Vol 9 Chapter 22 (2/2)

As I listened to her words, her footsteps gradually got louder until she caught up to me.

“Don’t say anymore.” I said, suppressing the rage which burned inside me.

“No, I must make things clear to you this time!”

But for some reason, things were different this time. The more I rejected her, the stronger Liu Cong responded and the more she tried to catch up to me.

“I did indeed tell father about the flower garden but I never thought that father would get so angry then!”

“Don’t say anymore!”

In my eyes, the scene from back then played out before me.

I saw father and the soldiers with spades and shovels in hand digging up the garden. I was crying and wailing. Probably only 10% of what I felt back then still remains in my memories but it’s almost enough to make me collapse.

“Elder sister! Elder sister!”

“Stop saying anymore!! I don’t want to listen to all the stories you came up with!”

Her yells broke the last bits of restraint I had and I went into a frenzy and yelled at her.

It looked like this worked as she got a shock and stopped trying to catch up. As I looked at Liu Cong who stared at me, her tears should probably flow soon.

Hu… This ought to–

“No! I have to say it!”

Wu!

Just as I thought that she was going to given up, she raised her head and met my gaze with eyes that were filled with tears. This gave me a shock as I never expected the day when Liu Cong would yell back at me would come so quickly.

“When I saw elder sister’s back from before, I felt that I ought to pluck up my courage.”

I cannot believe that an action of mine actually served as an inspiration for her.

“It’s true! It’s true that what I said resulted in what happened. But I can swear that I did not intend to bring harm to elder sister!”

“You think I’ll believe you?! You liar!”

Uncle has tried to get me to listen to Liu Cong several times now. It’s not as if I do not understand where he is coming from but I am unable to do it. Someone has to take responsibility for this. And clearly, this someone should be Liu Cong.

“I won’t believe you whether or not what you say is true!”

From the very beginning, I have never wanted to change my perception of this.

“Young mistress…”

“What!” Yi Ji tugged at my sleeve but I was enraged and shrugged her off.

Ah… Just then, my gaze s.h.i.+fted away from Liu Cong and I realised that a lot of pa.s.sers-by were looking at us.

Ahem. My cheeks began to burn and I cleared my throat before taking some deep breaths.

“Elder sister, will you be willing to bet with me?”

Un? Liu Cong’s expression did not waver when I looked at her. Instead, she seemed to be even more resolved and obstinate. When I looked at her, I felt like it was I who had to step back. This, was the very first time I have ever seen Liu Cong like this.

“W, what bet?” Though I was feeling terrible and had no interest in the bet she was proposing, I still caved in to her pressure and asked.

“This is it.” She said as she reached into her sleeve and opened her palm, revealing several seeds.

“This is?”

“Elder sister, both you and I cannot approach flowers right?”

“And so what about it?”

That particular flower garden was the only place where I could get in contact with flowers…

“But we could touch the flowers in the secret flower garden right?”

“As I said before, so what about it?” I really had no patience for this but Liu Cong revealed her true intent immediately.

“I will grow flowers just like the ones in the secret flower garden, flowers we can touch.”

Eh?! How could something like that actually happen…

“Don’t be silly…”

“If I succeed, can elder sister forgive me?!”

“Wu…”

<script>