She Is Such A Jerk, And Yet She’s The One Crying! - Chapter 27.3

Lin Dongruan asked, “A-Ning, where is this?”

“This is Sanqi Prefecture.” Qiang Ning took the handkerchief and sat by the bed. “Sister, you have been unconscious for three whole days; you scared me to death. At first, I couldn’t even get you to take your medicine. Fortunately, you gradually got better, or I really wouldn’t have known what to do on my own.”

Lin Dongruan asked, “How did you bring me here by yourself?”

“It was a coincidence. Sister, do you remember the first time I made you angry? After the rain that day, I happened to run into those strongmen from before. They were preparing to leave Wusang Town to find work in Sanqi Prefecture, so they gave us a ride. This farmhouse was also bought with the money we had. That money was hidden in the cellar and wasn’t damaged; it was just enough to buy a place to stay.”

Everything was a coincidence, so perfect it almost seemed like a joke.

Lin Dongruan confirmed again and again; Qiang Ning indeed did not seem to be joking.

Qiang Ning smiled and asked for a hug. “Sister, be a little happier.”

Lin Dongruan obediently embraced her and suddenly asked, “A-Ning, what are your plans for the future?”

Qiang Ning said, “Sister, I have nothing, only you by my side. I only want to continue living with you in the future. Don’t even think about sending me away again.”

“I am not sending you away, A-Ning.” Lin Dongruan’s expression turned serious, as if she had realized something from their recent displacement. She said, “A-Ning should not continue to live a bitter life with me. If A-Ning has any wishes, you can tell me, and I will help you fulfill them.”

The smile on Qiang Ning’s face suddenly faded. She vaguely felt that Lin Dongruan seemed ready to confess something… Could it be that the other party wanted to secure a good future for her and then send her away?

Sure enough, Lin Dongruan’s next words were, “I have some acquaintances in Sanqi Prefecture from my earlier years. If there is something A-Ning wants to do, I can introduce you to…”

“I’m not going.” Qiang Ning rubbed her forehead in frustration.

She was afraid Lin Dongruan would do something bad out of good intentions. If she were introduced to some nobody, it would be fine, but if it were someone with a title who knew her identity, wouldn’t that be a disaster?

The idea of the former Imperial Preceptor, a First-Rank official, introducing the current Eldest Princess to someone as a subordinate was enough to make anyone’s life shorter.

Qiang Ning was dissatisfied. “Sister, you still say you aren’t trying to send me away.”

“I am not.” Lin Dongruan gently cupped Qiang Ning’s chin, wanting her to listen. “A-Ning, why are you always afraid of being abandoned? Did something happen to you before?”

“What a joke. How could I…”

Qiang Ning gave a dry laugh, not knowing what was wrong with her.

She was not afraid of being abandoned by anyone. Fear was a trait of the cowardly, and she was never afraid of anything.

“A-Ning, you haven’t rested well lately, have you?” Lin Dongruan observed Qiang Ning’s complexion again and took her wrist to check her pulse.

Of course, Qiang Ning hadn’t rested well. The journey had been very taxing. No sooner had she settled into the house than Lin Dongruan had developed several high fevers. Each time, the fever was slow to break, and she wouldn’t take her medicine. It had been a long time since she had closed her eyes.

There was another small thing Qiang Ning hadn’t confessed—during the initial period when Lin Dongruan couldn’t take her medicine, she had held her and used some… intimate methods to feed her.

Naturally, she had taken more than a few liberties.

And when she was changing her clothes, she had also…

After being so busy and tired for several days, finally waiting for Lin Dongruan to wake up, Qiang Ning only felt the exhaustion after being reminded.

“Indeed, I haven’t had a good rest for many days.” Qiang Ning leaned her head on Lin Dongruan’s lap, her eyelids growing heavy. She said, “Sister, as long as you can wake up early, any amount of exhaustion is worth it.”

Lin Dongruan smoothed her hair and whispered, “Sleep now. I will massage some acupuncture points for you; it will relieve your fatigue.”

With her nearby and the pleasant scent lingering around her, Qiang Ning’s drowsiness grew, and she fell asleep in no time.

In her dream, she saw Lin Dongruan again.

“A-Ning is home late today; you should be punished.” As soon as the person in her dream saw her, she forcefully brought her into the house.

Qiang Ning followed her to the bed in a daze, watching her briskly undress. She was suddenly so startled she didn’t know how to speak. “Sister… what are you doing?”

The Lin Dongruan in her dream turned to look at her with a cold gaze. “What did you call me? On our wedding day, that wasn’t how you addressed me.”

Qiang Ning: “…”

In that instant, she realized it was a dream. She was so excited she couldn’t find the words, for fear of breaking this unrealistic dream.

Lin Dongruan was actually willing to marry her of her own accord? It seemed that daydreaming was indeed the fastest way to achieve one’s desires.

“I was wrong, I truly deserve to be punished.” Qiang Ning admitted her mistake immediately and looked at Lin Dongruan with great expectation, imagining all sorts of romantic “punishments.”

Then, she watched in horror as Lin Dongruan pulled out a vine from nowhere and said she was going to strike her palms.

Qiang Ning: “…”

Facing each other on the bed, and you tell me you’re going to strike my palms? This is really inappropriate, you know?

Everything unreasonable became explainable when it concerned Lin Dongruan. Qiang Ning hadn’t expected the Lin Dongruan in her dream to follow her daytime personality—if she couldn’t be fooled, she couldn’t be fooled.

She had finally taken a break to have a dream about getting married, only to spend a whole hour being punished with strikes to her palms despite having done nothing wrong.

The pain in the dream was so real. Qiang Ning endured it helplessly, sitting by the bed with red eyes. “Have we ever… performed the acts of the clouds and rain?”

The Lin Dongruan in her dream nodded. “Of course.”

Qiang Ning wanted to cry even more. Why was the dream she had not about that part, but about the current situation?

“Then…” Qiang Ning thought about it and finally voiced her wish, “It’s late. Why don’t we…”

In this dream, Lin Dongruan was her wife. That meant anything she wanted to do was permissible, right?

As she thought this, she heard Lin Dongruan reply, “No. You returned home too late today. As punishment, you are not allowed to touch me.”

Qiang Ning: “…”

Not joking, she felt an immediate urge to cry.

“Let’s put the punishment aside for now. After tonight, it would be fine if I never touched you again.” Qiang Ning struggled to negotiate with Lin Dongruan. After all, this was a dream that would soon wake into tomorrow. She didn’t care about what came after; as long as she could possess Lin Dongruan now, nothing else mattered.

“No…” Hearing her words, the Lin Dongruan in her dream suddenly lowered her head, seemingly adding with some difficulty, “You can’t… if you never touch me again… I wouldn’t be able to bear it…”

Qiang Ning’s nose immediately began to bleed.

She hadn’t expected Lin Dongruan to be like this. Qiang Ning thought that she shouldn’t be blamed for imagining her this way; after all, Lin Dongruan was the one who said it!

Looking at her scrambling to wipe the blood, Lin Dongruan gave a light laugh. “A-Ning, do you remember our wedding night? You were like this then too, clumsy and getting blood everywhere.”

Qiang Ning: “…”

Is that so? That’s too embarrassing.

Even in her dream, Qiang Ning felt a sense of embarrassment. She suddenly remembered when she was peeking at Lin Dongruan at the cold spring, and she had also been so useless as to have a nosebleed.

There are countless beauties in the world, and it’s not like she hadn’t seen beautiful people before. But Lin Dongruan was always before her eyes and by her side, and every time she made a fool of herself, the other was there to see it.

“That time was an exception. Tonight, I will certainly not repeat the mistake.” Qiang Ning was full of confidence and climbed onto the bed with great expectation.

Lin Dongruan stepped on the back of her hand and asked if she would dare to return home late again.

A person under the eaves must bow their head. “I wouldn’t dare.”

The Lin Dongruan in her dream was also easy to talk to. As soon as she acted spoiled, the other would give in to anything. “Fine, come here.”

Qiang Ning was overjoyed, her ears turning red as she began to undress.

“Wait a moment.” Lin Dongruan suddenly stood up and said to her, “A-Ning, I am going to bathe.”

Qiang Ning said, “Good! Come back quickly.”

She happily finished undressing and lay down, waiting—

And then, she woke up.

Qiang Ning: “…”

She stared at the bed curtains for a long time. Her racing heart gradually calmed, and all her expectations turned to naught. The bitterness and grievance in her heart had nowhere to go.

What was even more annoying was that she found Lin Dongruan, who had said she would massage her points to relieve her fatigue, was no longer by her side.

Qiang Ning bit her lip bitterly and got up to find her.

Behind an ivory-seated screen with a moon-watching design, she saw Lin Dongruan bathing. The unfinished scene from her dream suddenly merged with the scene before her eyes, and Qiang Ning’s heart began to race once more.

She walked over softly and swallowed hard. “Sister, why did you suddenly think of bathing?”

Inside the bath, Lin Dongruan pulled her dark hair to one side of her neck. Her clear voice rang out along with the sound of the water, “A-Ning, do you know your mistake?”

Hearing this, Qiang Ning felt a sudden numbness throughout her body. She leaned against the tub and couldn’t get up. “Am I still dreaming?”

“I almost thought I was dreaming just now too. A-Ning, look up.” Lin Dongruan slowly turned around, revealing faint red marks on her body. “A-Ning, did you do this?”

Only then did Qiang Ning come to her senses and realize her mistake—she had thought Lin Dongruan would not wake up today, so while changing her clothes, she had secretly left some hickeys.

She hadn’t expected Lin Dongruan to wake up so early, or that she would suddenly want to bathe during the day.

“When I was feeding you medicine last night, I accidentally spilled some on your clothes. When I was changing them, I couldn’t help myself…” The more Qiang Ning explained, the hollower her words felt. She could only admit it. “Sister, you know I like you—how could you expect me to refrain from touching you?”

Lin Dongruan let out a long sigh, seemingly at a loss with her. “But you shouldn’t have done such things when I was not conscious.”

Qiang Ning caught a hint of underlying meaning and said joyfully, “Then would you agree to me doing this when you are conscious?”

Hearing this, Lin Dongruan slowly raised her eyes to look at her.