"It’s all burned." To provoke Qin Xiang, Jie Jingchen deliberately made an exaggerated show of fanning the air in front of his nose. His disgust was unmistakable.

Qin Xiang got up and deliberately walked past Jie Jingchen, flapping his jacket at him. "Hmph! Why don’t you get a good whiff."

The acrid stench of sweat washed over them. Unable to bear it, Qin Mei pinched her nose. Jie Jingchen raised his foot and kicked Qin Xiang’s butt. "Get lost! You’re fumigating my wife."

The kick sent Qin Xiang stumbling. Once he regained his balance, he didn’t retaliate. Instead, he looked at Qin Mei and asked, "Sis, do I stink?"

"If I said you didn’t, would you believe me?" Qin Mei retorted.

"Don’t you know perfectly well whether you stink?" Jie Jingchen was tempted to throw Qin Xiang into the river.

Qin Xiang shot Jie Jingchen a glare, then turned and stalked off. All his toiletries, brand-new and purchased by Jie Jingchen, were waiting for him in the bathroom of his room. Jie Jingchen had arranged everything for him.

"Honey, is this pressure okay?" Jie Jingchen asked, looking at Qin Mei with eyes full of adoration.

"Yes," Qin Mei murmured, enjoying it with her eyes closed.

"Qin Mei, I only took one day off," Jie Jingchen said.

"Mhm," Qin Mei hummed in response.

"If you two don’t feel like cooking, just go to the state-run restaurant. If you don’t want to eat out, then go to the grocery store and buy some food. Your brother knows how to cook," Jie Jingchen reminded her. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"My brother can cook?" Qin Mei asked, a little surprised. She opened her eyes to look up at Jie Jingchen. Then again, she thought, he could cook too, so maybe it wasn’t that surprising.

"Your brother and I were both on kitchen duty in the army. I was transferred first, then he was, and we ended up being stationed together." Jie Jingchen glanced around. Everyone else was gathered in his parents’ room. With a sly smile, he suddenly bent down and kissed Qin Mei’s tender, inviting lips.

Qin Mei stiffened, her eyes widening as she stared at Jie Jingchen’s face, mere inches away. ’He’s so bold! How dare he kiss me in the courtyard, especially with everyone home.’

Her head was tilted back, his bent low. The position...

Inside the house, Xu Chunyan stood by the window, watching the scene unfold. A potent mix of envy, jealousy, and hatred brewed within her. ’I even promised Teacher Lin I’d find a way to make them divorce so Jing Si could marry her.’

"Shameless. So indecent," Xu Chunyan muttered.

"Second Sister-in-law, who’s being indecent?" Jie Jingjue was standing very close to Xu Chunyan, so he had heard her despite her low voice.

Jie Jingjue turned, following her line of sight out the window. In the courtyard, under a tree, Qin Mei was sitting in a rattan chair as Jie Jingchen stood behind her, kneading her shoulders. ’It’s such a sweet picture,’ he thought, ’but to Second Sister-in-law, it’s somehow indecent.’

Just as Jie Jingjue was about to rebuke her, Xu Chunyan cut in, explaining in a hushed tone, "Jing Wu, you’ve misunderstood. I wasn’t talking about them. I just saw a man and a woman walk past the gate, flirting..."

Xu Chunyan’s voice dwindled as she spoke. Even she knew the excuse was flimsy. From where she was standing, she couldn’t even see the courtyard gate, let alone what was happening outside it.

"Is that so?" Jie Jingjue clearly didn’t buy it. A cold smile touched his lips, and his narrow phoenix eyes were impossibly deep. "Second Sister-in-law," he warned in a low voice, "Fourth Sister-in-law is my benefactor. I’m going to look out for her, so you’d better treat her with respect."

Xu Chunyan stared at Jie Jingjue in disbelief. It was a rare sight to see the normally devil-may-care man look so stern. Recalling that Jie Jingjue would even dare to hit Granny when he was truly angry, Xu Chunyan shrank back.

’When Jie Jingjue snaps, he’s like a madman who doesn’t care about anyone. Back when he was with Aiyun, I still had some sway over him. But now that they’ve broken up, I’d better just keep my head down.’

"Son, are you sure you’re not hurt from the fall?" Granny asked with concern.

"Mom, Yan Qiu already examined me. I didn’t break any bones," Mr. Xie said, reassuring Granny while enduring the pain.

He was getting older, and he had fallen down a flight of steps, all while trying to protect Xiao You. Even without any broken bones, it still hurt a lot.

"You should still have Jing Wu drive you to the hospital for a look. Your father and I won’t be able to rest easy otherwise." Granny was still worried. Seeing the sweat on her son’s forehead, she took out a handkerchief to wipe it away.

Mrs. Xie said nothing, sitting quietly by the bed with a cold expression. ’Questioning my medical skills now, are they?’ she thought resentfully. ’Then why do they come to me for every little headache and fever? Aren’t they afraid my "lack of skill" will just make things worse?’

"Mom, what are you talking about? Yan Qiu would be the one examining me at the hospital anyway." Mr. Xie grabbed his wife’s hand, afraid she was about to lose her temper.

"That’s not necessarily true," Mrs. Xie said, her smile not reaching her eyes as she gave her husband a cold glare.

Mr. Xie froze for a second. Seeing his mother was about to say more, he quickly cut in, "Mom, Dad, I’m really not hurt. It’s getting late. You should go back to your room and get some rest. Yan Qiu and I need to sleep too."