Chapter 250: Chapter 228.2

“My dear Miss Xu, are you trying to suffocate me with your perfume?”

Jun Zishu let out a few coughs, looking like she was very weak.

Xu Qinglin had forgotten about the perfume covering her since she was already used to the smell. After hearing her good friend’s words, she couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed.

“I’ll make sure to put on less perfume the next time I visit. But what happened to you? I couldn’t get through to you on the phone, so I had to call Qiu Ziqian, and he told me that you were hospitalized after accidentally falling down the stairs. I rushed over immediately after asking him for the hospital’s address. How old are you already? How can you still be so careless? Just look at how badly injured you got,” Xu Qinglin admonished, feeling a little heartache when she saw the wounds on her best friend’s head and face.

“My phone broke when I fell down the stairs,” Jun Zishu explained.

“Did you miss a step or something? Did you get injured anywhere else?” Xu Qinglin asked worriedly.

“It’s nothing serious. It’s just a miscarriage,” Jun Zishu calmly said.

“Oh, that’s good… Wait, what? Miscarriage?!”

Xu Qinglin immediately shot up from her seat, the pitch of her voice skyrocketing.

“No need to be so loud. My ears can’t take it,” Jun Zishu said as she gestured for Xu Qinglin to sit back down.

“How are you still so calm? Haven’t you always wanted a child?” Xu Qinglin asked. She felt that her friend was behaving strangely today. She was well aware of how much Jian Qing liked Qiu Ziqian. She also knew how much Jian Qing wanted a child. So, how could Jian Qing remain so calm even after suffering a miscarriage? If it were in the past, the girl would’ve long since cried a river of tears.

“Do you know how I fell down the stairs? I went to deliver soup to Qiu Ziqian. When I opened the door to his office, I saw that woman sitting on his lap, and they were very close to kissing. I wanted to hit that woman, but I missed, and that woman pushed me away. Instead of siding with me, Qiu Ziqian made up excuses and even protected that woman. I got so mad that I couldn’t think straight, so I ended up taking the stairs and accidentally fell.”

“That fucking son of a… I knew Qiu Ziqian wasn’t a good man. To think I put my trust in him before,” Xu Qianlin cursed and sneered. She abhorred cheating men because of her own experience, so any positive feelings she had for Qiu Ziqian instantly vanished when she learned that he had cheated on her best friend. After taking a deep breath, she said, “I’ll hire some people to give Qiu Ziqian and that woman a good beating.”

“Sis, no need to be so impulsive. I have other ways to deal with them, just you see. If you really want to help, I’ll give you a call once I start enacting my plan,” Jun Zishu said as she nudged Xu Qinglin on the forehead.

“Of course I’m going to help! There’s no way I can stand by and do nothing about this!” Xu Qinglin said. Then, she paused and carefully observed Jun Zishu’s face before asking, “Why don’t you seem angry about this?”

“It’s not worth ruining my body over such a person.”

“Do you…not love him anymore?”

“Love? Do I look so desperate to you? Ever since he stood me up on our anniversary, I’ve long since predicted the arrival of such a day. It’s just a pity that the child in my belly had left before his parents even realized he existed,” Jun Zishu said. “Which is why I will not let those two get away with this.”

“Well said.” Xu Qinglin nodded with a smile. “So, are you not planning to get a divorce for the time being?”

Xu Qinglin knew that, unlike herself, Jian Qing could escape her marriage at any time.

“Of course not. I’m going to drag it out for some time, no matter what. There’s no way I’m going to let that woman have my place so easily,” Jun Zishu said, sneering. “The least I could do is raise their blood pressure a little. Even if Qiu Ziqian decides to divorce me, I won’t agree to it so easily. As for that woman, since she loves being a mistress so much, I’ll make sure everyone knows about her deeds. She’ll have to go through me first if she wants to become Mrs. Qiu.”

Xu Qinglin inwardly sighed as she looked at Jun Zishu. Neither of them was like this in the past. Unfortunately, love and marriage had warped them into such a state.

“Just do whatever pleases you. By the way, does Qiu Ziqian’s mother know about your miscarriage?” Xu Qinglin asked. When she thought about the head of the Tang family, she couldn’t help but grow a little envious.

In reality, Xu Qinglin very much wanted to become a woman like Tang Qianqiu. Tang Qianqiu was strong and confident. Rather than rely on men, men sought to rely on her instead. Many people sought to gain Tang Qianqiu’s favor, and even Xu Qinglin’s husband had to behave respectfully when standing in front of Tang Qianqiu. Tang Qianqiu was the role model for a different type of successful woman. Unfortunately, Xu Qinglin didn’t have the ability necessary to become someone like Tang Qianqiu.

Regardless, so long as Tang Qianqiu stood on Jun Zishu’s side, it’d be significantly easier for Jun Zishu to get her revenge. However, if Tang Qianqiu supported her son’s relationship with his mistress, the situation would become trickier for Jun Zishu.

“She knows. She even came to visit me today.”

“That’s good. It shows that you still hold a place in her heart.”

Xu Qinglin sighed in relief. She had been worried that Tang Qianqiu wouldn’t stand on her friend’s side. Going by Jian Qing’s past ramblings, Tang Qianqiu could hardly be considered a mother-in-law. After all, she had rarely ever shown up in front of Jian Qing.

Jun Zishu smiled but did not comment on Xu Qinglin’s words. What she occupied wasn’t just a place in Tang Qianqiu’s heart, but her entire heart instead.

“What did your mother-in-law say?”

“She said that she will never allow unsavory people into her family.”

“Isn’t that great news? Since your mother-in-law is standing on your side, screw with that mistress to your heart’s content.”

“She had Qiu Ziqian take care of his love affairs. I’m wondering if Qiu Ziqian will stop seeing Bai Yuwan because of this,” Jun Zishu said, bringing up the ultimatum Tang Qianqiu had given to Qiu Ziqian.

“Can you not be so naive? Cheating scumbags like him have their unfaithfulness deeply ingrained into their DNA. He might make all sorts of promises in front of you, but he won’t be able to hold back his tendencies once he turns away. I used to think that marrying an older man would be safer since he has already experienced the vicissitudes of life and won’t fall for temptation so easily. However, facts have proven that I was wrong, terribly wrong,” Xu Qinglin said as she fiddled with her red nails, a cold and devilish smile on her face. The carefree part of herself that existed before she got married was nowhere to be seen.

“Since you hate him so much, wouldn’t you feel disgusted if he touches you?”

“What?” Xu Qinglin froze.

“There,” Jun Zishu said as she pointed at the mark on Xu Qinglin’s left breast. The mark might be well-hidden from the front, but Jun Zishu just happened to be at the right angle.

“That’s not a mark he left. It’s my younger brother-in-law’s doing,” Xu Qinglin said, adjusting her dress slightly as she smiled nonchalantly. “He’d be dreaming if he thinks he can touch me after touching other women. Since I can’t divorce him, he can have his fun while I have my fun. I’m just doing what he did to me.”

“Won’t you feel uncomfortable?”

“No, not at all. On the contrary, I’m quite happy with the way things are. But you mustn’t copy me. Fortunately, Qiu Ziqian doesn’t have any elder or younger brothers,” Xu Qinglin said, worried that Jun Zishu might go down the same path she did.

Jun Zishu nodded. Even if Qiu Ziqian had an elder or younger brother, she wouldn’t be interested in screwing any of them. The person she wanted to screw was his mother.

“Does he know about your relationship with his brother?” Jun Zishu asked.

“No. It won’t be good for anyone if this matter gets out. We still want to keep our reputation, so even if we are doing unspeakable things behind the scenes, we can’t let anybody know about them. And even if I don’t care about my reputation, that brother-in-law of mine wouldn’t want to let others know about his actions,” Xu Qinglin said, smiling indifferently. There was not the slightest bit of fear on her face when she spoke about her unethical deeds.

“Be careful not to play with fire too much and burn yourself,” Jun Zishu said. It was incredibly risky to maintain the relationship Xu Qinglin was having with her brother-in-law. She didn’t wish for Xu Qinglin to fall for her brother-in-law’s pitfall after falling into her husband’s.

“I know. We’re about to end our relationship soon since the family seems to have arranged a marriage for him. I don’t pay much attention to these things, so I’m not too sure about the exact situation. However, I already made it clear that we will separate once he gets engaged, married, or finds himself a girlfriend,” Xu Qinglin said. Then, she suddenly recalled something as a form frowned on her face.

“What’s the matter?” Jun Zishu asked when she sensed Xu Qinglin’s mood sinking.

“I just remembered that my mother-in-law has constantly been urging me to have a kid. My parents have also been secretly hinting for me to have one, saying that I’m no longer young and that it’ll be too late if I don’t have a child now. My mom even told me that my man will reign in his heart so long as I have a child. Pfft.”

After saying so, Xu Qinglin rummaged through her handbag for a while and pulled out a cigarette. However, she held back the urge to light the cigarette when she recalled her current location.

“I’m not sure if I should continue obediently following their arrangements. For my own part, I certainly don’t want to have a child, especially not with that bastard,” Xu Qinglin said. “Having a child is such a scary thing. I’ll be suffering from pain when I’m pregnant, and I’ll also be in pain when I’m giving birth. Most importantly, I no longer have any love for that man. I hate him. If I really give birth to his child, wouldn’t that child have to watch his parents argue every day?”

There was no point in keeping such a broken marriage. Unfortunately, Xu Qinglin didn’t have a choice in the matter.

“I think it’s best if you don’t get pregnant for the time being, either. After all, that’s a different kind of responsibility, and you still haven’t decided whether you want to bear that responsibility or not,” Jun Zishu objectively said.

Reality was complicated, and it wasn’t something that could be decided with only a few words. Xu Qinglin didn’t just represent herself in this marriage. She also represented her family. Her family had partnered with her husband’s family on many business ventures. Should she separate from her husband, their two families would have difficulty sorting out the division of benefits.

“Let’s stop talking about these things,” Xu Qinglin said, laughing. Then, she changed the topic and began talking about some of the interesting stories she had heard recently.

Jun Zishu cooperatively laughed along with Xu Qinglin’s amusing stories. For a time, the atmosphere in the room was very cordial.

Not long after, Xu Qinglin’s phone rang. When she took out her phone and saw the caller ID, she hesitated for several seconds before answering the call.

“I’m at the hospital.

“No, I’m not hurt.

“You don’t have to pick me up.”

Jun Zishu had no idea what kind of conversation Xu Qinglin was having, but her friend wore a disinterested face the entire time.

“Fine. Come, then.”

After saying so, Xu Qinglin hung up the call and put her phone back into her bag.

“Who called you?”

“My brother-in-law. He wants to pick me up for a date. I told him I wasn’t interested, but he said he had something to talk to me about. It’s probably because we won’t be meeting for the next half a year, so he wants me to go and meet him.”

It wasn’t her place to comment about other people’s affairs, so Jun Zishu simply nodded to Xu Qinglin’s words.

“I’ll visit you again tomorrow. If I run into Qiu Ziqian on the way, I’ll make sure to slap him for you.”

“Okay.”

Afterward, Xu Qinglin left with her bag in hand, her silhouette looking very thin.