Chapter 687 - 238: You Kicked Me, You Have to Be Responsible for Me

Xu Jiali’s gaze fell on Jie Jingchen’s foot. She said, "Oh," and closed the door again.

Qin Mei was relieved. ’She bought my lie. If I had told the truth, Xu Jiali would have been looking at...’

Qin Mei didn’t know if Xu Jiali would have been embarrassed, but she did know that, based on her understanding of Jie Jingchen, he definitely would have freaked out.

Qin Mei helped Jie Jingchen into the room and had him lie on the bed. In a businesslike tone, she said, "Take off your pants. I’ll check you."

Jie Jingchen looked at Qin Mei’s flushed cheeks. Even her ears were red. ’So she can still get shy.’ "Is the door locked?"

Qin Mei glanced at him, turned to lock the door, and then went to the bathroom for a moment. When she returned, she stood by the bed, waiting for Jie Jingchen to take off his pants.

"My hands hurt. I can’t take them off," Jie Jingchen said, playing helpless.

"Did I kick your hands?" Qin Mei asked through gritted teeth.

"You didn’t kick my hands, but for some reason, they started hurting out of nowhere. I’ve had this symptom before, probably an old problem. It’ll hurt for a bit and then heal on its own." The lie came so easily to Jie Jingchen.

Qin Mei just looked at him. ’Keep making things up. Go on, keep spinning your tale.’

The two were at a stalemate. Qin Mei insisted he take his pants off himself, while Jie Jingchen insisted she help him. Her attitude was, ’If you don’t take them off, I won’t check.’ His was, ’If you won’t do it, then I won’t be checked.’

"You’re the one who kicked me. You have to take responsibility," Jie Jingchen said, his tone both domineering and aggrieved.

"Don’t worry, I’ll take responsibility for you. I’ll stay with you for a lifetime and never leave. Whether I kicked you hard enough to break something isn’t really important. I don’t mind either way," Qin Mei said with a nonchalant shrug.

"Not important?" Jie Jingchen asked, grinding his teeth.

"Not. Important," Qin Mei enunciated each word.

"Fine, if it’s not important, then forget it." Jie Jingchen was angry now. He turned over, presenting Qin Mei with his back.

Qin Mei stood by the bed, her hands clenched into fists. ’This guy is actually throwing a tantrum.’

In the end, Qin Mei gave in. She was the one who had done it, after all. If she had really broken something, and their stubbornness caused them to miss the best window for treatment, it would be a disaster. Qin Mei had no desire to live the life of a widow in all but name.

Blushing, Qin Mei helped him take them off and performed a thorough examination...

After a long moment, Qin Mei breathed a sigh of relief. She helped him get dressed again, then stared at Jie Jingchen and announced with a straight face, "Examination complete. Nothing’s broken."

"Check again, more carefully. I feel like it’s broken," Jie Jingchen said, trying to tempt her.

Qin Mei shot him a glare and poked Jie Jingchen’s forehead. "Your feeling is wrong."

"Meimei, my feelings are very accurate. For the sake of your own happiness, I suggest you check again, very carefully." Jie Jingchen gritted his teeth, suppressing the fire within him.

Qin Mei couldn’t be bothered with him. She got up and headed for the bathroom. As she walked away, Jie Jingchen called out to her back, "Meimei, you need to take this seriously."

Qin Mei stopped, turned to look at Jie Jingchen, a strange smile playing on her lips. She said unhurriedly, "My examination concluded that there’s no problem. If you trust your own feelings more than me, then you can check it yourself."

Jie Jingchen’s mouth twitched. He watched Qin Mei enter the bathroom, then rolled off the bed. He straightened his pants, which Qin Mei hadn’t put back on neatly, and strode out of the room.

Qin Mei washed her hands and came out of the bathroom to find Jie Jingchen gone. She frowned slightly. "Where’d he run off to?"

Qin Mei went downstairs to look for Jie Jingchen. In the first-floor living room, Xu Jiali was clinging to her grandmother, wheedling.

"Auntie, I want to get married! I want to have children! Can you please help me talk to Jing Chen? Please?" Xu Jiali pleaded, shaking her grandmother until she was dizzy.

"Stop shaking me, you’re making my head spin," Grandma said, stopping Xu Jiali from shaking her.

"Auntie, I love Gao Qiang, and he loves me too! His parents are very good to me. If I marry into the Gao family, they’ll only dote on me more. They’ll never let me suffer the slightest grievance," Xu Jiali said.

"You young people have the freedom to marry whomever you choose. I won’t interfere in your marriage with that Gao boy," Grandma stated her position.

"Auntie, you and Uncle might not interfere, but Jing Chen is interfering!" Xu Jiali said with a miserable expression.

"You’re Jing Chen’s aunt. Just tell him not to interfere with your marriage," Grandma said emotionlessly.

"He doesn’t listen to me," Xu Jiali said, looking distraught.

"He doesn’t listen to me, either," Grandma replied, looking completely helpless to do anything.

Qin Mei had to admire Xu Jiali. ’She’s really casting a wide net, pestering Grandma for help at the same time she’s asking me.’

"Auntie!" Xu Jiali stomped her foot.

Seeing no sign of Jie Jingchen on the first floor, Qin Mei had intended to look for him in the courtyard. Not wanting to disturb Xu Jiali and Grandma, and especially not wanting to get cornered by Xu Jiali, she quietly went back upstairs.

Back in the room, Jie Jingchen was there again.

"Where did you go?" the two asked in perfect, unspoken sync.

They both paused for a second, then looked at each other and smiled.

"Come here," Jie Jingchen beckoned to Qin Mei.

Qin Mei walked over to Jie Jingchen. They sat on the sofa, with Jie Jingchen’s arm around her and Qin Mei leaning into his embrace.

"Jie Jingsi, your aunt said that her boyfriend is bringing his parents over tomorrow to discuss the wedding date with your grandpa and grandma."

"If I don’t nod, the Gao Family won’t even be able to get through the Qiao Family’s front gate," Jie Jingchen said arrogantly.

"The Gao Family can’t get in, but your aunt can get out," Qin Mei said, fiddling with a button on Jie Jingchen’s shirt.

"She can’t get out," Jie Jingchen snorted coldly.

Qin Mei didn’t argue. For half a month now, Jie Jingchen hadn’t allowed Xu Jiali to leave the house, and she really hadn’t been able to. Jie Jingchen hadn’t restricted Qin Mei’s movements, but the problem was, without Xu Jiali to take her, where would she even go?

’A walk? I can do that in the courtyard.’

"Where there is oppression, there is resistance. The more you oppose them, the more madly in love and inseparable they’ll become," Qin Mei reminded him.

It wasn’t that Jie Jingchen hadn’t considered this, but so what?

"Grandpa and Grandma don’t object to her dating Gao Qiang, but when it comes to marriage, they have to think it over carefully." Jie Jingchen’s implication was that the opposition to Xu Jiali marrying into the Gao family came from his grandparents.

"So it’s really your grandpa and grandma who are against your aunt getting married?" Qin Mei understood now. ’No wonder Xu Jiali was pestering Grandma. When it comes to this, Xu Jiali knows exactly what’s going on.’

Jie Jingchen pondered for a few seconds before saying, "Grandpa and Grandma’s thinking is simple. If Gao Qiang is truly sincere with Xu Jiali, with no ulterior motives, they’ll approve the marriage. The problem is, the Gao Family’s intentions are obvious, and Gao Qiang’s love for Xu Jiali isn’t that pure. Only a fool like Xu Jiali would believe his love for her is pure."

Qin Mei wanted to say that a woman in the throes of passion has an IQ in the negative numbers.

Jie Jingchen continued, "Having learned from past experiences, Grandpa and Grandma aren’t trying to break them up so aggressively this time. Instead, they’ve given me the heavy responsibility of dealing with it. They specifically reminded me that breaking them up isn’t the main goal. The main goal is to test him—to test whether Gao Qiang is worthy of Xu Jiali entrusting her life to him."

"Like you said, the Gao family’s intentions toward your aunt are obvious. But what if Gao Qiang is genuinely in love with her?" Qin Mei asked, wondering whether they would approve the marriage if Gao Qiang passed their test, or if they would still find a way to oppose it no matter what.

"If the Gao Family treats Xu Jiali sincerely, the Qiao Family can lend them a helping hand. If they don’t treat her sincerely, but Gao Qiang himself is genuine, then even if we don’t have him marry into our family, we’ll still ensure his meteoric rise," Jie Jingchen said.

"I get what you mean now." Qin Mei patted Jie Jingchen’s cheek. ’He’s really gone to great lengths for his aunt’s marriage.’ "But delaying things like this... you can only take it so far."

"Do you have a better plan?" Jie Jingchen asked, feigning humility.

"I don’t have a better plan, but I want to remind you that the more you delay, the more desperate your aunt will be to get married. Unless you can have someone watch her 24/7, the moment she gets a chance to slip out, she’ll either secretly register her marriage with Gao Qiang or come back pregnant," Qin Mei said.