Chapter 50 – Sealing off
Li Hua deeply looked at her and didn’t say another word. He turned around and started leaving first. But, his steps were very, very slow. He was intentionally waiting for her to catch up.
However, from Li Man’s perspective, he had only said a few words to her before leaving, and he clearly looked vexed. She felt wronged. He was the one that kissed her, so why was he feeling upset? Was he regretting his action?
Li Hua slowly walked down the path. Noticing that she wasn’t following him, he turned his head and saw that she was still standing in the same spot. Her head was slanted, and she was looking at him with an aggrieved look in her eyes. For a moment, he got upset too. Did she dislike being close to him that much? To the point that she wouldn’t even go home with him?
Li Man bit her lip. What was this rotten child looking at? Shouldn’t he explain himself to her at least? For example, why did he kiss her? Or, what exactly was their relationship…
If they weren’t siblings, then the answer to this question was probably complicated.
The recent events that had happened during the past few days flashed through her mind. One by one, the images of the men in Li family also flashed through her mind.
That day, the oldest brother had stood at the kitchen’s entrance and quietly stared at her. Thinking of that gaze now, it had felt a little too ardent.
And, during one early morning, second brother’s slender fingers had gently stroked the back of her hand when he was handing her the water.
And, third brother had started at her with a very explicit look in his eyes several times.
And, just now, the teenager in front of her had caught her off guard and kissed her.
When she thought about all of these incidents together, it didn’t seem like she was overthinking things…
Li Man suddenly felt scared. If they weren’t siblings, then what was her relationship to them?
Relative? It didn’t seem like it.
Had Li family adopted her into their family so that she would marry one of them in the future?
She felt alarmed by this idea, but it seemed the most likely one. In this era, it was rare that someone of Li Mo’s age wasn’t married yet. Furthermore, he didn’t seem to have any sense of urgency. This must mean that his future marriage had already been settled. And, if she had been adopted into their family to be a future wife, her engagement should definitely be with the oldest sibling.
Then, what about the others?
Li Man suddenly thought of a drama that she had watched during childhood called Wanjun. A wealthy family had married their oldest son to little Wanjun in hopes that their marriage would bring good luck to their son, and he would recover from his illness. But, the second son and third son of that family also fell in love with little Wanjun. Did that mean she…
Could it be that the original agreement was that she was going to marry Li Mo when she got older, but familiarity breed fondness, and Li Yan, Li Shu, and Li Hua all started have feelings for her as they grew up together?
Too melodramatic! Way too melodramatic!
Li Man fiercely shook her head. She would rather believe that such a contrived and melodramatic idea had to be wrong.
Li Hua was standing nearby and watching Li Man’s little face constantly changing expressions. He finally compromised by walking back to her, grabbing hold of her hand, and saying, “If you don’t like it, I won’t ever do that again.”
With her head lowered as he led her home, Li Man was the quintessential image of a child that had been bullied. In actually, she was just feeling annoyed at herself for being a wimp. The answer was right in front of her, but she was scared of knowing the truth.
For now, she could just pretend that she had lost her memories and didn’t know what was going on. If she confirmed her guess by asking them, they might tell her that Li Mo couldn’t wait any longer, and that it was time for her and Li Mo to get married. What would she do if they forced her to get married to Li Mo? And, what about the others? They obviously had feelings for her too. What if the brothers starting fighting because of this?
My god, she felt a headache just thinking about this. And so, Li Man simply pretended to be an ostrich that would stick its head in the ground to hide from danger. Li Man did her best to seal off that recent incident of Li Hua kissing her along with everything else.