TVDC 33: End

When Qiu Xuning and He Zhiyuan returned home, the argument between Qiu Shunming and Zhou Mingmei had already ended but occasional voices could still be heard coming from their bedroom.

Qiu Shunming’s beating of Qiu Shouhai wasn’t really that harsh. It’s just that Qiu Shouhai had grown up to be all soft skin and delicate flesh that even a light hit would hurt him terribly. After so many strikes, he was in so much pain that he collapsed into a limp heap on the sofa.

When Qiu Shouhai saw Qiu Xuning and He Zhiyuan come in together, he moved his lips and said, “Qiu Xuning, come here.”

His tone was still a bit harsh. Qiu Xuning hesitated, cautiously peeking at him. “…What do you want?”

Qiu Shouhai raised his voice slightly. “I told you to come here, so come over.”

Because he had been crying earlier, his voice sounded hoarse and there was a hint of irritation in his tone.

The more he acted like this, the less Qiu Xuning dared to approach. He quickly said, “I’m going back to do my homework.”

Qiu Shouhai then asked, “Tell me, is Dad really rich?”

Hearing what Qiu Shouhai said, Qiu Xuning knew that Qiu Shunming still hadn’t admitted it. He looked up at He Zhiyuan, suddenly realizing that he had forgotten to ask him about the money situation earlier.

“Say something! No matter how bad I treat you, I’m still your brother. Do you really want to see me die?” Qiu Shouhai grumbled loudly. 

Qiu Xuning muttered under his breath, “We live in a society ruled by law.”

Qiu Shouhai sneered, “What’s so great about a society ruled by law? You could get stabbed on the street, and they might not even catch the killer! You think just because it’s a law-abiding society, it’s actually useful?”

From the way he was speaking with so much energy, it was clear that the beating from Qiu Shunming hadn’t caused any serious injury, just some bruises. It hurt, but after a little while, it had already improved quite a bit, and it didn’t stop him from shouting at Qiu Xuning with his loud voice.

Qiu Xuning was most afraid of people speaking to him in a harsh tone. He didn’t know how to respond. Just then, He Zhiyuan leaned in and softly said to him, “Go back to your room.”

Qiu Xuning quickly responded and turned to go upstairs with He Zhiyuan.

Qiu Shouhai called out again, “He Zhiyuan, did you or did you not give any money to our family? Your family’s so rich, how could you just say there’s nothing all of a sudden?”

Of course, He Zhiyuan didn’t respond. He didn’t even pause his steps. However, Qiu Xuning, upon hearing Qiu Shouhai’s words, couldn’t help but glance at He Zhiyuan.

He Zhiyuan noticed Qiu Xuning’s gaze and with a glance down at him, his voice became low and calm. “We’ll talk about it upstairs.”

Qiu Xuning responded with a soft “Okay,” and obediently followed He Zhiyuan upstairs.

Qiu Shouhai, seeing that they were completely ignoring him, felt a mix of shame and anger. He had never been beaten so badly before and now Qiu Xuning had seen it. He wasn’t sure if he would be mocked about it later, and just the thought of it made him even more frustrated.

He slammed his fist hard against the sofa, but the impact made the wound throb with pain, causing him to grit his teeth and curse under his breath as he lay back down, clearly uncomfortable.

Once in He Zhiyuan’s bedroom, Qiu Xuning cautiously asked, “You said my Dad has money—does that mean you know something?”

Although He Zhiyuan wasn’t present to hear Qiu Haiyan’s words, Qiu Xuning couldn’t shake the feeling that He Zhiyuan knew something more.

He Zhiyuan didn’t answer. He glanced toward the window, then walked over and closed it, drawing the curtains so that the room was suddenly plunged into darkness. For a moment, there was no light at all but He Zhiyuan quickly switched on the desk lamp and the room was illuminated once more, clearly showing the expressions on both their faces.

Qiu Xuning sat down in the chair, carefully observing He Zhiyuan’s expression. “Why aren’t you saying anything?”

He Zhiyuan responded, “What do you want me to say?”

Qiu Xuning let out a soft “ah,” his tone much gentler, tinged with emotions he himself couldn’t fully understand. “…It’s just that, you keep saying my family has money, that my Dad has money—his money, is it yours?”

He Zhiyuan looked at him, then turned his gaze away, looking towards the door. “Lawyer Jin didn’t mind telling me the details of the agreement. Qiu Shunming became my guardian until I come of age. He will receive a villa, along with 150,000 yuan in cash.”

He looked back at Qiu Xuning, his gaze deep. “The cash was transferred into his account right from the beginning. The villa will only be given to him after I turn eighteen.”

Qiu Xuning stared at him in shock, unable to process what he had just heard. It took a long while before he finally managed to weakly confirm, “The cash… was given from the beginning?”

He Zhiyuan lowered his eyes and gave a quiet “Mm.”

Qiu Xuning still couldn’t believe it. He opened his mouth, but feeling a bit ashamed, he lowered his head and asked, “T–then why didn’t you say anything at the start?”

He Zhiyuan didn’t say anything.

Qiu Xuning quickly pieced it together himself. Qiu Shunming must have had the intention of completely denying the money from the very beginning. As long as he didn’t admit to it, even if He Zhiyuan spoke up, it would be pointless.

Even though this matter didn’t have much to do with him, Qiu Xuning still felt embarrassed. His face turned red and he didn’t dare speak another word.

He Zhiyuan said, “It’s actually a good thing.”

Qiu Xuning looked up at him when he heard this. “…A good thing? Why do you say that?”

He Zhiyuan noticed the lingering shame and awkwardness on Qiu Xuning’s face. His gaze flickered for a moment before he quietly replied, “No particular reason.”

A trace of confusion appeared in Qiu Xuning’s eyes. He wanted to ask more but He Zhiyuan put on an expression that clearly said, “I don’t want to say anything,” and Qiu Xuning swallowed the rest of his questions.

At this point, Qiu Xuning was having trouble understanding the situation. If He Zhiyuan wasn’t lying, then Qiu Shunming really had taken the 150,000 yuan in cash. That amount was nearly the total income of this family over five years. Supporting a single He Zhiyuan would have been more than enough. Yet, Qiu Shunming refused to say anything and allowed Zhou Mingmei and the others to misunderstand He Zhiyuan.

In the end, it seemed that Qiu Shunming had paid off Qiu Shouhai’s gambling debt. The atmosphere at home had been heavy and tense these past few days, and Qiu Xuning found himself avoiding speaking much. He quickly finished his meal, intending to bring food to He Zhiyuan.

At that moment, Zhou Mingmei suddenly stopped him. Her expression wasn’t very pleasant. Qiu Xuning felt a bit uneasy at first and cautiously asked, “What’s wrong?”

Zhou Mingmei pointed at the meat dishes on the table and said, “Anyway, we can’t finish all this. You should put some on his plate.”

Qiu Xuning blinked in surprise, his eyes widening, and then the corners of his eyes curved upward as his little tiger teeth peeked out. “Really? Then should I serve him some?”

Zhou Mingmei replied, “Isn’t it real? How could it be fake?”

Though Qiu Xuning was happy, he still felt some uncertainty, mixed with hope. “Mom, He Zhiyuan said Dad took 150,000 yuan in cash, paid off my brother’s 50,000 yuan gambling debt, and there’s still 100,000 left. If we keep supporting him for another year, there would still be some left over. Can we let him eat with us from now on?”

To his surprise, as soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Mingmei’s face darkened, and her eyes widened to the size of copper bells. She shouted, “That damn bastard! He lied to me, saying there were only 60,000! Turns out it’s 150,000!!”

Qiu Xuning: “…”

Zhou Mingmei, furious, took off her apron, threw it onto the chair, grabbed her phone, and dialed Qiu Shunming’s number.

Soon, the living room became noisy.

Zhou Mingmei’s voice was loud and shrill, piercing Qiu Xuning’s eardrums. He rubbed his ears, quickly piled more fish and beef onto his chopsticks, then turned and ran upstairs to deliver the food to He Zhiyuan.

He handed the food to He Zhiyuan and said, “Did you know? Turns out my Dad lied to my Mom, telling her he only had 60,000 yuan.”

He Zhiyuan gave a faint smile. “Your Mom always believes what you say.”

At first, Qiu Xuning didn’t think much of it, but as soon as he opened his mouth to reply, he suddenly froze. His heart skipped a beat as he turned to look at He Zhiyuan.

At that moment, He Zhiyuan was lowering his eyes, his long, delicate fingers holding the chopsticks, picking up a few grains of rice. Noticing Qiu Xuning’s gaze, he glanced up at him briefly, their eyes meeting for just a fleeting moment before he looked away. “What are you looking at me for?”

Qiu Xuning snapped back to reality, stuttering, “I don’t know.” He just felt a bit strange.

What He Zhiyuan said, they might not believe, but when it came from Qiu Xuning’s mouth, it somehow added an unwarranted sense of credibility.

Qiu Xuning wasn’t sure what he was feeling at that moment, it didn’t seem like there was anything particularly special, but deep down, he couldn’t shake a sense of unspoken shame and guilt when it came to He Zhiyuan.

Hmm, the immediate priority was to quickly raise He Zhiyuan’s status—he wasn’t just eating for free anymore.

As Qiu Xuning thought this, a smile appeared on his face, and he softly said, “Look, there’s so much meat today, don’t you think?”

He Zhiyuan glanced at him. “What are you trying to say?”

Qiu Xuning cleared his throat, a hint of joy on his face as he said, “My Mom asked me to serve you. I put so much on your plate and she didn’t say anything.”

150,000 yuan would probably be enough for He Zhiyuan to enjoy luxurious meals for five or six years, right?

As he spoke, Qiu Xuning felt a bit embarrassed. He glanced at He Zhiyuan and quickly lowered his eyes, softly saying, “Let me ask if I can get them to give you some pocket money. That way, you won’t have to do homework for others anymore. It’s getting colder and if you could go to bed earlier, wouldn’t that be nice?”

After he finished speaking, he didn’t hear He Zhiyuan respond. When he looked back at him, he saw that He Zhiyuan had placed an empty bowl on the table.

Qiu Xuning was a bit surprised and stammered, “You eat so fast.”

In the blink of an eye, he had finished a whole bowl.

He Zhiyuan replied, “I’m still hungry.”

Qiu Xuning eagerly reached for the bowl. “I’ll get you another one.”

He Zhiyuan didn’t stop him, waiting quietly for a moment. Soon, Qiu Xuning returned, carrying a steaming bowl of rice, piled high with meat dishes.

A flicker of doubt passed through He Zhiyuan’s eyes, but he didn’t say anything. He took the bowl from Qiu Xuning’s hands.

Qiu Xuning, excited, said, “Mom didn’t say anything and even told me to give you more meat!”

He Zhiyuan paused, glanced at him, but said nothing.

Qiu Xuning didn’t notice the change in his mood and went on chattering, “She used to think you were just freeloading but now, see? You’re not. Her heart softened.”

He Zhiyuan gave no response. Qiu Xuning talked for a while, but when He Zhiyuan still showed no reaction, he pressed his lips together and looked at him with a trace of unease.

“Why aren’t you saying anything?” Qiu Xuning asked cautiously.

He Zhiyuan replied, “What do you want me to say?”

Qiu Xuning was momentarily stunned, but then he realized that, at this moment, there really wasn’t much for He Zhiyuan to say. He pressed his lips together, then softly said, “It’ll get better and better from now on.”

And there was only one year left—it would pass by quickly.