Chapter 34  

Sang Wanlu mocked, “That’s because you’re ignorant.”

Rong Yupeng’s expression turned ugly. “I’m talking to Wanrong. Don’t interrupt. What does this have to do with you?”

Xu Wanrong said protectively, “She’s my cousin. Be polite to her.”

Why didn’t she realize that Rong Yupeng was so detestable in the past? How could he be so disrespectful to her family?

Sang Wanlu looked at Xu Wanrong in surprise. In the past, in Xu Wanrong’s heart, Rong Yupeng was her everything. No matter what Rong Yupeng did, he was always right. She would not speak to him like this.

Rong Yupeng was also a little surprised, but he attributed it to Xu Wanrong’s resentment towards him for breaking off the engagement. He said, “Alright, alright, alright. I mean no offense. Cousin, don’t take it to heart. But Wanrong, now that your face has healed, let’s get married!”

Xu Wanrong used to love him to death. Now that he said this, Xu Wanrong must be overjoyed, right?

Xu Wanrong could not deny that she was a little happy when she heard this. After all, she had been infatuated with Rong Yupeng for a few years, but there was an invisible force stopping her from nodding. “The engagement has been broken off. Let’s forget it.”

Rong Yupeng was stunned on the spot. Xu Wanrong actually rejected him. How was that possible? He must have heard wrongly.

When he came back to his senses, he said angrily, “Xu Wanrong, it’s your honor that I’m willing to marry you. Don’t be ungrateful!”

Xu Wanrong looked at Rong Yupeng. In the past, when she looked at Rong Yupeng, there always seemed to be a holy glow around him, but it was gone now. Moreover, she felt that Rong Yupeng was very ugly, and she did not want to look at him again.

She pulled Sang Wanlu. “Cousin, let’s go home.”

“Okay.” Sang Wanlu heaved a sigh of relief. She was really afraid that Xu Wanrong would agree to marry Rong Yupeng impulsively. In her opinion, Rong Yupeng was an extremely hypocritical gentleman. Fortunately, he broke off the engagement. Otherwise, her cousin’s life in the future would be miserable.

“Cousin, wait a moment.” Xu Wanrong remembered that she had yet to say goodbye to Chu Qingzhi and quickly turned to walk back.

When Rong Yupeng saw Xu Wanrong turn around, his dark expression immediately became smug. He thought that Xu Wanrong must be coming back to ask him for forgiveness.

Unfortunately, he was destined to be disappointed. Xu Wanrong walked past him and stood in front of Chu Qingzhi. “Qingzhi, I’ll go back first. I’ll come to look for you tomorrow.”

“Okay.” Chu Qingzhi was so busy that she did not notice what happened on the other side just now.

Xu Wanrong did not look at Rong Yupeng again. She got into the carriage with Sang Wanlu and left.

Rong Yupeng was dumbfounded. Why was it completely different from what he had imagined?

No, how could Xu Wanrong ignore her?

She must have done it on purpose! Rong Yufan walked over and saw Rong Yupeng’s ugly expression. He said, “You can’t give women too much attention. Otherwise, they’ll think they are in charge.”

Rong Yupeng nodded. “Brother, you’re right. If Xu Wanrong doesn’t come to beg me, I’ll ignore her forever.”

Rong Yufan patted Rong Yupeng on the shoulder. “That’s right.” He turned around and walked towards the stall. “Who’s the owner?”

Chu Xuhua, Chu Qingyue, and Chu Third looked at Chu Qingzhi.

As Chu Qingzhi sold the ice cream bar, she replied, “What’s the matter?”

“Can we talk in private?”

Chu Qingzhi nodded and followed Rong Yufan to a quiet place. “Now, cut to the chase.”

Rong Yufan went straight to the point. “How about we work together?”

Chu Qingzhi raised her eyebrows. “How?”

Rong Yufan said, “Tell me how you make the ice cream bar and I’ll give you a hundred taels of silver. How about that?”

Chu Qingzhi pretended to be considering. “A hundred taels?”

Seeing that Chu Qingzhi was thinking, Rong Yufan thought that there was a chance. “Yes, look at how many days you have to sell to earn a hundred taels. I’ll give it to you in one go. You don’t have to work so hard.”

Chu Qingzhi looked askance at Rong Yufan. “It sounds quite tempting, but I think a hundred taels is too little.”

Rong Yufan was stunned. It seemed that this little girl was also greedy. “Then how much do you want?”

“Ten thousand taels,” Chu Qingzhi said matter-of-factly, “Ten thousand taels is good. Otherwise, I keep feeling that this is a bad bargain.”

Rong Yufan said agitatedly, “Ten thousand taels? Why don’t you go rob a bank?”

Chu Qingzhi said innocently, “I want to rob a bank, but I can’t.”

Rong Yufan was speechless.

Rong Yufan said angrily, “I’m the young master of the Rong family. I’m powerful and influential in the county. Is it worth it for a little girl like you to go against me?”

Chu Qingzhi said indifferently, “Is Young Master Rong that awesome?”

Rong Yufan exploded with anger. “Little girl, even if you don’t think for yourself, you should think for your siblings. Aren’t you afraid that they will suffer with you?”

Chu Qingzhi was speechless. “Young Master, you don’t have to worry about that. I’ll protect them.”

Rong Yufan said angrily, “If you offend me, you won’t have a good ending. I’ll ask you one last time. Are you going to sell it or not?” Chu Qingzhi said word by word, “I’m not selling it!”

Rong Yufan left in a huff.

Chu Qingzhi snorted, thinking to herself. “I’m not from your world. How dare you threaten me? You clearly don’t know what’s good for you.”

After the annoying person left, Chu Qingzhi continued to sell ice cream bars.

A luxurious carriage passed by. The person inside whispered a few words to the coachman, and the coachman got out. He bought ten ice cream bars each and gave them to the person in the carriage. Then, he drove the carriage on.

Chu Qingzhi looked up at the carriage and thought to herself, “This is equivalent to a Maserati in the modern world. If there’s a chance, I’ll buy one.”

…

After the ice cream bars were sold out, Chu Qingzhi took out five taels of silver. “I’ll go buy some sugar and paper. You guys can drive to Zhang Village to buy oranges.”

Chu Xuhua nodded and replied, “Okay.”

Chu Qingzhi stuffed the money into her pocket and quickly went to a nearby shop that sold paper and sugar. She bought two things. These two things were both expensive. She spent all five taels of silver but could not buy much.

Chu Qingzhi walked for two streets when the sound of a horse neighing in the alley suddenly attracted her attention.

She turned around and saw a horse being beaten up by two middle-aged men. Its body was covered in wounds and blood. Blood flowed out of its nose. It was very pitiful.

She shouted, “What are you doing?”

The two middle-aged men were shocked by the shout. When they saw that it was a little girl, they heaved a sigh of relief.

The middle-aged man said angrily, “This is our horse. What does it have to do with you if we hit it?”

Chu Qingzhi wanted to hit these two people, but after thinking about it, she asked, “Why are you hitting it?”

The middle-aged man said angrily, “It only eats and doesn’t work. Shouldn’t we hit it?”

Chu Qingzhi said angrily, “It’s sick and can’t do the work.”

The horse seemed to have sensed something and looked at Chu Qingzhi gratefully.

The middle-aged man looked at the horse and then at Chu Qingzhi. “How did you know that it was sick?”

Chu Qingzhi pointed at the horse. “Look at its skin. A healthy horse’s skin will be smooth. Look at your horse. Its skin is rough and lusterless. It looks like it has been sick for a long time.”

The two middle-aged men looked at each other. The horse’s skin was indeed lusterless.

“Arrest the horse stealers, arrest the horse stealers…” A shout was heard. The two middle-aged men instantly panicked and fled.

A shopkeeper ran over with a few assistants, panting.

Chu Qingzhi pointed in the direction where the two middle-aged men had fled. “They’re running that way. We have to catch them. I saw them abusing this horse.”

The shopkeeper immediately asked the assistants to catch the two men. He stayed. “Thank you, Miss.”