一夜情

However, the Du family wasn’t any less powerful than the Hong family, and Hong Xulin didn’t want to be tangled up with Miss Du.

If they really did become attached to each other, once the two families were connected by their marriage, he wouldn’t be able to fool around outside anymore.

Hong Xulin was treating a woman he was meeting for the first time in such an amiable manner. Some might even call it obsequious. Miss Du immediately held a grudge against Zhao Chuchu.

The reason why Miss Du kept trying to make trouble for Yuan Hui was also that Yuan Hui had always gone against Hong Xulin. Miss Du felt that Yuan Hui was purposely trying to attract Hong Xulin’s attention. This was why whenever Miss Du appeared, Yuan Hui would lose face.

“Miss Yuan, you haven’t introduced this girl to us yet,” Miss Du suppressed her thoughts and said with a smile. “I think this is the first time we’ve seen her at the poetry and literature gathering.”

“Her surname is Lin,” Yuan Hui said. This was the fake name that she and Zhao Chuchu had discussed earlier.

“Miss Lin, I am Hong Xulin. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Please don’t hesitate to point out my flaws.” Hong Xulin kept his folding fan as he greeted Zhao Chuchu.

Zhao Chuchu smiled.

“Since you came together with Miss Yuan, I’m sure Miss Lin knows what we do at the poetry and literature gathering, right?” the girl dressed in green asked with ill intentions. “Whoever comes to this gathering must be adept in music, fine arts, calligraphy, or something else. I wonder what’s your specialty, Miss Lin?”

“I grew up in a poor family, so I didn’t have the chance to study properly. As a result, there’s not one particular area of the arts that I am adept in.”

She was adept in more than one of them!

The girl dressed in green smiled and said, “I think I’ve heard this somewhere before. Oh, right, I remember now. I think Miss Yuan said something similar previously as well. Did I remember wrongly?”

Yuan Hui answered, “No.”

“No wonder.”

“Not particularly adept at one means she knows all of them. Qiqi, I think you misunderstood Miss Lin.”

Miss Du tried to set Zhao Chuchu up.

“Calligraphy, drawing, poetry—I don’t know any of them,” Zhao Chuchu admitted. “But I think I can compete in horse riding, shooting, and pitch-pot.”

“You know horse riding, shooting, and pitch-pot?”

“Yeah, probably. I herded cattle every day when I was young.”

“Hahaha…”

Everyone couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Then, they all started mocking Zhao Chuchu.

“Really? There are people in this world who think that riding cows is the same as riding horses. Throwing rocks is the same as pitch-pot?”

“Sigh, Miss Yuan, where did this peasant relative of yours come from? I thought you brought in a sister with excellent looks and talent! It turns out she’s just a bumpkin from the farms.”

“Nowadays, people can be really vain. I wonder who gave her the courage to come to the poetry and literature gathering. Is she not afraid of getting laughed at? Miss Yuan, were you afraid that the gathering would be too boring, so you got a clown here to entertain us?”

Their mocking and taunting landed on Miss Du’s ears, making her feel exceptionally satisfied.

Miss Du thought that by laughing at Zhao Chuchu like that, she would turn to hate Yuan Hui.

That way, it would be even easier for Yuan Hui to make a fool of herself at the gathering.

When the other participants were more or less done with their mocking, Miss Du stood up and said pretentiously, “Please don’t say such disrespectful things. She came to our gathering, which means she is a guest. People might think that we’re an exclusive bunch if they see us treating her this way! Regardless of what Miss Lin knows, since she came to the poetry and literature gathering, we should give her a chance to display her talents.”

She paused for a moment, then said apologetically to Zhao Chuchu, “They were just joking just now. Please don’t take it to heart.”

“Yeah, there’s nothing for me to take to heart. I shouldn’t make a fuss with people who haven’t really seen the world,” Zhao Chuchu said calmly. Contrary to what Miss Du imagined, she wasn’t embarrassed or angry.

But Miss Du thought that Zhao Chuchu was simply pretending to be calm.

It’s okay. She’s going to make a fool of herself in no time. Miss Du didn’t believe that she would be able to keep up this facade by then; she would surely start hating Yuan Hui.

Miss Du said, “If that’s the case, I’m sure Miss Lin’s horse-riding skills are very impressive. Would you like to compete with one of us though I think very few girls are adept at horse riding? I think Mr. Hong and the guys are much better at this.”

The girl dressed in green immediately said, “Yeah, Miss Lin, how about you let us witness your horse-riding and shooting skills?”

Hong Xulin was very interested in Zhao Chuchu. He followed up and said, “May I have the honor of sparring with Miss Lin today?”

When he looked at Zhao Chuchu, his eyes were full of affection. In other words, he was flirting with his gaze.

If he did this to any of the other girls there, they probably wouldn’t be able to stand up straight under his gaze.

But Zhao Chuchu didn’t care.

Zhao Chuchu was actually disgusted by people who made unnecessary, one-sided displays of affection.

Xie Heng was a lot more comfortable and pleasant to look at.

Zhao Chuchu missed her Da Lang a little and desperately needed him to grace her eyes.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t there.

“Miss Lin? Is that alright?” Hong Xulin asked again.

Zhao Chuchu smiled and nodded. “Of course, but please do your best, and don’t go easy on me.”

“Hahaha, in that case, I won’t hold myself back. Miss Lin, after you.”

“Thank you.”

Although Miss Du was the one who tried to set Zhao Chuchu up and get Zhao Chuchu to jump into her trap, when she saw Hong Xulin and Zhao Chuchu conversing “happily,” she couldn’t help but feel extremely jealous.

Miss Du was very aware of Hong Xulin’s attempts to evade her.

Yet she liked Hong Xulin so much that she wanted to marry him.

The poetry and literature gathering was held in Laurel Garden, which was a place designed for young men and women. So, naturally, they had a horse-riding field as well.

Everyone followed Zhao Chuchu and Hong Xulin to the horse-riding field.

Kang Xiuwan was quite worried. She wanted to remind Zhao Chuchu to stay away from Hong Xulin, but she didn’t get the opportunity to do so. She wished that nothing bad would happen to Zhao Chuchu.

“Sister, what happened? Ever since Yuan Hui appeared, you have looked so unsettled and anxious. Are you worried about Yuan Hui snatching Mr. Hong away as well?”

...

“Where did that girl even come from? How could she be so shameless? She’s desperately trying to get close to Mr. Hong and seduce him.”

The two girls from the Xia clan were extremely hostile toward Zhao Chuchu.

Kang Xiuwan frowned and said, “Sisters, I think you have the wrong idea. I was just worried about my mother’s health.”

“So many things happened at the Xia clan. Sister, aren’t you going back to the Xia clan to take a look?”

“Sister, are you afraid that the Xia clan will drag you down? If Grandfather knew about this, he would be very sad.”

“No such thing.”

Kang Xiuwan was quite annoyed by the two girls, so she quickly walked in front.

She had to think of a way to bring Zhao Chuchu out of the poetry and literature gathering.

If the people from the Xia clan somehow recognized her, things would become really troublesome.

This was the capital city, after all. Although Zhao Chuchu’s relationship with Yuan Hui was decent, there was no way that the Yuan clan would fall out with the Xia clan over Zhao Chuchu.

After all, Zhao Chuchu belonged to the Xia clan. Moreover, she was the granddaughter of her grandfather in name!

...

Someone brought over a few horses. Other than Zhao Chuchu and Hong Xulin, several other young men wanted to participate as well.

“She’s really throwing her dignity away to get famous.”

“Some people are fond of shaming themselves. What can we do about that?”

“She’s tarnishing the reputation of us women. But, seriously, does she think that she has any chance to win against Mr. Hong?”

Miss Du didn’t speak, but the people around her started mocking and criticizing Zhao Chuchu again.

Yuan Hui said angrily, “Can all of you just shut your smelly mouths? Are you so eager to let those people know that you’re gossiping monkeys? Just watch and see how she will win against all those men!”