After Liu Ming'an helped Zhou Yi stand up, all three pairs of eyes fell on Nangong Muyan simultaneously.
"Hehe..." Nangong Muyan faced their gazes with a forced smile that didn't reach her eyes.
Her dramatic entrance had left her at a disadvantage, causing her to lose the upper hand.
This was truly a miscalculation.
"Young lady, why have you appeared in my home?" Liu Ming'an asked Nangong Muyan with furrowed brows.
Zhou Yi rubbed the back of his head where he had hit it, complaining, "Why did you climb over the wall to get in? You nearly crushed me to death!"
Nangong Muyan turned her head to look at Jiang Ning: "Aren't you going to introduce us?"
Hearing this, Liu Ming'an and Zhou Yi's gazes fell on Jiang Ning once again.
Jiang Ning felt a headache coming on. After a long moment, she finally spoke: "Nangong Muyan, my second elder sister."
As soon as the words left her mouth, two voices rang out simultaneously, one from Liu Ming'an and one from Zhou Yi:
"Nangong Muyan?"
"The evil woman?"
Nangong Muyan looked at the two men glaring at her in anger, feeling somewhat confused about the situation. She turned to look at Jiang Ning again.
Jiang Ning pointed at Liu Ming'an: "Liu Ming'an, my husband."
Then she pointed at Zhou Yi: "Zhou Yi, our elder brother."
After the introductions, Jiang Ning looked at Nangong Muyan and asked, "What exactly are you here for?"
"To see where you live."
"Now that you've seen it, isn't that enough? Why did you need to climb over the wall to come in?"
"Well, since I was already here, I thought I'd come in and say hello."
Jiang Ning cursed "she's crazy" in her heart, and directly stepped forward to grab Nangong Muyan's sleeve, pulling her towards the main gate.
"Hey, hey, hey! Little sister, a guest should be welcomed—"
Before Nangong Muyan could finish speaking, the gate slammed shut in front of her with a loud "bang."
"Sigh~ You ungrateful little thing. To think I was worried about your lack of dating experience, afraid you might be deceived by a man's sweet words. I came to check things out for you..."
Nangong Muyan looked at the tightly closed door, talking to herself. She deeply regretted that back then, she had only taught her how to kill people, and should have also taught her about human relationships and social etiquette.
Not understanding manners at all!
After closing the door, Jiang Ning looked at the confused faces of Liu Ming'an and Zhou Yi, knowing they didn't understand why this malicious second sister would come to visit her.
Unable to reveal the truth about time travel, and not wanting to whitewash Nangong Muyan's reputation, Jiang Ning thought for a moment and decided she could only play the role of a saint.
"She has already realized her mistakes and received due punishment. I have forgiven her."
Seeing the two brothers' looks of disbelief, Jiang Ning struggled to maintain a calm expression on her face, putting on an air of magnanimity: "Everyone makes mistakes. We can't negate a person's entire being because of one error. We should give her a chance to reform. Let bygones be bygones. In life, one must learn to let go..."
Jiang Ning's words gave herself goosebumps. As soon as she finished speaking, she felt as if she was glowing with a Buddhist aura.
Liu Ming'an looked at Jiang Ning suspiciously, lost in thought.
From what he knew of Jiang Ning, these words were definitely not sincere.
But Zhou Yi beside him believed it to be true and had already started exclaiming: "Ah~ Sister-in-law, you're just too kind-hearted. It's easy for people to take advantage of you."
Jiang Ning forced a smile: "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. It's better to forgive and forget."
"Ah, you really are..."
Zhou Yi shook his head and sighed, full of helplessness. In the end, he could only say: "Then don't associate with her in the future. One must always be cautious of others. Even kindness should have its limits. Just focus on living a good life with Brother Liu. If you have any difficulties, come find me. Although my family is just in business, we've been in the capital for many years and have some connections..."
Feeling a wave of warmth in her heart, Jiang Ning smiled genuinely: "I'll remember that, Brother Zhou."
Zhou Yi thoughtfully gave a few more words of advice to the young couple before taking his leave.
The couple wanted to invite him to stay for dinner, but Zhou Yi politely declined, saying he had matters to attend to at the restaurant. They could only see him off.
After closing the door, Jiang Ning could tell from Liu Ming'an's expression that he hadn't believed a word of her saintly speech earlier.
"Liu Ming'an, I don't know how to explain it to you."
Jiang Ning began, feeling troubled. The situation was too complex, involving past lives and present, supernatural elements – it wasn't something that could be explained in just a few words.
Moreover, she didn't want to tell Liu Ming'an so much.
Liu Ming'an smiled gently, not surprised. He stepped forward and embraced her, making the decision for Jiang Ning: "Then let's not talk about it. Don't dwell on it."
A soft kiss landed on her forehead as Liu Ming'an's clear, pleasant voice sounded again with a hint of amusement: "Ah Ning, as long as you're by my side, I don't care about any of these things."
He was so understanding; it was quite touching.
Jiang Ning thought she should kiss him.
So she grabbed Liu Ming'an's collar and leaned in.
To her surprise, Liu Ming'an took a step back, avoiding her.
Jiang Ning narrowed her eyes, about to question him, when Liu Ming'an reached out to stroke her hair, saying soothingly: "Ah Ning, it's not even dark yet. Be patient for a while."
"...Huh?"
Since when did kissing require waiting for nightfall?
How come she didn't know about this?
Liu Ming'an caressed her face again, continuing in a soft voice: "Be good, don't rush!"
Jiang Ning: "..."
While the young couple was having this miscommunication, on the other side, Zhou Yi, who was walking towards Jun Yue Restaurant, was knocked unconscious at the entrance of an alley.
Nangong Muyan stepped forward to support the man who was about to collapse on the ground. Then, with one hand under Zhou Yi's knees and the other around his back, she lifted him up in a princess carry.
When she had followed Jiang Ning here earlier, she had taken the opportunity to scout out the surrounding area and knew there was an empty house nearby.
Nangong Muyan carried him for a few steps, feeling like her arms were about to break off. She couldn't help but complain: "He's so heavy!"
This body's strength was really too poor. It seemed that after returning, she would definitely need to train properly. At the very least, she couldn't make mistakes like falling on someone while climbing over a wall again.
After much effort, she finally carried him to the abandoned courtyard. Nangong Muyan took out a silk handkerchief from her bosom, tore it into strips, and tied Zhou Yi's hands behind his back to a tree.
It had rained the night before, and a broken tile vat in the courtyard had collected water. Nangong Muyan scooped up a handful of ice-cold water and splashed it directly onto Zhou Yi's face.
The unconscious man was startled awake by the shock, instantly opening his eyes.
"Awake now?"
Zhou Yi, who had just regained consciousness, was still a bit dazed. He instinctively looked towards the voice and saw Nangong Muyan standing in front of him with a grin.
"Nangong Muyan!"
Zhou Yi's eyes suddenly widened. He tried to move, only to realize he was tied to a tree.
Looking around, he recognized this as the abandoned courtyard on Late Winter Road. He had been here before, chasing a stray cat.
So, this meant...
He had been kidnapped?
"What do you want? You're not going to beat me up and sell me off too, are you?" Zhou Yi glared at the woman in front of him, his eyes filled with anger and fear.
"Hehe..." Nangong Muyan laughed ambiguously, then stepped forward and placed her hand on Zhou Yi's chest, carefully wiping the water off her hands on his clothes.
"Now you're using me as a towel?"
Zhou Yi was so angry he wanted to hit her. He tried hard to move his wrists, but found they were tied too tightly. When he didn't move it was fine, but as soon as he did, the rough tree bark scraped painfully against the back of his hands.