Seeing that the atmosphere was about to turn awkward again, Qin Lang raised his glass to smooth things over. “Come on, we’re all family here. What’s the big deal? Since Sister-in-law and Xiaoxiao are both here, let’s just have fun together! It’s rare to have everyone together—the more the merrier!”
A few of the other young men from wealthy families chimed in, “Exactly, exactly! Why don’t we open a bottle of champagne? To celebrate the early success of Jili’s new project!”
Someone casually grabbed a bottle of champagne from the table and popped it open with a swift, clean motion.
With a bang, the cork shot out violently.
It flew straight toward Jiang Shi.
Cheng Jili reacted instantly, twisting his body to shield Jiang Shi.
The moment he raised his hand, the flying cork struck his elbow and deflected in another direction.
A sharp scream rang out.
Cheng Xiaoxiao covered her eye. “My eye…”
Everyone in the private room turned to look.
Qin Lang dashed forward and hoisted Cheng Xiaoxiao onto his back.
Cheng Xiaoxiao’s eyes were shut, her voice choked with tears. “Brother… is that you?”
Qin Lang hurried toward the exit. “Lang-ge is also a brother! Don’t be scared—I’ll take you to the hospital!”
Cheng Xiaoxiao: “…”
But Qin Lang was only responsible for getting her to the hospital. Taking her in to see the doctor still fell to Cheng Jili.
When Cheng Jili walked Cheng Xiaoxiao out of the emergency room, Jiang Shi was waiting alone on a bench outside.
Cheng Xiaoxiao’s eyes were a little red, but everything else was normal.
On the other side of the corridor, Yu Xianzhi came rushing over in a panic. The moment she got close, she pulled Cheng Xiaoxiao into her arms with a face full of distress. “My precious, does it hurt? How did you hurt your eye for no reason? You scared Mommy to death.”
“It hurts a little…” Cheng Xiaoxiao said pitifully. “But the doctor said it’s nothing serious. Mom, don’t worry.”
Yu Xianzhi patted her back, then turned to scold Cheng Jili. “Look at you—how old are you? You can’t even take care of your own sister, letting her get such a serious injury. Completely unreliable!”
“Such a serious injury?” Cheng Jili raised an eyebrow. “Then she should at least need ten stitches, otherwise it wouldn’t do justice to your review.”
“…” Yu Xianzhi glared at him. “Go get the medicine. Stop standing there—it’s irritating just looking at you.”
Cheng Jili didn’t argue back. He turned lazily and headed toward the pharmacy.
Yu Xianzhi was still examining Cheng Xiaoxiao’s eye, afraid of leaving any hidden problem.
Cheng Xiaoxiao took the opportunity to nestle against her shoulder. “Mom, don’t blame Brother. It’s all my fault for saying something that made Sister-in-law angry. Heaven is punishing me.”
“What nonsense are you talking about?” Only then did Yu Xianzhi cast her gaze toward Jiang Shi, who was standing nearby. Her expression instantly darkened. “Ever since certain people entered this household, not a single good thing has happened to the Cheng family.”
Jiang Shi’s face was expressionless. “Please don’t say that about yourself.”
“…” Yu Xianzhi suppressed the rise and fall of her chest. “Haven’t you talked to Jili yet? How long are you going to drag this out?”
“Your son doesn’t come home,” Jiang Shi said calmly. “Even if I want to talk, I can’t find him.”
Yu Xianzhi’s eyes widened. “Jili doesn’t want to come home—isn’t that your problem? As a woman, you can’t even keep your own man. You make him not want to come home, and you have the nerve to feel wronged? The one who should feel wronged is my son Jili, is our Cheng family!”
In that instant, the chill in Jiang Shi’s heart deepened.
Not being able to conceive—her fault.
Cheng Jili not coming home—also her fault.
She was treated as a jinx. Her very existence was a mistake.
Seeing that she didn’t speak, Yu Xianzhi pressed her advantage. “If it weren’t for his grandfather’s insistence back then, how could someone like you possibly have married into the Cheng family? Your maternal grandfather was nothing but a tailor who made qipaos—you’re not even in our league!”
This startled even Cheng Xiaoxiao, who immediately tugged at Yu Xianzhi’s arm. “Mom, stop talking. It won’t be good if Brother finds out.”
But Jiang Shi’s fury had already been completely ignited.
Her grandfather was the person she respected most in this life, her only support in the world after her parents left—he was her bottom line.
She would not tolerate anyone slandering him.
She slowly rose from the bench, the last trace of gentleness in her eyes completely gone, and looked directly at Yu Xianzhi. “You look down on tailors? Then go streaking in public if you’ve got the guts.”
“Insolent! Who do you think you’re talking to?” Yu Xianzhi’s face flushed red. “Let me tell you, Jiang Shi, my son doesn’t think anything of you at all!”
Jiang Shi smiled faintly. “What a coincidence. My father-in-law feels the same way about you.”
“What did you say? Who told you that? You—”
“Shut up! Let me tell you why.” Jiang Shi spoke with piercing clarity. “Because you’re vicious, vain, and a snob who fawns on the powerful and tramples on those below you. You’re nothing but a scourge. He saw through you long ago.”
“That’s why he never takes you on business trips, never lets you meddle in the company. Even if you paraded around in front of him a hundred times in a new dress, he wouldn’t spare you a single glance.”
“That’s what you call physical repulsion.”
In Jiang Shi’s heart, Yu Xianzhi had likewise been coldly treated by her husband for years, yet she turned around and hurled vicious words at a daughter-in-law who suffered the same fate—pitiful and hateful in equal measure.
Yu Xianzhi stood frozen in place, pale with rage, trembling all over. “You… you’re rebelling! I’m your mother-in-law!”
Jiang Shi curved her lips in satisfaction. “You’re a nobody.”
Yu Xianzhi, “…”
Cheng Xiaoxiao, “…”
Seeing Cheng Jili returning with the medicine, Jiang Shi leisurely sat back down on the bench, hanging an innocent, indifferent look on her brows.
She was naturally pure and lovely in appearance—if she truly wanted to play the innocent little rabbit, she could do it better than anyone.
Seeing this, Cheng Xiaoxiao quickly covered her eyes and whined, “Mom, my eyes hurt. Let’s hurry home.”
Yu Xianzhi was beside herself with rage, her voice trembling. “Jili, hurry and take me and Xiaoxiao home. I can’t stand another moment in this place!”
Cheng Jili’s gaze swept lightly over the group, finally landing on Jiang Shi. “Are you driving yourself back?”
Jiang Shi reached into her bag and felt for the diagnosis report, but in the end only nodded without a word.
Watching the family of three turn and leave, her straight back slumped slightly.
She was used to being gentle. Every battle cost her a thousand of the enemy’s lives but eight hundred of her own—she was so angry her hands were shaking.
Just then, a doctor walked out of the emergency room.
It happened to be her attending physician.
“Jiang Shi? Why are you still out here so late? Your surgery is coming up soon—you must rest well, don’t stay up late, and don’t let your emotions fluctuate too much, understood?”
Jiang Shi reined in her emotions and nodded at the doctor. “Thank you. I’ll be careful.”
“Have you told your family about the surgery?”
Thinking of the man who had just left, she resisted the urge to look in his direction and said calmly, “I don’t have any family.”
In the distance, Cheng Jili, who had reached the hospital lobby, glanced back.
He saw Jiang Shi talking with the doctor.
The two seemed familiar with each other—clearly they knew one another.
Cheng Jili’s brow furrowed slightly, and he turned and left.
Cheng Xiaoxiao was injured, Yu Xianzhi was scolded, and both mother and daughter needed comforting. Cheng Jili not coming home for the night was within Jiang Shi’s expectations.
With surgery imminent and no man to rely on, she had no choice but to ask her best friend to help find a reliable caregiver.
Su Ye nearly spat out her water. “You’re telling me about something as big as surgery only now? I have a business trip next week, ahhh!”
Su Ye was a foreign correspondent, always running around. Jiang Shi had deliberately kept it from her precisely because she didn’t want to disrupt her work.
“Relax, relax,” Jiang Shi said with a curved smile. “Just recommending a caregiver for me would already be a huge help.”
“A caregiver is an outsider—what use is that?” Su Ye pulled out her phone. “I’m not going on this trip! Whoever wants it can take it! I can’t leave you alone in the hospital!”
“Don’t!” Jiang Shi pressed her hand down. “If you do that, I won’t dare tell you anything ever again.”
Su Ye frowned and thought for a moment. “Then go to Mochuan-ge. He can take good care of you.”
Jiang Shi shook her head immediately. “There’s no need to trouble him over such a small matter.”
“You’ve been friends for so many years—what trouble is there?”
Su Ye was fuming. “You—you’re just too conscious of being a married woman. Is that bastard Cheng Jili worth it? And to think I used to believe he treated you well! So it was all fake!”
A faint bitterness welled up in Jiang Shi’s heart. “Yeah, it was all fake.”
So there was no need to continue.
After spending the whole afternoon out with Su Ye, Jiang Shi only returned to her home at Tinglan Bay by evening.
After the nanny was dismissed, the house was mostly dark. Yet at this moment, the second-floor bedroom was actually lit.
That single point of light seemed especially glaring in the twilight.
Cheng Jili had finally deigned to come home?