Volume One, Chapter Eight: A Visit to Express Gratitude

Qin Xiangdong was reading in his room when he heard someone calling him from outside. He quickly came out.

“It’s you two, come in and have a seat!”

Sun Yalin and the others didn’t enter. She knew well that the neighbors loved to gawk and didn’t want Qin Xiangdong to be dragged into any unpleasant gossip.

“Captain Qin, we won’t come in. I brought my sister to thank you. My parents aren’t home. We’re very grateful that you saved my sister yesterday. These gifts are just a token of appreciation.”

Looking at the items Sun Yalin handed over, Qin Xiangdong politely declined, but his eyes lingered on Sun Yaqin. The young girl hadn’t said a word behind her sister today, seeming a bit shy. Could it be because of what happened yesterday?

“Sending such cheap gifts for saving a life? You might as well have given money, that would be more practical,” Liu Cuilian sneered from the side.

“Mom, they meant well. How can you say that?” Sun Yalin defended.

Liu Cuilian rolled her eyes. “Can’t I say just a couple of words?” she snapped, then slammed the door and went back inside.

Left alone, Qin Xiangdong stood awkwardly, unsure of what to say.

Sun Yaqin, who hadn’t spoken, suddenly snatched the gifts from her second sister and handed them to Qin Xiangdong. At that moment, Li Ming from the corner store hurried over.

“Sister Yalin, I was just looking for you. There was a call for you earlier. You weren’t home. It was from your mother.”

“Okay, I’ll call her back soon.”

Sun Yalin glanced apologetically at Qin Xiangdong, then said to Sun Yaqin, “You go home first. I’ll call Mom.”

“Got it, second sister!”

After Sun Yalin left, only Qin Xiangdong and Sun Yaqin remained in the courtyard. Qin Xiangdong didn’t feel it appropriate to invite them inside now, and an awkward silence fell.

Actually, the only one feeling awkward was Qin Xiangdong. Sun Yaqin kept staring at Liu Cuilian’s room, where it was clear someone was pressed against the door eavesdropping.

“That was your mother just now?”

Qin Xiangdong nodded. “Yes.”

“She’s really fierce.”

Qin Xiangdong was puzzled. If his mother was like that, shouldn’t she have known about previous issues? Had she forgotten everything?

Sun Yaqin’s eyes flickered. She had heard that Qin Xiangdong’s foster mother treated him poorly, but she thought that since she might ask for help later, it wouldn’t hurt to speak up for him. After all, people build connections and feelings by helping each other.

Clearing her throat, Sun Yaqin raised her voice a bit, “If she’s your aunt, she should at least say hello before leaving. Otherwise, it’s rude.”

Qin Xiangdong was still wondering why this young girl suddenly changed her tone when she swung open the door to her mother’s room. Liu Cuilian, caught spying at the door, fell backward with a clumsy thud.

Sun Yaqin hurried to help her up. “Auntie, are you okay? You didn’t fall because you were eavesdropping on us, did you?”

“Ouch! You little brat, what nonsense are you talking about? I... I was just going to get firewood. Are you trying to kill me?” Liu Cuilian complained.

“Auntie, what are you saying? Why would I harm you? You can’t blame me unfairly. Someone tried to frame me yesterday too, but the police caught them.”

Liu Cuilian was wincing in pain. “Qin Xiangdong, did you tell this little girl to make me fall?”

Actually, Qin Xiangdong felt a bit secretly pleased to see his foster mother in such a sorry state. He wasn’t afraid of her; he only respected the fact that she had raised him and the kindness of his foster father. He sensed the girl might have done it on purpose.

Sun Yaqin was capable of such things, but he wasn’t. Suddenly, he felt a strange sense of being protected.

“Comrade Yaqin didn’t do it on purpose. I’ll help you inside.”

“Hmph, you’ve only known her a few days, and you’re already calling her by her name. Aren’t you afraid of being laughed at? Shameless.”

Sun Yaqin wasn’t upset by Liu Cuilian’s harsh words and helped Qin Xiangdong support Liu Cuilian into the house.

Liu Cuilian’s youngest son was lying on the heated brick bed, laughing heartily at a picture book.

Hearing someone come in, especially such a beautiful girl, he immediately sat up.

“Mom, who is she?”

“You little rascal! Your mother fell and you didn’t help me? All you do is look at picture books.”

Qin Xiangbei felt annoyed being scolded in front of such a pretty girl.

Reluctantly, he asked, “Mom, are you okay? You didn’t hurt yourself?”

His tone was perfunctory, and Liu Cuilian shot him a sharp glance.

“It’s all that little girl’s fault for making me fall.”

“Auntie, you were the one pressed against the door listening to me and Captain Qin’s conversation. That’s why you fell. You can’t blame me. Besides, I saw firewood inside your house when I came in just now. You’re clearly lying,” Sun Yaqin said with a hint of childish grievance that tugged at the heartstrings.

“Right, Mom, don’t wrong the poor girl. I saw you eavesdropping on big brother’s talk just now.”

Liu Cuilian gave her son a look of bitter disappointment.

Qin Xiangdong didn’t want to stay any longer. He looked at Sun Yaqin. “My mother’s fine, you’ve greeted her. I’ll walk you home.”

“All right!”

After they left, Qin Xiangbei kept watching Sun Yaqin’s departing figure. “Mom, who is that girl? She’s really pretty.”

“Hmph! What good is pretty? She’s obviously a vixen. That little girl is formidable. I heard she got her uncle and aunt thrown into jail yesterday.”

Curious, Qin Xiangbei said, “Tell me all about it!”

“Tell you what? My back hurts so much. When I get the chance, I’ll settle the score with that brat.”

Qin Xiangbei smiled broadly as he rubbed his mother’s back. “Mom, what if we marry that girl off to you as a daughter-in-law? Then you can do whatever you want to her.”

“I think you’re the one interested in her, you little scoundrel! I’m telling you, that girl can’t marry into this family. A wife needs to know how to manage the household. Just look at what she’s wearing. That’s not the attire of a decent girl.”

“Mom, you don’t understand. She’s wearing jeans and a down jacket. Those are all the rage in the big city. They’re expensive.”

“All the more reason not to marry her in. Have you seen the three big brick houses we just built? It’s not easy to build a house these days, and she’s wearing expensive clothes so extravagantly? Don’t even think about it.”

Qin Xiangbei knew his mother’s temper and realized he would have to proceed carefully. From that moment on, his thoughts began to stir.

Not long after Sun Yaqin returned home, Sun Yalin came back with a troubled expression.

“Second sister, what’s wrong? Did that scoundrel Yang Mingli call Mom and Dad?”

“Yes. Yang Mingli was spreading lies, saying that the two of us harmed our fourth uncle. But don’t worry, I’ve already explained everything to Mom.”

Sun Yaqin cautiously asked, “What was Mom’s reaction?”

Thinking of how their mother treated her younger brothers and sisters in her past life, Sun Yaqin worried whether she might be too soft-hearted.