Persuaded by Granny Yu, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law exchanged a look. The woman, still in her postpartum confinent, handed her nursing baby to Lijuan. Hearing the little one’s cries only strengthened her resolve.
And so, a deafening scream erupted. Lijuan, holding the baby, felt her heart pound in terror.
Qin i, Granny Yu, and Jie Jingshan erged from the deputy factory director’s house. As Granny Yu pushed Jie Jingshan, she stared enviously at the thick stack of ten-yuan bills in Qin i’s hand.
Qin i pulled out a ten-yuan bill and handed it to Granny Yu. "Granny Yu, this is for you."
Granny Yu was taken aback. She stared at the bill Qin i offered and didn’t dare take it, looking at her in astonishnt instead. "Fourth Wife of Jing."
"A referral fee." Qin i had wanted to say it was for her trouble, but on second thought, "referral fee" seed more appropriate. Qin i understood how the world worked. If she didn’t give Granny Yu a cut, the woman would lose her motivation. After a few referrals, her enthusiasm would wane. But by giving her a share, the money would ensure her enthusiasm and drive only grew.
’Once the Reform and Opening-Up policies are fully in place, I’ll make this business bigger and better.’
"Fourth Wife of Jing, I really can’t accept this money." Granny Yu was tempted, but she rationally refused. When Qin i insisted, Granny Yu relented and accepted the money with so embarrassnt.
’Qin i earned a hundred and gave ten. If I refer more clients to her, won’t I earn more? If I make ten referrals a month, I can earn a hundred yuan just from that!’
’My God! That’s a staggering amount.’
’The combined monthly salaries of her son, daughter-in-law, grandson, and granddaughter-in-law—all four of them—didn’t even add up to two hundred yuan.’
"Fourth Wife of Jing, it’s already past noon. Co on, let’s go to my place. I’ll make you both sothing delicious," Granny Yu invited warmly.
Qin i didn’t refuse and went with Jing Qi, whom she pushed, to Granny Yu’s ho.
After lunch, Qin i and Jing Qi stayed for a while longer. Just as they were about to leave, an old woman about Granny Yu’s age ca running over. Her granddaughter had given birth over a month ago, but her milk supply was severely low. To make matters worse, she had twin boys who refused to drink formula, and the whole family was at their wits’ end.
The whole family had scraped together a hundred yuan to ask Qin i to co to their house and perform the massage for the woman’s great-grandsons.
Having just eaten, the thought of another vehicle ride made Qin i frown. But Granny Yu said they also lived in the cotton mill compound, in the house at the very end of the alley.
By the ti the massage was over, the sun was about to set. Qin i gave Granny Yu ten yuan and hurriedly left, pushing Jie Jingshan.
Having earned twenty yuan in a single day, Granny Yu was grinning from ear to ear. She told Qin i and Jie Jingshan to be careful on their way. If Qin i hadn’t firmly refused, she would have insisted on escorting them all the way ho safely.
’The Fourth Wife of Jing is my personal God of Wealth. I have to make sure to worship her properly.’
Qin i and Jie Jingshan still didn’t take a vehicle, walking ho with Qin i pushing Jing Qi instead. On the way, they encountered commuters getting off work on their bicycles. Afraid they might accidentally get hit, Qin i kept Jie Jingshan as close to the side of the road as possible.
Stopping and starting cost them a lot of ti. Passing by a grocery store, Qin i pushed Jie Jingshan inside to buy vegetables. By this ti of day, the produce was no longer fresh and the at was sold out, so she bought a beggar’s chicken to take ho.
The sky was gradually darkening. Just as they entered their alley, they ran into Second Granny. Qin i smiled and greeted her. "Second Granny, it’s so late. Shouldn’t you be at ho making dinner? What are you doing wandering around here?"
"Fourth Wife of Jing." Second Granny looked nervous. She pulled Qin i aside, glanced around warily, and whispered, "Where did you take Jing Qi? Sothing’s happened at your house."
"Happ—" Before Qin i could finish, Second Granny clapped a hand over her mouth.
Second Granny put a finger to her lips. "Quiet. Don’t let anyone hear."
Recalling what Xu Chunyan had said yesterday, and what Jing Qi had said yesterday morning, Qin i had a bad feeling. ’Could Aunt Zhang have really made her move? She’s being a bit too impatient.’
Qin i played dumb and asked in a low voice, "What happened?"
Second Granny hesitated, unable to bring herself to say it. She just told Qin i, "You should go ho and see for yourself."
Qin i already had a good idea of what was going on, so she didn’t press Second Granny for details. "All right, then."
Qin i turned to push Jie Jingshan, but Second Granny stopped her. "You go ho by yourself. I’ll take Jing Qi to my place. When things are sorted out, you can co to my house to get Jing Qi."
Jing Qi was unwilling, but Qin i considered that she was too young and the situation at ho was unknown. Since it was Qin i telling her to go with Second Granny, Jing Qi naturally obeyed.
Second Granny pushed Jing Qi and left first. Only after they were so distance away did Qin i rember that Jing Qi was still holding the beggar’s chicken. She felt it would be awkward to call them back, so she just let Jing Qi take it to Second Granny’s house.
"Qin i."
Hearing Jie Jingchen’s voice, Qin i froze. She turned to look at him on his bicycle, her eyes flickering before she glared at him.
Jie Jingchen rode up to her and stopped. Qin i skillfully hopped onto the back and wrapped her arms around his waist.
"Jie Jingchen, I just ran into Second Granny. She said sothing happened at our house. I asked her what, but she wouldn’t say, just told to go ho and see. She took Jing Qi to her place," Qin i said.
"You weren’t ho today?" Jie Jingchen asked in a low voice.
Qin i shook her head. "Granny Yu ca to get . The deputy director of the cotton mill’s daughter-in-law had no milk, so I took Jing Qi to the mill."
Jie Jingchen didn’t press further, just humming in response. Qin i didn’t sll of milk. The last ti had been an accident, with a good amount of expressed milk spraying onto her. This ti, however, she had co prepared and avoided any mishaps. Only her hands had gotten milk on them; her clothes and hair were clean. After washing her hands, the sll was gone.
"Jie Jingchen, what do you think happened at ho?" Qin i asked.
"Dad ca ho this afternoon," Jie Jingchen said, his words slow and deliberate. A chilling frost filled his amber eyes.
"What?" Qin i’s pupils dilated. She stared at his back in disbelief. "In broad daylight? Aunt Zhang is way too impatient! And your dad, too, coming ho in the middle of the afternoon. Was it quitting ti already? Jie Jingchen, I’m starting to seriously suspect your dad might have... feelings for Aunt Zhang, too."
"Dad has no feelings for Aunt Zhang," Jie Jingchen said with certainty. He then added, "He didn’t co ho because of her."
"Then why?" Qin i asked, her voice tinged with emotion. Ever since she and Jie Jingchen had co to the Jie Family ho, she had never once seen her father-in-law co ho from work early.
"Xiao You," Jie Jingchen said.
Qin i fell silent. Her father-in-law doted on Jie You, his only grandson.
"They said sothing happened to Xiao You and told Dad to co ho to see him one last ti," Jie Jingchen said coldly.
"Did sothing really happen to Jie You?" Qin i was shocked. ’See him one last ti? Did they have to go that far?’
Jie Jingchen didn’t answer, asking instead, "What do you think?"
’Of course not.’ Qin i snorted. "To actually use Xiao You to trick your dad into coming ho... ’One last ti,’ they even ca up with that. Aren’t they afraid of their words becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy? Where’s Jie Jingwei?"
"He left on a last-minute business trip," Jie Jingchen said. "My second brother’s trip was definitely a coincidence. It was arranged at the last minute; no one knew beforehand."
A coincidence combined with a deliberate plot. In any case, Mr. Xie had been lured ho.
"Did Aunt Zhang succeed?" Qin i asked. Even if he was a victim, as long as they slept together, this family would fall apart.
"I don’t know." Jie Jingchen’s face was grim, his icy gaze fixed in the direction of the Jie Family ho. His thin lips pressed into a tight line.
"What about Mom?" Qin i asked, her expression grave.
Jie Jingchen hesitated for a few seconds before answering, "Mom’s working the night shift tonight."
"Mom’s on the night shift?" Qin i exclaid. She hadn’t known that, but it wasn’t important. What was important was that Mom was on the night shift *tonight*. "Nightti is the perfect opportunity. It would be so easy to drug your dad’s food at dinner to make it happen. Why do it during the day? And why use Jie You to lure him ho? What on earth is Aunt Zhang thinking? And Xu Chunyan—didn’t she switch sides? Why would she still lend her son to Aunt Zhang for this sche?"
At her words, Jie Jingchen’s whole body jolted, his tense fra trembling uncontrollably.
"Jie Jingchen, what’s wrong?"
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