"Driving a wedge between Qin i and ... Second Sister-in-law, what are your intentions?" Jie Jingchen demanded coldly, his amber eyes fixed icily on Xu Chunyan.
His powerful aura was chilling, and Xu Chunyan didn’t dare to et his gaze.
’So *this* was his real goal. Using the child to lure his enemy into a trap, step by step.’ Qin i couldn’t help but shiver. ’This man is a master manipulator, willing to use himself as bait and even exploit a child. Having him as an enemy... he would be a formidable opponent. How terrifying.’
Qin i wondered, ’Did the original owner of this body know anything about him before she married him?’
He had been standing just outside the kitchen ever since she and Xu Chunyan started arguing about Teacher Lin, yet he hadn’t made a peep.
Panic spread across Xu Chunyan’s face as she stared at Jie Jingchen in horror. "You... You were outside the whole ti?"
"My wife was in the kitchen cooking. When you suddenly stord in to cause trouble, did you expect to just relax?" Jie Jingchen’s voice was utterly devoid of warmth.
A warmth spread through Qin i’s chest. ’He was worried about .’ But then again, ’He knows perfectly well I can’t cook, so how can he say I was ’cooking’ with a straight face?’
Xu Chunyan suddenly laughed. Qin i said she had no evidence and no witnesses. She might not have evidence, but now she had a witness. "Jing Si, ask your own conscience. Was I bullying her, or was she bullying ?"
"I saw you chasing her with a knife," Jie Jingchen stated matter-of-factly. He wasn’t lying; he simply omitted what had happened before that.
Xu Chunyan gasped. "Jing Si, you were in the military for so many years! Is this how they taught you to act? To cast fairness aside and just blindly protect your wife?"
’She’s guilt-tripping him. This is classic guilt-tripping.’
Mr. Xie and Jie Jingwei both turned to look at Jie Jingchen, their expressions showing they considered him the sole eyewitness.
Seeing this, Mrs. Xie bristled with fury and was about to speak, but Qin i beat her to it.
Qin i suddenly shrank back, clutching Jie Jingchen’s sleeve. Her voice, thick with unshed tears, trembled with lingering fear. "Jie Jingchen, I’m scared... I want to go ho."
She didn’t let any tears fall, but her eyes welled up. The sight of her, stubbornly fighting back tears, was enough to stir anyone’s pity.
"Jingchen, Xiao i is frightened. Take her back to your room," Mrs. Xie said, seizing the opportunity. "You’ve already injured your back and should be resting in bed. Now your sister-in-law has wounded you, making it even worse. Just take Xiao i and go rest."
Jie Jingchen glanced down at Qin i clutching his sleeve. Even though she was only pretending to be scared, the sight still tugged at the softest part of his heart.
"Mom, Qin i wants to go *ho*, not just back to our room," Jie Jingchen reminded her.
"This *is* her ho," Mrs. Xie said.
"This isn’t my ho. This is the Jie Family’s ho. I want to go back to the Qin family," Qin i said. ’The original owner was from Yangcheng City, a country girl. In any case, I have no idea where that is. I’m not sure if Jie Jingchen knows, either. It’s not like I actually want to go back to the Qin family.’
’I know nothing about the Qin family. People from the countryside have a much stronger, deeply-ingrained preference for sons over daughters. A married daughter is like spilled water—you can’t take it back. If I went back, who knows if they would even welco .’
"You want to go back to your parents’ house?" Mrs. Xie understood now and refused outright. "Absolutely not."
’They’ve been married for six months, and Jing Si only just brought her to the Jie Family ho two days ago. What would her parents think?’
"Qin i, your family lives too far away, and you get motion sickness on the train. The journey would be too much for you," Jie Jingchen said in a gentle voice.
Qin i fell silent, her face a mask of conflicted distress.
"You’re faking it. Go on, keep up the act," Xu Chunyan said with contempt. She turned to Mr. Xie. "Dad, she’s putting on a show. She’s from the countryside, born to farrs. She finally managed to marry into a city family. The Jie Family is wealthy. Do you really think she’d be willing to give up this life of comfort to go back and suffer in so poor, remote village?"
"Chunyan, if you go back three generations, we were all farrs. Don’t you look down on country folk. Your own grandfather’s generation were farrs," Mrs. Xie said angrily.
Jie Jingwei tugged on Xu Chunyan’s arm and tried to explain to Mr. Xie, "Dad, my wife didn’t an it like that."
Mr. Xie’s gaze on Xu Chunyan was severe. "Your deceased mother was from the countryside. Your maternal grandparents were farrs."
Jie Jingwei’s heart skipped a beat. "Dad, you’ve misunderstood. Chunyan really didn’t an that."
"Dad, I misspoke," Xu Chunyan apologized. ’How could I have forgotten that Jing Er’s biological mother was from the countryside?’
’They both have mothers, but Jing Er’s mother was a country woman, while Jing Si’s is the daughter of a rich family.’
’The Qiao Family really had foresight, moving to Xiangjiang early. Otherwise...’
"Hmph!" Jie Jingchen snorted, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "How very pragmatic of you."
Qin i flashed a sly grin, putting on an air of shaless ignorance. "Jie Jingchen, you know I’m illiterate. What does ’pragmatic’ an?"
Jie Jingchen looked at her, his expression faltering for a second before he chuckled. "It ans..."
"Qin i, what exactly are you after with Jing Si?" Xu Chunyan cut Jie Jingchen off. Her stare turned malevolent, and a strange smile played on her lips.
’I’ll expose this woman for what she is,’ she thought. ’I’ll make everyone see her true colors. She must have had ulterior motives for marrying Jing Si, for marrying into the Jie Family.’
’A wife with such ill intentions... I refuse to believe Jing Si could actually like her. A daughter-in-law with ulterior motives... I don’t believe for a second that Dad will accept her.’
Under everyone’s watchful eyes, Qin i crossed her arms, propped her chin on her hand, and appeared to give the question so serious thought.
After a mont of thought, Qin i spoke. "His looks, his body, his wealthy family. Sister-in-law, shouldn’t I be after those things? He’s handso, so he’s easy on the eyes. He has a great body, so our... married life is harmonious. His family is rich, so we don’t have to live hand-to-mouth."
Everyone present was married, and Qin i’s remark about a "harmonious married life" made them all blush.
Her frankness was so direct and shaless that, paradoxically, it made her more likable.
Xu Chunyan was dumbfounded. She had clearly never expected Qin i to be so blunt about her motives. She had imagined Qin i would launch into a speech about how deeply she loved Jing Si and how she wasn’t interested in the Jie Family’s wealth—a cloying declaration of undying love that would have only annoyed everyone. The one thing she hadn’t anticipated was that Qin i would just admit it.
With this move, Qin i didn’t even give Xu Chunyan the chance to call her a hypocrite.
Nevertheless, it gave Xu Chunyan an opening to sow discord. "Jing Si, she doesn’t love you."
Qin i felt a flash of annoyance. ’A slip-up! I listed all those things I’m after but didn’t say a single word about my feelings for Jie Jingchen.’
Qin i tried to backtrack. "Well, I..."
"Jing Si, she doesn’t love you." Xu Chunyan wasn’t about to give her a chance to recover. ’As long as I hamr this point ho,’ she thought, ’it will create a rift between them. Once a rift forms in a childless marriage, a separation isn’t far behind.’
Qin i narrowed her eyes, glaring coldly at Xu Chunyan. ’This woman never quits.’
"Whether she loves or not is unimportant. It’s enough that I love her." Jie Jingchen’s deep voice was firm and suprely confident, and his gaze softened as he looked at Qin i.
Qin i froze, staring at Jie Jingchen in a daze.
’He’s talking about love, but there isn’t a trace of affection in his eyes. Is that love?’
’He’s just saying that. He only said it because Xu Chunyan was pressuring him.’ Qin i understood, but she still felt a pang of disappointnt.
What Qin i didn’t know was that the mont she looked at him, he had swiftly concealed that flicker of affection.
Mrs. Xie’s heart ached for her son. ’One-sided love is so painful. If your devotion is returned, your wish cos true. If not, the bitterness is unbearable.’
Xu Chunyan was mortified. She felt like a clown putting on a pointless show.
"Sister-in-law, what exactly did Teacher Lin give you that’s making you try so hard to drive a wedge between my husband and ?" Qin i demanded, her gaze sharp and direct.
Xu Chunyan stiffened. A guilty look flashed across her face, and she averted her gaze. "That’s nonsense. I have no idea what you’re talking about."
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