Chapter 654 - 227: I Dreamed That You Died

Jie Jingchen’s sexy Adam’s apple bobbed. A familiar, wicked heat swept through him.

A beautiful woman lay before him, and she was his legal wife. He certainly wasn’t going to hold back.

"Jie Jingsi, I’m hot." Qin Mei, sleeping soundly, was annoyed that Jie Jingchen had disturbed her pleasant dream. Thinking she was still in Shijiu City, she habitually used the heat as an excuse to refuse his advances.

Jie Jingchen froze for a moment. The room was air-conditioned; it would be strange if she were hot.

Jie Jingchen conquered her with his passion, and before long, Qin Mei was lost in it with him.

The sky had just begun to lighten when a satisfied Jie Jingchen finally let her go. Qin Mei was so exhausted she couldn’t even be bothered to move a toe, lying on the bed like a corpse.

The next day, Qin Mei woke up from hunger. The space beside her was empty. If it weren’t for the physical sensations reminding her of how wild she and Jie Jingchen had been last night, she might have suspected he never came home.

’He got back late and still carried on for so long. He really has endless energy!’ Qin Mei marveled at Jie Jingchen’s stamina and vigor.

Qin Mei threw back the covers, got up, and walked barefoot toward the bathroom. She had only just gone inside when she came back out, took a pill from her satchel, and returned to the bathroom.

After soaking in a medicinal bath for half an hour, Qin Mei emerged from the bathroom feeling refreshed and went to the closet to find something to wear.

There were marks on her chest and neck. Qin Mei decisively gave up on low-cut tops and dresses. After rummaging for a long time, she finally found something suitable, but its round collar couldn’t hide the marks on her neck at all.

"That beast, always making trouble for me." Qin Mei stared at the hickeys visible in the mirror. When Jie Jingchen was being a bastard, he really was inhuman, giving no thought to how she would face the world afterward.

She was thick-skinned enough to have the guts to go out and show off the hickeys on her neck, but in this era... On second thought, ’This is Xiangjiang, not Huaxia.’

’Jie Jingchen’s grandparents have been influenced by Xiangjiang for so many years...’

’Forget it. I lose to Jie Jingchen.’ She could ignore the strange looks from Jie Jingchen’s grandparents, but what about Jing Qi? Jing Qi was still a minor; she couldn’t be a bad influence on him.

Qin Mei went downstairs. Jie Jingchen and her grandfather were sitting in the living room. Her grandmother, Mrs. Xie, and Jing Qi were nowhere to be seen. Instead, there were two strangers.

Qin Mei stood at the top of the stairs. As Jie Jingchen and her grandfather listened to what the middle-aged man was saying, their expressions grew increasingly grave.

Next, a foreigner spoke. He used German; he was a German.

Qin Mei wasn’t interested in the Qiao Family’s business affairs, so she didn’t disturb them. She sat down on the stairs, resting her chin in one hand and placing the other on her knee.

’Jing Qi is supposed to be the Qiao Family’s heir, but from the looks of it, Grandfather’s preferred successor is Jie Jingchen.’

’It’s undeniable. Compared to working at a machinery factory, Jie Jingchen is far more suited to inheriting the Qiao Family’s business.’

’Grandfather is clearly more pleased with Jie Jingchen, so why is he entrusting the Qiao Family to Jing Qi?’

’My little brother’s fate was to be sacrificed... so what is Jie Jingchen’s fate?’

Qin Mei tried hard to recall that interview with Qiao Jingshan. She hadn’t watched it from beginning to end, but she remembered Qiao Jingshan saying that before the 1980s, the Qiao Family had faced a crisis that nearly wiped them out. How did they overcome it? ’It seems like someone was sacrificed, right?’

Qiao Jingshan hadn’t been explicit. ’Thinking about it now, it couldn’t have been Jie Jingjue, so that only leaves...’

"Jie Jingchen." Qin Mei shot to her feet, her terrified expression tinged with grief.

Qin Mei’s cry startled the four people in the living room. Jie Jingchen shot up and strode toward Qin Mei at the top of the stairs.

The other three all turned to look at the stairs, especially the German. The moment he saw Qin Mei, his eyes lit up with astonishment, and his gaze was like a hunter eyeing his prey.

The interpreter at his side understood the look in the German’s eyes instantly and asked the grandfather, "Mr. Qiao, might I ask who that beautiful young lady is?"

The grandfather frowned. ’Wasn’t my eldest grandson’s wife sleeping upstairs? Why did she come down?’ The German’s stare at his grandson’s wife was far too blatant.

"My eldest grandson’s wife," the grandfather’s voice, aged yet powerful, carried a clear warning.

The interpreter said nothing, instead glancing at the German. His look seemed to say, ’Unfortunately, that beautiful young lady is already taken.’

"Mr. Liu," the grandfather said to the interpreter, "tell Mr. Bernhard that I will not agree to his terms."

The interpreter relayed the grandfather’s words to Bernhard. After listening, Bernhard’s expression shifted, and he said a few words in German.

"What did Mr. Bernhard say?" the grandfather asked the interpreter. His intuition told him it was nothing good.

"Well..." The interpreter didn’t dare to translate it verbatim for the grandfather.

The grandfather didn’t press him. He waved his hand and issued an order to leave. "You should go. Butler, see them out."

The interpreter spoke to Bernhard, but he acted as if he hadn’t heard and refused to leave. Even when the butler came to escort him out, he remained seated, unmoving as a mountain.

"Meimei."

"Jie Jingsi." Qin Mei threw herself into Jie Jingchen’s arms, pressing her face against his chest and wrapping her arms tightly around his firm waist.

Jie Jingchen tensed up. Holding her in his arms and sensing her emotional turmoil, he asked softly, "Did you have a nightmare?"

Qin Mei’s heart ached. ’Qin Xiang was sacrificed for Huaxia, and Jie Jingchen was sacrificed for the Qiao Family.’ The more she thought about it, the more her heart clenched in pain.

She didn’t want Qin Xiang to die; before he left, she had given him plenty of life-saving medicine. She wanted even less for Jie Jingchen to die. But how could she change their fates?

Her arrival had changed Jing Qi’s destiny. So what about Jie Jingchen’s?

Qin Mei gritted her teeth. ’As long as Jie Jingchen isn’t dead yet, I can keep him alive.’

’You can’t resign yourself to fate until the very end.’ Qin Mei took a deep breath. ’He isn’t dead. What am I grieving for?’

"Yeah, I had a nightmare," Qin Mei replied, going along with his suggestion.

"What did you dream about?" Jie Jingchen asked.

"I dreamed that you died," Qin Mei’s sullen voice muffled against his chest.

Jie Jingchen was stunned for a moment. He looked down at the woman in his arms, his tone unreadable. "To scare you this much, I must have died a gruesome death."

Hearing the word "die," even the normally blunt Qin Mei wanted to clamp a hand over Jie Jingchen’s mouth.

Qin Mei looked up, her glare at Jie Jingchen tinged with fury. "Yes, I dreamed you died a gruesome death! Your nose was sliced off, all your teeth were pulled out, your mouth was sewn shut with a needle, your eyes were gouged out, your limbs were..."

Qin Mei couldn’t go on, as if her words might come true.

Jie Jingchen stroked her long hair dotingly and chuckled in agreement. "That does sound pretty gruesome."

"Jie Jingsi!" Qin Mei yelled at him. Jie Jingchen was taken aback by her shout. Their eyes met. Qin Mei released his waist and cupped his face, speaking as if to convince herself as much as to assure him. "As long as I’m here, I will absolutely make sure you live a long life."

"So scared of me dying... have you fallen in love with me?" Jie Jingchen asked, half-joking and half-serious.

Qin Mei gave Jie Jingchen a devastatingly beautiful smile, one that was breathtaking. "Mhm. I don’t want to be a widow. I need you to stay with me forever."

Jie Jingchen’s expression was noncommittal, but Qin Mei’s every frown and smile held his heart captive like a spell.

’That "mhm"... was that her admitting she’s fallen in love with me?’

Jie Jingchen’s heart soared. Her having a nightmare about his gruesome death had awakened her love for him. How was that any different from a pie falling from the sky?

If it weren’t for the other people in the living room, Jie Jingchen would have given her a deep, passionate kiss. He pulled down the hands cupping his face and held them tightly in his own. "Meimei, you go upstairs first. I’ll come find you after I’ve handled things here."

Qin Mei pulled her hands from his grasp, wrapped her arms around his neck, and stood on her tiptoes. She leaned in and whispered in his ear, "Is that shipment of goods worth a fortune?"