Chapter 130: You’re Way Better Than Him in Everything; There’s Nothing That He Could Ever Match Up to You!

“I have something to tell you,” Jian Yi said. He glanced briefly at the house and felt that the place that they were standing was much too near to the French windows of the house. Anyone who was inside could see them with crystal-clear clarity. “It’s important!”

Without explaining any further, he dragged her over to the corner of the yard and sat her down under the tree. Try as she may, Song Yu was unable to release herself from his grip this time.

“Jian Yi, don’t you dare overstep your boundaries! Let go of me!” She was flying with rage, but she still tried to keep her voice low. “You’d better let go of me right now! I don’t want to resort to shouting and letting everyone see us like this! I don’t give a damn because Qi Chengzhi trusts me. Qi Chengyue doesn’t trust you.”

Compared to Song Yu, Jian Yi was even more afraid of causing a misunderstanding.

Unexpectedly though, Jian Yi seemed unperturbed that others might see him. He was determined to drag her over to the tree.

Song Yu stood with her back was nearly touching the tree. Jian Yi did not move in too close to her, but he still trapped her between himself and the tree trunk.

She wrestled her arm forcefully away from his grip and began leaving, but Jian Yi held her arms immediately and said, “Song Yu, I have something to tell you. It’s really important! I’ll be quick, just give me a minute, is that too much to ask?”

Song Yu remained silent and frowned. She waited for him to continue talking because she knew he would not let her go if she protested.

She looked at Jian Yi impatiently. From the corner of her eyes, she could catch a glimpse of the way he held her arms. His touches repulsed her immensely.

“Let go of me. I’ll give you your one minute,” Song Yu agreed coldly. She did not bother to conceal her hatred of him.

It was agonizing for Jian Yi. He looked at his hands, realizing that he was absolutely unwilling to remove them from her. He then looked at Song Yu’s immediate frown and was left with no other choice but to release her.

“Do you really hate it that much when I touch you?” Bitter anguish stained his eyes. “Last time I used to help you with your hair. You stood in front of me so shyly and let me tidy your hair while you blushed.”

“What the hell do you want to tell me?” she asked, losing her patience.

“You and Qi Chengzhi, have you already begun the preparations for marriage?” he asked. The couple had met each other’s parents, and although the Qi family was not too supportive, they seemed to reach a point where they relented. Judging from the situation on the day, marriage was not too far away.

Song Yu narrowed her eyes unhappily. “If that’s what you want to talk to me about, please move aside.”

Afraid that she might run away again, Jian Yi got nervous and held onto her arms once more. “What I’m about to tell you is really important. Song Yu, please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not telling you to wait for me and I’m not telling you not to marry him. There are other reasons why I’m asking you this. I just want to confirm when you’ll get married to him.”

Song Yu lips were sealed tight and she spoke not a word.

Jian Yi felt his insides churn. Back then, Song Yu would never look at him the way she was looking at him now.

Her warm and cheerful expression, whereby she would even blush slightly when she spoke to him, was something he missed dearly.

That was all a thing of the past.

Jian Yi took a deep breath and said, “Song Yu. Promise me you won’t marry him so quickly. He’s hiding something from you, and I’m certain it has everything to do with you. It’s something very serious. I don’t want to see you regretting your marriage and suffering for the rest of your life once you find out the truth.”

“What do you mean by all that?” Song Yu’s expression darkened even more and she pushed away his hands with all her might. “I’m not going to stand here and listen to your lies. I have no connection to you now. If in the future I get married to Qi Chengzhi, you’ll be a relative at most, and even then, it’s a stretch to call you a relative. So, please don’t say anything bad about him in front of me. It makes you look like scum. I’m not going to believe anything you say about him anyway.”

“Chengzhi has never said a bad word about you in front of me. So, I think it’s right that you show him the same courtesy and refrain from slandering him behind his back,” Song Yu remarked unemotively.

“You don’t even know him at all! You’ve only been together for a while. Do you dare to say that you know everything there is to know about him? Haven’t you ever thought that he might be the complete opposite of what you think he is?” Jian Yi’s tone sounded more urgent.

“Even if you’ve known him since young, how old were you at that time? You don’t know anything about him!” Jian Yi glanced left and right furtively, then lowered his voice. “Song Yu, I dare to guarantee that whatever it is he did, it’s something that’s unworthy of you, something that caused great damage to you.”

Song Yu twitched her lip and mocked him. “Since you insist, tell me then. What was it he did that was so unworthy of me? I’d like to see you show the evidence.”

Jian Yi pursed his lips, curled them into his mouth, and bit them. “I don’t have any now, but I will dig it up. So please, promise me that you won’t get married to him before I manage to get it. I don’t want to see you suffer and regret.”

Song Yu was finally unable to restrain herself from letting out a gentle laugh. There was an abundance of scorn in her sneering. “Let’s set aside the fact that this may all be a tactic to delay the marriage. I’ll play along with you and treat your words as though they were real. You want me to wait for you? How long do you want me to wait for you to investigate? If you can’t do it in a year, will I have to wait a year? If you can’t do it in ten years, do you want me to wait ten years? Who knows, you might even take a lifetime and still not be able to find any evidence.”

“Marriage or not, it’s between me and Qi Chengzhi. You’re right, even though I knew him since young, I was too innocent to know anything at that age. When I got older, my distance with him increased even more. It’s only now that I’m officially getting to know him. We were together only recently, and he’s never boasted about how much I understand him, but I can say with certainty that he won’t do anything despicable toward me.”

Song Yu scoffed at him, “And that’s why you shouldn’t waste your time to investigate. Save up that energy. Find a way to let Qi Chengyue trust you and rid herself of her delusions about you and me having something going on.”

“You don’t believe me.” Jian Yi’s expression sank once he saw the ridicule in her eyes.

“You did notice it, after all,” Song Yu derided him.

“Song Yu, being with him doesn’t bring you any benefit. It’s true.” Jian Yi’s anger began to surge. He looked at her and saw that she learned how to mock others. Her tiniest movements were even somewhat reminiscent of Qi Chengzhi.

He could not help but think about how close the two of them were, and how much time they had spent together, for her to be influenced so greatly by him.

“Are you done?” Song Yu looked at him spitefully. “If so, move over.”

Jian Yi did not budge. The day was warm and he was not wearing too many clothes. Jian Yi probably rushed out to take the call, hence the absence of any jacket on him. His muscles were bulging slightly under his thin knit-shirt, popping out and giving the impression that it was a tight-fit shirt that he was wearing.

He placed both hands on her arms and prevented her from leaving. The force used was slight, but it was enough to make Song Yu stumble. Her back bumped against the tree trunk behind her and Jian Yi inched even closer to her as if to take advantage of her.

“Why aren’t you willing to listen to me! I’m doing this for your sake, are you that eager to get married to Qi Chengzhi? Even if he did something unacceptable, something vile, would you still forgive him? Song Yu, listen to me! I’m only asking that you don’t marry him so quickly. I’m not going to procrastinate on purpose; I’ll do my best to investigate everything as quickly as possible!”

“No matter how much you hate me, I really only want the best for you. I don’t want to see you depressed and suffering.” Jian Yi held her arms even tighter, “I admit that I was wrong for lying to you about Qi Chengyue and I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I made you sad, and I’m sorry that I lied to you. None of it was done on purpose. Song Yu, I really like you. I may be married to Qi Chengyue, but my heart is and will always be with you, forever!”

“I’m not gonna deny the hurt that I caused through my actions. It’s only right that you hate me. But please, don’t doubt my good intentions. I’ll never do anything that would hurt you.” As he said that sentence, he moved his hands slowly upward, up until his fingertips were in contact with her collarbone. He continued making his way up.

Song Yu’s eyes opened wide in disbelief. She shuddered at the region where he was touching her, but she felt utter disgust instead of deep emotion.

“How dare you! Let me go!” Song Yu pushed his hands off with all her might, but his other hand grabbed her waist and pulled her close to him right away.

“Song…” Jian Yi edged closer to her and she could even breathe in his breath. However, it was not the breath that she liked and was used to—it was not Qi Chengzhi’s breath.

A single word was all he was able to utter, because a sweet-sounding young voice rang from not far behind him, “Auntie, Uncle, what are you doing here?”

Song Yu was afraid that Qi Youxuan was going to misunderstand the situation. Her gaze shifted over Jian Yi’s shoulders and saw Qi Youxuan. The boy was holding a toy shovel in one hand and a red plastic bucket in the other. His chubby little legs were striding over to their direction.

“Let go of me!” Song Yu screamed while grabbing his wrist. She wanted to rip his hand down from his waist.

Jian Yi did not yield, holding her even tighter instead. He lowered his voice and said, “I don’t have any evidence or proof for you now, but I’m telling you, my doubts and accusations toward Qi Chengzhi are not at all unfounded.”

“You do remember the day you brought Qi Chengzhi home to visit your parents, right?” Jian Yi gave her the specific date. “Grandmother Qi and Xia Wenna were there as well.”

Song Yu looked down in an attempt to cover up the shock that she felt, but there was not much she could do about it, and at the very least her emotions still presented themselves.

Once Jian Yi revealed the date and was able to point out the people who were present, she began to believe him a tiny bit more.

“On that day, wasn’t there a moment when the old lady and Xia Wenna were not inside your house? The two of them went out together?” Song Yu’s speechlessness fueled Jian Yi’s confidence. He chuckled softly and his warm breath exhaled all over her cheek.

“My honeymoon with Qi Chengyue was the next day, so I thought of visiting you. What I didn’t expect was to hear a conversation between the old lady and Xia Wenna. They didn’t say what it was explicitly, but from Xia Wenna’s tone and reaction, it was something very important. If you knew about what happened, you won’t be able to be with Qi Chengzhi anymore.”

“They were both very anxious, and Qi Chengzhi used that thing to threaten Xia Wenna into letting both of you be together. The thing he did to you was so terrible that Xia Wenna wanted to make amends, but at the same time, she was worried that the Qi family would turn into mayhem once you found out. Xia Wenna’s handphone had the evidence, but the old lady told her to delete it. That is why I needed to get evidence from another source.”

He paused and straightened his body slowly, shifting his gaze to the nearing Qi Youxuan.

Jian Yi stood up straight as if engaging in a normal conversation with Song Yu. A cheerful grin crept across the corner of his lips and he spoke using a voice that only Song Yu could hear, “Surely, you believe all that I just said?”

“Song Yu, I’m not asking you to wait for me. I know that you hate me a lot now, but I can’t bear to see you be tricked by Qi Chengzhi. I just hope that if Qi Chengzhi wants to get married to you soon, you’ll hold it off for a bit and don’t be so hasty.” In the end, he tightened his grip on her wrist.

It was only when Qi Youxuan came over that he finally let go of her hand.

QI Youxuan’s dark pupils darted around, and his chubby—but no less handsome—face seemed particularly perceptive.

“Auntie, Uncle, what are you doing here?” A discombobulated look was plastered all over his face.

“It’s time for lunch. I came looking for you,” Song Yu replied tenderly. There was no denying the negative effects that Jian Yi’s words had on her, but she tried her best to remove them from her thoughts.

“I was making a call here when your auntie accidentally stumbled just now. I was helping her up when you came.” Jian Yi flashed a smile. He did not want Qi Youxuan to tell on him to the Qi family, as it would corrupt their impression of him.

“Oh.” Qi Youxuan nodded his head and placed his shovel into his bucket. No one knew if he bought Jian Yi’s story.

“Let’s go.” Song Yu stretched out her hand to him.

Qi Youxuan flung his dirt-covered hand into Song Yu’s palm. Jian Yi hid his revulsion of Qi Youxuan’s filthy body, but Song Yu did not seem to mind it one bit.

“What were you doing in the yard? Great-Grandma spent a long time looking for you.” Song Yu held his tubby little hands and walked toward the house.

As they reached the doorstep, Qi Youxuan stopped suddenly. He peeped into the house and looked warily from left to right. Upon certifying that no one could hear him, he made a come-hither movement to Song Yu, requesting her to bend down.

Song Yu did just that, bending her waist and lowering her head. Then, Qi Youxuan put on the sternest tone ever and said, “I’m planning to dig a secret tunnel.”

She was momentarily speechless, for she had no inkling that such an answer would be given. Having thought about it though, if Qi Youxuan really was like any other kid with a shovel and some dirt…

It did not seem to fit his character at all. Digging tunnels was much more his style and the idea of it, at least, was a splendid one.

Immediately, Qi Youxuan brought his clay-yellow hands to his lips, sticking his index finger out to make a hush sign. “Auntie, you must keep my secret.”

Qi Youxuan was willing to enter the house only when he was sure that Song Yu gave her word.

The situation inside the house was rather chaotic. Once Qi Youxuan came in, Aunt Liu went ahead and began bringing out the cooked dishes to the table. Song Yu took the initiative to help. Everyone else was busy with their respective duties, so Qi Youxuan seized the moment when no one was looking and went to Qi Chenglin, using his arm to poke the latter.

“Dad, bring me to the toilet so I can wash my hands!”

Qi Chenglin shot him a glance. Qi Youxuan’s height did not reach the vanity unit, but the washroom had a special wooden bench equipped specifically so he could step on it and wash his hands.

Meanwhile, Qi Youxuan was proud of boastful of himself as a little manly man. He would never stoop to the level of needing someone to help him, which was why the little bench was provided in the first place.

Qi Chenglin narrowed his eyes in suspicion when his son requested his assistance in the toilet. A crafty look in his son’s eyes caught his attention, and after nodding in agreement, he carried up Qi Youxuan and nestled the boy in his armpit as they headed to the washroom.

Qi Youxuan was carried over the vanity unit. He twisted his chubby little body, turned around to open the tap, and washed the sand off of his hands. Once clean, he took from Qi Chenglin his special towel—which had the image of Killua and Gon ¹  imprinted on it—and rubbed his hands dry.

He then wiggled his bottom restlessly on the unit top before remarking secretively, “Dad, can you call Big Uncle over?”

Qi Chenglin raised an eyebrow. “What is it?”

“Just call him over. I’ll tell both of you once he’s here.” Qi Youxuan’s round face looked more serious than ever.

Qi Chenglin cocked his eyebrows and sneered before leaving the toilet.

As soon as the door was shut, Qi Youxuan went down the vanity unit and became extra vigilant. He stretched his arm out and locked the door.

Moments later, someone tried opening the door handle, to which he shouted, “I’M HAVING A TUMMYACHE!”

“…” The other side fell silent, but Qi Chenglin’s tense voice was soon heard. “It’s me.”

Qi Youxuan opened the door and mulled over whether there should be some kind of secret code in the future, something like three long knocks followed by two short ones.

“Alright, spit it out.” Qi Chenglin closed the door behind him and with equal caution, he locked it.

Qi Youxuan was about to begin when he noticed that his height was vastly different from his father and his uncle. It made him feel like he was not influential enough. He insisted that Qi Chenglin carry him up onto the vanity unit. They were more or less eye-level that way.

“It’s like this, I was playing in the backyard just now,” Qi Youxuan ²  began explaining. “I saw Uncle Jian Yi  ³ holding Auntie and stopping her from leaving. I wanted to save Auntie, but when I went over, I heard Uncle’s words, so I hid.”

Qi Youxuan spilled the beans on what Jian Yi said. Although he did not say it word for word, the gist of it remained the same.

Almost immediately, Qi Chengzhi knew that the conversation Jian Yi spoke of—the one between Xia Wenna and the old lady—was undoubtedly about the Song family’s bankruptcy.

Qi Chengzhi digested the information for a moment and asked, “What did your Auntie say?”

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“Nothing, she didn’t believe Uncle’s words. She thinks he’s lying to her,” Qi Youxuan said.

Qi Chengzhi nodded, and although he looked rather impassive, he made a rare gesture of appreciation by patting Qi Youxuan’s head as a reward. “You did well.”

The little boy was mortified. He threw himself into his father’s embrace without even thinking. “Dad, Big Uncle is being really scary.”

“…” Qi Chenglin felt that his son tended to suffer Qi Chengzhi’s oppression.

Qi Chengzhi turned to leave. Qi Chenglin opened his mouth, intending to ask Qi Chengzhi what was it he did. However, he knew that it was not the time to be asking that, so he decided to keep his mouth shut for now.

Qi Chengzhi had left, and Qi Youxuan had also said what he wanted to say. The boy was in a rush to get his lunch because his favorite food—roasted chicken and crabs—was on the menu.

“Wait, we’ll go out after waiting a bit,” Qi Chenglin said. If the three of them went out at the same time, it would be suspicious, especially for Jian Yi.

Qi Chengzhi would never want Jian Yi to suspect that he knew about that incident.

“Dad, what if someone takes the chicken drumstick?” Qi Youxuan said anxiously.

“Your great-grandmother will save a piece for you.” Qi Chenglin rolled his eyes. Whenever it came to food, Qi Youxuan acted as though the family was so poor that they could not even afford to buy him meat to eat.

By the time Qi Chengzhi returned to the dining hall, everyone was seated at the table. He said not a word and took his seat beside Song Yu.

Sometime later, Qi Chenglin brought Qi Youxuan out, leading him to his seat and sitting him down.

Jian Yi looked distrustfully at the two of them. Although Qi Youxuan was quite far away from the incident, it still did not stop Jian Yi from feeling apprehensive.

“What took you so look?” Qi Zhongxun asked.

“He was playing with dirt outside just now. I brought him to the washroom to clean up,” Qi Chenglin explained curtly.

Jian Yi looked down in relief.

Qi Chengyue had a sunken expression as she sat beside Jian Yi and stared at Song Yu, who sat opposite them. Song Yu ignored Qi Chengyue and focused her attention onto the food in front.

The old lady invited everyone to dig in, saying, “Let’s eat.” Barely seconds after she finished her words, everyone took their chopsticks and dug in, but then Qi Chengzhi’s phone rang.

He took out his cell phone from his pocket and looked at it for a moment before picking up. He stood up slowly and said, “What is it?”

Qi Chengzhi’s deliberate movements allowed everyone to catch a glimpse of his cell phone case. Each and every one of them had a curious look on their face.

Song Yu’s face turned red, and if she knew she would not have asked him to use the casing. It was much too embarrassing for her to only notice it then.

She thought about how everyone in the company, not to mention any clients, must have seen it since he had been using it for a few days now. She wondered if they made fun of him because of it.

A few simple “Mms” were heard, and the final sentence was, “I know.”

He hung up and reassumed his seat beside Song Yu, as if nothing had happened and as if he was oblivious to all the stares around him. He simply placed his phone somewhere on top of the table.

“Big Brother, when did you start using phone cases? Especially this…this kind…” Qi Chengji blinked incredulously and asked.

Qi Chengzhi’s well-defined fingers picked up the phone; the screen was huge, but the entire phone seemed to look normal-sized on his hand. He fiddled with it with no difficulty at all.

“Song Yu gave it to me.” He looked at the phone and flipped it over, revealing the picture of a feather behind it. His stiffened expression was tainted with the faintest of warmth in the corner of his eye. “This image of a feather is a wordplay on her name. We’re using couple phone cases, hers is a wordplay on my name.”

The attention on the table shifted entirely onto him. As feminine as the phone case was, he used it without feeling any pressure at all.

Jian Yi’s expression became much glummer than before. His malicious eyes stared intently at the phone in Qi Chengzhi’s hands.

“Nonsense! What would your subordinates and your clients think if they saw this?” Qi Zhongliang chastised. He also shot Song Yu a look of disapproval.

“Why should I give two hoots about what they think? My subordinates have no right to wonder about my personal life. As for my clients…” Qi Chengzhi chuckled sarcastically. “They wouldn’t dare to ask. If they did, I’ll just tell the truth. There’s nothing shameful about it.”

Following his explanation, Qi Chengzhi’s thumb caressed the picture of the feather. His gaze was a tender one, as if he was pleased with the phone, since it felt to him like he was bringing Song Yu with him all the time.

“And you, aren’t you afraid that gifting him something like that will make a joke out of him!” If Qi Chengzhi could not be reasoned with, Qi Zhongliang decided he might as well lecture Song Yu too.

Song Yu was afraid to talk back, but the old lady was already feeling very unhappy about it. “It means that their feelings for each other are strong. Isn’t it just a phone case? Do you really need to make a mountain out of a molehill? Eat up, eat up. Can’t believe you had to ruin the meal.”

Qi Zhongliang did not dare to make a single peep after that; soon, the atmosphere felt a bit stifled.

Midway through the meal, Jian Yi’s phone rang again.

He looked at the elderly couple in embarrassment and said his apologies before excusing himself to pick up the call.

Before he left for the courtyard, they all heard him call out, “Mom.”

Grandmother Qi did not mind at all. She turned to Qi Chengzhi and said, “Remember the movie you told me about, the one Xiao Han’s investing in? Any news?”

“I’ve told him already. He’ll be calling you next week to set up a time, and later on, he will bring the director over to talk with you in detail. If everyone is alright, you can sign the contract.” Qi Chengzhi smiled.

“Hehehe, Xiao Han’s very efficient and reliable.” The old lady’s face lit up with joy, so much so that her eyes seemed to smile. “I’ll get myself prepared and when the time comes, I’ll perform a few acts for the director, so they’ll all know how lucky they are to have me as an actress.”

After a while, Jian Yi returned.

“What’s wrong?” Qi Chengyue asked.

“Nothing, my mother wants us to come back home for dinner,” Jian Yi said.

“Yes, yes, it’s only right.” The old lady nodded. “You came here right after you returned from your honeymoon. You didn’t go home to see your parents? Wouldn’t they be unhappy?”

“Not at all. Grandpa and Grandma are here, so I ought to visit you first. They’ll understand.” Jian Yi smiled.

After lunch, Aunt Liu brought out a fruit platter, and it was at that time that the doorbell rang.

Aunt Liu hurried over to the door, and what came next was her surprised voice, “Mrs. Jian!”

Zhou Mingyan’s “hehe” was then heard. Aunt Liu dug up a pair of slippers for Zhou Mingyan to wear.

Everyone in the dining room looked at the door in utter surprise. Jian Yi’s face became sour and his lips were pursed very tightly.

Zhou Mingyan walked in and everyone, except for Grandfather and Grandmother Qi, stood up.

It did not occur to Zhou Mingyan that Song Yu would be present with Qi Chengzhi. Did the Qi family acknowledge Song Yu and accept her as part of the family?

Zhou Mingyan scoffed silently.

” Mrs. Jian ⁴ , why are you here?” Although Guan Liya felt that a bit odd and regarded as bad etiquette that Zhou Mingyan did not give them a courtesy call before coming, Guan Liya still asked politely, “Have you eaten lunch?”

“Hehehe, in fact, I haven’t,” Zhou Mingyan smiled sheepishly.

It was not an answer that Guan Liya was expecting. Her mind went blank for a moment, but she quickly recollected her thoughts and said, “Come sit. It would’ve been nice if you came earlier. We’ve just finished lunch, and if you came earlier, we could have eaten together. There are only some leftovers, but we simply can’t give them to our guests.”

“Hehe, actually, we’ve prepared a lot of food ourselves this afternoon. Jian Yi and Qi Chengyue were supposed to come back today, right? I thought they could come back for a meal, so I was busy in the kitchen for the entire morning. In the end, though, I waited and waited for them but they never showed up.” Zhou Mingyan’s smile was as fake as fake could be.

The Qi family were no idiots; they all picked up Zhou Mingyan’s insinuation rather quickly. It was obvious that she came just to criticize them.

Grandmother Qi was never one to hold grudges against the younger generation. All those years, she became more and more amicable, and her temper improved too, but that did not mean that all that temper had just disappeared from her.

An instant look of disapprobation manifested on her face, and she remarked coldly, “Jian Yi, did you come here for a meal without saying a word to your parents?”

Jian Yi’s expression was stiff and the only thing he could say was, “I was so busy that I forgot.”

“How can you not be thorough in the things that you do?” The old lady lambasted. She then turned to Aunt Liu, “Quick, cook something for Mrs. Jian.”

“Don’t trouble yourself, I just wanted to come here and visit for a while,” Zhou Mingyan said. “If I knew earlier that you were coming here to eat, I wouldn’t have prepared so much food.”

Qi Zhongxun and Guan Liya both had an equally unsavory expression. The old lady then said, “Chengyue, go upstairs and pack up your things. Hurry up and follow Jian Yi to his parents’ home. Don’t let your mother-in-law wait too long. Mrs. Jian, while she’s packing up, please have something to eat here. It’s bad for the body to go hungry. Jian Yi, this child, how could he have let you wait for so long without even informing you!”

“No, no, I’m fine.” Zhou Mingyan waved her hand and stood up. “Excuse me for coming here out of the blue. If the two children are happy here then let them be. It’s only right that my son loves my daughter-in-law dearly. I’ll be going back now. I just wanted to see my son and daughter-in-law. Seeing them is enough to remove the worries I have.”

Zhou Mingyan’s words were extremely uncomfortable for the Qi family to hear. In light of that, Guan Liya urged Qi Chengyue to tidy her things up.

Of course, Qi Chengyue was unhappy about it. She got up miserably and said to Jian Yi, “Jian Yi, come with me!”

Jian Yi shot her a look and said nothing as he followed her upstairs.

“Mrs. Jian, Chengyue was spoiled at home since she was young. She hasn’t interacted with many people when she’s outside. Even though she entered Qilin after her graduation, it’s because of our family connection that everyone accommodates her no matter what she does. We were especially lenient to her, so she doesn’t understand how things work in the normal world. It’s all a blank slate for her and she’s like a kid. Sometimes, she can be stubborn, but in other words, she’s actually really naïve. If she ever does something wrong, don’t stoop to her level and argue with her. Teach her slowly, but don’t get angry with her. I hope you can bear with her regardless of what happens.”

“Not at all, not at all! I’m her elder, after all, I couldn’t possibly stoop to a younger person’s level.” Zhou Mingyan smiled and drank a sip to tea. She smacked her lips and allowed a happy expression to form on her face, “Oh, this tea is really good!”

“My husband loves drinking tea. This is oolong from the very top of Alishan. Not much of this good quality tea is produced in a year. If you like, bring some home,” the old lady offered.

“Oh, that’s too kind of you.” Zhou Mingyan smiled but did not reject the offer. Thus, the old lady smiled and asked Aunt Liu to bring a tin for Zhou Mingyan.

She took the tin while saying, “I’m so embarrassed. I came here empty-handed and yet I’m bringing something home.”

Zhou Mingyan’s mouth may be saying that, but her actions suggested that she was in a hurry to stuff the tea into her bag.

“Song Yu, I didn’t expect to see you here.” Zhou Mingyan smiled hypocritically. “I haven’t visited your parents in a while, how are they?”

“They’re good,” Song Yu replied bluntly.

“Hehe, it’s surprising to see you and Chengzhi together.” Zhou Mingyan regarded herself as part of the Qi family, by way of relatives-in-marriage, so there was no need for her to address him so respectably as ‘Young Master Cheng.’

“I always thought you liked Jian Yi, but it’s such a coincidence, isn’t it? Jian Yi’s married to Qi Chengyue, and you’re…” Zhou Mingyan covered her mouth abruptly. Her eyeballs went into a frenzy as they looked at the Qi family’s reaction. She subsequently slapped her mouth lightly a few times.

“I used to say that you got together because Jian Yi…” Zhou Mingyan slapped her mouth once more. “Silly me, this mouth of mine just can’t stop saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, causing everyone to misunderstand! Please treat it as though you heard nothing!”

Qi Chengzhi smiled indifferently and turned to Qi Youxuan, who munched happily on a watermelon. “Youxuan, who’s better, Uncle Jian Yi [3] or your elder uncle?”

“It’s you of course!” Qi Youxuan swallowed the watermelon and rubbed his mouth. He rattled off directly, “You’re more handsome, richer, and taller than Uncle Jian Yi! Your position is much higher too, and you’re more respected. Your family’s also much better than Uncle Jian Yi’s! You’re way better than him in everything! There’s nothing that he could ever match up to you!”

“So, do you think that Auntie got together with me because of Uncle Jian Yi?” Qi Chengzhi asked again.

Song Yu watched as Qi Chengzhi’s elegant fingers covered her hand and rubbed it gently. She turned her palm and held him, inserting her fingers between his and ensuring that they were interlocked.

“No way! Auntie’s not crazy!” Qi Youxuan looked at Qi Chengzhi and had an expression that screamed ‘Are you nuts?’.

Qi Chengzhi smiled in satisfaction and kept quiet.

Qi Youxuan’s endless slew of ‘You’re much’ and ‘You’re more’ were like repeated blows to Zhou Mingyan. Her face became uglier and uglier, so much so that she could not even fake a smile.

Qi Chenglin massaged his son’s soft hair and smiled as he rubbed salt all over Zhou Mingyan’s wounds. “Children’s words carry no harm. Don’t take offense. Jian Yi’s got character, but if you compare him to my Big Brother, well, it’s actually quite…”

“Hehe.” Qi Chenglin let out a self-serving laugh. “If the four-year-old boy in our family doesn’t believe it, well, I think the adults wouldn’t believe it too. Please don’t stress yourself out.”

Qi Youxuan nodded enthusiastically. “My dad’s rich and handsome, and he has an even better temper than my elder uncle, but Auntie didn’t want him too. She just didn’t want to be my stepmother. She only wanted to be with my elder uncle. Uncle Jian Yi isn’t worthy of being mentioned at all!”

The boy finished his sentence, but then shook his head and appeared to mumble to himself, “In this respect, Auntie is a bit crazy. Elder uncle has such a bad temper and he’s always up to evil tricks. I don’t know which part of him that Auntie likes. My dad’s even better.”

Other than Zhou Mingyan, the rest of them were utterly stupefied. Qi Chenglin let out a dry laugh. Noticing Qi Chengzhi’s displeased look, Qi Chenglin stuffed the piece of watermelon into Qi Youxuan’s mouth immediately, preventing him from saying anything that would provoke Qi Chengzhi.

Upon seeing the Qi family’s acceptance of Song Yu, Zhou Mingyan planned to strain Song Yu and Qi Chengzhi’s relationship. The goal was to incite the Qi family to suspect Song Yu’s every move, resulting in them forbidding Song Yu to be a part of the family.

Song Yu’s happiness was a sight Zhou Mingyan abhorred; she was fine with Jian Yi casting Song Yu aside and she could live with it if Song Yu married someone else, but she simply could not accept it when she saw Song Yu being happier than Jian Yi and was in a much better position than him.