Chapter 69: Clearing the Air

Chapter 69: Clearing the Air

The phrase "Let him speak" was said with such calm that it sent chills down Ji Ze's spine.

He didn’t dare to look at his uncle’s expression, and Ji Duo, with his tall and upright figure, froze in place as well.

But since things had come to this, and Ji Duo had never been one to evade issues, he placed the peeled shrimp into Lin Qiao's bowl and looked at her. "I'll explain."

The truth had already been forced out, and it didn’t matter who said it, so Lin Qiao nodded, indicating she didn’t mind.

Ji Duo lowered his eyes and wiped his hands. "There were some rumors at the time, saying that you were arranged for me by the family and that you lived in our house because we were about to get married. You know how Dad is—he always keeps his promises. Once he promised your grandfather that he would take care of you for life, he wouldn’t go back on it."

Lin Qiao believed this. If it had been anyone else, especially after what happened with Lin Shouyi’s letter, they probably wouldn’t have wanted to go through with the marriage.

But Old Master Ji had agreed without hesitation, asking Ji Duo to accompany her back to resolve the issue even before knowing the truth, and even provided a letter of introduction.

"Given the rumors, it was no longer possible for Xiao Ze to marry you. With those rumors, it would have been awkward for you to stay in the family. Our parents didn’t want you to have nowhere to stay in Yandu, so they asked me to marry you, and I agreed."

Ji Duo’s style of speaking was as concise as ever, stating the facts without any emotional coloring.

Lin Qiao could understand why Old Master Ji made that choice, but...

"Why didn’t you tell me directly from the start? Whether Xiao Ze disagreed, or the rumors, or the switch in marriage partners, why didn’t anyone tell me?"

At the time, getting married seemed like the best option for her, but if the Ji family had been straightforward and said they didn’t want her, she wouldn’t have forced herself on them.

However, neither Old Master Ji, Xu Li, nor Ji Duo, who ultimately married her, ever said anything. She had always believed that the marriage was a mutual agreement between both families.

Ji Duo was rendered silent by her question.

He couldn’t say that it was because he feared it would make things awkward between Lin Qiao and Elder Brother’s family. He knew there was another layer to Old Master Ji’s considerations—to protect the dignity of the eldest son’s family.

All family members are important, and hurting any one of them affects everyone.

As elders, they always hope for family harmony and would avoid conflict if possible. If Lin Qiao had known about this from the start, she would have been at odds with the eldest branch from the moment she entered the family, and the family would have been torn apart, never to find peace.

But no matter how much Old Master Ji had considered, he couldn’t stop Ye Minshu from keeping a close eye on Lin Qiao, and her actions eventually went too far, forcing him to send his eldest son away.

In the end, he only looked at Lin Qiao. "Our family was in the wrong in this matter, and you’ve been wronged." He didn’t say whose idea it was to keep it from her.

But even without him saying it, Lin Qiao could guess. If it had been his own decision, not involving others, he would have admitted his own fault.

After nearly a year of living together, she had come to understand this man’s temperament fairly well. He was responsible, kept his promises, and valued relationships. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have continued to care for Elder Gu and search for the truth behind Gu Shaoping’s death, even years after Gu Shaoping had passed away.

While his loyalty was reassuring, Lin Qiao couldn’t help feeling upset about being kept in the dark.

Since she had already asked, and since some things had been brought up, she decided to get everything clear at once. "Was that rumor deliberately spread?"

This question caused Ji Ze’s face to burn with embarrassment, but this time he didn’t try to evade it. "My mother spread it. She wanted to sabotage the marriage. But it wasn’t entirely her fault. I was also indecisive at the time. If I had agreed right away or explained everything to you, maybe we could have avoided all this."

The same went for the business matter. If he had been as decisive as his uncle, by the time his mother realized it, it would have been too late to change anything, and they wouldn’t have gone through all this trouble, with his father being transferred far away.

He refilled his glass and raised it, looking at Lin Qiao. "I’m really sorry. We all owe you an apology."

"Is that everything, then?" Lin Qiao looked at her uncle, then at her nephew, and stood up. "You all carry on. I’m going to the cafeteria."

"Qiaoqiao." Ji Duo stood up immediately after her.

Then Ji Ze, looking flustered, said, "Aunt, I..."

"You've dropped a bomb on me, at least let me process it for a bit?" Lin Qiao interrupted him, heading to the sink to wash her hands first.

After washing, she dried them with a towel, went to the coat rack by the living room door, grabbed her jacket, and left the house.

Watching her graceful silhouette disappear into the distance, the uncle and nephew both stood by the door for a long while without moving.

"I'm sorry, I've made things worse," Ji Ze finally lowered his head, his tone filled with frustration and regret.

Ji Duo kept his eyes on the direction of the gate, "She's not mad at you. She's mad at me for keeping things from her."

What Lin Qiao was indeed angry about was the fact that it was Ji Duo who had been keeping secrets from her. After all, regardless of whether Ji Ze had been willing in the beginning, she had married Ji Duo. He was her partner.

She could understand why Ji Duo had done it. When a family had something shameful happen, they wouldn't want an outsider, someone who wasn't very close to them, to know. The old man wanted to smooth things over, and Ji Duo had agreed. Naturally, he couldn't tell her behind his parents' backs and risk putting them in a bad light.

But understanding didn't mean she wouldn't be angry.

The entire Ji family knew about the marriage swap, but they had hidden it from her, as if they were treating her like a fool.

Before, Ji Duo had only wanted to be her business partner, and that was fine. But now he wanted to cross her boundaries while keeping secrets from her. Did he really think she was the kind of woman who would believe that being tricked into a lifetime of happiness was something to be grateful for?

Lin Qiao had never inherited any romantic or idealistic tendencies from her parents. If she had only been innocent and romantic, her mind would have collapsed during her childhood when she most craved love and care.

It was a good thing she wasn't someone who easily fell in love or had a love-obsessed mind. If she had really fallen for him and then found out about all this, she wouldn't just be angry. Of course, someone with a love-obsessed mind might automatically find excuses for the other person.

The early spring evening wind was still a bit chilly. After walking for a while in the twilight, Lin Qiao had completely calmed down.

It's just that I was misled, right?

It's just that I've been kept in the dark, right?

She had come to the Ji family to fulfill this marriage agreement. It wasn't to find a partner that suited her heart. No matter what, the Ji family had helped her, and I need to show my gratitude.

As for what lay beyond that gratitude, now that things had been laid out, it was better to make them even clearer.

When Lin Qiao returned, Ji Ze had already left. Under the dim yellow light of the kitchen, only Ji Duo was still sitting there, as if he had been waiting for her.

Sensing her footsteps, the man turned his head back, "You're back."

Lin Qiao responded with a soft "Mhm," walked over, and sat down. She noticed that besides money and accounts, there was also a paper contract on the table.

"Xiao Ze drafted that," Ji Duo followed her gaze and glanced at it, "He's already applied for a business license and is officially setting up a factory."

Lin Qiao picked it up and took a look. Perhaps out of guilt, Ji Ze had given her a 40% share this time. After deducting the 10% allocated to the senior employees, he was left with only 50%.

"Have some hot water," Ji Duo offered her a cup. When she didn't take it, he placed it on the table in front of her.

This was actually a signal of reconciliation. He still wanted to talk things over with Lin Qiao about what had just happened.

But Lin Qiao didn't touch the water, and she put down the contract as well, "Does this marriage feel like a burden to you?"

The question was sudden, and Ji Duo fell silent for a moment. But under Lin Qiao's gaze, he soon lifted his eyes, his gaze dark and direct, "Do you want to hear the truth?"

"Of course, the truth," Lin Qiao didn't shy away, meeting his gaze directly, "I've heard enough lies in the past year."

Ji Duo looked at her and said, "It is a bit of a burden, but it's not because of you. It's because marriage itself wasn't part of my plan."

He wasn't someone with a strong need for emotional connections, nor did he have any fixation on marriage and family. He preferred to spend more time and energy on work. Having this marriage thrust upon him was like throwing off his carefully laid plans, throwing his life's rhythm into disarray. From then on, he had an added responsibility and an extra burden on his shoulders.

But this was something the Ji family owed her, not the other way around. He couldn't blame her for it.

After nearly a year together, he no longer saw this marriage as a burden.

But Lin Qiao asked him, "Since this wasn't part of your life plan, do you want to go back to how things were before?"

Her question hit him like a bucket of cold water, even colder than when Lin Qiao had discovered the truth and said, "Let him speak." For the first time, Ji Duo asked a redundant question, "What do you mean?"

Lin Qiao's tone was calm as she replied, "I’ve thought about it carefully. My reasons for going through with this marriage weren’t entirely selfless, so I don’t have the right to ask anything from you or the Ji family. If you feel that this marriage is a burden, we can each take a step back, and this formula will be my thank-you gift to you."

If this were a story where they were destined to divorce, their relationship would just be a convenient arrangement, nothing more.

But it wasn’t. To Ji Duo, Lin Qiao had been forced on him against his will, regardless of whether it was her or Old Master Ji who arranged it.

Since it was a mistake from the beginning, why continue this error and make both of them unhappy?

Lin Qiao looked at Ji Duo, waiting for his answer. She didn’t expect that after staring at her for a long time, the man would suddenly laugh, albeit out of anger, "Are you really that oblivious or just pretending?"

His cold gaze swept over the contract, and he leaned across the table towards her, "Look, I agreed to this marriage, and I never once thought about divorce. If I really saw it as a burden, I could have just left you at home like a piece of furniture. Why would I bother caring about your feelings if that were the case?"

"You didn’t seem to care about my feelings when you kept so many things from me."

Although Lin Qiao had to look up to meet his eyes, her resolve was not weak. Her words made Ji Duo's expression falter, leaving him speechless.

"You say marriage is serious and shouldn’t be taken lightly, but this ‘serious’ marriage started with lies."

Her calm tone delivered another blow, and this time, Ji Duo's entire demeanor crumbled. He looked down at her for a long while before his voice softened, "I messed up. What can I do to make this right?"

This wasn’t an apology—it was a plea. If his soldiers heard him now, they’d think their tough-as-nails captain had been replaced by someone else.

But Lin Qiao's expression remained unchanged. She raised an eyebrow and countered, "What would it take for you to consider a divorce?"

"No way. I’m not getting divorced."

In all the time Lin Qiao had known the man, she had never seen him respond so quickly, with two consecutive negatives.

It seemed he was truly not planning to divorce her, and since he didn’t gamble, abuse, or cheat, without a major fault, they couldn’t divorce as long as he disagreed.

Lin Qiao looked at the man, and the man looked back at her. They stared at each other, neither willing to back down.

"Then let’s leave it at that," Lin Qiao wasn’t trying to argue for a resolution today, "Regardless, I appreciate that the Ji family was willing to help me."

With that, she stood up, grabbed the contract, the financial records, and the money from the table, and slipped past him to head upstairs.

Once she left, the kitchen was left in silence, with Ji Duo alone. Even the hot water he had poured for Lin Qiao began to lose its warmth.

Just a few days ago, she was jumping to grab the camera from him, refusing to let him take unflattering photos. Now, they were talking about divorce in the same spot.

Ji Duo touched his chest where the camera had pressed, wishing he could light a cigarette. He remembered too late that his nephew had taken the last two cigarettes.

He sat down at the dining table, picked up the shrimp he had peeled for Lin Qiao, and bit into it expressionlessly. The cold seafood tasted even fishier, and he wrinkled his brow but continued to eat all of what was in Lin Qiao's bowl.

As he was washing the dishes, footsteps on the outside staircase signaled Lin Qiao coming back down.

Almost instantly, Ji Duo's gaze shifted towards her, but Lin Qiao asked, "Do you have Xiao Ze's phone number?"

"Why do you need him?" Ji Duo's voice turned cold.

Lin Qiao pretended not to notice, "Chen Zhaonan works for him, right? I need to borrow her for a few days, and I’ll pay her for her time."

"Do you need something?" Ji Duo asked immediately, only to be brushed off by Lin Qiao with a disinterested "Hmm."

He could only say, "I'll help you make the call," and, wiping his hands, dialed Ji Ze's number for her.

Ji Ze, having just caused a big problem, readily agreed, "No need for Auntie to pay, Auntie. Please feel free to use it."

"That's not how it works. Whoever pays you, you work for them," Lin Qiao insisted.

Ji Ze then asked when she would need it and where to send someone, and after everything was settled, the phone was handed back to Ji Duo, who cautiously asked, "Are you satisfied with the contract, Auntie?"

Satisfied.

Very satisfied!

She was so satisfied that she almost wanted to use it as a thank-you gift before divorcing him.

Ji Duo hung up the phone with a snap.

Lin Qiao needed help because the exhibition was about to open, and she had to prepare her section of the venue but couldn't leave.

In less than a year in Yandu, the people she knew mostly had jobs, and the only ones available to help her were Liu Cuiying and Chen Zhaonan.

Liu Cuiying had already agreed earlier in the day and even arranged for Colonel Liang and Junzi to eat at the canteen during those days.

As for Chen Zhaonan, with the two of them helping each other, they could manage to set up the venue.

That night, for the first time, two separate quilts appeared on Lin Qiao and Ji Duo's bed. The larger one was Ji Duo's, while Lin Qiao took a smaller one for herself.

Ji Duo stood by the bed and looked for a long time, but just as he was about to speak, Lin Qiao had already closed her eyes.

It continued like this for the next few days. During the day, they acted as usual, but at night, they slept separately, each under their own quilt. Lin Qiao's attitude reverted to how it was when they first married, or even when they first met—polite, generous, and respectful, never making things difficult for anyone.

When he asked if she needed a car, she said, "Thank you, but no need."

When he said he was free on Sunday and asked if she needed help, she replied, "We’ve got enough help, thanks."

Ji Duo realized that not only had he changed over the past half-year of marriage, but Lin Qiao had also changed a lot. Especially after they opened up about the Gu family situation, and she began to understand his true intentions.

Unfortunately, some things are hard to build but easy to break.

Compared to Ji Duo, Lin Qiao was much busier and had no time to notice the man's feelings.

The exhibition ran for three days and, being its first year, wasn’t on a large scale. It was mostly organized on a provincial level.

Each province selected representative units, and since Lin Qiao was representing the school system, she was grouped with Yandu’s major universities. While the booths of Tsinghua and Peking Universities were showcased prominently, hers was labeled as belonging to XX Alumni High School. Although her exhibition area wasn't large, everyone who passed by couldn’t resist taking a second glance.

Liu Cuiying, who came to help, had never seen such a scene. Her usually loud voice had softened. "With so many people, I hope I don’t mess up."

The exhibition wasn't just about displaying finished products but also their usage and effects. She and Chen Zhaonan were in charge of demonstrating the different uses of several exhibits.

Lin Qiao comforted her with a smile. "The judging panel hasn't arrived yet. These are just casual visitors who didn’t buy tickets. No need to be nervous."

Liu Cuiying thought about it and said, "They didn't pay for tickets or give you an award, so why should I be nervous?"

Once she relaxed, she noticed Chen Zhaonan quietly working beside her. "This girl is really diligent."

Chen Zhaonan just smiled, and Liu Cuiying couldn't help but say to Lin Qiao, "Where did you find her? She’s a real go-getter, even more so than I was at her age."

As they were busy, someone passed by the booth and then stepped back, asking, "Who came up with this industrial degreaser?"

A balding, chubby man in his late thirties or early forties.

Both Liu Cuiying and Chen Zhaonan looked towards Lin Qiao. The fat man’s eyes widened in surprise, "You invented this?"

Not just him, but Liu Cuiying and Chen Zhaonan were equally stunned when they first heard about it. Especially Chen Zhaonan, who worked at the liquid soap plant, knew exactly the scale of the factory and how much was sold each day. She couldn’t believe the formula was Lin Qiao’s creation.

But while they were merely surprised, the fat man, seeing how young Lin Qiao was, had other ideas. His small, squinty eyes gleamed with calculation.

He leaned in close, holding up three fingers, and whispered, "I’ll give you this much. What do you say? You want to sell the formula to me?"

The three fingers clearly didn’t refer to the 30% profit Ji Ze had offered. Lin Qiao smiled, "I’m not selling this formula."

"That’s my best offer," the fat man said, raising his other hand, adding a five. "As a teacher, you don’t earn much, but this would be worth several years of your salary. I’m just looking to invest, take a gamble. It’s not even certain if it’ll be useful or not. If you’re not willing, I’ll go buy someone else’s."

Clearly, he was one of those who come to these exhibitions looking for undervalued inventions.

Lin Qiao wasn’t an engineer or tech specialist from a big company, nor a student from a top university. She was just a teacher at a small middle school, so it was normal that she would be targeted.

She was already done with the conversation and was about to look away when suddenly someone else spoke from the side, "Don't sell it, this invention of yours is very useful."

Everyone turned to look, including Liu Cuiying and Chen Zhaonan, who were still busy at the other end. It was a fifty-something-year-old man, somewhat old-fashioned in appearance.

He was already being called 'old man' at fifty, dressed like a farmer from the outskirts of Yandu in plain, unremarkable clothes.

The fat man, obviously displeased at being contradicted, said, "Who are you to say it's useful? Do you even understand?"

The old man ignored him and asked Lin Qiao, "You teach chemistry?"

Lin Qiao nodded, and he looked again at the oil-removal process being demonstrated. "This emulsification is very fast and doesn’t damage the original structure of the material. It can be used in many fields. Don’t just sell it off."

As if worried that Lin Qiao, being young, might not understand, he added, "If you’re unsure, I can introduce you to someone reliable later..."

Before he could finish, the fat man interrupted, "So you’re not letting her sell because you’re interested in it too? Trying to snatch the deal?"

The fat man sneered, "Don’t you know the rules of the trade? How dare you interfere when someone else is negotiating a price?"

The old rules of negotiating in Yandu did say you couldn’t interrupt or deliberately sabotage a negotiation in progress, but Lin Qiao didn’t think the fat man was here for genuine business.

She smiled and asked the old man, "You’re involved in this field yourself, aren’t you?"

This caused the old man to look at her again, a faint smile appearing in his eyes.

At that moment, a familiar voice rang out from not far away, "Xiao Yan?"

Lin Qiao was startled, and the old man had already turned around, greeting the newcomer with a smile, "Teacher Xu, you’re here to see the exhibition too."

It was Xu Li. She and Old Master hadn’t been in Yandu for some time, and Lin Qiao hadn’t had the chance to tell her about her participation in the exhibition. How did she show up here?

Lin Qiao’s eyes instinctively swept the crowd, and sure enough, not far behind Xu Li, she spotted a familiar tall figure.