The Yandere Queen's Manual for Training Her Wife - Chapter 84

“You… you’re not mistaking me for your mom, are you?”

As soon as Xia Mingtang finished speaking, Qin Yan only cast her a sidelong glance. Then, head lowered, she said nothing at all, focusing instead on kicking a small pebble across the ground.

“Woof! Woof-woof-woof!”

The pebble smacked into a Chinese village dog, who barked furiously and charged at them.

The dog was entirely black, with its jaws wide open, looking very imposing.

The culprit, Qin Yan, stood with her hands in her pockets, showing not a shred of guilt for disturbing the dog’s nap.

Xia Mingtang, on the other hand, was scared stiff by the sudden, deafening barking. She instinctively took two steps back. “Don’t… don’t come closer!”

“Afraid of dogs?” Qin Yan teased when she saw how quickly the woman beside her shrank.

Xia Mingtang gripped her sleeve in reply, her action answering for her.

“Woof woof woof woof!” The black dog fixed its angry gaze on the two of them, clearly displeased.

“If you’re scared, then run!” Qin Yan grabbed her hand and bolted.

Before Xia Mingtang could even react, the sound of rushing wind filled her ears.

The black dog chased relentlessly behind them, its barking echoing far and wide.

Qin Yan’s legs were long and her pace fast, so Xia Mingtang was practically dragged along.

The half-devoured moon hung in the sky, shining down on the streets of Sucheng—and on the two women and one dog frantically running along the sidewalk.

Luckily, it was already late at night. If it had been daytime, two stunningly beautiful women hand in hand, fleeing in panic from a Chinese village dog, would’ve almost certainly ended up as a viral video.

Xia Mingtang, who’d long lacked any physical training, was out of breath after just two streets.

“No… I can’t… we need to… think of something…”

Qin Yan turned her head, and when she saw Xia Mingtang’s flushed face and heaving chest, she led her straight into a nearby 24-hour convenience store.

The glass door blocked the dog outside, where it sat barking and howling in frustration.

Leaning on her knees to catch her breath, Xia Mingtang noticed the store clerk’s odd stare and nudged Qin Yan with her elbow. “Buy something.”

Qin Yan went to the back shelves, grabbed some snacks, and headed to the counter to pay.

“Let’s go.” She carried the plastic bag in one hand and reached out for Xia Mingtang with the other.

“So soon?” Xia Mingtang glanced at the dog still loitering outside. She had no desire to leave yet—she wanted more time to rest.

“We’re in the way. They can’t do business.” Qin Yan tilted her chin toward a young woman outside who looked like she wanted to come in but didn’t dare.

Xia Mingtang had no choice but to follow Qin Yan out, bracing herself to run another couple of blocks.

But then Qin Yan pulled a hot dog sausage from the bag, stripped off the wrapper, and deliberately dangled it in front of the black dog’s eyes. The fierce beast nearly went cross-eyed staring at it, before Qin Yan suddenly flung the sausage several meters away.

Instantly, the dog gave up chasing them, happily trotting off with its prize.

Xia Mingtang stared in shock. That enormous menace, who had chased her for streets, was neutralized by a single sausage?

She suddenly felt her earlier marathon sprint had been utterly pointless.

Meanwhile, Qin Yan calmly pulled out a tissue and wiped her fingers with meticulous care.

Xia Mingtang shoved her lightly in irritation. “You’re not afraid of dogs?”

“No.” Qin Yan tossed the tissue into the trash, then casually rummaged through the snacks.

“Then why did you run?”

“Well, you were scared, so I kept you company… got a little exercise too, tsk!”

Just as she finished speaking, Xia Mingtang slapped her on the shoulder. Qin Yan looked up to see her eyes rimmed red with anger.

“Did you do this on purpose?”

The more Xia Mingtang thought about it, the more suspicious it seemed. Who goes out of their way to kick a sleeping dog, then drags someone on a two-street sprint? That whole ordeal could’ve been avoided!

Qin Yan lowered her head and muttered under her breath, “Serves you right for wanting to be my mom.”

Her words were too muffled, so Xia Mingtang didn’t catch them.

“What did you say?”

Qin Yan didn’t repeat herself. Instead, she opened a bag of chips, picked one out, and held it to Xia Mingtang’s lips. “Barbecue flavor.”

Xia Mingtang accepted the offering out of habit, chewing noisily, too preoccupied to dwell on the grueling run.

“Not bad.” She reached for another herself and even remembered to ask, “You’re not eating?”

Qin Yan looked down coldly at the bag of chips in her hand.

“Fried, high-fat, junk food. Long-term consumption causes obesity, cardiovascular issues, indigestion…”

Xia Mingtang: …

Suddenly the chip in her mouth didn’t taste so good anymore.

“Then why’d you buy it for me?”

Qin Yan glanced at the half-empty bag and exposed the truth mercilessly.

“As if you wouldn’t eat it otherwise. You’ve got several bags at home. Don’t worry, finishing this one won’t kill you—yet.”

Pfft!

Die? Over a bag of chips?

This brat’s mouth was poisonous, completely ruining her appetite!

Xia Mingtang shoved the bag back into her arms and stormed ahead angrily.

But after only a few steps, her calf started cramping.

Qin Yan walked quietly beside her, always within half an arm’s reach. At any time, Xia Mingtang could’ve grabbed her for balance.

But stubborn with anger, she refused to reach out, and ended up toppling toward the asphalt.

Qin Yan caught her by the back of her collar, hoisting her upright like a chick.

She didn’t fall—but she was even angrier now!

“You—”

The moment Qin Yan opened her mouth, Xia Mingtang snapped, “Don’t talk!”

She was terrified this annoying brat would say something else to infuriate her.

Qin Yan glanced at her, then obediently held her tongue. Instead, she crouched down in front of her.

“What are you doing?” Xia Mingtang had a guess but wasn’t sure.

Qin Yan pressed her lips together and stayed silent.

“Fine, I’ll allow you to speak now.”

Honestly, she’d never seen her this obedient before.

“Your leg’s not in good shape. There’s still more than a kilometer to go. I’ll carry you.”

Qin Yan said it so casually, like she was asking what was for dinner.

Xia Mingtang gazed at her thin back. A warmth spread in her chest—maybe this brat wasn’t so hateful after all.

Still, what did she mean her leg wasn’t in good shape? It was because of running from that dog!

But grumbling aside, she climbed onto Qin Yan’s back.

The moonlight stretched their overlapping shadows long across the street.

Since losing her memory, Qin Yan was even more reserved. Unless Xia Mingtang spoke first, she rarely initiated conversation.

Perhaps it was the mood of the moment, but Xia Mingtang could feel the heaviness behind her silence.

The old Qin Yan also carried heavy burdens, but she hid them well back in Yun Town.

After arriving in Rongcheng, her extreme need for control left Xia Mingtang scrambling to avoid her.

Now, though, it was different—she seemed to wear a sharp shell only to shield the fragile core within.

Maybe compassion for the weak was instinctive, but knowing this girl’s mind was only that of a teenager, Xia Mingtang sometimes felt guilty for treating her harshly.

If she were a typical brat, maybe her emotions wouldn’t be so tangled.

Sigh…

Xia Mingtang exhaled quietly, deciding to play the role of a caring older sister for a while, checking on the troubled “teenager’s” well-being.

She brushed the strands of hair away from Qin Yan’s eyes and tried to strike up a conversation.

“You said earlier your memory’s back up to age sixteen. I heard you went to Country M around that time?”

“Mm.” Qin Yan nodded, recalling calmly, “My dad died. My mom remarried. The Ji family constantly beat me down, and the Qin family… had their own difficulties. So I just left, found somewhere else, so I wouldn’t be in anyone’s way.”

Her words were half-truths. Leaving for Country M had been both out of helplessness and ambition.

But the earlier parts were real—and nothing sells sympathy better than the truth.

She did it skillfully too, without wallowing or complaining, instead sounding detached, as if speaking from afar after weathering countless storms.

Sure enough, Xia Mingtang’s heart twisted painfully.

The old Qin Yan never spoke about her past. The two times Xia Mingtang had asked, she’d easily dodged the questions.

Now, hearing her calmly lay out such a tragic childhood, Xia Mingtang’s chest knotted up.

Even if she were a stranger, losing her father, abandoned by her mother, abused by relatives—at sixteen no less—was enough to break anyone’s heart.

At sixteen, Xia Mingtang herself had been mischievous under her grandmother’s protection, giving her teachers headaches.

She hugged Qin Yan’s neck, gently resting her cheek against her ear.

“It’s all in the past. Those awful relatives aren’t worth keeping. But there are people who love you. Remember Cousin Ran Shu?”

Qin Yan’s ears warmed. She froze for a few seconds before answering,

“I only met Cousin Ran Shu once when I was little. She’s been in Country M for years. When I got there, I didn’t even have the chance to see her.”

That was also true. What she left out was that her memory was already back up to age eighteen, and by then she’d seen Ran Shu many times.

Hearing this, Xia Mingtang frowned. Even Cousin Ran Shu wasn’t clear in her memory—what a frustrating point to be stuck at.

Seeing Qin Yan retreat back into silence, she scrambled for words of comfort.

“You’ll remember Cousin Ran Shu later. For now, it doesn’t matter. If you’d like, you can think of me as your older sister.

“You’re sixteen now, and I’m twenty-four, eight years older.”

Qin Yan suddenly stopped walking and turned with a strange look on her face.

“But aren’t you my wife? First you wanted to be my mom, now you want to be my sister—do you have some kind of weird fetish?”

Xia Mingtang: ！

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