"Shh," Qin Mei made a superfluous shushing gesture. "Aunt Sun, it’s us."
When Sun’s mother heard Qin Mei’s voice, she drew closer for a look. Seeing clearly it was them, she clutched her chest and complained, "Her third and fourth brothers, what are you doing sneaking around here? Don’t you know you can scare a person to death?"
She had come out to use the toilet and was given quite a scare by the three of them. Sun’s mother had an eye condition, and her vision was poor at night.
Jie Jinghun gave an embarrassed smile. "Sorry, sorry for scaring you."
"What are you doing here?" Sun’s mother asked curiously.
"Looking for my dad," Jie Jinghun replied. ’Could he really tell her they were eavesdropping?’
"Looking for your dad while squatting here?" Sun’s mother raised an eyebrow. "Who do you think you’re fooling?"
"What do you want with me?" Mr. Xie asked coldly.
"It’s about Second Brother’s wedding," Jie Jinghun said, grabbing the first excuse that came to mind.
"Hmph!" Mr. Xie snorted, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "Since when are you so concerned about your second brother’s wedding?"
Only he and the Lin family cared about Jing Er and Yaru’s wedding. No one else did.
"I’ve been doing some self-reflection and came to the profound realization that I’ve been far too indifferent to Second Brother’s wedding. So, I came to discuss it with you," Jie Jinghun blathered on.
"Your second brother’s wedding? Is that something I need to discuss with you?" Mr. Xie’s gaze was ice-cold. The banquet was the day after tomorrow. It was too late to be discussing it now.
"If there’s nothing to discuss, then forget it. No pressure. I’m heading back to my room." Jie Jinghun turned and went back inside.
Mr. Xie felt his temper rising. None of his sons gave him any peace. His sharp gaze landed on Jie Jingchen and Qin Mei. "And you two?"
"Same for us," the two said in unison.
"Same my ass!" Mr. Xie swore.
"We’ve overstepped. Let’s go, Meimei, back to our room." Jie Jingchen pulled Qin Mei and headed inside.
When Sun’s mother saw Mr. Xie looking at her, she spoke reflexively. "I’m just going to the restroom."
Mr. Xie paused for a moment. "My dear in-law, the restroom is over there."
"I know." Sun’s mother turned, and upon seeing Jie Jingling in their room, her brow furrowed. ’She can’t be complaining to them that the Sun Family treats her poorly, can she? Jing Ling’s father looked absolutely furious just now.’ "Jing Ling, it’s so late. What are you still doing in your father and Aunt Qiao’s room?"
"Sister Sun, I just asked Jing Ling to stay and chat," Mrs. Xie said with a smile.
’Chatting?’ Sun’s mother didn’t believe it but didn’t dare question her, so she just went along with it. "It’s rare for Jing Ling to come back. You two should have a good talk."
As she left, Sun’s mother shot Jie Jingling a warning glance, telling her not to say the wrong thing.
"Jing Ling, you must be tired, too. Go back to your room and rest," Mrs. Xie said, patting Jie Jingling’s shoulder.
"Okay." Jie Jingling nodded. She had just stepped over the threshold when she turned back, stepped inside again, and hugged Mrs. Xie. "Aunt Qiao, thank you."
Mrs. Xie smiled, gratified. She said nothing, just patted her on the back.
’Children who know gratitude can’t be bad at heart. Both Jing Ling and Jing San know how to be grateful, but Jing Er is an exception. He takes the kindness Zhang Hongyan showed him for granted, feeling entitled to anything she does for him. Especially after he married Xu Chunyan; no matter how much she subsidized them, they accepted it readily and only grew more greedy.’
After Mr. and Mrs. Xie returned to their room, Mr. Xie’s expression was grim. "Yan Qiu, you were too impulsive."
"I wasn’t being impulsive. I thought it through very carefully," Mrs. Xie said as she tidied up the dry clothes.
"Sigh!" Mr. Xie heaved a sigh and took a sip from his enamel mug. "If Jing Ling takes you seriously, I’d like to see how you’ll clean up this mess."
"I’ll handle the consequences as they come," Mrs. Xie said, placing the folded clothes into the wardrobe.
"But that’s the Zhang family," Mr. Xie reminded her.
Mrs. Xie turned her head, shot Mr. Xie a look, and closed the wardrobe door. "I’m just arranging a job for Zhang Haoyuan, not exonerating the entire Zhang family. Do you really need to be this terrified?"
"The Zhang family of the past and the Zhang family of today are as different as heaven and hell. If we get close to them, they might just drag us down to hell with them." Mr. Xie was genuinely afraid.
"It won’t come to that," Mrs. Xie said.
"How could it not? It absolutely could! Yan Qiu, listen to me. This is serious. We could really get implicated. We can’t have even a shred of wishful thinking, or else..."
"I know," Mrs. Xie cut him off impatiently.
Mr. Xie frowned. Seeing his wife’s attitude, he realized she didn’t grasp the severity of the situation at all.
He stood up, pulled Mrs. Xie to sit on the edge of the bed, and prepared to give her a serious talk. "Honey, listen to me, we have to protect ourselves..."
"Jie Jianguo." Mrs. Xie cut him off again, stopping his grandstanding lecture. She stared at him without blinking. "I see you really don’t understand your eldest daughter at all."
Mr. Xie was taken aback, his guilt showing despite his stubborn retort. "I do understand her."