C19 Crying and Sobbing

At night, Zhang Xiaodong lay in bed, restless and unable to sleep. The recent events had been too shocking, and he was still reeling from the impact.

While Zhang Xiaodong had been busy cooking, Nalan Feifei had devoured all the food in sight.

By the time Zhang Xiaodong presented a plate of scrambled eggs with tomatoes, the table was in complete disarray. The sight was so alarming that he even wondered if a burglar had struck. "You thief, I haven't even eaten yet."

Staring at the ceiling, the growls of hunger from his stomach made him feel like his entire perspective on life was skewed.

Who could have imagined that someone so petite could unleash such a primal force while eating, to the extent of an unstoppable force?

"Are you even a man? It's just a bit of extra food, does it warrant this reaction?" Nalan Feifei was suddenly overwhelmed with anger, forgetting her meal entirely.

She was left with a lingering sense of shame and guilt. How could she have eaten so much? As a girl, how could she indulge to such an extent?

Nalan Feifei had never experienced such humiliation before. For the first time in her life, the Nalan family's young mistress felt so aggrieved that she had to ask others for food, and tears streamed down her face.

"That's not what I meant," Zhang Xiaodong said, feeling somewhat helpless. He began to question his actions while cooking. Having been on the move for years, he knew that careful consideration was essential to doing things right. Physical well-being was crucial when living a nomadic life, so even a simple task like cooking had its complexities.

"Shut up, you bastard. You're bullying me," Nalan Feifei retorted, growing increasingly upset as she began to feel a stomachache coming on.

"Why won't you listen? I've only told you these things to protect you," Zhang Xiaodong lamented, lying in bed, sleep eluding him.

The sound of crying from the neighboring room persisted. In that moment, Zhang Xiaodong felt a profound sense of guilt.

Inside the room, Nalan Feifei's tears streamed down her face as she felt an overwhelming sense of injustice.

What was worse, Nalan Feifei suddenly experienced a sharp pain in her stomach, intensifying her feelings of being wronged.

"I won't listen, I won't listen..."

Nalan Feifei found an outlet for her emotions, sobbing and railing against Zhang Xiaodong for all his wrongdoings.

"What kind of skill is it to take advantage of women and children, to swindle a girl out of her money? Eating your rice doesn't give you the right to silence me. What's your problem?"

Nalan Feifei cried bitterly, as if she needed to release all the grievances she had endured lately in this one outburst.

For so long, Nalan Feifei had seldom lost her composure. But today, she was unable to hold back. The strong sense of injustice overwhelmed her, and she even felt a desperate urge to confront Zhang Xiaodong in a final showdown.

Determined to take control of her own life, Miss Nalan had decisively moved out of the Nalan family home. To be self-sufficient and to pursue her dreams, she took up a teaching position in a small village.

"Sister, don't you think you're overreacting?"

Zhang Xiaodong gave a wry, helpless smile. This woman, despite her desire to assert herself, couldn't resort to thuggish behavior. Her current display of crying and causing a scene was merely a way to vent her frustrations.

Yet, her words were somewhat off-key, and Zhang Xiaodong sensed that things might indeed be heading in the direction he had anticipated.

"Overreacting? You have the audacity to say I'm overreacting?"

Nalan Feifei clutched her stomach, her face etched with despair and anger.

Her once peaceful and contented life had slowly adjusted to the modest means of the village.

However, Zhang Xiaodong's arrival had shattered that tranquility, to the point where Nalan Feifei felt enraged at the mere sight of him.

"Miss, if you're feeling unwell, just be upfront about it. I've told you, my meals aren't so easily digested."

Zhang Xiaodong lay in bed with the blanket pulled over his head, powerless to do anything but endure the wailing and howling from next door.

He was aware that the food's effects were bound to overwhelm some, yet the pain remained within the threshold of what most people could withstand.

"You... You poisoned me?"

A shiver ran through Nalan Feifei, leaving her feeling utterly unwell. Overcome with fear, she was at a loss for what to do next.

Despite having been through her fair share of significant events, Nalan Feifei was evidently not well-versed in the depths of human malice.

"Why would I poison you? You have neither money nor looks. What would I gain from robbing you?"

Zhang Xiaodong was suddenly beset with a headache, at a loss for how to handle this woman's wild imagination.

Above all, resorting to something as low as poisoning was not only unsophisticated but also felt like an affront to himself.

"And now you're bullying me!"

Nalan Feifei was instantly enraged. She kicked the door open with a swift motion and glared at Zhang Xiaodong, her face twisted in fury.

The agony in her stomach had already subjected Nalan Feifei to immense suffering, and she could no longer contain her distress.

Her intense urge to fight relentlessly challenged her self-control, and she could no longer restrain herself.

"Miss, take a look at the way you kicked that door—so valiant and dashing. How exactly have I bullied you? Bursting in like that, you're more like an unwelcome intruder."

Zhang Xiaodong's headache intensified, finding himself at a complete loss on how to manage the woman before him.

"My stomach is killing me. If you didn't drug me, then what did you do?"

Nalan Feifei's tears fell incessantly, her face contorted with pain.

The pain she felt was within the bounds of what a person could normally bear, hence her overwhelming urge to confront Zhang Xiaodong.

"I've told you, my meals aren't to be taken lightly. There's a particular art to the way those dishes are combined. They're meant to detoxify your system. So, what you're experiencing is detoxification.

And let's not forget, who told you to eat so much? Do you really think you can blame me for that?"

Zhang Xiaodong gave a helpless shrug, feeling somewhat at a loss about the situation.

"You're bullying me!"

Nalan Feifei crouched on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably, her tear-streaked face evoking a sense of compassion in others.

There was an inexplicable allure to this girl.