back to her with a clearly angry posture. She couldn’t help letting out a sigh.

Zhu Jie had originally planned to climb onto the bed and wrap herself in the quilt as well, but to her surprise, Ji Yi immediately dragged the quilt over to himself. Not only that, he even shoved her right off the bed with his backside, still refusing to look at her.

Zhu Jie knew he was truly angry this time.

She silently stood up, looking at that cold, distant back. Her heart suddenly felt sour.

“Are you angry?” Zhu Jie asked softly.

But Ji Yi didn’t reply.

After waiting for a while and seeing that he still didn’t speak, Zhu Jie turned and sat on the edge of the bed. Lowering her head, she let out a long sigh and said quietly, “Why did you save me back then?”

There was still no answer. Of course, Zhu Jie knew he wouldn’t respond.

“I know—you’re a good person. You probably never expected any reward when you saved me. And you probably never thought about what kind of person you were saving either.”

When she said that, Ji Yi, who had been facing away from her, finally reacted—but only with a cold snort.

“I know you hate me now. I keep lying to you,” Zhu Jie said softly. “But it wasn’t all intentional! My purse really was lost, and it really wasn’t lost on the mountain. You’re right—I did it on purpose. But I didn’t just want to trick you for fun. I only wanted to buy myself some time to leave. You also heard them saying they wanted to eat me. How could I not be cautious?”

Even after she explained this, Ji Yi merely snorted again.

“I never expected you all to come back so quickly. Actually, I had planned to leave right after I finished bathing,” Zhu Jie continued. “I know you’re not interested in me. This morning you deliberately let me go. I was actually grateful to you.”

“Hmph. Grateful? Then why did you turn around and blame me instead? Did I trick you into going up the mountain?” Ji Yi finally said angrily.

“You didn’t trick me,” Zhu Jie replied quietly. “But if I said I ran away on my own, what do you think they would have done to me? They would definitely have locked me up again, wouldn’t they?”