What a load of nonsense. As if she was the only one who knew how to talk rubbish. When Qin i started spouting it, she was truly in a class of her own.
Jie Jingchen’s eyes flickered. He lowered his gaze to watch Qin i, who was spouting utter nonsense with a perfectly straight face. He had to admit, she was so convincing that forget Granny—even he almost believed her.
Granny didn’t question Qin i. She couldn’t find a single flaw in her story and was extrely frustrated. ’I was too hasty, too rash. I should have taken things slow, like boiling a frog in warm water.’
’I should have found a way to let An Qi move in first, let her and Qin Xiang get to know each other. But now, thanks to my impatience, I’ve completely botched it.’
"Your younger brother’s child bride and my An Qi—who’s prettier?" Granny asked, dejected.
Qin i was about to say the child bride, but on second thought, she changed her mind. "An Qi."
Granny’s eyes lit up, a glimr of hope rekindled within her.
Qin i sighed. "In the countryside, you have to do farm work. You’re out in the wind and sun all day, toiling in the fields. Even a delicate, fairy-like beauty wouldn’t last a few days before the work made her skin coarse and thick. The scorching sun tans you until you’re black as coal, and the gales can chap your skin until it cracks wide open."
"Cracks wide open? Is it really that bad?" Granny was skeptical.
"’Cracking wide open’ might be an exaggeration, but the chapping is real. Granny, have you never seen a farr’s hands?" Qin i asked.
Granny fell silent. She had lived through her own share of hard tis and had experienced even harsher conditions. Life these days was so much better in comparison.
Granny looked at Qin i’s smooth, delicate skin. "You don’t look like you’ve ever done a day of farm work in your life. You’re even more pampered than our An Qi."
"I am, in fact, very pampered," Qin i admitted freely.
"Don’t you have to work for work points?" Granny asked, confused.
"My family has plenty of able-bodied workers, so I don’t need to earn work points. I just have to stay ho and look pretty," Qin i said shalessly.
Jie Jingchen agreed with her. ’It’s true,’ he thought. ’All she has to do is stay ho and look pretty. I can take care of earning money to support us.’
Granny, however, did not approve. She wasn’t familiar with the Qin family’s circumstances, but when she thought about the child brides they were supposedly raising, she felt it was unfair. "What about them?"
"Who?" Qin i asked, playing dumb, though she knew perfectly well who Granny ant.
"The child brides being raised for your brothers," Granny said, forcing the words through gritted teeth.
"Of course they have to work for work points," Qin i said, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. She then added, "The Qin family doesn’t support idlers."
"And why should they have to work for work points while you get to be pampered?" Granny demanded righteously.
"Because I’m the Qin family’s precious daughter, and they’re just child brides. Granny, ask yourself honestly: is your own treasured daughter more important, or a child bride you just took in?" Qin i’s question left Granny utterly speechless.
Listening to Qin i, Jie Jingchen was amazed. ’She’s talking about child brides so casually, as if they really exist.’
’Qin Xiang told a lie, and Qin i is covering for him. And what a flawless cover-up it is!’
Granny took a deep breath and tried to persuade her. "Fourth Wife of Jing, the practice of taking in child brides is an outdated custom..."
"The Qin family is poor; we don’t have the money for our sons to get married properly. If they don’t follow the arrangents made by their elders, are they supposed to stay bachelors for life?" Qin i interrupted.
Granny considered this for a mont. "Your younger brother is a good catch. It shouldn’t be difficult for him to find a wife."
"My younger brother *is* an excellent catch, but our Qin family is poor. Now that he’s finally on the path to success after all this ti, our whole family is going to cling to him and suck him dry," Qin i said, getting increasingly animated.
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