During the vacation, even if Jiang Yanxi didn't come find Sheng Qianling, she'd still receive calls from Mother Jiang inviting her over for dinner. She liked Mother Jiang very much, so she basically never refused. Several times she didn't see Jiang Yanxi and couldn't help asking about him.
"Yanxi? He went to his father's place."
"What?"
Sheng Qianling was very surprised. From Jiang Yanxi's previous attitude, she could tell he was very disgusted with Father Jiang. She remembered last time they nearly had an unpleasant argument, and those words he'd said at the end. So Jiang Yanxi had been serious—he planned to change everything, which was why he went to see Father Jiang?
"Yanxi didn't tell you?" Mother Jiang asked.
Sheng Qianling shook her head. "No. Recently he's rarely asked me out. I thought he had other things to do, so I didn't disturb him."
"He must not want you to worry. Yanxi is like that—sometimes very stubborn." Mother Jiang shook her head with a smile. "You probably know something about the Jiang family's situation?"
"I know some." Sheng Qianling nodded lightly, feeling somewhat worried about Jiang Yanxi's situation. She hadn't seen him for several days. Although they talked on the phone and messaged daily, not seeing him in person, she didn't know how he was doing.
Mother Jiang sighed. "That day he told me he didn't want to be unable to give you a happy life after truly being together with you in the future. So he's willing to go back and fight, to compete with his Jiang family peers. Actually, Yanxi is very smart. If he just gives in, his father would definitely think highly of him. My only worry is his brothers and sisters—none of them are simple. If he's not careful, he'll suffer losses."
"You don't approve of him going back?"
Mother Jiang nodded. "If I approved of him going back, we wouldn't be living in this ordinary complex now. That man actually treats his women quite well." Mother Jiang lowered her head. "But I didn't want to become that kind of person."
"Then..."
Sheng Qianling suddenly stopped speaking. She thought these weren't questions she should ask. The first time she met Mother Jiang, she'd thought she wasn't a bad person. If Mother Jiang really coveted wealth, as she said, they wouldn't be living in this place now. She also had Jiang Yanxi as her son—she could have fought for something for herself. But she didn't.
"You want to ask since I didn't want to become that kind of person, how I still got involved with Jiang Yanxi's father, right?"
"I'm sorry."
Mother Jiang's eyes showed no embarrassment or blame. "Actually, it's nothing shameful. When I met his father, it was in my hometown. At that time, he was young and promising, not yet thirty—of course very attractive. He knew how to sweet-talk, was considerate, gentlemanly with grace. Under such gentle treatment, almost no woman could escape his honeyed words."
"Just like that, we fell in love."
Mother Jiang's face suddenly darkened. "I once asked him if he was married. He said no. On his finger, I found no trace of ever wearing a wedding ring. At the time, I thought this was the legendary Cinderella-meets-prince story."
"Later, I got pregnant." Sheng Qianling noticed Mother Jiang's expression was very sad. She wanted to stop this from continuing, but Mother Jiang had no intention of stopping. "That day, I happily called him to tell him the good news and asked when we'd get married."
"You know what he said?" Mother Jiang's expression returned to normal, just with some mockery in her eyes. "He said, 'Pregnant? Then just have it.' He also said he'd never thought about marriage."
"I thought he was joking, so I went to find him and demanded an explanation. After a long argument, he finally admitted he was already married."
Sheng Qianling's eyes widened. "He deceived you?"
"What I thought was normal romance between attracted man and woman was just finding a rather fresh woman to him." Mother Jiang sighed. "I planned to abort the child, but the Jiang family's power was too great. While pregnant with Yanxi, he specifically sent several people to guard outside my house every day and hired caregivers to look after me. I had no chance to abort the child. Later when I finally could move freely, I'd already missed the best timing. Moreover, I understood very clearly that once I had such thoughts again, the Jiang family would definitely wait for me to give birth to Yanxi, then take him away."
"I compromised and negotiated conditions with him. I could give birth to the child, but he'd belong to me entirely. He couldn't interfere with anything regarding Yanxi unless Yanxi was willing. He wanted to give me a villa—I refused. But to raise Yanxi, I accepted this apartment complex house. We mother and son survived like this. I know that insisting on these things is actually useless."
Mother Jiang's eyes reddened slightly. "But this was my last bottom line. Besides this apartment, and the child support he gave for Jiang Yanxi, I didn't want anything. In these dozen years, I haven't spent a single cent of the money he gave me. The money he gave, I only spent on Jiang Yanxi, because Yanxi is indeed his son."
"I once thought about leaving here." Mother Jiang laughed. "But a single woman with a child in an unfamiliar place—survival isn't easy. If it were just me, I could manage somehow. Honestly, I still hope Yanxi will do better and better in the future. My life is what it is, but I can't ruin his. If he's willing to return to the Jiang family, I won't interfere. If he's unwilling, then we mother and son will depend on each other."
Mother Jiang grasped Sheng Qianling's hand. "Yanxi has no friends, so Auntie is very happy to have a girl like you care about him. Sometimes he's a bit extreme. Auntie hopes you can be tolerant of him. He'll make some small mistakes, but Auntie can tell he cares about you very much. Look, now for you, he's willing to return to the Jiang family. Because he knows you're the Sheng family's young miss. If he remained as before, he wouldn't be worthy of you."
"No, I've never looked down on Yanxi. Actually, we're not so different. He's excellent."
After talking with Mother Jiang that day, Sheng Qianling felt much more at ease.
Later she asked Jiang Yanxi and learned he was studying alongside Father Jiang. Actually, all the Jiang family children would study beside Father Jiang during vacation. Father Jiang would give them various test problems. The more perfectly they performed, the more valued they'd be.
They still met, mostly once a week. Each time they met, Sheng Qianling noticed Jiang Yanxi had lost quite a bit of weight. Facing Sheng Qianling's concern, Jiang Yanxi would show a happy smile, telling her he performed very well and Father Jiang was currently quite satisfied with him. Occasionally he'd be excluded or tripped up by other siblings, but he could handle it easily.
"That girl is from the Sheng family?" One day, Jiang Yanxi was staring at a photo on his phone. Not noticing Father Jiang walking up behind him, he wanted to put it away but it was too late. He honestly answered, "Yes."
"She shouldn't be Sheng Qianxue."
"It's Sheng Qianling." Jiang Yanxi pressed his thin lips together. "Dad, I won't let this affect anything else."
"That's not what I meant." Father Jiang smiled and patted Jiang Yanxi's shoulder. "Whatever kind of girl Yanxi likes, just pursue her. I won't interfere with these things. But what you need to remember is that you can't let emotions control you. You can make this girl devoted to you, but the affection you give her can't be everything. What I mean is, women are just for playing with—don't take feelings seriously. However, if she's the Sheng family's young miss, you could put in more effort."
Jiang Yanxi wanted to refute something but realized he had no power to refute Father Jiang. Because he still needed to rely on him.
Father Jiang stared at the photo for a while, squinting. "Never expected the always upright Sheng Wenbo to also have an illegitimate daughter. I heard he even brought Sheng Qianling back to the villa, had an unpleasant conflict with his eldest daughter, and his wife went abroad because of this, even planning to divorce him."
"It seems so."
"You like this girl very much?" Father Jiang saw through Jiang Yanxi's thoughts at a glance. "You came back to the Jiang family—it's not also because of her, is it?"
Jiang Yanxi wanted to deny it, but Father Jiang's expression already told him everything was in his grasp. He could only steel himself and answer, "Yes, I like her very much. Dad, please don't hurt her. She's a kind girl. She lost her mother, now she's living under someone else's roof, who knows how she's being bullied. She's already very pitiful."
"Oh... I see."
Jiang Yanxi's heart raced. He couldn't fathom Father Jiang's inner thoughts at all. Originally, relying on his intelligence, he thought coming back and gaining the other's appreciation would be easy.
But truly facing Father Jiang, he understood things weren't that simple. To gain his approval required real ability. Those brothers and sisters of his—none were fools. To show himself off, he had no choice but to reduce time dating Sheng Qianling, only wanting to establish a foothold in the Jiang family early.
"Yanxi."
"Yes."
Father Jiang suddenly stared at Jiang Yanxi's face. "If you truly like that girl and are devoted to her, I won't oppose it. But men of my Jiang family absolutely cannot be controlled by women. You want to establish a foothold in the Jiang family—very good, this shows ambition. But your foundation is too thin. Competing with your siblings, you really have no advantages."
Jiang Yanxi clenched his fists. How could he not know this?
"However, now there's an opportunity before you." Father Jiang smiled, patting Jiang Yanxi's shoulder, leaning down to whisper, "You don't have good feelings toward the Sheng family either. You only like that girl. Sheng Wenbo has already fallen out with his wife. With his eldest daughter's temperament, she'll fall out with him sooner or later too. So for this illegitimate daughter called Sheng Qianling to obtain the Sheng family is quite easy. If you can control the Sheng family and merge it into the Jiang family, then you'll be qualified to take over the Jiang family."
Jiang Yanxi's eyes widened, only shock in his heart.
"How you decide, think it over carefully yourself. You still have plenty of time, but during this period, your siblings are all growing too."
"If you miss this powerful assistance, you can only return to your former days—cowering in small alleys, being beaten without daring to fight back."
Jiang Yanxi remained silent, biting his lip hard. So all his experiences—the other actually knew? But he just watched, never thinking of interfering?
This feeling of being toyed with was indeed uncomfortable.
...
"Why do you have to pick them up?" Jiang Yanxi was somewhat impatient. "Just send a driver—wouldn't that be fine? You're also the Sheng family's young miss."
Sheng Qianling tugged at Jiang Yanxi. "If Dad didn't have an urgent meeting, it wouldn't be my turn to come. Yanxi, why don't you go back first? I'll wait here alone."
She'd said many times she hadn't suffered losses at the Sheng house, but Jiang Yanxi just wouldn't believe it. Sheng Qianxue ignoring her—she thought that was perfectly normal. These weren't big deals at all. Dad asked her to come, so she came. Just picking up people—how would that wrong her?
"Forget it, I won't say anything." Jiang Yanxi still wasn't satisfied with Sheng Wenbo's arrangement, feeling he still didn't value Sheng Qianling enough.
Clearly knowing Sheng Qianxue didn't like Qianling, yet still making Qianling come to be snubbed.
They didn't wait long before Sheng Qianling saw Sheng Qianxue and A-Xin walk out. She quickly waved at them, her face showing a smile, as if very happy.
Sheng Qianxue glanced at Sheng Qianling and said quietly to A-Xin, "Is she an idiot? So happy I'm back?" On the contrary, Jiang Yanxi standing beside Sheng Qianling had a sour expression—his reaction was much more real. That said, Sheng Qianxue still walked toward them.
"Dad has an urgent meeting at the company, so he couldn't come. Qianxue, please don't be angry. Dad has just been busy lately—it's not that he doesn't value you." Sheng Qianling was afraid Sheng Qianxue would misunderstand. She finished speaking in one breath. After finishing, her face was even a bit flushed, her eyes showing apprehension, carefully watching her, ready for mockery at any moment.
But Sheng Qianxue only raised an eyebrow. "Fine, thanks for the trouble."
Uh...
Sheng Qianling had been prepared to be scolded. But it seemed after last time, Sheng Qianxue stopped targeting her, which made her somewhat unaccustomed. But she still breathed a sigh of relief. After all, Jiang Yanxi was here. If they really had an unpleasant scene, Yanxi would definitely do something impulsive.
"Not troublesome at all, not at all." Sheng Qianxue being this polite to her was unprecedented. She continued asking, "Then, shall we get in the car and go home?"
Sheng Qianxue nodded with an "mm," pulling her suitcase with one hand while grabbing A-Xin's arm with the other. She was extremely unhappy. She hated this shorty. She'd been all prepared, waiting for her to confess, but the other stayed steady and said nothing, acting like nothing had happened.
Clearly liking her to death in her heart, yet able to endure this long. Really, she was dying of anxiety.
Sheng Qianxue glared at A-Xin through gritted teeth. Seeing her like this, the other looked at her seriously and asked, "Qianxue, what's wrong? Are your teeth uncomfortable?"
Sheng Qianxue: So angry! Her teeth were fine—she could crunch many ice cubes in one go.
A-Xin also felt Sheng Qianxue's behavior from before boarding the plane until now was indeed quite strange. The way she looked at her was especially odd, with a feeling of wanting to tear her apart and eat her. She was already searching for what stimulus this soul had received. Recalling this period, she hadn't done anything particularly excessive.
"I'm fine."
"That's good then."
Sheng Qianxue was about to explode. She wasn't fine at all. Could she stuff this shorty into the suitcase?
"Do you need me to help carry something?" Sheng Qianling was still immersed in Sheng Qianxue's earlier politeness, feeling quite good. She quickly caught up. Jiang Yanxi couldn't hold her back no matter what.
Sheng Qianxue had just choked on A-Xin, so her tone wasn't great. "No need, I'll carry it myself."
"Oh, okay then." Sheng Qianling wasn't angry. Sheng Qianxue's attitude toward her today was already much gentler. This was just her temperament—she'd get used to it. This time she said "troublesome" to her. Next time she might even smile at her.
She didn't expect Sheng Qianxue to like her much—she just hoped they could get along peacefully. That way Dad would feel much better. She was the one who'd brought trouble to this family, so her current situation was actually much better than imagined.
Jiang Yanxi looked at Sheng Qianling's foolish smile, really wanting to smack her head. Being bullied like this, yet smiling so happily?
Looking at the backs of Sheng Qianxue and A-Xin, Jiang Yanxi's gaze darkened. Since Qianling was so wronged at the Sheng house, if he did something to the Sheng family in the future, it wouldn't matter. He only cared about Qianling. Everyone else, including Sheng Wenbo, weren't good people. He didn't need to be polite.
A-Xin suddenly felt a malicious gaze. While moving luggage, she instinctively looked back and immediately discovered the gaze came from Jiang Yanxi. Feeling he was about to look at her, she quickly turned back.
Sheng Qianxue pinched the back of her neck fiercely. "What are you looking at?" Envying the lovey-dovey couple? Instead of confessing quickly, what's the use of just looking? Confess quickly—you need actual action!
"Qianxue, your internal heat has been quite heavy lately. Let's get some cooling medicine when we get back."
Sheng Qianxue was going crazy. Shorty dared say she had heavy internal heat? Actually saying she had heavy internal heat and wanted her to take medicine?
Refuse.
Shorty, very good. When she confesses, I definitely won't agree.
A-Xin felt she'd overlooked something, but thinking carefully, she couldn't remember what. That matter Xue Xuan had misunderstood before—she also hadn't paid much attention to it.
This excuse was actually quite good, at least it could make Xue Xuan believe she truly cared about Sheng Qianxue. What feelings Sheng Qianxue would develop toward her—she thought that shouldn't be possible. Of course, she also didn't think she'd develop any feelings for anyone.
It also wouldn't be what Xue Xuan said about her having those kinds of feelings for Sheng Qianxue. If she really had those feelings, with her style, she'd have told Sheng Qianxue long ago.
A soul that could make her heart flutter—she'd never let go no matter what. Even if they didn't like her, she'd weave an inescapable net to make them willingly fall into the trap.
So she didn't like Sheng Qianxue.
Looking at A-Xin acting like nothing happened, Sheng Qianxue felt terrible.
Returning home, she shut herself in her room, constantly muttering things like "shorty has no conscience." She fiercely beat the large doll on the bed, beating it until she was covered in sweat before finally stopping.
"Let's see how long she can hold out."
"Has the courage to tell my mom but not to confess to me. Really useless."
Sheng Qianxue suddenly remembered something, her face turning pale.
It can't be because of that reason, right?
She stood up, carefully recalling how many times she'd told Shorty not to date early. The more she thought, the paler her face became. It seemed every time she saw Jiang Yanxi and Sheng Qianling together, she'd remind Shorty not to date early.
So... Shorty had a crush on her but didn't dare confess because she'd once said no early dating, or she'd throw her out?
Sheng Qianxue frustratedly patted her head, anxiously stomped her feet, pacing around the room. What to do? Should she proactively confess? No, how could that be? She wouldn't do it—she'd definitely be laughed at.
But if she didn't confess, Shorty wouldn't confess to her either.
Sheng Qianxue propped up her chin, falling into distress.
At this moment, someone knocked on the door. She quickly bounced over. Reaching the door, she coughed lightly, not immediately opening it. "Who is it?"
"Qianxue, it's me. Open the door."
"Oh, you." Sheng Qianxue desperately wanted to open the door immediately but still slowly opened it with restraint, looking down at A-Xin. "What is it?"
Are you confessing? If not confessing, then scram.
"Didn't you say your internal heat was heavy? I brought you a bowl of cooling medicine. Drink some. Having heat inside isn't good for your health."
A-Xin held the bowl before Sheng Qianxue. Instantly, a classic line flashed through Sheng Qianxue's mind: "Dalang, time to take your medicine." She quickly shook her head. What was she thinking about?
Sheng Qianxue glanced at the bowl of medicine. "Won't drink it. I don't like bitter things."
"This one is sweet."
Sheng Qianxue's eyes moved. "Don't believe you. You drink a sip first to show me."
"Okay, I'll drink a sip to show you." A-Xin took a small sip and said seriously, "Sweet. It's just cooling powder, not bitter at all." Finishing speaking, she was about to take the bowl away. "I'll go make you another bowl."
"No need for that trouble. This bowl is fine." Sheng Qianxue calmly snatched the bowl into her hands, casually pushing A-Xin away and closing the door. "Alright, I'll drink the medicine. You go do your thing."
A-Xin stood at the door, feeling something was strange. She didn't know that inside the room, Sheng Qianxue was holding that bowl with a delighted expression, eyes slightly narrowed, drinking the medicine from exactly where her lips had just touched.
"Not bad. Really is sweet. So sweet."
That evening, A-Xin was reading under the lamp when Sheng Qianxue knocked and entered. "Shorty, my internal heat is quite heavy lately. You should make me cooling medicine every day. Should be morning and evening once each, right?"
"Mm." A-Xin agreed, finding it strange. Didn't Qianxue really reject taking medicine?
Sheng Qianxue's cheeks reddened slightly as she looked away. "That medicine really isn't very bitter. The ones I drank before were all especially bitter."
"That settles it then. Remember to make it for me tomorrow. I'll be waiting."
The next day after the meal, A-Xin didn't forget to make medicine for Sheng Qianxue. Knocking on the door, Sheng Qianxue came out glaring at her, asking, "It's not bitter, right?"
"Sweet." A-Xin answered, not minding her occasional small temper tantrums at all.
Sheng Qianxue: "I don't believe you. I'm afraid you're messing with me. You shorty are quite wicked. You drink a sip to show me."
A-Xin took a sip. She could satisfy such small requests. If Qianxue liked it, she'd just go along with her.
Sheng Qianxue was satisfied. She extended her fair hand to take the bowl. "Mm, acceptable. You didn't trick me. You can go. I'll drink it myself." She pushed A-Xin out and closed the door.
That evening, A-Xin held the medicine at the door, knocking on the room door. "Qianxue, time to take your medicine."
Qianxue opening the door nearly stumbled. She quickly drove the messy thoughts from her mind. She was Qianxue, Qianxue, not Dalang... She opened the door.
She glanced at A-Xin. This time A-Xin was very self-aware, quickly saying, "Not bitter. I'll try it for you."
As A-Xin lowered her eyes to drink the medicine, she didn't notice Sheng Qianxue's focused gaze. In her heart, she snorted. This shorty—performing so obviously, did she think she couldn't tell? If they were interacting normally, how would she go along with everything?
Shorty, really devious.