"You—!" Pan Shuangquan’s new wife was so angry that she gnashed her teeth. If it weren’t for the child she was carrying, fearing harm to the baby inside, she really wanted to step forward and tear An Jing’s mouth apart.
"What does it matter if you can bear children?" An Jing chuckled softly, "If you give birth to daughters each time, you’ll still have to adopt a son. Don’t argue with me that you can definitely bear a son; better wait until the day you actually give birth to a son before you talk about this. Right now, you’re just making empty boasts about being able to have a son, aren’t you afraid of being laughed at by everyone?"
As more and more onlookers gathered, the faces of Pan Shuangquan and his new wife grew redder.
Finally, his new wife, overcome with embarrassment and rage, retorted sharply, "I will definitely have a son! My mother and sister both had sons! I will certainly be able to as well!"
"Yes, your mother and sister did indeed have sons," An Jing remained calm and unhurried, methodical, "but your mother must have had daughters too, aren’t you and your sister your mother’s daughters? You use the fact that your mother and sister had sons to guarantee that you’ll definitely have a son yourself—isn’t that a bit of a stretch?"
"Exactly!" someone from the crowd couldn’t hold back any longer, "No woman can guarantee that she can have a son. Everyone hopes they can have a son but can’t ensure it. To have a son every time is even harder!"
Pan Shuangquan felt utterly humiliated, but since his new wife was pregnant, it wasn’t appropriate to walk away and leave her alone, so he quickly grabbed his new wife’s hand and they both scurried away in disgrace.
However, Pan Shuangquan had already decided in his heart that if one day he had a son, he would definitely bring his son personally to An Jing’s house to slap her face hard and avenge the outrageous words she spoke today.
With Pan Shuangquan and his new wife gone, and no more drama to watch, the onlookers dispersed.
"Husband, when we clearly look so unapproachable, why do people still persist in challenging us?" An Jing said with a smile as she tugged gently at Xiao Changyi’s expressionless face, taking advantage of the lack of attention from others.
Xiao Changyi’s face remained expressionless, but he tightened the fingers that were interlocked with hers, saying, "They are blind."
"Pfft." An Jing couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Then, she lowered her voice to a whisper audible only to them both, "Husband, I really like you just the way you are."
Her husband’s sharp tongue was truly adorable.
Xiao Changyi also lowered his voice, "No matter what you look like, I like you."
"Actually..." An Jing’s heart was sweet as honey, intentionally dragging out the word, then after a long pause, she added with a beaming smile, "Me too~"
Upon hearing this, Xiao Changyi couldn’t suppress the smile tugging at his lips.
After buying ten ducklings from the duck vendor, An Jing and Xiao Changyi rode their horses home.
Misfortune comes out of the blue, and fortune is unpredictable.
Ten days later, Meng Lanqing urgently came looking for An Jing and Xiao Changyi, informing them that the Shi River Levee had burst, flooding the entire Jing Tian County. Several villages near the Shi River were ruined with loss of life, and farther villages also suffered many houses being swept away. Crops were submerged, possessions and food were swept away, causing severe losses, and famine had already descended upon Jing Tian County.
An Jing and Xiao Changyi happened to have another rice shop located in Jing Tian County, which was one of the six counties adjacent to Hecheng County.
And the Shi River ran right through Jing Tian County.
Hearing about this natural disaster, An Jing felt extremely heavy-hearted, as she had participated in disaster relief in her modern-life past and could imagine the catastrophe all too well.