Her Imperfection for Wifehood - Chapter 8

Chapter 8

It was the season for feeling sleepy in both spring and autumn. The idle An Xi slept until late morning, while Lu Cheng, who never knew the meaning of sleeping in, had been waiting outside for a long time.

“Brother Cheng, what’s up? It’s still early.”

“The Miss has gone out on business. She specifically asked me to accompany you to the factories. Also, regarding what you said about Miss Wei Er being sick, the Miss sent Uncle Li and Wanyun with tonics. You need to be aware of this.”

“…” An Xi was a little confused. “The tonics weren’t sent in my name, were they? What game is my sister playing now?”

She had repeatedly warned him to keep his distance from her, yet now she was showing concern in his name? An Jing’s underlying intention was truly perplexing to him.

“You’ll have to ask the Miss what game she’s playing. Go wash up. Mama Zhang left breakfast for you. I’ll wait in the courtyard.”

Fenglai Tea House, inside the concession.

This was the tea house An Xi had previously mentioned, where he had met Wei Yinxia for the second time.

In the private room on the second floor, a man wearing gold-rimmed glasses skillfully brewed and poured tea, speaking and acting in an orderly manner.

The woman sitting opposite him habitually turned the pair of white jade rings on her finger, silent, her gaze fixed on the stage downstairs.

On the stage were an old man and a young girl. The old man had white hair and a beard, like a grandfather, playing the erhu. The girl, about fifteen or sixteen, like a granddaughter, was singing an opera tune.

An Jing didn’t like opera; she always felt the tunes were too noisy. It was an impulse that led her to choose such a location when she had Uncle Li call to arrange a meeting with Qin Zhe last night—she must have been bewitched.

“This pair of grandparents and granddaughter has been performing here for about a year. The young girl has an extraordinary talent for opera. She’s only seventeen or eighteen. If she gets a chance to join a troupe and finds a good master willing to teach her everything, she’s bound to achieve great things.”

“Does Boss Qin frequent this place?”

“Not often, only three or four times.” As he spoke, he refilled An Jing’s cup with hot tea.

An Jing reined in her thoughts and closed the window halfway: “I don’t like beating around the bush. Let’s get straight to the point.”

The letter from yesterday had one less word on the paper than on the envelope.

—An’s is in danger.

Qin Zhe calmly sipped his tea, his gaze never leaving An Jing: “Boss Jing’s spirit is unmatched by ordinary people.”

An Jing crossed her legs, instantly transforming her demeanor, leaning back in the chair in a relaxed, casual manner, and smiled nonchalantly: “Flowery rhetoric isn’t what I came here to hear.”

“It’s not easy to arrange a meeting with you. There’s no rush to discuss serious business.” The Qin family and the Wei family were rivals, so Wei Zhengqing naturally didn’t invite the Qin family to his birthday. Otherwise, Qin Zhe could have seen the woman he constantly thought about days ago.

Apart from the initial phase where he was infatuated and did foolish things, Qin Zhe had always treated her with respect.

An Jing raised her left hand and pointed at her watch with her right index finger: “An hour is my limit for sitting here with you. Twenty minutes have passed. You have forty minutes left.”

Seeing the bandage on An Jing’s left hand, Qin Zhe asked anxiously, “What happened to your hand? Are you hurt?”

“None of your concern.”

The erhu and the opera singing downstairs suddenly stopped.

This was followed by a man’s rough shout: “Play a cheerful one for this old master!”

An Jing pushed the window open. The young girl was crouching on the stage, covering her forehead with her right hand. The old man, who had been sitting on a stool, was also bending over next to her.

“You’ve taken the money, now hurry up and sing for the master!”

Following the sound, a head popped out of the private room across the way. Qin Zhe immediately recognized the man: “It’s Sixth Master Ma of the Ma Kee Pawnshop.”

Three women entered through the main door.

The one in the cheongsam walking behind them approached the stage, touched the young girl’s head, spoke to her, removed the hand covering her forehead, blew on it, picked up a few silver dollars from the ground, and handed them to the old man.

The young girl stood up, wiped away her tears with her sleeve, and smiled gratefully at the woman.

The woman was assisted by her maid as she went upstairs, and the music resumed. Compared to the mournful, heavy tune from earlier, the rhythm was indeed much faster and more lively.

“Isn’t that the Eldest Miss of the Wei family?” Qin Zhe recognized Wei Lanyin; he had done business with her husband’s family a couple of times.

“And the one following her must be the Wei family’s Second Miss—Wei Yinxia—whom Old Master Wei has been hiding and rarely lets out, and who almost became your brother-in-law, right?

“By the looks of it, the two sisters seem to be heading into Sixth Master Ma’s private room. Heh, this is interesting. Who doesn’t know that Sixth Master Ma is notorious for his lechery? His house is already full of wives and concubines, but he still can’t stop pawing at women outside. Any woman who lands in front of him is a lamb delivered to the tiger’s den.”

“If he’s truly as deplorable as you say, how did he get all those wives and concubines? Did he kidnap them in broad daylight?” An Jing was focused on factory business and rarely paid attention to the riff-raff and shady dealings outside.

“It’s not far from kidnapping,” Qin Zhe said with disdain.

“Sixth Master Ma traveled extensively in the Northwest in his early years, seizing every opportunity and lucking out with numerous tomb-raiding treasures. Later, he made a fortune by buying and selling antiques. These days, he sits on mountains of wealth, seeking no fame or power, only comfort and pleasure.

“He may be unattractive, but he’s particularly generous when it comes to buying wives. If the rumors are true, his most expensive acquisition was his Fifth Concubine, the leading actress of a theater company, whom he brought home last March for a whopping twelve thousand silver taels.”

An Jing closed her eyes, seemingly trying to calm herself: “Boss Qin, you have twenty-five minutes left.”

Qin Zhe acted as if he hadn’t heard An Jing’s reminder and continued: “I wonder what the Wei family’s Second Miss is worth.”

Someone had naturally conveyed news about the An family to him: An Xi’s canceled engagement and his subsequent high-profile delivery of a thousand silver dollars’ worth of silk fabrics to the Wei family’s Second Miss.

The Qin family’s main business was department stores, and a conflict of interest had created a rift with the Wei family. They had been in a fierce rivalry for a long time.

Privately, he certainly did not want to see the Wei and An families sitting in the same boat through a family marriage.

Although An Jing had a partnership with him, making them a community of interests, An Jing was only contributing personal funds. What he truly desired was a relationship where he and the An family, the family An Jing belonged to, would rise and fall together, not just a simple business tie.

“I heard the Wei family’s Second Miss performed publicly at Old Boss Wei’s birthday banquet a few days ago? The Wei family’s move was clearly a deliberate attempt to demean her…”

“Qin Zhe.”

An Jing was getting restless. While lighting a cigarette, she said, “I didn’t meet you to listen to irrelevant matters. If your intention is to simply waste my time or play games, don’t blame me for turning my back on you.”

“Boss Jing, please calm down.”

Qin Zhe spoke so much not to stall for time, but to gauge An Jing’s true attitude and position toward the Wei family’s attempt at a marriage alliance with the An family.

“The October Board of Directors meeting will announce new regulations. Alongside the usual Supervisory Board vote this year, there will be a major reshuffling of the current board members, and the possibility of accepting foreign merchants into the association is not excluded. The official notice has not yet been issued. Currently, President Tang has only privately spoken with the two vice-presidents and the secretary-general.”

In fact, President Tang met with his father. Qin Zhe was merely delivering the message as a favor.

The family scandal was already widespread, but Old Master Qin had accepted it and put aside his pride to help his son. As the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

An Jing was lost in thought. Only now did she truly understand the meaning of Wei Zhengqing’s words, “to be kicked out of the game.”

It seemed the opponent was completely confident.

The sales of An’s Cotton Mill didn’t rely on the Board of Directors’ connections, but once they were out, without the protection of the Chamber of Commerce board membership, the biggest hidden danger for the An family would be their suppliers…

“The vote is inevitable.”

Qin Zhe leaned forward, reaching across the table with his arm to catch the cigarette ash about to fall on An Jing: “But man’s effort can still prevail.”

Uncomfortable under his intense gaze, An Jing stubbed out the half-smoked cigarette, grabbed her coat, and stood up: “The tea today is on me. Please excuse me.”

Before she could take a step out the door, she heard a line from behind her: “Wei Lanyin has gone downstairs alone.”

Sixth Master Ma was nearly fifty. A man that age is neither in his prime nor decrepit, but his hair was thinning uncooperatively.

Conscious of his appearance, he never left home without a hat. To match the hat, his attire was mainly a Sun Yat-sen suit, complete with a pipe in hand, which made him look notably old-fashioned.

Wei Yinxia had a petite face and fair skin. Sitting across from the weathered Sixth Master Ma, a stark contrast was drawn. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say they looked like father and daughter.

“Second Miss, do you know that when I had Matchmaker Zhang visit the Wei family yesterday, the betrothal gift I offered was this number?”

Sixth Master Ma held his pipe in his left hand and held up three fingers with his right: “I didn’t have high hopes, but I didn’t expect that old woman to be eloquent enough to convince your father, saying I should see your face and then we could discuss further.”

He had never seen Wei Yinxia before. He didn’t know what she looked like. He had only become audacious enough to pursue this marriage after hearing the recent odd news about the An family calling off the engagement and the strange events at Wei Zhengqing’s birthday banquet, concluding that she was not favored by her family.

Wei Lanyin sat for a while, briefly explained her intention, then used the excuse of buying pastries for her mother to leave, instructing her maid, Xuer, to wait outside the door.

Wei Yinxia felt like she was sitting on pins and needles. Powerless and helpless, she felt like a commodity on a shelf waiting to be sold at a price.

Before coming out, she didn’t know she was being put on display by the Wei family as a commodity to meet a buyer. She hadn’t heard anyone mention the “Matchmaker Zhang” he spoke of.

This was not part of the plan.

Was Wei Zhengqing planning to abandon her as a chess piece?

“Now that I’ve seen you, I understand your father’s intention. The fact that he let you come means there’s still a possibility for discussion.” Sixth Master Ma leered at the beautiful Wei Yinxia, his face wrinkling in a smile.

He circled the table and plunked down in the chair Wei Lanyin had just vacated.

Dropping his pipe, he spread his five fingers: “I need to inspect the goods. If I’m satisfied, this number is no problem.” He gestured again with three fingers. “Once you marry in, I’ll give you another ten thousand silver dollars as personal spending money. You can spend it however you like, guaranteed to live no worse than your older sister.”

The man’s hand reached up from behind and settled on Wei Yinxia’s back.

She couldn’t stand it any longer. She braced herself against the table to stand up, but various physical discomforts made even standing difficult.

Sixth Master Ma took the opportunity to embrace her: “Look at this little waist. Second Miss, you’re so delicate, it breaks my heart. Come now, I’ll be your support from now on.”

“It’s about the commands of parents and the words of a matchmaker. If Sixth Master Ma genuinely wants to marry me, please follow…”

It was that line again: the commands of parents and the words of a matchmaker.

The person just outside the door reached out, her face deathly pale.

“Boss Jing!”

Following Xuer’s startled cry, the slightly ajar door was pushed open, slamming against the wall with a loud creak.

At the same moment, one hand forcefully grabbed Sixth Master Ma’s shoulder, and the other twisted his arm, violently pinning him face-first against the wall.

Wei Yinxia was weak all over, struggling to stand leaning against the wall, her cheeks flushed with an abnormal fever.

“A misunderstanding, a misunderstanding.” Qin Zhe spoke up, trying to mediate.

He had met Sixth Master Ma a few times. He had just agreed to accompany An Jing to say hello, not expecting her to immediately resort to physical force.

“Young Master Qin?” Seeing an acquaintance, Sixth Master Ma’s fear of the unknown danger greatly diminished. He struggled, demanding an explanation: “I haven’t offended your Qin family, have I? Why did you bring people to barge in…”

“Allow me to correct you. It’s not Young Master Qin who brought people to barge in. It’s me, righting a wrong, unable to stand by and watch a young girl be bullied.”

An Jing released him, wiping her hands with a handkerchief in disgust: “Sixth Master Ma, my apologies.”

Sixth Master Ma was a typical bully—he preyed on the weak and feared the strong. He always avoided ruthless characters like An Jing, who mixed in both the white and black sectors and was known for her veiled cruelty. He preferred to leave her alone.

Rubbing his arm and suppressing his lustful thoughts, he gave a fawning smile: “Boss Jing, everyone knows the Wei family’s Second Miss is someone your An family rejected. I was purely just picking up a bargain. I met with the two sisters today to discuss marriage with the Second Miss Wei. It’s arranged by a matchmaker, and both sides are willing. Where is the bullying in that?”

The man’s face was hideous. An Jing felt her eyes were defiled just by looking at him. She turned to Wei Yinxia and asked, “What he said…”

“He’s telling the truth.” Wei Yinxia interrupted and turned her face away. “Boss Jing, you misunderstood.”

An Jing’s hand paused slightly.

She narrowed her eyes, observing the woman’s thin profile, noting the suspicious flush that followed the curve of her jaw and vanished beneath the high neckline.

Upon calm reflection, what did this matter have to do with her?

“Heh, in that case, I truly meddled where I shouldn’t have.” The handkerchief she had used to wipe her hands floated in an arc and landed on Wei Yinxia’s chair. An Jing turned to leave with a cold expression. “A soiled handkerchief is not worth washing again.”

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