After Divorce: Why My Aloof Ex Starts Chasing Me?-Chapter 40 The Shrew

Lin Zhidong and Zhou Xiaomei went to work, leaving Lin Fengmian at home to take care of the child.

When Shen Qingqing arrived, Lin Fengmian was just coming back from outside with Xiao Bao.

She had the child strapped to her back and a bamboo basket hanging from her hand.

Inside the basket were two large cabbages.

Thinking about the big thing she accomplished yesterday, Lin Fengmian was in an excellent mood.

She planned to ask her brother when he got home from work whether Jiang Zhixun was in a good mood today.

If he wasn’t, it would mean Shen Qingqing had done something embarrassing or said something unpleasant...

Anyway, as long as Shen Qingqing got drunk and made a fool of herself, she’d be happy!

But when she saw the person standing at the door, the smile on Lin Fengmian’s face instantly vanished.

"What are you doing here?"

Her tone was sharp.

With no one else around, Lin Fengmian didn’t bother to hide her expression.

She stared at Shen Qingqing with a look of utter disdain, as if Shen Qingqing had committed some heinous crime.

Shen Qingqing’s expression remained calm. "I’m here for a visit. Comrade Lin, aren’t you going to invite me in for a glass of water?"

Lin Fengmian already didn’t like Shen Qingqing, and on top of that, she felt guilty, so of course she didn’t want her coming inside.

"If you have something to say, say it out here."

Shen Qingqing raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you want me to say it here?"

The house didn’t have great soundproofing. If she spoke in the hallway, there was a good chance someone with sharp ears might overhear.

Lin Fengmian studied Shen Qingqing’s expression.

She got the sense that Shen Qingqing’s gaze today carried a certain chill.

Could it be that Shen Qingqing had found out she had spiked her food with liquor?

Lin Fengmian’s heart raced as she struggled to decipher Shen Qingqing’s real intentions.

Seeing the calm expression on her face only made Lin Fengmian feel more uneasy.

Under other circumstances, Lin Fengmian would have simply cursed her and driven her away. After all, she never shied away from a fight.

But she was afraid of exposing herself and causing trouble that might affect her brother and sister-in-law’s jobs.

Feeling a sense of panic, Lin Fengmian opened the door roughly and let Shen Qingqing in.

After closing the door, she said impatiently, "If you have something to say, just say it. Don’t try your little act on me—I’m not buying it!"

Shen Qingqing let her gaze sweep around the room, finally settling on the cabinet.

She asked nonchalantly, "Do you have any liquor in the house?"

Lin Fengmian’s chest tightened.

"No one in my family drinks! If you want liquor, go find someone else, or ask Jiang Zhixun to buy it for you. Why come to me? I owe you nothing!"

Her words came out fast, her eyes darting around—clear signs of a guilty conscience.

Shen Qingqing’s lips curled into a mocking smile. "So it really was you, Lin Fengmian."

Lin Fengmian was so furious she almost jumped on the spot.

She slammed the basket with the cabbages onto the table. "I didn’t do anything! Stop slandering me!"

Her reaction was obvious. Shen Qingqing gave her a meaningful look before turning toward the cabinet.

Lin Fengmian’s eyelids twitched, and she hurriedly stepped forward to stop her.

She snapped angrily, "What do you think you’re doing? Searching other people’s homes? Do you take us for criminals?"

"Who gave you that authority, Jiang Zhixun? Do you want me to report this to the leadership and make sure neither of you come out unscathed?"

The more Lin Fengmian said, the more holes she exposed in her story.

Shen Qingqing smirked faintly. "Go ahead, report it to the leadership. We might as well hash everything out properly. Let’s see who comes out worse in the end."

The calmer Shen Qingqing appeared, the more agitated Lin Fengmian became.

Especially when Shen Qingqing mentioned that she had only taken two bites of last night’s fermented rice egg soup, with the rest left at the guesthouse. She could easily present it to the leadership for testing to see if anything suspicious had been mixed in.

Lin Fengmian panicked even more.

Raising her voice in a futile display of bravado, she shouted, "If you’re here looking for trouble, then get out of my house! You’re not welcome!"

As soon as she finished speaking, the child on her back stretched out his arms toward Shen Qingqing, calling, "Auntie..."

He even wanted her to hold him.

Lin Fengmian, already on edge, felt like this was adding fuel to the fire.

She roughly placed the child on the ground. "All my care for nothing!"

"Ungrateful brat!"

Xiao Bao was startled and clung to Shen Qingqing’s leg, crying miserably with his face buried against her, showing Lin Fengmian only the back of his head.

Lin Fengmian glared daggers at Shen Qingqing. "You’re determined to take everyone away from me, aren’t you? You even want to take the child! Shen Qingqing, is it true that orphans like you are just so starved for affection, you can’t help but steal from others?"

Orphan...

That word, Shen Qingqing hadn’t heard it in years.

She didn’t need to guess where it came from.

A sinking weight pulled her chest down, filling it with coldness.

She didn’t mind others knowing about her background, but she would never allow it to be used as a weapon against her.

"Slap!"

The sound of a crisp slap echoed in the air.

Lin Fengmian was stunned; she hadn’t expected Shen Qingqing to lay a hand on her.

In her imagination, even if Shen Qingqing had figured it all out, their confrontation would amount to nothing more than a shouting match.

But here Shen Qingqing was, actually daring to hit her!

Before Lin Fengmian could process what had happened, Shen Qingqing shielded Xiao Bao’s head to prevent him from witnessing the unpleasant scene.

Then she delivered another firm slap to Lin Fengmian.

The shoulder where the medicinal patch was stuck began to ache faintly, but Shen Qingqing couldn’t care less.

In her 23 years of life, this was the first time she had slapped someone.

And she didn’t regret it.

Lin Fengmian snapped back to awareness and instinctively tried to hit back, but Shen Qingqing, encumbered by the child clinging to her leg, couldn’t move much.

She grabbed a rolling pin from the nearby table and decisively struck Lin Fengmian’s arm.

"Shen Qingqing, are you crazy?!"

Getting slapped was one thing, but now Shen Qingqing dared to hit her with a rolling pin.

Whoever said Shen Qingqing had a good temper must be blind!

Lin Fengmian was quick to anger; now, after being beaten and scolded, there was no holding back her temper.

She had strength from years of labor—she didn’t believe she couldn’t overpower Shen Qingqing!

But just as she moved, Shen Qingqing warned her coldly.

"If I report your poisoning attempt, what will happen to your brother and sister-in-law’s jobs?"

In just one sentence, she struck Lin Fengmian’s Achilles’ heel.

If her brother and sister-in-law’s jobs were affected, her family would absolutely tear her apart.

They might even cut ties with her.

This wasn’t a risk she could afford to take!

Lin Fengmian breathed heavily. "I only added a little liquor; it wasn’t poisoning! You’ve slapped and scolded me—what more do you want?!"

Shen Qingqing’s gaze turned even colder. "So you admit it?"

"Shen Qingqing, you tricked me?"

"So what if I did?"

Lin Fengmian was fuming, but there was nothing she could do against Shen Qingqing.

Ultimately, she realized she’d been careless about the whole thing.

If this escalated to a leadership investigation, her own job wouldn’t be heavily impacted.

But things would be very different for her brother and sister-in-law.

That kind of outcome was something she couldn’t bear.

Lin Fengmian slapped herself hard across the face twice, bursting into tears as she asked, "Are you satisfied now?"

"You brought this on yourself, with your vile mouth and filthy actions. If it weren’t for Lin Zhidong and Zhou Xiaomei’s sake, do you really think you’d still have room to cry and whine here?"

"Then what do you want? Turn me over to the police station?"

Meeting her resentful gaze, Shen Qingqing chuckled lightly. "When you did something so malicious, didn’t you think about what would happen if you got caught?"

Lin Fengmian’s heart hung on a thread, and her remaining bravado crumbled.

Only one thought filled her mind.

She must bow her head to Shen Qingqing and prevent this from escalating.

"I’m sorry, I was out of my mind. I won’t target you again in the future."