Chapter 32 - 25: Mrs. Xie is a Stepmother (3)
Okay, she admitted it. She was worried about the room’s poor soundproofing, afraid their... marital activities would wake her. She’d been woken up quite a few times at night back at the Sun Family’s home.
Jie Jingchen’s room was actually not bad. Jie Jingshan was on the left, and Jie Jingjue was on the right. Since Jie Jingjue wasn’t married, she wouldn’t be woken up by any awkward noises.
A chill flashed in Jie Jingchen’s eyes. "We’re husband and wife. If we sleep in separate rooms, do you want everyone to start speculating?"
He’d refused her, so Qin Mei didn’t press the issue. Sometimes, you just had to know when to yield.
"Never mind," Qin Mei said, scrambling into bed, pulling the covers over herself, and closing her eyes. A moment later, the mattress dipped beside her. Jie Jingchen, fresh from a shower, gave off a clean, pleasant scent of soap. It sent a little tingle through Qin Mei.
With a handsome, freshly showered man lying next to her—who also happened to be her legal husband—it was hard not to let her imagination run wild.
Qin Mei lay stiffly in bed, not daring to even wiggle a toe.
Jie Jingchen’s bed was too small; she didn’t dare sprawl out as she pleased, or they would end up touching.
With her eyes closed, Qin Mei’s mind began to wander. The more she desperately tried to sleep, the more awake she became. Finally, she just opened her eyes. She turned her head and saw that Jie Jingchen’s eyes were closed. "Jie Jingchen," she asked tentatively, "are you asleep?"
"No." Jie Jingchen didn’t open his eyes. One arm was pillowed behind his head, which was turned slightly. "What is it?"
"I can’t sleep." Qin Mei sat up, clutching the blanket. "Let’s talk."
"What do you want to talk about?" Jie Jingchen opened his eyes. In truth, he wasn’t sleepy either. With such a captivating woman lying beside him, it was difficult to fall into a peaceful sleep.
Qin Mei thought about it seriously for a moment before asking, "How old is your mom?"
Mrs. Xie was peerlessly elegant and looked even younger than Jie Jingling. Qin Mei was very curious. ’How old was Mrs. Xie when she had Jie Jingling?’
"Forty-six," Jie Jingchen replied.
"Forty-six?" Qin Mei was stunned. Mrs. Xie looked like she was in her thirties, but Qin Mei knew that was impossible. Logically, to have a thirty-three-year-old daughter like Jie Jingling, she should be over fifty.
’So Mrs. Xie is only forty-six.’ ’There’s no such thing as an ageless beauty, it’s just that women from the city look younger than women from the countryside.’
City women were willing to spend money on their appearance, while country women were not. They’d rather spend their money on necessities than on taking care of their skin.
"Your eldest sister is thirty-three, and your mom is only thirteen years older than her. How could she have given birth to your sister?" Qin Mei voiced the question on her mind.
Jie Jingchen’s eyes narrowed slightly, and he looked at Qin Mei as if she were an idiot. "Who told you my mother gave birth to Eldest Sister?"
Qin Mei blinked, and then it suddenly dawned on her. "Your eldest sister is adopted."
If Jie Jingling were adopted, their ages would line up.
"No." Jie Jingchen raised a hand and rubbed the space between his eyebrows.
"So she’s not her biological daughter, and she’s not adopted either? Then what’s the story with your eldest sister?" A hint of emotion crept into Qin Mei’s tone.
"Eldest Sister is from my father’s first wife..."
"Your dad remarried," Qin Mei gasped. Realizing she’d been too loud, she clapped a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide with astonishment.
’So Mr. Xie remarried, Mrs. Xie is his second wife, and she’s Jie Jingling’s stepmother.’
Qin Mei had considered many possibilities, but it had never occurred to her that Mrs. Xie was Jie Jingling’s stepmother.
Then again, she thought, Mr. Xie was the director of the mechanical factory. With his status plain to see, and him being handsome to boot, he wouldn’t have had any trouble finding a stepmother for his children.
Jie Jingchen blinked slowly, then asked in a low voice, "Didn’t Eldest Sister tell you about the Jie Family’s affairs?"
"No." Qin Mei shook her head honestly. "She rarely mentioned anything about the Jie Family, let alone anything about you."
Jie Jingchen eyed her with suspicion, asking in a skeptical tone, "Really?"
Qin Mei frowned. "Do you need me to swear on it?"
"That won’t be necessary." Jie Jingchen shook his head. After a moment of silence, he stated bluntly, "Eldest Sister, Second Brother, and Third Brother are from my father’s first wife. Jing Wu, Jing Qi, and I are from my mother."
It all clicked for Qin Mei in that instant. ’No wonder only Jie Jingchen, Jie Jingjue, and Jie Jingshan resemble Mrs. Xie. Jie Jinghun and Jie Jingling must take after their own mother, while only Jie Jingwei looks like Mr. Xie.’
’No wonder Xu Chunyan dared to provoke Mrs. Xie. No wonder Mrs. Xie exercised such restraint. And no wonder she advised me not to put up with Jie You.’
’It’s so hard being a stepmother!’
Now that her confusion was cleared up, Qin Mei asked casually, "What about Jing Liu?"
"Died young." Jie Jingchen uttered the two words without any emotion.
Qin Mei froze, stunned. She stared at Jie Jingchen. ’Died young. He probably had no emotional reaction because there wasn’t enough time to form an attachment.’
At the same time, she was glad she’d asked Jie Jingchen. If she had asked her mother-in-law, it would have been like tearing open an old wound. To carry a child for nine months only for them to die young is a terribly cruel fate for a mother.
Qin Mei didn’t press further. She lay back down under Jie Jingchen’s gaze, muttering to herself, "My mother-in-law must have been a great beauty when she was young. Why would she choose to marry a man who’d been married before? And with three kids, at that. Becoming a stepmother... it’s such a difficult role!"
Jie Jingchen remained silent. He hadn’t been a party to that decision, so he couldn’t give her an answer.
Suddenly, another thought struck Qin Mei. She turned her head to look at Jie Jingchen and asked, "Was your father divorced, or is he a widower?"
"A widower," Jie Jingchen replied.
"A widower is better, much better," she murmured, her voice barely audible. Qin Mei breathed a sigh of relief. ’A widower means a clean break. If they were divorced, things would be much more complicated. With three kids involved, there would always be a risk of lingering attachments.’
’If an ex-wife and ex-husband reconcile, the new wife gets pushed aside. But then again, Jie Jingchen is the cunning type. Qin Mei had a feeling that he could absolutely crush Jie Jingwei and the others in a confrontation.’
The more she thought about it, the graver her expression became. ’If Jie Jingling and Jie Jingchen were to face off, whose side would I take? One is the older sister-in-law I rely on, and the other is my husband. Emotionally, I’d lean toward my sister-in-law. Logically, I should side with my husband.’
Watching Qin Mei’s expression shift rapidly, Jie Jingchen’s eyes narrowed. "What are you agonizing over now?"
"Nothing. Time to sleep." Clutching the blanket, Qin Mei rolled over, presenting Jie Jingchen with her back.
A cool draft hit him. Jie Jingchen looked down to see that the blanket that had been covering him had been mercilessly stolen by Qin Mei. His expression darkened. He tugged on the blanket. She tugged back. In the end, her strength was no match for his, and he pulled her, blanket and all, into his arms.
They were inches apart, their eyes locked. Both of them froze, their breath catching in their throats.
An undeniable intimacy began to brew, spreading uncontrollably between them.
Their breaths mingled. Jie Jingchen’s Adam’s apple bobbed, his eyes dark and deep as they locked onto Qin Mei. She seemed like a spider lily blooming beside the Naihe Bridge, exuding a fatal, bewitching charm.
It was the first time Qin Mei had been this close to that devastatingly handsome face. Her breath hitched, her breathing grew ragged, and her heart began to race.
The man before her was so attractive that Qin Mei almost lost control and forced herself on him.
She had the desire, but not the nerve.
Planting her hands on his chest, she gave him a hard shove and rolled away, abandoning the blanket they had been fighting over. Curled up on the far side of the bed, Qin Mei let out a silent breath. ’That was close!’
𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦
"Ngh," Jie Jingchen grunted in pain.
Qin Mei froze. She knew she had been too rough just now and must have hit his injured waist.
She really didn’t want to bother with him, but her concern for his injury—and her physician’s compassion—won out.
Qin Mei sat up, a touch of worry in her almond-shaped eyes. "Is it bad?"
"I can’t move." His bewitchingly handsome face was a mask of forbearance, though only he knew what he was truly holding back.
’Can’t move again?’ Qin Mei rolled her eyes. Jie Jingchen was so cunning, she couldn’t tell if he was faking or not. "Serves you right."
Qin Mei got up, slipped on her shoes, and went to her small cloth bag to retrieve her case of silver needles. Standing by the bed, she unceremoniously flipped Jie Jingchen onto his stomach. This time, he was quite cooperative and didn’t complain about her roughness.