“Is Madam being discharged from the hospital?” Secretary Fang forced himself to speak up, his toes curling in his shoes as he did so. His old habit of feeling secondhand embarrassment for his boss had flared up again.
Jiang Yu didn’t respond, merely offering a gentle smile.
But Secretary Fang didn’t see it that way.
Especially in a place like the hospital, and in the dimly lit stairwell, he felt as though he had stumbled into a horror movie. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.
Driven by an instinct for self-preservation, he avoided Jiang Yu’s gaze as much as possible. Before she could say something that would make his heart stop, he couldn’t hold back any longer. With a nervous laugh, he mumbled that he had urgent matters to attend to and hurriedly made his escape.
He looked as if he were being chased by a ghost.
Ji Nian hadn’t expected Secretary Fang to flee so quickly. Wasn’t he just throwing her to the wolves?
Jiang Yu might appear delicate and soft-spoken on the surface, but when it came to anything related to Qin Yan, she would lash out like a rabid dog guarding its food, regardless of the circumstances. What’s more, she could be shockingly harsh on herself.
Once, Ji Nian had arranged a casual dinner with Senior Qin to discuss some matters. Coincidentally, Jiang Yu happened to see them. Rumor had it that Jiang Yu had thrown a huge tantrum afterward, even threatening to twist her gold necklace into a rope and hang herself at the front door.
No wonder Secretary Fang had fled. Even Ji Nian felt the urge to escape. Since that incident, she hadn’t dared to meet Qin Yan again, afraid of stirring up more trouble.
She didn’t have strong feelings about Jiang Yu, neither good nor bad. She was merely the wife of a senior she knew. There was no need for them to interact much.
Saving her this time was purely coincidental, driven by Ji Nian’s principles as a doctor.
Jiang Yu watched from the stairs as Secretary Fang scurried away in a panic, finding the sight so comical that she burst out laughing.
Hearing the laughter, Secretary Fang, who had already reached the landing, couldn’t resist glancing back. He saw Jiang Yu grinning at him in a way that sent shivers down his spine, while simultaneously making a throat-slitting gesture.
Secretary Fang: !!!
He wanted to gouge his own eyes out. Why did he have to look? What was so interesting about it?!
Judging by Miss Jiang’s expression, did she plan to use a small gold knife to slit her throat this time?! If the boss found out he had caused such a huge mess, would he just finish him off?
After watching Secretary Fang leave, Jiang Yu turned to Ji Nian, unusually friendly. “Thank you so much, Dr. Ji. I can never repay you for saving my life. The only way I can think of is to offer myself to you, to be your lifelong best friend!”
With that, she took out her phone, opened her WeChat QR code, and waved it in front of Ji Nian. After a moment of thought, she flashed an innocent, harmless smile and lowered her voice. “If Dr. Ji would prefer Qin Yan to repay the debt on my behalf, I wouldn’t stand in the way.”
Before this, Jiang Yu had been constrained by the plot and her character setting. Her mind had felt shrouded in a thick fog, and her thought processes had been bizarre.
Looking back now, she truly felt that her hostility toward Ji Nian had been utterly unfounded.
Regardless of whether Qin Yan and Ji Nian had any history, in the six months since their marriage, Qin Yan had been away on business most of the time, rarely returning home. Meanwhile, Ji Nian was busy clocking in at the hospital every day. The two of them hardly had any opportunities to meet.
Even when she had accidentally stumbled upon them, they were only meeting in an open booth at a Western restaurant. It was hardly a private setting. There had been no impropriety whatsoever. It had all been perfectly proper.
Yet, uncontrollably, she had been “forced” to see Ji Nian as a rival, an obsession she couldn’t shake off. She didn’t even know how many times she had secretly cursed her in her heart.
It wasn’t until this incident happened that she fully sobered up. Having also read about the related plot in the novel, she knew that Qin Yan’s “white moonlight” wasn’t Ji Nian. Realizing that her previous hostility toward Ji Nian had been completely unwarranted, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of guilt and “affection”.
Ji Nian was stunned by her shocking statement for a solid three seconds, unable to comprehend it but utterly astonished.
Who in their right mind would offer their own husband as a token of gratitude? Wasn’t this the same person who had been fighting tooth and nail for her marriage not long ago?
Could she still be holding a grudge over that casual meal last time and subtly mocking me?
Ji Nian pursed her lips.
She didn’t dare ask outright, nor did she take out her phone to scan the QR code and add her as a friend. Instead, she pushed the luxury shopping bag toward Jiang Yu. “Please return this to…”
“Hey~ Dr. Ji saved me, so you deserve a thank-you gift.” Before Ji Nian could finish, Jiang Yu interrupted her. She pushed the bag back, completely indifferent to the fact that her nominal husband had gifted an expensive bag to another woman. She simply held up her WeChat QR code, insisting that Ji Nian add her as a friend. “He gave his gift, and I’ll give mine. Add me as a friend, and I’ll transfer you 50 yuan right away as the start of our friendship!”
Even after scanning the code, adding Jiang Yu as a friend, and receiving the promised 50-yuan red packet, Ji Nian remained in a daze, feeling as though things were heading in a direction she had never anticipated.
She couldn’t bring herself to refuse the thank-you gift again, but she handed over the paper bag she had been hiding behind her back, too embarrassed to let anyone see it. “I know you were discharged today, so I came to give you this.”
“You even brought something for me? You’re too kind.” Jiang Yu grinned as she looked down at the item in Ji Nian’s hand, but her smile quickly faded.
???
It was that damned lingerie bag she had brought from the mall!
“Your mother came to the hospital that day. I was going to give it to her, but she refused and told me to throw it away. But I thought since you bought it for someone else, throwing it away might cause trouble for you when you get back.” She quickly hung the bag on Jiang Yu’s hand, as if tossing away a hot potato.
Jiang Yu hadn’t expected Ji Nian to take her offhand lie so seriously.
But it didn’t matter.
They had caused her so much trouble for so long. It was only fair that she returned the favor.
Jiang Yu accepted the item, then smiled again, her eyes crinkling. “From now on, don’t call me Mrs. Qin. I suddenly think it’s better to just be the ordinary Ms. Jiang.”
Ji Nian watched her retreating figure, light and carefree, for a long time.
She really had changed.
In the past, if anyone who knew about her relationship with Qin Yan didn’t address her as “Mrs. Qin”, she would have thrown a fit.
Only after Jiang Yu had completely disappeared did Ji Nian snap out of her thoughts. The corners of her lips, which had been tightly pressed together, curved into a faint smile. She took out her phone, opened the chat with her new friend, and accepted the 50 yuan that had been transferred to her.
—
Qin Group Headquarters, CEO’s Office.
A man leaned over his desk, flipping through a stack of documents. A pair of simple, elegant frameless glasses rested on his straight nose bridge, making his face appear even more sharply defined.
The documents were about several plots of land in Hong Kong, including the one his father, Qin Jianhua, had his eye on and wanted to acquire.
It was also the one he considered the least worthwhile investment.
While pondering how to sabotage the land acquisition deal, a rapid knocking sounded at the door. Secretary Fang hurriedly pushed it open and entered. “Boss Qin, something’s gone wrong! I went to deliver a gift to Dr. Ji and ran right into Miss Jiang. She was acting strange, even made a throat-slitting gesture at me. She’s not going to start with the life-or-death drama again, is she?!”
Secretary Fang had nearly torn his hair out on the way here. Having witnessed so much of his boss’s domestic misfortune, he couldn’t help feeling it boded ill.
Qin Yan tossed the documents aside and looked up, his gaze peering over the rim of his glasses to land on Secretary Fang. “How do you know she meant to harm herself and not you?”
He didn’t believe for a second that woman would actually try to end her life.
Secretary Fang’s scalp tightened.
Well, that killed the conversation.
But he knew exactly how to get under Qin Yan’s skin. “Miss Jiang has been discharged from the hospital. Madam Qin called and said you’re to come home tonight. She couldn’t reach you, so she called me instead.”
Qin Yan: “…”
Annoyance was written all over his face. He flung the stack of land documents back at Secretary Fang. “Make Qin Jianhua drop the idea of buying that land within three days.”
—
The western part of Bincheng was an upscale villa district developed years earlier. There were no high-rises in sight, only meticulously crafted residential villa communities, with the tallest buildings standing just two or three stories high, offering open, unobstructed views.
Unlike the crowded city center, this area saw little traffic, with few cars or pedestrians passing by. The taxi Jiang Yu took encountered no delays along the way.
Eventually, the car pulled up at the Shengjing Huayuan residential complex.
Designed in the style of a Suzhou garden, the complex featured white walls and gray-tiled roofs, from the arched gateways and long corridors to the exterior of each residence—simple, orderly, yet artfully arranged.
Qin Yan owned a property here, bequeathed to him over a decade ago in his grandfather’s will. However, it wasn’t officially transferred to his name until after their marriage license was issued. Before that, it had been managed, or rather, occupied by Qin Jianhua and his wife.
Qin Yan’s mother, Zhao Huiru, and his sister, Qin Huaiyu, had even taken to treating the place as their own home. Now, things had gotten worse. After Jiang Yu moved in, the mother-daughter pair dismissed the housekeeper. Whenever they came to stay afterward, they expected Jiang Yu, as the daughter-in-law, to take over the housekeeper’s duties.
She couldn’t help but question the system: Seriously, am I some kind of pushover here???
System: 【Well… it takes a truly unique kind of genius to write such an outrageous character. That’s exactly why we’re here to set things right…】
Jiang Yu: …I have no rebuttal.
As soon as she pushed open the door and stepped into the foyer, she heard Qin Huaiyu’s sharp, slightly shrill voice. “Mom! It’s been days already. The Zhou family still hasn’t given a definite answer. Will Young Master Zhou really agree to the engagement? What if…”
Noticing the sound of movement, Qin Huaiyu turned her head from the sofa and paused mid-sentence. As Jiang Yu approached, she pinched her nose. “How many days has it been since you last showered? You smell! Stay away from me!”
Before Jiang Yu could even move, Qin Huaiyu scooted farther away, issuing orders with an air of superiority. “Since you’re back, the house hasn’t been cleaned in days. It’s as grimy as you are. Hurry up and tidy the place. Qin Yan is coming home to stay tonight.”
Hearing this, Zhao Huiru immediately feigned a light slap on Qin Huaiyu’s shoulder before turning to Jiang Yu. “Don’t listen to her nonsense. You just got out of the hospital. Rest today.”
Both in tone and expression, she appeared to be a gentle elder.
“Why would she need to rest? She looks perfectly fine to me, standing and walking without any issues!” Qin Huaiyu snorted, clearly unconvinced.
Zhao Huiru didn’t argue further, her meaning obvious.
Jiang Yu didn’t respond, merely nodding at Zhao Huiru as a greeting before picking up her bag and heading upstairs.
“Mom! Did you see her attitude?!” Qin Huaiyu, feeling ignored, grew even more irritated. She punched the sofa cushion in her arms and said fiercely, “This house belongs to our family. We haven’t even settled the score with her for pushing us out when she got married, and she still dares to act so arrogantly! Seems like she’s forgotten how to behave!”
Jiang Yu and Qin Yan didn’t share a bedroom, so Qin Yan usually occupied the master bedroom while Jiang Yu stayed in the adjacent guest room. Only when the Qin family visited would she move to the master bedroom to maintain appearances.
In truth, there wasn’t much difference between the two rooms. Both had ensuite bathrooms. She was quite satisfied with her own little space.
The first thing she did after entering the room was to fill the bathtub with hot water. Though she hadn’t reached the point of being “marinated” in odor, it had been inconvenient to shower properly during her hospital stay, so a good soak was in order.
But before soaking, she needed to rinse off under the shower.
She carefully covered the wound on her head with a waterproof dressing, stood under the showerhead, enveloped in a gentle mist, and hummed a cheerful tune as she lathered herself with body wash. It felt like the most physically and mentally relaxing day she’d had in a while.
Just as she was about to rinse off the foam, a stream of cold water poured down on her head.
It was still chilly in early spring. The cold water sent shivers through her entire body, making her sneeze repeatedly.
After a moment, she pushed back her long hair and lifted her eyelids, her eyes now filled with a cold resolve. Wrapping herself in a bathrobe, she grabbed the large wooden foot-soaking bucket beside her and stormed downstairs with an air of fearless determination.
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Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152