When Zhi Xia heard these words in the room, she saw Old Master had already hurriedly followed Pei Xiang out the door.
Worried, she wanted to follow them outside, but was grabbed by Old Madam, “Zhi Xia, you’re not well, don’t go. Anyway, there is no hatred between father and son overnight. Your grandpa will go persuade them for a bit, and your Pei Grandpa will calm down soon."
Zhi Xia couldn't find a reason she had to go either, but she guessed in her heart that Pei Jing was probably beaten because of her.
She looked at Old Madam and finally felt she should confess.
Even if Pei Jing was willing to take responsibility, this was still both of their fault, and he shouldn't take it alone.
"Granny, if I did something wrong, would you not want me anymore?" Zhi Xia asked.
"You silly girl, what nonsense are you talking about? You're granny's darling, no matter what time, granny will never not want you." Although the child hadn't been back for long, she had already seen clearly what kind of temperament she had.
In Old Madam's eyes, even if she did something wrong by accident, it might not necessarily be her fault. Even if it was her fault, it might not be unforgivable.
No one can live a lifetime without making a single mistake. As long as one can admit their wrongs and change, it's not a big deal.
Zhi Xia told Old Madam about being drugged and running away the day she was sold, and meeting Pei Jing in the mountains.
After she finished speaking, she finally felt calm in her heart, and was no longer anxiously uncomfortable.
Old Madam was silent for a long time before suddenly standing up and saying, "Zhi Xia, even if things were like this, it's not appropriate for you to go over now. Listen, go back and rest first. Granny is going to the Pei's. Knowing your Pei Grandpa's temper, I'm afraid he didn't go easy. I have to hurry and persuade him."
As Zhi Xia watched her turn away, she couldn't see the already red rims of her eyes.
Zhi Xia sat in the living room waiting for a long time until Old Master and Old Madam finally came back together.
Seeing Zhi Xia still waiting for them with a worried look, Old Madam came over and hugged her distressingly, "My child, you've suffered these years. Our family let you down. If we had been more careful back then, we wouldn't have lost you..."
"Granny, as long as I have you and grandpa caring for me, I'm not suffering." Zhi Xia's throat went dry. She asked, "Pei Jing...is he okay? Was Pei Grandpa very angry?"
"No, no, don't think too much. Granny already explained everything clearly to them. Neither of you are to blame for this." Old Madam sniffled, "Your Pei Grandpa hit him because he misunderstood that he took advantage of you. Now that it's clarified, it's fine. We should be glad, glad that the person you met that day was him - at least he's someone we're familiar with. Pei Jing is a good boy, reliable. If you had met someone with ulterior motives..."
Old Madam covered her mouth in horror, just the thought was frightening.
Old Master also felt distressed about Zhi Xia's experience, but unlike his sentimental wife, he couldn't say warm, caring words. He could only sit and listen to the mother and daughter chat.
Old Madam chatted on and on. Since Zhi Xia's pregnancy couldn't be delayed, and remembering her worryingly pale face this morning, she was also afraid something might happen, so she told her to go back and rest immediately.
The lights in the living room stayed on until late into the night. In her room, Zhi Xia still hadn't fallen asleep.
In the middle of the night, Old Madam pushed open Zhi Xia's door and walked in. Seeing she still had her eyes open, she said, "Zhi Xia, granny will sleep with you tonight, okay?"
Knowing she probably had something to discuss, Zhi Xia nodded, "Okay."
She moved inward to make room for Old Madam to sleep on the outside.
Once in bed, the mother and daughter together had a special warmth.
"Zhi Xia, granny wants to ask you something. Tell granny the truth."
Zhi Xia guessed she was asking about her and Pei Jing. "Granny, go ahead and ask."
"If...granny means if...you hadn't discovered you were pregnant, and it was just about Pei Jing alone, would you have liked him?"
She was also worried that if the two children married for the sake of the child, but their feelings weren't deep in the future, their days would be miserable.
Pei Jing's aloof personality had been like that since he was little. That kind of temperament was fine for simply living life, but he probably wouldn't be good at pampering a wife.
And considering all Zhi Xia had suffered, it was very normal for her to be psychologically sensitive. She was afraid that in the future, one would be cold and the other sensitive, and they wouldn't get along. What would they do?
"To be honest, I don't know." Zhi Xia guessed Old Madam's concerns that she wouldn't have a good future. She wanted to simply lie that she liked Pei Jing's type, but she thought that Old Madam had lived a lifetime, how could she not see through her little attempt. It would be more comfortable to be truthful. "Granny, before this, Pei Jing and I didn't have much contact. He did look for me twice insisting to take responsibility, but it was my fault to begin with and I didn't want to implicate others, so I refused him. If I told you I liked him, I don't think you'd believe me. But since I agreed to marry him, I will hold the intention to spend my days well with him. I believe he's not the fickle type either, right?"
"Granny does still believe in him about this." Old Madam asked Zhi Xia, "Do you know what he said?"
Zhi Xia widened her eyes looking at Old Madam. She really didn't know.
"He said that day on the mountain, when he came across you gathering medicine, he couldn't help his desires..." Old Madam smiled and said, "That child is pretty responsible. But we're quite familiar with his personality. That day when he was saved and brought back, he was injured very severely and was unconscious for days before waking up. In that kind of condition, even if he had desires, I reckon he was powerless, no?"
Zhi Xia's face turned beet red as she smiled awkwardly.
Thinking back on their first meeting that day, whether he had desires or not she didn't know, but being powerless was certainly true.
The later powerfulness was probably incited by her goading.
It was quite surprising that a casual detoxification unexpectedly scored a direct hit.
Recalling the pregnancy dream she had that afternoon, it was still twins. She didn't know if it was real or fake.
With the current undeveloped medicine, people's views on male-female relations weren't so open yet. She didn't dare go to the hospital for confirmation either.
"Your Pei Grandpa isn't stupid. In his fluster earlier, he didn't think through this point. Now that he has, he deliberately put on that act for me and your grandpa!" Old Madam thought about how remorseful Old Pei looked after she went, and said, "Old Pei and your grandpa's relationship isn't that of blood brothers, but it exceeds blood brothers. Especially when your grandfather was alive, he came to our home no small number of times to raise military funds. Half of our family's property was tricked away by him. Afterwards, this relationship was established. Although Pei Jing is young in years, his seniority is a generation above you. Yet now, he's let you get pregnant before marriage. No matter whose fault it is, he's still taking the blame onto himself for old times' sake, to protect our face. So in the future when you're in their home, you don't need to worry about being bullied. As long as your grandparents are still around, no one will dare!"
Old Madam talked a lot, a lot that night. These premarital teachings were originally Zhou Nan's job, but Old Madam wasn't assured leaving it to her. She could only take it onto herself.
