When She Stops Being Dramatic

Jiang Zishi took a deep breath, practically squeezing the words through his gritted teeth.

"Chi Yun’er, why are you bringing this up again? I’ve already told you—it doesn’t matter whose fault it was. No one saw what happened between you two, so there’s no way to prove anything."

"The fact is, you were standing on the bridge while Comrade Bian fell into the water, got a leg cramp, and nearly drowned. You think that even if I believe you, even if everyone else believes you, the people from Bian Family Village and the village head’s family are going to buy it?"

"What’s past is past. Just let it go. I know you feel wronged, but this is reality!"

"You have to learn to bow to circumstances, Yun’er. When are you ever going to grow up?"

And just like that, he’d deftly turned the conversation back on her.

Jiang Zishi, however, felt completely relieved.

’I knew it,’ he thought. ’How could Chi Yun’er possibly give up on clearing her name so easily?’

’And how could she just quietly accept the fact that he was marrying someone else without a single tear or tantrum?’

’She must have gotten scared and decided to change her strategy. A tactical retreat, is that it?’

Chi Yun’er hadn’t held out any hope in the first place; this was exactly what she’d expected. ’I can’t win an argument with him,’ she thought. ’Any verbal jab would be too weak, and I’d just be tipping him off.’

’Let him be arrogant for now. Once I pull the rug out from under him, we’ll see if he’s still smiling!’

She didn’t argue further. Instead, she bit her lip, her face a mask of hurt, indignation, and a hint of anger she dared not unleash.

Jiang Zishi pulled a few paper packets from his pocket and handed them to her. "This is cough medicine. I ran to flag down the doctor from the township clinic on my way to the village head’s house after work."

"Since you don’t want to go to the hospital, just be good and take your medicine. Get well soon."

"Comrade Bian and I would both appreciate your blessing."

"It’s also what the village head and Auntie want to see."

He deliberately stressed the words "village head" and "Auntie," reminding her of their conversation at noon.

Chi Yun’er took the packets, her head bowed and her lips pressed into a thin line. "Oh," she mumbled.

Jiang Zishi sighed softly. "Chi Yun’er, focus on getting better. I’ll ask the village head to arrange some light work for you."

"You can’t work in the fields, but you should be able to handle an office job, right? Writing articles, reading them for broadcasts?"

"You were always a good student, after all. You always ranked near the top of your class."

Chi Yun’er froze. It suddenly came back to her—she had been the brilliant beauty of her school. Her grades left everyone else in the dust. Some people had even secretly called her "the female Yihua"!

After all, Jiang Yihua had set academic records, and there was still a considerable gap between them.

Her eyes seemed to fill with starlight, dazzling and bright. A sweet, delicate smile touched her lips as she delivered a perfect humble-brag. "That’s right. After more than a year in the countryside, I’d almost forgotten. I used to be first in my grade at school!"

"They called me ’the female Yihua’..."

The comment hit a nerve, and a vein throbbed on Jiang Zishi’s forehead. Why was it that the glory he fought so hard for, Jiang Yihua and Chi Yun’er could obtain with such ease?

’What right did a stupid, stubborn, spoiled, selfish, hypocritical, and pretentious woman like Chi Yun’er have to possess such talent and a good family background?’

Outside the courtyard, Jiang Yihua, who had been about to knock, froze. The image of a little kitten’s face smudged with ink popped into his mind—delicate, yet proud. Even the memory of the ink stains seemed to lose some of its severity.

He had already gone back to work at the farm, but thoughts of the girl’s fragility and Jiang Zishi’s ruthlessness left him deeply uneasy.

Jiang Yihua was worried. If he wasn’t there for the matter of Jiang Zishi’s engagement, he feared Jiang Zishi would take out his anger on the young woman, who no longer had any use to him.

He couldn’t bear the thought of even the slightest possibility of such a wonderful life being tarnished.

Somehow, without meaning to, his feet had carried him all the way here.

Hearing the young woman’s voice from the courtyard, he could tell she wasn’t in any trouble. He let out a long sigh of relief and rubbed his temples with a sense of resignation.

’Even the toughest, most stoic of men thinks about women sometimes.’

’A man can’t fight his biological urges, nor can he resist the natural attraction between the sexes.’

’At the very least, from the moment Fourth Granny Bian had called Chi Yun’er his sweetheart, the walls he’d built around his heart seemed to have developed a crack, letting in a little air.’

’The young woman’s voice, her face, her every feature—he found them all exceptionally pleasing. It was as if she were made perfectly to his liking.’

’At the very least, he felt no trace of aversion or dislike toward her.’

Jiang Yihua let out a low chuckle and shook his head. Without knocking, he turned and walked away.

’People always shower more affection and attention on beautiful things. Perhaps this was just another case of that?’

After all, Chi Yun’er was just too beautiful. No amount of flowery prose could ever be enough to describe her breathtaking appearance.

A true masterpiece of nature—nothing less.