Chapter 28

When the three of them got home, Qin Zhao was on the sofa playing games. He froze when he saw who was standing next to Qiao Zhenzhen. “Sis?”
“Sis your nothing, she’s not your sister!” Qin Sheng exploded, letting loose the anger he’d been holding in all the way, “Get out and tell the housekeeper to make dinner!”
Qin Zhao hurried to obey, then turned back halfway and asked, “How many servings?”
He’d heard Zhenzhen say she wanted a late-night snack earlier and, now that his sister had shown up too, he didn’t want to be yelled at for making too much, so he asked just to be safe.
“Can’t you count? Don’t you even know how many people are here?” Qin Sheng snapped.
Qin Zhao: “……” What had he done to deserve this?
Before he could respond, Qin Sheng shot him a look and he bolted like his pants were on fire.
Qiao Zhenzhen was giggling, and Qin Jing sat beside her like a shy child visiting relatives, nervous and restrained. Qin Sheng snorted, opened a bag of chips and took a bite, then frowned. “What is this, so awful?”
“I think it’s good,” Qiao Zhenzhen hurried to defend.
Seeing how eager she was, Qin Sheng maliciously refused to share. He couldn’t stand the taste himself; the more he ate, the more his brow furrowed.
Just as he was struggling with the bag of chips, Qin Jing couldn’t keep quiet any longer. “Dad, your blood lipids are high, try not to eat such high-calorie stuff.”
“Like I need you to tell me,” Qin Sheng snapped, shoving the chips into Qiao Zhenzhen’s hands.
Qiao Zhenzhen immediately started crunching away and, between mouthfuls, tried to come up with topics to keep things pleasant. When the housekeeper brought the food out, Qin Zhao saw this oddly harmonious scene and chuckled.
Qiao Zhenzhen winked at him. Qin Zhao smiled and said, “Come on, eat.”
Qiao Zhenzhen called Qin Jing over. The mother and daughter each grabbed a bowl of noodles and began slurping happily.
Freshly made noodles taste different from those kept warm in a box; eating in the Qiao Zhenzhen living room felt a little different from eating at the Qin home. Qin Jing’s eyes grew red from the steam as she ate.
Hearing her choke back a sob, Qiao Zhenzhen paused, unsure what to do. Whether she was eighteen or twenty-eight, she never got used to seeing her mother cry.
Qin Jing’s emotions were beginning to spill over; Qin Sheng and Qin Zhao noticed and fell silent. Qin Zhao turned his face away in discomfort. Qin Sheng’s lips moved a few times as if to say something, but no words came.
When the meal ended, it was time for them to leave.
Qin Sheng and Qin Zhao, unusually, walked them to the door. The four of them were quiet all the way.
Qiao Zhenzhen climbed into the car, craned her neck and said to Qin Sheng, “Grandpa, I want to come have noodles tomorrow too!”
“Mm, come then.” Qin Sheng replied reluctantly, then couldn’t help glancing at Qin Jing in the driver’s seat and added, in a gruff tone, “You come too.”
“...Okay.” Qin Jing was touched.
Qin Sheng gave her a sidelong look and turned away without a backward glance. Qin Jing watched the stubborn old man’s retreating back and finally let a smile break through her tears.
Her mood truly lifted. She chattered the whole way home, and Qiao Zhenzhen listened patiently, agreeing and encouraging. The mother and daughter returned home in high spirits.
When Qiao Zhenzhen was ushered upstairs to bed, Qin Jing still sounded content, and she summed up the evening in a single line: “Grandpa and the housekeeper make the best noodles, our housekeeper can’t make them like that.”
Qiao Zhenzhen grinned. “Mom, are you really that happy?”
“...Yeah.” Qin Jing felt a little embarrassed admitting it in front of her daughter.
Qiao Zhenzhen took a step forward. “So will you still be upset that Dad didn’t come home?”
“I don’t have time to care about him!” Back in the home she hadn’t set foot in for years, Qin Jing said she didn’t even have the energy to think about Qiao Jian.
Qiao Zhenzhen looked at her mother’s radiant face and nodded with satisfaction. In her last life she’d collapsed at the divorce, partly from the shock of her husband’s betrayal, and partly because she had nothing behind her but a teenager; there was no family to rely on.
Now it was different. She would see her mother safely through this.
After saying goodnight, Qiao Zhenzhen went back to her room and immediately started planning. Given Qiao Jian’s cautious nature, even if Zhao Ying was pregnant he wouldn’t rush to file for divorce; he’d wait for the gender test, if it was a boy, only then would he begin moving assets. According to the test time on the report, Zhao Ying’s pregnancy still had over a month before a gender could be confirmed, which gave Qiao Zhenzhen enough time to arrange everything.
There was still time.
She exhaled, content, and fell asleep happily.
Over the next few days she and Qin Jing visited Grandpa’s house every other day. Qin Sheng still seemed a bit annoyed with Qin Jing, but each visit he made sure the housekeeper prepared her favorite dishes and even pushed his granddaughter closer to him. Qin Jing focused entirely on repairing their relationship, constantly buying things for Qin Sheng and no longer spending her days glued to her phone waiting for news about Qiao Jian.
Everything was heading in the right direction.
By the weekend, after telling Chi Shen she’d take a day off, Qiao Zhenzhen took Qin Jing back to Grandpa’s house again.
Qiao Jian hadn't been home for half a month. At first he still received texts and calls from Qin Jing fairly often, then only texts, and in the last couple of days not even those. He had indeed cheated, his conscience was frayed; now that Zhao Ying was pregnant, the moment Qin Jing stopped replying he felt exposed.
Unable to sit with that unease, he finally went home, but the house felt strangely quiet the moment he stepped inside.
He froze, calling tentatively, “Qin Jing? Zhenzhen?”
No one answered. After searching the house and confirming no one was there, he frowned and sent Qin Jing a message: Where are you?
As soon as he hit send, his phone went utterly silent.
With his brow knotted and after a long wait with no reply, he called her.
When Qin Jing's phone rang, Qin Zhao was just calling everyone to the table; seeing the caller ID, she hurried outside to answer, “Hello?”
“Where are you and Zhenzhen?” Qiao Jian asked, barely hiding his impatience.
Qin Jing paused a moment. “At my father's.”
The words dropped into a heavy silence.
After a long beat he ground his teeth, “So that's why you haven't contacted me, back at your parents'. Qin Jing, you really have nerve. I was gone just a few days and you've already taken Qiao Zhenzhen back to your family. Is the next step a divorce?”
“Use some reason, do you think I'm not contacting you because I'm at my parents'?” Qin Jing had just made up with her family and was in a better mood; she couldn't be bothered arguing.
Hearing her flat tone, Qiao Jian snapped, “If not?”
“Qiao Jian, since you left home you haven't replied to me once,” Qin Jing said coolly.
Qiao Jian wouldn't hear any of it; all he could think was that she'd betrayed him and gone back to her family. His voice grew angrier: “Haven't I always done this after our fights? You used to put up with it, why not now? Isn't this all Qin Sheng stirring things up?!”
“Qiao Jian, he's my father, show some respect,” Qin Jing said, frowning. After a pause, a chill crept into her voice, “So you knew all along that after every fight it's you who shuts down. Qiao Jian, I'm your wife, not your servant. You can't always sit on high like this.”
Qiao Jian scoffed, “Don't give me that. Come home right now.”
“I'll come back after we finish”
“If you don't come back now, we're getting a divorce! If you want Qiao Zhenzhen to be without a home before her college entrance exams, then don't come back!” Qiao Jian said, and hung up.
Qin Jing's good mood evaporated. She drew a deep breath, pressed her lips together, and went back inside.
“We were all waiting for you to eat, where did you go?” Qin Sheng snapped.
Qin Jing looked torn. “Dad, there's something at home. I have to go back.”
Qiao Zhenzhen frowned immediately.
With a slap, Qin Sheng set down his chopsticks. “It was Qiao Jian who called you back, wasn't it?”
“No, it's really”
“Don't give me that! I raised my daughter with my own hands and someone else just calls and takes her away, it's my failure,” Qin Sheng said, his face flushed with anger. “If you walk out that door today, don't ever come back.”
“Dad”
“Don't call me 'Dad'!” Qin Sheng cut in.
Tears pricked Qin Jing's eyes. She bit her lip, frozen between staying and leaving. In the end Qiao Zhenzhen couldn't stand it any longer; she shoved her mother toward the door. “Mom, you go back. I'll stay with grandpa.”
“Qiao Zhenzhen! You ungrateful wretch!” Qin Sheng exploded.
Qin Jing instinctively turned back but Qiao Zhenzhen pushed her out. “Mom, go back. I can handle this.”
“How will you handle it?” Qin Jing asked, unconvinced.
“Just go,” Qiao Zhenzhen urged. “I promise. If you don't trust me, you can come back later.”
Meeting her daughter's gaze, Qin Jing found herself, inexplicably, trusting her reckless eighteen-year-old. She bit her lip, lowered her head, and left.
Qiao Zhenzhen called after her, “Don't drive! Call a car to pick you up!”
“...Okay.”
After watching her go, Qiao Zhenzhen turned back to the living room, which now held only Qin Zhao.
“You...” Qin Zhao, who had seen her push Qin Jing out, felt a chill; he didn't know what to say.
“Uncle, come with me. I need to talk to you and grandpa,” Qiao Zhenzhen said, her expression serious.
Qin Zhao was taken aback, then frowned and followed her into Qin Sheng's room.
When they came in, Qin Sheng sat on the sofa with reddened eyes, dazed. He was about to start yelling when Qiao Zhenzhen blurted, “My mom has depression!”
Qin Sheng's angry retort died in his throat.
“Grandpa, don't get angry yet. I have to tell you something.” Qiao Zhenzhen steadied him, and after Qin Zhao sat down she began to explain Qiao Jian's affair.
Qin Sheng and Qin Zhao were stunned at first; when she finished they trembled with rage and immediately wanted to confront Qiao Jian.
Qiao Zhenzhen quickly stopped them. “It's because I knew you'd react like this that I've been keeping it from you. Please don't go. My mom doesn't know anything yet; if you confront Qiao Jian it'll set her off.”
She silently apologized to her mother in her head, she hadn't meant to damn her; she had no choice. And to make grandpa and uncle believe her, she had earlier set up an image of Qin Jing's exhaustion; when she mentioned depression they accepted it unquestioningly.
Sure enough, Qin Sheng and Qin Zhao, concerned about Qin Jing's health, immediately calmed down.
After the anger subsided, Qin Sheng's tone softened with pain. “...When did you find out about this?”
“A few months, I think,” Qiao Zhenzhen replied vaguely.
Tears sprang to Qin Zhao's eyes. “You've been through a lot, kid.”
“I'm fine, Uncle,” Qiao Zhenzhen looped her arm through his. “Now isn't the time to be sad. We have to make Qiao Jian pay.”
Qin Zhao hesitated. “You have a plan.”
Qiao Zhenzhen blinked, conceding.