"Mom." Zhang Haoyuan’s eyes lit up as hope beckoned once more. "You’re my mom, my real mom. Help me pay this off, and I promise I’ll be a good son to you and take care of you in your old age."
A storm gathered on Jie Jingchen’s captivatingly handsome face. His gaze, fixed on Zhang Haoyuan, was utterly sinister.
"I’m your real mom, and you’re my real son. Tell me, isn’t it perfectly natural for a mother to discipline her own son?" Qin Mei asked with a smile.
"Absolutely, it’s perfectly natural," Zhang Haoyuan nodded vigorously.
"Heh heh." A wicked grin bloomed on Qin Mei’s lips, as vibrant and deadly as a poppy. Zhang Haoyuan’s gaze turned dazed as he stared at her. Qin Mei reached down, picked up the kitchen cleaver from the floor, and in one swift motion, brought it down. A scream like a stuck pig tore through the air.
"AARGH!" Pain contorted Zhang Haoyuan’s face, his pupils constricting. Qin Mei had chopped off his left thumb.
"I’m a very strict mother. I show no mercy to disobedient sons. It’s a shame, really. This cleaver is dull. I was hoping to take off your whole hand," Qin Mei said, sounding genuinely disappointed.
"You..." Horror replaced the pain on Zhang Haoyuan’s face. He was terrified. Those other thugs, as vicious as they were, had threatened to chop off his fingers time and time again, but they never actually did it. Yet this girl in front of him, smiling, was utterly ruthless. She hadn’t even given a warning before hacking off his thumb.
"Wait a moment, I’m going to go sharpen this cleaver." Before Qin Mei even started to get up, Zhang Haoyuan, ignoring the searing pain, scrambled to his feet and fled outside. "Zhang Haoyuan, if you dare bother them again, I’ll chop off a finger every single time I see you! Let’s see how many you have to spare!"
Zhang Haoyuan was so terrified he nearly pissed himself. Qin Mei’s threat echoed in his mind like a demonic curse.
Qin Mei casually tossed the cleaver aside. "What a wimp. Can’t even handle a little scare."
Grandpa Zhang and Grandma Hua were speechless. ’A little scare?’ they thought. ’She gave him a brutal lesson.’
"He really is a wimp," Jie Jingchen said, his gaze as gentle as still water. He took a handkerchief from his pocket and tenderly wiped the sweat from her face.
"Old Zhang, you don’t blame me for overstepping, do you?" Qin Mei asked, smiling at Grandpa Zhang in his wheelchair. She didn’t bother asking Grandma Hua. The saying goes that a doting mother raises a ruined son, and Grandma Hua bore an undeniable responsibility for Zhang Haoyuan’s gambling addiction.
"Not at all. He deserved it." Grandpa Zhang managed a smile for Qin Mei.
"Heh heh." Qin Mei chuckled and said no more.
She and Jie Jingchen helped Grandma Hua clean up the house before leaving. As for the main door, it was completely destroyed. It had to be replaced, but it was too late now; that would have to wait until tomorrow.
The inside of their home was already so bare that a door, or lack thereof, hardly mattered.
The neighbor, an older woman, saw the two of them come out and called to Qin Mei. "Young lady."
"Is something wrong, ma’am?" Qin Mei asked, smiling at the woman. ’They say a good neighbor is better than a distant relative,’ she thought, ’but it seems even she didn’t dare get involved in Grandpa Zhang and Grandma Hua’s business.’
"What happened with Old Zhang’s son? I think I saw some blood," the woman said.
"He was being a terrible son, so I disciplined him a little on his father’s behalf," Qin Mei said nonchalantly.
"Disciplined him? How?" the woman asked, her curiosity piqued. ’Old Zhang and his wife are helpless against their son, so how could a young girl like her manage it?’
"Oh, it wasn’t much. He was being disobedient, so I chopped off his thumb," Qin Mei said, as if it were nothing.
"What?!" The woman was so shocked her jaw almost hit the floor. "You... you chopped off his thumb? And Old Zhang and his wife let you?"
Qin Mei shrugged and replied with a smile, "They didn’t stop me."
After her shock wore off, a worried expression crossed the woman’s face. "Dear, you’ve really gone and done it now. That Zhang Haoyuan is bad news."
’I was going to slip her some money to act as my eyes and ears,’ Qin Mei thought, but she quickly abandoned the idea. ’The woman’s family isn’t well-off. If Zhang Haoyuan decided to target them for revenge, it would be my fault.’
Changing the subject, the woman said, "Young lady, there’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you."
"What is it? Go ahead and ask," Qin Mei said.
"Are you married?" the woman asked.
Qin Mei paused for a second, glancing at Jie Jingchen, who was waiting for her. She turned back to the woman, her eyes twinkling with amusement as she asked, "Ma’am, are you trying to set me up with someone?"
"If you’re not married, I could introduce you to someone," the woman replied with a smile.
"I am married. He’s my husband," Qin Mei said, pointing to Jie Jingchen, a blissful smile playing on her lips.
"You can tell at a glance he’s a good man who’ll dote on his wife. You should cherish him, dear," the woman said.
’That made me sound like some fickle woman who’d leave him at the drop of a hat,’ Qin Mei thought, rendered speechless. ’Setting aside that he dumped me with Jie Jingling for six months, and everything that happened in Shanghai... ever since we came to Shijiu City, Jie Jingchen really has been very good to me.’
’Thinking of Jie Jingchen’s resentful complaints and his sexually frustrated look, how long had it been since they’d been intimate? It felt like a while. The July weather was scorching. Just lying still in bed with the fan on made her feel drenched in sweat, let alone "exercising" in his arms. When Jie Jingchen got close, he felt like a furnace, making her want to keep her distance.’
’Leaving a man with a healthy appetite unattended for too long could lead to trouble,’ Qin Mei thought, beginning a self-critique.
Jie Jingchen pedaled the bicycle, with Qin Mei sitting on the rack behind him. Her hands, which had only been gripping the back of his shirt, suddenly wrapped firmly around his waist.
Jie Jingchen froze as if he’d been struck by lightning, his abdominal muscles clenching instantly.
"Jie Jingsi," Qin Mei’s voice was soft and bewitching, dripping with seduction. For a second, Jie Jingchen was in a daze and nearly lost his composure. The bike wobbled, weaving in an S-pattern, before he quickly regained his focus and steadied it.
Qin Mei hugged his waist tightly, pressing her cheek against his taut back and tracing circles on his stomach with her fingers.
Jie Jingchen drew in a sharp breath. ’This little minx is seducing me.’
"Meimei, sit still. Don’t mess around," Jie Jingchen’s voice was hoarse as he forced the words out.
"Don’t you like it?" There was a devastating, heart-stealing charm in Qin Mei’s sweet voice.
’It wasn’t that he didn’t like it—he liked it far too much. But this wasn’t the time or place. When it came to her advances, he had zero self-control. Afraid of losing it completely, Jie Jingchen could only pedal for home as fast as he could.’
The speed was too fast and the ride too bumpy for Qin Mei to continue her mischief, so she simply held on to him tightly.
Before they even entered the courtyard, they heard Li Axiu’s aggressive, accusatory voice.
"Doctor Qiao, you have to be decent and treat everyone equally. You have four sons—two stepsons and two of your own. You gave the south house to Jing San, so what about my son-in-law, Jing Er? Jing San and Jing Er are both your stepsons. How can you treat them differently?"
Jie Jingchen stopped the bike, steadied it, and waited for Qin Mei to get off.
"It’s barely been any time since the family assets were split, and the Lin family already knows? Their grapevine is certainly efficient," Qin Mei sneered.
"Splitting the family assets was never a secret. They would have found out eventually." A flicker of fire danced in Jie Jingchen’s eyes. He had been rushing home to get intimate with his wife, not to watch a family squabble.
’The Lin family and the Xu family,’ Qin Mei mused, ’each more shameless than the last. The Xu family is after money, and the Lin family is after a house. Both are targeting Mrs. Xie, the stepmother.’
Mrs. Xie was silent. Mr. Xie spoke up, "So, in-laws, what is it that you want?"
"Equal treatment," Li Axiu said. Seeing that Mrs. Xie remained silent, she added, "The north house goes to Jing Er."
Mr. Xie glanced cautiously at Mrs. Xie. He could feel a storm brewing. His gaze shifted to Mr. Lin as he rubbed the bridge of his nose and pointed out, "We live in the north house."
’In the past, when the Xu family came to cause trouble, his wife would just use money to get rid of them. She would never have bothered him with it. But now his wife had changed. She dragged him into every trivial little thing and made him handle it.’
’Honestly, he had no experience with this kind of thing and wasn’t good at handling it.’
"That’s simple. You and Doctor Qiao can move into the housing at the machinery factory," Li Axiu said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Mr. Xie’s face went completely black. ’The nerve of this woman!’ he thought. ’This courtyard belongs to Yan Qiu, not to Li Axiu.’