The food at Teacher Lin’s house wasn’t as good as the Jie family’s. The aunt had been sent back to her hotown, leaving no one to cook. Not wanting to cook herself, she used picking up Xiao You from Teacher Lin’s as an excuse to get a free al there.
"That’s wonderful, Great-Granny! I love you the most! Great-Granny, I want a chicken leg right now," the little one cheered.
"Alright, alright, alright. You can have it." The little one’s words were as sweet as honey. How could Granny resist? She was absolutely delighted by his sweet-talking and was about to tear off a chicken leg for him.
However, before her hand could even touch the chicken leg, the entire Beggar’s Chicken was snatched away. Granny stared at her empty hands, stunned for a mont. Then, it dawned on her, and she flew into a rage. "Fourth Wife of Jing!"
"Great-Granny, I want the chicken leg!" When Jie You saw Qin i snatch the Beggar’s Chicken, he imdiately threw a fit, wailing loudly. He knew that with the chicken in his fourth aunt’s hands, he wouldn’t get a single bite—not even the butt, let alone a leg.
"Fourth Sister-in-law, how could you snatch the Beggar’s Chicken from Granny?" Xu Chunyan demanded accusingly. Her thoughts mirrored Jie You’s: if Granny had the chicken, they might still get a piece, but with it in Qin i’s hands, all they could do was stare with envy.
"Granny, I bought this Beggar’s Chicken for Jing Qi. It wasn’t purchased by your grandson to honor you," Qin i said as she wrapped the chicken back up. "If you want Beggar’s Chicken, have your grandson buy you one." She didn’t hand it to Jing Qi. ’Faced with Granny, Jing Qi wouldn’t be able to protect it.’
’Whenever there was sothing nice in the house, wasn’t she always the first one to be considered? This was the first ti anyone had dared to snatch food from her hands!’ "It doesn’t matter who bought it," she declared. "You are Jing Si’s wife, and I am Jing Si’s granny. Honoring is your responsibility."
Qin i shook her head. "No. You have your own children and grandchildren. It’s not my turn to be the one honoring you."
"Jing Qi, do you like Beggar’s Chicken?" Granny asked, her murky gaze fixed on Jing Qi, full of intimidation.
Jie Jingshan kept her head down, fidgeting with her fingers, and said nothing.
’Pulling rank because of her age was one thing, but now she was threatening Jing Qi.’ Qin i’s temper flared. "If Jing Qi likes it, she can eat it herself," she said forcefully. "If she doesn’t like it, then I’ll feed it to her."
"Fourth Wife of Jing, don’t you go too far!" Granny glared angrily at Qin i.
But Qin i wasn’t afraid of her. ’Jie Jingchen told not to hold back, so I won’t. This isn’t even my own grandmother, but even if she were, I would never practice blind filial piety.’
’If a grandmother cherished her, she would do everything in her power to be a filial granddaughter. But if a grandmother was cold, or even disdainful, she would simply keep a respectful distance.’
"Jie Jingchen, Jing Qi is hungry. Go heat up her al," Qin i said to him.
"Alright." Jie Jingchen gave Qin i an indulgent smile and began guiding Jing Qi toward the bathroom. ’Leaving Jing Qi here would only get in Qin i’s way.’
’Besides, Qin i’s dical skills were superb. Even if she angered Granny to the point of a dical ergency, Qin i could save her. She wouldn’t let her die.’
"Jing Si, I want to eat Beggar’s Chicken! Go buy one and bring it back to honor ," Granny ordered.
Jing Si was a man, yet Qin i had just ordered him to heat up food for Jing Qi. Granny had a serious double standard: she had no problem with the n of the family cooking for her, but she couldn’t stand it when they cooked for their wives.
Jie Jingchen stopped in his tracks and turned to face the fuming Granny. "Granny, I don’t have any money."
"You don’t have money?" Granny was clearly skeptical.
"It’s true. Your grandson really has no money," Qin i chid in. "In fact, he owes quite a bit."
Granny’s face was a mask of disbelief. Her wrinkled finger pointed at Jie Jingchen as she glared at Qin i. "He owes *you* money?"
"It’s not just him. Your other grandson, Jing Wu, also owes money," Qin i said, pointing to Xu Chunyan. "I even have his IOU. If you don’t believe , you can ask Second Sister-in-law."
"Second Daughter-in-law Jing." Granny turned to Xu Chunyan.
It would have been better not to ntion it. The topic alone made Xu Chunyan see red. ’Qin i scamd out of two thousand yuan! Two thousand!’
"Granny, Jing Wu fell into her trap," Xu Chunyan said evasively. She didn’t dare tell Granny the truth: that Qin i had tricked her out of two thousand yuan in exchange for setting her younger brother’s dislocated jaw.
"Jing Si, what kind of wife did you marry? She even scams her own brother-in-law!" After yelling at Jie Jingchen, Granny turned on Qin i. "Did your family put you up to this?"
The original owner’s family was catching stray bullets. Qin i rolled her eyes. ’I’ve never even t the original owner’s family,’ she thought. ’But since I’m using her body, I have a duty to protect them. I can tolerate Granny’s insults to , but I have zero tolerance for her badmouthing them.’
"My mother-in-law’s family is wealthy. They’re not short on such a paltry sum," Jie Jingchen cut in, defending Qin i’s family.
Qin i froze, a warm feeling spreading through her chest as she listened to Jie Jingchen talk back to Granny. ’In this day and age,’ she thought, ’it was rare to find a man who would stand up to his own grandmother for his wife’s sake.’
"Hmph! Such arrogant words. My Jie Family is large and influential, wealthy rchants in Xiangjiang!" Granny snorted, puffing out her chest with pride.
Jie Jingchen looked at his grandmother, who was practically looking down her nose at them. His words were sharp as a blade as he reminded her, "Granny, that’s the Qiao Family, not the Jie Family."
"Your mother married my son, so the Qiao Family is her dowry. And since it’s her dowry, it naturally belongs to our Jie Family," Granny said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Upon hearing this, Qin i was left speechless. ’I have to hand it to Granny,’ she thought, impressed in a way. ’To covet her daughter-in-law’s dowry so brazenly... In the future I know, the Qiao Family na doesn’t change to Jie. Instead, Jie Jingshan’s na changes to Qiao Jingshan.’
Jie Jingchen was used to this; clearly, it wasn’t the first ti Granny had said sothing of the sort. In the past, he would let it go in one ear and out the other, but now he felt the need to correct her. "Granny, I must remind you, the dowry my maternal grandparents gave my mother was this courtyard house, not the entire Qiao Family."
Granny shot Jie Jingchen a glare. "Is there a difference? Your maternal grandparents only had one child, your mother. She’s their sole heir. Once they pass away and she inherits the Qiao Family, I’ll have her change its na to the Jie Family."
’As if a family’s legacy could be renad on a whim. Changing the Qiao Family na to Jie... Granny really had so nerve. Did she think the husband’s family could just sit back and reap the rewards of the business the Qiao family had painstakingly built, all because the Jie family married their only daughter?’
’Besides, Qiao Yanqiu was no fool. And even if she were, wouldn’t the Qiao family have a contingency plan? They were farsighted and always planned for the future. If they weren’t, they wouldn’t have moved their entire family to Xiangjiang, protecting generations of accumulated wealth and ensuring their own survival.’
Jie Jingchen raised an eyebrow, his amber eyes glinting with amusent. "Granny, surely you haven’t forgotten that you and Grandpa are older than my maternal grandparents? If they’ve already passed on, how could you possibly still be here to see it?"
Granny was stunned into silence.
"PFFT!" Qin i couldn’t help but burst out laughing. She finally understood why Granny couldn’t stand Jie Jingchen. He was disobedient and absolutely rciless when he decided to talk back to her.
Granny glared at Jie Jingchen, looking both proud and smug. "A fortune-teller said I am blessed with good fortune, that I would have a house full of children and grandchildren, enjoy my golden years in peace, and live to be a hundred."
’She was seventy this year. Living to one hundred ant she still had another thirty years.’
"Granny, you actually went to a fortune-teller? Aren’t you afraid of being reported for engaging in feudal superstition?" Jie Jingchen asked.
Granny was thoroughly incensed by Jie Jingchen’s words. She had no doubt in her mind that if anyone were to report her, it would be this very grandson.
"You’re the one engaging in feudal superstition! My father had a fortune-teller read my fate when I was born." ’There weren’t so many ridiculous restrictions back then,’ she thought.
Qin i found herself looking at Granny in a new light again. ’To have survived so much turmoil and still end up with a house full of children and grandchildren... it really is a miracle.’
"My mom told that when my maternal grandfather was born, they also consulted a fortune-teller," Jie Jingchen said, throwing Granny’s words right back at her. "The fortune-teller said my grandfather was blessed with good fortune, would have a house full of children and grandchildren, would enjoy his golden years in peace, and live to be a hundred."
Granny laughed, her tone dripping with mockery. "That fortune-teller must have been a charlatan. A house full of children and grandchildren? Bah! Did your maternal grandfather even have a son? Without a son, how could he have grandchildren?"
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