My Fulang is a Delicate Flower Chapter 35 Part 1

Chapter 35  

With a creak, the wooden door issued a warning.  

Huang Manjing carried some breakfast into the room and immediately spotted the young ger sitting with his back to the door at the table.  

Her brow furrowed: "You're up. Why didn’t you answer when Mother called you?"  

Ji Taoyu quickly pulled down his pant legs and straightened his clothes before turning around: "I was sorting out ointments and medicinal wine. I didn’t hear you."  

Huang Manjing set the breakfast on the table: "The moment you fuss over those bottles and jars, it’s like your ears get blocked."  

"Come have some porridge. The steamed buns just came out of the steamer."  

Ji Taoyu responded and, pretending nothing was wrong, endured the pain in his knees as he walked to the table and sat down.  

He picked up a spoon to stir the white porridge, dispersing some of the heat, and coughed dryly: "Mother, you can go ahead with your work. I’ll take the dishes out after eating."  

"It’s no trouble."  

Huang Manjing watched her ger nibbling on the steamed bun and sighed softly: "None of you kids in this generation are easy to handle. Your eldest cousin from Third Aunt’s family, already past twenty this year, went to the Zheng family to propose marriage the other day. The Zheng family refused, and he felt humiliated, throwing a fit about leaving the village to make his way outside."  

"In the dead of winter, when everyone else is rushing back to the countryside to reunite with their families for the New Year, he’s the only one thinking of running off."  

"Is it my cousin who wants to leave?!"  

Ji Taoyu widened his eyes, staring at his mother in disbelief.  

"If it's not him, then who? What're you talking about?"

Ji Taoyu pressed his lips together, closing his mouth that had been hanging open in surprise, and awkwardly rubbed his legs.  

What a mess, he’d made himself look like a fool.  

Huang Manjing noticed her ger’s odd expression and asked, "What’s wrong?"  

Ji Taoyu quickly shook his head: "N-nothing. Cousin has always been proud, taking after Third Aunt’s tendency to overthink. It’s no surprise he’d act out like this."  

Huang Manjing sighed helplessly: "Your father finished breakfast in a hurry and has already gone to you third aunt’s house to talk sense into him."  

Ji Taoyu said, "Cousin won’t even farm the land properly. How can he do anything else well? And Father, our family and Third Aunt’s have had grievances for ages. Why is he still rushing over to mediate?"  

"Do you think I wanted your father to go?"  

"When you were kids, Yuan Fei used to come here often to play with you. That brat said you looked sweet, and if he wasn’t careful, his mouth would try to get close to your face. Your father gave him a hard slap, and he ran back crying to your third aunt."  

"Your third aunt has always been petty. She sulked for days, forbidding Yuan Fei from coming over again. But later, she shamelessly went to your father and suggested that since the two kids got along so well, they might as well be betrothed."  

Huang Manjing grew angrier as she spoke: "She knew full well your father despises the idea of marrying within the family. After being rejected, she went crying to your uncle, accusing your father of looking down on their family. And when we arranged your engagement with the You family, she made an even bigger fuss. Every time she sees us, she can’t help but make snide remarks."  

Ji Taoyu glanced furtively behind him, his face burning. He quickly tugged at his mother’s sleeve: "Why bring up these old grudges now?"  

Huang Manjing said, "Their family isn’t embarrassed, but you are?"  

"Your third aunt came crying earlier, saying even if your father doesn’t acknowledge her as his sister, as the village head, she begged him to help talk sense into Yuan Fei. Ugh, it’s all such a mess. She probably just wants your father to pull strings and find him a job."  

Ji Taoyu said, "Tell Father to just say a few words and leave it at that. It’s the farming off-season, jobs aren’t easy to come by. Besides, Cousin Yuan Fei has no real skills, and he’s not willing to do hard labor. Even if connections are used, no one might want him."  

"I’ve already told your father that."  

Ji Taoyu coughed again: "Then I’ll eat. Mother, you can go now."  

Huang Manjing was too preoccupied to find it strange that Taoyu kept urging her to leave today.  

"Then you should eat more. It’s raining outside, don’t go running around today."  

"Mm."  

Ji Taoyu closed the door, pressed his ear against it until the footsteps faded, then hurried to his bed.  

He pulled back the curtain and saw Huo Shu sitting there, deep in thought. Feeling guilty, he tugged at the blanket: "Get down already."  

"You’re quite skilled at hiding people."  

Huo Shu’s voice was icy: "Done it often before?"  

Ji Taoyu’s ears burned. Flustered, he grabbed a pillow and threw it at Huo Shu, who sat stubbornly on his bed like an immovable mountain.  

"Stop talking nonsense!"  

Huo Shu caught the pillow and stared at Ji Taoyu: "You’ve always been popular since childhood."  

Under Huo Shu’s cold interrogation, Ji Taoyu’s heart raced as if he’d actually wronged him.  

But on second thought, he hadn’t done anything wrong, why should he feel guilty?  

"I-I am popular."  

Ji Taoyu’s face flushed as he argued: "If I weren’t, I wouldn’t have attracted someone like you."  

Muttering under his breath, he added: "You’re no different from the others, just acting on impulse after seeing my looks."  

Huo Shu’s brow twitched. Suddenly, he grabbed Ji Taoyu’s wrist and, with a slight tug, pulled the young ger onto him.  

"My impulse wasn’t because of your looks. It was surprise, I’d never seen someone so frail before."  

"You—!"  

Pressed against Huo Shu, Ji Taoyu’s heart pounded like a drum, his face burning red.  

Not only had he never been this close to a man before, but it was happening on his own bed.  

Hearing this explanation only made him angrier. He tried to push Huo Shu away to prove a point but found himself utterly powerless against him.  

Annoyed, he said, "So you think I’m easy to control, is that it?"