The Substitute Bride and the Cripple

The next day, Tang Qiu opened her eyes and got out of bed to wash up. When she saw the red marks on her body, she was puzzled. Had she been bitten by a mosquito? She turned around and saw Jiang Shaocheng pushing his wheelchair in. She smiled and ran to him.

“Dear, why did I spend the night here?”

Jiang Shaocheng combed his fingers through her hair. “Do you remember what happened last night?”

“We went to the garden to catch fireflies… Then something happened…” Tang Qiu was puzzled.

“Nothing happened.” He thought of the previous night’s events with faint regret… then pulled her into his lap, clasped the back of her neck, and lowered his mouth to hers.

Tang Qiu didn’t dodge, letting him kiss her for a long while before he took a deep breath and let go.

***

Tang Qiu arrived on the ground floor and wheeled her husband to the dining table. “Where’s Mr Yin?” 𝗳𝒓𝚎e𝚠𝒆𝐛𝐧𝐨v𝚎Ɩ.co𝓶

He Lei coughed lightly. Yin Shulai was afraid that the young master would teach him a lesson today, so he had fled last night.

Jiang Shaocheng said, “He had business to attend to, so he left. He told us not to stand on ceremony and to stay here for a few more days.”

“That doesn’t sound like a good idea.” Tang Qiu was uneasy. After all, this was someone else’s mansion–and Jiang Shaocheng had said before that he wasn’t familiar with that gentleman.

“It won’t be any trouble,” He Lei interjected, trying to persuade her. “Yin Shulai wanted me to tell you that he’s already given me the key to this place.”

“Okay, then.” Tang Qiu chose to make herself at home. After breakfast, they went to the garden, and returned there in the afternoon to enjoy a cup of tea. It was almost too relaxing.

***

At night, Jiang Shaocheng and He Lei went out to settle work matters. Duan Qingman’s son had seen the photos of them with his parents, and wanted to discuss business with them. After liaising with him, Jiang Shaocheng signed the business deal and passed the document to He Lei to handle the follow-up work.

He Lei was carrying a file of documents. “Jiang Ming is going to be furious that we stole his client.” They had gone to great lengths to secure this partnership because it involved an important client of the Jiang family.

“This is just the beginning,” Jiang Shaocheng sneered. “I don’t want anything to do with my family, but if I can’t have something, neither can they.”

***

When they returned to Yin Shulai’s mansion, Jiang Shaocheng was sitting in a wheelchair again. Tang Qiu looked behind him curiously. “Didn’t your masked bodyguard go with you?”

He Lei eyed Jiang Shaocheng, anticipating what performance he would give.

Jiang Shaocheng coughed lightly. “I’ve assigned him to other duties as a punishment for being so rude to you that other time.”

“He could use the discipline,” Tang Qiu agreed, and looked away. Seeing that she didn’t intend to pursue the matter, Jiang Shaocheng and He Lei both sighed in relief. A single lie begot a hundred more; it would take a while to sieve out the threads of truth in a web of deception.

The next day, He Lei reported that Tang Qiu’s identification had been recovered, and that they could return home. Tang Qiu clutched her bag, barely repressing tears of joy. Losing her identification had been so very, very troublesome.

As He Lei booked the air tickets, he wondered how the young mistress had ended up in N Country to begin with. There would be a score to settle with someone once they got home.

***

When they finally returned to Jiang Shaocheng’s mansion, Tang Qiu pushed his wheelchair in and greeted Ke Liuyi.

Ke Liuyi, who was preparing to welcome Jiang Shaocheng at the door, saw Tang Qiu and her expression changed. Why was she back–at Jiang Shaocheng’s side, nonetheless? fre𝙚𝓌𝒆𝚋noѵel.c𝚘m

“Doctor Ke,” Tang Qiu called out.

Ke Liuyi quickly recovered her composure. “You must be tired. Come in and get some rest.”

“I have something to ask you, Doctor Ke.” Jiang Shaocheng looked up.

“What is it?” Despite her guilt, Ke Liuyi forced herself to smile gently.

“Did you tell Qiu that I was in N Country?”

“It was just a guess. Nothing bad happened, right? I tried contacting Qiu after she left, but couldn’t get through to her at all.” Ke Liuyi met his gaze innocently.

Jiang Shaocheng shook his head indifferently and didn’t ask any further questions. He held Tang Qiu’s hand and said, “Go upstairs and rest first. Let He Lei prepare lunch.”

Tang Qiu thought of the books Professor Sun had assigned her to read and didn’t argue, deciding to seize the time to study.

The tenderness with which their eyes met pointed to a new level of intimacy in their relationship. Ke Liuyi gritted her teeth. When she had received Tang Qiu’s messages, she had deliberately ignored them, then pinpointed the other woman’s location and arranged for a man to steal her bag and identification. How had Jiang Shaocheng found her?

After Tang Qiu went upstairs, Jiang Shaocheng turned to look at Ke Liuyi. “Doctor Ke, you deliberately misled Qiu and tricked her into going to N Country.”

Ke Liuyi’s expression was contorted. She leapt to defend herself, aggrieved. “Why would I do that, Shaocheng? That day, Qiu asked me why you left all of a sudden. I didn’t contact you because I was worried you were busy, so I conjured a reason to pacify her. I didn’t expect her to make good on her word and leave to find you. That’s why I didn’t give her an exact location. If I’ve hurt Qiu with my mistake, I apologize.”

He still didn’t believe her, so she let tears of anguish flow. “Qiu is your wife, Shaocheng. I need your help to get the shares of the Ke Group. I could never bring myself to harm her. I don’t know if she’s uncomfortable with my presence here, or if I said something wrong, but I would never try and hurt her…”