Chapter 229.1

Tang Qianqiu’s room looked empty and clean since the servants had just tidied up the place.

Tang Qianqiu had brought her own clothes here. However, she had only brought a few sets, so she didn’t have much luggage to unpack.

Jun Zishu also unpacked her suitcase and hung up the clothes she brought into the wardrobe, placing them next to Tang Qianqiu’s.

“Do you want to shower first, Mom? Or should I go first?” Jun Zishu asked, looking at Tang Qianqiu after setting her nightwear on the bed.

“You first.”

Tang Qianqiu was seated at the desk typing away at her computer, doing her best to act like she was calm. In reality, though, her blood was already boiling and bubbling away, and her heart was pumping frantically.

“Okay.”

Jun Zishu took her nightwear and entered the bathroom. Then, she closed the door behind her.

Tang Qianqiu stopped tapping her fingers on the keyboard and looked toward the bathroom. The bathroom had a frosted glass door, so she could vaguely see Jun Zishu’s silhouette through it.

Tang Qianqiu was feeling both flustered and joyful right now. She wanted to find someone to share her thoughts with, but she couldn’t find anyone suitable.

Tang Qianqiu hardly had anyone she could call a friend. Her contact list consisted only of her business partners and loyal subordinates. There was no way she could consult these people for her emotional problems, so she ended up visiting a relationship advice forum. Then, she made a post requesting help for the first time in her life.

[Help] I’m a woman, and I just found myself falling in love with my adopted son’s wife. What should I do?

#1: You rotten bast— Wait, what? You’re a woman?

#2: I have been lingering in this forum for many years and seen countless strange emotional problems, but this is the first time I have seen a mother-in-law falling in love with her daughter-in-law… I’m taking a front-row seat. OP, tell us more specifics about your situation.

#3: I’m the OP. The situation is as such: Me and my adopted son have never been particularly close to each other. I have never noticed that my sexual orientation was bent. Two days ago, I flew back to the country because my son cheated on my daughter-in-law, and his cheating partner is a girl he had been infatuated with during his childhood. Long story short, my son’s love affair ended up causing my daughter-in-law to miscarry… More importantly, I discovered that I’d developed a special feeling toward my daughter-in-law. I have a strong urge to protect her and love her.

Tang Qianqiu tried her best to express her problem clearly. She kept getting the feeling that Jun Zishu was also interested in her, but there were also times when she felt that she might be mistaken, and this situation was incredibly agonizing for her.

#4: Fuck, if that’s the case, my suggestion is that you better get on it, OP. Have them divorce first, then turn your daughter-in-law into your wife. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this action.

#5: I’m shocked… Why do I feel so stimulated by this?!

…

Jun Zishu was taking a shower in the bathroom when Little Fairy informed her about Tang Qianqiu’s online activities.

Feeling a little curious, Jun Zishu had Little Fairy display the forum post to her. Then, after getting a general understanding of the situation, she couldn’t help but laugh. She could even imagine Tang Qianqiu’s torn look when she typed those words into her computer.

Tang Qianqiu had zero relationship experiences in this world, so it was natural that she’d grow panicked and confused after discovering that she had feelings for her daughter-in-law. Moreover, there existed a considerable difference in status and age between them, so it was inevitable for her to be at an even greater loss.

#419: OP, why not test out the waters? Try to test her feelings. Who knows? Maybe she also has feelings for you?

Jun Zishu had Little Fairy write this mischievous reply under Tang Qianqiu’s post.

Jun Zishu knew that Tang Qianqiu wasn’t looking for others to judge the correctness of her actions. Tang Qianqiu had no intention of suppressing her desires. She was simply searching for a method that would allow her to successfully pursue her love.

…

Many lurkers in the forum had surfaced because of Tang Qianqiu’s post, and they all left replies to the post.

Tang Qianqiu briefly scanned through the replies, completely ignoring the replies advising her against pursuing her love and reading only replies she felt were useful to her. Although many people had offered her solutions, these solutions could be summarized into three categories:

1) Buy, Buy, Buy: No girl can resist shopping. Spoil her rotten and buy her whatever she wants. Let her know that she will be much better off being with you than with some smelly man.

2) Soul Soother: Talk with her, give her good advice, brainwash her, and subtly influence her thoughts.

3) Seduction: Let her see your body. Humans are born with the desire to pursue beauty.

However, all of the aforementioned methods were based on the premise that Jun Zishu wasn’t an unbending straight woman. If Jun Zishu was a purebred heterosexual, Tang Qianqiu would be better off putting her foolish ambitions to rest.

Upon hearing noise coming from the bathroom door, Tang Qianqiu promptly deleted her post and closed her laptop. Then, she turned toward the bathroom and caught a full view of Jun Zishu’s body.

Jun Zishu had just finished showering, so there was still a trace of moisture coating her white and tender skin. After recuperating for a few days, most of the scars on her face had already faded and became unnoticeable.

Jun Zishu walked over to Tang Qianqiu while wiping her hair dry with a towel. The nightwear she wore was a pink silk nightgown with a wide neckline, and it exposed her delicate collarbone and a part of her chest. The loose nightgown also did nothing to conceal her proud assets.

“I’m done washing up, Mom. It’s your turn now.”

Tang Qianqiu retracted her gaze from Jun Zishu’s body and nodded. Then, she calmly grabbed her nightwear and walked to the bathroom, her expression showing none of the indescribable thoughts she was having about her daughter-in-law.

After partially drying her hair, Jun Zishu switched to using the hairdryer.

When Tang Qianqiu came out of the bathroom, she saw Jun Zishu lying on her stomach while reading a book. The nightgown Jun Zishu wore had a short skirt. Coupled with the fact that she was kicking her legs from time to time, a significant portion of her slender and beautiful legs were exposed for Tang Qianqiu to admire.

Tang Qianqiu stoically restrained herself and looked away. Then, she picked up the hairdryer and began drying her hair.

Meanwhile, Jun Zishu set aside her book and focused her gaze on Tang Qianqiu.

Tang Qianqiu looked a lot more feminine when she had her hair down.

Tang Qianqiu didn’t have very long hair. And because she usually tied her hair into a bundle, it looked a little curly. Tang Qianqiu also had a fair complexion. However, probably because she rarely smiled, her face looked cold and stern.

After being subjected to Jun Zishu’s gaze for some time, Tang Qianqiu finally lost her composure and asked, “Why are you staring at me like that?”

“Because I think you look beautiful, Mom,” Jun Zishu said, a sweet smile on her face. The words that came out of her mouth were even sweeter.

Tang Qianqiu froze for a moment before she resumed drying her hair. However, for a fleeting moment, the corners of her mouth curled upward slightly.

“Logically, you should have many people chasing after you if you look so pretty, right, Mom?”

Tang Qianqiu froze again before she turned off the hairdryer.

When Jun Zishu saw that Tang Qianqiu did not answer her question, she couldn’t help but frown. Could someone be pursuing Tang Qianqiu right now?

“I shouldn’t have asked such a question. You don’t have to give me an answer, Mom,” Jun Zishu said apologetically, her expression making it seem as if she was a daughter-in-law who was worried that she had upset her mother-in-law.

Of course, this was nothing but an act. Based on Jun Zishu’s understanding of Lord, Lord definitely couldn’t bear to see her like this. Lord would definitely refute her immediately as a way to prove that she held a very important place in her heart and that she was allowed to ask her such private matters.

“No, there is no one chasing after me. Even if there are, they are nothing more than some insignificant people.”

Tang Qianqiu indeed had many people trying to court her, whether in the past or the present.

People had already started confessing to her since she was young. However, she could never see those boys as anything more than children. She felt that they were too immature. She also found them to be a huge hindrance to her studies.

After she inherited the Tang family, she had even less time for love. She spent every passing day dealing with data and documents. She was the only child of the Tang family’s younger generation, so she carried a heavy burden on her shoulders.

This novel is _hosted_ by hosted novel.

Originally, the Tang family had wanted to adopt a boy into the family and put him by her side in the hopes that the two could cultivate their feelings for each other and learn to rely on each other. Then, once they grew up, they could get married.

However, Tang Qianqiu had shot down this proposal.

Tang Qianqiu had been independent since she was young, and she disliked having someone following her constantly.

When Tang Qianqiu was twenty years old, a medical test showed that her body was incapable of childbirth. This discovery wasn’t a huge concern for Tang Qianqiu. On the contrary, it had saved her a lot of trouble since she wasn’t interested in getting married and having children. Meanwhile, using this medical report as an excuse, Tang Qianqiu suggested to the senior members of the Tang family that she adopt a child to inherit the family instead.

Since Tang Qianqiu refused to get married no matter what, the Tang family eventually relented and went along with her plan. Thus, Qiu Ziqian became Tang Qianqiu’s adopted son.

However, Qiu Ziqian kept his original surname.

Of course, it wasn’t because Qiu Ziqian had requested to keep his original surname. Instead, it was because Tang Qianqiu had refused to let him change it.

At the time, Tang Qianqiu had proclaimed to everyone in the Tang family that so long as Qiu Ziqian performed well and met her standards to become the Tang family’s successor, she would hand the Tang family to him. Even if his surname wasn’t “Tang,” he would still be the rightful heir to the Tang family. Conversely, if he didn’t meet her expectations, even if he was surnamed Tang, she wouldn’t consider him as a successor no matter what. Hence, it was unimportant whether Qiu Ziqian changed his surname or not.

Because of this, Qiu Ziqian never dared to behave willfully in front of Tang Qianqiu. He also never dared to do anything too excessive in his day-to-day life. Despite growing up as the heir of a wealthy family, he never acted spoiled like most others in his position.

Back then, Jian Qing had married Qiu Ziqian because she felt that he was an incredibly talented and earnest person. He was different from other people who were born into wealthy families. Never had she seen him playing around with women and other things.

Unfortunately, not all scumbags would show their true colors on their faces. There were also few people in this world who could see through the disguise of hiding scumbags.

After Tang Qianqiu completed her studies and began taking over the family business, she met many men who thought to court her. However, upon receiving Tang Qianqiu’s cold gaze, most of these men shied away from her before they even attempted to courting her.

Tang Qianqiu was like a walking iceberg in the eyes of others. She was a robot who only knew how to work. Emotions were unimportant to her. Even if a person sincerely served their heart to her, she wouldn’t pay it more than a glance. Because of this, Tang Qianqiu’s reputation became even more widely spread in her social circle, and few people dared to provoke her.

When Tang Qianqiu was abroad, though, some of the men she met weren’t scared away by her cold gaze, and they approached her with overflowing enthusiasm. However, Tang Qianqiu simply ignored them all and dealt with them crisply and clearly.

…

TL Notes:

Edit made on 5th-April-2022:

stepson -> adopted son / son

I just realized Qiu Ziqian can’t really be considered a “stepson” since Tang Qianqiu never married his father.