Even as a grown man, he wasn’t afraid of being teased. Worried that Ning Xi might get angry, he hurriedly checked her expression. When he lifted his eyes, he met the girl’s lively, sparkling gaze, tinged with mischief.
It was as if she were saying.
Whether you can or not, I’ve already tested it.
The two of them stayed at Old Master Zhuang’s place for half an hour.
Old Master Zhuang taught Jiang Chengbei some basic massage techniques. He learned with utmost seriousness, rigid and meticulous more attentive than a primary school student in class.
Ning Xi couldn’t help but curve her lips into a light smile.
They say a serious man is the most charming, and that saying wasn’t wrong at all.
After leaving Old Master Zhuang’s residence, Ning Xi and Jiang Chengbei went to the state-run restaurant for lunch.
Next door to the restaurant was a photo studio.
Since they were about to get married, wedding photos were naturally indispensable.
Ning Xi suggested taking photos, and they could also develop an extra copy to mail to the original owner’s parents.
Jiang Chengbei agreed readily.
But when it came time to take the photos, he was a bit stiff.
He and Ning Xi sat side by side on a long bench, with enough space between them to fit half a person. It didn’t look like wedding photos at all more like divorce photos.
Ning Xi frowned. What an old-fashioned stick-in-the-mud.
She muttered quietly, “Don’t you know to sit a little closer?”
If she reached out to hold his hand now, he’d probably jump right off the bench.
Acting on impulse, Ning Xi stretched out her hand.
Jiang Chengbei suddenly felt something soft appear in his palm. In private, he would’ve been delighted, but there were other people in the studio.
If someone saw, Ning Xi might be judged with strange looks.
He immediately withdrew his hand, his tone turning more serious.
“This is a public place. Watch the influence.”
Ning Xi thought: Fake prude.
When they were alone, his gaze practically devoured her. Now he was pretending to be innocent.
But then again, a man who was cold on the outside and passionate on the inside was actually quite alluring.
It made people want to… cough… tease him even more.
She smiled slyly, leaned closer, and lowered her voice.
“Captain Jiang, after we’re married, on our wedding night, will you still be ‘watching your influence’?”
Boom.
Jiang Chengbei’s mind went completely blank. Like a thief, he glanced at the photographer. Seeing that the man was busy adjusting the camera, he finally looked back helplessly at the girl beside him, smiling like she’d just stolen oil.
“Y-you… how can you say anything like that?”
Ning Xi’s brows lifted. “I dare to do anything too.”
That single sentence successfully made Jiang Chengbei blush from ear to ear.
She even felt that teasing this kind of outwardly restrained but inwardly pent-up old cadre was especially fun. Well maybe she had some peculiar hobby herself.
They took a couple’s wedding photo, and besides that, Ning Xi took a solo portrait.
Her features were striking oval face, bright almond eyes, rosy cheeks. Even the well-traveled photographer couldn’t help but sigh. Good-looking people looked good even in photos. If it were displayed in the studio window, it would definitely attract plenty of customers.
Unfortunately, her partner didn’t agree.
The moment the photographer casually suggested it, Jiang Chengbei’s face darkened.
Ning Xi herself wasn’t someone who liked showing off anyway. Just imagining her photo displayed for passersby to gawk at made her uncomfortable, and Jiang Chengbei felt the same.
They paid, took the receipt, and left the studio.
The photos would take a few days to develop, so they’d come back to collect them later.
When they returned to the Jiang home, it was already three in the afternoon.
As soon as they entered, they saw Xiao Yu squatting in the corner of the courtyard, her small body shaking as if she were crying. Ning Xi’s heart tightened.
“Xiao Yu, who bullied you?”
Xiao Yu looked up, tears shimmering in her eyes.
“My treats… were… were taken by Mom.”
Since Ning Xi came into the household, Xiao Yu’s days had been much happier. Ning Xi shared candies and biscuits with her, and each time Xiao Yu was reluctant to eat them, hiding them in her little treasure box instead. She hadn’t expected that after just a nap, the box would be gone.
“Mom said I’m just a useless girl and don’t deserve to eat good things.”
The little girl cried until her eyes were swollen. Ning Xi felt both heartache and anger. She pulled Xiao Yu up, wiped her tears, and said seriously, word by word:
“You’re not useless. We’re all girls, and girls deserve the best things in this world.”
“But… Mom says I’m a money-losing burden.”
“Your mom’s brain fell into a cesspit.”
Ning Xi deliberately raised her voice, shouting toward Zhang Hongmei’s room.
Zhang Hongmei had originally planned to hide inside, but hearing Ning Xi curse her outright, she immediately exploded.
She was the eldest daughter-in-law of the family how dare Ning Xi scold her?
“Who are you cursing?!”
Ning Xi wrapped an arm around Xiao Yu, completely calm.
“I’m cursing you. I’ve never seen a mother like you snatching your own daughter’s things to please your nephew. You couldn’t do something like that unless sewage had flooded your brain. Return those things now, or I’ll go out and publicize this properly for you.”
“Your natal family is so desperately poor that you even covet a child’s snacks.”
“I think you want everything except shame.”
Zhang Hongmei was blasted by Ning Xi’s barrage until she was dumbfounded, taking a long time before finding her voice again.
“You dare scold me like this? I’m your sister-in-law!”
“You eat human food but don’t act human. Even if you were the emperor himself, I’d still curse you!”
The original owner had gone to the countryside for three months and had been mocked by Zhang Hongmei both openly and covertly. She’d put on airs as the elder sister-in-law before even entering the door. Today, old grudges and new ones were being settled together.
The original owner was a soft persimmon; Ning Xi was a hedgehog.
Zhang Hongmei was cursed to the point of nearly rolling her eyes.
Knowing she couldn’t win verbally, she angrily turned to Jiang Chengbei.
“Second Brother, you’re just going to stand there while your wife curses me? The eldest sister-in-law is like a mother cursing me is disrespecting elders!”
Jiang Chengbei naturally stood on Ning Xi’s side.
“Eldest Sister-in-law, you were in the wrong first.”
“You… just you wait. I’m going to find Mom to judge this!”
Tian Guilan was visiting next door. Zhang Hongmei quickly brought her back. Before she could even speak, Ning Xi immediately filed her complaint.
“Auntie, Eldest Sister-in-law eats the Jiang family’s food but secretly funnels things to her natal family. She even said ‘the eldest sister-in-law is like a mother.’ You’re still here, yet she’s already eager to act as our mother clearly she doesn’t take you seriously and is cursing you to die so she can take over the household.”
Then she added another stab.
“If she really were in charge, she’d empty the Jiang family sooner or later.”
Older people feared death most, and with the added accusation of emptying the household, Tian Guilan immediately turned coldly toward Zhang Hongmei.
“What did you take to your natal family this time?”
“N-nothing much, just some snacks.”
Zhang Hongmei knew well that secretly subsidizing her natal family wasn’t something she could openly admit. But they were her blood relatives the closest people in the world. Someday, if she suffered grievances, she’d still rely on them.
Yet she didn’t dare contradict her mother-in-law.
Glaring viciously at Ning Xi, she went back inside and brought out a small bundle. Inside were all the snacks Xiao Yu had saved up and been reluctant to eat.
Xiao Yu took it and hugged it tightly to her chest.
Ning Xi patted her little braid, then glanced at Jiang Chengbei and raised an eyebrow with a smile.
“Well? My combat strength’s not bad, right?”
Being able to curse the eldest sister-in-law until she couldn’t even retort “not bad” was an understatement.
It was practically one of a kind.
Jiang Chengbei smiled and nodded.
This utterly unprincipled look made Tian Guilan speechless.
She had three sons each one more worthless than the last.
At that moment, the most “worthless” one, Jiang Chengnan, came back. He was glowing with joy, his grin almost splitting his face in half. The moment he entered, he loudly announced:
“I’m going to marry Cao Xinrou!”