Chapter 147: then translation of title

To avoid giving anything away.

Qin Huairu and Yi Zhonghai have always been very careful and cautious when doing these things.

They drift far away and gamble nearby.

They meet far from the Siheyuan and do immoral things.

The moment Jia Dongxu asked Yi Zhonghai why he cared so much about the child in Qin Huairu's belly, Yi Zhonghai's heart raced wildly, as if he had been caught red‑handed doing something wicked.

The first thought that sprang to Yi Zhonghai's mind was that his and Qin Huairu's secret had been exposed, letting Jia Dongxu know the truth, which is why Jia Dongxu asked.

Their question‑and‑answer exchange was all about playing mind games, each probing the other.

He returned to the house.

Yi Zhonghai suddenly realized.

Jia Dongxu's question just now wasn't actually because he knew Yi Zhonghai and Qin Huairu's secret; it was more likely that Yi Zhonghai's excessive concern for Qin Huairu and the child in her belly made Jia Dongxu a little wary.

Even as a father I'm not that enthusiastic—why are you, as a teacher, being so eager?

That was a misstep!

Jia asked: "What is your relationship to the child in Qin Huairu's belly?"

Yi said: "I am your teacher; I am concerned in my capacity as your teacher. I am using this matter to establish a persona for the neighbors of the Siheyuan to see."

The answer was perfect.

Also very typical of Yi Zhonghai.

Jia Dongxu could find no fault with it.

Yi Zhonghai was very satisfied with the excuse he had just made up.

He stared at the tea‑water vat in front of him.

His head was pounding.

Excessive concern will expose you to the public eye; with these people in the Siheyuan, everyone dislikes seeing you do well, and they'll accuse you of wrongdoing even when there's none.

Concern leads to chaos.

The child in Qin Huairu's belly bears the surname Yi, which means Yi Zhonghai cannot stand by idly; a hypocrite who has cut off his line for many years, constantly yearning for his own child, suddenly having blood ties, his inner agitation—something others cannot understand—this is precisely the key that would cause Yi Zhonghai to expose his secret with Qin Huairu.

There is no wall that does not let the wind through.

Once the matter is exposed.

Yi Zhonghai is practically a living Ximen Qing, nicknamed Yi Ximen Qing Zhonghai.

Qin Huairu is practically a living Pan Jinlian, called Qin Pan Jinlian Huairu.

We need to plan for the long term.

At the very least, he cannot be as passionately concerned for Qin Huairu and the child in her belly as he is now. Yet Qin Huairu and the child in her belly still need nourishment, after all they are Yi Zhonghai's bloodline; he cannot bear to see his own bloodline suffer, and he still hopes Qin Huairu will give birth to a big, fat son for him, so the Yi line will have an heir.

What should we do?

Yi Zhonghai painstakingly pondered a countermeasure.

Until an aunt came back fuming from Long Laotaitai's house in the Hou Yuan, pulling Yi Zhonghai out of his reverie.

Seeing the aunt's furious face, Yi Zhonghai knew for sure that the greedy, short‑sighted deaf old lady had provoked her.

"Ah!"

A sigh.

It flew out of Yi Zhonghai's mouth.

As for the deaf old lady, Yi Zhonghai had no good solution; people are just like that, born with a love of eating—if you must blame someone, blame yourself for not seeing her true nature in time and thus getting on her bandwagon.

As the saying goes, it's easy to invite a deity but hard to send him away.

Easy to board the ship, hard to disembark.

"You didn't tell her?"

"I did, I made it perfectly clear." The aunt looked at Yi Zhonghai and vented her bitterness: "The key is she won't listen. We said we abused her, didn't give her meat; we said we were ungrateful, using her old lady to establish a reputation for respecting the elderly and loving the young, then turned our backs on her old lady. We said she just wanted a bite of meat, but we wouldn't give it to her; we wanted to eat some white flour steamed buns, but they were replaced with cornbread. That damned old hag, truly a damn nuisance—if she died, it would be just desserts."

He spoke without thinking.

The listener took it to heart.

A single sentence seemed to open the door to Yi Zhonghai's thoughts.

If she died, it would be just desserts.

Die!

But that doesn't refer to the deaf old lady.

It's Jia Dongxu.

In a fleeting moment.

A thought arose in Yi Zhonghai's mind that even he found terrifying.

Jia the short‑lived is Qin Huairu's man; as long as Jia the short‑lived lives, Yi Zhonghai cannot openly be with Qin Huairu, and the child in her belly can only call Yi Zhonghai grandfather.

Clearly it is his own son.

Yet he insists on being called grandfather.

That feeling.

One can imagine.

If they were all dead, every obstacle preventing them from being together would be gone.

Short‑lived Jia.

And there's the aunt right before him.

Yi Zhonghai's heart raced wildly; he was frightened by his own thought, and he shook his head hard, barely managing to suppress the murderous‑silence idea.

……

Jia Family.

Jia Dongxu looked at Qin Huairu, sitting on the heated brick bed with a big belly eating noodles, and couldn't help recalling the events of this period.

No one else speaks.

Just speaking of Yi Zhonghai.

Excessive concern for Qin Huairu.

He raised his brows, finally unable to restrain his doubts, and questioned Qin Huairu.

"Qin Huairu, I ask you, is the child in your belly related to Yi Zhonghai at all?"

Qin Huairu instinctively glanced at Jia Zhangshi.

After following Yi Zhonghai's advice and telling Jia Zhangshi she liked sour things, Jia Zhangshi truly treasured Qin Huairu like a heart and jewel, holding her in her palm.

The relationships among the Jia family are like big fish eating small fish, small fish eating shrimp.

Qin Huairu is manipulated by Jia Dongxu, Jia Dongxu is manipulated by Jia Zhangshi, and Qin Huairu uses the child in her belly to turn the tables and manipulate Jia Zhangshi.

This proves the saying.

One thing subdues another.

One person bullies another.

Jia Zhangshi said, "You child, how do you speak?" She waved her hand and slapped Jia Dongxu, not on the face but on the shoulder: "It's fine if you can't speak; just stay quiet, no one thinks you're mute. Huairu is your wife, my daughter-in-law; the child in her belly is naturally the heir of our Jia family. I've already chosen the names: the older brother will be called Bangeng, the older sister Xiao Dang. They'll be blessed, the brother protected, the sister doted on, they'll surely not suffer. I'll just call them club, Bangeng, club—each name contains a 'bang', meaning strong body, no illness or disaster, easy to raise."

"Qin Huairu." Jia Dongxu's gaze leapt over Jia Zhangshi and landed on Qin Huairu, repeating the old question: "I'm asking you, whose child is it? Mine or Yi Zhonghai's?"

"Dong Xu, what's wrong with you?"

Jia Zhangshi stared blankly at Jia Dongxu; this child, suddenly asking out of nowhere who the father of the club is—could he have heard some rumor?

Whose child is it in Qin Huairu's belly?

Jia Zhangshi was completely confident, believing the child would bear the Jia surname.

For so many years.

Specifically keeping an eye on Qin Huairu.

Using Jia Zhangshi's own words, I, the old woman, haven't given Qin Huairu any chance to fool around with outsiders; I even follow her to the toilet.

"Mom, it's nothing; I just want Qin Huairu to tell the truth—whose child is it?"

"Of course it's yours."

Qin Huairu's tone.

Very calm.

The scheming bitch is figured out.

Jia Dongxu has no solid evidence; he's just bluffing!

The trysting place is far from the Siheyuan; during the tryst, Jia Zhangshi sleeps like a dead pig, so no one would notice Qin Huairu and Yi Zhonghai's relationship.

No one knows.

Nor will anyone know.

"Dong Xu, if you keep saying that, I won't want this child, lest it be born and you, as the father, despise it in every way—either calling it a bastard or a wild seed; I can't bear that."

Qin Huairu's tears.

Welled up from her eye sockets.

As a woman with a big belly, she knows how to perform a bitter drama for Jia Dongxu and Jia Zhangshi to see.

Preferring sons over daughters is a flaw.

Yet it is also a magic weapon to check Jia Zhangshi.

Wanting a grandson.

It's possible.

To win over me, Qin Huairu.

"Mom, you've seen the situation; it's not my fault, Qin Huairu, it's Dong Xu—he suspects me, suspects the child in my belly. I know why he thinks that: it's just because the big elder from across the way has come back. Mom, put your hand on your heart and say: during the time the big elder returned, haven't I been with you all the time, even when I go to the toilet you follow me? Dong Xu asking me like this clearly shows he doesn't believe me; why would I still want this child, just to have him come out and be constantly mistreated by his own father?"

The grandson is Jia Zhangshi's lifeline.

As soon as she heard Qin Huairu wanted to abort the child.

Jia Zhangshi became so anxious she was practically jumping through the roof.

She couldn't care about much else.

She raised her hand and slapped Jia Dongxu.

"Jia Dongxu, are you trying to anger me to death? As a husband, you shouldn't suspect anyone, let alone your own wife."

Jia Zhangshi grabbed Jia Dongxu's ear, dragged him from the inner room to the outer chamber, and lowered her voice.

"Are you stupid? I've been watching Qin Huairu; she doesn't even have time to talk to Yi Zhonghai, where would she go to fool around with him? I know what you're worried about: you just saw Yi Zhonghai looking fair and flush with cash, got anxious, and ran to the black market to buy nutrients for Qin Huairu."

Jia Zhangshi's tone suddenly turned boastful, with a hint of pride inside.

"Son, let me tell you, this is skill. Among the twenty-odd households in the Siheyuan, who could make Yi Zhonghai willingly spend money to help us raise a child like we do? You, you hear wind and think it's rain, you don't think things through. Let me tell you, the person saying this to you is just jealous, jealous that we can make Yi Zhonghai spend money. The child in Qin Huairu's belly, if it weren't of our Jia family blood, I would have slapped her long ago. It's fine, everything has a mother; don't overthink it. Later I'll go back and say some nice things to Qin Huairu—my second grandson is important."

If Jia Dongxu had listened to Jia Zhangshi and not pursued the question of whose child Qin Huairu carries, he probably wouldn't have died so young.

Unfortunately.

He became obsessed.

He constantly wanted to figure out whether Qin Huairu and Yi Zhonghai had any relation, and, acting cleverly, used a deceptive method to shout at Yi Zhonghai, thereby making Yi Zhonghai mistakenly think that Jia Dongxu knew about his affair with Qin Huairu; the repressed idea of killing to silence, buried in his mind, surged again in Yi Zhonghai's brain, and via a machinery accident he sent the short-lived Jia to his death.

Of course.

This happened a month later.

It hasn't happened yet.

The precondition is that Jia Dongxu willingly becomes a cuckold.

Just by looking at Jia Dongxu's displeased expression, it was clear that Jia Zhangshi's words hadn't reached his ears.