Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
This time, she had endured far too much.
“He is what he is today because I’ve put in so much effort. It’s so easy for him to say now that he doesn’t want me. Moreover, it’s for the sake of a vixen. How can he do that to me? By doing this, isn’t he letting me down?!” She had worked so hard for the sake of the Qiu family.
The Qiu family rose through the ranks and status because of her. Qiu Qin had not assumed the role that she wanted most, yet he was washing his hands off the matter. He did not care and did not want anything anymore. How could Qi Minlan agree to this? “He said that he wants to divorce me and marry that vixen. That woman is not well-educated. She’s ugly and doesn’t have many family members. She’ll only become the burden of the Qiu family and Qiu Qin. I’ve worked so hard for the Qiu family and Qiu Qin wants to divorce me because of such a lousy woman. I’m not willing. I can’t take this lying down!”
“In that case, why were you looking for Qing Qing and me?!” Shi Peng turned a deaf ear to Qi Minlan’s complaints and grievances. “Do you know that this willful behavior of yours has already disrupted other people’s lives!”
Yes, that woman was not pretty. She was not well-educated and was not born into a wealthy or powerful family. Nevertheless, she was better than Qi Minlan in one way. She had a better temper.
“Why did I look for you? You’re my only biological brother. Now that I’ve encountered something like this, who else could I look for besides you? Yet, you avoided me. Is there a brother like you? Your sister has been bullied and you’re not stepping out to help me. Moreover, if you have not gathered that information, I wouldn’t kick up a fuss in front of Qiu Qin and let him have the chance to mention divorce.” If she had not discovered it, Qiu Qin would not have thought of divorcing her at all.
Hence, regarding this matter, Shi Peng had to bear most of the responsibility. He had to help her settle this matter and give her a satisfactory outcome.
“Brother, I don’t care. You have to intervene in this matter until I’m satisfied with it. Otherwise, as long as I am unhappy, all of you can forget about having peace!” Qi Minlan said selfishly and willfully. She was determined to make Shi Peng yield to her such that he would do everything for her and settle all her problems.
“How are you going to disrupt my peace?” Facing Qi Minlan’s attitude of taking things for granted, Shi Peng asked sullenly, “You’ll harass the Qiao family again?”
“Yes, if you don’t help me and avoid me like before, I’ll lay my hands on the Qiao family. Shi Qing and you have the means to hide so well but not everyone is like you. Since the Qiao family allows Shi Qing to stay at their house, I don’t believe that you can just watch them land themselves in such huge trouble and have their peace disrupted because of you and your daughter. Brother, let me tell you. If you did not discover this, it’s impossible that Qiu Qin would stir up the divorce issue with me. I also believe that he will return to my side eventually after he’s sick of that woman outside.”
In other words, Qi Minlan felt that as long as this matter did not blow up, she did not even have to do anything and Qiu Qin would eventually return to her side. She could then also believe that she was the only woman in Qiu Qin’s life all these while.
Shi Peng was the one who exposed Qiu Qin and complicated things. He was the one who made her life more miserable.
Because of this, Shi Peng had the responsibility to ‘steer’ her life back to the original ‘tracks’.
“I’ve understood your threat. Fine, I’ll make separate arrangements for Qiao Dongliang’s matter. As for the matter between Qiu Qin and you, I don’t care,” Shi Peng said without reservation. He was not affected by what Qi Minlan had just said at all. “Even if I know that Qiu Qin has someone outside, I’d never thought of telling you. At most, I was just letting Dad know of it. I couldn’t stop Dad from telling you. A son does not speak of his father’s wrongdoing. You can’t blame me for this matter.”
In fact, Old Master Shi, and not Shi Peng, was the one who brought this matter to light.
If Qi Minlan wanted to find someone to settle the scores, she should look for Old Master Shi and not Shi Peng.
“Yes, Dad told me about it, but you’re the one who told him in the first place!” Without Shi Peng, this initiator, there would not be so many things happening thereafter.
‘If you want to look at it in this way, then you can only settle the scores with yourself.” Shi Peng looked at Qi Minlan with a wry smile.
“Why?” Qi Minlan did not believe him. “Don’t tell me you’re trying to say that I was not good to Qiu Qin, and that I was the one who forced Qiu Qin to find someone outside. In the end, the actual responsibility lies with me, is that it? How could there be a brother like you?”
“No, I’m not referring to this.” Shi Peng denied. “Do you know who triggered the discovery of Qiu Qin having a woman outside in the first place? I’m very busy in the army. I’ve submitted my resignation letter and there’s definitely a lot of work that I have to prepare beforehand to handover. I’ve been so busy lately. How could I possibly know about Qiu Qin’s issue?”
“Who’s the one who noticed that there’s a problem with Qiu Qin!!” Yes, Shi Peng was in the army every day. To put it bluntly, Shi Peng might not even know that there was a problem with his wife, let alone Qiu Qin.
“You, of course!”
“Me?” Qi Minlan shrieked. “Brother, don’t talk nonsense just because you’re trying to shift the blame. Do you think I will definitely believe you?” She had known earlier that Qiu Qin was two-timing her and having a mistress? If so, she would have kicked up a fuss long ago.
If not for the information given to her by her father, she would have thought that Qiu Qin was devoted to her all along. When she asked him to head toward the east, he dared not head toward the west. When she asked him to stand, he dared not sit!
Shi Peng tugged the corners of his lips, his eyes looking very cold. “Have you forgotten what you told Qing Qing when you looked for her a month ago?”
“What did I say?” Qi Minlan had really forgotten about it.
“Weren’t you the one who told Qing Qing that Qiu Qin has changed and doesn’t like to come home recently? He always tells you that he’s busy. He did not come home to sleep for a number of nights. Qing Qing is just a child. She also felt something amiss. She thus reflected the situation to me. I then investigated and found out about the existence of such a woman. Qi Minlan, if you really wish to get to the bottom of this matter, actually, you’ve noticed it but did not realize it. If you had not said all those to Qing Qing and she had not told me, would I pay attention to Qiu Qin?”
Shi Peng saw the look of ridicule in Qi Minlan’s eyes. “You’re the one sleeping beside Qiu Qin. Didn’t they say that women are very sensitive to such things? Qiu Qin had not been coming home to sleep and you did not even realize it. Qi Minlan, what do you pay attention to normally? Where did you focus your thoughts on?”
It could be said that Qiu Qin’s behavior was apparent enough. However, Qi Minlan did not suspect him at all. Shi Peng even had to investigate the matter to find out the truth. Obviously, all these circumstances pointed to the fact that Qi Minlan had ridiculously neglected and overlooked Qiu Qin’s matters.
The most ludicrous matter was that, if he had not brought this up today, Qi Minlan had not even come to her senses. She had long noticed Qiu Qin’s odd behavior but never reflected deeply on it before.
As a wife and a mother, Qi Minlan was muddleheaded to such an extent. As such, although Qiu Qin committed adultery, Shi Peng could not bring himself to sympathize with Qi Minlan.
