.jpg)
Chapter 32: Sick
I tauhgt him. Is there a problem?
─── ⋆⋅☼⋅⋆ ───
Qin Feng thought to himself, Your imagination is really beautiful.
Gu Wuyi deliberately teased him, "What if I don't want you to have a taste?"
"You’re not a good older brother." The little child shook his head hard to prove this point.
Qin Feng patted his buzz cut and immediately felt the prickliness. The little bald head was better. When his hair grows long, he’ll shave it bald again; that way, it saves washing.
"Then we won't play with big brother," Qin Feng teased, "Shall we play with those older brothers and sisters?"
The little one didn’t recognize them. Fearing that his father might put him down, he immediately grabbed onto Qin Feng’s clothes.
Qin Feng was afraid he would cry from being scared.
The child used to be like a little mute, but in the past month or so, he had finally started speaking. Qin Feng was worried that if he would be scared, he might retreat back into his shell.
"Daddy has to help grandma cook," Qin Feng said as he looked at him.
The child hesitated, then hesitated again, before climbing down from his arms.
Suddenly, something came to his mind, and the child suddenly turned toward him. "Daddy, do you want some candy?"
Qin Feng: "Do you think I want some or not?"
Without thinking, the child immediately said, "Yes!"
Qin Feng reached out his hand.
The child got confused.
"How can I eat if you don't give me any?"
The child shook his head, "I don't have any. It's over there, Daddy." He pointed at the candy jar with his little chubby finger.
Qin Feng scratched his nose. "I knew it. Then I won’t eat."
"Huh?" The child didn’t expect it to be like this.
Gu Wuyi helplessly handed him two pieces of candy, "This as much as your older brother gets?"
The child didn’t expect this, and he got confused again.
"Don't want it?" Gu Wuyi pretended to take it back.
The child hurriedly snatched it away, then crossed his arms over his chest, "Mine!"
Gu Wuyi wanted to laugh. "I gave it to you; how could I take it back? But we agreed, you can have the candy, but you’re not allowed to eat it all at once. Leave two pieces for after dinner."
The child nodded eagerly.
Gu Wuyi doubted he was listening, thinking the words went in one ear and out the other. "Alright, then come down. Let’s go help Grandma cook."
Just then, Qin Ying walked into the main room and couldn’t help but say, "What can he cook?" She shot a disdainful look at Qin Feng, put down her things, and was about to leave.
The little one didn’t understand disdain but could tell right from wrong. Seeing this, he loudly retorted, "What can you cook?"
Qin Ying was taken aback, "Are you talking to me?"
"Are you talking to me?" The child repeated.
Qin Ying was momentarily speechless. She looked at him, unsure of what to say, but then noticed the person holding the child and swallowed her words. "I remember this kid used to be quite obedient, but after just a few days, he dares to talk back to adults?"
Qin Feng smiled sweetly, "I taught him. Is there a problem?"
Qin Ying was left speechless.
Qin Feng no longer held back, "Go do what you need to do, don’t wait for me to chase you out."
Qin Ying left in a huff, heading toward the kitchen.
Qin Feng withdrew his gaze and noticed his eldest niece staring at him. "Are you standing up for your mom?"
The little girl, already seven years old and in elementary school, understood many things without needing an explanation from an adult. For example, when she saw the bruise on her dad's face, she knew it was from being hit, not from an accident.
Earlier, Wang Genbao had been beaten by Qin Feng and came home with a swollen nose and bruises. He didn’t try to hide it from her.
Because of this, the little girl was afraid of Qin Feng—he even dared to hit her father. She subconsciously shook her head and didn’t dare to look him in the eye.
Qin Feng looked around but didn’t see Wang Genbao. He guessed he was either in the east or west, chatting with his business partner. "Your dad has money now. Why are you still so skinny?"
The little girl pursed her lips, unsure whether she should answer.
Fu Qingyun said, "She’s a little bit fatter than before, but just a little bit." He demonstrated by pinching with his thumb and index finger.
"Oh," Qin Feng acknowledged, "Does your dad still buy meat only once every ten days or so?"
The young Fu Qingyun shook his head, "He buys it once a week."
"And eggs?"
Fu Qingyun instinctively glanced toward the kitchen.
Qin Feng said, "They’re cooking over there. She can’t hear us, as long as you don’t say anything when you get back."
Fu Qingyun replied, "Sometimes there are eggs, sometimes there aren’t."
"That’s no surprise," Qin Feng looked at his niece, "Seems like your dad isn’t really that wealthy after all."
The little girl loudly declared, "My dad has money!"
"If he has money, why is he so stingy with eggs?"
The little girl was stumped by the question.
In front of the Fu brothers, Qin Feng couldn’t bring up the topic again. The money was probably being saved for them to build a house and marry wives, otherwise, if the four children didn’t get along, the two nieces would be bullied in their in-laws' homes, and no one would be there to support them.
Qin Feng, however, could. Unless Wang Genbao and his sister died, he wouldn’t get involved—too much effort for no reward.
Pointing to the items on the large table, Qin Feng said, "Your dad is really good with money now that he has it. If you don’t let him spend it, he’ll blow it all eventually. Got it?"
The two little girls didn’t understand.
The Fu brothers nodded in unison.
Qin Feng sighed inwardly. Two children with both parents alive were less fortunate than two children abandoned by their father and with their mother dead. What was going on here?
He hoped the Fu brothers would end up with something good to eat and share half of it with their nieces.
Since the brothers weren’t really little kids, they naturally didn’t compete with the two girls.
Because the two children still called Wang Genbao "Uncle" and Qin Ying "Auntie," Wang Genbao, who had always wanted to deal with them, didn’t dare to take action. During meals, he even let them eat more, hoping to win them over with food.
At lunch, Qin Feng noticed something unexpected — the two little villains actually had guts. They weren’t afraid of being thrown out by Wang Genbao.
Too bad his parents didn’t see it that way.
After the meal, as soon as Wang Genbao left, his mother started sighing.
Qin Feng frowned, “What’s bothering you again?”
“It’s been half a year, hasn’t it?” Madam Zhou glanced at her husband. “Half a year, and they’re still calling Xiao Ying ‘Aunt.’ Those two kids... I don’t think it’s looking good.”
Hearing this, Gu Xiao'er secretly pouted. What does Grandma even know?
Qin Feng said, “Mom, you don’t understand. Someone like Wang Genbao doesn’t cherish things that come too easily. I think those two kids are doing the right thing.”
“What do you mean?” Madam Zhou was confused.
Qin Feng made something up. “If kids are too obedient, he’ll beat them up whether he’s happy or not. He’ll hit them just for the sake of it. No relationship can survive a few rounds of that.”
Madam Zhou wanted to argue — she hadn’t heard of Wang Genbao ever hitting the kids.
But then again, she used to think Wang Genbao was a decent guy.
“Forget it. I’m done meddling in their family’s affairs.”
Qin Feng thought to himself, You shouldn’t have meddled in the first place. “Alright, then pack up the things he left behind.”
Madam Zhou said, “Take them to your house. Your dad and I don’t like eating those.”
If it were in his previous life, Qin Feng would have believed her — his parents probably hadn’t eaten anything short of dragon liver, phoenix marrow, or human flesh.
“We come here to eat every day anyway. It doesn’t matter where we keep them,” Qin Feng said before she could respond. “We’ll just take the White Rabbit candy.”
Hearing that, Old Qin grabbed a newspaper and wrapped up two boxes of candy. “Open it when you get home. Otherwise, if someone sees you on the way back and asks for some, you’ll either look stingy if you don’t give any, or end up giving away more than you want to.”
Gu Wuyi nodded thoughtfully. “Ah, I see!”
Old Qin was a bit confused by his response.
Qin Feng explained, “That’s life wisdom. If people see us carrying something wrapped in newspaper, they won’t casually ask about it. Even if they do ask, we can just make up an excuse, and they won’t press further — unless they’re really shameless. But there aren’t many people like that in Wuli Village. Out of a thousand households, maybe just a few.”
Gu Wuyi nodded to show he understood.
Old Qin handed the things to him. “Come back around six in the evening. Your mother and I will be going to the fields to pull out some soybeans. If there’s time, I’ll level the yard.”
The old threshing yard had been planted with soybeans. Since the ground was too hard for a seed drill, everyone had used hand tools to dig holes and plant the beans. No one wasted space — even the laziest households planted the yard.
The soybeans in the yard were different from those in the fields. They were larger and still green, just right for peeling and stir-frying, or boiling in salted water.
Thinking of this, Qin Feng said, “Save me some unpeeled soybean pods.”
Old Qin asked, “You want to boil them?”
Qin Feng nodded. “Yeah. Put them in the fridge and boil them tomorrow night.”
“How long will they keep?” The fields were already golden, and with a few more sunny days, it would be time to harvest. They couldn’t let the soybeans in the yard grow any longer. “If they can keep for three or four days, we’ll pull all of them out later.”
Qin Feng replied, “Even if they last that long, we won’t be able to fit all those soybeans in the fridge.”
Madam Zhou chimed in, “Pull some out today for tonight’s and tomorrow’s meals. Then pull the rest out tomorrow afternoon. Keep a bit for the day after tomorrow, and store the rest in the fridge.”
Old Qin thought this plan made sense, so he sent Qin Feng and his grandsons back with four bundles.
After leaving the house, Gu Wuyi couldn’t help but comment, “Grandpa is making such a fuss over a little thing.”
Qin Feng laughed. “Your grandpa cherishes food. He’d feel bad about losing even a single soybean.”
Gu Wuyi didn’t believe him.
But a month later, when one acre of corn, one acre of cotton, and two acres of soybeans were all piled up in the empty room on the first floor of Qin Feng’s house, it started to drizzle. Gu Wuyi overheard the old couple talking about going back to the fields to pick up leftover soybeans as soon as the weather cleared, and he began to wonder.
When they’d harvested the soybeans, he and his two younger brothers had combed through the field from start to finish, picking every single bean. How could there be any left to pick?
On the third day, at lunch, he saw a big bowl of green soybean sprouts. Supposedly, they’d been collected from the field and from around the soybean stacks. Seeing this, Gu Wuyi not only believed it but was genuinely impressed. Farmers really know how to make the most of things — even more than I do.
Thankfully, the weather had cleared, and it was time to plow the fields and plant wheat. Otherwise, Gu Wuyi might’ve started to suspect that he himself would turn green from all the soybeans.
The family had cows and farming tools, and with only four acres of land plus a few plots near the riverbank, they finished their work in just two days. Gu Wuyi and his two brothers didn’t go hungry because of it either.
But as next year’s wheat was planted, the weather grew colder.
Gu Wuyi wanted to set a good example for Miaomiao, so he always wore a scarf and hat snugly every day. Gu Xiao’er, being mischievous, didn’t bother much with dressing warmly. Since Gu Wuyi knew he wasn’t really a child and could tell hot from cold, he didn’t pay much attention to him — and as a result, Gu Xiao’er made himself sick.
Gu Xiao’er was used to toughing it out when he got sick, gritting his teeth and waiting for it to pass. He completely forgot that he was now just a nine-year-old. By the time Qin Feng noticed, he was already burning up and barely conscious.
Panicked, Qin Feng rushed him to the factory clinic to get him an injection.
When the doctor saw Gu Xiao’er’s flushed little face, he couldn’t help but scold Qin Feng, “Engineer Qin, I’ve got to say — if not for yourself, at least for the sake of the kids, you should really find a wife.”
Half-dazed from the fever, Gu Xiao’er heard this. His usual vigilance dulled, he impulsively raised his foot and kicked the doctor.
The doctor stumbled backward a few steps and plopped down into a chair.
Qin Feng burst out laughing.
The doctor was stunned. Pointing at Gu Xiao’er, he finally managed to squeeze out a sentence, “What kind of kid can’t tell right from wrong?”
“He’s afraid if he gets a stepmother, he’ll end up with a stepfather too. Don’t say things like that. Otherwise, he’ll be having nightmares every night.”
The doctor suddenly understood. “So the reason you’ve delayed getting married is because of them?”
“You’re overthinking it.”
The doctor couldn’t figure it out. “Then why else would you stay single?”
Qin Feng asked in return, “Who said it’s mandatory to get married? Haven’t you seen the slogans on the wall outside our factory?”
The doctor instinctively recalled: ‘Late marriage, late childbirth. Fewer births, better births.’
“Even so, the factory director still pressures you?”
Qin Feng replied, “The factory director isn’t pushing me. It’s just that people come to him to arrange these things, and he can’t say no.”
The doctor stared at Qin Feng in disbelief.
If he remembered correctly, the factory director had only introduced one woman to Qin Feng — a daughter of a district chief — and that didn’t work out.
Wait... the district chief approached the factory director himself? That can’t be right!
Qin Feng: “Believe it or not.”
The doctor believed him.
If the factory director truly wanted to set him up with someone, even with three kids, he could easily arrange for a date every month.
“Did you request leave?” The doctor pointed at the child in his arms.
Qin Feng: “I forgot.”
Gu Xiao’er instinctively grabbed the hem of his shirt.
Qin Feng quickly said, “Dad’s not leaving. I’ll ask Uncle Doctor to request leave for me.”
The tense child relaxed upon hearing that.
Seeing this, the doctor sighed. As he dialed the phone, he muttered, “His parents really are heartless. Such good kids, and two of them at that. How could they just abandon them?”
Qin Feng: “Kids can be replaced. If they lose them, they can always have more.”
The doctor shook his head. After helping Qin Feng with the leave request, he asked, “Do you think they’ll ever come back?”
Qin Feng nodded. They were still counting on using Gu Wuyi’s kidney as a bargaining chip to win favor with the Chu family. The Chu family had a daughter with congenital kidney problems. Without Gu Wuyi’s kidney, she wouldn’t have survived long enough to witness Gu Wuyi’s company go bankrupt and his imprisonment.
But Qin Feng wouldn’t let that happen.
It wasn’t blind confidence.
He wasn’t a character in the original story, but now he was deeply involved with four of the antagonists and had even adopted two of them. That meant the plot could be changed. And even if the story somehow reverted to its original course, worst-case scenario, he could alter Gu Wuyi’s future by changing his university application and sending him to a research institute where he’d have little contact with outsiders.
The doctor was curious. “You really don’t know where those two are now?”
Qin Feng: “The government kindly sent them abroad. Once they got there, they stayed. Even if the government manages to track them down and negotiate to bring them back, do you think they’d let me know?”
The doctor frowned. “Those two graduated half a year after you. Their university wasn’t as good as yours. How did they even get government-sponsored spots?”
“There were plenty of opportunities for that a few years ago. Our university was better, so we had more slots.” Qin Feng thought for a moment. “I even heard that the drama schools had government-sponsored spots for going abroad.”
The doctor couldn’t believe it. “Even acting can get you sent abroad?”
Qin Feng nodded. “Our country faced tough times when it was newly established, right? Back then, even music academies had government-sponsored opportunities to study abroad.”
The doctor couldn’t help but comment, “No wonder they managed to go. But as far as I remember, they weren’t top students in their school?”
Qin Feng nodded. “I looked into it. Their English was quite good. Plus, when their school conducted background checks, they learned that Engineer Gu returned to the country during its hardest times. They assumed his children would share his loyalty.”
“Who would’ve thought…” The doctor shook his head.
Qin Feng added, “Engineer Gu didn’t see it coming either. If it weren’t for his son and daughter-in-law’s actions, he probably would’ve lived to be seventy or eighty years old."
The doctor lowered his voice. “So, based on what you’re saying, they won’t be able to come back?”
“Oh, they can come back. Just not to their original hometown. That’s off the table for life.”
The doctor, who believed that everyone eventually wants to return to their roots, was delighted by this. “Serves them right!” He adjusted the IV drip. “I’ve heard these two kids are particularly well-behaved, always top of their class. If those two ever found out how accomplished their kids are, wouldn’t they try to come back and take them?”
“Ever heard the saying, ‘A mighty dragon can’t overpower a local snake’?”
The doctor relaxed, relieved that Qin Feng wasn’t at risk of losing everything in the end.
“Dad…” Gu Xiao’er tugged anxiously at his shirt.
Qin Feng shook his head at the doctor, signaling him to stop the conversation.
“I’m here, son. The doctor was just speaking casually. If your biological parents ever dare to come for you, even if your dad and the factory director can’t beat them or drive them away, we’ll find someone to help. Remember I told you about Shao Tian’er? She saw your biological parents during a Chinese New Year event in Chinatown, and she despises people like them. And if she can’t handle it, I’ve got other powerful classmates who can.”
The doctor gave Qin Feng a curious look.
Qin Feng nodded. “I’m not making this up, and I’m not exaggerating. Among my classmates, there are plenty of people from influential families. If they so much as stomp their feet in Binhai, the whole city would feel the tremors.”
The doctor’s eyes widened in shock.
Qin Feng chuckled. “Surprising, isn’t it?”
“I thought prestigious universities were all about great professors and teaching resources.”
Qin Feng said, “Of course not.” He lowered his head to look at the pale-lipped child. “Feeling better now?”
The boy’s eyes welled up with tears, and he burrowed into Qin Feng’s arms to hide his face.
Qin Feng quickly held him still. “Don’t move around.”
“Daddy!”
Hearing the familiar voice, Qin Feng turned to see a tiny figure running toward him on short, stubby legs, followed closely by his mother.
“I told you to wait at home,” he said.
Madam Zhou carried the little one across the threshold and said, “He thought you lied to him. Miaomiao, did Daddy lie to you?”
The child shook his head, walked over, clung to Qin Feng’s leg, and stood on tiptoe to poke Gu Xiao’er’s face. “Why isn’t brother moving?”
Comments
Post a Comment