"Jiajia? Are you still asleep?" Xiao Shulan stared at the bed in the darkness for a long time, but dared not turn on the light. These past few days, as soon as she turned on the light, Qin Jia would scream and shout, throwing things and slamming into walls, completely uncontrollable.
She stared intently at the bed for a long time, and after confirming that indeed no one was there, only then did she notice the faint sound of running water coming from the bathroom.
Xiao Shulan frowned slightly, not needing to guess to know that Qin Jia was taking another shower.
She walked softly to the bathroom door and slid it open. Through the steaming mist, Qin Jia could be seen sitting blankly in the bathtub, water constantly spraying from the showerhead above, cascading down her hair onto her face, her eyes surrounded by what was indistinguishable between water and tears.
Qin Jia had been in this state for several days now, and Xiao Shulan’s initial sympathy had gradually turned to impatience. She had advised Qin Jia countless times and even brought in a renowned psychologist, but Qin Jia was completely intractable, neither soft nor hard. She insisted on soaking in the bath for more than five hours every day. When Xiao Shulan dragged her out of the tub, Qin Jia’s entire body was waterlogged and pale.
The psychologist said that this was a kind of self-protection mechanism, something that manifested only after a person had suffered a huge shock.
Xiao Shulan couldn’t help but sigh. The face of her son Qin Fang flashed through her mind, intensifying her headache. Ever since returning from the Jade Stone Association, Qin Dingshan seemed to have completely given up on Qin Fang, and not even the routine morning greetings were required of him anymore. Not only that, but Qin Dingshan also said that he didn’t want to see Qin Fang or Qin Jia again. Upon hearing this, Xiao Shulan felt a sense of foreboding. Did it mean that Qin Dingshan had already banished them from the Qin Family?
Xiao Shulan and her husband, the Qin Family’s Second Son, were part of the second branch of the Qin Family. Eldest Qin had already died, and his wife was a non-entity. That being the case, when Qin Dingshan passed away, her son Qin Fang, as the eldest grandson, would be the legitimate heir to the Qin Family. Xiao Shulan would wake from dreams with a smile, thinking that although marrying the ineffective Qin Laoer was a grievance, at least there was an inheritance to look forward to.
However, that dream shattered completely when Eldest Qin brought home a boy from the outside.
During his life, Eldest Qin was known for his flirtatious and promiscuous ways, leaving affections everywhere and sowing his seeds widely. Even he didn’t know how many children he had fathered. One day, he brought home an earnest young boy, this child was Qin Han. Reportedly, Qin Han was born to Eldest Qin’s favorite woman who had died, leading Eldest Qin to bring Qin Han back home.
Normally, an illegitimate child would have no chance of inheriting the family business. However, Qin Fang seemed doomed from birth to be a wastrel, and if not for the fact that he was Qin Dingshan’s only grandson, Qin Dingshan wouldn’t have considered making him the heir. Qin Han’s arrival presented Qin Dingshan with hope. Over time, after observing Qin Han in silence, Qin Dingshan found his previously unseen grandson to be reliable, diligent, and studious, very much to his liking. Hence, after Eldest Qin’s death, Qin Dingshan brought Qin Han to his side for personal tutoring, and as for Eldest Qin’s legitimate wife, after she mistreated Qin Han and Qin Dingshan found out, she was promptly sent back to her parental home.
And so, as Qin Han grew up, most of the Qin Family’s rights gradually fell into his hands.
That deeply frustrated Xiao Shulan. An illegitimate brat was poised to take her son’s place; this was something she absolutely could not tolerate!