Chapter 692 - 240: The Greedy Gao Family

The gardener was terrified. "I’m sorry, I’m sorry."

"Why are you apologizing to me? You cut a flower, not my head." Qin Mei looked at the gardener with a smile, brought the flower to her nose, and sniffed. ’It smells so good, perfect for a petal bath.’

"Eldest Young Madam, I was wrong." The gardener suddenly knelt.

Startled, Qin Mei jumped back a step. "What are you doing? Get up."

"Eldest Young Madam, I’ve made a mistake. Please punish me." The gardener was ready to accept his punishment.

"What mistake did you make? What would I punish you for? Get up. I don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea." Qin Mei bent down to help him up, but as soon as she touched his arm, the gardener frantically scrambled back a step on his knees, dodging her attempt to help.

"I cut the flower. I beg you for a severe punishment, Eldest Young Madam," the gardener said.

Qin Mei looked up at the sky. ’Is the Qiao family really this strict with their staff? A severe punishment just for accidentally cutting a flower?’

"It’s just a flower. It’s not that serious. Now get up." Qin Mei took a step back and didn’t try to help him up again. She realized that the closer she got, the more frightened the gardener became, as if she were some kind of monster.

The gardener didn’t dare, looking as if he was about to kowtow to Qin Mei.

Since the soft approach wasn’t working, she’d try the hard one. Qin Mei’s expression hardened, and she said in a stern voice, "Get up."

The gardener immediately shot to his feet, his respectful posture tinged with fear.

Seeing this, Qin Mei mused, ’So he really does respond better to the stick than the carrot.’ "Continue."

The gardener was baffled. ’Continue what? Continue working, or continue kneeling?’

Qin Mei’s gaze locked onto a stunning, vibrant red rose in full bloom. She pointed at it and said in a commanding tone, "Cut that flower for me."

Not daring to delay, the gardener plucked it by hand instead of using his shears and presented it with both hands. "Eldest Young Madam."

Qin Mei took it and gave it a sniff. "Continue with your work."

"Yes." The gardener picked up his shears and resumed trimming the branches, his movements far more careful than usual.

Holding the rose, Qin Mei strolled leisurely toward the main gate. The moment she was gone, the gardener let out a sigh of relief and wiped the cold sweat that had broken out on his forehead.

Four bodyguards stood at the main gate. Xu Jiali was standing just outside, looking around every so often.

When the four bodyguards saw Qin Mei, they greeted her respectfully in unison, "Eldest Young Madam."

Hearing them, Xu Jiali turned. Her eyes lit up when she saw Qin Mei walking toward her. "Xiao Mei."

"A flower for you." Qin Mei brought the rose out from behind her back and held it out to Xu Jiali.

Xu Jiali didn’t like roses, but she still took it to be polite to Qin Mei, feigning delight. "Wow, it’s so beautiful."

’That was so fake,’ Qin Mei thought, completely speechless. "You don’t like roses?"

"I do like them," Xu Jiali said.

Qin Mei rolled her eyes at her. "If you like them, you like them. If you don’t, you don’t. No need to force it."

"I don’t like them." Xu Jiali casually tossed the rose aside and even stomped on it with her foot.

Qin Mei was stunned. ’You might not like it, but I do!’ she thought. ’If you didn’t want it, you could have just given it back. You just threw it away. And fine, you threw it away, I could have picked it up. But what was the deal with stomping on it?’

Xu Jiali liked to wear princess-style dresses, so Qin Mei had assumed she would like flowers. Who knew she didn’t.

But Qin Mei wasn’t about to fall out with Xu Jiali over a single rose.

"It’s almost noon. Why isn’t your boyfriend’s family here yet?" Qin Mei asked. ’They can’t even be bothered to show up early for a marriage proposal? Are they planning on arriving just in time for lunch?’

The Qiao family already had reservations about this marriage. With the Gao family showing such a lack of enthusiasm, even a perfect score of one hundred would get docked by fifty points.

Xu Jiali looked a little dejected but still tried to make excuses for the Gao family. "Something important must have held them up."

Qin Mei shifted her weight to one leg, crossed her arms, and struck a queenly pose. "Let me ask you, what could possibly be more important than showing up to the bride’s family home for a marriage proposal?"

With the Gao family still nowhere in sight, Xu Jiali was sick with worry. Faced with Qin Mei’s pointed question, she was at a loss for words.

"Maybe... maybe they had an accident on the way." Even as she said it, Xu Jiali had no confidence in her own words. ’What kind of accident? Could it really be such a coincidence?’

Qin Mei rolled her eyes at Xu Jiali and asked snidely, "A car crash? Did the whole family get wiped out?"

’If they really got into a car crash and the whole family was wiped out,’ Qin Mei thought, ’I wouldn’t believe it was an accident. It would be deliberate, and the first person I’d suspect would be Jie Jingchen.’

The four bodyguards exchanged glances. ’The Eldest Young Madam sure has a sharp tongue.’

"Xiao Mei!" Xu Jiali stomped her foot. ’You can’t just curse my future boyfriend and parents-in-law like that!’

Qin Mei waved her hand dismissively, a smile touching the corners of her lips. "I’m just kidding. Don’t worry, it’s not like my words are blessed or something. They won’t come true."

Xu Jiali glared at Qin Mei. "But what if the good predictions don’t come true and only the bad ones do?"