He wanted to, he really did but seeing Li Qiuyue’s serious expression, even the usually decisive Captain Qin felt a twinge of reluctance.
After looking at each other for a long moment, he said, “You can’t deny a child a better life.”
“What is a better life? Does Zhaozhao even know? Or have you already decided who you want to sell him to?” Li Qiuyue pressed.
The lively, expressive look she usually had was gone.
Qin Huai frowned. “Do you think I’m a child trafficker?”
“Who knows if you are!” Li Qiuyue sneered.
She slammed the knife onto the cutting board and said, “The Li family, I’ll deal with them. Zhaozhao, I’ll raise you myself. If you bring this up again, don’t blame me for turning against you.”
Having said that, she didn’t give Qin Huai a chance to speak, but shoved him out of the kitchen.
Qin Huai hadn’t expected to settle things with Li Qiuyue in one conversation anyway he only wanted to get her thinking, to give her a heads-up.
So he didn’t argue with her further.
That afternoon, the children came again, as expected.
Li Qiuyue said nothing, simply got on her tricycle, and left the house.
Qin Huai sensed something was off about her expression, but before he could ask, Li Qiuyue was already glaring at the tricycle and riding off.
She pressed her lips together and went straight to the town market without saying a word.
This time, she didn’t stop at her usual stall but kept walking straight ahead.
At the end of the market, she stopped and knocked on a brick wall.
After a short while, the wall opened from the inside.
The people inside saw her and immediately widened their eyes in fear.
Instinctively, they glanced at her hands.
Empty. No knife.
“Scar-face already taught those two rookies a lesson. You… don’t get impulsive!” the person opening the door said nervously.
It wasn’t fear, exactly Li Qiuyue was just terrifyingly fierce.
“It’s not about that,” Li Qiuyue said calmly. “Is Scar-face here? I’m paying him to help me with something.”
…
Meanwhile, at home.
Qin Huai watched Zhaozhao and the other children.
He had tidied up the house and cooked dinner, yet Li Qiuyue still hadn’t returned.
Worried, he used the excuse of taking the children home to go out with Zhaozhao around the village.
He even checked Liu Jinhua’s and Li Erni’s houses.
After taking all the children home and helping Li Tiedan’s father fix the big gate, Li Qiuyue still hadn’t returned.
“Uncle, are you looking for someone?” Zhaozhao noticed something unusual.
Snapping out of it, Qin Huai gently patted Zhaozhao’s head and asked while holding him up, “Zhaozhao, did you have fun playing with your friends?”
“Yes,” Zhaozhao nodded, unusually honest in front of his uncle.
He recounted how Zhao Guangzong wouldn’t let the other kids talk to him, and how Tiedan and the others were coming to play with him tomorrow.
His words were spontaneous, saying whatever came to mind.
But seeing him so happy made Qin Huai’s heart melt.
He thought: Li Qiuyue’s way of raising children and this environment really isn’t suitable for Zhaozhao.
With a plan forming in his mind, he gently tested, “What if I took you somewhere with lots of kids, where you could play with friends every day would you like that?”
“Yes!” Zhaozhao immediately nodded without thinking.
Qin Huai’s lips curved slightly.
Just as he was about to explain, he heard Zhaozhao continue excitedly, “Then I can wait for Mom to come back with them every day. That’ll be so fun!”
Qin Huai paused, then gently asked, “What if Mom can’t go there?”
“If Mom doesn’t go, then why would I go?” Zhaozhao asked, confused.
The obviousness of the answer stumped Qin Huai.
Zhaozhao blinked, then suddenly saw Li Qiuyue not far away, waving and shouting, “Mom!”
He gestured for Qin Huai to set him down and ran to Li Qiuyue, his little legs pumping.
Li Qiuyue scooped him up instantly, her gaze soft and gentle none of the harshness she sometimes showed.
Zhaozhao eagerly recounted to her all he had done with the other children.
Some things he had already told Qin Huai, some he hadn’t.
Regardless, Zhaozhao’s feelings toward Li Qiuyue were unique and deep.
Qin Huai felt a pang of anxiety thinking about separating them.
Better wait a little longer, he told himself.
He strode over to Li Qiuyue and took her tricycle.
Li Qiuyue gave him a sharp look but said nothing in front of Zhaozhao.
Unlike yesterday’s cold war, today they seemed to have reached an unspoken understanding: normal conversation in front of Zhaozhao.
But aside from brief Q&A, Li Qiuyue didn’t make any teasing or sarcastic remarks.
This normalcy felt strange to Qin Huai.
In the end, he couldn’t ask where she had gone or what she had done.
But he would soon find out.
The next day, before dawn, the village was filled with the sounds of mourning drums and wind instruments.
Someone had died.
Li Qiuyue heard it and climbed out of bed, putting on clothes she had prepared earlier.
As she left, she encountered Qin Huai exercising at the door.
He squinted at her, seeing her dressed in mourning attire. “Where are you going?”
“Don’t stop me from paying respects at the funeral,” Li Qiuyue shot him a glance and walked off.
Qin Huai followed the direction she went it led straight to the Li family.
Suddenly remembering she had said she would deal with the Li family, he hurried after her.
Li Qiuyue might be impulsive, but she was fundamentally good; surely she wouldn’t do anything illegal, right?
Qin Huai’s heart leapt to his throat, his mind a chaotic mess.
He even imagined visiting her in custody later, bringing Zhaozhao to see her.
When he reached the Li family, a crowd had already gathered.
After all, in a small village, whenever someone dies, everyone comes to pay respects.
Outside, a temporary mourning hall had been set up.
A simple pavilion held black-and-white photos of Li Gensheng and Liu Jinhua, with incense and offerings arranged in front.
Li Qiuyue sat on the ground, crying, snot and tears flowing freely.
“Father! Mother! Rest well on your journey!” she shouted hoarsely.
Behind her, a group of people in mourning clothes cried loudly. “Poor Uncle! Aunt! Please take care of yourselves underground!”
Some people guided onlookers, “There’s incense here. Anyone who had feelings for the Gensheng couple, please come light some.”
“Last night I was talking to Gensheng. How did he die today?” an uncle sighed, taking an incense stick and placing it in front.
Seeing that the incense was free, others followed suit, offering prayers and saying, “Rest well on your journey.”
Some whispered, “The Gensheng couple liked Erni so much. How come they died and only Qiuyue came to mourn?”
The crowd murmured in sympathy.
Qin Huai, however, felt something was off. When he came here yesterday afternoon, there had been nothing.
Li Qiuyue had been with him the whole time, so who had set up this mourning hall?
The mourners and musicians didn’t seem like they had just arrived.
And… where was the coffin?
Just then, Li Gensheng’s gate suddenly opened from the inside.
Out came Li Gensheng himself.