Liu Yungen was surprised. He’d expected her to be angered to tears, not to unleash such a tirade. He grumbled, "Who goes around bumping into people for no reason? He was coming down that path, he should have been watching where he was going..."

Juhua couldn’t be bothered to argue the point, cutting him off. "My brother said he saw you coming and stepped aside. You’re the one who wasn’t looking where you were going and bumped into him. He didn’t blame you and even carried you home. Isn’t that the mark of a reasonable person? But you? My brother brings you home, you don’t even say thank you, and then you demand he pay for the eggs. I’ve never seen such an unreasonable boy in my life."

Liu Yungen grew flustered and yelled, "Who’s being unreasonable? I..."

Juhua refused to let him get a word in. "What about you? You make a mistake and don’t know how to apologize. Someone carries you home and you don’t know how to say thank you. I’ve never seen such a difficult boy."

Liu Yungen was furious. "Who’s difficult? I..."

Juhua raised an eyebrow and unleashed another volley of words, shutting him up completely. "If you had really run into someone unreasonable, they would have just left you on the road, and what could you have done about it? You’re the one who bumped into him. Even if he hadn’t helped you, you’d have no right to complain. It’s only because my brother is a truly good-hearted person that he was kind enough to carry you home. But it seems no good deed goes unpunished."

Liu Yungen was so angry he was speechless. In another moment, he was going to do just as he’d imagined earlier—burst into tears. The only difference was, the one crying wouldn’t be Juhua, but him. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Juhua glared at him. "What is it? Still not convinced? I just heard you call my brother a ’bastard.’ If he were a bastard, he would have left you lying in the snow. If he were a bastard, he wouldn’t have carried you home. It’s the strangest thing I’ve ever heard—helping someone, only to be called a ’bastard’ for it."

Liu Yungen glared resentfully at Juhua. She stood there so demurely, yet her clear voice unleashed one sharp rebuke after another. ’Anyone who didn’t know better would think she was just making small talk with me. Who would ever guess she was giving me a lecture?’

’What bastard said she was ugly and timid?’ he thought.

’I can’t tell if she’s ugly or not, but she’s not the least bit timid. And that tongue of hers is sharp as a tack.’

He was so angered by Juhua he was left speechless, but he refused to admit defeat. He could only mumble, "Well, he should have paid for the eggs..."

Juhua’s face hardened. "You think you’re the victim here because your eggs broke?" she said, displeased. "Let’s not even talk about how it wasn’t my brother’s fault. My brother suffered a loss, too! When he carried you, the yolk and white from your eggs stained a huge patch on his new clothes. I had to spend half the day scrubbing them clean when we got back. Did you hear him yelling and screaming about it like you are?"

She saw the boy’s eyes were red with anger, on the verge of tears. She couldn’t help but purse her lips. ’Too bad this face covering means he can’t see it.’ She said, "You’re the one who was wrong, but you still blame others. And don’t you start crying. I won’t be coddling you if you do. It won’t kill you to apologize when you’ve done something wrong. You don’t even have that little bit of courage? And you call yourself a boy!"

With red-rimmed eyes, Liu Yungen stared at this masked, pockmarked girl. He had reached the absolute end of his patience. ’I’ve barely said two words this whole time; she’s done all the talking! If she actually makes me cry today, I’ll never be able to show my face in public again.’

He gritted his teeth, forcing back his tears, and shouted in a choked-up voice, "Who’s crying? Fine, I’ll apologize! You think I’m scared?"

Juhua had already talked him in circles. The argument had twisted from a demand for compensation to an offer of apology, and the roles had been completely reversed.

Juhua had already caught a glimpse of Liu Yunlan standing to the side, smiling as she watched Juhua bicker with her little brother. That was why she felt confident enough to keep pressing Liu Yungen.

However, seeing the boy was at his breaking point, she worried he might actually burst into tears. ’That would be a real mess.’ ’Besides,’ she thought, ’we’ll be sending a matchmaker to propose marriage soon. It wouldn’t do to offend my future brother-in-law too badly.’

She quickly turned, took Mrs. Wang by the hand, and said, "You’re the one who said it, so my brother and I will be waiting at my uncle’s house. If a boy like you goes back on his word, I’ll look down on you even more. You might as well never leave the house again and just stay home like a little wife."

With that, she pulled Mrs. Wang and hurried out the door of the Liu family’s home. As she left, she didn’t forget to call out to Liu Yunlan, "Sister Yunlan, I’m off now! Don’t see me out!"

She didn’t slow her pace, stifling a laugh and not daring to look back. Only after they had left the courtyard and walked a good distance did she finally slow down and say to Mrs. Wang with a grin, "I really drove that boy crazy today."

Mrs. Wang still hadn’t recovered from her astonishment. Seeing Juhua’s triumphant expression, she said reproachfully, "Why did you have to give him such a hard time? Look at that poor child, you nearly made him cry. Juhua, that wasn’t right of you. Yunlan’s mother was watching the whole time."

Juhua linked arms with her and chuckled. "I wasn’t giving him a hard time. He’s the one who cursed my brother first. That kid was asking for it! He was clearly in the wrong, but he blamed someone else. Someone had to put him in his place. Sister Yunlan won’t be angry. Didn’t you see her smiling? She was even holding her mother back to keep her from interfering. Even if I hadn’t said anything, Sister Yunlan would have lectured him after we left."

Mrs. Wang shook her head in disapproval. "To speak like that in their home is just too impolite. If he needs to be disciplined, his parents should be the ones to do it. You accepted Yunlan’s dumplings, which means you approve of her, right? If you approve, you’ll be family soon. That makes it even more inappropriate to treat her brother that way."

Juhua laughed. "It’s precisely because we’re going to be family that I decided to teach him a lesson. Look at him, so arrogant and utterly clueless. If I don’t put him in his place now, who knows how he’ll bully my brother in the future. Hmph. Today was to make him understand that if he wants to cause trouble, he’ll have to deal with me, his future sister-in-law."

Only then did Mrs. Wang understand Juhua’s motive, and she couldn’t help but laugh.

She thought for a moment and said, "I suppose it’s good you said something. That boy is nowhere near as sensible as his sister." She had been so engrossed in watching Juhua lecture Liu Yungen that she’d forgotten to address the fact that the boy had cursed Qingmu. Recalling it now, she too felt that child, much like Laicai, was in sore need of being taught a lesson.