"Li Xinyue, I..."
At this moment, should he finally face his true feelings?
After all, she was so smart that she must have guessed.
Sighing, Chu Junyi tightened his fists resignedly. He decided to be the first to back down. Let her laugh if she wanted to. Anyway, he was ready to take the plunge.
"I..."
"Help! Help!"
Li Xinyue shifted her gaze from Chu Junyi.
In the distance, a ragged and emaciated little girl clutched a flat, patched bundle in her hand. She ran towards them in a flurry, shouting for help while constantly looking back, as if worried about being caught up by someone.
When she passed by and saw Li Xinyue and Chu Junyi, a glimmer of hope lit up in her panicked eyes. She rushed towards them quickly but sprained her ankle due to her haste. When she reached them, she immediately bowed deeply.
"Please save me. I have a father who is addicted to gambling. He lost a huge sum of money and needs to sell me to pay off part of his gambling debts.
I don't want to go to the gambling house. I want to find a way out for myself.
Sir, miss, please save me."
The girl looked up at Chu Junyi and Li Xinyue with tear - filled eyes. Her foot hurt badly, but she didn't even bother to rub it. Instead, she grabbed a corner of Li Xinyue's skirt and a corner of Chu Junyi's trousers tightly.
Li Xinyue glanced at the skirt corner in the girl's hand and then at Chu Junyi. She admitted that her mind had wandered to other places, so she subconsciously pulled her skirt corner out of the girl's hand.
Thinking that Li Xinyue refused to help, the girl grabbed tightly onto Chu Junyi's trousers with both hands.
Chu Junyi glanced at Li Xinyue. The words that were about to come out of his mouth were swallowed back with difficulty. His excited heart was about to burst out of his throat, but he had to force it down. His boiling blood also cooled down a bit.
He sighed regretfully.
"You unfilial girl, what are you doing! Pulling and tugging in public. What a disgrace!"
A burly man with bulging eyes chased after the little girl. He raised his hand, about to slap her.
Chu Junyi reached out and grabbed the man's wrist.
The little girl at his feet shouted in desperation, "Husband!"
Chu Junyi's hand paused slightly, and he stood there stunned.
The big and burly man was also stunned.
Only Li Xinyue, whose face had been serious before, showed a hint of gloating smile. She looked at Chu Junyi with a mix of sympathy and excitement.
Suddenly, she thought—
Watching Chu Junyi being blackmailed seemed more interesting than watching the old lady's birthday celebration.
She decided to stay and watch the show instead of going to the banquet as he wished.
Only after shouting "husband" did the little girl look up and realize that they were already going to save her. She thought they would turn a blind eye, so she...
But now there was no turning back. She had to bite the bullet and continue, "Husband, don't abandon Ye'er.
Ye'er may look young, but she is already over fourteen years old and can bear children for you. Ye'er doesn't ask for anything. She just hopes that you won't drive her away."
At this time, on the broad street, there were originally few passers - by after dusk. But this shout attracted the few remaining people. Even the young marquis couldn't help but jump out and peek over the door frame of his own house.
Li Xinyue looked back and saw the young marquis's extremely curious face. Comparing it with Chu Junyi's angry face, she couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Chu Junyi turned to glare at her.
She laughed even louder.
This was the most humiliated teacher she had ever seen. Poor Chu Junyi.
She even felt a bit sorry for him.
At this moment, the onlookers, who didn't know the whole story, thought that Chu Junyi was a beast who took a concubine and then wanted to abandon her because he thought she couldn't bear children.
So they pointed at him like a storm.
"Li Xinyue, have you had enough fun!" Could she help out now!
Chu Junyi was really at his wit's end.
This little girl was still clinging tightly to his leg. If he reached out to help her, he would surely be blackmailed.
He stared at Li Xinyue fiercely. If she didn't help him out of this situation, don't blame him for dragging her into it!
"Husband? I wondered where this dead girl got the courage to run away from home! It was you, you rascal, who instigated her!
Since things have come to this, as her father, I can't do something as beastly as breaking up a loving couple. Well, if you give me five hundred taels of silver, my daughter is yours."
The man spoke before Li Xinyue could.
Li Xinyue gave Chu Junyi a look to calm down. Then she asked the man, "So as long as I give you five hundred taels, I can marry your daughter?"
The man was stunned for a moment. His mind worked quickly. "The five - hundred - tael betrothal gift is just the beginning. Besides, there should also be a whole pig, a whole chicken, a whole duck, a whole fish, and all kinds of wedding cakes and pastries. And the banquet should cost at least ten taels per table!"
The onlookers were stunned, shocked by this huge turn of events.
The man glared angrily at them. "What does it matter to you! Do you also want to marry my daughter? Well, show me the money!"
Everyone quickly shut up, afraid of being blackmailed.
This was exactly what Li Xinyue was waiting for. "I have five hundred taels. I can not only meet all the conditions you mentioned but also double them. So can I marry your daughter?"
The man was stunned.
The onlookers were also stunned!
Chu Junyi was also quite shocked. But then he worried about her reputation. He was touched but also felt a bit mixed - up.
Li Xinyue was having a great time. "What's wrong? Do you think I'm a woman and can't marry a woman?
Can't a woman marry another woman? You only care about money, don't you?
Since that's the case, you take the money, and I take the girl. It's a fair deal, a win - win situation."
"But, but..."
"But what! Now there are only me and this gentleman for you to choose from.
A rich woman and a poor man. Who do you want to marry your daughter to?"
When Li Xinyue said "poor man", she deliberately patted Chu Junyi on the shoulder. On the surface, she looked calm, but inside she was almost laughing her head off.
She was teasing Chu Junyi like this. He must be going crazy, and that made her feel at ease.
Chu Junyi shrugged her hand off his shoulder disdainfully.
Don't bully the young man when he's poor!
The people around were shocked by this shocking proposal at first. But after thinking about it, they realized it was actually a good idea.
"Don't you want to sell your daughter for a good price?
Just now, your daughter shamelessly called this gentleman her husband.
Moreover, look, she's still clinging to his leg and won't let go.
A woman like this, besides this gentleman and this lady, no one else would want to marry her. So you have no choice. I advise you to choose the rich lady. Then you'll get a good price for your daughter."
"That's right!"
Many people started shouting, "Marry her, marry her, sell her, sell her, sell her!"
Hearing the shouts from all directions, the man felt dizzy. The anger that had been building up in his chest had nowhere to go.
Loving money was one thing, but being so greedy and shameless in public made him feel ashamed.
But if he married his daughter to a poor scholar, he would be losing both his daughter and his money, which was also impossible.
So at this moment, he felt like he was on the horns of a dilemma.