Chapter 275: Chapter 114: Severing Family Ties (2)

After Chen Song and Xu Suying finished tidying up the house, they returned to the county town.

Chen Wanqing didn’t go with them. She went back to grinding her two secret spices.

She worked until late afternoon. Dizzy and exhausted, Chen Wanqing was just about to get up and take a stroll in the courtyard when she heard the sound of an ox-cart at the gate.

She peeked her head out to look and found herself locking eyes with Zhao Jing.

Chen Wanqing froze for a moment. In that brief instant, Zhao Jing greeted the cart driver and strode quickly toward her.

"Jing, didn’t we agree you’d stay in the county town for the night?"

"I lied to you. I never planned to stay in the county town. With such a huge incident happening at home, you were so upset and worried. I had to come back and be with you."

Hearing this, Chen Wanqing couldn’t help but touch her own brow.

"Was I that obvious?"

Zhao Jing shook his head. "Actually, no. You’re always so reserved, never willing to show your true feelings to others. It’s because I admire you so much that my eyes are always on you. I patiently watch your every move. I carefully savor your every frown and every smile. There’s nothing about you that you can hide from me. I know your emotions like the back of my hand."

Chen Wanqing was not unmoved by Zhao Jing’s words. But beyond feeling touched, she also thought it was a little strange.

’A question suddenly struck her. When did Jing start watching her so secretly? He’s like a hunter lying in wait, eyes fixed on his prey’s every move. If she ends up marrying him, won’t that be like walking right into a trap?’

Chen Wanqing praised him with genuine feeling, "Jing, you’re far too calculating."

"I’ll take that as a compliment."

"Huh? Big Brother, you’re back? Was the spring outing fun? What did you all do? I thought you were staying in the county town tonight. I can’t believe you came home."

Xiang’er’s shout interrupted their conversation.

Zhao Jing gave her a few simple replies, then asked Xiang’er, "Is Mother not home?"

’If she were, she would have come over by now.’

Xiang’er said, "She went to Second Aunt’s house."

Zhao Jing looked at Chen Wanqing, who explained, "The family matter blew up, and the whole village is watching the spectacle. Miaohua pulled Mother over to watch. After seeing all the commotion, she went with Second Aunt and the others to her house to make incense."

"They’re all our own people, so it’s lively when they get together to talk and work. Mother is always at home by herself. She’s too lonely, which is why she’s been talking less and less. Letting her chat more with the aunts might just lift her spirits."

Xiang’er was clearly planning to go over as well. "I have my studies to do. Sister-in-law told me to read the incense-making book, but I get a headache if I read too much, so I just read two pages a day. I’m done now, so I’m going to Second Aunt’s house to help out too."

Xiang’er left as soon as she spoke, without a moment’s hesitation.

After she left, Zhao Jing pulled Chen Wanqing inside. "Has the matter with the intruder been cleared up? What’s being done about it?"

Chen Wanqing explained everything in detail, concluding, "Father probably felt that the third branch of the family was getting too out of control and might drag us down in the future, so he took the opportunity to sever ties. As for my third uncle... I don’t know if it’s because he’s been shut inside for so long, or because of the rumors spreading about Third Aunt, but he looks so grim and menacing now..."

’She wanted to say that her third uncle no longer looked like a good person.’

But even if they had cut ties, he was still an elder, and it wasn’t right to speak ill of an elder.

Then the conversation turned to her third aunt’s situation.

So many things had happened at the old family residence one after another. Because Chen Lin needed to be cared for, the old matriarch was suffering from constant dizzy spells and headaches, and Chen Wanyue was incompetent, Chen Dachang had taken to selling his sesame seed cakes for two days and then returning home for two days to look after his mother.

Regardless of whether he was in the county town or not, Mrs. Li continued to sell her hot soup and rice.

But unlike before, when she was single-mindedly focused on working and saving money, Mrs. Li now clearly had other ideas.

She would only sell her food for half the day, packing up her stall after noon and disappearing without a trace.

There were many rumors. Some said she went to wash clothes for the wealthy families in town to supplement their income. Others said washing clothes was just a cover, and what she was really doing was seducing rich widowers.

They also said they had seen Mrs. Li with their own eyes, flirting with men in front of their homes. She acted just like one of the girls who stand in front of the Red House, selling their bodies for a living.

The ugly rumors spread, and eventually, they must have reached Chen Lin’s ears.

Perhaps it was this string of misfortunes that made Chen Lin’s already grim temperament even more savage. His entire appearance had changed, and no matter how you looked at him, he no longer seemed like a good man.