Chapter 11 We Didn't Do Anything Bad

Tang Huai caught several toads in the vegetable garden but couldn't find any more, so she squatted down and began pulling weeds.

By the time Liu Xiaoyu was close to giving birth, Tang Youxin had already fallen seriously ill, and both Tang Huai and Tang Li were in school, so no one tended to the fields, which now had weeds denser than the crops.

Her hands were occupied with weeding, but her mind was exceptionally idle. As soon as it was idle, she couldn't help but recall her past life's events.

In her past life, just like the other girls in the village, she longed to marry the village chief's son.

The person she liked was the village chief's younger son, Jing Peng. She couldn't remember when she had started liking Jing Peng.

She only remembered that once she liked him, he was constantly on her mind.

After Tang Youxin died, she went out to work. To be precise, she didn't even attend junior high school.

Jing Peng, on the other hand, was very successful, a university graduate with an accomplished career.

She knew that they were very far apart in terms of social distance.

So when she went out to work, she didn't forget to improve herself. No matter what job she was doing, she worked hard to complete it.

In her spare time, she read books, pursued studies, and learned how to dress and improve her demeanor.

While working, she completed the secondary specialized course, and even after marrying him, she didn't give up on herself.

In those three years alone in an empty house, she didn't feel lonely.

She would attend lectures, concerts, learn various cooking techniques and coffee brewing, learn to make pastries, and even took lessons in social dancing, piano, violin, swimming, and foreign languages...

Because she came from a humble background, the entire village thought she was not worthy of Jing Peng. She was determined to prove to everyone that she was worthy of him, believing all the while that she was trying very hard.

Little did she know that Jing Peng, who had given her a taste of heaven, would also be the one to cast her down into hell.

If he had initially said that he loved Tang Ying and didn't want Tang Ying to die, wanted her to donate a kidney, she would have agreed without hesitation.

Instead, he conspired with Tang Ying to deceive her, scheming for her kidney. One wasn't enough for them; they even coveted both...

She loved him so much, yet he disregarded her life...

Thinking of his haughty attitude and the disdainful, cold look in his eyes before she died, Tang Huai felt a sharp pain in her chest.

No one knew how bitterly she loved Jing Peng...

Tang Huai's gaze was icy as she tightly gripped a weed, thinking to herself, "Jing Peng, in this life, I will never fall in love with you again!"

The setting sun cast a faint glow upon her, and her pitch-black eyes, like obsidian, shimmered with a cold light.

This glimmer betrayed her usual dull and timid nature.

Jing Xuan stood on her right, watching her with interest.

After Tang Huai left, the villagers who had gathered at his house gossiped excitedly about Liu Xiaoyu as if they were performing an opera.

Jing Xuan didn't like such noisy gatherings and followed the main road to where Tang Huai was.

Seeing her catch toads, he stopped and watched her for a long time.

Toads are considered repulsive, even Jing Xuan didn't like such creatures, let alone the young girls Tang Huai's age.

Yet when she was catching them, her movements were skilled, showing no fear whatsoever.

Jing Xuan thought of the cold smile on her lips as she had left his yard just a moment ago.

She was a special kind of young girl... So, his steps unconsciously drew him closer to her.

She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't even notice his arrival.

Just as Jing Xuan was about to ask what she was thinking, he suddenly saw a green snake slithering towards her from the left.

"Be careful..."

No sooner had he spoken than Tang Huai swiftly reached out and caught the snake with quick dexterity.

Her fingers tightly gripped the snake's head as it struggled. Before its tail could coil up, the snake was dead.

As she killed the snake, Tang Huai's mind was filled with thoughts of Jing Peng and Tang Ying's deception and scheming, subconsciously fantasizing that she was squeezing Jing Peng's neck. The force she used was intense, her teeth clenched, and her gaze grew even colder.

Seeing her like that, Jing Xuan froze for a moment.

Tang Huai caught a glimpse of a pair of long legs out of the corner of her eye, suddenly looked up, and before her icy gaze could soften, she was stunned, "Brother Jing Xuan?"

When she looked up and met her icy gaze, a trace of surprise flickered across Jing Xuan's delicate and handsome face, and something inexplicably jolted in his heart.

He looked at her, then at the green snake she had pinched to death in her hand, and for a moment didn't know what to say.

Tang Huai also felt awkward, her raised hand stiff as if frozen, unable to lower it for a long time.

"Quite bold," Jing Xuan finally broke the eerie silence. He pointed at the snake in her hand, "It's dead, you can throw it away."

His voice was magnetic and pleasant, yet carried a chilling coldness.

The setting sun cast its light on his eyes, rendering them cold and unyielding like ice.

"Oh." Tang Huai pursed her lips and flung the green snake aside. It was a small one, unsellable.

Jing Xuan casually observed the sack beside her, "What are you catching these for?"

"To sell," Tang Huai answered truthfully. She wasn't worried about Jing Xuan competing for the toads; he was from a high-ranking family and didn't care about such petty cash.

Jing Xuan raised an eyebrow, "They can be sold?"

Tang Huai nodded, "They can be sold."

Jing Xuan took away her sack, "I'll help you catch them."

Tang Huai suddenly stood up, attempting to snatch back the sack.

But her speed was no match for Jing Xuan's.

Jing Xuan, holding the sack, went to someone else's vegetable garden to catch toads.

Tang Huai stood there, watching his tall figure, her expression somewhat complicated.

Jing Xuan's silhouette resembled Jing Peng's somewhat. Both were solemnly upright, although Jing Xuan was much taller than Jing Peng.

Actually, the brothers' temperaments were entirely different. Jing Xuan exuded a wild and unrestrained aura, like a wild horse.

Jing Peng, on the other hand, was graceful and courteous like an elegant scholar.

Their facial features were very similar, and seeing Jing Xuan, Tang Huai couldn't help but think of Jing Peng.

Thinking of Jing Peng, Tang Huai's mood soured.

"Isn't your family slaughtering a pig? What are you doing here?" she asked him with an unpleasant tone.

Jing Xuan glanced back at her, "Am I not of any help?"

Tang Huai scoffed. He was able to catch wild boars, so how could he be of no help with slaughtering pigs? He simply didn't want to join the commotion.

"Don't you have to go back to work?" His job was very busy, wasn't it? Hadn't he been working without a single day off for years?

"No need," Jing Xuan said.

Tang Huai took a deep breath and walked over, "Brother Jing Xuan, give me the sack, I can catch them myself. You don't need to help me. It wouldn't be good if the villagers see us."

Jing Xuan spotted a few toads and bent down to catch them, "We're not doing anything wrong. What does it matter if we're seen?"

"..."

Tang Huai was afraid that the villagers would see them together and then start claiming she was seducing Jing Xuan, that she, the toad, was coveting swan meat—

In her past life, after the villagers knew she fancied Jing Peng, this was exactly how they spoke of her.

She couldn't tell Jing Xuan these things. Who knew if, after hearing it, he might actually think she liked him...

"Then I'll go somewhere else to catch them."

Jing Xuan was a warm-hearted person who loved to help others, and with his father being the village head and his grandfather being a formidable figure, it was natural for him to lend a hand to the villagers in need.

But Tang Huai always felt uneasy refusing Jing Xuan's help and yet also dared not get too close to him, so she had no choice but to go farther away to catch toads.