The Fortunate Lady and Her Mountain Man

Chapter 179: Chapter 179: The Pecking Eagle

"Aren’t you all tired? Please, have a seat. I’ll get you some water." Ji Huan directed this at Ma Liugun.

Ma Liugun was itching to get into her room. She waved a hand dismissively. "I’m not tired. Let them sit. I’m just going to pop in for a look."

When she saw Ji Huan blocking the doorway, refusing to budge an inch, Ma Liugun grew impatient.

"A visitor is a guest! Is this any way to treat people who’ve come to your home? We just want to have a look inside. Why won’t you let us? It’s like you’re treating us like thieves!"

This was entirely her own doing, yet she insisted on dragging everyone else into it, making it seem as if Ji Huan refusing her entry meant she considered them all thieves.

Ji Huan gave a faint, humorless smile. "You’re quite the kidder, Ma Liugun. We’re fellow villagers, not guests. Neighbors are much closer than guests. You see, a guest would never show up empty-handed, but a neighbor can."

’Never mind empty-handed, they’re acting like a bunch of bandits.’

Ma Liugun craned her neck. "I just think it’s something new and want to see what your room looks like! Besides, I’m here to bring some good energy to your home. You didn’t even invite me to your housewarming, so how can you have the gall to ask for a gift? The nerve of you is just too..."

Ji Huan had no desire to keep going around in circles with her and decided to be blunt.

"I know the village customs, so I’ve let you see everything you’re supposed to. I haven’t stopped you. But at the end of the day, this is my home, isn’t it? I explained why it’s not convenient for you to enter certain areas, but you refuse to listen. Instead, you’re acting like I’m the one at fault. Ma Liugun, in my opinion, you don’t look like you’re here to liven the place up. You look more like a government officer raiding my home."

Her tone was light, as if she were joking, but her expression was dead serious.

"Besides, I seem to recall an old saying that goes along with that custom. You can look around a new house, but you can’t just barge into the owner’s private bedroom. What if someone’s fate clashes with the place...?"

Ma Liugun was livid. "Who are you saying has a clashing fate? You’re the one with the bad..."

"Ma Liugun!" someone cut in, stopping her.

You don’t just go into someone’s house, point a finger in their face, and start cursing them with the one thing they’re most sensitive about.

Ji Huan knew exactly what they were alluding to.

But she had no intention of letting them off the hook. Instead, she took the opportunity to let her expression turn cold.

"My fate is hard. My luck is bad. Who in this village doesn’t know that? In the past, you all avoided me like the plague. Now, you’ve suddenly stopped and are even showing up at my door. To be honest, I’m not happy about it."

Ji Huan’s words were so blunt, she might as well have pointed right at their faces and called them a bunch of hypocrites, like flies drawn to a foul smell.

Everyone there was plunged into an awkward silence. A kaleidoscope of expressions crossed their faces, each woman wrestling with her own mix of feelings, utterly unable to save face.

Ji Huan surveyed the room. "I’m not happy, but it’s not because I’m holding a grudge. It’s because I’m scared. I’m scared that if something were to happen to any of you after you leave here, it would be blamed on me all over again."

At her words, the women visibly relaxed.

’So she’s not scolding us, she’s just afraid of us blaming her.’

"Wuan, you can relax. That’s impossible..."

"Exactly! What are the odds? It’s not like one visit is going to get us jinxed."

"What are you talking about? Jinxed? I think Wuan’s luck is actually pretty good. Maybe that fortune teller back then got it wrong..."

Ji Xiu’e’s eye twitched.

Ma Liugun huffed indignantly, "What do you all know? She was born with a cursed fate!"

Ji Huan snorted. "Whether I’m a jinx or not, I’m perfectly aware of my situation. Since you’re so certain about it too, Ma Liugun, why would you risk stepping through my door? Are you looking to get jinxed?"

"You... You..."

"You’re so wary of it, I assume you wouldn’t dare drink the tea in my house. Since that’s the case, I won’t keep you, Ma Liugun."

This was a direct order for her to leave.

And no one could say a thing about it. After all, Ma Liugun was completely in the wrong.

The woman had seen a young girl living on her own and decided to come in and raise hell. Well, look what happened. She’d thrown away every last shred of her dignity and face.

Ma Liugun’s face turned livid with rage, and her body trembled.

She often embarrassed other people, but being thick-skinned and relentlessly unforgiving whenever she had the upper hand, very few people ever dared to give her a taste of her own medicine.

Not only had Ji Huan done it, but she’d done it twice.

Once at the village entrance, and again right now.

Last time, Ji Huan had at least used pleasantries to shut her down. This time, it was like a direct slap to the face.

Ma Liugun wanted nothing more than to lunge at Ji Huan and start a fight!

But Ji Huan was her junior. If she actually fought her, she’d become the laughingstock of the entire village.

But she couldn’t stomach the thought of leaving in such disgrace.

Ji Xiu’e, who was sitting in the seat of honor, spoke up at just the right moment. "Ma Liugun, please sit. Wuan is just joking with you. Don’t take it to heart."

Ma Liugun’s expression finally softened a little.

She said no more about going into the east room and chose a seat near Ji Xiu’e.

Ji Xiu’e turned to Ji Huan and chided her with a stern face, "An elder is still an elder. How can a junior like you be so disrespectful? Where did your manners go?"

Ji Huan despised her condescending tone, acting as if she were some revered family matriarch.

"My parents died young. Weren’t you aware of that, Aunt?"

Ji Xiu’e was met with a firm but polite rebuff. She hadn’t expected the girl to dare talk back to her, and her face darkened.

"Are you saying your grandparents didn’t raise you? Didn’t teach you anything?"

Ji Huan nodded. "Oh, they taught me. They taught me a great deal."

Before Ji Xiu’e could even take a breath, Ji Huan slowly added, "But they only ever taught me how to endure hardship, withstand scoldings, and work myself to the bone. As for anything else... well..."

Several of the other women in the room broke into coughs.

Who in the village didn’t know how harshly the Ji Family had treated the second son’s family and this very granddaughter?

But for her to say it so brazenly, and right in front of her own aunt...

And true to her word, Ji Huan didn’t pour any tea for Ma Liugun. She didn’t pour any for her aunt, Ji Xiu’e, either. With that, what else could anyone say?

They had no choice but to sit there in dry-mouthed silence, letting the awkwardness hang thick in the air.

Ji Xiu’e, in particular, glared at Ji Huan with a dark and menacing look.

Ji Huan seemed not to feel it at all and casually found a chair for herself.

"It’s rare for you to come back, Aunt. I’m sure it wasn’t just to see me. After all, you didn’t even show your face when I was being sold. Since you’re so busy, you might as well just say what’s on your mind."

If Ji Xiu’e’s first words had been barbs hidden in velvet, then Ji Huan was only now revealing her own sharp edge.

’She knew Ji Xiu’e must have an ulterior motive.’

Her earlier outburst, seizing on Ma Liugun’s words, had been a clear case of making an example of one to warn the others.

These last words were meant to clearly inform everyone—or rather, to unilaterally put Ji Xiu’e on notice:

There was no need to beat around the bush. Say whatever you want, but whether or not I listen is up to me.

I may call you ’Aunt,’ but you were nowhere to be found when I was sold, which means you have no right to boss me around now.

"Wuan, you really have changed."

Ji Xiu’e scrutinized Ji Huan for a long moment before coming to this conclusion.

In truth, the Ji Family had already told her about Ji Huan’s transformation.

She had been dismissive at the time.

’Could a timid quail really turn into a sparrow?’

But she hadn’t just turned into a sparrow. She’d become a hawk.

The kind of hawk that would peck your eyes out if you weren’t careful.

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