Seeing that the two of them were about to start a fight, Qin i couldn’t help but speak up. "While you’re arguing here, do the two people you’re talking about even know?"
"Who are you?" Liu Axiu demanded.
"Who are you?" Second Auntie echoed.
The two of them were perfectly in sync, speaking at the sa ti.
They sized up Qin i. Her hair was a ss, and she hadn’t even changed out of her pajamas, having simply thrown on a coat. With her sleepy eyes, it was obvious she had just crawled out of bed.
Their impression was that this girl was a real slob.
Qin i didn’t think much of it. She wasn’t accompanying Jie Jingchen to buy breakfast; she had just chased after him to ask for a bowl of porridge. Besides, wearing pajamas to go downstairs and grab a delivery was perfectly normal back where she ca from.
"My na is Qin i," Qin i said openly. She saw the disdain in their eyes but paid it no mind.
The two of them didn’t care what her na was. Glancing behind her, Second Auntie was the first to ask, "Are you the temporary maid the Jie Family hired to take care of Jing Qi?"
’A maid? And a temporary one, at that?’ Qin i was at a loss for words.
This was not a good ti to reveal her identity as Jie Jingchen’s wife. Teacher Lin’s mother was already fuming. If she found out Qin i was the one who had crushed her daughter’s hopes, she would probably fly into a rage, rush over, and strangle her to death.
"You sure know a lot about the Jie Family’s business," Liu Axiu said sarcastically.
Second Auntie shot her a glare and said, "Zhang, who was taking care of Jing Qi, went back to her hotown. Doctor Qiao asked to help her find a reliable person to look after Jing Qi for a few days. I took it to heart, but I just couldn’t find anyone suitable. I didn’t expect Doctor Qiao to find soone herself."
Second Auntie sized up Qin i. ’This girl is so young, and a slob herself. Can she really take care of soone? Especially soone with a disability?’
Liu Axiu snorted disdainfully, looked at Qin i, and asked directly, "You work for the Jie Family, so what’s Jie Jingchen’s wife like?"
"What do you an, ’what’s she like’?" Qin i retorted.
"Her character? Looks? Height? Weight?" Liu Axiu asked.
Qin i grinned, flashing a standard, yet sowhat cheeky, smile. "Her character is excellent, a model of virtue. Her looks are superb, a goddess on earth. Her height is perfect, and her figure is flawless."
Liu Axiu took a deep breath and asked, "And compared to my daughter?"
Qin i wanted to retort, ’How should I know? I’ve never even seen Teacher Lin.’ But then, an idea sparked. With words designed to infuriate, she said, "In terms of looks, she’s leagues ahead of your daughter. You know Jie You, right? He’s your daughter’s student. He said Jie Jingchen’s wife is a total vixen who has him completely bewitched. That’s why he dumped your daughter for her. *Sigh*... n are so shallow, always falling for a pretty face."
Second Auntie was dumbfounded. She desperately wanted to ask Qin i, ’Young lady! Are you sure ’vixen’ is a complint?’
Liu Axiu was furious. She wanted to storm into the Jie Family’s house and tear Jie Jingchen’s wife limb from limb. But reason won over impulse. She was still hoping for Jie Jingchen to divorce and marry her daughter. Before her daughter gave up on him, she couldn’t afford to break ties with the Jie Family.
Once she broke ties with the Jie Family, her daughter’s chance to marry Jie Jingchen would be completely gone.
Clutching the vegetable basket in her hand, Liu Axiu took a few deep breaths to suppress her rage. She shot a resentful glare at the Jie Family’s house, then turned and left.
’She’s leaving already?’ Qin i was stunned. ’I was ready to go three hundred rounds with her, and she’s just giving up and walking away?’
’Her fighting spirit is seriously lacking!’
"Sigh!" Second Auntie sighed. "She’s still hoping her daughter will marry into the Jie Family. How could she possibly have a complete falling out with them?"
"And you are...?" Qin i asked, looking at Second Auntie.
"I’m a neighbor. Just call Second Auntie. That’s what Jing Si and the others call ," Second Auntie said with a smile.
’Good neighborly relations are important,’ Qin i thought. She flashed a toothy grin and asked, "Second Auntie, do you know the deal with... you know... between Jie Jingchen and that Teacher Lin?"
"What ’you know what’?" Second Auntie didn’t understand.
Her expression froze. Qin i was speechless. ’Is that so hard to understand?’ "I an... the talk of them getting married."
"What talk of getting married?" Second Auntie understood now. With Liu Axiu gone, she dropped her guard. Qin i wanted gossip, and she loved to gossip, so she was happy to indulge her. "There was no matchmaker involved, and they never privately pledged to marry. So where did this ’talk of getting married’ co from?"
"How do you know they didn’t have a private engagent?" Qin i asked with a smile.
"They probably didn’t. We watched that boy, Jing Si, grow up. There’s nothing wrong with his character. If he had privately pledged himself to Teacher Lin, he would never have let her down by marrying soone else," Second Auntie said with conviction.
Qin i didn’t doubt Jie Jingchen’s character.
"But that’s not right! The impression Jie You gave was that Jie Jingchen is a total Chen Shii who abandoned Teacher Lin to marry another woman." Qin i propped her chin on her hand, lightly tapping her fair, smooth cheek with her fingertips, deliberately feigning a puzzled expression.
"Jie You is just a kid. What does a little brat know? Look, it’s like this: the ’relationship’ between Jing Si and Teacher Lin was just sothing we neighbors cooked up. We were all trying to push them together. The Jie Family never made their position clear, and Jing Si never promised her anything. He was in the army, and Teacher Lin just kept waiting for him. Before you know it, she was already twenty-three." When Second Auntie ntioned Teacher Lin’s age, her face was full of pity.
’Jie Jingchen is twenty-five, Teacher Lin is twenty-three,’ Qin i thought. ’A match made in heaven!’
Second Auntie continued, "For Teacher Lin to wait for Jing Si without any kind of promise is truly admirable. So, we all just took it for granted that Jing Si ought to marry her. It was the only way to keep a good girl’s youth from being wasted. Then Jing Si got discharged. Logically, the Jie Family should have gone to the Lin Family to propose, but instead, it turned out he’d already gotten married in the army. *Sigh*! Poor Teacher Lin. She wasted the pri of her life for nothing."
’Listening to Second Auntie, I’m starting to feel like my marriage to Jie Jingchen is a cri against humanity,’ Qin i mused. ’Wait, no. What do I an *my* marriage? It was the original owner of this body who married him.’
’The original owner died, and I transmigrated into her body. I’m the one left holding the bag.’
Qin i closed her eyes and thought hard, but she couldn’t dredge up a single shred of the original owner’s mory. She forced herself to try harder, and suddenly, a splitting headache tore through her mind.
"Ah!" Qin i clutched her head and squatted down. Her delicate features contorted as her face turned deathly pale, her expression one of extre pain.
Seeing her pained expression, Second Auntie was frightened and asked with concern, "Young lady, what’s wrong?"
Qin i didn’t dare to keep forcing herself to rember. She focused on regulating her breathing, and the pain slowly subsided.
"Young lady, let take you to the hospital." Second Auntie was a kind soul.
"I’m fine. I just haven’t eaten breakfast, so my stomach hurts. Second Auntie, you must be busy. I’ll head back now." Qin i gave Second Auntie a grateful smile, slowly stood up, and walked away.
Second Auntie’s mouth twitched. ’She was clearly clutching her head, but she said her stomach hurt. Is there sothing wrong with this girl’s head?’
’This won’t do. When Doctor Qiao gets off work, I have to tell her. Jing Qi is disabled. She can’t be looked after by a girl who has sothing wrong with her head.’
Qin i walked on absentmindedly, her head hanging low.
Hearing a noise from Jie Jingshan’s room, Qin i jolted. She really didn’t want to help clean her room again. She hurried toward Jie Jingshan’s room and, without even knocking, pushed the door open and went straight in.
"Jing Qi." Qin i saw Jie Jingshan on the bed, struggling to move her body, trying to get into her wheelchair.
"Fourth Sister-in-law, I need to use the toilet." Jie Jingshan looked embarrassed, her pale face flushing red. ’We aren’t that close,’ she thought. ’What if she says no?’
Qin i knocked her forehead in frustration. She had been so busy gossiping with Second Auntie about Jie Jingchen and Teacher Lin that she’d completely forgotten.
"I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry." ’I made you wait so long,’ Qin i thought, keeping the words to herself.
Qin i half-carried, half-dragged Jie Jingshan onto her special commode chair. Even though Jie Jingshan was very thin, Qin i found she couldn’t carry her.
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