The pain caused Wei Yi to furrow his brow as he darted a pitiful look to Ji Yunshu.
Ji Yunshu’s gaze displayed calmness. She slightly raised the two broken halves of jade before stating, “You said that this pendant was broken just now, but it was clearly lying through one’s teeth. Regardless of whether it is jade or any other type of precious stone, if it was broken recently, the edges should be uneven and sharp which would be painful when stroking the broken edges. However the edges on this jade are very smooth and glossy. It is clear that time had blunt the sharpness of it.”
The moment these words were spoken, the shopkeeper was clearly at a loss for words and the panic on his face was hard to miss! However he didn’t give up and put up a final struggle. “This is high quality jade. Even if it was broken, the edge would be very smooth, which is quite normal.”
‘Normal? Sophistry! Fine, I want to see how you’ll continue making up your story.’
Ji Yunshu’s gaze landed on the arrogant shopkeeper’s hand as she continued to speak, “Shopkeeper, if I guessed correctly, you ate steamed buns earlier! There are still traces of grease on your hand.”
Uh! The shopkeeper’s face was filled with surprise as he looked at his hand. After which he started fiercely wiping them, embarrassment showing on his face.
“Is eating steamed buns a crime?”
“Of course not.” Ji Yunshu advanced a step. “However, because there was grease on your hand, it had stained the pendant, which in turn rubbed off on my hand.”
As she spoke so, Ji Yunshu suddenly lifted Wei Yi’s hand and spread out his fingers so his whole hand was displayed for everyone to see.
She explained, “If this pendant was broken by this fool, then his hand would be greasy from touching it. However it just so happens that there is not a single trace of grease on his hand. This proves that he never touched the pendant. The pendant was clearly broken by you. Seeing that he was a fool, you decided to take advantage of this fact and cheat him.”
“I… You…”
“If you still do not admit it, then we can report it to the authorities and let the magistrate judge for himself, how about it?”
With a guilty conscience, the shopkeeper released Wei Yi and wiped his hands before shoving them inside his sleeves!
Meanwhile, the onlookers started pointing at him and were discussing amongst themselves!
The shopkeeper swallowed his saliva as his gaze wandered. His voice trembled as he declared, “Forget it! Just forget about it! N-nothing happened at all!”
‘Forget about it? That won’t do!’
Ji Yunshu turned to face Wei Yi. He was holding his arm with a pained face. It was probably from when the shopkeeper hit him just now, and the man had used such strong force too!
Her good-looking eyebrows lifted as she asked, “Wei Yi, when he said you broke his pendant, did you feel angry?”
Wei Yi pouted as he looked at the shopkeeper before nodding his head.
“Then when he hit you, was it painful?”
Wei Yi nodded once again!
“Okay. Stretch out your hand.”
He obediently reached out his hand!
“Clench your fist.”
He clenched his fist.
“Punch his arm.” Ji Yunshu ordered.
Like a turtle, Wei Yi withdrew his hand at once and retreated behind Ji Yunshu while shaking his head. Seeing him like this made Ji Yunshu want to laugh, but she maintained her serious expression.
“Why don’t you hit him? He scolded and even hit you.”
Despite him being taller than Ji Yunshu by a head, he still hid behind her. He tentatively placed his hands on her shoulders like a cat would do. He stuttered, “But that’s not right. Mother said that I can’t hit people. Even though he scolded and hit me, I can’t scold or hit him back otherwise mother will be unhappy and when mother is unhappy, I will be unhappy too. Big brother, I won’t hit him. I can’t hit him…”
“Really?” She cast a sideways glance at him.
He furiously nodded while keeping his eyes lowered. It made him look very pitiful.
Ji Yunshu didn’t force him, instead turning back to face the dishonest shopkeeper. “Listen up, if you dare to cheat people again I’m going to have to ‘invite’ you over to the yamen. The paddles haven’t been used for a long time.”
“Y-y-yes, I understand. This humble one will remember the young master’s words. I won’t dare to do so again.” The shopkeeper bowed his voice filled with flattery!
‘Some people are just like this; without teaching them a lesson, how would they understand their wrongs?’ Thinking to this point she couldn’t help but smiled wryly, inwardly laughing at herself!
If it wasn’t for that promise she made two years ago, she wouldn’t have to remain here and swallow her anger at every turn! In that Ji Mansion, without being servile or overbearing, she waited while enduring the countless contemptuous gazes and beating!
Her heart was uneasy, but it had nothing to do with her grievances. ‘When will he come back? Or is he never coming back? Ji Pei… It has been two years already. Where are you now?’ Her train of thought had been derailed so she brought herself back to reality.
Seeing that the shopkeeper had a good attitude in admitting his mistake, she left the jewelry shop and went on her way. But, there was a new addition boorishly trailing behind her – Wei Yi.
If she walked faster, he accelerated!
If she walked slower, he slowed down!
In the end, Ji Yunshu stopped and turned around to look at him. She saw that his head was slightly lowered but he didn’t avert his gaze when it met with hers. His fingers were twirling in front of his chest without rest as he openly peered at her.
‘That guy is acting so adorable!’
“Why are you following me?” Ji Yunshu asked.
He pursed his lips but didn’t reply.
“I am asking you a question. Why are you following me?”
He carefully step forward before speaking, “I… don’t know where I should go?” That tone was very innocent!
“You can go home.”
“But I don’t want to go home.”
Ji Yunshu could feel a headache coming. ‘Even if you don’t want to go home, you don’t have to follow me!’
“I am busy right now so I have no time to play with you. Go find a place to sit and stay there until you feel tired before going home.”
Having spoken, she planned to continue walking but Wei Yi blocked her path. A brilliant smile blossomed on his face as he looked at her with a pleading gaze. “Big brother, where are you going? I like to play with you, so can you take me with you too?”
“No.” An immediate rejection.
“Why?”
“No reason.” She went around him before proceeding forward.
But who knew for some unknown reason, Wei Yi decided to pull on her arm. Perhaps it was because he didn’t know how to control his strength properly, that tug had caused pain to spread from her back to her tibias. She furrowed her brow from the painful sensation and let out a soft cry.
Wei Yi was terrified by her sudden painful cry. His hands quickly let go and he madly shook them left and right.
“I-I didn’t do it on purpose. Big brother, I didn’t mean it.”
“It’s not your fault.”
Ji Yunshu cradled her arm. After the pain had eased up, she let out a breath before looking at Wei Yi, who had been scared out of his wits.
Finally, she relented, “Didn’t you want to follow me? Hurry up.” Ji Yunshu walked forward while hugging her arm while Wei followed.
“Big brother, did I hurt you?”
“No.”
“Then why were you in pain?”
“Because…”
Two silhouettes, one tall and the other short, made their way to the Grand Canal Manor, leaving a trail of footprints of different depths in the snow.