Chapter 812 - 279: I Want to Divorce Him

"Mom, you didn’t say that before." Lin Yaru was furious—angry that her mother refused to support her, and even more furious that she was belittling her.

"Before, I was biting off more than I could chew. Now, I know my limits." Li Axiu poked Lin Yaru in the forehead. "Yaru, putting aside the fact that Jing Si isn’t interested in you—he’s a married man."

"He can get a divorce," Lin Yaru said, as if it were a given.

"A divorce? Do you honestly think it’s realistic for Qin Mei to divorce Jing Si?" Li Axiu asked.

"They don’t have any real feelings for each other. A divorce is only a matter of time. As long as we throw a wrench in the works, it will only speed up the process." The more Lin Yaru thought about it, the closer her hopes seemed to being realized.

Li Axiu felt like she was going crazy. "Which eye of yours saw that they don’t have feelings for each other?" she snapped. "They are obviously deeply in love! Especially the way Jing Si looks at Qin Mei—he treats her like the absolute apple of his eye."

"Jing Si is just temporarily bewitched by that seductress Qin Mei. Once he sees her true colors, he’ll get sick of her and throw her away," Lin Yaru insisted.

"A seductress? When have you ever seen a seductress get thrown away? They’re the ones who suck a man dry and then toss him aside," Li Axiu retorted.

Lin Yaru thought for a moment before replying. "Sister Xu will help me. She has a way to make Jing Si divorce her and marry me."

"You still believe Xu Chunyan’s words?" Li Axiu looked at her in disbelief.

"I do," Lin Yaru said.

Li Axiu had the urge to slap her again. "When you were a fresh, unmarried girl, Jing Si would rather wed a country bumpkin than marry you. Now you’re divorced and barren. Do you honestly think he’d marry you? Stop dreaming! Let alone the fact that Jing Si won’t divorce his wife for you, you wouldn’t even be able to get past Doctor Qiao."

"Persistence can break through any barrier," Lin Yaru said firmly. "Jing Si will get a divorce and marry me, and Doctor Qiao will accept me too."

Li Axiu was completely speechless. Even when she stopped sparing her daughter’s dignity, the girl was still so brazenly shameless. What a sin! What terrible karma did she and Old Lin accumulate in their past lives to end up with such a troublesome daughter in this one?

Turning around, Li Axiu walked out of the main room, closed the door, and locked it.

Lin Yaru slammed her hands against the door. "Mom, what are you doing? Open the door! Open it right now!"

"Take a good look at yourself and reflect. I’ll let you out when you drop this idea of divorcing Jing Er," Li Axiu said, slipping the key into her pocket. She thought to herself that getting a divorce was nothing but a pipe dream.

Lin Yaru’s temper flared. She kicked the door violently, but the wood was sturdy. No matter how much she kicked and beat against it, the door panels didn’t so much as splinter, only letting out loud bangs.

Meanwhile, Qin Mei was brewing medicine in her courtyard when Granny Guo came over, raising her voice to shout, "Fourth Wife of Jing!"

"Granny Guo." Qin Mei looked taken aback. Granny Guo was a rare visitor; ever since she had made a huge scene threatening suicide last time, she hadn’t stepped foot in here again.

"Fourth Wife of Jing, there’s a phone call for you," Granny Guo said with a chuckle.

Qin Mei paused for a moment before thanking her. "Thank you. I’ll go take it in a bit."

"The clerk at the grocery store said it’s your mother-in-law calling. It’s quite urgent," Granny Guo said.

Qin Mei figured that if Mrs. Xie was looking for her, she had probably run into a tricky patient. She smiled and said, "Alright, I understand."

"Fourth Wife of Jing, are you boiling medicine? Go answer your call. I’ll watch the fire for you," Granny Guo offered enthusiastically.

Qin Mei raised an eyebrow. If Granny Er from next door had offered to watch the fire, she would have felt completely at ease; after all, their interests were tied together, so Granny Er wouldn’t dare harm her. Granny Guo, on the other hand, was a different story. Even if she didn’t outright poison the medicine, she would definitely tamper with it.

One could never be too careful, and Qin Mei was on her guard. "Granny Guo, thank you for your good intentions, but there’s no need. It’s already done brewing."

Wrapping a towel around the handle, Qin Mei lifted the small medicine pot off the stove. She walked over to the sink in the courtyard, filled a bowl with water, and poured it directly over the stove to douse the flames. Right in front of Granny Guo’s face, she carried the medicine pot and the small stove into the house, locked the door, and then double-checked the lock on the room she shared with Jie Jingchen.

Watching all this, Granny Guo was incredibly displeased. Her face fell as she muttered a curse. "I try to be nice, and she throws it right back in my face. What a piece of work."

Qin Mei watched as Granny Guo stomped off in a huff. She knitted her brows but didn’t say anything. Closing the courtyard gate, she headed toward the grocery store. Receiving and making phone calls like this was far too inconvenient. She needed to suggest to Jie Jingchen that they install a telephone in their own home.

When Qin Mei arrived at the grocery store, the clerk was visibly surprised to see her. "Fourth Wife of Jing, what brings you to the store?"

"To answer the phone," Qin Mei replied with a smile.

"Answer the phone?" The clerk raised an eyebrow. "Doctor Qiao said to tell you to hurry over to the hospital. Isn’t that what Granny Guo told you?"

Qin Mei thought to herself that Granny Guo had absolutely done that on purpose. Without another word, she turned and retraced her steps. She had walked on the way here, but she ran on the way back. Time was life. Every minute delayed meant another minute of danger for the patient.

"What exactly did Granny Guo tell the Fourth Wife of Jing?" The clerk scratched her head, completely baffled.

Granny Ning, a woman from the neighborhood committee who was currently paying for her groceries, rolled her eyes at the clerk. "Granny Guo and the Fourth Wife of Jing have a deep-seated grudge. If you ask her to pass a message, it would be a miracle if she didn’t use the opportunity to mess with the girl."

The clerk looked a bit embarrassed. "The Fourth Wife of Jing saved Granny Guo’s life. I thought they had buried the hatchet."

"Don’t you know what kind of person Granny Guo is? The grandson she spent all her days yearning for turned out to be a granddaughter. It’d be weird if she let that go," Granny Ning scoffed.

Qin Mei arrived home panting, grabbed her bicycle, and pedaled toward the hospital.

As she neared the hospital, Jie Jingchen was driving his car when he spotted Qin Mei riding like the wind ahead of him. His heart leaped into his throat. Terrified that she might fall, he trailed behind her and slowed his speed, not even daring to honk his horn for fear of startling her into a crash.

Upon arriving at the hospital, Qin Mei parked her bicycle. This time, she didn’t forget to lock it. However, a lock could only deter an honest man, not a thief. Jie Jingchen was a master lockpicker; he showed excellent potential for thievery.

Qin Mei sprinted toward the hospital entrance at top speed, only to find Jie Jingchen leaning lazily against the doorway. A flash of surprise crossed her eyes when she saw him. She had been running too fast to stop herself in time, so Jie Jingchen reached out and grabbed her arm to steady her.

"What are you running for?" Jie Jingchen’s face was dark.

"Why are you here?" Qin Mei asked in astonishment. Wasn’t he supposed to be at work? Why was he at the hospital? She looked him up and down, and only after confirming that he wasn’t injured did she finally breathe a sigh of relief.

"Mom called and asked me to come," Jie Jingchen replied, before asking, "What about you?"

"Mom called and told me to come, too," Qin Mei said.

The two of them stared at each other.

"What’s your mother’s intention?" Qin Mei asked.

"I don’t know." Jie Jingchen shook his head and took her hand. "Come on. We’ll find out once we see her."

"Xiao Mei! Jing Si! Over here!" Mrs. Xie waved at the couple.

Jie Jingchen and Qin Mei exchanged a glance before he led her over to his mother.

"Mom, why did you ask us to come here?" Jie Jingchen asked.

"Follow me." Unable to suppress the joy radiating from her face, Mrs. Xie led them toward the obstetrics and gynecology department until they reached a hospital room.

Mrs. Xie stepped inside first, but Jie Jingchen and Qin Mei stopped at the threshold. Seeing them loitering by the door, Mrs. Xie beckoned them. "Hurry up and come in."

"Mom, it’s not appropriate for me to go in," Jie Jingchen said, furrowing his brow. It wasn’t his wife giving birth; he needed to avoid any suspicion of impropriety.

"What’s inappropriate about it? The mother has already delivered," Mrs. Xie said, beaming at her son.

"Is the new mother a relative of ours?" Qin Mei asked curiously.

"No." Mrs. Xie shook her head. She reached out and pulled Qin Mei into the room, dragging Jie Jingchen in along with her.

Inside the ward, a middle-aged woman lay weakly on a hospital bed. In the small crib next to her rested a familiar-looking infant. Strangely, there were no family members around to care for her or watch over the baby.

Qin Mei thought to herself that the middle-aged woman’s in-laws were far too careless, wondering if they weren’t worried that someone might steal the child.