T/N: Another double update. Do read the previous chapter if you haven’t yet
At noon, Chi Xia stayed for lunch for the first time.
The reason was that her car broke down so she came here by taxi today. Later, when Lin Yuming was done with his work, he would come to pick her up and at the same time help her move the boxes of books to her apartment.
Auntie Su made a few stir-fried dishes that they liked and the three of them sat down to eat together. Unexpectedly, the atmosphere was quite harmonious.
After the meal, Chi Qiu intended to go to the old study on the second floor to find some documents.
Seeing this, Chi Xia asked him, “You want to go upstairs?”
Chi Qiu nodded and casually responded: “I’m going to Mom’s old study to find some Braille books I used to use.”
Chi Xia unexpectedly took the initiative to come over and grabbed his arm, “I’ll help you up.”
“No, I’m familiar with my own home, I can take the stairs.” Chi Qiu said so, but he couldn’t resist Chi Xia’s insistence and did not refuse again.
The old study on the second floor was cleaned by the hourly worker every week. When Chi Qiu opened the door, what he could smell was the smell of books. He groped his way into the room under Chi Xia’s gaze, feeling a little stuffy inside.
The door behind him squeaked shut, but it didn’t shut tightly. Perhaps Chi Xia also found the old study too stuffy that she didn’t close the door completely.
Chi Xia did not leave, she rolled up her sleeves and said: “Sit down, I’ll help you find the book.”
Chi Qiu was not used to Chi Xia taking the initiative to get close, so he hesitated: “Thank you.” He randomly said the names of the two Braille books and explained the location, “They should be on the fifth shelf from the bottom.”
Chi Xia quickly helped Chi Qiu find the book, and put them together on the desk in front of Chi Qiu. Then, before Chi Qiu could thank her again, she stuffed a bank card into Chi Qiu’s hand.
Chi Qiu was very confused.
He heard Chi Xia say: “I asked my dad to borrow some money, plus the salary advance mom gave me. I have already credited all the money you lent me to this card. On the 15th of every month, Jin Chengjun will also transfer money to this card. The money he transferred will be the interest.”
She lowered her head, her knuckles tightening slightly: “I wanted to thank you for helping me before. It’s just that, as you know, the relationship at home makes us get along awkwardly all the time. I may have been a bit ignorant, so you had to be more sensible.”
Chi Xia’s words made Chi Qiu look up in surprise, and the card in his hand made him embarrassed.
He dawdled, as if thinking about Chi Xia’s sudden change of heart, before saying: “You don’t have to thank me, I helped you voluntarily at that time. Besides, you don’t have to pay back that money. I don’t usually go out much, it’s no use holding it in my hand. ”
Chi Xia didn’t take his words to heart as she absently picked up a Braille book and casually flipped through it, with no intention of leaving: “That’s a separate matter entirely.”
Chi Qiu hesitantly sat in the chair in front of the desk, not knowing what to say.
It was Chi Xia who closed the book and suddenly broke the dull air, as if she had come prepared: “If it’s convenient to ask, why do you want to divorce?”
Chi Qiu was at a loss for words, he couldn’t answer Chi Xia honestly, and he was unwilling to answer.
Perhaps Chi Xia also felt that this question was too abrupt, she explained, “Don’t misunderstand, I’m not trying to interfere in your personal affairs. It’s just that when I came this morning, I saw Lu Ming at the gate of the community.”
She saw Lu Ming holding a bouquet of roses, as persistent as the affectionate protagonist in the TV series. Chi Xia specifically asked the guard, only to be told that Lu Ming came every day without missing a day.
For a while, her heart was full of thoughts.
She said: “I think it’s very strange… Why when there is a problem on my side, your side also has a problem.”
Chi Qiu felt that Chi Xia’s gaze was as terrifying as a praying mantis preying on him as she was staring firmly at him.
Only to hear Chi Xia slowly say: “Ji Feining obviously found out, but refused to reveal a word to me. You saw it in the morning, I talked to Jin Chengjun. The interesting thing is that he, just like me, is still in the dark and can’t figure out who is behind it.”
Not wanting to discuss this with her, Chi Qiu lied: “I’m not quite sure what you’re talking about.”
Chi Xia pursed up the corners of her mouth like she was helpless: “Really?”
Chi Qiu clenched his hands guiltily: “En.”
There was no window in the small old study room, and the atmosphere was too depressing.
Chi Qiu got up and wanted to leave the place.
However, Chi Xia keenly noticed Chi Qiu’s nervousness, even though Chi Qiu was trying his best to cover it up. She stopped Chi Qiu and made him sit down again, then, she said: “The night I came back, you somehow soaked in rain and caught a high fever and kept saying ‘I’m sorry’ to me. Actually, you’ve always been very nice to me and rarely have such out-of-control moments. Did you encounter something?”
After meeting with Jin Chengjun, Chi Xia probably had made up her mind about the result. She didn’t hesitate to test Chi Qiu: “I’ve been thinking about it for a long time, but I can’t figure it out. Don’t you think this matter is really fishy?”
“…”
Listening to Chi Xia’s series of questions, Chi Qiu’s heart couldn’t help but beat faster. A thin layer of sweat seeped out of his back, but fortunately he was so used to pretending to be blind that he kept looking at the ground without arousing suspicion.
He skillfully avoided Chi Xia’s hot gaze.
Seeing that Chi Qiu didn’t speak, Chi Xia took a deep breath and said in a muffled voice: “I went to ask Mom, she said she didn’t know anything, and said she couldn’t find anything. Then why can the Ji family find it out? I am her daughter, doesn’t she want to know who helped Jin Chengjun to deceive me?”
It was all very strange.
Chi Qiu felt cold all over as he held his breath: “Sorry, I really don’t know anything——”
“Ge!” Chi Xia suddenly shouted this, interrupting Chi Qiu’s lie.
This ‘ge’ nailed Chi Qiu in place. She probably hadn’t called Chi Qiu ‘ge’ for more than ten years.
Chi Xia’s feet moved a step forward, she stood in front of Ji Qiu, half crouched down. Looking at her poor brother who was blind, she said softly: “Obviously I’m the one who is the victim, but why does everyone know the truth? Why hide it from me alone?” She pursued, “You know it, don’t you?”
“…”
“Ge, please tell me, this is something I have to know.”
Chi Qiu’s hand trembled for a moment, but he still couldn’t escape Chi Xia’s eyes. She managed to catch Chi Qiu’s panic and said it in one word: “It’s related to Lu Ming.”
Chi Qiu raised his head sharply: “No.”
This time it was Chi Xia who was dumbfounded, she froze, not expecting Chi Qiu to deny it flat out.
According to her understanding of Chi Qiu, Chi Qiu wouldn’t lie, let alone defend a person who was about to break up with him to the point of divorce. Unless, of course, he was still in love with that person, or they were simply faking a divorce to cover something up.
So, she asked again unrelentingly, “It’s Lu Ming, right?”
“No.” Chi Qiu didn’t hesitate.
No matter how many times Chi Xia asked, his answer was only this one.
But it was this same lack of hesitation that betrayed Chi Qiu’s fake calmness.
Chi Xia finally understood. She laughed and took a step back: “It’s really him.”
She stroked her forehead, and her anger smothered in her heart. Gradually, in the midst of Chi Qiu’s insistence, she began to lose control: “You’re actually helping him hide it?”
Chi Qiu pursed his lips: “…”
Chi Xia looked at him in disbelief: “Chi Qiu, you are simply Lu Ming’s accomplice…You lied to me with him for the sake of the Lu family’s property?”
“I said no!
“You lied to me!” Chi Xia grabbed his shoulders and said in agitation, “Do you know how much hardship I’ve suffered in this year, how badly I’ve been cheated by Jin Chengjun?! Do you know that I am your sister?! Aren’t you ashamed?! You pretended to help me and act like a good person for everyone to see…In fact? What calculations did you and Lu Ming make, what are you guys? What gives you the right to ruin my happiness?!”
She almost growled.
Chi Qiu’s heart was soaked in cold water. He silently accepted her anger, the shoulder she grabbed vaguely painful, as if there were bruises.
In the lingering voice, Chi Xia really couldn’t stand Chi Qiu’s dreariness and sneered: “You and Lu Ming are really a natural pair, the same shamelessness.”
One after another, she shattered the only remaining family relationship between Chi Qiu and her.
But soon, Chi Qiu no longer gave Chi Xia the opportunity to pursue the question.
The mention of the name ‘Lu Ming’ seemed to be a bottom line for Chi Qiu. He spoke calmly to Chi Xia, who was emotionally fluctuating: “I know you are my sister.”
Chi Xia’s mouth twitched slightly.
Chi Qiu’s heart was cold, and his tone was even colder: “Because you are my sister, I tolerated, I endured, I retreated again and again.” He asked almost heartbreakingly, “But do you know that I am your brother?”
Chi Qiu’s whole person was not the same as before; he went from nervous to angry that was visible with the naked eye, but still remained calm.
Chi Xia threw out the question again and attacked the ‘evil deeds’ of Chi Qiu and Lu Ming.
If it was in the past, Chi Qiu would definitely apologize to her and humbly beg her not to be angry——this was the image of Chi Qiu that Chi Xia had in her heart.
However, in the midst of Chi Xia’s aggressive questioning, Chi Qiu was frighteningly calm: “Xiao Xia, you have asked me so many questions, then I have a question for you too. Are you really sure that it was Jin Chengjun who completely cheated you, and that you didn’t know about it at all?”
Chi Xia was startled: “What do you mean?”
Chi Qiu clenched his fist, and his nails touched his palm. He slowly raised his hand, taking away Chi Xia’s hand squeezing his shoulder and said in a breath: “When you were in college, you were good friends with Jin Chengjun. You even had a relationship that went beyond that between friends, then you must have known his family’s situation and his situation very well. You didn’t choose him at that time, in fact, it wasn’t entirely because he didn’t confess his love to you.”
If Chi Xia liked him enough, according to Chi Xia’s character, she didn’t necessarily have to wait until Jin Chengjun spoke.
But the development of things was very strange.
Although Chi Qiu was also guessing, he broke it down in one sentence: “You were frightened by his family at the beginning, so you listened to mom. You gave up on Jin Chengjun and went to see Lu Yinliang who had excellent conditions.”
This time, it was Chi Qiu who asked her back: “Is that right?”
Chi Xia looked like she had stepped on the tail she had been hiding. Her face changed greatly.
He lowered his head: “When someone helped Jin Chengjun solve his family’s problems and gave him a good job to get him on the right track in life, you almost didn’t even think about it and said yes to his confession all at once.” He paused, “You did this because you found that Lu Yinliang has never been short of good people, he isn’t interested in you.”
That was why after Chi Xia eloped, Lu Yinliang didn’t have any resentment towards the Chi family and didn’t care about Chi Xia’s whereabouts. Even when he saw Chi Qiu, he could greet him warmly and friendly.
Chi Qiu’s lips and teeth were dry, but he continued: “At that time, Jin Chengjun had no worries about his future. Moreover, with his background, as long as you speak, he can obediently join our family and help you take care of the company. But what you miscalculated was that mom would be so stubborn.”
In Chi Lanyan’s eyes, a marriage with the wrong family was a big no-no. She didn’t want her daughter to follow in her footsteps. Therefore, she decisively rejected Chi Xia’s choice; she was certain that Jin Chengjun would not be of any help to Chi Xia’s future.
It was precisely for this reason that Chi Xia was obsessed with asking Jin Chengjun to start his own business and prove himself.
Right now, Chi Xia was standing in front of Chi Qiu, like a box that had been punctured, leaving a big hole.
Her face was so pale, she had never been so embarrassed before.
“Jin Chengjun’s change, with how clever you are, how could you not have noticed that someone was helping him in the first place?” Chi Qiu closed his eyes. He hardened his heart and blurted out his guess, “I really don’t know anything about you, so what I’m going to say next is all my guesses. If I’m wrong, you can tell me the answer.”
“…Shut up.”
“There’s only one thing you didn’t find out.” Chi Qiu was no longer submissive to Chi Xia, he stood up, “That is, Jin Chengjun would come to pursue you. It was indeed under the urging of others, rather than the first thought from his heart after his situation had improved. You have discovered this, so your self-esteem can’t stand it. So you also want to know who made the decision for Jin Chengjun, for him to pursue you. ”
That was why Chi Xia pretended to be innocent and pretended not to know anything.
She had to find out the person behind the scenes.
Only in this way could she have a place to vent her wasted time. And she finally could have an object to blame for the ignorant mistakes she made.
Chi Qiu knew Chi Xia too well and knew even better how ridiculous and meaningless her vulnerable self-esteem was.
Of course, Chi Qiu also knew that everything Chi Xia did was to prove one thing to Chi Lanyan upon her return: even if she had done something wrong, she was just an innocent victim. If someone hadn’t made a mistake, how could she have taken this wrong step?
——Just to prove to Chi Lanyan.
Chi Xia’s inferiority complex was different from Chi Qiu’s inferiority complex. The gloomy and depressing family had pushed the two siblings further and further apart and until now, they had to stand on opposite sides.
The author has something to say:
Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, Lu Ming will hold Chi Qiu upright and open! Go through the front door, the kind that doesn’t pretend~(∩_∩)~1refer to Lu Ming’s antics in chapter 93 hahahah
T/N: Another fucked up parents but anyway, when I first read this, I thought there would be a redemption arc for CX since she wasn’t doing much harm before this, but as you see.
Also tomorrow got double update too!
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