After the Divorce, My Wife and I Were Both Reborn

Chapter 20: Chapter 20: You’re Quite Thick-Skinned

The air was suddenly deathly silent.

Ji Wanqiu’s face was a mask of bewilderment, Lin Yanwan’s eyes were wide, and Jiang Xia was frozen stiff, like a statue.

’What do I do, what do I do!?’

Realizing his slip of the tongue, Jiang Xia wanted to die right then and there.

Lin Xiaoman stared blankly at them, her little head filled with big questions. She couldn’t understand it. Just a moment ago, they were all talking and laughing. Why had they all frozen in the blink of an eye?

"I know! Mommy, Sister, are you playing Statues? Xiao Man wants to play too!" Lin Xiaoman said, crossing her arms over her chest and also freezing in place.

The silence was broken. Jiang Xia was so embarrassed he could have dug a hole in the ground with his toes.

"I’m so sorry, Ma’am. My mom has a top that’s identical to yours. The beam from the flashlight was in my eyes, and for a second, I thought you were her."

Hearing that it wasn’t what she’d thought, Ji Wanqiu quickly regained her composure.

"Oh, I see."

She discreetly breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. "Thank you for bringing Yanwan home so late. By the way, are you two in the same class?"

"No, she’s in Class One, and I’m in Class Six," Jiang Xia answered dutifully.

Ji Wanqiu nodded. "Xiao Man told me what happened this morning. She said a kind young man saved her when she was bitten by a dog and rushed her to the hospital for a check-up. I’ve been wanting to find a time to thank you properly. I never expected we’d meet so soon."

Jiang Xia smiled. "Oh, there’s really no need for that, Ma’am. It was an emergency. I think anyone with a conscience would have stepped in right away. Besides, Xiao Man is so adorable."

"You say it was an emergency, but in this day and age, most people would just look the other way. People with a conscience like you are few and far between."

Ji Wanqiu stroked her daughter’s head, her eyes brimming with affection. "If Xiao Man had suffered any permanent harm, I, as her mother, would have felt guilty for the rest of my life."

"Thank goodness you were there," she said, looking up at Jiang Xia earnestly. freёwebnovel.com

Jiang Xia felt a little embarrassed by his mother-in-law’s praise. ’From my perspective,’ he thought, ’isn’t it only natural to save my own sister-in-law?’

"Come, come, it’s cold out here. Let’s go upstairs to talk," Ji Wanqiu said.

Lin Yanwan was dumbfounded. ’What is going on?’

’It was bad enough that this guy called her Mom, but now the two of them are actually hitting it off? And she’s inviting him upstairs? Doesn’t this mean my relationship with Jiang Xia is just going to get more and more complicated?’

’What a disaster!’

"Mom, look at the time! The power’s out, what are we going to do upstairs in the dark? He still has to get home. If he’s too late, his family will worry," Lin Yanwan immediately interjected.

"Oh, right. Look at my memory, I completely forgot," Ji Wanqiu said with a resigned expression. "In that case, maybe next time. By the way, I still haven’t asked for your name."

Jiang Xia subconsciously glanced at Lin Yanwan, then hesitated for two seconds before slowly speaking. "Ma’am, my name is Jiang Xia. Jiang like the river, and Xia like the summer."

"That’s a very nice name."

Ji Wanqiu pulled five hundred-yuan bills from her pocket and offered them to him with a smile. "Jiang Xia, this is a small token of our gratitude, on Xiao Man’s behalf. I’m so thankful that you saved my daughter. Please, you must accept it."

"Ma’am, really, you don’t have to," Jiang Xia said, quickly waving his hands. ’There’s no way I can take this money. What kind of son-in-law takes money from his mother-in-law?’

Watching this pair—a mother-in-law and son-in-law from a past life—go back and forth refusing, Lin Yanwan almost laughed out of exasperation. She snatched the money and slapped it into Jiang Xia’s hand.

"Enough with the nonsense! If my mom tells you to take it, then just take it!"

A muscle in his jaw twitched.

’When our two families are caught in an inseparable mess down the line, don’t you dare blame me,’ he thought.

"Well... thank you, Ma’am," Jiang Xia sighed in defeat, clenching the bills in his hand as he drew it back.

Ji Wanqiu chuckled lightly. "Now that’s more like it."

She took out her phone to check the time, then continued, "It really is getting late. Xiao Jiang, where do you live?"

"In Hongyun Garden."

"Oh, that’s quite far. How about this? I’ll drive you home."

Seeing that he was about to refuse again, Ji Wanqiu said at once, "There’s no use arguing. It’s settled. You wait here a moment, I’ll go get the car."

"...Since you’ve put it that way, do I really have any room to refuse?" Jiang Xia said with a wry smile.

Ji Wanqiu chuckled and flashed him a peace sign.

"Xiao Man, come with Mommy. We’re going for a ride in the car~"

Ji Wanqiu led her daughter away. Only when they were completely out of sight did Lin Yanwan turn to glare at him.

"Did you do that on purpose just now?! I already warned you!"

The memory of that far-too-natural "Mom" made her cringe. ’It sounded even better than when I say it.’

"Would you believe me if I said my brain just short-circuited right then?"

The corner of Jiang Xia’s eye twitched. He couldn’t figure it out himself. He had been mentally preparing to say "Ma’am" for a good while, so why on earth did "Mom" slip out instead?

This wasn’t just absurd; this was the mother of all absurdities.

"It just rolled off the tongue, I suppose? A hard habit to break, is that it?"

Lin Yanwan couldn’t help but huff. "Comrade Jiang Xia, allow me to remind you one more time: right now, that is *my* mother, not *your* mother. Please watch your words in the future."

Hearing this, Jiang Xia felt a flash of irritation. "And whose fault is that? If I had just gone home right away, none of this would’ve happened."

Lin Yanwan froze. She opened her mouth but found she had no retort. It was true, she had been the one who insisted he see his good deed through to the end. No matter how she looked at it, she couldn’t pin the blame on him.

"Forget it."

She rubbed her temples, feeling things spiraling out of her control. ’We were supposed to stay out of each other’s lives, but look at us now!’

’My sister and my mom have both met him now, way too early, and they even seem to have a good impression of the guy.’

’In a way, instead of growing more distant, their relationship was actually getting closer.’

’What kind of mess is this?’

’What a disaster!’

"Here, take the money." Jiang Xia took out the bills and held them out to her.

"What for? My mom gave that to you. I’m not taking it." Lin Yanwan put her hands behind her back and took a step away from him, her expression wary.

"In my heart, Xiao Man is my sister-in-law, and your mom is my mother-in-law. If anyone’s going to take it, it should be you. In any case, this money is too hot for me to handle." He might as well have had the four words "you are my wife" written all over his face.

"Do you really have to be so stubborn about this?"

"Yes."

"..."

Lin Yanwan was speechless for a long moment before she reluctantly took the money back. "I’m discovering that you can be incredibly thick-skinned sometimes."

"Are you just figuring that out now?"

"..."

She was rendered speechless, her mind flashing back to their previous life. The outrageous stunts this guy had pulled while pursuing her had been truly endless.

Just as she was about to say something, two bright beams of light suddenly pierced the darkness.

The next second, an Audi pulled up in front of them.