Qin Xiaofeng was completely stunned by the sudden question. He couldn’t understand why Qin Huizhu would ask him something like that.
“Second Sister, what are you talking about?” he replied calmly, without even a blush. “Of course it was me. In our family, only Third Sister and I know how to play the piano. And you know her playing doesn’t help your insomnia at all.”
“Xiaofeng, I’ll ask you one last time,” Qin Huizhu’s expression dimmed, clearly disappointed by his answer. “For the past half year, was it really you who played the piano to help me sleep?”
Facing the same question again, Qin Xiaofeng lost his previous confidence. It was as if he realized something and lowered his head once more.
“I’m sorry, Second Sister…” he murmured, his voice barely audible as tears suddenly rolled down his cheeks.
Seeing that, Qin Huizhu closed her eyes, feeling as if her heart was being ripped apart.
It wasn’t his tears that pained her—
It was the harsh truth that stirred up a deeper guilt.
“Why did you lie to me?”
She finally asked after a long silence.
“Second Sister, I didn’t mean to…” Qin Xiaofeng’s voice choked, “It was Brother Qin Yi who told me not to say anything. He was afraid Third Sister would get mad if she found out he’d touched her piano without permission, so he asked me to cover for him.”
“Is that really true?” Qin Huizhu asked, her tone tinged with doubt.
Now that she’d uncovered the truth, she could no longer trust everything Qin Xiaofeng said.
“Second Sister, I’m really not lying this time. I won’t ever lie again,” Qin Xiaofeng sobbed, his voice echoing softly in the study.
Looking at him like that, Qin Huizhu didn’t press any further. But she couldn’t stop the words Qin Yi had once spoken to her from surfacing in her mind.
His tone, his expression…
The more she thought about it, the more she felt this whole matter wasn’t as simple as Qin Xiaofeng claimed.
“I’m tired,” she said.
The anxiety from insomnia, the emotional blow from the truth, and the guilt that kept surging up—it was all becoming too much to bear.
She no longer hoped that the piano music would help her sleep tonight, nor did she want to untangle the messy details now.
In her heart, she quietly made a decision.
Tomorrow morning, she would go to Qin Yi’s school and speak to him. Find the original chapter at g.com.
“Second Sister, I’m sorry,” Qin Xiaofeng said again, choking back his emotions.
“It’s fine. I’m not angry,” Qin Huizhu forced a strained smile. “Go to bed now. It’s the final stretch before the college entrance exams—you have school tomorrow.”
“But if you can’t sleep, I can’t sleep either,” Qin Xiaofeng sniffled, his eyes full of worry.
“I’ve got some sleeping pills left. Don’t worry about me. Go rest.” Qin Huizhu casually made up an excuse. She really didn’t want to hear any more meaningless words. She got up and left the study, returning to her room, leaving Qin Xiaofeng standing there helplessly.
But the moment the door closed, the look of guilt and sadness on his face vanished completely, replaced by a cold and calculating expression, like a whole different person.
“Tch… not so easy to fool after all. This is getting out of hand. I need to come up with something.”
…
…
The next day.
Qin Yi woke up early. He didn’t have the habit of sleeping in. As soon as he opened his eyes, he got up and went straight to the bathroom to wash up.
There was no one in the living room. Puffy wasn’t around either. The door to Gu Rumeng’s room was open—she’d probably gone out to buy breakfast.
There was a new note left on the coffee table. The content was similar to yesterday’s, but the handwriting was different.
Qin Yi guessed it must’ve been written by Sister Mingyue, since she hadn’t gone home last night and had slept in the same room as Sister Rumeng.
It was still early, and Qin Yi wasn’t in a rush to leave for school. Otherwise, if Sister Rumeng came back with breakfast and didn’t see him, she’d probably panic.
With nothing else to do, Qin Yi grabbed a broom and started cleaning the living room.
A short while later, the sound of a key turning came from the door.
“Huh? Qin Yi, you’re cleaning?” Gu Rumeng walked in with breakfast, clearly surprised.
“Our little brother is so sensible,” Xue Mingyue said warmly, her eyes tinged with heartache.
Last night, while she was sharing a room with Gu Rumeng, she had learned quite a bit about Qin Yi’s past.
“Come, put that down and eat breakfast. Let Sister Mingyue handle the cleaning,” Gu Rumeng said as she placed the breakfast on the table.
“Huh?”
But since it involved Qin Yi, after a moment of surprise, she decisively walked forward and snatched the broom from his hands.
“It’s just sweeping. Let me do it,” she said.
“I can sweep, Sister Mingyue. It’s no big deal,” Qin Yi said as he tried to take the broom back. He felt that since he was staying here for free, he should help out somehow.
“You’re a senior now, with less than two months until the college entrance exam. Your main job is studying and doing practice tests,” Xue Mingyue said as she pinched his cheek. “Leave chores like this to the adults. Be good. Listen to your sister and go eat.”
Without giving him a chance to respond, she darted off into the other room with the broom.
She shouted as she went, “Ahh, sweeping is so hot—I need to take off my clothes! Qin Yi, don’t you dare peek, or you’ll have to take responsibility for the rest of your life!”
“…”
Qin Yi was speechless. This was the first time in his life he’d encountered such a shameless way of messing around.
“Don’t mind your Sister Mingyue. She’s never serious about anything,” Gu Rumeng said as she shook her head while setting breakfast on the table.
Today’s breakfast was much more extravagant than yesterday’s.
Just the smell alone made Qin Yi’s appetite surge.
“Eat up. I bought it just for you,” Gu Rumeng said as she picked up a soup dumpling with her chopsticks and stuffed it straight into Qin Yi’s mouth.
“Aren’t we waiting for Sister Mingyue?” Qin Yi mumbled with his mouth full.
“She already ate when we bought breakfast. Don’t worry about her—just eat.”
Gu Rumeng kept piling food into his bowl.
Before he even finished chewing his first dumpling, his bowl had already turned into a small mountain.
Suddenly, he understood why Puffy was so chubby…
After breakfast, just as Qin Yi finished eating, Xue Mingyue came out of the room.
“Let’s go!” she said, jingling her car keys.
“Huh? Go where?” Qin Yi asked, confused.
“I’m headed to the company, and your school is on the way. I’ll give you a lift!”