Realizing he hadn’t told his mother about it yet, Chen De’an quickly began, "You all missed the main event by not being out front today..."

Chen De’an recounted the events at the teahouse in detail: from Chu Xun discovering the loopholes in his statements, to Li Cun realizing something was wrong, and then to the whole affair being exposed just as Mrs. Li burst in.

In short, it was an utterly spectacular and chaotic scene.

Not only was Xu Suying stunned, but even Chen Wanqing was left gaping in disbelief.

After snapping out of it, Xu Suying slapped the table and cheered.

"Finally! I’ve been waiting to see the Li family’s drama unfold. Qing’er, you can take care of lunch. Your mother has business to attend to, I’m heading out."

Chen Wanqing grabbed her mother’s arm. "Please don’t go looking for trouble."

"Hey, you silly girl, let go of me! I’ve been bottling this up for months. If I don’t let it out, I’ll just about die. That wicked Mrs. Li, saying one thing and doing another—she makes my skin crawl. If I don’t get my fill of watching her humiliation, then my name isn’t Xu."

"Mother, let’s be the bigger person. Honestly, even though she broke her promise, she never went around badmouthing our family afterward."

"How could she dare? She’d expose herself the moment she said a word."

"Then just consider all the trouble she’s in and don’t bother with her. Even though Li Cun is exceptionally filial, after something like this, his relationship with Mrs. Li is surely ruined. Being estranged from her son for the rest of her life is already the greatest revenge she could suffer."

"If you go over there and people see you, our family will inevitably be dragged into it. People love to gossip, and soon even I’ll be part of their talk. Would you want that?"

Xu Suying turned and gently poked her daughter. "After all that, it just comes down to you being too soft-hearted. You can’t bear to let me go kick her while she’s down."

"I’m not pitying Mrs. Li; I’m genuinely thinking about our family. People only knew that the Li family intended to propose a marriage. No one knows how far things actually went. If you go over there now, won’t that spell everything out for them? I’m a married woman now, Mother. I don’t want to get tangled up in this kind of gossip. Can’t you just let it go for my sake? Please?"

Xu Suying was finally persuaded by her daughter and reluctantly abandoned the idea.

But she was still in a foul mood and refused to make lunch. Chen Wanqing had no choice but to treat her mother like the Queen Mother, imploring her to go back to her room to rest. Then, she headed to the kitchen to busy herself.

She had just gotten to the kitchen when Zhao Jing, who had been speaking with De’an just moments before, came in.

"What are you doing in here? Go on out. Today’s meal isn’t complicated; I can manage on my own."

"Don’t mind me, Sister. I just want to be left alone."

Chen Wanqing could tell from his tone that something was amiss. She stopped trimming the vegetables and looked down at him.

But Zhao Jing kept his gaze lowered, his expression completely masked. Aside from his tightly pressed lips, which betrayed a hint of gloom, she couldn’t make out anything else.

Chen Wanqing thought hard but couldn’t figure out what was wrong. She ventured a guess, "Are you worried that if word of this spreads, it might damage your reputation?"

"I didn’t steal anyone’s beloved, nor do I have an unreasonable mother out there stirring up trouble. How could my reputation possibly be damaged?"

Chen Wanqing crouched down and poked Zhao Jing’s calf. "Jing, speak plainly. Stop being so sarcastic."

Zhao Jing shifted his leg back. "How am I being sarcastic? I’ve never been particularly likable; it’s quite normal for me to annoy people with my words."

Chen Wanqing couldn’t help but let out a snort of laughter. "You’re still just like when you were a child. Whenever you get mad, you say the opposite of what you mean. It makes a person want to be angry and laugh all at once."

This time, it was Zhao Jing’s turn to freeze.

He averted his gaze, uncomfortable. ’This is the downside of growing up together,’ he thought.

’She knows all my embarrassing moments. Her mindset is stuck; she still treats me like a younger brother, just like always.’

’But if I really wanted to be her brother, I wouldn’t have married her.’

Zhao Jing suddenly asked, "Sister, do you understand Li Cun?"

Chen Wanqing was taken aback by his question, but she answered honestly, "Of course not. I’ve only met him a handful of times."

’The few times we did meet were in front of the Zhao family’s private school. That was years ago, when we were both still young. We barely exchanged a few words. How could I possibly know him well?’

"If you don’t know him well, Sister, then how can you be so certain that Li Cun is ’exceptionally filial’? Sister, you can know a person’s face, but not their heart. In the future, you shouldn’t be so quick to judge someone’s character based on a few brief meetings."

Hearing this, how could Chen Wanqing not realize what was making Zhao Jing so gloomy?

’It was all because she had casually said "Li Cun is exceptionally filial" while trying to talk her mother out of going outside.’

’And Jing took just that to heart?’

’It was just an offhand remark. How could he take it so seriously?’

Chen Wanqing wanted to tease Zhao Jing for being so petty, but she found herself unable to speak.

’How was this not jealousy?’

’He was jealous of Li Cun—jealous of any man she happened to mention. He couldn’t bear to hear her speak of other men.’

’He was jealous!’