Pregnant After Healing the Alpha - Chapter 30

Chapter 30: Chapter 28: The Meal Qiao Jing Made Instantly Conquered Her Mother-in-law and Sister-in-law

Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

“Quack—quack—”, the sound of plucking and tucking, the movements extremely skilled, obviously not the first time.

Such a sight, honestly unbearable to watch.

After a while, Zhan Nanqing couldn’t sit still anymore and began to find fault and nitpick.

“This sofa is too uncomfortable to sit on, it’s both hard and pokey. Brother, let me find someone to change it to a new set of sofas for you?”

“And these pieces of furniture, aren’t they lacking in class?”

“There’s not even a single wall decoration.” When Zhan Nanqing said this, her eyes landed on the painting hanging beside the flower rack.

On the painting, two cats were teasing a grasshopper.

“Oh my, who painted this? It’s so ugly? Throw it away.” Zhan Nanqing approached the painting and was about to tear it down.

Just then, Lou Xinrou’s loud shout suddenly rang out.

“Don’t! Don’t throw it away!”

Zhan Nanqing was startled and turned to look at Lou Xinrou, “What’s wrong?”

Lou Xinrou hurried over, her eyes wide as she looked up and down the painting, her surprise growing more apparent the longer she looked.

The way Lou Xinrou acted caught the attention of Zhan Qipei and Su Manhan, not for any other reason but because Lou Xinrou’s grandfather, Old Master Lou, was the chairman of the Empire Calligraphy and Painting Association, Lou Pinshu.

Lou Xinrou had grown up by Lou Pinshu’s side, learning through observation and imitation, and had achieved some success in researching calligraphy and paintings.

It was because of this that Zhan Qipei and others were puzzled by Lou Xinrou’s strange behavior.

“This, this, this painting—” Lou Xinrou trembled with excitement.

“What’s wrong? Xinrou, is there a problem with this painting?” Zhan Nanqing couldn’t help but ask curiously.

“It’s true! It’s true! I’m not mistaken, this painting is a work by Master Han Zhiyu!”

When Lou Xinrou said this, the room fell into stunned silence!

Han Zhiyu! The most famous contemporary painter, known for his cat paintings.

Once, one of his paintings was auctioned for over three hundred million—a sky-high price!

“Han Zhiyu? How—how is that possible? I remember he’s old and has stopped painting!”

Having said this, Zhan Nanqing abruptly turned back to look at Zhan Qipei.

“Brother, is this painting yours?”

It definitely was.

“No.” Zhan Qipei frowned in response.

Seeing the surprise still not faded from Zhan Qipei’s face, the three realized that he wasn’t lying.

So was this painting really Qiao Jing’s?!

How could this be possible? Qiao Jing, a girl from the countryside, how could she possibly own a Han Zhiyu painting?

As everyone was puzzled and confused, Qiao Jing came out from the kitchen with dishes.

“Dinner’s ready.” Qiao Jing’s words were intended for Zhan Qipei, unrelated to others.

“Qiao Jing, where did you get this painting from?” Lou Xinrou couldn’t wait to know the answer.

Qiao Jing glanced indifferently over the painting, “Old Master Han gave it to me.”

“Ha!” Zhan Nanqing scoffed, “Master Han gave you a painting? What a joke! Everybody knows Master Han, though exceptional in the art of traditional Chinese painting, is in poor health and seldom picks up the brush. This has led to his paintings being priceless and scarce in the market. We don’t even have one, and you’re saying this painting was a gift from Master Han? Hah!”

“Believe it or not.” Qiao Jing couldn’t be bothered to waste her breath arguing with Zhan Nanqing.

The painting was indeed given to her by Han Zhiyu. In fact, because of his declining health and his search for medical help, he had eventually come to her. Over the past two years, she had been caring for his health, and there had been noticeable improvement.

A few days ago, when he heard that she got married—albeit temporarily—he still prepared this gift and had the painting delivered here.

Zhan Nanqing didn’t believe a word Qiao Jing said and turned to look at Lou Xinrou, “Xinrou, are you sure this painting is authentic?”

Lou Xinrou nodded with utmost seriousness, “I took a photo and sent it to my grandfather just now, and he replied that the painting is indeed genuine.”

Hearing this, Zhan Qipei looked toward Qiao Jing, his dark and inscrutable gaze filled with inquiry and assessment.

Then, Lou Xinrou approached Qiao Jing, “My grandfather really likes Master Han’s work, and he said he hopes you could sell it to him. You name the price.”

“Not for sale.” Qiao Jing refused outright.

“Why?” Lou Xinrou hadn’t expected Qiao Jing to decline so directly.

In her view, Qiao Jing was just a cleaner at the research institute; once she made her offer, Qiao Jing would surely agree.

“It was a gift from someone, a token of Old Master Han’s sincerity. Even if I were desperate for money, I wouldn’t sell it, not to mention—” Qiao Jing’s eyebrows lifted slightly, her tone changing as she continued her own thought: “I’m not in need of money.”

Qiao Jing’s words left Lou Xinrou speechless and unable to come up with any response for the moment.

Zhan Nanqing saw Lou Xinrou being bullied by Qiao Jing and immediately stepped forward to speak up for Lou Xinrou.

“Qiao Jing, how can you be so unreasonable? Xinrou spoke to you in a nice tone, and you—”

“What about me? Did I say I would not sell? Are you trying to coerce a sale? Not selling means I’m being unreasonable? Whose logic is that? The logic of the Zhan Family? Or the Lou Family?” Qiao Jing said with an annoyed look as she spoke to Zhan Nanqing and Lou Xinrou.

“You—”

“Enough! Nanqing!” Zhan Qipei called out sternly.

“Brother, she—”

“She’s right, the ones being unreasonable are you guys. If she’s not selling, are you going to force her?” Zhan Qipei said as he fiddled with his chopsticks, looking at the seven or eight dishes on the table, his stomach started to growl uncontrollably.

Sit down, and eat.

Eating eagerly yet gracefully without losing any manners.

Originally, Zhan Nanqing and the others weren’t hungry, but seeing Zhan Qipei eating so deliciously, all three unconsciously turned their gaze to the dishes on the table.

They were all ordinary home-cooked dishes, but could they really taste good?

Even if they were tasty, there’s no way they could be better than the ones prepared by the professional chef hired by the Zhan Family.

Su Manhan was the first to sit down, not because she was greedy, but because she wanted to know how her son’s daily meals were.

Picking up a piece of twice-cooked pork and putting it in her mouth, the next second Su Manhan’s eyes lit up.

Is it really this delicious? Is this sure it’s braised pork and not dragon meat?

Her son eats this every day? No wonder she noticed her son had gained some weight.

Zhan Nanqing and Lou Xinrou also took their seats one after another, thinking that if there was even the slightest displeasure in taste, they would pick at it.

But after tasting the food—

Once the dishes were in their mouths, they really couldn’t find fault with them.

Because they were simply too delicious!

“Qiao Jing, I didn’t expect you to be good for something at least, your cooking skills are not bad. After you divorce my brother, you can come to our house to be a cook. We will offer you a high price, which will definitely be better than working as a janitor at the research institute,” Zhan Nanqing said with her cheeks full while talking.

Zhan Qipei thought Zhan Nanqing’s suggestion was good, as he could not only draw clear boundaries with Qiao Jing in the future but also enjoy Qiao Jing’s cooking every day.

But would Qiao Jing agree?

“As I said earlier, I’m not short of money,” Qiao Jing refused.

“Hmph! But it’s still my grandfather’s money that you’re using,” Zhan Nanqing retorted with a pout.

Qiao Jing looked at Zhan Nanqing, who was always hostile towards her. If not for the fact that she had been relying on the Zhan Family’s support these past days, she would have kicked Zhan Nanqing out of the house long ago.

After the meal, Zhan Qipei put down his chopsticks and turned to Qiao Jing, “There’s a banquet the day after tomorrow, I need a companion. You’ll come with me.”

Qiao Jing was reluctant to go to such an event, but considering that she had been taken care of by the man all night when she had a fever the evening before last, she disliked owing favors.

“Mhm.”

Lou Xinrou clenched her back teeth in jealousy as she watched Qiao Jing.

In the past, she had accompanied Zhan Qipei to these events with Zhan Nanqing’s support.

Now that Qiao Jing had taken her place, how could she not be furious!

She decided right then, she would also go to the banquet the day after tomorrow. She needed to keep an eye on Qiao Jing to prevent her from taking advantage of the situation to climb the social ladder.

Zhan Qipei turned to look at Tang Yan, “Prepare a set of evening gowns for her. Fetch the latest design from Ni Yue at Yueji Pavilion. Don’t worry about the price.”

Upon hearing this, Lou Xinrou’s eyes blazed with jealousy.

In the past, when she accompanied Zhan Qipei to banquets, she prepared her own evening gowns. Now, Zhan Qipei was so considerate to prepare evening gowns for Qiao Jing.

Yueji Pavilion is the leading brand of evening gowns in their empire city, and its chief designer is one of the top talents in the fashion industry. Zhan Qipei was actually going to fetch a creation from Ni Yue specifically for Qiao Jing. Did a countrified girl like her deserve it?!

“No need, I have it at my friend’s. She can bring it over,” Qiao Jing said, not wanting to owe Zhan Qipei too much.

“As you wish.”

Zhan Qipei showed no reaction on his face to Qiao Jing’s refusal, but deep down, he felt somewhat uncomfortable.

That evening.

“Ding-dong—” The doorbell rang.

Zhan Qipei glanced towards the bathroom; Qiao Jing had been in there for a while, and someone ringing the doorbell at this time should be the friend Qiao Jing mentioned.

Zhan Qipei walked to the door and opened it.

“Qiao Qiao, I’m here—” The woman excitedly rushed in, but upon seeing Zhan Qipei, her expression obviously froze.

“It’s you!” Zhan Qipei never would have expected Qiao Jing’s friend to be her!