Chapter 12: Negotiation

“Lin Furong.” Qingfeng walked toward Wen Lan step by step, holding the bundle that the Lin family had packed for her. His behavior was a bit confusing.

Wen Lan watched him with a forced smile that didn’t reach his eyes and had no idea what madness had come over him. Her heart immediately grew uneasy.

“You… what are you trying to do?”

“What am I trying to do?” Qingfeng tossed the bundle onto the hay pile and shook his head. “Girl, you must’ve accumulated some major good karma in your past life. Heaven actually sent me to save you. Shouldn’t you be kneeling down to thank me?”

Kneel? Thank him? Wen Lan glanced at the bundle on the hay pile. Judging from its shape, it looked like it contained clothes.

Could it be that this young man had gone out to buy clothes for her?

If that were the case, then she did owe him thanks.

“Thank you,” Wen Lan said straightforwardly, not being one to put on airs.

“But don’t get too full of yourself,” Qingfeng warned. “Our family’s… my cousin already has someone he likes. Marrying you is just a way to help you get out of your predicament. You better not be ungrateful.”

Huh?

The more Wen Lan listened, the more confused she became. She felt like this guy must be reading from the wrong script—none of his lines matched hers.

“Who’s your cousin?” she picked out the key point and asked.

“My cousin is the one who took you in.”

Oh, so the hunter was his cousin.

Makes sense—they were relatives.

“Cousin, where are you two originally from?” That was important.

“Why are you asking that?” Qingfeng became alert.

Seeing his defensive reaction, Wen Lan quickly explained, “I don’t mean anything by it. I just think… I’m a woman, I can’t just keep freeloading here forever. If someday I want to leave, I need to know something about the world outside Yushou Village. That’s why I wanted to ask where you two are from—to see if you could tell me something about the outside.”

That really was Wen Lan’s intention.

But Qingfeng saw it as very useful information.

If Lin Furong wanted to leave, that meant she truly didn’t want to have any further ties to her family. That was perfect for his master. Otherwise, even if Lin Furong was willing to stay under the guise of marriage to look after him, her family might come looking for her and cause trouble.

If he could find a place for Lin Furong to settle down, the matter would be resolved.

Still, he needed to discuss this with his master first.

Thinking of this, Qingfeng quickly gestured to Wen Lan. “Wait here for now. I’ll go find my cousin. We’ll discuss things with you in a bit.”

With that, he turned and ran out of the woodshed.

As soon as Qingfeng left, Wen Lan was bewildered again.

They had just started talking properly and were getting to the main point—then he suddenly ran off. What was that about?

“Find his cousin and discuss things with me later?” Wen Lan blinked her bright eyes, wondering if she’d missed some key detail.

What did he say earlier?

His cousin already had someone he liked, and marrying her was just to help her out of her predicament… Yes, there was something like that.

His cousin wanted to marry her. That guy with the scruffy beard, who told her to find another place to kill herself and questioned why she wasn’t as quiet as air—that guy wanted to marry her?

What the hell!

Wen Lan sensed something very wrong. She quickly ran out of the woodshed and chased after Qingfeng toward the main house.

The front door of the main house was slightly ajar. As Wen Lan approached, she heard Qingfeng inside cheerfully announcing:

“Master, I’ve found you a maid to serve you!”

A… a maid?

Wen Lan stopped in her tracks at the threshold.

Maid? How did it become maid now?

No. She needed to listen carefully and figure out exactly what was going on before making a move.