Her Imperfection for Wifehood - Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Hongying’s neck wound was shallow and only required standard medication, clearly not enough to leave a scar. However, the cut on her arm was deep, requiring five stitches under anesthesia, meaning there was a high probability of scarring.

An Jing stayed by her side the entire time.

Hongying was largely silent, only nodding, shaking her head, or giving brief, one- or two-word answers.

Everyone at the dance hall knew her to be quiet, and An Jing was used to it.

Once the wound was dressed, An Jing helped Hongying to the car. However, Hongying stepped back two paces, shaking her head in a gesture of polite distance, and pointed toward a rickshaw on the side of the road.

An Jing didn’t insist. She took several hundred dollars from Bai Yang and tucked it into Hongying’s hand: “This incident was caused by me, and you were injured because of me. You must take this money. Buy yourself some supplements, take good care of your health, and don’t go back to the stage for a while.”

Next, she took a fountain pen and a light gray handkerchief from the pocket of the coat she had draped over Hongying. She wrote a string of numbers on the handkerchief: “If you encounter any difficulties in the future, you can call this number.”

Behind the veil, Hongying looked intently at An Jing, nodding to acknowledge the offer.

After Hongying got into the rickshaw, Bai Yang asked, “Should I follow her?”

“No need.”

Bai Yang drove An Jing home and left only after informing Lu Cheng of the full situation.

Upon entering the house, An Jing handed the blood-stained handkerchief to Wanyun: “Wash this clean, let it dry, and put it in my room.”

“Yes, Miss.” Wanyun noticed that this moon-white handkerchief was very similar to the one from two years ago; the corner was also embroidered with a small, exquisite red plum in full bloom.

Lu Cheng followed An Jing into the study: “Miss, is the injury on your hand serious?”

Outside, she was Boss Jing—an unflappable businesswoman equal to any man—but at home, she was simply their Miss.

“Just a little scratch.” She had been cut while taking the knife, but it had already been disinfected at the hospital. “Any movement from the Wei family?”

“After nightfall, a car dropped Wei Lanyin off at the Wei residence, and she was carrying a suitcase. It looks like she’s staying for a short visit.”

“Returning to her maiden home?” A married woman packing a suitcase to stay at her parents’ house must have a reason. “Did you see Miss Wei Er (Second Miss Wei) come or go?”

“No. Patrols in that area are strict. I left at 9:30 to avoid alerting anyone.”

“Mmm, proceed with caution and prudence.” An Jing glanced at her watch. It was 10:35 PM; she’d left the hospital by car at 10:00 PM. “Thank you for your hard work. Tomorrow, investigate the reason for Wei Lanyin’s visit home.”

The next day, An Jing took a rare morning to sleep in.

At 9:30 AM, she opened her bedroom door to find Wanyun kneeling outside: “Lu Cheng told you everything?”

Wang Man got what he deserved. Whether Xu Weiqiang made him disappear or left him dead in the street, it was his own doing, and no one could blame others for the cruelty.

As for Wanyun, it was better for her family to tell her the unvarnished truth than for her to hear gossip from neighbors later. Lu Cheng did the right thing.

“I’m sorry, Miss!” Wanyun tried to kowtow, but An Jing stopped her.

“It’s over.”

“It was my blindness then, my poor choice in a man, that brought such disaster to you. I am solely responsible.” Wanyun had been kneeling for over an hour, her eyes swollen from crying, and her legs numb. “Miss, I truly don’t have the face to stay here anymore, but I…”

“Stand up and talk.” An Jing helped her rise. “Wanyun, you’ve been in the An household for so many years, taking meticulous care of my diet and routine. Do you still not know what kind of person I am? How could I blame you for something so trivial? If you truly still recognize me as your Miss, then never speak of ‘having no face’ to stay again.”

“Yes, Miss, I won’t say it again. I will serve you faithfully in the An household for the rest of my life…” Wanyun wiped her tears, overwhelmed with gratitude.

Wanyun was three years older than An Jing, thirty-two this year, and had served the An family for fifteen years.

The year An Jing was adopted by the An family, seventeen-year-old Wanyun was purchased by Madam An from human traffickers to serve as a maid, responsible for cleaning and learning from Mama Zhang how to look after the masters.

If she hadn’t been fortunate enough to meet Madam An, the attractive but unskilled Wanyun would have been sold to a club as a prostitute.

Later, after Mr. and Madam An died and An Xi left home, the only master left to serve was An Jing.

An Jing was considerate of the youth Wanyun had spent toiling for the An family. Believing the household no longer needed so many people, An Jing gave her freedom and a generous dowry, urging her to return to her hometown to reunite with family, marry, and live an ordinary life.

But fate was not kind to her. She had thought her parents were forced to entrust her to an acquaintance who took her to Shanghai to make a living, and that she had unfortunately gotten lost and fallen into the hands of traffickers. In reality, her parents had sold her to the traffickers.

After a long journey home, her parents confiscated all her money and married her off to the aging bachelor Wang Man. In less than two years, she was destitute and fled back to Shanghai, begging An Jing to take her in again.

Her persistent husband followed her to Shanghai.

It was An Jing who intervened and made her husband her ex-husband. Yet, even after taking the money, her ex-husband relentlessly clung on, refusing to leave Shanghai, often harassing Wanyun when she went out.

It was better that he was dead.

She was finally free.

“What’s going on here?” An Xi woke up later than An Jing, startled by the scene before he could finish yawning.

An Jing explained: “She lost some money while out shopping for groceries with Mama Zhang this morning. She was afraid of being scolded.”

“You scared me! I thought it was something major.” An Xi comforted Wanyun: “It’s just some grocery money. Lost is lost, no need to blame yourself. Look at me, look how much I spend, and my sister still dotes on me, right?”

Wanyun broke into a faint smile: “Miss, Young Master, I’ll get back to work.”

Once she went downstairs, An Xi zipped over to An Jing’s door: “Sis, I have a date with some girls this afternoon. Spot me some cash, will you? I can’t be racking up debts in front of the ladies, can I?”

“Ladies? The Qi family and the Wei family?”

The Xu family’s daughter was out of town visiting relatives on Wei Zhengqing’s birthday, and An Xi hadn’t interacted with other girls, so An Jing made the obvious guess.

“Only my sister! You’re psychic!”

An Xi gave a thumbs-up, then smiled and scratched his head, “I had a movie date with Qi Ruyue the day before yesterday, and her parents approved it. Yesterday, she called and said she also invited Miss Wei Er. Don’t worry, I’ll take them to the movie and dinner and be back. I won’t stay out all night.”

“Who exactly do you like?” An Jing’s question was as blunt as ever.

“How could I like anyone? You told me not to get involved with Miss Wei Er, so how would I dare disobey you?”

“So, you’re setting your sights on Qi Ruyue now?”

“Sis, what do you take me for!”

“The Qi family… if you like her, it’s not entirely out of the question.”

“I can’t say if I ‘like’ her after just one meeting, but I find her interesting, cheerful, spirited, and very straightforward. It’s easy and stress-free to be around her.”

“The An family and the Xu family are old family friends. I saw you and the Xu family’s daughter arguing since childhood, and you seem equally stress-free around her, so why not ask her out?”

An Xi evaded the question and posed one of his own: “Sis, that arrogant woman from the Xu family and I have never gotten along. You’re not planning to impose some old-fashioned arranged marriage on me, are you? Didn’t you say I could decide for myself when it comes to marriage? A gentleman’s word is his bond, Boss Jing. You can’t go back on your word!”

“Go on, go on. Get money from Uncle Li, and be back early tonight.” She had no desire to be an old-fashioned traditionalist.

“Thanks, Sis! I knew you were the best to me.” An Xi whistled cheerfully as he went downstairs. “Sis, come down and eat breakfast soon!”

An Jing took the day off to rest and recuperate. After lunch, she sat in the courtyard, intending to read the book that Wei Yinsha had spoken of so fondly. However, after only a few pages, she dozed off in the lounge chair.

It was mentally and visually exhausting.

What she desperately needed was to empty her mind and enjoy a purely tranquil afternoon, rather than trying to decipher the poetry and calligraphy of refined scholars.

Wanyun reported: “Miss, Young Master Qin has sent gifts again.”

“Reject them as usual.”

Her calm breathing instantly quickened again.

Qin Zhe, the eldest son of the Qin family, was thirty-three, four years older than An Jing. Two years ago, he was reluctantly forced to abandon his literary pursuits for business. Unexpectedly, at the first board meeting he attended on his father’s behalf, he fell in love with An Jing at first sight and had been pursuing her aggressively for over a year.

To show his sincerity, he first divorced the wife his parents had arranged, gave his daughter to his ex-wife, and provided the mother and daughter with a huge amount of property. Then, he gave a public interview to reporters, openly announcing that he was madly in love and that all his decisions were his own one-sided actions, unrelated to An Jing.

His impulsive, self-righteous actions not only caused him personal humiliation but also dragged the entire Qin family into scandal.

Afterward, Qin Zhe was viciously beaten with a stick by his father, Old Master Qin, and couldn’t leave his bed for three full days.

But despite the scolding and the beating, Qin Zhe was stubborn. He forgot the pain once he recovered, immediately committing the ridiculous act of writing poetry and placing newspaper ads to declare his love. This enraged Old Master Qin to the point of threatening to sever the father-son relationship.

Madam Qin cried constantly and became so worried that she was hospitalized. Only for her sake did the father-son confrontation cease.

Old Master Qin was forced to hand over the family business to his younger son for a time, but problems frequently arose.

Being old and in poor health, he was unable to manage things himself. He eventually had to compromise, returning the business to the more commercially astute Qin Zhe, and resigned himself to letting his son continue his reckless pursuit.

Wanyun sighed: “They piled the items outside the main gate and left.”

“Then return them exactly as they are.”

Qin Zhe was arguably the most troublesome man she had ever encountered. Not only was he persistent, but he was also skilled at winning public sentiment.

He frequently sent gifts to the An family. When they were rejected, he didn’t resent or get angry; instead, he immediately donated them to the shanty towns in his and An Jing’s names.

To this day, the gossip in the markets and alleys urging her to marry him is so pervasive that An Jing could be drowned in spittle. If she hadn’t stopped him, Xu Weiqiang would have sent men to teach him a lesson long ago.

“He left a letter. Would you like to read it?”

“Not interested.”

Wanyun added: “It says ‘Supervisory Board Resolution’ on the outside. What if it’s important business?”

An Jing held out her hand. Wanyun placed the letter in it: “The pile of items outside… I’ll wait for your instructions after you’ve read the letter.”

The Qin family was also a member of the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors, and one of the two major Vice-Chairman units.

Wanyun didn’t know what the letter contained. But, for the first time, the gifts Qin Zhe sent were brought into the house.

As a subordinate, curiosity aside, their proper way of survival was to follow orders, respect the master’s privacy, and, when appropriate, help resolve the master’s problems.

At 8:00 PM, An Xi returned, neither early nor late. He was humming an unknown tune and collapsed onto his bed the moment he walked in.

“A movie date, and Young Master Xi is already lovesick?”

“Sis!” An Xi bounced up from the bed, visibly flustered. He cleared his throat. “We watched a biographical film. I’m humming the movie’s theme song.”

An Jing didn’t bother asking what they watched. She walked in, holding a newly printed newspaper: “Sitting between two girls at the cinema must have made everyone else jealous, right?”

“Two girls? No way. It was just Qi Ruyue and me. Miss Wei Er didn’t show up today at all.”

“The Wei family would miss such a good opportunity?”

“Qi Ruyue called before leaving. Her maid said Miss Wei Er was sick.”

“Sick?”

“Of course, it might just be a convenient excuse. Maybe she was scared off by your threats the last few times. She’s a young girl, thin-skinned. She can’t handle repeated pressure from you, Boss Jing.” An Xi took the newspaper from her hand. “What major news did you want to show me?”

“The fire at Factory Two has been reported. Tomorrow, you will personally go and inspect the cotton and dyeing factories. You must go to stabilize morale, even if it’s just for show.”

“Fine, I’ll go, I’ll definitely go.” After acknowledging the instruction, An Xi tossed the newspaper onto the table without even looking at it. “Anything else? If not, I’m going to take a bath.”

After leaving An Xi’s room, Lu Cheng entered the main hall, and An Jing nodded to him.

In the study, An Jing looked at the book on the table, suppressed a yawn, and irritably flipped it over, face down.

“During the day today, only one woman visited the Wei family in the afternoon. She’s a new face. Wei Lanyin saw her out the door. Something felt strange, so I followed the woman for a while.”

“She first went to the Ma Kee Pawnshop for over half an hour. When she came out, she was all smiles, clearly having gotten a good deal. Then she went to the Fenglai Tea House briefly, only ten minutes. I followed her out of the concession and found out that the woman is the well-known Matchmaker Zhang.”

Based on Lu Cheng’s words, it wasn’t hard to deduce that one side, either the Ma family or the Wei family, had hired Matchmaker Zhang to arrange a marriage. The identity of the groom was unclear, but the identity of the bride was obvious.

A certain image flashed through her mind. An Jing asked: “Did you see Wei Yinxia?”

Lu Cheng shook his head: “Old Boss Wei left in a car at 7:30 PM. I couldn’t follow, so I came back.”

“Alright, keep watching. Go call Uncle Li in.”

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