Chapter 11: There Will Be No Next Time

Jiang Mi saw the resentment in her expression and said helplessly, “You’ve misunderstood. I don’t care about your past.” After all, she was still unfamiliar with Wen Zongfu and couldn’t possibly be concerned about his old romantic debts.

But Bai Yi clearly didn’t believe her. She thought Jiang Mi was just putting on a show of graceful indifference. The more Bai Yi looked at Jiang Mi, the more uneasy she felt. If Jiang Mi hadn’t interfered, she would have been Wen Zongfu’s wife now. Because of the lack of heirs, no respectable family in the city was willing to marry their daughter into the Wen family, and the Wen family, with their poor standing, had no better options. She and Wen Zongfu were old classmates, so she had the best chance.

Seeing Bai Yi so persistently cling on, Jiang Mi grew tired of dealing with her and said, “If you still have something to say, go tell Wen Zongfu.” Turning to leave, Jiang Mi didn’t look back. Bai Yi, lost in thought, kept staring at Jiang Mi’s retreating figure until she disappeared.

Jiang Mi soon forgot the incident. After returning to the Wen household, the parents weren’t home yet, and Wen Zongfu hadn’t returned either. She carried her books upstairs, intending to study the materials first.

In her past life, she had only finished high school before hastily marrying due to her mother’s health and an arranged marriage set by her grandfather. Not attending university had always been her regret. Later, when she ran a business near the school gates, she loved reading those educational books.

So now, seeing the textbooks again felt incredibly familiar. She read attentively, and time passed quickly.

It was the cooking aunt who came upstairs to knock on her door, her tone dripping with sarcasm: “Dinner’s ready. Truly a young lady now, having to send someone up to call you.”

Jiang Mi closed her book and stepped out, looking at the cooking aunt before saying coldly, “Though the strict crackdowns are over, if anyone hears you calling me ‘young lady’ or talking about this kind of behavior, and it causes trouble, it won’t be good for the family…”

The cooking aunt shrank back at once but quickly regained her composure, staring at Jiang Mi. “You’re the one acting high and mighty. People who don’t know would think you’re some city lady.”

Jiang Mi found this rather amusing. Smiling, she said bluntly, “Aunt Cai, I respect that you’ve been with the Wen family a long time, but today’s my first day here, and you’re already treating me like this. Someone might think you’re my mother-in-law. I’m new to marriage; I’ll ask my mother if this is how things should be.”

After saying this, she started to walk away. Aunt Cai panicked, fearing Jiang Mi would complain. She had only been helping the Wen family for a year or so and didn’t have deep ties with them. Naturally, she was afraid Jiang Mi would jeopardize her position.

Grabbing Jiang Mi’s arm, her face falling, she still tried to speak kindly, “You misunderstood. That’s not what I meant.”

Jiang Mi smiled lightly but her eyes were sharp. “Don’t let it happen again.”

Having once been a company owner, her presence was commanding. Aunt Cai was so intimidated she couldn’t meet her gaze.

Jiang Mi only meant to scare her; she had no intention of causing trouble for a housekeeper by complaining to Mrs. Wen. Even if Mrs. Wen sided with her, it would leave a bad impression—a daughter-in-law causing trouble on her first day would be unwelcome.

She wanted to get along well with the Wen couple, not to exploit their connections, but simply because she lived under their roof and didn’t want the household to feel hostile.

In her past life, her mother-in-law from the Chen family disliked her, constantly quarrelling and sulking at home. She hated such an atmosphere.

When she came downstairs, Mrs. Wen and Mr. Wen had just returned, though their expressions were somewhat off as they entered.

By dinner time, Wen Zongfu had come back, sweaty from somewhere unknown. After showering and changing, he sat at the table, sensing the strange atmosphere.

Raising an eyebrow, he asked directly, “What’s going on here?”

Mrs. Wen hesitated a moment before looking at Jiang Mi with a gentle tone, “Xiao Mi, are you short on money? If you are, just tell us. You don’t have to go to the scrap yard…”

The scrap yard! Jiang Mi understood now why the Wen couple looked so uneasy—they thought she lacked money to go there?

Wen Zongfu tilted his head toward her, knowing very well whether she had money or not.

The three all looked at Jiang Mi, who gave a helpless smile. “Mom, Dad, it’s not like that. I have money. Wen Zongfu didn’t take the wedding money—it’s all with me.”