Chen'er raised her head, still refusing to speak, but this time she wasn't looking down; instead, her gaze drifted off to the side, unfocused, leaving her looking utterly vacant.

Li Zheng had initially hoped Chen'er would speak when she looked up, a flicker of hope igniting in his chest. But seeing that same distant expression extinguished it immediately. He finally sighed softly, stood up, and said, "If Chen'er has nothing to give me, and nothing to say, then let's go out. It's not proper for an unmarried man and woman to stay in a room like this."

"You even know it's improper for an unmarried man and woman?" Just as Li Zheng was walking toward the door, filled with a sense of despair, Chen'er suddenly asked this from behind him.

Hearing her voice, Li Zheng spun around almost instantly, his face alight with surprise. "Chen'er, were you just talking to me? Are you willing to talk to me now?"

"When did I ever say I wasn't willing to talk to you?" Chen'er lifted her face and countered.

Never mind what Chen'er said; as long as she was engaging with him, Li Zheng felt better than anything else. At that moment, his joy was indescribable—it was dizzying, perhaps a complete turn of the heavens. He walked over to Chen'er, nervously rubbing his hands together, and stammered slightly, "Yes, Chen'er never said that. It was my fault; I said it. What was that Chen'er just said about an unmarried man and woman?"

Seeing Li Zheng's state, Chen'er's mood improved slightly, though her expression remained cool. She asked, "When we went to town last time, didn't we say we were going to arrange a marriage? My mother said you took a liking to Lanhua from the village. Why isn't that settled now?"

The moment Chen'er mentioned Lanhua, the smile on Li Zheng's face vanished, replaced by anxiety. In his rush of nerves, all the words he usually held back tumbled out: "Chen'er, no, I didn't take a liking to Lanhua. It was my parents who chose her. Since you refused to engage with me, they found another girl for me. I never wanted it."

"You didn't want it? Didn't you specifically come to show off to me last time that you were getting engaged to another girl? And after returning a few days ago, didn't you have someone notify my parents to come to your betrothal viewing feast? Does that look like someone who wasn't willing?" Chen'er sat on the chair, feeling superior, as if she were an official interrogating a criminal. The sensation was wonderful.

"I wasn't willing, I truly wasn't. Chen'er, you must believe me. I didn't go to the street last time to show off to you. I actually wanted to talk to you about our engagement, but you refused. Afterward, I only wanted to provoke you a little. When I got home, I agreed to my mother's wishes out of sheer frustration. But I regretted it the very next day! I haven't even formally engaged with Lanhua yet, have I?"

"Then what were you two alone together for, you and Lanhua? That Lanhua was looking at you with such clear affection." Thinking of the scene earlier, Chen'er still felt a pang of annoyance.

"We didn't talk about anything serious. Lanhua was just asking me why I was unwilling to finalize the engagement."

"Oh? And why exactly were you unwilling?"

"I don't like Lanhua."

"Then who do you like?"

"I like Chen..." Li Zheng was about to blurt out 'Chen'er, you,' but catching sight of Chen'er's playful smile, he paused, stunned, and quickly changed his tune: "Chen'er, aren't you angry?"

"Why would I be angry?" Chen'er's eyes darted around as she asked.

Li Zheng watched her transition between smiles and anger, thoroughly confused. "Chen'er, what exactly did you come back for this time?"

Chen'er’s eyes spun as she thought for a moment, then said with a tone of distinct regret, "To see you and Lanhua getting engaged, of course. Who knew you weren't going through with it? What a dampener. It made me come back for nothing."

Perhaps Li Zheng was so used to placating Chen'er, or maybe his mind was simply too slow to process the absurdity, but he immediately followed her lead: "Fine, fine. As long as Chen'er is happy, that's all that matters. I'll go arrange the engagement with Lanhua right now."

Chen'er had only just begun to feel better from the foolish things this simpleton had just said, intending only to tease him a little. She never expected this blockhead to utter such a thing. Anger flared in Chen'er again. She angrily flung the bundle she was holding straight at Li Zheng's face and spat out fiercely, "Go then! Go get engaged! This is the betrothal gift I brought you."

After throwing the package, Chen'er stormed out in a fit of temper, completely forgetting the original reason she had come inside. As she reached the doorway, she heard a sharp, piercing "Ouch!" from behind her, which startled her into looking back immediately.

What she saw truly made Chen'er jump. Li Zheng was holding the bundle she had thrown, while clutching his eye with his other hand. A trickle of blood was already sliding down between his fingers. Forgetting her anger entirely, Chen'er rushed back, clutching Li Zheng and crying out anxiously, "What happened? Where are you hurt? Did you hurt your eye? Let me see how bad it is!"

Noticing he was still holding her bundle, Chen'er tried forcefully to snatch it away, but Li Zheng held onto it tightly. After several failed tugs, Chen'er suddenly began to sob quietly, wailing, "What time is it, why are you still clutching that useless bundle!"

Seeing Chen'er cry, Li Zheng instantly let go of the bundle, looking completely flustered. "Chen'er, don't cry. If you don't want me to hold it, I won't. Here, take it. Please stop crying." He then offered the bundle to Chen'er.

Chen'er took the bundle and placed it on the table, then forced Li Zheng to sit down on a stool, still crying. "Let me see where you're bleeding! If your eye is injured, we need to call a doctor." She reached out to take his hand.

Li Zheng released his hand, and Chen'er examined it closely. Fortunately, it wasn't his eye. It seemed some wooden object with sharp edges inside the package—likely the corner of a box—had struck him and caused the cut.

The wound was still bleeding steadily. Chen'er tried to stop it with her silk scarf, but it wouldn't work. Seeing Li Zheng's face now smeared with blood, Chen'er finally broke down, sobbing loudly. "How can you be so stupid? If someone throws something at you, don't you know to dodge? If someone threw a knife at you like that, would you just let them?"

Watching Chen'er weep convulsively caused Li Zheng genuine pain. Unsure how to soothe her, he simply pulled her onto his lap, awkwardly wrapping a gentle arm around her, and murmured softly, "It's nothing, Chen'er. Don't cry. It will be fine soon. When you cry like this, it hurts me."

Hearing this, Chen'er cried even harder. With her face covered in tears, she looked at Li Zheng, feeling deeply wronged. "Does it hurt you? Then why did you arrange an engagement with someone else? And why did you act so intimately with Lanhua right in front of me?"

Chen'er's words instantly cleared the fog in Li Zheng's mind, which had been muddled until now. Filled with overwhelming joy yet uncertainty, he asked, "Is the reason Chen'er is angry today because you didn't want me to be engaged to someone else? Because you didn't like seeing me talk to other girls?"