Ruling the Historical Romance Novel as the Female Supporting Character-Chapter 296: "Marrying a Wife Means You Can’t Take Care of Yourself?!"
Auntie Wang noticed that none of the other Aunties were willing to step up, and she wanted to avoid the situation too. However, Qin Kaize’s gaze was already fixed on her. She had no choice but to take a deep breath and gather her courage. Yet, she couldn’t find the words to explain and ended up seeking help from Su Yijia.
"Miss Su, please explain to Commander Qin that things aren’t what he thinks. We weren’t arguing, right?" she pleaded desperately.
If the Aunties were honest, Su Yijia might respect them a bit more. At least, they would have the confidence to stand by their beliefs in front of anyone. But if they were that confident, why didn’t they dare to repeat their presumptuous advice in front of Qin Kaize? Auntie Wang saw the mocking smile on Su Yijia’s lips and felt a chill.
It was too late to stop Su Yijia from speaking.
"Yes, we weren’t arguing. I just announced that I won’t associate with you anymore. After all, I have a bad temper and won’t tolerate making dresses for you while listening to your endless advice on how I should bear children and serve my husband. If I don’t follow your advice, soon my husband will get tired of me, and his relatives will find fault with me. And someone wants to learn my dressmaking skills to take orders and earn money, yet you all pretend it’s out of kindness to help me. In the end, it’s my fault, so I should thank you? Ha!" Su Yijia’s anger grew as she spoke, tightening her grip on Qin Kaize’s arm.
Qin Kaize patted her hand soothingly, "There, there. We won’t listen to their nonsense."
When he looked at the Aunties again, all gentleness vanished from his eyes, replaced by a fierce intensity.
The Aunties were so frightened that they took several steps back, supporting each other to avoid falling.
"We didn’t mean it that way. We just meant that men earn money to support the family, and women should manage the household well so men have no worries," Auntie Wang tried to explain, her smile stiff and forced, hoping to convince Qin Kaize that this arrangement benefited him.
In her view, no matter how strong a woman was, her husband could still control her if he wanted to. But Su Yijia was not someone who could be controlled, especially when angry. If anyone tried to oppose her, she would fight back fiercely. And Qin Kaize was never going to try to control her.
"Did I lose my hands or feet? Before getting married, we did everything ourselves in the team. How does getting married turn us into fragile beings who can’t sweep or cook? Were we living 24-hour days before marriage and now only 12-hour days, racing against time to survive?" Qin Kaize’s cold tone left the Aunties speechless.
They had been taught these notions by their mothers-in-law and others around them for years, and they had become used to these sayings. But hearing it from another perspective left them stunned.
"But if you save time, you can do bigger things, can’t you?" Auntie Wang timidly argued.
"I’m recuperating. What big things can I do? Even when I go back to work, if I’m home, it means there are no urgent matters. If there are urgent matters, I won’t be home. How you treat your husbands is your business. I married my wife to be with her, not to have her do housework. As long as she’s by my side, I’ll do everything." Qin Kaize’s sharp gaze swept over the Aunties before he took Su Yijia’s hand, ready to leave.
Just as they reached the stairs, he suddenly turned back. The Aunties’ jealous and resentful expressions were still visible.
The Aunties shivered, unsure of how to respond.
Qin Kaize’s scornful expression deepened, "Don’t bother my wife again. She won’t make dresses for you anymore. Her time is precious and should be spent with me, the person who will be with her for a lifetime. If you really cared for her, you wouldn’t make her leave home to listen to your nonsense."
The Aunties felt utterly humiliated but dared not show any dissatisfaction, fearing Qin Kaize and Su Yijia might come back.
They hurried to close the door after hearing them leave.
"What should we do now?" Auntie Wang was almost in tears.
Her husband idolized Commander Qin. If he found out she had offended Commander Qin’s wife and also angered Commander Qin, her life would be miserable.
"What else can we do? We have to wait for our husbands to come back and tell them the truth. We definitely need to apologize sincerely," Auntie Ju said, though she was also terrified.
"Apologizing won’t help. They won’t forgive us. We should act like nothing happened. Commander Qin hasn’t returned to the team yet, and even when he does, he won’t be back in this unit. He’s destined to be promoted, and in a couple of months, he won’t even remember this. Why would he bring it up again?" Auntie Lin said angrily, trying to suppress her fear.
Her husband was temperamental and very filial to his mother, sending a large portion of his stipend back home, leaving little for their own family. If she had any other option, she wouldn’t have had such thoughts. The other Aunties had overlooked it, but Commander Qin’s wife wouldn’t let it go. How petty, refusing to teach a skill out of jealousy!
Just because Commander Qin’s wife was extravagant now didn’t mean she wouldn’t suffer later. But right now, Auntie Lin needed to convince the others not to confess to their husbands and apologize to Commander Qin.
"Auntie Lin, you’re not aware of what happened with Commander Xue’s wife, are you?" Auntie Wang looked at Auntie Lin in exaggerated disbelief.
Auntie Lin was confused, "I know. Wang Futong cursed Miss Su when she first arrived on the island, and Commander Qin reported it to the higher-ups, bypassing Officer Xia. Do you think Commander Qin will report us too? We didn’t say anything that bad. Commander Qin isn’t stupid; he knows the difference."
