Qin i’s mouth twitched. She glared at Qin Xiang, but with Jing Qi present, she didn’t speak her mind. Instead, she nudged Jie Jingchen’s back. "Jie Jingsi, I’m tired. I want to go ho and sleep."
"Sleep? What do you an, sleep? How long have you even been up? Jing Si, don’t listen to her. Let’s go to the departnt store." Qin Xiang had planned on buying Qin i a few dresses. Sumr was approaching, and his little sister loved wearing pretty dresses.
Jie Jingchen ignored Qin Xiang, turning his bicycle around and heading back the way they ca.
"Hey, hey, hey, Jing Si, what do you think you’re doing?" As Qin Xiang watched Jie Jingchen pedal further and further away, he forgot about his original plan. He turned his bike around, with Jing Qi on the back, to chase them.
Jie Jingchen stopped when they passed a grocery store and went inside to buy so food. Qin i waited outside. Their bicycle had been stolen once at the hospital, so this ti, she was determined to watch over it.
Qin Xiang caught up, stopping in front of Qin i. He gave her a reproachful glare. "What’s the rush?"
Qin i ignored him and stepped forward to help Jing Qi off the back seat. "Jing Qi, your fourth brother went into the grocery store to buy food. We’ll have to wait a little while. I’ll help you over to that seat to wait."
"There’s no need to help , Sister-in-law. I can manage." Jie Jingshan was very eager to be independent. She refused Qin i’s support and slowly, carefully made her way to a small stool by the entrance of the grocery store.
Seeing Qin i start to walk away, Qin Xiang grabbed her arm and began to reason with her patiently. "Little Sis, if you really want to build a life with Jing Si, you need to get along with your sisters-in-law."
’She has two sisters-in-law. Her relationship with the second one is awful, so she should at least try to get along with the third. If she’s on bad terms with both of them, then the problem isn’t with them—it’s with my little sister. Though, to be fair, she certainly has her share of issues.’
"Brother, you need to understand sothing," Qin i countered. "I’m making a life with Jie Jingsi, not with his two sisters-in-law." ’If I can get along with them, great. If I can’t, I’m not going to force myself to kiss up to them.’
"That may be so, but you all live under the sa roof. You’ll be seeing each other constantly," Qin Xiang argued. ’The wives my three brothers married all treat each other with great respect. The atmosphere in the Qin family is wonderful, and I hope the Jie Family’s can be just as good. I want my little sister to live in a warm family environnt like ours.’
Qin i fell silent. She lowered her head and kicked at a pebble on the ground.
"Little Sis..." Qin Xiang began, wanting to say more.
"Fourth Wife of Jing!" Second Auntie called out excitedly, running toward Qin i, out of breath.
Qin i looked up at the approaching woman. "Second Auntie," she called out.
"Fourth Wife of Jing, I finally found you! Where did you run off to?" Second Auntie bent over, hands on her knees, still trying to catch her breath.
"Did sothing happen to Granny Guo again?" Qin i asked.
Second Auntie shook her head. "Your Granny Guo is fine. She’s been quiet ever since she tried to hang herself and you saved her."
"Second Auntie, Granny Guo only caused a fuss that one ti before settling down. You must have done a wonderful job talking to her." A smile played in Qin i’s eyes.
Second Auntie smiled back. "These past few days, Sister Ma and I have been taking turns counseling her and watching her around the clock. We were afraid that if we weren’t paying attention, she might try to take her own life again. I’ve heard people who commit suicide leave behind a lot of resentnt. Our perfectly fine courtyard would beco a haunted property!"
"It’s not that dramatic," Qin i said absently.
Second Auntie said, "Fourth Wife of Jing, you don’t know your Granny Guo, but I know her all too well. She gets fixated on things. Even if she were to die, she’d want to make sure nobody else could rest in peace. I’m not exaggerating. If your Aunt Ma and I hadn’t been watching her in shifts, she’d have taken a rope to the front gate of your Jie Family ho in the middle of the night and tried to hang herself."
"Is it really that dramatic?" Qin i lifted her foot and gave a hard kick to a nearby pebble, sending it flying. She stumbled from the force, and if Qin Xiang hadn’t been there to steady her, she would have fallen.
"Be careful." Qin Xiang steadied her, his charming, smiling eyes filled with affection. With well-defined fingers, he tucked a stray wisp of hair from her cheek behind her ear.
"Got careless," Qin i said with an embarrassed laugh.
"Fourth Wife of Jing." Second Auntie looked at the unfamiliar man, noting his intimate gesture and the look in his eyes as he gazed at Qin i. ’This isn’t good,’ she thought. She yanked Qin i behind her and glared ferociously at Qin Xiang. "Who are you? I’m warning you, she’s Doctor Qiao’s daughter-in-law! Don’t you get any ideas. Her husband was a soldier—be careful, or he’ll knock all your teeth out!"
Qin Xiang and Qin i froze, stunned. The woman had mistaken him for so kind of creep with ill intentions.
Qin i tugged on Second Auntie’s sleeve and explained with a smile, "Second Auntie, you’ve misunderstood. He’s my..."
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