Chapter 237 - 92: Qin Mei, Give Me Back My Grandson (2)
After the second granny left, Qin Mei fell into deep thought.
"Jie Jingchen, do you know anything about Granny Guo?" Qin Mei asked.
"Not really." Jie Jingchen shook his head. After thinking for a few seconds, he added, "I just know that Granny Guo is not someone to be trifled with."
Qin Mei looked up at the sky. ’These days, how many of these grannies are easy to deal with? Don’t be fooled by their beaming smiles and kind faces. Once you get on their bad side, they’re the type to pull up a stool and curse you out at your front door every single day.’
Mrs. Xie quickly finished her meal, put down her bowl and chopsticks, and came out to ask, "Jing Chen, Xiao Mei, what happened? Why did the second granny come looking for you?"
"Mom, it’s nothing. The second granny came to share some good news," Qin Mei replied.
’Good news?’ Jie Jingchen looked at Qin Mei and shook his head helplessly.
"Good news? What good news?" Mrs. Xie’s interest was piqued. The second granny didn’t come to her with good news, but to this young couple instead. She knew that the second granny had been getting close with Qin Mei recently. The two of them were always acting so mysterious. She’d asked Qin Mei about it, but Qin Mei only said that she’d given the second granny a few medicinal plasters to thank her for cooking for them.
Mrs. Xie was also aware of the things the second granny did on the side. She was worried that someone with ill intentions might catch on to what the second granny and Qin Mei were doing, and that they might get into trouble.
"Sister Ke Xin had her baby," Qin Mei answered with a smile.
Mrs. Xie was stunned for a moment, surprised yet not entirely so. "Hero’s wife gave birth? Is it a boy or a girl? And if Hero’s wife gave birth, why is the second granny the one announcing it? Why not Granny Guo?"
Faced with Mrs. Xie’s barrage of questions, Qin Mei struggled with which one to answer first.
"It’s a girl," Jie Jingchen answered.
Mrs. Xie’s expression didn’t change. She said, "Sister Guo was so set on having a grandson. Now that it’s a granddaughter, she must be disappointed. It’s a good thing Hero took Ke Xin back to her mother’s house. The baby was born at her maternal home, surrounded by her own family, so Ke Xin won’t suffer. If she’d given birth at her in-laws’, with her own family so far away, and failed to give Sister Guo the grandson she wanted... with Sister Guo’s temper, she wouldn’t take it out on her own son. She’d vent all her dissatisfaction on her daughter-in-law, or even take it out on the newborn baby."
Qin Mei smiled without a word. She had to admire Wu Yingxiong’s foresight. The moment she had revealed the baby’s gender, he went home, packed their things, and took his wife to her mother’s house.
Wu Yingxiong was a filial son, but not blindly so. He truly loved his wife and had none of that son-preference nonsense. His mother’s preference for boys was deeply ingrained, and he was powerless to change it. His only option was to leave with his wife, which both preserved his mother’s dignity and protected his wife and daughter.
With Su Kexin giving birth at her mother’s place, even after learning it was a granddaughter, Granny Guo’s reach was limited. If she tried to go to Su Kexin’s maternal home and cause a scene, she’d be all alone against Su Kexin’s family, who would be fiercely protective of their daughter. Granny Guo wouldn’t be able to gain any advantage or harm Su Kexin and the baby.
"So why was it the second granny who came to share the news?" Mrs. Xie asked. But before the words were even out of her mouth, she realized it was a stupid question. ’Did she even need to ask?’ For Sister Guo, the long-awaited grandson turning out to be a granddaughter was no cause for celebration. If Hero’s wife had given birth to a grandson, Sister Guo would have been beating gongs and drums to make sure the whole world knew.
"Mom, the second granny didn’t come to share good news," Jie Jingchen said, shooting a sideways glance at Qin Mei. ’Mom actually believed her.’
"If not to share good news, then what for?" Mrs. Xie asked with a frown.
"She wanted to drag Qin Mei into hiding with her," Jie Jingchen replied. Mrs. Xie grew even more confused, so Jie Jingchen decided to just tell her straight. "Granny Guo asked Qin Mei about the baby’s gender, but Qin Mei didn’t tell her, so Granny Guo had to leave. Then, the second granny came and asked Qin Mei. The second granny is much shrewder than Granny Guo. Based on Qin Mei’s reaction, she guessed the baby’s gender. But when she went back, she lied to Granny Guo, swearing up and down that it was a boy. She even deliberately misled Granny Guo into thinking that Qin Mei was the one who said it."
Mrs. Xie was astonished after hearing the story. ’How could something like this happen?’ "The second granny has really gone too far this time. Is a baby’s gender something you can just joke about?"
"The second granny’s intentions were good. She wanted to protect the baby Sister Ke Xin was carrying," Qin Mei said, defending her. "Granny Guo had made it clear: if it was a boy, they’d keep it; if it was a girl, she’d make them get rid of it."
"What good are good intentions? It’s a good thing Hero and his wife don’t have that son-preference mindset. If that couple were just like Sister Guo, the baby’s birth would have been nothing but a tragedy," Mrs. Xie said.
Qin Mei lowered her eyes in silence. Jie Jingchen didn’t say anything either.
The atmosphere grew a little strange. Jie Jingchen suddenly asked Mrs. Xie, "Mom, do you have any of those backward, son-preferring ideas?"
Mrs. Xie flared up, glaring at Jie Jingchen. She retorted, "I do, and it’s a very serious case. If you can’t give me a grandson, I’ll disown you as my son."