Farm Tough Girl

Chapter 114: Chapter 115: Appearance and Such Are Deal-Breakers_1 Chapter 114: Chapter 115: Appearance and Such Are Deal-Breakers_1 Wu Haoli finally noticed another person lying on the ground and asked, “Miss, are you alright?”

Qiao Lianhua’s heart leaped with joy; this was the first time he had spoken to her. His voice was truly pleasant, affirming that everything about a handsome person is appealing, yet she still put on a delicate facade.

“It seems, my foot is sprained.”

Wu Haoli’s frown was barely perceptible. Seeing that Wu Haoli had gone silent, Qiao Lianhua’s heart started pounding, and she quickly cried out again, “Ow, it hurts so much.”

A beautiful young lady had fallen at the doorstep of your home—any gentleman of his caliber would at least take her inside to check on her injury, wouldn’t he? As they came into contact, wouldn’t feelings naturally develop?

With joy, Qiao Lianhua waited for Wu Haoli to speak.

But she heard Wu Haoli say, “Liu Fu, give her one silver for medical expenses, and send this young lady to see a doctor.”

Having said that, he strode into his mansion without looking back, leaving Qiao Lianhua dumbfounded and unable to respond.

Liu Fu seemed accustomed to such behavior; after all, which of those women outside didn’t want to throw themselves at their young master? Thinking he was an easy target because of his wasteful ways, huh? They really thought their young master was a fool.

With disdain in his heart yet respect on his face, Liu Fu took out a silver, “Miss, should I escort you, or will you go see the doctor yourself?”

How could Qiao Lianhua let him escort her? Not to mention she was fine, even if she wasn’t, being taken to the doctor by a man would ruin her reputation. If her reputation were spoiled because of Wu Haoli, Qiao Lianhua would actually be pleased, but with this servant… Annoyed, Qiao Lianhua snatched the silver, “No need!”

With a sneer in his heart, Liu Fu thought she was overestimating herself; even if their young master had poor taste, he wouldn’t fancy such goods. Liu Fu said, “Then go by yourself,” and went inside, no longer minding Qiao Lianhua.

Qiao Lianhua was fuming; how could someone be so heartless? Didn’t he know how to be tender towards women? To just leave her there like that? As she watched the Wu family’s servants entering and closing the grand door, she couldn’t keep up the act any longer and stood up, stamping her foot in anger.

“Look at that, how quickly the sprained foot healed; think of the money saved on medical bills,” a voice teased.

Startled, Qiao Lianhua swiftly turned around, only to see Muniang and another standing not far away, leisurely watching her, with obvious mockery on their faces.

Infuriated, Qiao Lianhua lashed out, “None of your business! Why yap about it here!”

Qiao Muniang, who was just about to check the progress in the fields with Er Liang, had coincidentally passed by the Wu Mansion and caught Lianhua in the midst of her “beauty trap” to seduce Wu Haoli. She couldn’t help but mockingly say,
“I wouldn’t dare interfere, even if you begged me to, I’d be too lazy to bother,” Muniang rolled her eyes, “I just can’t stand seeing someone put on such airs, faking innocence. That voice of yours, tsk tsk, almost made me vomit my lunch.”

Qiao Lianhua’s face turned beet red, “What’s wrong with my voice? Qiao Muniang, don’t coolly comment here. If you don’t want to help me, then don’t spew your nonsense. Just because you married a fool, you can’t stand to see me do well, can you? Don’t think I can’t see through the small-mindedness in your heart. Once I really marry a good man, you’ll die of jealousy!”

Qiao Muniang was astounded. How could this girl think so sharply? How did she see through the jealousy in her eyes? In what way was her husband inferior to others?

Indeed, once someone’s mentality becomes twisted, they see everyone else as twisted too, thinking they are as exceptional as themselves, right?

“My husband is great and has no time to be jealous of you. Who you marry is none of my business. You really think too highly of yourself. But I just realized today that you have quite the knack for scheming, don’t you? Too bad Mr. Wu didn’t fall for it. Seems like looks really are a sore spot for you,” Muniang mocked without any courtesy.

Erliang initially felt agitated by Qiao Lianhua’s “foolish husband” comment, but hearing Muniang speak so contently about her husband instantly cheered him up. His world was simple and small, impervious to the gossip of others. As long as his wife liked him, that was enough. However, he now felt a bit more disdain for Qiao Lianhua, puffing up his chest to chime in, “She’s not good-looking at all, nowhere as beautiful as my wife!”

Qiao Lianhua was fuming. She had always prided herself on being quite attractive, confident enough to capture Wu Haoli’s heart. Being ignored by Wu Haoli was already embarrassing enough, but now to be ridiculed for her looks and to have no rebuttal was too much to bear!

“You! You! You—”
Qiao Lianhua was so angry she couldn’t speak, and Muniang couldn’t be bothered with her, simply turning around to leave.

But Qiao Lianhua stopped her, and Qiao Muniang glared at her, “What’s the matter? Can’t win the argument, so you want to fight? Your mother has received a slap from me before—if you don’t want a bruised face, you better step aside quickly!”

Qiao Lianhua did indeed take a frightened step back and then said, “You mustn’t speak of today’s incident to anyone!”

Muniang immediately laughed upon hearing this. So that was the issue, “You could shamelessly seduce a man in public and yet you still care about your reputation?”

Qiao Lianhua glared at Muniang hatefully, but still pleaded, “We are sisters after all, you can’t be so heartless toward me. If this gets out, I’ll never be able to marry. You must keep this secret for me.”

Qiao Lianhua had acted so recklessly today partly because she was vexed by the repeated rejections from Muniang’s side, losing her rationality, and partly because she thought the Wu Mansion was remote with no neighboring homes, and villagers rarely ventured this way, believing no one would see her, so she took the risk.

But little did she know that not only was Wu Haoli completely unmoved, but unfortunately Qiao Muniang and Erliang happened to pass by and witness the scene. Qiao Lianhua felt she was truly cursed. No matter what, she couldn’t let her reputation be ruined.

Looking at Qiao Lianhua’s pleading expression, Muniang coldly said, “Do you think everyone’s like you, aiming to hurt others intentionally? I’m not that gossipy. You could beg me to spread the word and I still wouldn’t bother.”

It was truly a case of suspecting others of one’s own base intentions, thinking she was like Mrs. Ji.

Although Muniang’s words weren’t pleasant to hear, Qiao Lianhua took them as a promise and finally breathed a sigh of relief, “You must keep your word.”

Muniang gave her a sidelong glance, “Who is begging whom here? Giving orders to whom? I really don’t have the time to waste on you.” With that, she didn’t wait for a response, but grabbed Erliang and walked right past her.

Qiao Lianhua wanted to stop her but feared provoking Muniang and getting the opposite of what she wanted. She held back her intense frustration, angrily stamped her foot, and then left.

But what she didn’t know was that from within the lush grove of trees, a figure slowly emerged, a triumphant smile curling on their lips.