Siheyuan came through and sent Jia Zhang to prison

Chapter 623 Qin Huairu Gains the Upper Hand

Jia Dongxu's aunt responded with a "Yes," and turned to walk into the kitchen. As soon as she entered, she saw Qin Huairu wearing a blue apron, chopping potatoes. The cleaver slammed heavily on the cutting board, as if she were at odds with the potatoes. She cleared her throat and cut to the chase, her tone a mix of probing and firmness: "Fine, Qin Huairu, I didn't expect you to be following me. Tell me, what are you trying to do, following me all this way?"

Qin Huairu stopped cutting the potatoes, arranging them neatly on a plate. She turned around, her gentle demeanor gone, replaced by a knowing smile, her eyes like ice. She looked Jia Dongxu's aunt up and down, then slowly said, "Auntie, I won't beat around the bush. I didn't expect you and Uncle Yi to get along so well, managing to pair up like that. Impressive, aren't you?"

Upon hearing this, Jia Dongxu's aunt's face turned deathly pale, and the handkerchief she was clutching twisted into a pretzel—the girl had indeed seen it! She tried to remain calm and raised her voice, as if to bolster her courage: "What nonsense are you talking about? Uncle Yi and I are just neighbors. What's wrong with exchanging a few words when we bump into each other in the yard? Why are you being so sarcastic?"

Qin Huairu sneered, turned around and added firewood to the stove. Sparks crackled and leaped, the flames flaring up and casting flickering light on her face. "Say a few words?" she repeated, her sarcasm barely concealed. "That depends on where you say them and what you say, doesn't it? Under that old locust tree in the backyard, the weeds are almost as tall as a person, not even a ghost would go there. You two were whispering to each other for ages, do you think I'm blind?"

Qin Huairu took a step forward, the flames in the stove crackling and illuminating half of her face. A sly glint lurked in her eyes, like a fox that had caught its prey. She deliberately lowered her voice, her breath hot against Jia Dongxu's aunt's ear, each word sharp and menacing: "Uncle Yi's hand, touching your waist like that, was he just chatting about everyday things?"

These words were like a red-hot needle, piercing Jia Dongxu's aunt's heart. Her lips trembled, and she couldn't utter a complete sentence for a long time. Her face flushed red and then turned pale, like a palette that had been splashed with paint. The sweat in her palms soaked through her handkerchief.

"Qin, Qin Huairu, don't talk nonsense!" She panicked, her voice trembling, the last syllable shaking. "It's a misunderstanding! I, I was just walking in a hurry and tripped, and he reached out to help me..." The more she spoke, the less confident she became, and she felt that her excuse was as flimsy as a sheet of paper, and would be torn apart at the slightest touch.

Qin Huairu just smiled, the corners of her mouth were upturned, but there was no smile in her eyes. The spatula in her hand scraped the bottom of the iron pot lightly, making a soft "shh" sound. The rhythm was slow and leisurely, as if urging her to make a decision.

Seeing this, Jia Dongxu's aunt knew perfectly well that this matter couldn't be hidden any longer. She gritted her teeth, looked up at Qin Huairu, and said in a defiant tone, "Alright, stop beating around the bush. Just say it. What do you want?"

Qin Huairu stopped laughing, straightened up, and sprinkled some salt into the pot. Her tone was slow but carried an undeniable weight: "Auntie, I'm not one to make things difficult for people. From now on, just help me take care of Dongxu and the children. You know, I work alone in the factory, and when I come home, I have to take care of my whole family. I'm always busy, and if I get too tired and say something carelessly, it won't sound good if word gets out, don't you think?"

Jia Dongxu's aunt instantly understood the implication—this was a pretext to bind her to the Jia family and make her work like a slave! She was seething with anger, her nails digging into her flesh, but she forced a smile and bowed obsequiously: "Look at you, we're all family, helping each other is only right. Starting tomorrow, I'll take care of all the cooking, laundry, and cleaning. You can just relax and rest, okay?"

Qin Huairu nodded in satisfaction, picked up the spatula and stirred the shredded potatoes in the pot. The aroma rose with the steam: "Then I'll have to trouble you, Auntie. I've almost finished cooking today, so you won't have to do it."

"Okay, okay, okay." Jia Dongxu's aunt quickly agreed, standing aside and watching Qin Huairu's busy figure, a sinister glint flashed in her eyes—you wait! Once I'm pregnant with Yi Zhonghai's child and have a firm foothold in the Yi family, I'll see how I deal with you! Forget about helping you, I'll definitely leave your whole family far behind and never want to have anything to do with you again in this lifetime!

At dinner, Jia Dongxu's aunt was indeed a different person. She rushed to hand Qin Huairu her bowl and chopsticks, peeled eggs for the three children, and even filled Jia Dongxu's bowl to the brim with rice. Her smile seemed glued to her face and never left.

Jia Dongxu watched this scene, his brows furrowed in a tangled mess—his aunt wasn't usually harsh to Qin Huairu, but she was never this warm. Was she possessed today? But he was always too lazy to bother with the trivialities of family matters, so he assumed his aunt had just changed her personality. He buried his head in his rice, his mouth full of vegetables, and mumbled indistinctly, "The shredded potatoes are alright today."

Meanwhile, the atmosphere at Yi Zhonghai's house was inexplicably heavy. Yi Zhonghai sat at the kang table, his face ashen, like an iron plate. He was pouring wine from a bottle into a rough porcelain bowl, the liquid spilling over the rim and splashing onto the oilcloth on the table, spreading a small dark patch, but he was completely oblivious. His plan had been perfectly in place, how had Qin Huairu managed to ruin it? And he'd even been forced to write a guarantee; just thinking about it filled him with rage, a burning anger that made his very core ache.

Aunt Tan came out of the kitchen carrying a plate of pickled radishes. As soon as she entered the door, she frowned and sniffed: "Old Yi, what's wrong with you? You were just out for a short while, why do you smell so much like perfume? And there's also a sweet fragrance of locust blossoms on you. Where did you go?"

Yi Zhonghai's heart skipped a beat, realizing something was wrong—Aunt Tan's nose was sharper than a dog's; she must have smelled the perfume on Aunt Jia Dongxu's body, and the fragrance of the old locust tree in the backyard. He quickly put down the wine bottle, forcing a smile that looked more like a grimace: "Where could I have gone? I just went out for a stroll and ran into an old buddy from the factory. He insisted on having a couple of drinks with me, and he got drunk and cried for ages. I guess his scent got on me."

Aunt Tan looked at him with suspicion, her eyes scanning him up and down. She didn't ask any more questions, but simply put the pickled radish on the table and said in a deep voice, "Don't drink too much alcohol in silence, it's bad for your health. If you have any worries, tell me, don't keep them to yourself."