Chapter 651 - 226: The Sulky Grandfather (3)

"I heard she’s from the countryside. A real country bumpkin, isn’t she," Qiao Shiren chimed in.

"Even when she’s dressed plainly, she’s still prettier than that girl from the Li Family, who’s always so fashionable and wears exquisite makeup," Qiao Shifeng couldn’t help but say. Their mother’s little scheme was simply to have the Li girl seduce Jie Jingchen.

Jie Jingchen married such a gorgeous woman. Would he really be seduced by the Li girl? Even if they were going to set a honey trap for him, they’d at least need to find someone more beautiful than Qin Mei. Otherwise, the plan would never work.

"Instead of trying to seduce Jie Jingchen, we’d be better off driving a wedge between Qin Mei and Yan Qiu," Qiao Shijie suggested. "If the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law are at odds, there will be no peace in the family. Even the most devoted couple will drift apart. Then, we can arrange for another woman to swoop in, take advantage of the opening, and conquer Jie Jingchen’s heart. Once we control her, we can achieve our objective."

"Stirring up trouble between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law is a great idea," the second great-aunt declared, making her decision final. "Eldest, your wife is the best at this. Have her provoke their conflict. And have Second Brother’s wife help her escalate it."

"..." Qiao Shijie was speechless. He’d opened his big mouth and landed his wife in trouble.

"..." Qiao Shifeng was also silent. His wife had just caught a stray bullet out of nowhere. It was so unfair.

At the Qiao family’s residence, in the dining room, everyone was seated at a long table. The grandfather sat at the head, with the grandmother and Mrs. Xie to his right. To his left were Jie Jingchen, Qin Mei, and Jie Jingshan.

The table was laden with a sumptuous feast, and Qin Mei’s mouth watered just looking at it.

Qin Mei liked the Qiao family home, not because she coveted their wealth, but because they had air conditioning.

’I should buy an air conditioner to take back with me,’ Qin Mei thought. ’But I wonder if the power grid at the Jie residence can even handle it. If the electricity isn’t strong enough, it’ll be useless even after I install it. It’d just be a decoration, and looking at it would only make me more frustrated.’

When her body was cool, her mood was pleasant, and her appetite returned.

The elders hadn’t signaled for them to begin, so the younger generation could only wait. Qin Mei was rendered speechless by the Qiao family’s table manners.

Qin Mei rubbed her stomach, her eyes gleaming as she stared at the delicious spread and gulped.

Her grandfather was sulking. He made no move to pick up his chopsticks, nor did he invite the younger generation to eat.

He was angry at Qin Mei for disrespecting her elders and exposing his ruse in such a shameless manner. He was even more furious that Jie Jingjue hadn’t come back. ’I went so far as to feign illness, and that brat still didn’t return! Does he need me to set up my own memorial hall before he’s willing to come back and bow to my portrait?’

The grandfather glanced at the empty seat beside Mrs. Xie, his eyes filled with melancholy reproach.

Mrs. Xie sighed in resignation and tried to explain again, "Dad, Jing Wu—"

"What ’Jing Wu’?" the grandfather’s strong, resonant voice cut her off. "You only gave birth to three children."

He didn’t care what number Jie Jingjue was in the Jie Family’s ranking; in their Qiao family, he was the second child.

Mrs. Xie tactfully corrected herself. "I misspoke. Not Jing Wu, it’s Jing Jue. When I got the call from my senior brother, I was beside myself with worry. I rushed home in a panic, only to find that Jing Jue wasn’t there. You know Jing Jue, Dad. Once that brat leaves home, he just vanishes. If he doesn’t come back on his own, we can never find him. I was so worried about you that I didn’t wait around for him."

Qin Mei watched Mrs. Xie struggle to explain, and she had the strongest urge to say that she knew exactly where Jing Wu was.

The grandfather’s expression softened considerably, though he maintained a stern facade. He narrowed his cloudy yet sharp eyes and said sarcastically, "If you truly want to find someone, you can always find them. Unless they’re dead."

The moment the word "dead" escaped his lips, the grandfather regretted it. ’We’re talking about Jing Jue, how could I say something so inauspicious?’ He was reminded of Qin Mei’s words... *dead, buried, exhume the body...*

The grandfather opened his eyes and shot a reproachful look at Qin Mei. He had been influenced by this girl; that inauspicious word had just slipped right out.

Qin Mei was completely baffled. ’Hasn’t he turned the page on that already? Why does Grandpa keep giving me these looks, as if I’m some delinquent junior who enjoys tormenting her elders?’

"Grandfather, please don’t look at my wife that way," Jie Jingchen said, putting on a full display of protectiveness. "She’s timid. You’ll frighten her."

Hearing his eldest grandson’s words, the grandfather couldn’t help but glare at him. ’My look wasn’t hostile, just a little resentful!’ he thought. ’And this brat is already jumping to her defense. He really married a wife and forgot all about his grandfather.’

Qin Mei lowered her eyes. ’I don’t know if Grandfather believes him,’ she thought, ’but I certainly don’t. I doubt even Jie Jingchen himself believes that line about me being timid.’

"Dad, you had my senior brother call me and tell me you were gravely ill," Mrs. Xie said. "If anyone else had called, I wouldn’t have been in such a panic. Forget Jing Jue being in Shijiu City; even if he were in a labor camp in the great Northwest, I would have found him and brought him back with me to see you."

If even her old nanny had called to say her father was gravely ill, she might have had her suspicions. But this was her senior brother, the doctor she herself had arranged for her parents. She trusted his word implicitly. She never imagined he would conspire with her parents to lure her back home.

Knowing he was in the wrong, the grandfather lost all of his arrogant bluster.

"Dad, you and Mom are really something else. You even managed to win over my senior brother," Mrs. Xie said, her gentle voice laced with a hint of resignation.

"If you all came to visit me and your mother more often, would I have to resort to faking an illness to get you back here?" the grandfather retorted stubbornly, though much of the fire had gone out of his voice.

"Alright, alright, that’s enough from both of you," the grandmother interjected, stopping the father-daughter pair. "Let’s put this behind us. The children are hungry. Let’s eat, let’s eat."

Even after the grandmother gave the command, Qin Mei noticed no one moved to pick up their chopsticks. Her stomach rumbling, she could only wait and see.

The grandfather was already full of anger; he had no appetite left.

"I’m not hungry. You all go ahead and eat," the grandfather said sullenly before getting up and leaving the dining room.

"Dad," Mrs. Xie called out, about to follow him, but her mother stopped her.

"Yan Qiu, don’t worry about your father. You know how he gets," the grandmother said. She picked up her chopsticks, placed a piece of food in Qin Mei’s bowl, her face wreathed in a kind smile. "My dear, here, try this crispy roasted pork belly. It’s one of Xiao Hua’s specialties."

"Thank you, Grandmother." Qin Mei was pleasantly surprised. ’At this point, even if she had given me pickled cucumbers, I’d have to eat them, let alone this delicious-looking pork belly,’ she thought.

Qin Mei didn’t hesitate. Under the expectant gazes of the others, she picked up the piece with her chopsticks and popped it into her mouth. After a few chews, her eyes lit up, and she praised it generously, "This is delicious!"

"If you like it, then have some more." The grandmother’s benevolent smile deepened. Seeing how unaffected and genuine Qin Mei was, she felt quite pleased with her new granddaughter-in-law.

The Qiao Family had become one of Xiangjiang’s wealthiest clans on their own merit. With their deep-rooted foundation, they had no need for the younger generation to bolster their status through marriage alliances, and thus they did not interfere in their grandsons’ choices of partners.

"Here, Sister-in-law, try this sweet corn grouper," Jie Jingshan said with a grin, watching Qin Mei with an expectant look as she waited for her reaction.

Qin Mei didn’t even look at the dish Jie Jingshan had placed in her bowl. Instead, she stared at her sister-in-law in surprise. ’Here, in the Qiao residence, Jing Qi doesn’t dare call me ’Fourth Sister-in-law’, but addresses me as ’Eldest Sister-in-law’. It just goes to show how much Grandfather and Grandmother resent their son-in-law. The old couple accepts the children their daughter bore, but they won’t accept the man himself. This isn’t their fault; it must be the son-in-law’s.’

’No wonder Mother-in-law didn’t dare bring Father-in-law here, even when she thought Grandfather was gravely ill. He would have either been beaten and thrown out, or he would have angered the old couple to death on the spot.’

"Thank you, Jing Shan." Following the principle of "when in Rome," Qin Mei didn’t dare call her Jing Qi anymore either.

"Xiao Mei, have some of this ginger and scallion abalone stew," Mrs. Xie said, ladling half a bowl of the broth for Qin Mei.

"Thank you, Mom," Qin Mei said, accepting the bowl with both hands.

"Meimei, try this rich chicken and shark fin soup," Jie Jingchen said, not to be outdone.

Qin Mei didn’t thank Jie Jingchen. She accepted everything offered to her, eating whatever was placed in her bowl. To the grandmother, it seemed this girl was easy to please and had no bad habits like being a picky eater.

Since it was Qin Mei’s first visit to the Xiangjiang Qiao Family, everyone took great care of her, worried she might not be used to things. By the end of the meal, she was completely stuffed.