Chapter 231 - 90: Qin Mei, You’ve Gone Too Far
"My wife is a germaphobe. She wouldn’t just use someone else’s enamel mug to drink water." As soon as Jie Jingchen finished speaking, he stood up, dusted off his pant legs, and strode out of the kitchen.
"Isn’t she a germaphobe? Isn’t it true she wouldn’t use someone else’s enamel mug? What are you in such a hurry for?" Gao Hai teased.
Jie Jingchen went back into the house and came out with a military overcoat. He gently draped it over Qin Mei, took a long look at her sleeping face, and only then did he return to the kitchen.
Gao Hai rolled his eyes. He thought Jie Jingchen was going to pour out the water in the enamel mug, but he never expected that Jie Jingchen was actually worried his wife would catch a cold while she slept.
The mother and son hiding under the window saw that Jie Jingchen hadn’t paid any attention to the enamel mug on the stone table, only covering Qin Mei with a military overcoat, and they both sighed in relief.
"Mom, what if Fourth Uncle finds out?" Jie You asked fearfully.
Jie You was just a child, after all. He felt guilty for doing something bad and wasn’t as composed as an adult.
"So what if he finds out? If you don’t say anything, and I don’t say anything, no one will know we did it." Xu Chunyan said, ruffling Jie You’s hair. ’The whole point is for Qin Mei to discover it. It would be best if she drank the earthworm, then had to pull it out of her mouth. Even better if it breaks, with half of it going down her stomach and the other half pulled out. That would gross Qin Mei out to death.’
’If Qin Mei doesn’t find it, that would be a real shame. Out of sight, out of mind—there’d be no point.’
"Mom, if Fourth Uncle finds out I did it, he’ll beat me," Jie You said, his little face falling, full of worry.
"What are you afraid of? Even if your dad can’t protect you, can’t your grandpa? You’re your grandpa’s only grandson, the apple of his eye. He’d never let your Fourth Uncle lay a hand on you," Xu Chunyan soothed.
At the thought of his grandpa, the little guy was instantly no longer afraid.
Aunt Zhang was in the kitchen cooking. Her mouth was dry, so she glanced at the fire in the stove and the food in the pot. It still needed some time to cook. With an apron tied around her waist, Aunt Zhang came out of the kitchen. Earlier that afternoon, she had been drinking tea and sunbathing in the courtyard, feeling comfortable and relaxed.
The enamel mug she had made her tea in was still sitting on the stone table. She rushed into the courtyard, picked up the mug from the table, and took off the lid. Without even looking, she tilted her head back and drank.
"Mom, look! Great-Aunt is drinking it!" Jie You was so anxious he was practically jumping up and down.
Xu Chunyan also thought, ’This is bad.’ Aunt Zhang was already drinking. Jie Jingchen was cooking in the kitchen, and warning Aunt Zhang would alert him. Then she wouldn’t be able to explain herself.
"Shh! Don’t make a sound." Xu Chunyan covered Jie You’s mouth. ’Right now, we just have to pretend we’re not home. If Aunt Zhang doesn’t discover the earthworm, fine. But if she does, we’ll let her misunderstand and think Qin Mei did it. Let them fight like dogs. If Aunt Zhang loses, I won’t be disappointed. If Qin Mei loses, it’ll be a good way to vent some of my anger.’
Gao Hai was dumbfounded. At the same time, he felt a sense of relief that Aunt Zhang had drunk the water. He was even more impressed with Jie Jingchen, who knew there was something in the mug but didn’t pour out the water or stop Aunt Zhang from drinking it.
"Do you have a grudge against Aunt Zhang?" Gao Hai couldn’t help but ask.
"No grudge. I just don’t like her anymore," Jie Jingchen said coldly.
Gao Hai looked at Jie Jingchen’s grim expression and icy gaze. A flicker of doubt crossed his eyes, and he pressed his lips together, not saying anything more.
’What is this?’ Aunt Zhang felt something in her mouth, trying to squirm its way down her throat.
PTHOO! Aunt Zhang spat out the water in her mouth. Holding the enamel mug in one hand and pressing the other on the stone table, she started to retch. She managed to heave the thing from her throat into her mouth and spit some of it out, but she couldn’t get the rest. The thing was still squirming toward her throat. Aunt Zhang was terrified; it was clearly a living creature.
Aunt Zhang pinched a bit of it and started pulling it out. It grew longer and longer as she pulled. The noise woke Qin Mei up. She opened her eyes and saw Aunt Zhang pulling an earthworm out of her mouth, and a wave of nausea washed over her.
"BLECH." Qin Mei shot to her feet and ran to the sink, where she bent over and dry-heaved. She hadn’t eaten dinner yet, so nothing came up.
When Aunt Zhang saw clearly what it was, her face turned deathly pale. She threw the earthworm on the ground and stomped it to a pulp. It was so disgusting. She had almost eaten the earthworm.
"BLECH." Aunt Zhang also ran to the sink and shoved Qin Mei aside. While Qin Mei was only dry-heaving, Aunt Zhang was actually throwing up. She never short-changed herself and had eaten quite a few pastries with her tea, all of which now came back up in a nauseated rush.
’Earthworms like rich soil. That one was so long and fat, it must have been in... Stop. Can’t think about it. The more I think about it, the more I want to puke.’
Qin Mei stumbled, nearly pushed over by Aunt Zhang. She steadied herself, but upon hearing Aunt Zhang’s vomiting, she turned and ran away.