How could Jiang An’an not guess what Zhao Chunmei was thinking?

“This is grain I got by trading wild pheasants I caught in the mountains. I just made the trade the day before yesterday and didn’t have time to tell my mom yet! How is it shady? You can go ask around in town—I went door to door trading for it!”

Jiang An’an didn’t dare say she traded with villagers, afraid Zhao Chunmei would go snooping and expose the whole lie.

“Traded with wild pheasants? What kind of pheasant is worth this much grain?!”

Zhao Chunmei gritted her teeth.

Did Jiang An’an think she was stupid? Were there even pheasants that valuable? City folks were short on grain themselves—why would they trade so much for a wild pheasant?

“I caught several pheasants, along with some mushrooms, saved them up, and took them all to trade in the city. Otherwise, how do you think I got so much grain? Did I steal it or rob someone? If it were really shady, would I dare bring it out?!”

Jiang An’an didn’t flinch at all. The grain came from her space—its origins were perfectly legitimate!

“You were the one who demanded the betrothal gifts back, and now I’ve returned them! If you don’t want them, fine.”

With that, she pretended to grab the two sacks of coarse rice back.

Zhao Chunmei quickly snatched them away. In these times, even wealthy families had no surplus grain. There was no way she’d pass up good food!

“Fine, I’ll take them, no matter how you got them. The engagement between you and my son is off. We’re even now!”

She turned to leave, not daring to press further in case she provoked Jiang An’an into remembering something.

But Jiang An’an had no intention of letting her go and blocked her path.

“Do you really think I don’t know who’s been spreading those nasty rumors about me in the village? You ruined my reputation, came to my door demanding the betrothal gifts back, and tried to force me to marry your brother! If I hadn’t had grain to repay you, I’d already be forced into marrying him today!”

“So why should I just let this go? You owe me an apology, and you need to clear my name in front of the whole village—I never went up the mountain to seduce any man! And I’ll say it again: I didn’t seduce anyone! I will get to the bottom of this!”

Gasp!

Everyone was stunned.

Zhao Chunmei hadn’t expected Jiang An’an to be such a tough nut to crack.

She was the village chief’s wife—people usually fawned over her! Now this little brat was demanding she apologize and publicly clear her name?

Why should she?!

Zhao Chunmei had never been humiliated like this before!

“If you refuse, then you’re not taking this grain! You think you can ruin my reputation and walk off with my food? Think again!”

Jiang An’an stared her down.

She’d already died once—what was there to fear now?

Kindness only invited bullying!

Seeing Jiang An’an stand her ground, Zhao Chunmei grew uneasy.

This girl had never been this bold before. Had she remembered what her brother had done?

Zhao Chunmei didn’t dare take the risk. In the end, she had no choice but to grudgingly apologize. Then, with even greater reluctance, she used the village broadcast to gather everyone and announce that Jiang An’an had not seduced any man…

Only then did the matter settle.

But the villagers were still half-convinced. Gossip was gossip—who cared if it was true or not? As long as it gave them something to chatter about.

Jiang An’an didn’t bother arguing further with Zhao Chunmei. Her priority now was finding out who the scoundrel who’d tried to assault her really was!

That man had followed her into the mountains and used drugs. If she didn’t catch him, there might be a next time!

Jiang An’an didn’t believe she was lucky enough to run into the man who had saved her again.

Meanwhile, at the village chief’s house, Zhao Chunmei was pacing anxiously.

She couldn’t tell whether Jiang An’an actually knew that Zhao Eryan had drugged her and tried to assault her. Right now, Jiang An’an was like a ticking time bomb—there was no telling when she might explode.

If she didn’t force Jiang An’an to marry her brother soon, there was always the risk that Jiang An’an would remember who had attacked her and report it. If that happened, everything would be over. But now that Jiang An’an had even returned the betrothal gifts, what leverage did Zhao Chunmei have left?!

Just as Zhao Chunmei was racking her brain, the brigade secretary walked in with the work-point ledger.

“Sister Chunmei, give this to the village chief later—it’s today’s work-point records!”

After setting the ledger down, the brigade secretary left.

Zhao Chunmei glanced at it, and an idea struck her.

….

Over at the western end of the village, the Jiang family was gathered around Jiang An’an.

Her mother was the first to speak up. “An’an, did you really trade with city folks for this grain?”

It wasn’t that they didn’t believe her, but how many times had Jiang An’an even been to the city? How could she have the guts to trade with urbanites for grain? If things went south, she could even be accused of profiteering! How had this little girl gotten so bold?

“Yes!”

Jiang An’an answered without batting an eye.

If she told them the grain came from her space, who would believe her? And she definitely couldn’t let that secret slip—if anyone found out, she’d be done for.

Her mother gave her a long look and sighed. “Then forget about it from now on… Don’t go up the mountain anymore.”

If not for what had happened, she would’ve thought hunting pheasants for trade was a great idea. The whole family was skin and bones from hunger, after all. But she couldn’t let her daughter risk going back up there just for food. And who knew if that scoundrel had actually…

What a sin!

“I know, Mom. Even if I don’t go up the mountain, isn’t there that little creek west of the village? There are small fish there—we can trade those in the city too!”

Jiang An’an blurted out the first excuse that came to mind.

She had so much stuff in her space warehouse that she needed to sell. Was she just supposed to let it sit there? That’d be pure torture!

Of course, she still needed a plausible backstory—and trading with city folks was the most reasonable cover for now.

“Which creek has fish? I’ve never heard of that.”

Her mother looked puzzled. If there really were fish, wouldn’t someone have caught them by now?

“I stumbled across it by chance. It’s not like there are fish every time…”

Jiang An’an felt a twinge of guilt.

Luckily, her mother’s mind was elsewhere—she was still worried about her daughter’s chastity.

That night, unable to hold back any longer, she pulled Jiang An’an aside.

“An’an, tell me the truth… Did something really happen to you up there?”

As an experienced woman, she could tell her daughter was no longer a virgin. But she still needed to hear it from her.

Jiang An’an fell silent.

Yes, something had happened.

And she had been the one who forced herself on him…

But could she really say that?