In this era, motorbikes are a big deal; with a price close to two thousand bucks, you could buy a house in the city.
As soon as Jiang Lai heard this, he immediately called the whole family and the neighbors to go find someone on that remote path.
"That place is less crowded; maybe my sister accidentally fell into the channel on her way back!"
"What nonsense are you babbling, girl?"
A group of people rushed over with kerosene lamps, and once they arrived, Jiang Lai told them to extinguish the lamps and see if there was any other light around, maybe it was Jiang Qu’s flashlight.
The simple villagers thought it made sense, so they extinguished the lamps and started rummaging through the grass. While they were searching, they heard the sound of a motorbike engine approaching, and the lights on the front of the bike blinded them. Before they could see who was coming, the bike stopped not far away.
There were two people illuminated by the headlights.
"Hey, isn’t that Jiang..."
The sharp-eyed aunt was about to shout but Jiang Lai quickly covered her mouth.
"Auntie, look, there’s someone else beside my sister, don’t shout so loud!"
The aunt immediately realized and kept silent.
Everyone else had the same thought, squatting in the grass, silently watching the two people get off the bike without intending to go home.
"Isn’t that He Xing?"
"No way, how could He Xing and Jiang Qu come back together?"
"That’s definitely He Xing! He’s actually riding a motorbike!"
The words were barely uttered when a surprising scene occurred: Jiang Qu, who had just gotten off the bike in a large coat, wrapped an arm around He Xing’s waist, then raised her head to kiss him!
All the villagers hiding in the grass were stunned.
Each of them quiet as a quail, silently watched the two kissing, then looked at Jiang Sheng and Liu Shuping.
The young girl who was still in school and had never gone out, didn’t go home after school, and late at night was secretly kissing a twenty-something man in the wasteland behind the village.
This explosive news was enough for the aunts to gossip about from the start to the end of the year.
"She’s supposed to be a future university student, how could she do something like this?"
"Wait a minute, isn’t He Xing supposed to be Sanya’s blind date? How did he end up with Erya instead?"
"That motorbike is worth a lot, at least two thousand!!"
"Two thousand?! Goodness, that’s worth two houses in the county!"
Jiang Sheng, who was always concerned about his image, was so furious that he was shaking all over, his teeth grinding so hard they almost shattered.
The most infuriating part was that these two were not planning to separate anytime soon; they stopped momentarily, Jiang Qu playfully patted He Xing’s chest, which seemed more like an invitation than a refusal, and then they kissed again.
Finally, Jiang Qiuhe couldn’t take it anymore, charged out, grabbed He Xing’s clothes as he was holding Jiang Qu, and directly pushed him to the ground, followed by pressing on him and beating him.
"You bastard! How dare you bully my sister!! Who the hell do you think you are, stringing along my third sister to hook up with my second sister?! I’ll beat the shit out of you, you shameless bastard!"
Seeing this, everyone rushed in to break up the fight, with some troublemakers loudly exclaiming.
"You can’t fight, you’ll kill him, you’re about to kill someone!"
Meanwhile, Jiang Qu, now standing stiffly aside, was pale and frozen in shock, watching as the lover she was kissing a moment ago got beaten by her big brother in the next second, with her parents and the entire village following behind, the clamoring completely stunned her.
She was at a loss, first terrified, then shocked, and finally lost in overwhelming shame and humiliation as everyone’s eyes turned on her.
She bit her lower lip hard, clutching her clothes, trembling in the cold wind. She didn’t dare even glance back at the beaten He Xing, just stood there clueless, facing her parents’ disappointed gazes.
She cried, cried terribly.
Jiang Sheng, usually steady and kind, threw out a stern remark.
"Crying, you still have the face to cry?! Look at what you’ve done! Now go home with me!!"
Throughout the night, no one in the Jiang Family, except Jiang Lai, could sleep.
Liu Shuping sat by her daughter’s door and cried all night, waking up the next morning with her hair half-white.
Jiang Qu locked herself in her room, refusing to see anyone, not opening the door no matter who came.
Liu Shuping’s sobs repeatedly brought back memories of the previous night’s events; although He Xing was to be her future husband, she didn’t want their relationship to be exposed in such a way.
At the minimum, at least wait for He Xing’s career to progress a little more, like in his previous life when he was featured on TV as a pioneering entrepreneur.
But now, He Xing was still seen by the villagers as a poor man, although he actually wasn’t poor, his revenue streams hadn’t fully expanded yet, and couldn’t be exposed to outsiders, hence in their eyes, Jiang Qu was taken advantage of by an old man.
That old man also happened to be the person her sister was currently matchmaking with.
This made their relationship exposed under the sunlight, without any natural progression, without relatives’ blessings, and eliciting more ridicule than envy.
This wasn’t what she wanted.
The more Jiang Qu thought, the more hatred and pain grew; she couldn’t understand why their affair with He Xing became public knowledge.
Now her parents were utterly disappointed in her, the well-managed image of a sweet and understanding girl built over years collapsed overnight, leaving Jiang Qu too ashamed to face the outside world.
Meanwhile, Jiang Lai slept until she woke naturally.
There was no breakfast, with everyone in a sullen mood, Jiang Lai cooked a pot of porridge for herself, squatting in the corner sipping it, watching Liu Shuping still wiping her tears, she said loudly.
"Mom, it’s free love between my sister and him, what’s there to cry about."
"What do you know?"
"Why wouldn’t I get it, didn’t you also want to marry me off to He Xing back then? Dad even said that He Xing is a solid and capable good man, now since my sister is dating him behind our backs, just let them be together, what’s the big deal?"
Upon hearing this, Liu Shuping immediately replied.
"Your sister has to study, how can she get married so early? Besides, He Xing..."
At this point, the woman paused, saying nothing more.
Jiang Lai knew what she wanted to say, staring intently at her, speaking each word clearly.
"So, it’s suitable for me to marry He Xing, but when my sister wants to marry him, you think he’s not good enough? Mom, why are you so biased?"
With her motive directly exposed, Liu Shuping reached to hit Jiang Lai but Jiang Lai swiftly dodged.
"You damn girl, how can you speak about your mother like that?"
"What, am I wrong? Why is everything good saved for my sister, and I’m treated randomly? Mom, do you really think I know nothing?"