Chapter 661 - 230: I’m Not Incapable

But she didn’t know what young people liked, so she had dragged her daughter and granddaughter out shopping. She hoped they could help her brainstorm and pick out the perfect gift for her eldest grandson’s wife, but who knew her daughter would flake out on her halfway through.

Grandma and the Nanny walked into the living room. Seeing her eldest grandson at home, Grandma was quite puzzled and asked, "Is it all taken care of?"

Jie Jingchen came forward, took over from the Nanny, and helped his grandmother to the sofa.

The bloodstains had been cleaned away, and the smell of blood was masked by the fragrance in the air. However, Grandma had a keen sense of smell and could still detect a faint, almost imperceptible trace of blood beneath the thick aroma.

"What happened?" Grandma asked, calm and composed.

Jie Jingchen succinctly told his grandmother what had transpired. After listening, Grandma fell into deep thought. The Nanny stood to the side; though shocked and resentful of the master’s underhanded methods, she said nothing.

"It’s fine. It’s not as if it’s real," Grandma said dismissively.

"Old Madam," the Nanny said, her heart aching for Mrs. Xie. "That’s the Eldest Miss’s reputation at stake."

"Does she even care about her own reputation?" Grandma’s single question left the Nanny speechless.

After a long moment, the Nanny couldn’t help but speak up. "The Eldest Miss may not care, and we may not care, but what if her husband cares?"

"Hmph!" Grandma snorted in disdain. "If he looks down on Yan Qiu because of this, it’ll be just what we want. A divorce. After Yan Qiu gets divorced and returns to the Qiao Family, her life will only be better."

The Nanny wanted to persuade her further, but the butler pulled her away, leaving only Grandma and Jie Jingchen in the living room.

Grandma took Jie Jingchen’s hand, looking at him with a kind expression. She changed the subject, asking, "Jing Chen, what does your wife like?"

"She likes me," Jie Jingchen said shamelessly.

Grandma was taken aback for a moment, then realized her eldest grandson was teasing her. She gave Jie Jingchen a light push. "Isn’t that obvious? She’s your wife. If she doesn’t like you, who would she like? Xiao Hua said you told her your wife likes money. Is that true?"

"Grandma, are you going to give her money?" Jie Jingchen asked, playing dumb.

"Wouldn’t that be too tacky?" Grandma asked worriedly.

"My mom and Jing Shan just gave her money directly," Jie Jingchen said.

Satisfied with the answer, Grandma looked around. Not seeing Qin Mei, she asked, "Where’s Xiao Mei?"

"Upstairs taking a nap," Jie Jingchen said, pointing upstairs.

"Your wife went upstairs for a nap. Why aren’t you upstairs napping with her?" Grandma demanded.

"I’ll go up and nap with her now." If Grandma hadn’t returned just then, Jie Jingchen would have gone upstairs long ago.

"Wait a moment." Grandma grabbed Jie Jingchen, looking at him hesitantly.

"Grandma, if there’s something on your mind, just say it." From the way his grandmother was looking at him, Jie Jingchen could vaguely guess what she wanted to say.

Grandma cleared her throat and said in an odd voice, "I heard from your mother that... you’re not up to it in *that* department."

The corner of Jie Jingchen’s mouth twitched, his expression darkening. "Grandma," he said, exasperated.

"It’s really true?" Grandma asked, her face full of worry.

"There’s nothing wrong with me." Jie Jingchen raised a hand to rub the bridge of his nose. Any lingering guilt he felt toward his mother instantly vanished. ’If Mom hadn’t been spouting nonsense to Grandma, would she be asking me this?’

"If there’s nothing wrong, then why can’t you have children?" Grandma blurted out. She was kinder than Mrs. Xie, who never worried about hurting Jie Jingchen’s pride when she spoke; Grandma, however, was considerate of his feelings. "That’s not what I meant. What I mean is, I heard from your mother that you and Xiao Mei have been married for a year, and there’s still no sign of a baby yet."

"Grandma, we’ve been married for a year, but we were separated for half of it. We’ve only been together for six months," Jie Jingchen said helplessly, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

Grandma stared at him. "A year or six months, is there a difference?"

"Isn’t there?" Jie Jingchen retorted, raising an eyebrow.

’If he can’t have children,’ Grandma mused, ’then a year or half a year really makes no difference.’

Grandma sighed. "SIGH! I never should have agreed to you going back to Huaxia. I should have opposed you joining the army, too. Jing Chen, if you had stayed in Xiangjiang, your grandfather would have handed everything over to you long ago. With your abilities, you would’ve taken the Qiao Family to new heights. Instead, you leave the service and go back to Xiangjiang only to work some dead-end job at a machine factory. How much money can that possibly make? And now look. You go on a business trip to Shanghai, injure your back, and are left with lasting complications."

Jie Jingchen remained silent. He didn’t regret the business trip to Shanghai. If he hadn’t gone to Shanghai and gotten injured, Qin Mei would never have gone there to take care of him. But at the thought of Modu Hospital, his heart sank again.