"Second Auntie, hold on." Qin i got up and chased after her.
Second Auntie’s eyes lit up, and she stopped to wait for Qin i.
"Second Auntie, let check your pulse." Qin i led Second Auntie back into the house.
"No, don’t worry about it. These are just my old problems. I’ve put up with them for decades, and now I’ve got one foot in the grave. There’s no point in wasting money," Second Auntie said dejectedly.
"Second Auntie, you’re an excellent cook. The food you make is delicious, and I love it," Qin i said as she had Second Auntie sit down in a chair.
Second Auntie looked at her, feeling like they were talking at cross-purposes. She was talking about her illness, while Qin i was praising her cooking. She couldn’t understand it. ’What on earth did her cooking skills have to do with her illness?’
"I’ve been eating the food you make, so how could I possibly charge you a consultation fee? If I took your money, what would be the difference between and an ungrateful wretch, Second Auntie? Don’t you agree?" Qin i’s eyes crinkled into smiling crescents.
"Yes," Second Auntie nodded blankly. Realizing what she’d just said, she imdiately corrected herself. "No, that’s not what I ant, Fourth Wife of Jing. What I an is, with your miscarriage, Doctor Qiao is busy with work and doesn’t have ti to look after you. Jing Si is at ho recovering from his injury, and he’s a man—how would he know how to take care of soone? The Jie Family’s relationships are complicated, and your own family isn’t around. Who else is there to count on?"
"We’re neighbors, and Doctor Qiao has always been very good to my family, helping with this and that. Now that her actual daughter-in-law needs looking after, I certainly couldn’t just stand by and do nothing. Doctor Qiao gave money and coupons. I’m just helping you buy groceries and cook. It’s a small effort, and it’s completely separate from my old health problems."
Second Auntie had wanted to ask Qin i to treat her, but when she thought about how Qin i had charged Granny Guo ten yuan just for writing a prescription, she found it too expensive and didn’t dare to ask.
She had dropped hints to Qin i, but it seed Qin i hadn’t caught on. She had been leaving in disappointnt, not realizing that Qin i had understood after all.
"Second Auntie, your hand." Qin i sat down across from her.
After hesitating for a few seconds, Second Auntie extended her hand toward Qin i.
Placing her fingertips on the woman’s wrist, Qin i carefully took her pulse. A mont later, Qin i stood up and took out three packets of herbs from her organized collection. Lacking any kraft paper to wrap them in, she simply tore three pages from Jie Jingchen’s notebook.
Qin i smiled faintly and asked, "Second Auntie, do you know how to brew herbs?"
Second Auntie glanced at the herbs in Qin i’s hands, then looked back at Qin i and nodded firmly. "I do."
"Three tis a day," Qin i said, handing the dicine to Second Auntie.
Second Auntie took them, her gaze filled with gratitude and disbelief as she looked at Qin i. "After I drink this, will my old problems be cured?"
Qin i shook her head with a wry smile. "Second Auntie, I’m not a miracle worker. This dicine is just to help regulate your system."
Second Auntie was stunned for a mont, then her face clouded with worry. "Fourth Wife of Jing, are you saying that my condition is hopeless?"
Qin i’s mouth twitched. "Second Auntie, that’s not what I an."
But Second Auntie’s brow remained furrowed, clearly unconvinced by Qin i’s words.
Qin i sighed and explained, "Once your system is better regulated, you won’t catch colds so easily. The joint pain you get on rainy days is from rheumatism; give so ti, and I’ll make a few dicinal plasters for you to apply. As for the coughing and incontinence... Second Auntie, you’re getting on in years. I really can’t do anything about that."
Second Auntie’s face lit up, and she patted her kneecaps. "As long as you can treat my joint pain, nothing else matters."
’The joint pain truly tornted her. It was so bad that sotis she couldn’t even get out of bed. As for the coughing and incontinence, all won their age who’d had children experienced it. Everyone understood, so it was nothing to be embarrassed about.’
"Fourth Wife of Jing, how much is it?" Second Auntie asked. ’Fourth Wife of Jing was being very considerate. She hadn’t written a prescription and just gave her the dicine directly, saving her the fee. Second Auntie was very content.’
"No charge," Qin i said with a helpless smile.
Hearing this, Second Auntie imdiately protested. "That won’t do! You already saved the prescription fee, so you must accept money for the dicine."
"Second Auntie, this dicine isn’t expensive. They’re just common herbs. Just consider it a token of my gratitude for all your hard work cooking for us..."
"No, absolutely not. As I said, these are two different things. You have to take the money for the dicine. These days, life isn’t easy for anyone..." Thinking of the Jie Family’s situation, Second Auntie changed her tune. "Nobody’s money just grows on trees."
"Second Auntie, you cook for us, and I give you dicine. Let’s just call it an exchange of favors," Qin i said. Seeing that Second Auntie was about to argue again, she added preemptively, "Unless you’re going to stop cooking for us."
"Oh, you child... Fine, fine. I’ll accept the dicine. Thank you, Fourth Wife of Jing." Second Auntie took the herbs and left happily.
Qin i didn’t see Jie Jingchen anywhere. She looked all around but couldn’t find him. ’She still needed to ask him clearly if he had any other reactions besides the one in a... certain place.’
"That’s strange. Where could he have run off to at this hour?" Qin i stood in the courtyard, muttering to herself.
’Don’t tell he ran off to find a mistress to "put out the fire"? Jie Jingchen was handso, had a great body, and ca from a good family—the total package.’
’That Teacher Lin was deeply in love with him, a "marry-no-one-but-him" kind of love. If Jie Jingchen went to her to "put out the fire," she would jump at the chance, serving him as if he were a king until he was utterly content.’
"Xiao i." Mr. and Mrs. Xie had returned from work and saw Qin i standing in the courtyard, lost in thought. Mrs. Xie called out, but when Qin i didn’t respond, she walked over and tapped her on the shoulder.
Qin i jumped. Seeing it was her mother-in-law, a brilliant smile blossod on her face as she called out sweetly, "Mom, Dad, you’re back from work?"
Mr. Xie grunted in acknowledgent. Mrs. Xie looked at Qin i affectionately and asked with concern, "What were you thinking about? You were so lost in thought, I called you several tis and you didn’t hear ."
’Thinking about Jie Jingchen and his mistress,’ Qin i didn’t tell the truth. "I was just wondering when you and Dad would get off work. Mom, you and Dad must be tired from work."
Mrs. Xie was taken aback, feeling touched. ’In all these years, Qin i was the first person to ever tell her that she must be tired from work.’
"Has Second Auntie finished making dinner?" Mrs. Xie asked. Qin i nodded, and Mrs. Xie took her by the arm. "You must be hungry, right? Xiao i, if dinner is ready, you should go ahead and eat. Don’t wait for us."
Qin i just smiled without saying anything. ’How was she supposed to respond to that? Nod obediently? They were her elders and had just co from work; she felt it would be improper not to wait for them to eat.’
Mrs. Xie took off her bag and handed it to Mr. Xie. "Co on, let’s wash our hands and eat."
"Mom, I don’t know where Jie Jingchen went," Qin i said in a flat tone, though her heart was rippling with unease.
Mrs. Xie looked at the sullen Qin i, not seeming particularly concerned about her son. "Never mind him. Let’s eat first. It’s dinnerti and he’s still out running around. Why bother with him?"
"Jing Wu isn’t back either," Qin i added.
"There’s even less reason to worry about him. He never does anything proper, just loafs around all day like a delinquent." Speaking of Jing Wu, Mrs. Xie’s eyes filled with disdain.
"I’ll go get Jing Qi," Qin i said. ’What else could she say? Her mother-in-law had spoken. They were her sons, not hers. Why should she worry for nothing?’
"Alright, you go ahead." Mrs. Xie let go of Qin i, washed her hands first at the basin in the courtyard, and then headed toward the kitchen.
Qin i went to Jing Qi’s room and wheeled him out toward the main hall. Seeing them approach, Mr. Xie waited at the doorway. The threshold was too high, so he helped Qin i lift the wheelchair into the room.
Qin i washed her hands, then went to the kitchen to help Mrs. Xie bring the dishes to the table. Mr. Xie went to get the bowls and chopsticks.
"Sister-in-law, Fourth Brother said not to wait for him for dinner," Jie Jingshan said as she took the chopsticks Qin i handed her.
Qin i froze, her eyes flickering. "He told you that before he left?"
"Mhm, he did," Jie Jingshan said, nodding at Qin i.
’Not waiting for him for dinner... was he planning to eat at his mistress’s place?’ Qin i’s heart felt heavy. It wasn’t exactly painful, but it wasn’t a good feeling either. It was just... sour.
’Of course, the idea of Jie Jingchen having a mistress was just her own speculation. Whether it was true or not remained to be seen.’
’If her guess was wrong, everything would be fine. But if her guess was right, then her marriage to Jie Jingchen would be over.’
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