She had stood there boasting in a softer voice as she had feared that Qian Jiyun and the others would overhear her and bring up her marriage discussions again.
She was bold enough to say those things in front of these women because she had nowhere to vent her anger after Qian Jiyun scolded her for condemning An Jiuyue.
However, these women rebuked her. She felt bullied by them and could not care less anymore.
She believed that the animal Qian Jiyun had hunted was hers to eat, so she could determine who could eat it. If she was unwilling to share it with them, she could throw all the meat onto the ground instead of feeding it to these starved animals!
She turned around and looked at Qian Jiyun, wanting him to uphold justice for her. She was the victim of their bullying, right?
“Brother Yun, look at these lowly people! They’re not letting me eat the meat!”
Qian Jiyun had no intentions of entertaining her. He replied coldly, “Have some porridge if you don’t want to eat. Don’t block the way and prevent everyone else from eating.”
“I…” Xue Ling opened her mouth but was unable to say a word.
Is Qian Jiyun not going to seek justice for me even though they’re bullying me?
Am I not important to him at all? I don’t understand. What’s not good about me? Am I not pretty enough?
Qian Yiyun, feeling helpless, came forward and picked up the bowl of meat from the stove, shoving it into Xue Ling’s hands.
“Sister Xue Ling, it is not easy for anyone in the face of a great catastrophe. Don’t make a scene. Take the meat and go.”
Is Xue Ling going to embarrass herself for some meat? So what if my brother hunted this meat? We’re still eating An Jiuyue’s grain.
She turned to Aunt Ju with an apologetic expression.
“Aunt Ju, Sister Xue Ling has always been like this. Please don’t lower yourself to her level. Sister Jiuyue rescued us, so we owe her a huge favor. It is only right for us to help out as much as we can.”
She then turned to look at Xue Ling and questioned, “Sister Xue Ling, we’ve all found ourselves in dire straits. Everyone is equal. You’ve eaten food from Sister Jiuyue and everyone else too. Are you going to throw up the food and return it?”
Why does she not know how to behave? She does not even have a basic sense of gratitude. Even I despise her a little now.
She had interacted with the daughters of other merchants before. None of them acted like Xue Ling.
“I…” With her anger caught in her throat, Xue Ling felt awful.
However, there was nothing she could do. Qian Jiyun was staring at them, and she dared not retaliate. She still wanted to leave a good impression in front of Qian Jiyun.
“Brother Yun, don’t be angry. I was wrong,” she turned around and apologized to Qian Jiyun, looked at him timidly.
Qian Jiyun did not even spare her a glance and turned to look at Qian Yiyun.
“Yiyun, stay here and watch over her. Don’t let her cause any more trouble. I’m going to take a look around the area.” With that, he left without looking back.
Qian Yiyun nodded as she watched his back. “Okay.”
She wondered if her brother was rushing to catch up with An Jiuyue because he felt it was unsafe for a young lady like her to enter the forest alone.