Zhou Jiajia didn't reject her outright, but chose to punish her in this way, which suggested that Zhou Jiajia might be testing her; hence, in order to be with Lin Yifan, she endured it all and went all out.
This was the path she had chosen, so she could not blame anyone else.
Seeing that Su Qingqing wasn't angry but instead had a smile on her face, Zhou Jiajia's favorable impression of her rose again; however, the test was far from over, so she would not quickly accept Su Qingqing.
Looking at the backs of the three women, Lin Yifan shook his head helplessly; it seemed that having multiple wives was not necessarily a good thing.
Guarding them carefully along the way, Su Qingqing suffered greatly but finally managed to get big sister Zhou Jiajia into the house.
Thinking she could finally sit down and rest, her bottom had barely touched the sofa when Zhou Jiajia, sitting on the sofa, sternly stopped her, "Can a maid sit on equal terms with her master? Come here and massage my back!"
Though this was her own home, Su Qingqing still meekly went over; the head of the household was Lin Yifan, and Zhou Jiajia was Lin Yifan's senior wife; thus, as a junior wife, she had to obey the senior wife to remain in this house.
Seeing Su Qingqing being ordered about , Lin Yifan and Xiao Lian felt very distressed; but this was the path Su Qingqing had chosen, and she would have to bear all the risks and hardships alone.
Zhou Jiajia had no sympathy, considering her punishment to be light; after all, she had shared her own man for Su Qingqing to enjoy; thus, it was only a small hardship for Su Qingqing in light of such a big advantage, and if it had been anyone else, they would have kicked Su Qingqing out with one foot long ago.
Su Qingqing was naturally aware of this benefit, so she diligently followed orders and served Zhou Jiajia.
"You three have a good chat here, I'm going to do alchemy." With that, Lin Yifan left; passing by Su Qingqing, he whispered to her quietly, "Take good care of Jiajia, it will be over soon."
"Hmm! I know!" Su Qingqing replied quietly; then she went over to massage Zhou Jiajia's back.
Meanwhile, Xiao Lian sat beside Zhou Jiajia, chatting with her, trying to establish a good relationship as sisters-in-law.
After entering the underground chamber, Lin Yifan began the refinement of the Hundred Steps Heart-Piercing Poison Antidote; there was still a lot of material in the storeroom of the basement, which should be enough to refine a few pills of the Antidote, so there was no need to worry about a shortage.
At the same time he was performing alchemy, Su Qingqing was cautiously massaging Zhou Jiajia, a truly nerve-racking task! She feared the slightest dissatisfaction from her master Zhou Jiajia.
"Harder! Did you not eat breakfast?" Zhou Jiajia snapped.
Su Qingqing dared not talk back, doing as Zhou Jiajia instructed.
However, when she applied more pressure, Zhou Jiajia became angry again, "Are you trying to kill me so you can take my place?"
"I will endure! I will endure!!!" Su Qingqing clenched her teeth but still did not lose her temper in the presence of others.
She knew this must be Zhou Jiajia's provocation, intending to make her angry; thus, she could not fall for it easily.
Once she felt the pressure was right, Zhou Jiajia relaxed and began to slowly enjoy the comfortable service of her younger sister-in-law.
Not long after, she became a bit thirsty and called out, "Qingqing, get me a glass of water."
"Yes, big sister!" Polite as ever, Su Qingqing went to get the water.
She first added a small half-cup of hot water, then a small half-cup of warm water, balancing the temperature.
She knew if the water was too hot or too cold, Zhou Jiajia would definitely find fault and scold her; thus, to make sure Zhou Jiajia had no reasons to complain, she adjusted the temperature in advance and then delivered the water.
Upon reaching Zhou Jiajia, she respectfully offered the tempered water, "Big sister! Your water's here! Please enjoy."
Zhou Jiajia glanced at the cup and, seeing no large amounts of steam, realized that Su Qingqing had properly tempered the boiling water.
If it had been any regular day, she would have been pleased; however, to further test Su Qingqing's patience and tolerant nature, she had to play mean, she had to get angry.
After that, she pushed the cup away, barked angrily, "I wanted tea, not plain boiled water."
"&@%￥%, if you wanted tea, just say it earlier, why wait until I bring it to tell me, it's so frustrating," Su Qingqing cursed inwardly.
Even a well-mannered girl like her resorted to swearing, which showed just how irritating the situation was.
Meticulously and cautiously prepared warm water, only to be unappreciated and vocally abused by the other party—it was enough to make anyone angry.
The boiling water soaked Su Qingqing's skirt, and looking at this scene, Xiao Lian also felt Zhou Jiajia was going too far, should not nitpick so; but given her own precarious situation, she decided it was best not to meddle; besides, she had foreseen this kind of scenario, so there was no point in feeling sympathetic.
As the saying goes, it's Huang Gai inviting a beating from Zhou Yu—one willing to strike, the other willing to endure.
Suppressing her inner rage, Su Qingqing forced a smile and respectfully said, "Big sister, I'm sorry, I didn't realize you wanted tea; please wait a moment, I'll go slice the tea right now and bring it over."
"Make it quick! My patience is limited," Zhou Jiajia commanded with a scowl, impatiently.
Watching Zhou Jiajia's arrogant demeanor, Xiao Lian felt some resistance and repulsion deep down, but she knew it was all an act; so she just let it go.
"I hope Qingqing can hold on," she sighed and then turned her attention back to the television with Zhou Jiajia.
After a few minutes, having prepared the tea, Su Qingqing brought it over, "Big sister, your West Lake Longjing tea is ready, please enjoy!" Discover more novels at novel★fire.net
Gazing at the delicate wisp of aroma rising up, Zhou Jiajia nodded her approval, "Mm! Well done! Keep it up!"
After tasting a sip, she slowly spoke, "My legs are a bit sore, come and give me a massage."
"Sure thing!" Su Qingqing answered gladly and then extended her jade hands to massage Zhou Jiajia's pristine legs.
Savoring good tea, watching television, and enjoying a massage—what a comfortable and pleasant life. Zhou Jiajia knew this happiness was only fleeting; hence, she wanted to relish it fully.
Xiao Lian watched with envy, jealousy, and resentment. She too wished for such treatment, but she knew she would never be so fortunate; after all, she could not serve two masters as one.
However, if she could find someone dedicated to her, she might have a chance to enjoy such pampering; so, she couldn't help but think of the honest and simple Yi Chen; only Yi Chen would toil for her without complaint, allowing her to push him around.
"Hmph! I don't want that stupid, clueless monk," Xiao Lian thought to herself.