"What is wrong with you? You’ve been looking unwell since this morning. Are you feeling sick?" Di Mingjue asked, his face filled with worry.
Looking past his body at Lu Sisi standing behind him, Jiang Ziyu had no mood to tell him the troubling matters on her mind.
She pulled away his clinging hand and shook her head. "I might have caught a chill. I feel a bit dizzy. I'm going back to my room to rest."
"I'll take you to the hospital, or I can have Doctor Xu come to the house," Di Mingjue said, grabbing her hand again.
While doctors could heal physical pain, emotional distress required her to resolve it herself.
Jiang Ziyu refused his offer once more and went upstairs, leaving him behind.
Her spirits low, she couldn't even attend to Qianqian. Lost in her thoughts, she lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling lamp.
Di Mingjue wanted to stay home to take care of her, but a sudden company meeting forced him to ask Qianqian to keep Jiang Ziyu company.
He left for the company, worried. As soon as Jiang Ziyu was distracted and couldn't look after Qianqian, Lu Sisi seized the opportunity to approach Qianqian with a small gift.
"What are you playing with, Qianqian?"
Qianqian sat on the rug, playing with building blocks. She heard a voice from above.
Lu Sisi, holding up her skirt, squatted in front of her and placed a hairpin adorned with a flower in front of her. "I thought of you the moment I saw this. Auntie will put it on for you, and you'll look very beautiful."
As Qianqian saw Lu Sisi's hand reaching to touch her hair, she immediately stood up from the floor, her entire body resisting and looking at Lu Sisi.
"Don't be nervous. Auntie just thinks this hairpin is particularly suited for you." Lu Sisi spread her hands, allowing Qianqian to see the hairpin clearly.
She didn't need a hairpin, and even less did she need anything from her.
Qianqian had seen how Lu Sisi's presence these past few days had made Jiang Ziyu unhappy. Although she didn't understand much, she sensed that Lu Sisi was a bad woman, a bad woman who wanted to ruin Di Mingjue and Jiang Ziyu's relationship.
Noticing the dislike in Qianqian's eyes, Lu Sisi stood up from the floor, displeased. She looked down at Qianqian from above, using her height advantage to intimidate the child below. "You don't like me?"
Qianqian stared at her with a wrinkled little face.
Flipping the hairpin in her hand, Lu Sisi sighed dramatically and asked, "You don't like me? What can be done then? I will be your mommy in the future."
Mommy?
Impossible!
Qianqian couldn't speak. She shook her head, vehemently protesting.
Di Mingjue had promised her that her mommy could only be the current Jiang Ziyu.
Lu Sisi glanced behind her, seeing no one around. She grabbed Qianqian's arm. "Whether you like me or not is irrelevant. If you want your daddy to treat you better in the future, you'd better accept me quickly. Otherwise, once I have a brother or sister for you, there might not be a place for you in this home."
A mute child wouldn't be able to articulate anything even if they complained. Lu Sisi wickedly threatened her.
"Mmm... mmm mmm..." Qianqian tried to call out urgently, but only rough sounds came out of her mouth, unable to attract anyone's attention.
Her fingers pinching her arm, Lu Sisi whispered a warning, "I'm only saying this once. You need to learn to be sensible."
With that, Lu Sisi pinned the hairpin into Qianqian's hair. With every movement of her body, the small ornaments on the hairpin swayed back and forth.
"So pretty!" Lu Sisi praised, satisfied.
Trembling under the intimidation, Qianqian stood there. Naturally timid, she never fought back, let alone reported everything happening to Jiang Ziyu.
Not content with the hairpin she had bought, Lu Sisi then forced Qianqian to play with building blocks with her.
When Jiang Ziyu finally calmed her emotions and went downstairs to find Qianqian, she stood on the stairs, watching Qianqian interact closely with Lu Sisi.