’Serves her right!’ Qin i couldn’t help but feel a surge of righteous indignation, wanting to join Jie Jingchen in condemning her body’s previous owner.
’I’m the one who has to deal with the ss the original owner made.’
"It’s a misunderstanding! A total misunderstanding!" Qin i waved her hands frantically, choosing her words with care. "When I said ’special,’ I didn’t an *that* kind of special. This dicine isn’t *that* kind of dicine! Jie Jingchen, I swear, this is purely to treat your old, internal injuries. Do you know what I an by that? It’s when your old wounds never healed properly and then you got new ones, piling injury on top of injury. They overlap and compound each other, and that vicious cycle creates these deep-seated injuries. Do you understand my explanation?"
Jie Jingchen’s thin lips were pressed into a tight line. His expression was sharp and severe, his gaze icy and nacing.
Qin i took a breath and continued her explanation. "I added a special herb. While it treats your internal injuries, it might also... cause a certain kind of stimulation. Of course, everyone’s constitution is different, so I can’t be sure if you’ll react that way or not. If you really can’t accept that possibility, you can refuse to take it. Rest assured, I won’t force you to drink it."
’Jie Jingchen’s reaction is so intense, he looks like he could eat alive. I don’t even have the courage to ask why the original owner would give him *that* kind of drug. I’m afraid he might actually kill to shut up.’
Qin i’s explanation seed to work. Jie Jingchen cald down.
"I’ll pour the dicine out." To prove her words, Qin i reached for a nearby towel.
"Don’t." Jie Jingchen stopped her, pressing a hand on hers. His gaze had returned to its usual impassiveness.
"Are you sure?" Qin i stared at him, swallowing nervously.
A faint smile touched the corner of Jie Jingchen’s lips. "I was making a mountain out of a molehill," he said calmly. "I overreacted."
Qin i felt a slight pang of guilt. She raised a hand and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have just done as I pleased. I should have asked you first."
’It’s not easy cleaning up soone else’s ss!’
’If I had the original owner’s mories, I could have avoided these landmines. But I don’t. I’ll have to be extrely careful from now on, or I’ll end up poking the hornet’s nest again.’
Only after Jie Jingchen left the kitchen could Qin i finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Qin i rested her chin in her hands and stared blankly at the fire in the stove. The bitter scent of brewing dicine filled the air, strong enough to be slled from a distance. The neighbors who passed by were long used to it.
Ever since Jing Qi had been disabled, the sll of simring dicine was a constant presence.
Once the dicine was ready, she poured it into a bowl. But she hesitated, not taking it to Jie Jingchen right away.
’The marriage between the original owner and Jie Jingchen is even worse than I imagined.’
"Fourth Wife of Jing." Second Auntie, who had co to cook their dinner, called out when she saw Qin i staring blankly at a bowl of dicine. When Qin i didn’t react, she waved a hand in front of her face.
Qin i started, then snapped out of her daze, a smile breaking across her face. "Second Auntie."
"What were you thinking about? You were so lost in thought you didn’t even hear call," Second Auntie asked, raising a hand to wipe a smudge off Qin i’s cheek with her sleeve.
The coarse fabric scraped a red mark across Qin i’s delicate cheek, and she flinched away from the stinging pain.
Second Auntie looked at her handiwork, realizing her good intentions had gone awry. She gave an embarrassed smile and apologized, "Oh, I’m sorry. Your skin is so delicate, and my clothes are too coarse. I’ve scraped your face."
"It’s nothing." Qin i raised her hand, about to touch her face, but then she saw how dirty her own hands were. She turned her hand over and gently rubbed her cheek with the back of it.
"Are you brewing this dicine for yourself?" Second Auntie asked, her heart aching for Qin i. "You’re still supposed to be recovering from your miscarriage, yet you have to do this yourself. Sigh... Jing Si is wounded, Jing Qi is disabled, and there’s no one else at ho to help. Fourth Wife of Jing, let brew your dicine tomorrow. If you’re worried, you can just sit next to and tell what to do."
"Second Auntie, thank you for the kind offer, but that won’t be necessary," Qin i declined with a smile.
"You don’t trust ?" Second Auntie asked, looking a little hurt.
Qin i shook her head. "No, of course not. You’re the most dependable person I know, Second Auntie. I’m always at ease when you’re doing things for us. It’s just that it would be too much work for you. You already buy our groceries and cook three als a day for us, and you won’t even stay to eat. Then you have to go ho and cook for your own family. It’s just too much."
Second Auntie was visibly moved by Qin i’s words. At ho, she took care of two grandchildren and cooked for her entire family, and they all took it for granted. Not one of them had ever told her she worked hard. "It’s not tiring," she said.
"How could it not be? Taking care of children is the hardest job there is, especially two of them, and you still have to cook and do housework on top of that. Second Auntie, I know just how exhausting it is for you," Qin i said with genuine sympathy.
Second Auntie felt a pang in her heart. For the first ti, she felt truly understood. Her nose stung, her eyes grew red, and she sniffled, gripping Qin i’s hand. "Oh, dear girl! You’re so understanding, so kind. You’re a true kindred spirit to an old woman like !"
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