Qin Mei said nothing, looking away as she sat languidly in the rattan chair.

Qin Xiang studied Qin Mei with an inscrutable, probing gaze and asked, "You really lost your memory?"

A flicker of guilt crossed Qin Mei’s mind, but her face betrayed nothing. She said quietly, "I don’t even recognize you. You tell me—is it real or fake?"

The tension in Qin Xiang’s chest eased. His gaze softened, and he looked at her with doting affection. "I thought you were faking it and avoiding me because you were afraid of blowing your cover."

Qin Mei rolled her eyes. "Faking amnesia? I wouldn’t do something so despicable."

"Sis, believe me, you’re more than capable of it," Qin Xiang said, looking at Qin Mei with a completely serious expression.

Qin Mei arched an eyebrow, her beautiful eyes fixing on Qin Xiang. "And what would I stand to gain?"

"Jing Si." A smile bloomed on Qin Xiang’s face. ’His little sister was capable of drugging Jing Si, so it wouldn’t be out of character for her to fake amnesia after the wedding just to cling to him shamelessly.’

Qin Mei’s lashes swept down, then fluttered up, revealing a cunning glint in her eyes. "Is Jie Jingchen really that amazing? Would I really go so far as to debase myself just to cling to him?"

Qin Mei had expected Qin Xiang to praise Jie Jingchen to the heavens or at least admonish her for her choice of words. She never imagined he would say something like this.

"Since when have you ever shied away from debasing yourself?"

Qin Mei was struck speechless. ’Was this guy really the original owner’s brother? Who talks about their own sister that way?’

She didn’t have the original owner’s memories. She had no idea what kind of heaven-shaking, world-rocking things the previous owner had done before she took over this body.

’The original owner was the one who drugged Jie Jingchen and forced him to take responsibility by marrying her. But I was the unfortunate soul left to deal with the aftermath—dumped by Jie Jingchen with the Sun Family in the Ninth Team of Dazhuang Village and ignored for half a year. Thankfully, he had a shred of conscience and gave the Sun Family ten yuan a month; otherwise, my life with them would have been incredibly difficult.’

"I won’t do that anymore," Qin Mei said quietly.

’The original owner had some twisted ideas, but I don’t. The original owner was psychologically warped, but I’m perfectly normal. I wouldn’t do anything unscrupulous, nor would I ever debase myself.’

Qin Xiang looked at Qin Mei, an imperceptible, probing light in his eyes, along with a trace of suspicion. The little sister before him was such a stranger that it made him feel an inexplicable sense of fear and heartache.

’It must be the change in environment,’ he thought. ’The amnesia is probably related as well. But can losing your memory really change your fundamental nature?’

’Except for her face, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say the little sister before him had been completely transformed.’

After a long moment, Qin Xiang finally spoke. "Sis, you have good taste. Jing Si is a good man. Since he has accepted you, you two should just live a good life together."

Qin Mei was speechless. ’Was the original owner really so terrible? So terrible that even her own brother thought she was punching way above her weight by marrying Jie Jingchen?’

Qin Xiang and Jie Jingchen were brothers-in-arms who had faced life and death together, the kind of men who would entrust their lives to one another on the battlefield. Qin Xiang had once wanted to coax Jie Jingchen into becoming his brother-in-law, but just thinking about his own little sister, he felt she could never be worthy of Jie Jingchen. He had the thought, but never the guts to say it out loud.

It was one thing for his little sister to wreak havoc on other people’s lives, but he would never stand for her ruining his best friend.

But who would have thought that when his sister came to visit the base, she would fall for Jie Jingchen at first sight? She’d asked him to play matchmaker between her and Jing Si, and he had, of course, refused. Yet his sister had ignored his warnings and threats and had actually gone and drugged Jing Si.

"Yeah, I’ll try to make things work with him," Qin Mei said with a nod. ’On one condition,’ she added silently. ’Jie Jingchen has to stay faithful, cut out any extramarital affairs, and not maintain ambiguous relationships with other women.’

"Sis, you two have been married for almost a year now. When are you planning on having kids?" Changing the subject, Qin Xiang started to press her about having children.

Qin Mei shot Qin Xiang a complicated look. ’Doesn’t he know that Jie Jingchen dumped me with the Sun Family in Dazhuang Village for half a year?’

’Almost a year? There are still four months to go. All told, Jie Jingchen and I have only been together for two months, and for that entire time, our relationship had been completely platonic. We had only just done it for the first time last night.’

’I haven’t even considered having children. Besides, Jie Jingchen himself said he wasn’t thinking about kids for now and that we could talk about it again in a couple of years.’

"I’m still young. We aren’t considering having children for the time being."

"Don’t say that. Several girls your age back in our village already have children, and some are even about to have their second," Qin Xiang argued.

In this day and age, early marriage and childbirth were common, especially in the countryside. Qin Mei didn’t refute Qin Xiang’s point, simply knitting her brows and saying, "They’re them, and I’m me."

Qin Xiang wanted to press the issue, but he caught sight of Jie Jingchen walking toward them out of the corner of his eye. He lowered his voice and asked, "Is it Jing Si who’s unwilling?"