Village Doctor's Women-Chapter 47 Are you afraid that I will snatch it away?

Xu Qian said nothing more.

Wang Jian didn’t know how to break the silence, as Xu Qian pointedly refused to speak to him on the way home. He had hoped to piggyback on the conversation between her and Li Liping, to find an opening to talk to his sister-in-law and slowly ease the tension. But Xu Qian ignored him completely, focusing all her attention on Li Liping.

But Wang Jian was mulling something over. He found it very strange. Why can my sister-in-law still chat so happily with Li Liping? It’s so strange. This is definitely not how she should be acting after discovering something like that.

Wang Jian trailed behind them, utterly bewildered. As he watched the two women ahead of him talking and laughing, a sour feeling churned in his gut. Even with their stunning figures, I’m no longer in the mood to appreciate the view. I have only one thought now: I want to figure out what Xu Qian is thinking. Or rather, I want to understand whether Xu Qian has actually found out about me and Li Liping. After all, if a normal person found out, they wouldn’t react the way Xu Qian is now, right? How could I not let my mind wander in a situation like this? It feels like ants are crawling all over my heart.

Li Liping seized an opportunity when Xu Qian went to open the courtyard gate. She sidled up to Wang Jian and whispered, "Where are my panties? I was changing upstairs and just remembered I left them on the sofa. No one found them, did they?"

That was the very question that had been tormenting him. Wang Jian shot Li Liping a glare. "I’d like to know that myself. I have your... item... right here," he muttered, patting his pants pocket and giving her a meaningful look. The fabric was so thin that it didn’t create any noticeable bulge.

Li Liping glanced at his pocket and smiled. "You hide things well. They’re yours now, a gift."

"Who the hell would want them?"

Wang Jian had no patience for her teasing. Seeing Xu Qian about to push the gate open, he quickly rushed over. "Here, let me."

Their iron gate wasn’t as difficult to push as the Zhang family’s, but it still required a bit of strength.

"No need."

Xu Qian glanced at him. Then, before Wang Jian’s baffled eyes, she lifted her foot, kicked the gate open with a sharp blow, and walked inside. His outstretched hand was left frozen awkwardly in mid-air.

That was a fierce kick, but no matter how I look at it, it felt like she was kicking *me*. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Wang Jian felt cowed. The dinner was excruciatingly awkward, and he couldn’t get a word in between the two women. In the end, he didn’t even eat at the dining table. He took his bowl to the living room instead; as things stood, watching a movie was far better than being in the presence of those two. His cowardly escape, however, drew frequent side-glances from Li Liping.

"In your family, do the men not eat at the table?" Li Liping teased. "He won’t even eat the crawfish, just grabs his bowl and leaves." It wasn’t her first visit, so she was obviously joking.

"Don’t mind him. Eat, eat. Let’s see if the crawfish are good today." Xu Qian peeled a large crawfish for Li Liping. Including the claws, it was nearly the size of her palm. The vendor in Red Star Village had been very generous today.

"Delicious! How could anything you make not be delicious?"

Li Liping was clearly enjoying herself and was already peeling one of her own. Because Xu Qian had also snipped the tails, peeling them was a breeze. It’s true what they say: eating crawfish is pure bliss, but cleaning them is back-breaking work. Besides that, the most tedious part of eating crawfish is peeling them. If someone peels them for you, it’s an undeniable luxury that allows you to truly enjoy the meat to your heart’s content.

This didn’t apply to ocean-dwelling crustaceans like Boston or Australian lobsters, which you could just bite into, offering a different kind of satisfaction. Similar Scottish langoustines weren’t expensive, had firm meat much like Australian lobsters, and were amazingly delicious when boiled and dipped in sauce. Wang Jian once treated a patient and, although he didn’t accept payment, the family gifted him several large prawns. He had a fantastic meal. These prawns weren’t as expensive as one might imagine if bought from a large seafood market; it was eating them in a restaurant that was truly unaffordable.

The crawfish were delicious, Wang Jian had to admit, but after peeling a few, a piece of shell got stuck under his thumbnail. It was both painful and spicy—absolutely miserable. So it’s better to just eat my meal. Why bother with crawfish?

"Oh, by the way," Xu Qian said suddenly, after finishing a crawfish tail and sucking the juices from its head. "Speaking of Zhang Li and the others, they’ve been gone for so long. Don’t you get bored at home alone? Why didn’t you think of going with them? You could have turned it into a nice trip, right?"

"Hmph. They went to collect debts, what would I do there? They’re swamped. It’s not like they can have fun. A vacation? I’d say it’s more like torture. If the other party doesn’t pay up, they’ll have to camp out at their door. Nowadays, the debtors are the masters, and the lenders are the ones who have to grovel."

Li Liping licked her fingers. The flavor of the spicy crawfish was simply divine, a long-time favorite of hers.

"So, you’re not bored staying at home?" Xu Qian glanced at her casually, her gaze a little suggestive.

Li Liping shot her a look. "Look who’s talking. Your husband has been gone for more than half a year. Aren’t you bored?"

Before Xu Qian could react, Li Liping continued, "Actually, being alone can be quite nice. At home, you can wear whatever you want, or nothing at all. You can do whatever you feel like. Best of all, you don’t have to do chores for anyone. I can finally sleep in!"

Xu Qian nodded in agreement. "It’s true, being alone is especially comfortable."

Li Liping passed a crawfish she had just peeled over to Xu Qian. The back-and-forth felt perfectly natural.

Suddenly, Li Liping patted the back of Xu Qian’s hand, her expression turning playful and sly. If Wang Jian were there, he would have known she was up to no good. She pointed toward the living room and asked, "What about you... Have you ever considered it?"

"Considered what?"

Xu Qian, who had been planning to question Li Liping herself, was now completely put on the spot. She felt a flash of panic and could only force herself to remain calm, playing dumb.

"What else?" Li Liping smirked. "It’s Wang Jian, isn’t it? A man and a woman, living alone under one roof... you haven’t had any ideas? Wang Jian isn’t bad-looking, and he’s got a great body," she added, finding Xu Qian’s shy reaction amusing, which only made her want to press the issue.

"What nonsense are you spouting?" Xu Qian rolled her eyes at Li Liping. She could feel sweat beading on her skin, a mixture of nervousness and shyness churning inside her. "How can you call this living under one roof? He lives upstairs, I live downstairs. It’s not the same thing, is it?"

Somehow, Xu Qian recalled the night Wang Jian got drunk and she had to change his clothes. Li Liping wasn’t wrong; the guy really did have a good figure.

"That’s not much different, is it?" Li Liping argued.

"Pfft. Your mind is always in the gutter."

"I don’t believe you’ve never thought about it," Li Liping mumbled. It was just a joke, though. She and Xu Qian had been like sisters for years and she knew what kind of person Xu Qian was. Marrying her would be a huge gain for any man, but that didn’t stop her from teasing.

There was a time when she, too, thought of herself as a so-called good wife and mother. She just never expected that today, she would be discovering a different kind of happiness.

The two continued to eat the crawfish, hissing from the spice, but in the most satisfying way. Xu Qian ignored Li Liping’s teasing, but the memory of what happened at the Zhangs’ house was still fresh. After taking a sip of milk, she couldn’t resist asking, "You’re praising Wang Jian so much. Don’t tell me you’ve actually taken a fancy to him?"

Having asked her question, Xu Qian stopped peeling and watched Li Liping intently, trying to read something in her expression.

But as Wang Jian could attest, Li Liping was exceptionally thick-skinned. Not a flicker of emotion crossed her youthful face, which was governed by an incredibly savvy mind.

She didn’t try to hide anything, though. She glanced toward the living room and said provocatively, "Yeah, I have. So what? Afraid I’ll snatch him away?"

The words made Xu Qian’s heart skip a beat.

Wasn’t that exactly it?