Two days later, the person who arrived was not Zeng Jingchu, but a woman in her late twenties.
Upon seeing the woman's appearance, Tian Jing recognized that she bore some resemblance to Magistrate Ji.
The woman appraised Tian Jing: "You are the ex-fiancée who abandoned Jing Rong."
Tian Jing was bewildered. What kind of opening was this?
"Have you misunderstood something?"
Seeing Tian Jing deny it, the woman looked displeased:
"You disliked him and abandoned him, shouldn't you have found someone from a good family? Why did you marry into the countryside? Is it just because of this imitation quadrangle house?"
The woman surveyed the quadrangle house as she spoke: "The imitation is good, the materials are genuine, the craftsmanship is true. By the way, where is your child?"
Before Tian Jing could answer, her mother-in-law entered carrying Yuanyuan:
"Tiantian, Yuanyuan has probably been looking for you, pointing at the door and refusing to play with her dad."
The woman looked at Mother Li, then at the baby in Mother Li's arms, and asked Tian Jing:
"This is your mother-in-law and your child?"
Tian Jing felt annoyed: "Miss Ji, if you have something to discuss, please sit down and talk. If not, please leave."
As she spoke, she reached out to take Yuanyuan: "Here, Auntie will hold you."
Yuanyuan, once in Tian Jing's arms, raised a finger to the sky.
Tian Jing immediately understood what Yuanyuan wanted to play. She held the baby tight and bounced, hopping.
"Giggle giggle." Yuanyuan laughed happily.
Mother Li worried: "Tiantian, if you do this, how will Jingliang and Afeng take care of Yuanyuan?"
Tian Jing paused. Zeng Jingliang and Afeng were already working very hard, and she was even spoiling Yuanyuan.
"Auntie." Yuanyuan urged.
Tian Jing shook her head: "Let's not play this game anymore, shall we go see your mom and dad cooking?"
"Okay."
Tian Jing turned to look at the stunned woman: "Please leave."
The woman came back to her senses: "You, you know me? Did Jing Rong tell you? And who is Jing Liang?"
Tian Jing understood: "Did Jingchu tell you something, and you came to find trouble with me?"
Seeing the woman nod, Tian Jing knew that Zeng Jingchu was definitely seeking revenge for her not letting him hold Yuanyuan the day before yesterday and for mocking him.
Hmph! Just you wait. Unless this iron tree, Zeng Jingchu, never blooms in this lifetime.
Tian Jing appraised this woman, who was in her late twenties and still somewhat naive: "Do you know where this is?"
The woman nodded: "In Kushan, it's quite famous. You're lucky to have married into this village."
Tian Jing pointed at herself with her finger: "Did Jingchu tell you my name?"
The woman nodded: "He did, he said your name is Tian Jing. You live in a two-story quadrangle house behind the five-story building at the entrance of the village."
Tian Jing asked back: "Magistrate Ji is your father, isn't he?"
The woman was surprised: "How did you know? I only told Jingchu."
"Heh heh." Tian Jing chuckled lightly, handing Yuanyuan back to her mother-in-law: "Mom, please take her to find her parents. I'll chat with Miss Ji."
Mother Li left with Yuanyuan, casting a glance at the woman.
Tian Jing led the woman into the kitchen: "Everyone is busy, and no one is boiling water. Let's chat while we boil water."
After chatting, Tian Jing realized why this woman was so naive and didn't recognize her.
Ji Shiyi, graduated from the provincial university's art department three years ago. After graduation, she didn't want to join an organization or a school.
Her goal was to establish her own art school to train art enthusiasts.
The school had yet to be established because she lacked funding and staff.
None of her classmates were willing to cooperate with her, but she had opened a studio and taken on a few students.
One evening, while taking her students out for a sketching trip, Jing Rong, whose rags couldn't hide his innate气质, caught her eye.
She asked Jing Rong if he could be their model.
Jing Rong agreed.
She instructed her students to find good angles and paint, requiring them to capture Jing Rong's temperament.
She also painted a picture, and after finishing, she struck up a conversation with Jing Rong.
Upon learning that Jing Rong's family background was originally very good, and he had fallen into such misfortune due to certain reasons, she felt great sympathy for the man.
However, she knew that men like Jing Rong didn't need sympathy the most.
So, she took her students to the street every day to find Jing Rong to be a model, and she brought food for Jing Rong, calling it model fees.
She dared not give money. If she gave too little, it would be like dismissing a beggar. If she gave too much, she couldn't afford it.
Slowly, her lifelong passion for painting no longer occupied her entire mind. She always stared dreamily at Jing Rong's portrait.
Some students, seeing her like this, encouraged her to bravely pursue love.
It was then that she realized she had fallen in love with Jing Rong, the street wanderer.
Living in her studio, she uncharacteristically went home to find her father and told him she had fallen in love with a wanderer named Jing Rong.
If her father thought her pursuit of a wanderer would damage her reputation, she could disown the family.
Her father merely told her to bring the wanderer to him for a look first.
When she brought her father to see Jing Rong, Jing Rong was accompanied by Jingchu.
The three men met, and their expressions were somewhat strange. She hadn't yet understood when Jing Rong and Jingchu ran off.
After they ran, they never appeared on that street again.
A few days later, her father gave her an address and told her to find Jing Rong.
She found Jing Rong, but he avoided her.
She went to block him every day, and he ran whenever he saw her. She could only catch Jingchu.
Jingchu also wanted to run, but she warned him that if he ran away too, she would ask her father for help in finding them. Her father was the magistrate of this county.
Jingchu obediently returned to the small courtyard every few days.
The day before yesterday, Jingchu told her that Jing Rong had come to this county to find his ex-fiancée, and that Jing Rong couldn't forget his ex-fiancée.
The ex-fiancée had already given birth to a daughter, yet Jing Rong still wanted to get back together.
She then got the address and name and came looking for him.
Tian Jing didn't know how Magistrate Ji educated his daughter. It was truly a blessing from heaven and earth that she was so naive and hadn't been tricked yet!
"Shiyi, what would you do if you knew Jing Rong had deceived you?"
Ji Shiyi thought for a moment and said, "If he didn't do it on purpose, I would forgive him. If he intentionally tried to cheat me, I would, I would, I would plaster his portraits all over the room and warn myself that this is a bad man, I cannot love him."
Tian Jing guessed that Ji Shiyi's simple personality might have genuinely made Zeng Jingrong, a man with some misandry, fall for her:
"I'll take you to find him. Go back and prepare some daily necessities, then come back to find me. You'll be out for a long time, so explain clearly to your family and arrange your studio."
"Okay! You wait for me."
Ji Shiyi turned and ran.
Tian Jing was truly impressed. Wasn't Ji Shiyi afraid of being kidnapped by her?
Li Zhengguo was called back by his mother and only saw his wife alone:
"Where is Magistrate Ji's daughter?"
Seeing his wife looking at him with a half-smile, Li Zhengguo quickly explained:
"My mother said you were being hassled by Magistrate Ji's daughter, so she asked me to come back and check."
Tian Jing raised an eyebrow: "Don't you think you're too late?"
"Not late." Li Zhengguo shook his head. "My mother only knows your martial prowess and that you hold a position, but she doesn't know how high your status is."
Tian Jing told her husband about Ji Shiyi and Zeng Jingrong's situation, as well as her own doubts.
Li Zhengguo smiled at his wife's unnecessary worry: "Your doubts are unfounded. Ji Shiyi has been able to grow up safe and naive like this, and there must have been someone protecting her."
"She even told her dad about pursuing a wanderer, which shows she knows her dad cares about her from behind."
"Her dad supported her pursuit of Zeng Jingrong, so she understood there was no problem. What is she afraid of?"
"Her father knows her movements even if she doesn't report them. Could she be kidnapped? Your worry is superfluous."
Tian Jing glared at her husband: "Then what about our daughter?"
Li Zhengguo smiled gently: "Someone is watching her, don't worry, she's doing great."
Not only was she doing great, she had become a terror in high school.
Tian Jing was relieved: "Zeng Jingchu dared to frame me, I'll settle this score later. Let's deal with Zeng Jingrong first."