Song Ge caught the fear in Qin Jian’s eyes and smiled eerily.
Qin Jian instinctively stepped back, brows furrowed. She wanted to escape his menacing glare, settle this with money, then report him to the police. Once he was arrested and convicted, she would be safe.
But a pair of hands settled on her shoulders. She turned around and met Lu Qingshen’s concerned gaze.
“Here to collect ‘protection money’ from a military family?” Lu Qingshen soothed her with a look, then lifted his eyes to stare coldly at Song Ge.
Song Ge’s sharp, dangerous gaze snapped to a halt the moment it locked with Lu Qingshen’s and then he saw the military uniform.
He jerked his head up and fell back with his men. “Brother, misunderstanding. My guys talk too much.”
“We are leaving, nothing to see here.”
Song Ge turned and led his group away without hesitation.
Watching them go, Qin Jian let out a long breath.
“Thank goodness Battalion Commander Lu was here, they would have bullied Xiao Qin otherwise!” Sun Rong patted her chest in relief, peering out the door until the men were gone, then quickly shut and bolted it.
Qin Jian turned to Lu Qingshen. “Thank you, Lu Qingshen.”
“Xiao Qin, you sound so formal with Battalion Commander Lu!” Sun Rong teased with a laugh.
The words were said in jest, but they struck home. Qin Jian’s expression stiffened for a heartbeat as her eyes met Lu Qingshen’s.
Lu Qingshen made a few casual remarks, and Sun Rong went off to get the children fed.
Qin Jian led him into the study.
Lu Qingshen glanced down at his sleeve, caught in her hand, said nothing, and followed her inside.
Qin Jian took a pen holder and a notebook from the desk, wrote several names on a page, and handed it to him.
“What is this?” he asked, confused.
“That man Song Ge is a criminal. These are people he may have murdered.”
Lu Qingshen looked up sharply. Qin Jian avoided his gaze. “Do not ask how I know. If you trust me, please report this to the authorities for me.”
If she went to the police herself, they would press her for answers. But Lu Qingshen could invoke military confidentiality to shield her.
“Very well.” Lu Qingshen studied her for a long moment, then took the note without asking further.
Qin Jian breathed a quiet sigh of relief. The moment she had seen Song Ge, she had known she would ask Lu Qingshen for help. That he did not demand explanations made her warm to him a little.
Lu Qingshen did not leave right away that afternoon. First he stopped at the supply and marketing cooperative and came back with white sugar and milk candies.
“Why so much?” Qin Jian was surprised and wincing at the expense. “We will never finish it all, what a waste.”
Lu Qingshen found her frugal dismay endearing. “I am taking you to call on the neighbors,” he explained gently. “If they know you are under my wing, then if Song Ge and his thugs come back, they will not stand by and do nothing.”
Qin Jian opened her mouth to refuse, then said nothing. He was so thoughtful.
So he took her around, introducing her to everyone. Between work and the pregnancy, she had had no time to get to know the neighborhood properly. By the end of the round, even the children knew her, and knew she was family of a serviceman.
Later, as they stepped back into the courtyard and were alone for a moment, Qin Jian said quietly, “Lu Qingshen, thank you.”
“It is my duty to protect you and the baby. Just the neighborhood is not as safe as the military compound. If you change your mind, there is always a place for you, for the mistress of the house, in the family quarters.”
Warmth swelled in her chest. His kindness was hard to resist, but then she remembered. In her past life, he had been cold to her, for decades. She could not trust him so easily.
After all, they had spent so many years together. He must have known exactly what kind of person she was.
“Thank you. Is there anything I can do for you?” she asked, steering past his words, eyes bright with gratitude.
Lu Qingshen’s gaze darkened for an instant, then cleared. “It is nothing. We are doing this for the child.”
He glanced at his wristwatch. “I must return to base for a report. I will be going now.”
“Safe travels.”
She saw him and Xiao Liu to the gate, watched them drive away in the military jeep, then closed the courtyard door. Inside, Granny Wang and Sun Rong had already tidied the kitchen. There was nothing left for her to do, so she went straight to her room and napped.
When she woke, she planned to head to the department store. She worried. Would Song Ge, smarting from being chased off, take his anger out on the shop instead? Wu Han was confined to a wheelchair; Xiao Qiao was only eight, easy targets for bullies who picked on the weak.
She had hired them; she would look after them.
She was just getting ready to leave when someone knocked. A child’s voice came through the door. “Sister Qin, phone call for you. Old Deng at the supply store sent me to fetch you.”
Qin Jian opened the gate and recognized Hu Minglang, the boy from a few courtyards over.
“Thank you, Minglang.” She pressed a handful of brown sugar peanuts into his palm.
The boy whooped and ran back to his friends, and soon laughter rang out. Sweets were such a rare treat.
Qin Jian smiled tenderly, resting a hand on her stomach. By this time next year, her Xingxing would be out here too, living an ordinary life. But first, she would clear every obstacle from their path.
Her eyes narrowed, thinking of Qin Yun, as she headed calmly to the supply cooperative. She took the receiver from Uncle Zheng and dialed. Sun Yu picked up.
“Qin Jian, did you use me on purpose?” Sun Yu shrieked down the line. “How could you be so cruel?”
“What are you talking about?” Qin Jian said, unmoved.
“Did you feed me those words just to get back at Qin Yun?”
Qin Jian did not rise to it. “Qin Yun, she is my sister. Why would I do that?”
“You have never gotten along, would not it make sense?” Sun Yu scoffed, then sounded unsure. “You really did not plan this?”
“You have ruined everything!”
Qin Jian cut in. “What happened? Tell me.”
“Hmph, you said your mother had five thousand yuan, did not you? I let it slip and your uncle’s family has been pestering her nonstop this past month. Everyone was jealous they could leech off her, then last night, all hell broke loose. Your father beat your uncle so bad he is in hospital.”
So the trouble had only erupted last night, no wonder Sun Yu was calling now.
But her father, that fierce? And her uncle’s family, could not they even handle her mother?
“And my mother?”