Her Imperfection for Wifehood - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

“Heh, Young Master Xi really has good luck with women. With that attitude of yours, don’t pretend to be a lovesick fool. Three days of fun is enough. Go home obediently tonight, and all will be forgiven.”

Inside the Immortal Music Hall ballroom, An Jing, dressed in a black shirt and white trousers, had her short hair, which was level with her jawline, slicked back meticulously with hair oil. Only two strands, one long and one short, fell on her face from her right temple, just past her eyebrows.

If you looked closely, you would see a faint, knuckle-long scar on that very temple.

With her left hand in her pocket and a half-smoked cigarette dangling from her mouth, she walked directly towards her brother, who was surrounded by women.

The sun had yet to set, and the ballroom didn’t have many guests to attend to. Moreover, since An Xi was a VIP guest, the girls swarmed him without the boss’s special arrangement.

While eating and drinking, they had emptied about a dozen wine bottles in just an hour.

Except for the two girls An Xi had his arms around, all the others stood up to greet An Jing, their faces full of smiles and warmth.

“Boss Jing.”

“Boss Jing is here.”

“Boss Jing, have a seat here? Or…”

An Jing was, without a doubt, a woman. But there were very few women in Shanghai who were surrounded by others calling them “boss.”

After all, she was a leader in Shanghai’s business world, holding great power and authority. She had been the head of the An Corporation for many years, a position no one could challenge.

An Xi pushed away the girls on his left and right, squinting as he looked up at the newcomer.

He suddenly pointed at An Jing and said dismissively to the people beside him, “I was wondering who it was. You tell me, how can my sister, dressed like this, have any semblance of a woman? She’s almost thirty, and I haven’t seen a single young master or boss dare to propose to her. It’s bad enough she can’t get married herself, but she won’t let me either. She ruined a perfectly good engagement banquet for me and forced me to break off my engagement with a perfectly lovely bride… I’m a young master of the An family with no one to love me. It’s more like I’m a young master of misfortune!”

As he spoke, An Xi turned to hug one of the girls and “wept” loudly, “If I had known that returning to my own home would be so miserable, I wouldn’t have come back.”

The girl’s mind was not on An Xi. Seeing the ambiguous look on An Jing’s face, she decisively pushed An Xi away and scurried off with her sisters.

Just three days ago, An Jing, who had rushed back from out of town, appeared at An Xi’s engagement banquet, full of rage. She slapped him and publicly tore up the marriage contract between him and the Wei family’s second daughter, making the scandal known throughout Shanghai.

An Xi shouted back, “Who I marry is none of your business,” and An Jing had her men kick him out.

The farce ended, and the engagement was called off.

From that day on, An Xi, in a fit of pique, had not returned home. Instead, he spent his days and nights at various ballrooms, racking up a huge amount of debt.

When the merchants and ballrooms came knocking for payment, An Jing, thoroughly annoyed, came to find him and clean up his mess.

Without the girls as his shield, An Xi instantly panicked. “Sister, Sister, I was drunk. Everything I just said was just drunken talk. Don’t take it seriously…”

“Young Master Xi, are your bones hard today? Do you think you can get away with stepping on my head?”

An Jing gave a fake smile. She walked over and stuffed her cigarette into an empty wine bottle in front of An Xi, then patted his face. “Or should you take my seat as the head of the company tomorrow?”

“No, no, no, I won’t.”

An Xi waved his hands repeatedly and strategically leaned back, grabbing another girl who hadn’t escaped to give himself courage. “Sister, why are you so fierce? You’ve already slapped me once. Are you going to do it again? Look at how you’ve scared the girls. Besides, what I said is true. Look at how you’re dressed. What kind of young lady wears a suit and tie all day? Sister, look at the girls here at Immortal Music Hall. Each one…”

“Go home.”

An Xi immediately cowered and let out a hiccup. “Okay.”

…

The two got into the private car. An Xi closed his eyes and continued to joke, “Sister, I’m serious. Is there really no man in all of Shanghai that you find appealing?”

The hand that was buttoning his shirt paused, and she said with a cold face, “The oath I made in front of our parents’ memorial tablets is not a joke. Don’t bring this up again.”

“Sister,” An Xi opened his eyes and grabbed her hand.

Just as An Jing thought he was about to say something serious to comfort her, he quickly let go and said with a cheeky grin, “Uncle Li must have reported all the bills to you, right? Tell me, a good-for-nothing like me who only knows how to spend my days in debauchery, how could there still be parents who try to push their daughters into this fire pit?”

“In the eyes of others, the An family is not the fire pit you describe. Once you’ve squandered the family fortune, you naturally won’t have these kinds of worries. You’ve been idle for two months. Have you figured out how to squander the family fortune next?” To parents who prioritize profit, their children’s marriages are nothing more than a bargaining chip and a tool.

“How can I ever squander it all? With you around, Dad and Mom and I won’t have to worry about food and clothing for the next life.”

Remembering their parents, An Xi said wistfully, “Sigh, I wish you were my real sister. That way, no one would gossip, and you could legitimately inherit our family business. With you in charge, Dad and Mom would definitely be more at ease in the afterlife.”

“An Xi, what’s yours is yours. I’ve never wanted to take it for myself.” The fact that she was the adopted daughter of the An family was well known.

“Sister, you know I don’t mean it that way.” An Xi regretted his choice of words.

“Then shut up.” An Jing said fiercely, then stroked his face. “I was in a hurry that day and hit you hard. Did it hurt?”

“No, it didn’t.” An Xi shook his head. “You know I have thick skin. I got a lot of beatings when I was a kid.”

That slap landed on An Xi’s face but humiliated the Wei family’s reputation. An Jing was angry, but she also had a selfish motive; she wanted to slap him for all the guests to see.

The beatings An Xi received as a child were all from their father, and An Jing at least took half of them for him.

This was the first time he had been hit by An Jing.

As he said, An Jing was the only family he could rely on and trust. They had no blood relation, but they considered each other as close as family. No matter how many times An Jing hit him, he would not hate her.

…

On the road back to the An residence from the Immortal Music Hall, there was a bustling street in the heart of Shanghai, located right at the boundary between the Concession and non-Concession areas.

In principle, after seven o’clock, people without a pass were not allowed to stay in the Concession, so every evening, the streets were crowded with people rushing back to their respective territories.

An Xi looked out the window. “A stream of cars and horses, a dazzling array of lights and colors, but it’s not a prosperous era that belongs to our own people.”

An Jing heard a hint of resentment in his words and said reassuringly, “Things have been peaceful inside and outside the Concession for the past few years. It’s already lucky that the An Corporation’s cotton mills and dyeing factories haven’t been overly suppressed or excluded by foreigners.”

The car came to a sudden halt.

An Jing grabbed the back of the front seat to steady herself. “What’s going on?”

The driver was Lu Cheng, a trusted aide who had been with her for five years. “A girl suddenly fell in front of our car, Miss. Are you and Young Master Xi hurt?”

“A girl?” An Jing reprimanded. “Go and see if we hit anyone.”

An Xi, looking thoughtful, also got out of the car. Indeed, a young woman had fallen in front of the car. It was none other than the Wei family’s second daughter, Wei Yinxia, the one he had wanted to marry but couldn’t.

Wei Yinxia was wearing a dark-colored cheongsam with a peony pattern and a moon-white shawl. Her nearly waist-length black hair was spread over her shoulders and chest.

The length of the cheongsam only reached her knees. Her fall had scraped her right knee, which was now bleeding.

“I didn’t hit her on purpose. She blocked my way and wasn’t looking where she was going. She knocked over the tofu in my basket. It’s only fair and reasonable for me to ask for a silver dollar in compensation!”

A middle-aged woman in a headscarf, while cursing, took out a few silver dollars from a black-and-gold purse. She weighed them in her hand, greedily took two, and then threw the purse next to Wei Yinxia. She bent down to pick up her basket, ready to leave, but her shoulder suddenly felt heavy. Her carrying pole was held down.

Lu Cheng held the culprit and stood beside her. “Miss Wei, are you alright?”

The woman was startled for a moment, then immediately turned the tables. “Who are you? A big man bullying a helpless woman like me! Everyone, come and judge!”

“Miss, Miss!” A little girl with braided pigtails shouted as she pushed through the crowd, crouching down next to the young woman.

She dropped the large and small bags in her hands, looking flustered. Tears instantly fell. “Oh no! What should we do? Miss, your knee is bleeding! Are you hurt anywhere else besides your knee? I’ll be dead if the master finds out. Wuu wuu wuu wuu, please move your arms and your legs…”

Wei Yinxia squeezed her right ankle and said softly, “Xu’er, I… I think I’ve sprained my foot…”

The crying and commotion were all just noise.

An Jing got out of the car and stood next to An Xi. She felt that the girl on the ground looked familiar.

The Wei family had two daughters. The eldest had married years ago and had a son with her husband. The Wei family’s second daughter was a recluse. An Jing had only seen her once at the failed engagement banquet, and that was through her veil.

An Xi tugged at his shirt collar and unbuttoned two more buttons, a mischievous smile on his face. “Sister, you see? Even after you broke off the engagement, she’s still determined to throw herself at me. If I don’t want her again, how can such a lovely young girl have the face to stay in Shanghai?”

“…” An Jing was silent.

Seeing that his sister had nothing to say, An Xi, looking like a hooligan and walking unsteadily, went up and grabbed Wei Yinxia’s arm, pulling her up with no sense of pity.

“So it’s Miss Wei. My dear Yinxia, let me see! Where are you hurt? My heart aches for you.”

“Hiss.” Wei Yinxia’s eyebrows furrowed in pain from the sudden tug.

“You… Young Master Xi, it’s you?” Xu’er recognized An Xi. “Please, be gentle. My Miss has really sprained her foot.”

“Sprained? Oh, sprained. A sprained foot means you can’t walk.” An Xi slapped his forehead and said with a drunken slur, “Come, come, let me…”

The other hand he raised was blocked. “Men and women should not touch. I’ll do it.”

Then, under everyone’s watchful eyes, An Jing picked up Wei Yinxia in her arms, staring at her with a sharp gaze. “Miss Wei, do you recognize me?”

Her build was taller than Wei Yinxia’s, and she had been exercising for years. It was effortless for her to lift a frail woman.

Wei Yinxia was flustered. Her hands reflexively went to An Jing’s shoulders. Meeting An Jing’s gaze, she was momentarily lost.

After a moment, she lowered her head and answered softly, “I do. Boss Jing.”

As the young and promising head of the An Corporation, An Jing had appeared on at least two or three dozen newspapers and magazines over the past few years. In all of Shanghai, especially among the wealthy upper class, she was a household name.

Besides, she had seen her face-to-face at the engagement banquet.

“It’s good that you do. Since you fell in front of my car, regardless of whether the car touched you, I have a responsibility to take you to the hospital to have your injuries checked. Everyone here calls me Boss Jing, but I’m also a woman. This action will not damage your reputation, Miss.”

An Jing emphasized her identity as a woman and then looked at the woman with a sharp gaze. “You have two choices: apologize to this young woman and ask for her forgiveness, or spend a few days in jail.”

She was never lenient with unreasonable and shameless people, regardless of gender, age, or health.

The woman had publicly snatched a purse from a young girl and taken her money. Her actions were atrocious, and she was no good person.

The woman, seeing that the other party had a car and a driver, trembled and put down her carrying pole.

She slapped herself twice on the face, bowed, and said in a low and humble voice, “I’m sorry, Miss. I was blind. I was the one who made a false accusation. I was a fool who didn’t know who you were. Please show mercy, don’t stoop to the level of a vulgar person like me, and forgive me this time. I’ll give you back the money, too.”

Wei Yinxia saw that the woman’s face was red from the slaps and couldn’t bear it. “Boss Jing, let’s just drop it.”

An Jing motioned for Lu Cheng to let the woman go and then said to the crying little girl, “Go back and tell your master that Miss Wei will be fine. Young Master Xi is drunk and can’t take care of her, so I will personally escort her back later.”

Xu’er said, “Ah? But…”

“But what? What, are you afraid I’ll eat your Miss?” An Jing’s tone was unreadable.

“Don’t worry. A delicate and lovely girl like Miss Wei, I will only cherish her even more. After all, if the Wei family hadn’t been the first to break off the engagement, the An and Wei families would be a loving family now, and that scandal from a few days ago wouldn’t have happened. Since it’s come to this, with the Wei family breaking it off once and the An family breaking it off once, our feud is settled. I have no grudge against your Miss, so I will not make things difficult for her.”

Wei Yinxia also nodded at Xu’er, and only then did Xu’er pick up her purse, take the two silver dollars Lu Cheng gave her, and hurry away with her things.

…

At the Shanghai Central Hospital, the on-duty doctor was examining Wei Yinxia’s injuries.

“This young lady’s foot is only a minor sprain. It’s nothing serious. We’ll do a cold compress today, and after 24 hours, you can apply a topical herbal plaster to promote blood circulation and remove stasis. Combined with hot compresses and moxibustion, she’ll be fully recovered in a few days.”

An Jing nodded. “That’s good. Please prescribe the medicine. Oh, and also treat the scrape on her knee.”

The nurse came over with the medicine. Her movements were very skilled but not gentle at all.

Seeing Wei Yinxia grit her teeth and endure the pain, An Jing spoke up. “Give me the medicine. I’ll do it.” As she spoke, she took the cotton swabs and medicine from the nurse and squatted in front of Wei Yinxia to apply it for her.

Seeing this, the nurse was worried that Boss Jing would scold her. She was feeling uneasy when she heard Wei Yinxia’s faint gasp.

“Mmh…”

“Bear with it, Miss Wei. If I rub a little harder, the medicine will penetrate your skin better, and you’ll be able to remember this pain and be more careful when you walk in the future.” An Jing’s tone was cold and didn’t sound like concern at all, but more like a subtle warning.

Wei Yinxia’s hands gripped the stool tightly. She looked at An Jing, who didn’t even raise her head. Her red lips parted slightly, but she ultimately said nothing and turned her head slightly to the side.

The doctor and nurse exchanged glances and remained silent, as quiet as cicadas in winter. This wasn’t even a sprain medicine she was applying.