Contempt, Scorn, Mockery, and All Sorts of Unbearable Gazes

After Chen Mengtian cleaned up the kitchen and came out, she was just in time to see Jiang Zebei come out of the storeroom. Their gazes met.

She was very observant, and she could see the sadness he did not manage to hide in time from his eyes. 

'What happened? Is the boy missing his parents?

'He's a pitiful boy. He's only twelve, but has already lost both his parents.

'When his dad died, his mother chose to commit suicide and leave with him.'

With the belief that he was missing his parents, Chen Mengtian moved toward him. 

She did not ask what was wrong with him, because when she approached him, she saw that the sadness in Jiang Zebei's eyes was long gone, and he gave off an aloof presence, warning everyone to stay away from him. 

"Little Ze, what else do we need to bring when we go up the mountains? Are we leaving now?"

Since he was not paying attention, Jiang Zebei did not notice that she called him Little Ze.

"Yes," he answered faintly. 

Chen Mengtian watched him head to the gate in the courtyard with the tools in hand, and she immediately smiled before she followed him.

They locked the gate and walked into Chen Village. They were headed in the direction of the mountain. 

The Jiang family's house was located at the center of the village. Even though they did not live in one of the better houses in the village, they still lived pretty good lives.

Whenever the villagers saw the people from the Jiang family go out to hunt, they were envious.

The money they earned just by going to the mountain to hunt once was enough to cover a month's worth of expenses. 

Even though the rewards for going into the mountains were great, the villagers did not dare to go themselves. 

There were wild animals and vipers in the mountains. Now that it was winter, there were also bears around. 

The villagers who were wandering around outside knew that Jiang Zebei was going into the mountains when they saw him carrying a bow and arrows. 

They had envy in their eyes, but when they saw Chen Mengtian following him, their gazes changed. 

When they looked at Chen Mengtian, there was contempt, scorn, mockery, and all sorts of unbearable emotions aimed at her. 

With a poised manner, Chen Mengtian let herself be the center of attention. She even put on a sweet smile. 

When they saw her behaving this way, the villagers were puzzled and turned their eyes to the person beside her—Jiang Zebei.

At that moment, everyone had one thought in their minds. 

'Since he only came back from school yesterday, doesn't he know that Chen Mengtian quarreled with her cousin over a man yesterday and even got into a brawl with her when she couldn't win?'

The young married women and the old ladies around them were incredibly hostile toward Chen Mengtian, because Chen Baozhu had cried and voiced her complaints while Chen Mengtian was unconscious. 

She said that Chen Mengtian had tried to seduce her fiance, but she failed, so she wanted to do something horrible that could not be undone. 

She also said all sorts of other shameful things. At that time, the young married women who were there blushed when they heard it. 

That was why Chen Mengtian was a bad woman in their eyes, a vixen who stole other people's husbands. 

If Chen Mengtian learned of the title these people gave her, she would have started laughing smugly. 

Since ancient times, vixens were only women who were breathtakingly gorgeous, so, was she a great beauty in the eyes of the people?

Just when the two reached a spot with the most villagers, someone spoke up.

"You're off to hunt in the mountains again, lad?"

Jiang Zebei looked at the middle-aged man in the village and answered with a smile, "Yes. Tian Tian wants to drink chicken soup, so I'm going into the mountains to see whether there are any wild chickens I can catch for her."

There were men and women around them. When the ladies heard what Jiang Zebei said, they became energetic and ready for action. 

Since the son of the Jiang family referred to Chen Mengtian with such an intimate nickname, it was clear that he did not know what had happened the day before. 

With such a "good" thing happening, those who enjoyed exciting events could no longer stay still.