Jie Anqi ran toward Grandpa and Granny’s room. She couldn’t push the door open. Ignoring the sharp pain in her wrist, she pounded on the door, leaving bloody handprints. "Granny, open the door! Help !"
Granny was terrified soone would get killed. In her eyes, both Jing Si and An Qi were unhinged. One was willing to slash soone with a knife, the other was willing to kill herself. Her grandson trying to attack her granddaughter... If word of this got out, they wouldn’t be able to stay for even a single day, let alone a month.
Before they moved in, the family ho was peaceful. They had only been here for a short visit, and already everything was in an uproar.
Grandpa grabbed Granny’s hand, stopping her from opening the door.
"Jing Si is about to attack An Qi!" Granny whispered, her weary eyes filled with worry.
"Jing Si has self-control. He won’t actually hurt An Qi. He’s just trying to scare her. It’s about ti An Qi learned her lesson, or she’ll beco completely uncontrollable," Grandpa said in a low voice.
Granny agreed that An Qi needed to be taught a lesson, but she was still worried. "Is Jing Si really just trying to scare her?"
’Granny had no doubt that Jing Si was capable of actually hurting soone. An Qi had really picked the wrong person to ss with this ti. Of all the people to threaten with suicide, she had to choose Jing Si. Even *she* couldn’t control Jing Si, so what made An Qi think she could? What was going through her head?’
"Granny, open the door! Grandpa, open up! Help !" Jie Anqi cried and begged. Then she saw Jie Jingchen walking out of the kitchen, holding a cleaver, his dangerously handso face filled with a murderous aura.
Terrified, Jie Anqi gave up on the door and bolted for the courtyard gate.
Seeing this, Jie Jingchen narrowed his eyes, a cold glint flashing within them. He flung the cleaver. Just as Jie Anqi reached the gate, the blade flew past her cheek and thudded into the wooden door panel. Jie Anqi froze stiff. She stared at the cleaver embedded in the door, radiating a nacing chill, and was so frightened she nearly wet herself.
’An inch more... just an inch, and that cleaver would have been lodged in her neck.’
"Ah... I’ve been retired too long. My accuracy is getting rusty," Jie Jingchen said with a hint of regret, shaking out his left hand.
Jie Anqi snapped back to her senses, her already pale face turning ashen. She spun around to stare in disbelief at Jie Jingchen, who stood under the eaves. "Jing Si, you... you were actually going to cut ?"
Jie Jingchen’s brow furrowed. His eyes were shrouded in a cold light, and his deep voice was laced with ice. "What did you expect? That I was just trying to scare you? Do I look like I have nothing better to do?"
"I’m your cousin!" Jie Anqi shrieked.
"ii, the knife," Jie Jingchen said to Qin i, who was standing in the kitchen doorway.
Qin i’s expression froze for a second before she turned and went back into the kitchen.
"You’re insane! You’re both insane!" Jie Anqi felt like she was being driven mad. ’If I’m going down, I’m taking you all with !’ she thought, preparing to scream at the top of her lungs that Jie Jingchen was a murderer.
"That’s enough." Grandpa opened his door and walked toward Jie Anqi.
The mont Jie Anqi saw Grandpa, it was as if she’d seen her savior. She ran to him and threw herself into his arms, sobbing. "Grandpa, help ! Jing Si is trying to kill !"
With a stony expression, Grandpa blad no one. He simply pulled Jie Anqi toward the gate. "Co on. I’m taking you to the hospital."
"Grandpa!" Jie Anqi resisted. She hadn’t achieved her goal, and she didn’t want to leave. ’Before Grandpa ca out, she had been genuinely terrified. Now that he was here, she wasn’t afraid anymore. As long as Grandpa was around, Jing Si couldn’t hurt her.’
"Enough is enough," Grandpa warned, his voice cold and his gaze full of nace.
Jie Anqi flinched. Her suicide threat had ended in complete failure. She didn’t have the guts to keep causing a scene; after all, she didn’t actually want to die.
Though resentful, Jie Anqi could only let Grandpa drag her away.
Qin i erged with another cleaver, but Jie Anqi was gone. Realizing Grandpa must have taken her away, Qin i hesitated for a mont before walking over to Jie Jingchen. "Want to go after them?" she asked teasingly.
The coldness in Jie Jingchen’s expression vanished, replaced by a helpless smile as he looked at Qin i. "Did I scare you?"
Qin i blinked, then shook her head. "No."
’She might not have experienced the major upheavals of this era, but she wasn’t a coward. Was she really going to be frightened by soone putting on a show about wanting to die?’
"ii, do you think I’m cruel?" Jie Jingchen asked, afraid Qin i would get the wrong idea. ’A man who could be so harsh with his own family... that kind of person is truly heartless.’
Recalling how he had backed Jie Anqi into a corner, Jie Jingchen worried that Qin i’s mind would run wild, that she’d think he might one day treat her with the sa ruthlessness.
"No," Qin i said, shaking her head. ’Jie Anqi is too extre. If you gave in, you’d just be enabling her. People are selfish. It doesn’t matter who you’re cruel to, as long as you’re never cruel to .’
"Sigh." Jie Jingchen let out a breath, his deep voice laced with a hint of powerlessness. "If I don’t teach her a harsh lesson, she’ll only get worse."
"I know," Qin i said, showing her understanding. She reached for Jie Jingchen’s hand, but his was so large and hers so small that she could only grasp four of his fingers.
"ii, don’t worry. I would never be like that with you. I will only ever spoil you." Jie Jingchen squeezed her hand in return, holding it tightly as he gazed at her with utmost sincerity.
Qin i felt her heart bubble with warmth. eting his earnest gaze, she gave a soft huff. "And what if I throw a tantrum? Will you still spoil then?"
Jie Jingchen raised her hand and kissed her fingertips, his eyes brimming with affection. "Even if you throw a tantrum, I’ll still spoil you."
A jolt went through Qin i, leaving a tingling warmth in its wake. She gazed at the handso face that so captivated her. "If I ever threatened you with suicide like Jie Anqi did, would you hand a cleaver and tell to do it?"
Jie Jingchen’s heart dropped. "No," he said firmly.
"Sohow, I don’t quite believe you," Qin i said, hiding the hand with the cleaver behind her back. "Honestly, thinking back to how you cornered Jie Anqi... it’s still a little frightening."
Jie Jingchen released her hand and grasped her shoulders, turning her to face him. He spoke with the utmost seriousness. "ii, you are not like her."
"How am I any different?" Qin i avoided his gaze, looking down at her feet and giving a habitual little kick at the ground.
"You’re my wife," Jie Jingchen said, raising an eyebrow. His amber eyes were deep and unreadable.
"A wife can be replaced anyti, but a cousin can’t. To use your Granny’s words, you’re family—blood is thicker than water." ’A sour feeling spread through Qin i’s heart. n change so much after marriage. Before, it’s all about love. After, it’s all about family. They sacrifice love for the sake of family until there’s nothing left.’
’A marriage without love is just an empty shell. So strong-willed won refuse to stay in it just for the children, while others feel trapped by their kids, living out their days in quiet misery.’
’Love?’ The thought startled Qin i. ’Putting the original owner of this body aside, her relationship with Jie Jingchen was a matter of marriage first, intimacy second. Love? Was there any love between them?’
’Qin i felt lost. Wasn’t she just attracted to his good looks? Wasn’t she just lusting after his body? Wasn’t it his well-to-do family she was after? And this beautiful courtyard ho?’
"Who says a wife can be replaced anyti?" Jie Jingchen asked, his voice cold and a harsh glint appearing in his deep eyes.
Pushing aside her complicated thoughts, Qin i said glumly, "That’s what everyone says."
"And who is ’everyone’?" Jie Jingchen pressed.
Qin i’s lip twitched. ’He’s really taking this seriously.’ "Just... everyone," she said.
"Hm? Who is it?" Jie Jingchen’s slender finger brushed across her red lips, which had turned pale where she’d been biting them. He used his thumb to tilt her chin up, forcing her to et his gaze.
Annoyed now, Qin i knocked his hand away. She tilted her chin up defiantly. "Whatever. A wife is never as important as family."
"Nonsense. My wife is more important than anyone," Jie Jingchen said. He cupped her face and gave her cheeks a punishing squeeze. The sight of her squished face made him laugh out loud.
"Your Granny’s the one who said it! That family ties are unbreakable, but for a wife, you just swap a marriage license for divorce papers, and then you’re strangers." Qin i grabbed his wrists. The way he was squishing her face was uncomfortable, and she tried to pull his hands away to stop him from manhandling her face.
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