Chapter 368 - 134: Qin Xiang Lied, and Qin Mei Covered for Him
What a load of nonsense. As if she was the only one who knew how to talk rubbish. When Qin Mei started spouting it, she was truly in a class of her own.
Jie Jingchen’s eyes flickered. He lowered his gaze to watch Qin Mei, 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 Mei. She couldn’t find a single flaw in her story and was extremely 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 Mei was about to say the child bride, but on second thought, she changed her mind. "An Qi."
Granny’s eyes lit up, a glimmer of hope rekindled within her.
Qin Mei 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 farmer’s hands?" Qin Mei asked.
Granny fell silent. She had lived through her own share of hard times and had experienced even harsher conditions. Life these days was so much better in comparison.
Granny looked at Qin Mei’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 Mei 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 home and look pretty," Qin Mei said shamelessly.
Jie Jingchen agreed with her. ’It’s true,’ he thought. ’All she has to do is stay home 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 Mei asked, playing dumb, though she knew perfectly well who Granny meant.
"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 Mei 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 Mei’s question left Granny utterly speechless.
Listening to Qin Mei, Jie Jingchen was amazed. ’She’s talking about child brides so casually, as if they really exist.’
’Qin Xiang told a lie, and Qin Mei 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 arrangements made by their elders, are they supposed to stay bachelors for life?" Qin Mei interrupted.
Granny considered this for a moment. "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 time, our whole family is going to cling to him and suck him dry," Qin Mei said, getting increasingly animated.