And with that, he completely infuriated Liao Zhaoji who grabbed his ear and yanked him to his feet, scolding, "You've grown up, and your wings are all strong now, huh? Daring to talk back to your mom over such a worthless girl? Have you even thought about who I'm doing this all for, huh?"
With his ear being pinched, Ruan Wei rose from his chair, crying out in pain. He twisted himself out of her grasp and ran off, shouting as he ran, "She's not a worthless girl, she's the little princess, the little princess!"
"You little brat!" Liao Zhaoji was livid. She turned to complain to Ruan Chi, but before she could say a word, Ruan Chi stood up from his chair, said he was going to his room to do homework, and walked off, leaving her alone, heaving with anger, almost on the verge of exploding.
At this point, Ruan Chi, who was now a teenager, never argued with his mother because he knew it was utterly pointless.
The Ruan family men had been plentiful for generations, and in the last hundred years, not a single girl had been born until Ruan Jiaojiao came along. Liao Zhaoji's parents had five daughters before finally having a son. Although scarcity makes something precious, her mother's mindset had been so warped from childhood that she would never understand Ruan Jiaojiao's importance in their family.
Besides, compared to his smelly and rigid brothers, he naturally preferred his soft, chubby little sister. Seeing her, his heart would always turn into a soft mush.
Thinking of this, Ruan Chi couldn't help but smile, considering the little bit of change he had stashed away. He planned to take his sister to buy some tasty treats over the weekend and fatten her up, chubby and tender, just as all his brothers wished!
Ruan Jiaojiao saw the young antagonist again two days later.
The noonday sun was warm, and Ruan Jiaojiao was sitting in her own yard, eating plums that were just slightly darker in hue, so sour that her entire little face was scrunched up.
These plums were truly sour.
But the house was indeed poor, with only these two plums, which had been hard for a member of the Ruanlin Family to find even after scouring the entire Plum Tree.
Her mouth smacked as she nibbled on the fruit, listening to footsteps that gradually approached, her gaze shifting curiously outside.
Standing at the entrance was a slim girl, thin as a reed, wearing ash-covered clothes that seemed quite old, probably worn by many before her and faded from washing, then hastily altered to fit smaller.
Luckily, her features were delicate, and she was tidy, making her a pretty little girl.
The girl peeked inside hesitantly, not daring to come in at first, until she spotted Ruan Jiaojiao sitting in the yard, her eyes lighting up.
"Jiaojiao!" she called out, her voice tinged with a hint of uncertainty, "Are you feeling better now?" As she spoke, she carried a worn little bamboo basket, slowly walking into the yard.
Ruan Jiaojiao stopped gnawing on the plum, tilted her head back slightly to look at the girl who seemed to glow in the sunlight, and paused. She quickly recognized her as the heroine of the book—Wa Yiting.
Wa Yiting stopped in front of Ruan Jiaojiao, looking at her lips glistening from the juicy plums. She caught the sour and sweet scent of the fruit and couldn't resist swallowing longingly. She glanced unintentionally at the fruit in Jiaojiao's hand and asked softly, "Are your family's plums ripe yet? They look really tasty."
After speaking, she licked her lips again.
Throughout the brigade, only the Ruan family had a plum tree and a peach tree, which the Ruanlin Family had deliberately had transported whole from the neighboring brigade and planted at great expense after Ruan Jiaojiao's birth, just so she could enjoy them when she grew up.