Tian Jiao choked back a sob, unable to cry anymore. Her tear-laden eyelashes fluttered again and again.
"I see you have no regard for our sisterly bond whatsoever. If I have to kneel to you before you'll forgive me, then fine! I'll kneel!"
She made a show of kneeling, and Jiang Wu scrambled to pull her back. As he held her, he turned to shout at Ji Huan, "Wan, can't you see? Jiaojiao is about to kneel for you!"
Ji Huan nodded agreeably. "Oh, I'm watching."
Her deadpan reply left them both stunned.
"What's wrong? Is the sunlight not good enough, or is the wind blowing in the wrong direction?" Ji Huan tilted her head, looking at their frozen posture. "If your knees really won't bend today," she suggested considerately, "don't rush it. We have all the time in the world. I'm sure there'll be a more auspicious day for kneeling."
After saying her piece, she couldn't be bothered with them anymore and turned to walk away.
Tian Jiao's face was a mask of disbelief. 'Is this sharp-tongued woman really the same pushover who let anyone do as they pleased with her?'
She dug her nails into her palm, momentarily overcome with a deadly hatred.
'If Ji Huan had really been sold off, the village gossip would have died down after a while. But now she's back! Her very existence will constantly remind the villagers of my vile deeds!'
'But, as long as Ji Huan is willing to forgive me, willing to help me explain to the villagers that she gave me and Jiang Wu her blessing voluntarily…'
Seeing Ji Huan getting further away, Tian Jiao gritted her teeth, targeted a tree by the path, and threw herself at it.
Fortunately, Jiang Wu was quick to react and caught her around the waist.
This time, Tian Jiao seemed to be putting on a real show. She pried at his arms, kicking and thrashing her legs, all while wailing nonstop.
"Let me die! Brother Wu, just let me die! Wan won't forgive me! What's the point of living anymore? It would be cleaner to just die!"
Jiang Wu broke out in a sweat from anxiety and whirled around to roar at Ji Huan.
"Ji Huan, how can you be so cruel! Will you only be satisfied when you've driven Jiaojiao to her death? I'm telling you, even if Jiaojiao dies, I'll never like you, so give up! Someone as petty and ungenerous as you could never compare to my gentle, kind Jiaojiao! I will only love Jiaojiao in this life, and I'll even die with her..."
Tian Jiao, who had just been trying to kill herself, froze. She covered Jiang Wu's mouth and shook her head, tears welling in her eyes. "No, how could I bear to let you die? Just let me die alone! After I'm dead, you can marry Wan. That way... she'll forgive me..."
Ji Huan cursed a million times in her head. 'What the fuck!'
'Could they be any more disgusting? Is this ever going to end? It's a crime these two aren't starring in a daytime soap opera.'
She turned back around, her face an emotionless mask, and stared at the two people locked in a passionate embrace, unable to tear themselves away from each other.
"There are many ways to kill yourself. You could hang yourself or jump in a river. If that doesn't work, you could always buy a pack of rat poison and swallow it. This tree is only as thick as a wrist. It has a long life ahead of it. It'd be a real shame if you didn't manage to kill yourself but ended up snapping it in half. That's a sin, you know?"
Her words shattered the mood completely. The two of them suddenly looked as though they'd swallowed a fly.
Tian Jiao awkwardly extricated herself from Jiang Wu's embrace, inwardly annoyed. 'Why didn't I pick a thicker tree to run into!'
Failing yet again, she grew impatient, and her tone was no longer as gentle as before.
"Wan, I can understand how you feel. But matters of the heart are beyond our control. Brother Wu and I never expected that we would... Anyway, we're truly in love. Is it wrong to be in love? You can't be so selfish. Why can't you just let us be happy together?"
She refused to believe Ji Huan had truly let go of Jiang Wu. 'She's just putting on a brave face, that's all.'
'Since I was able to provoke her into running into that pillar last time, maybe I can provoke her into trying to kill herself again.'
Jiang Wu squeezed her hand. "You don't have to beg her. It's a good thing I didn't end up blind and stuck with someone like her!"
"Brother Wu..." Tian Jiao looked at him, touched.
"Jiaojiao..." The two gazed deeply into each other's eyes.
Ji Huan broke out in goosebumps. She was tempted to give the wretched pair a round of applause.
'So, true love is invincible? Does that mean everyone else deserves to die?'
But she knew perfectly well that reasoning with people like them was like talking to a brick wall. A complete waste of breath.
"How moving! Truly a story for the ages!" she said, giving them two half-hearted claps as if showing her support.
Seeing their dumbfounded expressions, she raised an eyebrow. "What? Did you want me to wish you a long and happy life together? Hope you have a healthy baby soon?"
Tian Jiao's smile was strained. "You... you don't have to put on a brave face. I get it. You must be heartbroken. The only reason you won't talk to me is because you feel like I stole something from you. But Wan, anything that can be stolen was never fated to be yours in the first place. Why not just be the bigger person, let it go, and help us explain to the villagers..."
"You're right. I have no interest in a man who can be stolen away so easily," Ji Huan interrupted, her face a picture of sincerity. "Trust me, this man is a perfect match for you. You two absolutely must grow old together. So, it's been happily decided."
'Them being together is a public service, really. I sincerely hope Jiang Wu's eyes stay blind for the rest of his life.'
Tian Jiao truly couldn't figure her out anymore. It didn't seem like an act. 'Could she really have let it go just because she said she would?'
"Oh, right!" Ji Huan added, as if remembering something. She turned to the two, who were still frozen in place. "You two shouldn't do this again. The waterworks are impressive, but anyone who doesn't know the context would think you're about to commit a lovers' suicide or that your parents just died. It's terribly unlucky."
Ji Huan pursed her lips in a look of disgust, then crisply turned and strode away.
Tian Jiao clutched her chest, her body trembling with rage. "She... she has the nerve to call anyone else unlucky? She's the real jinx!"
Snapping out of his shock, Jiang Wu quickly soothed her in a gentle voice, "Don't stoop to her level. She's just jealous of you..."
Ji Huan couldn't hear what else they said. Her mind was already on other matters.
In Ji Huan's view, a scumbag and a schemer getting together wasn't a loss at all—in fact, it was a stroke of luck. It would have been far more disgusting if they'd hooked up after she was married.
But she wasn't the body's original owner, after all. She had the original Ji Huan's memories, but she couldn't personally feel the terror of being trapped with no way out, nor the despair of being betrayed by both her best friend and her fiancé.
Having transmigrated into this era and been given a second chance at life, all she wanted was to experience a life without shackles.
What troubled her now was the question of whether inheriting the original owner's body meant she had to inherit all her grudges, too.
If so, was she supposed to get justice for the body's previous owner?
Aunt Kang, Old Man Ji, Mrs. Zhu, more than half of the Ji Family, and especially Jiang Wu and Tian Jiao—they all had a hand in the original owner's death.
Trying to get justice from these people with words alone was clearly useless. But if she went after them one by one for revenge, she could forget about ever having a moment's peace.
But if she were to get revenge, how would she do it? Kill them herself? Or have someone else do the killing for her?
That was a line Ji Huan couldn't cross.
She wanted to ignore all this trouble and just live her own life peacefully.
But knowing that the original owner had died unjustly, filled with resentment, her conscience wouldn't let her simply enjoy the benefits of a new life without accepting the obligations that came with it...
Ji Huan shook her head. 'I'll worry about it later.'
If those people were willing to stay out of her way, so be it. But if they came looking for trouble again, they shouldn't blame her for settling old scores and new ones all at once.