Chapter 2.3

Madam Qi thought she was being modest and laughed, “Oh, you are such a well-mannered and courteous girl! No wonder the Grand Madam likes you, and even I can’t help but deeply cherish you!” She said this with tears starting to form in her eyes. “I just hope Tianlei will be fortunate enough to grow old with you!”

“Don’t worry, Mother, um… Tianlei’s health has shown signs of great improvement recently—” In fact, that guy was so healthy he could fly! These noblewomen were strange; they easily got teary-eyed, and she just couldn’t stand seeing women cry!

“Oh! By the way!” Madam Qi wiped her tears with a handkerchief, recalling something. “Tomorrow, I will have Chun Ya and Xiangping move in. What do you think?”

Was she bringing someone to keep her company?

“That’s not appropriate.” Qi Tianlei returned to the new garden at some point and interrupted Madam Qi’s proposal.

“Tianlei,” Madam Qi walked towards her son, her tone quite displeased, “we agreed on this.”

Qi Tianlei pulled Yuhu over and smiled, “No, we didn’t agree on anything. It’s always been you and the Grand Madam making plans, I never consented. Besides, Bingyan and I are newly married; how would it look to take concubines so soon? How could I explain that to Bingyan?”

Concubines? Yuhu almost screamed! She stared at Qi Tianlei with wide almond eyes; this shameless man had ruined her, and now he wanted to drag more women into the mess! Who? Xiangping and Chun Ya? No wonder they called her “sister”!

Before she knew it, Qi Tianlei had dismissed Madam Qi and lightly pecked her chin.

“What are you thinking about?”

“You want to take concubines?!” She pushed his hand away. “If you want to die early, I won’t oppose you, go find some prostitutes, but don’t ruin other women’s lives! If you want to live longer, I advise you not to indulge in lust! You… you flower thief!”

Suddenly, the third young master Qi became an infamous libertine, known for stealing flowers. She seemed to forget that he had just refused to take concubines, upsetting Madam Qi in the process. Qi Tianlei sat on a stone chair without arguing, slowly taking a small jar of plums from his robe, the fragrance instantly tickling her senses and making her mouth water.

Li Yuhu also sat down, her little hands flat on the table, eyes fixed on the tempting jar of plums. She loved that flavor! She hadn’t had enough earlier and regretted being angered away by Qi Tianlei.

“Want some? I brought a small jar just for you.” Qi Tianlei opened the jar and fed her a small plum.

This act instantly dispelled all her anger; Qi Tianlei was quite cunning, always successfully diverting her attention. However, this was a serious matter. After eating several plums, she returned to the main topic. “Is it that I’m not satisfactory, or are they better? Do you rich people have to show off your wealth by having multiple wives?”

“I have no intention of taking concubines, my dear wife. Don’t be jealous! I am not capable of handling so many!” Qi Tianlei made a gesture of respect, his eyes full of teasing, watching for any signs of jealousy on her face.

“Me… jealous?! I just don’t want you to cause more trouble! You must know, a girl’s life is not to be ruined. I—” She was about to launch into a long speech but was interrupted by him, bringing up another serious concern she had temporarily forgotten.

“Mother mentioned she’s giving you two business ledgers to review tomorrow, right?”

“Oh, right! What should I do? I can’t read much! Hey, Qi, you have to tell the Grand Madam! I really can’t do it.”

“Oh, look at you being modest! My dear wife, the famous Miss Du Bingyan, is known in Yangzhou for her talent and beauty. The Grand Madam values you highly and wants you to manage the household early. Others could only dream of this opportunity! No wonder the Grand Madam and Mother like you so much. Tomorrow, don’t hold back, show off your skills!”

“Don’t you know that rumors aren’t reliable? Usually, three parts truth are exaggerated into twelve parts! You actually believed the nonsense? I can barely read, let alone understand a bunch of numbers in ledgers!” The more she spoke, the angrier she got! She stood tall, hands on her hips, scolding him like a teapot. “You, you, you! Why has your work become my responsibility? Isn’t business a man’s job? And now it’s my turn! What will you do? Just focus on making babies? I’m telling you, you better not take concubines! If my belly doesn’t produce children, then it’s the Qi family’s fate to have no descendants, and having concubines won’t help! Ah! What are you doing? Put me down!”

Poor Li Yuhu, just when she was finally showing her shrewish side, was picked up by Qi Tianlei, who had seen enough of the show, and was carried like a sack of rice over his shoulder.

“Qi Tianlei!”

“Hope your skills are half as good as your sharp tongue!” he laughed, carrying his beautiful wife to the study to give her a crash course. Oh, this delightful and charming little thing wouldn’t be fun if her identity was exposed! So, he had to train her well. Although he didn’t know what the real Miss Du Bingyan was like, he didn’t mind marrying a little shrew; it was… hmm, quite an interesting feeling!

It wasn’t that she was particularly stupid, but no one could become a business genius overnight. Moreover, Yuhu’s mind wasn’t focused on her husband’s teachings. She kept propping her chin, observing Qi Tianlei who was diligently teaching her. Another discovery! This supposedly frivolous and sickly man was not ignorant at all! He was well-versed in the family’s businesses, knowing all the details of the ten or so ledgers and teaching her the simplest way to understand the business operations.

It was truly strange! How could someone who supposedly did nothing have such extensive business knowledge?

Maybe Qi Tianlei realized that after a night of teaching her was just a waste of effort, so today he insisted on accompanying her to the Grand Madam’s office to prevent her from making a fool of herself.

Over the days they had been together, there was an unspoken mutual understanding between them; he seemed to know certain things about her but never asked, just tried his best to help her. She also knew he had different personas in front of others and behind closed doors. When she couldn’t get any answers, she let him be and didn’t expose him. But the curiosity would eventually drive her to dig deeper; it was only a matter of time. Normally, after breakfast, he would disappear somewhere in the new garden. Since the garden was quite large and she was the kind of person who could enjoy her own company, she didn’t have to cling to her husband. However, her curiosity was natural, especially since he was supposedly a sick man, wasn’t he? His mysterious behavior seemed inappropriate. Moreover, it seemed that everyone in the Qi household believed that the third young master should be bedridden, so whenever he appeared in the front yard, it was said that he looked “quite healthy” and “in good spirits.” Seeing him act like he was on the brink of death but receiving such compliments made Yuhu extremely curious!

Honestly, she didn’t like leaving the new garden; not only was she afraid of getting lost, but dealing with the numerous relatives and elders exhausted her. Perhaps because of her commoner background, she always felt out of place among the noblemen and ladies. Only Qi Tianlei and Liu Ruoqian seemed agreeable to her. Liu Ruoqian also had a mysterious aura, clearly a martial artist, yet unlike any warriors she had seen. His carefree attitude and handsome looks must have charmed many young ladies! The maids would blush whenever they saw Liu Ruoqian, which said a lot about his popularity.

It wasn’t that Qi Tianlei was inferior to Liu Ruoqian; it was just that no girl would fall for a chronically ill man, no matter how handsome he was. His face might be as beautiful as jade, but if he was destined to die young, no amount of wealth could buy a life-extending cure.

Comparatively, she should also like Liu Ruoqian, but… hmm… it was Qi Tianlei who occupied all her thoughts, making her both angry and embarrassed. That was fine; he was her husband for now, and no one else would covet him, which saved her the trouble of getting angry. She had always been possessive!

After breakfast, Qi Tianlei wrapped his arm around her waist and walked out of the new garden, constantly whispering in her ear: “Remember, whether you understand the ledgers or not, our family has fourteen businesses. Only ‘Wanli’ and ‘Jinyuan’ are not doing well, and ‘Shangyuan’ hasn’t been profitable for a year. The rest are all money-making ventures. Regarding Quanzhou’s timber market, partnering with ‘Mingchuan’ shipping company yields the highest profit. Currently, the only major timber merchants comparable to the Qi family are the Ji family and the newly emerging ‘Hongtu’ Trading Company.”

Yuhu rolled her eyes.

“I don’t understand why you don’t showcase your business acumen yourself and instead send me to my doom! What are you up to, Qi Tianlei? I guarantee you’ll live to seventy or eighty, becoming a business genius running the Qi family’s empire. Why keep pretending? This act is getting ridiculous!”

Qi Tianlei clutched his chest with one hand, leaning part of his weight on her, panting, “I have the will but not the strength! If you really don’t want to help me, I’ll have to go myself!”

Here we go again! Yuhu skeptically watched his handsome, sweaty face. Every time he left the new garden, he started acting up! Was this real or fake?

“Didn’t you drink your medicine? Could it be that the medicine isn’t effective?”

Qi Tianlei rested his head on her fragrant shoulder, panting softly and secretly inhaling her scent.

Fortunately, she was strong; otherwise, he would have crushed her! Since they weren’t used to having servants around, in such situations, she had to figure out what to do herself.

“Let’s go back and have another bowl of medicine!”

“It’s not good to keep the Grand Madam waiting!” His voice was like he was whining, his breath warm on her neck, making her feel a bit hot.

“Hey! Then what do you want to do? If not, you stay here, and I’ll go by myself.”

“Not a good idea. If you embarrass yourself, I’ll lose face too.”

“Hey!” She glared at him with her almond-shaped eyes, about to push him into a ditch, but before she could act, a slick voice interrupted, “Oh! We were wondering what delayed our cousin-in-law! Turns out Brother Qi was trying to force himself to go for a walk! Brother Qi, you should rest well! Let me escort cousin-in-law.”

Ke Shizhao inappropriately leaned close to Yuhu from behind, his eyes full of disdain for Qi Tianlei and lewdness towards her.

“What brings you here, Cousin Shizhao?” Qi Tianlei subtly moved Yuhu aside, facing Ke Shizhao.

“The Grand Madam has been waiting for quite a while. The managers of the fourteen businesses are all in the study. I came to see what was holding up cousin-in-law.”

This man clearly didn’t respect Qi Tianlei, considering him practically dead! Yuhu frowned; this man was too presumptuous! What was going on?

“You’re just in time, let’s go together!” Qi Tianlei shifted his weight onto Ke Shizhao.

“Brother Qi, shouldn’t you rest more?” Ke Shizhao was displeased.

“No, escorting my wife is my duty. Let’s go!”

Holding Yuhu’s small hand, Qi Tianlei smiled, giving her a knowing look. This made her understand a bit more. Some signs made her happy. But she still had to be wary of Ke Shizhao. He harbored ill intentions toward her, and she suspected he had some martial arts skills despite his robust appearance. She could handle him without losing out.