Chapter 136: Special Extra – Showing Affection to Counteract Love-struck Behavior

A family of three arrived at the Qin family old house just in time for the New Year’s Eve dinner.

As soon as they saw Qin Mohuai, several middle-aged men surrounded him, clearly wanting to discuss something.

He calmly said, “Uncle, let’s talk after dinner.”

“Alright, you’ve lost weight these days; you need to eat well.”

After they returned to their seats, a servant took away the cashmere coats that Qin Mohuai and Xia Yuan had removed.

Zhenbao was already sitting to the right of Old Master Qin. Butlerf Wang helped him take off his thick lemon-yellow down jacket, revealing a mini elegant waistcoat underneath.

Since Zhenbao was one year old, he had always sat next to his great-grandfather at family dinners, showing off his noble status.

Although Zhenbao didn’t have the arrogance of a wealthy child and often acted cute and obedient in front of Xia Yuan, his pride and nobility remained strong in front of others.

Qin Mohuai and Xia Yuan sat to the left of Old Master Qin.

The round mahogany table, accommodating twenty people, was filled with food, including chicken, duck, fish, and emergency-imported bluefin tuna and sashimi.

They also hired a professional chef team to season and prepare a lot of mackerel dumplings, yellow croaker dumplings, and traditional pork dumplings.

As everyone enjoyed their meal, Xia Yuan had only a bowl of plain fish porridge in front of her since she was recovering from a severe cold and couldn’t eat rich food.

Xia Yuan gently tugged at Qin Mohuai’s shirt.

His finely crafted shirt fit perfectly into his black trousers, and her light tug seemed to pull at his heart.

Qin Mohuai looked at Xia Yuan, his deep eyes showing vulnerability and sensitivity, like snowflakes falling outside the window, silently conveying his inner anxiety and pain.

Xia Yuan wanted to eat sashimi, but seeing Qin Mohuai’s expression, she didn’t dare be selfish.

She swallowed her words and obediently drank the bland fish porridge.

Her delicate fingers brushed against Qin Mohuai’s palm, as if saying she was being good. He lightly huffed in response.

She was definitely not being good.

Qin Mohuai always knew he had a life of luxury, but only after meeting Xia Yuan did he realize he had a life filled with worries.

Before long, servants brought out steaming plates of dumplings.

Old Master Qin said, “I heard they put thumb-sized coins in the dumplings, so be careful when eating to avoid hurting your teeth.”

Zhenbao was excited to see Qin Mohuai discover a coin first. The other kids leaned over to see.

“Sixth Uncle, you’re amazing!”

Qin Mohuai smiled modestly and looked at Qin Jingye. In no time, he found three coins!

Su Yinxue raised an eyebrow, her light pink qipao making her skin look even fairer. “Wow, Qin Jingye, you must have good luck this New Year. I’ve eaten five mackerel dumplings and didn’t find a single coin… Let’s swap! Your dumplings seem to have a higher chance of coins!”

Qin Jingye smiled warmly and exchanged mackerel dumplings with her.

In just a short while, Qin Mohuai had found ten coins! The yellow croaker dumplings were delicious and suited his taste, so he took another plate.

Everyone had different reactions.

Outside, people called Qin Mohuai the “God of Wealth” in Xiangzhou, and it wasn’t wrong.

Some didn’t find a single coin, while he averaged one coin per three dumplings.

Qin Jingye noticed his wife staring at Qin Mohuai’s coins and chuckled, holding her hand tightly.

He feared she might want to trade for Qin Mohuai’s dumplings.

Su Yinxue thought he was overthinking; she would never do something so foolish.

Years ago, when Qin Mohuai was seventeen and they were at the old house, she stood under the eaves watching the rain and heard him bark a heavy command, “Use any means to make him give back the money! Don’t mention past support; he’s a traitor in my eyes. I don’t need that thirty million, but no one can take my money!”

Su Yinxue thought that the young Qin Mohuai was cold-hearted and deeply troubled, likely to end up alone and lonely.

To this day, she still believes that.

But after meeting Xia Yuan, Qin Mohuai changed his fate.

Xia Yuan envied the speed at which Qin Mohuai found coins in the dumplings. Noticing this, he elegantly lifted his wrist and fed her a yellow croaker dumpling.

Xia Yuan took small bites, like a little kitten trying hard to eat, while Qin Mohuai restrained his urge to tease her.

She managed to finish four or five dumplings, but her pretty face looked a bit disappointed, her gentle demeanor shrinking, even when she was upset, she looked delicate.

Qin Mohuai fed her four or five more dumplings, but still no coins appeared; it seemed only he could find them.

Xia Yuan felt defeated and stopped eating from his plate, realizing that luck in finding coins was even stranger than reading a story.

After the meal, Qin Mohuai and his second uncle went to the discussion hall.

Xia Yuan sat in a cozy American armchair by the fireplace, listening to the lively voices and the TV as background noise, feeling drowsy.

Zhenbao approached with a fruit platter, chatted with her for a bit, and gave her a kiss, but she barely reacted.

Worried, Su Yinxue and Qin Mohuai checked her breathing and found she was just asleep. They covered her with a thick blanket and quietly left the warm fireplace.

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In the Discussion Hall

Discussions about work and business usually happen in the group’s office or study, but serious family matters are addressed in the discussion hall. Only when a family member has done something serious do the head of the family and elders meet there.

Family laws are kept here, and sometimes the head may punish wrongdoers with a whip, making the atmosphere heavy and filled with an almost palpable sense of bloodshed, separating the lively spirit of the New Year.

Qin Mohuai placed the bloodied whip down and returned to his seat with a cold expression.

In front of him knelt a young man whose clothes were torn by the whip. He looked around twenty-five, with the proud eyes typical of the Qin family, but now he appeared disheveled and regretful.

Jiang Wen was wrapped in a thick down jacket, her lips pale, seemingly recovering from a serious illness, her face as white as paper.

Seeing her husband, Qin Yeyu, being punished didn’t feel good for her. In the past, she would have rushed to support him, but now there was a life lost between them.

Jiang Wen had quarreled with Qin Yeyu’s first love, and both women fell during the scuffle. Without hesitation, Qin Yeyu took his injured first love to the hospital, leaving Jiang Wen, who was three months pregnant, to suffer alone in the freezing cold after a fall, leading to a miscarriage.

The Jiang family was a prominent old family in Xiangzhou, and Jiang Wen was their only child. Her father vowed not to let Qin Yeyu go unpunished.

He knew that since Qin Yeyu bore the Qin surname, the Qin family wouldn’t allow the Jiang family to harm him.

Now that the head of the Qin family was punishing Qin Yeyu and promising Jiang Wen that he would focus on their life together, this was considered a favorable outcome, but whether to forgive him depended on Jiang Wen.

Jiang’s father asked, “Daughter, what do you think?”

Jiang Wen was confused, her mind in turmoil.

At that moment, Xia Yuan appeared in the discussion hall. She seemed still half-asleep but recognized Qin Mohuai and plopped down into his lap, continuing to doze off.

Sleepwalking?

The noble and proud man gently wrapped his arms around Xia Yuan, softly patting her back to soothe her to sleep. Instead of scolding her for being disruptive, his gaze seemed to say, “You all better keep it down,” which was excessively doting.

Seeing this scene shattered Jiang Wen’s mental defenses.

Qin Mohuai, from the esteemed Qin family, treated his wife so lovingly—how did Qin Yeyu treat her?

Was she, Jiang Wen, so worthless that she had to endure everything after losing her child to Qin Yeyu and his first love?

“I won’t forgive you. Let’s divorce,” she declared.

Qin Yeyu looked at Jiang Wen in disbelief.