Chapter 110

Chapter 110

"How dare you disobey me!"

Jiang Dajie was really just throwing his weight around as her father.

He thought that because he'd fathered Jiang Liling, he owned her life.

His old-fashioned thinking meant she wasn't allowed to defy him—she should obey, and even the money she earned should be his.

From selling her college admission letter to now trying to marry her off to the Xu family, Jiang Dajie had never felt remorse—only regret that he'd failed.

"I won't listen. All you can do is threaten me. What else have you got?"

His playbook never changed—threats and beatings, that's all he had.

But he'd forgotten this wasn't the same Jiang Liling anymore.

Jiang Dajie's eyes bulged, speechless—there was nothing he could do. To make matters worse, this "money-losing burden" might even go to his bosses at the factory.

But Jiang Dajie was fuming.

Because of her, he'd lost two paydays.

Eight hundred yuan.

One thousand yuan.

All that cash, gone—it ate him up inside.

But he was powerless against her.

Watching Jiang Dajie's face twist in rage, Jiang Liling knew he realized the truth—he had no hold over her.

He never could control her, and he never would.

"Face it—you've got nothing on me."

Jiang Dajie stared daggers at her, itching to wring her neck.

Jiang Liling smirked—pure provocation in his eyes. Afraid Jiang Dajie might lunge at her, Gu Jiang stepped between them, shielding her.

Jiang Dajie scoffed and stormed off.

Jiang Erjie and Jiang Sanjie shared a look, shaking their heads. They were done with Jiang Dajie.

Turning to them, Jiang Liling said:

"Uncle Er, Uncle San, I brought Gu Jiang to meet you today. You're family—I wanted him to know you."

"I'm glad we got to see you. We should head out now."

She'd brought Gu Jiang here for this meeting. With that done, it was time to leave.

They knew better than to press them to stay—not with Jiang Dajie and Wu Xueying around—so they walked them out.

"Liling, you'll always have a home here. Come back soon."

With them here, this was still her home.

Here's the improved translation incorporating the expert suggestions:

Jiang Liling just smiled without saying anything. Instead, she took Gu Jiang’s hand and walked away.

Watching them walk away, Jiang Sanjie sighed, "Looks like Liling has no plans to ever come back."

Judging by how Jiang Liling acted, there was clearly nothing here worth missing.

It seemed that after leaving today, she might never return to the Jiang family courtyard.

"Maybe it's better if she doesn't come back, to avoid seeing their scowling faces."

Jiang Erjie knew perfectly well that with Jiang Liling's departure today, she would likely never return.

"Good riddance, then. With parents like Jiang Dajie and Wu Xueying, why would she even want to come back!"

Jiang Sanjie's silence seemed to agree silently.

Jiang Yiwei leaned against the nearby wall, listening to Jiang Erjie and Jiang Sanjie, and remembered how the story went.

After Jiang Liling left the Jiang family courtyard today, she indeed would not return.

Because there was nothing in the Jiang family courtyard worth missing.

Jiang Yiwei lowered her eyes.

A breeze blew past Jiang Yiwei as she gazed at the sunny sky.

Inside the Weiyang Fashion Design Shop, Jiang Yiwei was working on a design.

"Sis."

"Sis."

"Sis, something terrible has happened!"

Jiang Weilin's voice, shrieking like a stuck pig, echoed throughout the shop.

Jiang Yiwei scowled, watching Jiang Weilin run toward her.

"Sis, it's bad." Jiang Weilin rushed up, slamming his hands down on the table.

"What's the emergency?"

What had Jiang Weilin in such a panic?

Jiang Weilin was about to speak when he glanced around at the others in the shop. Noticing their stares, he immediately dragged Jiang Yiwei into a corner.

"Sis, we've got big trouble."

"Then spit it out already."

If he kept saying something was wrong, he should explain what it was.

"Second Sister is pregnant." Jiang Weilin muttered under his breath.

"God! What?!" Jiang Yiwei shouted in shock.

"Sis, keep it down. We can’t let anyone find out about this," Jiang Weilin glanced toward Zhou Hongmin and urged Jiang Yiwei to lower her voice.

No one can know about Yuexin’s pregnancy.

If word gets out, you know what’ll happen.

Jiang Yiwei clapped a hand over her mouth.

"What the—how did this happen? How is she pregnant?!"

Yuexin’s pregnant?! Yiwei was floored.

Pregnant?! How?!

"No clue how Second Sis ended up pregnant. I just got home and heard the news, then Sis-in-law told me to get Big Sis and you back home ASAP."

Weilin was totally clueless.

He was still reeling from the news himself—Huang Manjun had ordered him to fetch Jiang Lingxin and Jiang Yiwei immediately.

"Third Sis, I still gotta tell Big Sis. You head back first."

Weilin had come to Yiwei first, with Lingxin still uninformed. He rushed off to notify her.

Yiwei nodded blankly, just as stunned, letting him go alert Lingxin while she gathered her things.

Back at the Jiang house, Yiwei barely parked her bike when a table slammed inside.

She entered to find Wu Xueying and Xu Qi trying to talk Cuifen down, though they couldn’t hide their smug grins.

"Yiwei! You’re back. Come talk your mom down."

Xu Qi waved her over—they weren’t getting through to her.

Yiwei approached. "Mom, calm down. Let’s talk this through."

"Calm down?! How am I supposed to calm down?! Talk properly?!"

Cuifen was beyond furious.

Yuexin got knocked up before marriage—how could she stay calm? Impossible.

Dizzy with rage, she barely registered Xu Qi cutting in: "Cui Fen, yelling at her won’t fix it. She’s already pregnant."

No amount of scolding would make that baby vanish.

They had to deal with this fast—get her married ASAP before the pregnancy leaked.

A pregnancy out of wedlock? If this gets out, the Jiangs will be a laughingstock.

Wu Xueying ate up Cuifen’s meltdown. Usually, her family was the hot mess—now she got front-row seats.

"Xu Qi’s right, but Yuexin—who’s the father? It’s not Yao Guo’s, right?"

If that baby wasn’t Shao Yaoguo’s? Then this’ll get real messy.

Here's the edited translation incorporating the expert suggestions:

As for reputation, what does it have to do with her family? It's not like it's her own daughter who's pregnant.

Zhang Cuifen went pale in an instant.

Meanwhile, Jiang Yuexin, who had been sitting on the chair acting indifferent, slammed the cup down right in front of Wu Xueying.

She shot Wu Xueying a furious glare.

Wu Xueying pressed a hand to her chest, startled. "Yue Xin, what are you doing?"

That damn girl still had such a temper.

"Eldest Aunt, don't you think your mouth stinks? It's disgusting."

"Stinks? Does it?"

Wu Xueying blew out air and sniffed at it, but she couldn't smell anything.

Jiang Yiwei and the other two covered their noses in disgust, especially Xu Qi, who had been standing beside Wu Xueying but now backed away a couple steps.

"No! My mouth doesn't stink at all."

Her mouth wasn't the least bit smelly.

Jiang Yuexin sneered. "Eldest Aunt, it really does stink."

It's disgusting.

Wu Xueying, not entirely convinced, turned to Xu Qi. "Xu Qi, take a whiff for me. Does my mouth stink?"

Immediately, Xu Qi's expression changed, and she put a hand up to stop Wu Xueying. "Sister-in-law, Yue Xin was saying your words are unpleasant."

Jiang Yuexin clearly meant her words were harsh, yet she actually thought Jiang Yuexin was talking about bad breath.

What an idiot.

"What? That I speak harshly?"

Wu Xueying felt anger rising too, and she proceeded to let loose on Jiang Yuexin.

"My words are harsh?"

"Yue Xin, you're knocked up before marriage. Who wouldn't laugh at you if this got out?"

"If you were my own daughter, I'd have beaten the life out of you by now. How could I let you sit here so comfortably?"

Her words were harsh? She'd been nice enough.

What kind of girl gets pregnant before marriage? She'd never heard of such a thing since marrying into Chao'an Alley.

And now that you're pregnant, you still expect people to speak nicely to you? You've got to be kidding me.

She was exasperated with Zhang Cuifen for not keeping her daughter in line. This "fine" daughter of hers was pregnant and acting like it was nothing, not scared in the least.

In any other family, she'd be dying of shame by now.

"But then again, you've got no shame, so of course you don't think getting pregnant is anything disgraceful." Jiang Yuexin has some nerve, putting on airs even after doing something wrong. No wonder she wasn't taking her pregnancy seriously.

**Revised Translation:**

*"How shameless!"*

*"What’s the big deal about me being pregnant? Why should I feel ashamed for being pregnant before marriage?"*

What was wrong with her being pregnant? Why should she feel ashamed?

Clearly, they were the ones running their mouths.

Wu Xueying choked, her chest heaving. She couldn’t believe Jiang Yuexin had the gall to act this shameless.

She shot Zhang Cuifen a mocking look. *"Cui Fen, you handle Yuexin’s mess yourself. As the eldest aunt, I wash my hands of this—after all, I never raised such a disgraceful daughter. I wouldn’t even know how to deal with an out-of-wedlock pregnancy."*

Wu Xueying couldn’t be bothered with this mess.

It wasn’t her daughter anyway—let Zhang Cuifen clean it up herself.

Zhang Cuifen’s face burned with humiliation. She’d never been so thoroughly shamed before.

No family with an unwed pregnant daughter could hold their head high.

*"Eldest Aunt, weren’t you also pregnant with Wei En before marrying Uncle?"*

Jiang Yiwei’s words sent shockwaves through the room. Even Zhang Cuifen forgot her anger, her fury replaced by shock.

Wu Xueying never imagined anyone knew about her own past—getting pregnant before marrying Jiang Dajie.

Almost no one had known back then, and she’d certainly never told Zhang Cuifen. How did Jiang Yiwei find out?

*"What kind of lie is that?"* Wu Xueying’s face flushed crimson as she denied it.

Jiang Yiwei rolled her eyes. *"Then why was Cousin born in August when you only married my uncle in January?"*

Thankfully, Jiang Yiwei remembered the story’s details—Wu Xueying *had* been pregnant before the wedding. Of course, Jiang Weien was Jiang Dajie’s son. No one could deny that.

Zhang Cuifen and Xu Qi quickly put two and two together—and the timeline didn’t lie.

*"Wei En was premature!"* Wu Xueying dug in her heels, refusing to admit the truth.

*"Eldest Aunt, just own up to it! I’ve heard Granny slip up before—if you hadn’t been pregnant, she’d never have let you into the family."*

Jiang Yiwei was bluffing.

But among Granny Hu’s three daughters-in-law, Wu Xueying was her least favorite.

Wu Xueying went pale. Had Granny Hu really told Jiang Yiwei?

*"So *you* were pregnant before marriage too,"* Jiang Yuexin said, stunned.

*"You called *me* shameless? Look who’s talking!"*

How *dare* she? Just moments ago, Wu Xueying had been hurling insults—now *she* was the hypocrite.

*"Even if I was pregnant first, at least my baby was Dajie’s—who even knows who yours belongs to?"*

Sure, Wu Xueying had slept with Jiang Dajie before marriage—but she’d only ever been with him. Jiang Yuexin? Was Shao Yaoguo even the father?

She treated Shao Yaoguo like dirt. If she hated him that much, she was probably sleeping around.

"Eldest Aunt, the baby in Yue Xin’s belly has to be Yao Guo’s."

Zhang Cuifen had been furious earlier, but after calming down and recalling Jiang Yuexin’s personality, she was certain the child was Shao Yaoguo’s.

"Cui Fen, don’t take this the wrong way, but you can’t favor Yue Xin and screw over poor Yao Guo."

Jiang Yuexin was her daughter, so of course she’d side with her. But if Yue Xin was dating Shao Yaoguo yet got knocked up by someone else, wasn’t that just shameless? Wu Xueying got why she was pinning it on Shao Yaoguo.

Besides, with Yue Xin pregnant, who’d even want her now? Someone had to take the fall, and Shao Yaoguo, that gullible boy, was the perfect fall guy.

But Wu Xueying’s words lit a fire under Jiang Yuexin. "Eldest Aunt, you’re awfully eager for my baby not to be Yao Guo’s."

"Unless you’ve got your eye on him for Li Xi?"

Jiang Yuexin was deliberately needling her.

"Don’t talk nonsense! Li Xi wouldn’t give Yao Guo the time of day!"

Wu Xueying wouldn’t touch Shao Yaoguo with a ten-foot pole.

As if she’d ever want him as a son-in-law.

"If not Yao Guo, then it’s Fu Xunian and Qu Zhenxin. Every time they’re here, you and Li Xi are all over them."

She knew Wu Xueying would never settle for Shao Yaoguo. No, she was dead set on hooking Jiang Lixi up with Fu Xunian or Qu Zhenxin. Whenever those two visited, Wu Xueying’s eyes lit up like she’d struck gold, even shoving Jiang Lixi their way when Yiwei and Ningning weren’t around.

And this woman had the nerve to call *her* pregnancy disgraceful?

Jiang Yuexin would bet anything that if Lixi got knocked up by either man, Wu Xueying would shout it from the rooftops.

Too bad neither Fu Xunian nor Qu Zhenxin gave Jiang Lixi the time of day.

Xu Qi and Zhang Cuifen side-eyed Wu Xueying.

Suddenly catching on, Xu Qi sneered, "No wonder Li Xi’s always glued to Zhenxin’s side."

Now that she thought about it, Jiang Lixi constantly found excuses to hover near Qu Zhenxin. So that was their game—trying to poach someone else’s guy.

"That’s a lie! Don’t listen to her—she’s just stirring the pot!"

Wu Xueying wasn’t stupid. She’d deny it outright.

"Whatever your intentions, Zhenxin and Xu Nian are taken—by their own cousins, for crying out loud. Eldest Aunt, tell Li Xi to back off next time they visit."

"Stop eyeing what ain’t yours."

They’d never admit their schemes, but Qu Zhenxin and Fu Xunian were spoken for—by family, no less. Time to drop the act.

"Second sister-in-law’s right. Eldest Aunt, quit reaching above your station."

Zhang Cuifen’s face went stone-cold, her gaze razor-sharp.

The nerve, eyeing Fu Xunian like that!

He was already with Jiang Yiwei, but here they were, bold as brass, making moves on their cousin’s man. Talk about shameless!

They kept harping on Yuexin’s unwed pregnancy being trashy, yet Wu Xueying—Jiang Yiwei’s own aunt—was out here encouraging Lixi to throw herself at Fu Xunian and Qu Zhenxin. Now *that’s* some next-level shame.

Like mother, like daughter—both shameless.

"Trust me, nothing like that ever happened. Lixi wouldn’t dare have such thoughts."

Wu Xueying outright refused to admit that she and her daughter had designs on Fu Xunian and Qu Zhenxin.

If she never admitted it, what could they even do?

"Cut the denials, Eldest Aunt. If it’s true, denying it won’t help." Jiang Yuexin sneered at Wu Xueying’s stubborn refusal.

All bark, no bite.

"What am I denying? There’s nothing to admit in the first place." Wu Xueying’s voice turned shrill.

"Mom, you can ask Yiwei if it’s true."

"Second Aunt, you can also ask Ningning whether Jiang Lixi has her eyes on Qu Zhenxin. You’ll hear exactly what you’re expecting."

They could ask Jiang Yiwei and Jiang Ningning.

After all, if their men were being coveted, Jiang Yuexin didn’t believe they wouldn’t have noticed.

Jiang Yiwei, who had been silently watching the whole mess, stiffened as Zhang Cuifen and the others turned their gazes toward her.

After a pause, Jiang Yiwei spoke slowly, "I don’t know whether Lixi and Eldest Aunt have designs on Qu Zhenxin."

"But I do know that every time Xunian visits, Lixi always dresses to the nines, and Eldest Aunt, you always parade Lixi in front of him—that much is true, isn’t it?"

"Eldest Aunt."

Whether Jiang Lixi and Wu Xueying were eyeing Qu Zhenxin, Jiang Yiwei hadn’t paid attention.

But she did know that every time Fu Xunian came over, Jiang Lixi would appear before him all dolled up. Fu Xunian, perhaps aware of their intentions, always gave them the cold shoulder.

So Wu Xueying would play the elder card to drop hints, belittling Jiang Yiwei while praising Jiang Lixi.

Wu Xueying flinched, waving her hands like a madwoman. "No, no such thing! Yiwei, you’re seeing things."

"You and Ningning are both my nieces, and they’re basically family. Can’t I just chat with them?"

Wu Xueying kept lying through her teeth about wanting Fu Xunian and Qu Zhenxin as her sons-in-law.

"Oh crap—I forgot to take out the rice for Weijun’s wife to cook dinner. I need to go back, or Guodong and the others won’t have anything to eat tonight."

Scared they’d keep grilling her, Wu Xueying bolted for the door—only to slam right into someone and get sent sprawling.

Clutching her butt, she howled, "Who the hell hit me?"

But the culprit, Shao Yaoguo, was too wrapped up in Jiang Yuexin’s drama to care. It was Xu Qi who, out of obligation, hauled Wu Xueying up.

"Xu Qi, who the hell hit me?"

Wu Xueying rubbed her aching rear.

"It was Yaoguo."

The culprit was Shao Yaoguo.

Wu Xueying saw Shao Yaoguo doting on Jiang Yuexin.

She elbowed Xu Qi subtly, "Do you really think the baby in Yuexin’s belly is Yaoguo’s?"

Xu Qi replied bluntly, "Isn’t it plain as day?"

"I mean, sister-in-law, Yuexin is your niece after all. You and Big Bro Jiang had a premarital pregnancy, so why can’t Yuexin?"

Xu Qi was a bit more charitable than Wu Xueying, not suspecting Jiang Yuexin of playing the field or doubting the baby wasn’t Yaoguo’s.

Besides, if Wu Xueying and Jiang Dajie could have a child before marriage, why couldn’t Jiang Yuexin?

It seemed like a case of "rules for thee but not for me."

Perhaps after being nagged by Shao Yaoguo, Jiang Yuexin batted his hand away impatiently.

"I’m fine, I’m just fine."

Jiang Yuexin really was fine at the moment.

"That’s good." Knowing Jiang Yuexin was alright, Shao Yaoguo fully relaxed.

Seeing Shao Yaoguo and Jiang Yuexin like this, Zhang Cuifen also felt relieved, now sure the baby in Yuexin’s belly was Yaoguo’s.

"You may be fine, but you’ve got some explaining to do."

Jiang Sanjie and Jiang Haolin stood expressionlessly at the door. Jiang Yuexin hunched her shoulders at the sight of Jiang Sanjie and tugged at Shao Yaoguo, who immediately stepped in front of her.

"If anyone’s to blame, it’s me. Not Yuexin."

Jiang Sanjie shot them a sidelong look.

Turning to Xu Qi and the others, he said, "Eldest sister-in-law, second sister-in-law, let us, as Yuexin’s parents, sort this out. Please go back for now."

Wu Xueying and Xu Qi understood Jiang Sanjie wanted to deal with it himself.

"We’ll go back then. Just talk this through calmly with Yuexin." Xu Qi bit back the reminder about Yuexin’s pregnancy, not wanting to embarrass Jiang Sanjie.