Kexin Lin felt very relaxed in the Jiang family.
It wasn’t just because everyone tacitly avoided mentioning Jiang Fei, who had fled the wedding, but also because throughout this meal, everyone took special care of her emotions, ensuring she didn’t feel the slightest bit uncomfortable.
Not long after finishing the meal, Shuping Jiang sent Kexin Lin several villa decoration blueprint materials, saying they were commercial plots to be developed locally, and asking her to pick one out. Whatever plot she took a fancy to, she could directly take it down, and it would be registered under her name at that time.
Kexin Lin felt extremely surprised upon hearing this.
Was this meant to be a form of compensation for her?
A commercial plot waiting for development would cost at least several million. Kexin Lin felt this wasn’t appropriate and instinctively wanted to refuse, but before the words even left her mouth, she saw Jiang Qing signaling to her.
Jiang Qing wanted her to agree.
A subtle panic flashed through Kexin Lin’s heart, and finding it hard to refuse, she said, “Okay, Jiang Qing and I will discuss it properly.”
Shuping Jiang’s brows and eyes curved into smiles: “Alright, then you two discuss it properly.”
Being willing to discuss it was a good thing.
It didn’t matter if there were no feelings in the marriage alliance; as time went by, everything could be slowly cultivated.
The Jiang family members had a habit of napping after lunch, so Shuping Jiang went to take care of the two elderly people at home and arranged for their rest, leaving Jiang Qing to take Kexin Lin to rest properly.
The Jiang family’s old residence had many houses.
As the younger generation grew up, they also built small villas around the area.
Jiang Qing had an independent two-story small villa with its own garden at home, located towards the south. She had planted many flowers there, making the environment very quiet and secluded.
Arriving at the detached small villa, being alone together gave off an elusive, subtle vibe.
Kexin Lin was attracted by the flowers filling the courtyard.
Jiang Qing brought up a topic and began introducing her own small villa to her: “I don’t come back to live here very often; usually, the servants just clean it up. If you accompany me back to live here in the future, take a look and see if there’s anything you want to add, and I’ll have someone get it ready in advance.”
Following Jiang Qing from the courtyard into the main hall, Kexin Lin looked around the interior, comparing it in her heart to the “bridal home” she saw yesterday. She shook her head with a blank expression: “There are no items that need to be added for now.”
Jiang Qing’s gaze lingered on her face. Thinking of having to spend the night at home tonight, she asked with a somewhat unnatural voice: “Then what brand of cosmetics do you normally use?”
“Ah?”
Kexin Lin didn’t know how her topic turned to this, and named a relatively common cosmetic brand: “I don’t have a brand I specifically require.”
She used old brands, her skin wasn’t sensitive, she only went to the beauty salon for care once or twice a month, and usually did some simple skincare and maintenance at home by herself.
“Alright, then I know.”
Jiang Qing lowered her head to send a message, having someone prepare a set of the cosmetics Kexin Lin had just mentioned.
After doing this, Jiang Qing raised her eyes, her gaze falling unblinkingly onto her face, and the corners of her mouth hooked up: “Mom asked me just now, where do you want to go for our honeymoon?”
Were they going to honeymoon?
Kexin Lin really didn’t want to go much, wanting to ask for her opinion: “What about you, do you have any cities you want to go to?”
Before planning her elopement, Kexin Lin’s thoughts were very simple—she had hoped to develop nicely with Wang Yuan, but Wang Yuan betrayed their relationship…
Regarding the honeymoon, she didn’t have any cities she wanted to visit.
Moreover, she wasn’t enthusiastic about traveling everywhere.
Back when she was in school following her teacher around to research antiques and old artifacts in various cities, she had visited quite a few old cities and towns with deep historical sedimentation in China, which could be considered witnessing plenty of beautiful scenery.
Kexin Lin figured that since she and Jiang Qing were in a fake marriage anyway, they probably didn’t need a honeymoon.
Sensing the hesitation in her words and seeing her lack of enthusiasm, Jiang Qing spoke to her with quite a bit of helplessness: “If neither of us has a place we especially want to go, we might as well wait until we want to go later and talk about it then.”
Right now, their relationship was distant.
Perhaps after a period of time of becoming more familiar, many topics would become easier to chat about.
Kexin Lin nodded: “Okay, I have no objections.”
Jiang Qing led her upstairs to the bedroom, pushed open the door, and didn’t go in: “Then you rest first, I’m going out to handle some matters.”
“Okay.”
Kexin Lin nodded.
Kexin Lin didn’t have the habit of napping, so she simply curled up on the sofa to handle some matters regarding her online shop.
She didn’t need to visit the shop in person every day; there was a dedicated store manager and team handling it, and she only occasionally needed to maintain communication via online meetings.
When she finished handling things, the time on her phone read 1:30 PM.
The kettle in the room had cooled down.
Kexin Lin wanted to drink some hot water, but didn’t want to bother Jiang Qing with such a minor matter, so she planned to go downstairs to find water to drink.
As soon as she went downstairs, she happened to see a servant of the Jiang family coming over to deliver afternoon tea.
The tray held two drinks; one plate held exquisite, beautiful fruit cakes and sweet, sticky pastries, and another smaller plate had a few pieces of charcoal-roasted mooncakes cut up.
The servant smiled and set up the afternoon tea, telling Kexin Lin to take her time enjoying it.
“Thank you.”
Kexin Lin was indeed thirsty, picking up her drink and taking a small sip, when she heard voices discussing things coming from outside.
“Should be awake by now, I’m not disturbing her right now.”
“Cousin!”
“Shh, keep your voice down.”
Kexin Lin recognized the voices as belonging to Jiang Rui and Jiang Qing. Looking up, she indeed saw them walking in from outside, one right after the other.
As soon as Jiang Rui saw Kexin Lin, her face was filled with pleasant surprise: “Look, I said cousin-in-law would definitely be awake at this hour. Good afternoon, cousin-in-law!”
“Good afternoon.” Kexin Lin responded.
Jiang Qing walked naturally to Kexin Lin’s side and sat down, her tone much softer than usual: “Did you sleep well during your midday break?”
“Mhm, mhm.”
Kexin Lin didn’t take a nap and truly wasn’t good at lying. She pushed the fruit plate in front of her toward Jiang Qing’s side, and as if changing the subject, said to her: “This mooncake looks delicious, come try some too.”
Saying that, Kexin Lin picked up the mooncake in front of her with a small fork, dividing it onto the plate in front of Jiang Qing.
Jiang Qing softly uttered an “mhm” and took the small fork from her hand.
“She doesn’t eat…”
Jiang Rui had just wanted to remind Kexin Lin that her own cousin didn’t like eating mooncakes, but before she finished speaking, she saw a scene that surprised her: her cousin not only ate the mooncake, but even ate it with the corners of her mouth turned up in a smile.
Jiang Rui: “…”
Did she see things wrong?!
Wasn’t her cousin the one who hated eating mooncakes the most?
After finishing it, Jiang Qing didn’t forget to review it: “Pretty delicious, want to try some too?”
Kexin Lin smiled, and just as she was about to pick up the small fork to taste it, she didn’t expect Jiang Qing to have already forked a piece of mooncake from the plate and fed it right to her lips.
It was hard for Kexin Lin to refuse all of a sudden, so she awkwardly opened her mouth.
The mooncake had been charcoal-roasted, tasting very crispy on the outside with a “crunch” sound when bitten into.
The filling was also very fragrant and rich.
Kexin Lin tasted the flavors of candied dates, sesame, and crushed peanuts…
“Is this the mooncake sold at Granny’s place in the old city district?”
The more Kexin Lin ate, the more familiar the taste felt. A trace of surprise flashed in her eyes; when the servant brought it over without packaging earlier, she hadn’t recognized it right away.
Although Granny’s mooncakes in the old city district weren’t a century-old brand, they were quite reputable locally. Every National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival period, people queued up in an endless stream.
Kexin Lin was still thinking about making time to go there yesterday.
Hearing that she liked it, Jiang Qing continued feeding her: “If you like it, eat a few more pieces.”
Jiang Rui had just wanted to say they shouldn’t show affection in front of her, but now hearing Kexin Lin taste it after one bite and immediately guess whose mooncake it was?
Don’t mooncakes all taste the same?
Jiang Rui asked strangely: “Don’t mooncakes all taste the same? How did you taste that out?”
In the morning, the family mentioned that Jiang Qing and Kexin Lin would come back for lunch, so Jiang Qing had specially sent someone to buy afternoon tea, and both the cake and mooncakes were designated to be bought from specific places.
Well.
Turns out it was specially bought for her beloved.
Kexin Lin smiled and explained: “I buy mooncakes at Granny’s place every year, I can taste it.”
Near the Mid-Autumn Festival, Kexin Lin would always unintentionally recall the days when her parents were still alive.
Her mom particularly loved eating the mooncakes from Granny’s place in the old city district.
This habit hadn’t changed to this day.
In that year when she was ten years old, the devastating news of her parents’ passing reached home. She didn’t believe it was true and asked her family members. Everyone advised her to restrain her grief, yet refused to tell her too much about the details of the accident…
She had no choice but to secretly take her pocket money and go out, wanting to take a taxi to the airport.
The Jiang family’s old residence was a very long way from the airport.
She couldn’t catch a cab no matter what.
She ran and shed tears along the way, and even lost one of her shoes somewhere while running.
Halfway through, she ran into Mu Ci, who was visiting her home as a guest. Mu Ci had her driver take her to the airport. On the way, she couldn’t stop crying, and Mu Ci comforted her emotions while also giving her sweets.
Mu Ci said eating something sweet would make her a little happier.
Thinking of things in the past, Kexin Lin’s eye sockets suddenly grew a bit hot, and her mood also became heavy.
After her parents passed away, whenever she missed them, she would go wander around the old city district.
For so many years, she had maintained her habit of going to line up and buy mooncakes herself.
Mu Ci was one of the few people around her who treated her well.
Kexin Lin had another secret reason for liking Mu Ci in the past: when she got lost in the mountains while climbing once, the person who discovered and rescued her was Mu Ci. Moreover, in her youthful adolescent years, Mu Ci had given her warmth many times.
Even though she later learned Mu Ci’s starting point wasn’t “good-natured”…
Getting to know Wang Yuan, she had also discovered this kind of “friendly” care in Wang Yuan.
Every time, she would end up battered and bruised from being hurt.
After feeding Kexin Lin a second piece of mooncake, Jiang Qing noticed her mood turning wrong right after she finished eating: “Is it too greasy?”
Jiang Rui ate a small piece and stopped, wiping her mouth with a tissue: “Eating too many mooncakes is bad for digestion.”
Kexin Lin collected her unhappy emotions, smiling on the surface when she raised her head, and took a small sip of fruit juice: “…Indeed, you can’t eat too much.”
Jiang Qing’s gaze turned to Kexin Lin, guessing what had made her feel sad just now.
The Mid-Autumn Festival was inherently a day for family reunion.
Jiang Qing had also heard about the tragic news of Kexin Lin’s parents passing away back then. Living in the Lin family for so many years, she didn’t even need to think to know she had suffered a lot of grievances.
“Don’t be sad anymore.”
Jiang Qing gently held Kexin Lin’s hand, her tone gentle yet carrying a hint of caution: “Since we’re married now, shouldn’t you take me to meet Mom and Dad?”
Kexin Lin was extremely surprised.
Jiang Qing was actually able to perceive her sadness, and furthermore wanted to meet her parents?
Weren’t they clearly just in a contract marriage?
Stunned for a long while, Kexin Lin recovered her voice: “Then how about tomorrow?”
“Okay.” Jiang Qing answered without hesitation.
The afternoon tea concluded.
Kexin Lin was taken by Jiang Rui to tour Jiang’s garden, saying she wanted to show her the good things around the house.
Jiang Qing was excluded by Jiang Rui, who said whatever she did shouldn’t let her follow.
With no other choice, Jiang Qing could only wait for them in the living room.
During this period, Jiang Qing received a call from her friend Wei Dongxue.
Wei Dongxue had returned from a business trip abroad and learned about her marrying Kexin Lin after her sister fled the marriage. Jokingly, she congratulated her on her happy marriage and even brought her a wedding gift.
Jiang Qing raised her eyebrows slightly: “What gift is it?”
Wei Dongxue sounded very mysterious over the phone: “Anyway, it’s good stuff. I specifically had people hunt it down—you should have told me earlier that you’re interested in women.”
Hearing this, Jiang Qing roughly guessed what it was.
Wei Dongxue was permanently stationed overseas and held open-minded views. She had a same-sex partner she had loved for many years. Every time Jiang Qing chatted with her about daily life, Wei Dongxue loved showing off the fun daily anecdotes between her and her partner to Jiang Qing.
Jiang Qing could always be flexed on by her friend.
Jiang Qing had never previously revealed that her sexual orientation was liking women, and rarely chatted with Wei Dongxue about this aspect.
However, Jiang Qing knew that Wei Dongxue had a dedicated account on Weibo for showing affection, posting entirely sweet stories between Wei Dongxue and her partner, and had even posted certain precautions and insights on using adult sex toys with her partner…
Involuntarily recalling Kexin Lin’s pretty and delicate little face, Jiang Qing’s tone unconsciously grew rigid: “Is it that kind of thing I’m thinking of?”
Wei Dongxue chuckled over the phone: “Oh? What kind of thing are you thinking of?”
Hearing her friend’s unserious voice, Jiang Qing spoke straightforwardly: “Send me the store link, I’ll check it out myself first.”
“Tsk tsk tsk.”
Wei Dongxue was very surprised, her tone turning rare: “Sure enough, someone who’s married has finally figured things out. Fine, I’ll send you the link right now.”
Jiang Qing didn’t stand on ceremony with her: “Alright, send me everything you think is good.”