Chapter 691 - 239: Does He Love Me? 4

"Don’t you wear a watch?" Xu Jiali asked, shooting Jie Jingchen a sidelong glance. She was just waiting for their grandmother to satisfy her curiosity.

Jie Jingchen’s voice was low as he asked, "Shouldn’t you be at the gate to greet your future husband and in-laws?"

Xu Jiali’s curiosity was piqued. She was the type to pester someone relentlessly for an answer. If she wore their grandmother down, she would eventually sell Jie Jingchen out, and Xu Jiali would use it to mock him from time to time.

Xu Jiali raised an eyebrow, looking at Jie Jingchen in surprise. She realized he wasn’t genuinely telling her to go welcome her fiancé and his parents, but rather trying to stop her from prying.

’For a woman to incapacitate a man with a kick... unless...’

Overcome with curiosity, Xu Jiali’s gaze slowly traveled up from Jie Jingchen’s feet, finally locking, with reckless abandon, onto...

Qin Mei touched her forehead. ’Isn’t she supposed to be afraid of Jie Jingchen? That look in her eyes is a blatant provocation.’

"Xu. Jia. Li." Jie Jingchen enunciated each syllable, his voice dripping with menace.

Xu Jiali looked flustered for a moment and quickly averted her gaze. She looked at the sky, the floor, the other people—anywhere but at Jie Jingchen. Still, she asked with relish, "Isn’t it just a sprained ankle?"

"It is a sprained ankle," Qin Mei said, committed to the lie. ’What’s the point of giving up halfway?’

Xu Jiali knew better than to argue. An enraged Jie Jingchen wouldn’t kill her, but he would take his anger out on her boyfriend.

"Grandma, I’m going to the main gate to greet my boyfriend and his family." Before the words were even out of her mouth, Xu Jiali turned tail and bolted from the living room.

"I’ll go keep Auntie company." Jie Jingshan also made a tactful attempt to exit.

"Stop," Jie Jingchen called out to Jie Jingshan. Before Xu Jiali had provoked him, he wouldn’t have stopped Jing Qi from accompanying her. But now that she had, he refused to let her go.

’He didn’t welcome the Gao family to begin with. It was one thing for Xu Jiali to go, but if Jing Qi went to wait with her at the gate, it would make it seem as though the Qiao Family placed great importance on this meeting.’

"Brother..." Jie Jingshan looked toward Qin Mei for help.

Qin Mei blinked. ’Why is she looking at me? Xu Jiali is digging her own grave—what can I do about it? Jie Jingchen is furious, and I don’t dare to intervene either.’

"Jing Shan, why don’t you go to your room and study," Qin Mei said.

"Okay." Jie Jingshan didn’t mind. As long as she didn’t have to stay in the living room, she’d go anywhere.

"Such a good girl," Qin Mei said with a smile. ’Jing Qi really listens to me. She’s so obedient that if I sold her, she’d probably help me count the money.’

Only Jie Jingchen, Qin Mei, and their grandmother were left in the living room, with a servant passing by occasionally. Jie Jingchen was lost in thought, while Qin Mei and her grandmother made small talk.

A little while later, the butler called Jie Jingchen away, leaving only Qin Mei and her grandmother in the living room.

A few minutes later, her grandfather had someone call her grandmother away, leaving Qin Mei all alone in the living room.

With no one left to talk to, Qin Mei grew a little bored. Noticing it was a sunless yet muggy day, she decided to go into the courtyard and admire the flowers.

The gardener responsible for pruning the branches saw Qin Mei and greeted her respectfully, "Eldest Young Madam."

Qin Mei smiled. "Please, carry on. Don’t mind me."

"Yes, Eldest Young Madam." The gardener went back to his pruning. Perhaps it was because Qin Mei was standing so close, but he felt immense pressure. With a SNIP of his shears, he missed the twig he was aiming for and lopped off a flower that was just about to bloom.

The gardener froze, dumbfounded. He had been working diligently for more than a decade and had never made a professional mistake. Yet today, he’d slipped up.

Qin Mei looked at the snipped flower, then glanced at the gardener again. ’His technique isn’t very good,’ she thought, but then she noticed the other plants he had trimmed nearby. They were perfectly manicured.

Qin Mei bent down, picked up the fallen blossom, and said with a sigh, "What a pity."