Chapter 53 - 32: Fourth Brother, She Doesn’t Love You
"Driving a wedge between Qin Mei and me... 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 meet his gaze.
’So *this* was his real goal. Using the child to lure his enemy into a trap, step by step.’ Qin Mei 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 Mei 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 time?"
"My wife was in the kitchen cooking. When you suddenly stormed in to cause trouble, did you expect me to just relax?" Jie Jingchen’s voice was utterly devoid of warmth.
A warmth spread through Qin Mei’s chest. ’He was worried about me.’ 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 Mei 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 me?"
"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 Mei beat her to it.
Qin Mei 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 home."
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 Mei 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 Mei and go rest."
Jie Jingchen glanced down at Qin Mei 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 Mei wants to go *home*, not just back to our room," Jie Jingchen reminded her.
"This *is* her home," Mrs. Xie said.
"This isn’t my home. This is the Jie Family’s home. I want to go back to the Qin family," Qin Mei 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 welcome me.’
"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 home two days ago. What would her parents think?’
"Qin Mei, 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 Mei 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 farmers. 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 some poor, remote village?"
"Chunyan, if you go back three generations, we were all farmers. Don’t you look down on country folk. Your own grandfather’s generation were farmers," Mrs. Xie said angrily.
Jie Jingwei tugged on Xu Chunyan’s arm and tried to explain to Mr. Xie, "Dad, my wife didn’t mean it like that."
Mr. Xie’s gaze on Xu Chunyan was severe. "Your deceased mother was from the countryside. Your maternal grandparents were farmers."
Jie Jingwei’s heart skipped a beat. "Dad, you’ve misunderstood. Chunyan really didn’t mean 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 Mei flashed a sly grin, putting on an air of shameless ignorance. "Jie Jingchen, you know I’m illiterate. What does ’pragmatic’ mean?"
Jie Jingchen looked at her, his expression faltering for a second before he chuckled. "It means..."
"Qin Mei, 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 Mei crossed her arms, propped her chin on her hand, and appeared to give the question some serious thought.
After a moment of thought, Qin Mei spoke. "His looks, his body, his wealthy family. Sister-in-law, shouldn’t I be after those things? He’s handsome, 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 Mei’s remark about a "harmonious married life" made them all blush.
Her frankness was so direct and shameless that, paradoxically, it made her more likable.
Xu Chunyan was dumbfounded. She had clearly never expected Qin Mei to be so blunt about her motives. She had imagined Qin Mei 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 Mei would just admit it.
With this move, Qin Mei 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 Mei 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 Mei 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 hammer this point home,’ she thought, ’it will create a rift between them. Once a rift forms in a childless marriage, a separation isn’t far behind.’
Qin Mei narrowed her eyes, glaring coldly at Xu Chunyan. ’This woman never quits.’
"Whether she loves me or not is unimportant. It’s enough that I love her." Jie Jingchen’s deep voice was firm and supremely confident, and his gaze softened as he looked at Qin Mei.
Qin Mei 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 Mei understood, but she still felt a pang of disappointment.
What Qin Mei didn’t know was that the moment 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 comes 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 me?" Qin Mei 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."