When She Stops Being Dramatic

Chapter 341: Chapter 128: The Green Tea Female Supporting Character in a Period Novel (15)

"Sigh, I’ve really wasted over a year. Is Chi leaving tomorrow?"

Chi Yun’er nodded. "Yeah. Zishu said I should report in tomorrow."

Zheng slumped her shoulders, but she still gave Chi Yun’er a few words of advice. It was just like the things her own parents had told her when she left home; she truly worried about every little detail.

Chi Yun’er couldn’t help but smile, pursing her lips. In some ways, Zheng was a lot like her old self. Once she considered you one of her own, she’d pour her heart out for you.

"Once I’m at the farm, you can come visit me when you’re free, Zheng."

Zheng’s eyes lit up, and she nodded in agreement again and again.

The farm! That was a place only the cream of the crop among the educated youth could go. Everyone had witnessed it transform from a barren wasteland into the sprawling wheat fields, rice paddies, and orchards it was today. It was a place where miracles happened.

Everyone was curious about and awed by the farm. Who wouldn’t be thrilled to get a chance to tour it openly?

Zheng came out of the room, a heavy bag of brown sugar in her hand, feeling even more strongly how good a person Chi Yun’er was.

After thinking for a long time, just as everyone was finishing washing up and getting ready for bed, she walked over to the men’s quarters. She called Jiang Zishi out and quietly told him what had happened at the kitchen door.

"Jiang, we all saw how well you treated Chi. But now that you’re casting aside the old for the new, are you just going to completely ignore Chi?"

"Chi is leaving tomorrow! You can’t even stand watch for her on the last night!"

Jiang Zishi’s lips thinned into a tight line. He clenched his fists and stormed off in a huff to settle things with Huang.

Any woman with half a brain who wanted to keep the situation from escalating would have stopped him and told him to be more careful.

After all, once Chi Yun’er left, she’d have nothing to do with Huang. The women could just be more vigilant in private. There was no need to bring this out into the open and make things ugly for everyone.

But Jiang Zishi had to make a statement. He was being forced into this marriage with Bian Yumin, and though he couldn’t be with Chi Yun’er anymore, he still had to protect what was his before the wedding, right?

But Zheng just looked like she was there to watch the show. She showed no intention of stopping the fight; in fact, her steps were even more eager than his.

Jiang Zishi bit the bullet, walked next door, and shouted with a dark expression:

"Huang, get out here! I have something to ask you!"

Huang froze, adjusted his glasses, and walked out.

Before he could even react, Jiang Zishi’s fist slammed viciously into his face. A dull, throbbing pain radiated from his cheekbone, and he bit the inside of his cheek. The coppery taste of blood immediately filled his mouth.

He wiped at the trickle of blood, his anger flaring. He shot Zheng a cold, sinister glance, then took off his glasses, set them on the windowsill, and lunged at Jiang Zishi. "You psycho!"

The next moment, the two were grappling with each other.

Both of them had pent-up frustrations with nowhere to vent them. Now, they unleashed it all, holding nothing back as their fists hammered into each other.

A year of manual labor had given them brute strength. Each heavy blow was enough to make a person grimace in pain.

Zheng shivered, recalling the look Huang had just given her. An image of a venomous snake hiding in the grass flashed through her mind—the kind that stays silent and still, but whose single strike is deadly.

She might be slow on the uptake, but she wasn’t stupid. She knew she had made a true enemy of him.

Zheng pretended to be terrified and didn’t make a sound.

Jiang Zishi and Huang vented their fury on each other.

Neither of them were experienced fighters who traded curses. When they brawled, they were serious about it, trading blows that landed on flesh, bone, and face. Amidst the loud chatter of two or three other educated youths inside, the dull thuds of their fight went almost unnoticed.

By the time someone came out to use the latrine, the two had been using each other as punching bags for three or four minutes. They were already beaten to a pulp, their faces swollen and bruised.

Everyone rushed to pull them apart. "What are you two doing?"

Chi Yun’er heard the commotion as well and came out, draping a piece of clothing over her shoulders.

From a distance, Jiang Zishi quickly walked up to her and asked in a low voice, "I just heard from Zheng. Are you okay?"

Chi Yun’er took a step back and scoffed, "Compared to you, he’s nothing."

"You..." Jiang Zishi clutched at a wound that had split open.

’I was already injured,’ he thought, ’and it took forever to stop the bleeding. When Huang hit me just now, that treacherous bastard heard the change in my breathing and aimed right for my chest. Even though I tried to block, he still landed three or four more punches!’

The fight had been short, but their blows were vicious. While fighting, their minds had been blank, their limbs moved only by overwhelming rage. Now that it had stopped, every inch of their bodies ached.

He gritted his teeth and said in a voice only the two of them could hear:

"Chi Yun’er, are you that desperate for a man? You led me on but kept stringing me along and wouldn’t give yourself to me. Who are you trying to save yourself for? My brother? Huang? Or some country bumpkin?"

"Marrying Bian Yumin is just a means to an end. You’ve always been the one in my heart. See? Without my protection, that delicate skin of yours couldn’t even make it through one night unscathed."

"As long as you’re with me, your life will be just as comfortable as it was before. Nothing will change."

Chi Yun’er spat in his direction. "Jiang Zishi, stop disgusting me. I must have been blind to have ever fallen for a bastard like you!"

Jiang Zishi sneered. "Fine. Chi Yun’er, you’d better stay stubborn to the very end. I’d like to see just how long you can last."

With that, he walked back with a cold expression. "Huang, you know damn well why I hit you. We’re all comrades living in the same courtyard. I suggest you get rid of those filthy thoughts of yours. Otherwise, next time, I’ll make sure you rot in jail!"

Huang touched the bruises on his face. His cold, sinister gaze swept over Zheng and Jiang Zishi before finally landing on Chi Yun’er, who was walking over.

With his back to the crowd, the corners of his mouth curved into a smirk. Then, he turned and asked blankly, "Jiang, I don’t understand what you’re talking about."

Jiang Zishi ground his teeth. "Do you really want me to spell it out and let everyone laugh at you?"

"Laugh at who?" Huang smiled innocently. "Jiang, you attacked me without any rhyme or reason. So, you’re not even the village chief’s son-in-law yet, but you already think you have backing and can just condemn anyone you want at the educated youth station?"

Jiang Zishi was so angry he clenched his fists again. ’Haven’t I done all this just to maintain a good relationship with everyone, so they wouldn’t drag me down at a critical moment?’

But with a single sentence, Huang had positioned him as an antagonist to the entire educated youth station.

He glanced at Chi Yun’er, a flicker of regret in his eyes, and gritted his teeth. "Chi Yun’er was bathing in the kitchen. What were you doing standing outside the door?"

"If Zheng hadn’t arrived in time, what were you planning to do?"

Everyone turned to look at Huang in shock, their expressions clearly saying they never thought he was that kind of person.

Huang narrowed his eyes slightly and sighed softly. "Alright, then. I’ll take responsibility for Chi!"

Everyone was stunned. Even Jiang Zishi hadn’t expected him to say that.

Chi Yun’er looked calmly at Huang. She understood that he was trying to imitate Jiang Zishi, using the power of public opinion to force her into a relationship with him so he could openly enjoy the material and social support from the Yue Family.

"Take responsibility for what?" she asked. "All you did was stand outside the kitchen door for too long and frighten me. You intended to take advantage of me, but you never got the chance to act on it."

Huang looked as if he wanted to say more but held back, sighing again. "Chi, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you. I know you want to pretend nothing happened, but I can’t get over my own conscience."

"Besides, do you really think your future husband won’t mind? That he won’t mind you were seen by another man?"

Jiang Zishi roared, "Huang Yingwei, what are you trying to say?"

Chi Yun’er clenched her hands behind her back and looked quietly at Huang.

He maintained his usual honest and simple-minded appearance. "I was groggy from sleep. I got up and saw you had all left, so I hurried to the kitchen to splash some water on my face. How could I have known that Chi hadn’t locked the door from the inside? I pushed it open and..."

His unfinished sentence left everything to the imagination.