Chapter 810 - 279: I Want to Divorce Him

"PFFT!" Qin Mei looked at Jie Jingchen’s solemn expression and couldn’t help but burst into laughter. She teased, "He’s your Granny’s favorite grandson. If I ruin him, your Granny will fight me to the death."

"Don’t worry. She’s getting on in years. Fighting you to the death would undoubtedly be like a moth flying into a flame." Jie Jingchen refrained from uttering the next few words out loud: it would be courting her own destruction.

Qin Mei furrowed her brows. Raising a hand against an elderly woman? What happened to the virtue of respecting the old and cherishing the young? Had he completely thrown it out the window?

"With your Granny’s condition, the slightest provocation will have her fainting on the spot. I don’t want to provoke her, lest I get burned." The worst part was that she wasn’t faking her fainting spells; they were entirely real.

Jie Jingchen gazed at her with calm, steady eyes and said earnestly, "If anything happens, I’ll take the blame."

To say she wasn’t touched by his words would be a lie.

Filial piety could be truly frustrating, yet Jie Jingchen hadn’t urged her to prioritize it or look at the big picture. He consistently took her side.

However, that woman was still his Granny after all.

A hint of gloom flickered across Qin Mei’s face. "There are some things you can take the blame for," she said slowly, "and others you can’t help me with. But don’t worry, Jie Jingsi. As long as you don’t cheat on me, I won’t cheat on you."

"I absolutely never will," Jie Jingchen declared resolutely.

"Good." Qin Mei smiled, tossing the sorted vegetables into the bamboo basket. She wriggled her shoulders, which were still tightly gripped by Jie Jingchen. "Let go. I need to wash the vegetables."

Jie Jingchen stared absentmindedly at Qin Mei standing by the sink. He stood up, walked over, and silently nudged her aside.

"Jie Jingsi, what are you doing?" Qin Mei asked in displeasure. She thought he wanted to wash his hands. Washing his hands while she was trying to wash the vegetables? That was too much. Couldn’t he wait until she was done?

"I’ll do it," Jie Jingchen said.

Qin Mei blinked in surprise. He wasn’t trying to wash his hands; he wanted to wash the vegetables. She leaned her hip against him and bumped him out of the way. "No need. I’ll wash them."

With her sleeves rolled up high, Qin Mei scooped the vegetables out of the enamel basin and into the basket. She dumped out the dirty water, refilled the basin, and poured the vegetables back in to wash them.

"Meimei, these are leafy greens," Jie Jingchen noted, a faint smile touching his lips as he watched her rough handling.

"I know that. I don’t need you to introduce them to me," Qin Mei retorted, scrubbing vigorously.

"Washing them like that is going to disfigure them." Jie Jingchen didn’t want to dampen her enthusiasm, but he also didn’t want to see the greens completely destroyed.

Qin Mei paused. Looking down at the mangled, practically unrecognizable vegetables, she let out a sigh. These greens really couldn’t handle a good wash!

"You wash them then." Very self-aware, Qin Mei took a step back and gave up her spot to Jie Jingchen. She shook the water from her hands, though she couldn’t help but mutter, "Honestly, it’s rare that I actually want to be diligent, and you won’t even give me the chance to show off."

Jie Jingchen chuckled, taking her wet hand. "I’ll teach you."

"I don’t want to learn." Qin Mei pulled her hand free and marched out of the kitchen, her chin lifted in a proud pout.

She wasn’t destined to be a chef. She was only meant to sit and wait for the food to be served. That suited her just fine.

Half a month later, at the Lin family home, Lin Yaru finished her confinement period after her miscarriage.

Li Axiu returned from grocery shopping to find Lin Yaru dressed to the nines and glowing. She wore a floral dress paired with high heels and a light coat. Her hair was braided into two neat pigtails, and her exquisite makeup made her complexion look leaps and bounds better. Her entire aura seemed to have elevated to a whole new level.

Li Axiu felt immensely relieved. Her nose tingled, and her eyes grew red. This was her confident daughter.

Before Qin Mei came into the picture, Yaru had been the most beautiful girl in the entire alley. With a great job, stunning looks, and elegant poise, countless talented young men had nearly trampled their doorway flat trying to propose marriage. Unfortunately, the stubborn girl only had eyes for Jie Jingchen.

Yaru’s deep affection had ultimately been misplaced.

"Yaru," Li Axiu called out, her voice trembling slightly.

"Mom, do I look pretty?" Lin Yaru smiled faintly, doing a slow twirl in front of Li Axiu.

"You’re beautiful. My daughter is the most beautiful person in the world." Li Axiu choked back a sob, not holding back her praise.

"Hehe," Lin Yaru chuckled softly, her smile bright and charming.

"Yaru, are you heading out? I’ll go with you." Li Axiu hurriedly moved to set her shopping basket down on the stone table in the courtyard. There was something off about her daughter’s condition. Back in the hospital, the girl had been drowning in a whirlpool of absolute despair, acting like a walking corpse after losing the child in her womb and her ability to ever become a mother. Let alone her daughter’s suffering, she and Old Lin had spent countless sleepless nights sighing in sorrow.

But after being discharged and returning to the Lin family home, her daughter seemed to undergo an instantaneous transformation. Her grief had been replaced by joy, and she sat through her short confinement with complete peace of mind. This abrupt change had severely frightened Li Axiu and Old Lin.

Lin Yaru’s expression froze for a second before she shook her head at Li Axiu. "I’m going to look for Jie Jingwei," she said.