Hospital.
Sheng Xue stood anxiously to one side.
The doctor was changing the dressing on Qin Zhen’s wound. It was deep, the flesh gaping open.
Sheng Xue’s face was pale. Her younger sister, Sheng Qing, had inflicted that knife wound.
Even after several days, it was still bleeding.
That showed how fiercely Sheng Qing had meant to hurt him.
The doctor finished bandaging the wound and left. Steward Zhong pushed open the door and came in.
Qin Zhen asked, “Have you found her?”
Steward Zhong shook his head with a sigh. “There’s still no good news from Major Chen.”
“Send more people to look. We have to find that wild girl.”
Steward Zhong went out again.
“When Qingqing comes back, I’ll discipline her. Could you… could you let her off this once?” Sheng Xue twisted her fingers together uneasily.
“She dared to stab me this time. Next time, she might kill someone. Blindly protecting her will only ruin her.”
Qin Zhen’s expression was stern. “Sending her to prison for reform could still save her future.”
Sheng Xue’s face turned deathly pale.
This time, Qin Zhen was truly furious.
Just then, Qin Zhen’s phone rang.
He answered. “Keep an eye on her. I’ll be right back.”
Sheng Xue hurriedly asked, “Is it Qingqing? Has she gone back to the Qin Residence?”
Qin Zhen hung up. “Yes.”
Sheng Xue rushed back to the Qin Residence, and sure enough, she found Sheng Qing in the living room.
“Qingqing!”
At her older sister’s cry, Sheng Qing looked up in a daze. “Older Sister…”
At this point, her older sister was still alive.
Sheng Xue stumbled over to her. “Go, quickly! Qin Zhen is furious. He wants to send you to prison.”
As she spoke, Sheng Xue pushed her toward the door. “Go hide somewhere outside. I’ll talk him around…”
Feng Xiaojing chimed in, “Right, hide for three or five years…”
“Shut up,” Sheng Qing snapped.
Feng Xiaojing was actually silenced by the look in her eyes.
Sheng Qing’s nose stung. She hugged her older sister.
“Older Sister, I’m not afraid.” Her voice caught in her throat. “Brother-in-law won’t really do anything to me.”
Sheng Xue’s eyes widened in alarm. “What… what did you say?”
She had always hated Qin Zhen.
Whenever she saw him, she never gave him a kind look.
She either called him a damn bastard or a spineless coward.
And now she was calling him Brother-in-law?
Had she imagined it?
Qin Zhen, who had just stepped through the doorway, stopped abruptly.
What had that wild girl just called him?
Sheng Qing wiped away her tears. “I was wrong to do what I did. I’m not leaving. Where’s Brother-in-law? I have something to say to him.”
Sheng Xue stared at her, dumbfounded. She hadn’t imagined it.
Feng Xiaojing frowned. Had Sheng Qing gone crazy?
Qin Zhen’s brows drew together. “What do you have to say to me?”
Only then did Sheng Qing notice Qin Zhen standing in the doorway.
He was alive, too. That was wonderful.
He was still so tall and broad-shouldered, not lying in a hospital bed with tubes all over him, kept alive by an IV drip.
Qin Zhen strode toward the living room, his expression hard, his presence imposing.
A soldier who had fought bloody battles on the front lines carried a certain violence in his bones.
No wonder her older sister was always like a startled rabbit around him—afraid of him, terrified of him, dreading him.
“You know how to come back, do you?” Qin Zhen said coldly.
Sheng Qing looked around and spotted a stick in the corner.
She walked over, picked it up, and weighed it in her hand.
It was heavy.
It would probably hurt quite a bit to hit someone with it.
Holding the stick, she walked toward Qin Zhen.
Steward Zhong shouted, “If you dare act out again, I’ll call the guards!”
Sheng Xue was startled, too. “Qingqing, don’t!”
Feng Xiaojing continued in her role as a meddling troublemaker. “Oh, Sheng Qing, are you going to hit someone again? Hurry up and have the guards arrest her!”
Watching the girl approach with a stick in her hands, Qin Zhen’s expression darkened. “What, you still want to hit me?”
Sheng Qing stopped in front of him. “You can hit me however you want. You can even punish me under military law.”
Steward Zhong: “…?”
Sheng Xue: “…?”
Qin Zhen: “…”
Feng Xiaojing was stunned, too.
The living room fell into an eerie silence.
Everyone stared at Sheng Qing strangely.
She put the stick into the man’s hand. “Older Sister, go ahead. I did something wrong, so I should be punished.”
Qin Zhen stiffened. “Steward Zhong.”
The stunned steward answered, “Yes?” and hurried over. “General.”
“Go get a doctor. A psychiatrist. Have them examine her.”
Now it was Sheng Qing’s turn to be speechless. “…”
Steward Zhong really started to leave, but Sheng Qing stopped him. “Uncle Zhong, Older Sister was joking.”
That respectful “Uncle Zhong” left the old man dumbfounded. “But, General…”
If Sheng Qing wasn’t insulting him, was she really still Sheng Qing?
Sheng Qing gave a rueful smile.
In her previous life, she had hated everyone in the Qin family.
She had never treated even this steward kindly.
“Since she says there’s no need, forget it.” Qin Zhen fixed Sheng Qing with a sharp gaze. “Yesterday you were threatening to kill me, and today you’re suddenly behaving yourself?”
Sheng Xue had noticed the change in her younger sister, too. She asked worriedly, “Qingqing, did something happen that I don’t know about?”
Feng Xiaojing deliberately said, “Maybe she’s had a change of heart and doesn’t hate the Qin family anymore?”
It sounded like an innocent remark, but it stirred suspicion in Qin Zhen.
Sheng Qing had always hated the Qin family. How could she suddenly stop?
Sheng Qing was just about to say something when her vision suddenly went black, and she collapsed to the floor.
“Qingqing!” Sheng Xue cried out in alarm.
Qin Zhen frowned. “Call the family doctor.”
The doctor arrived quickly. After examining her, he said, “She has a high fever. I’ll give her an injection now, and we’ll see how she is tomorrow.”
Sheng Xue sat by the bed, worried.
Qin Zhen’s frown deepened.
He turned and went outside to find Steward Zhong. “Have you found out?”
Steward Zhong lowered his voice. “We checked the surveillance footage and questioned the guards. They said the girl ran all the way back from halfway up the mountain.”
“Where did she go during the two days she was missing?”
“Major Chen just got back. He has some documents with him, so he must have found something.”
“Have him report to me in the study.”
“Yes.”
**
In the study.
The young officer placed the file on the desk.
“General, Miss Sheng Qing spent the last two days with a young man named Lu Yun’an.”
Qin Zhen opened the folder. It contained all the details about Lu Yun’an.
After reading it, he said, “Did Qin Shi come back?”
Steward Zhong replied, “The servants said he took a phone call and then left again.”
“Have him come by tomorrow morning. Tell him I have something important to discuss.”
The next day.
Qin Shi stepped through the front door.
Steward Zhong came forward to take the man’s suit jacket. “Second Young Master, the General has been waiting since early this morning.”
“What does he want?”
Steward Zhong didn’t know how to bring up Sheng Qing, so he could only give an awkward smile. “The General will tell you himself. Have you had breakfast, Second Young Master?”
Not long afterward, Qin Zhen came downstairs.
The two brothers sat at the same dining table.
Looking at the white bandage wrapped around Qin Zhen’s arm, Qin Shi gave a mocking laugh. “A little ungrateful brat did this to you? Elder Brother, aren’t you afraid people will laugh themselves sick if they hear about it?”
At that point, Qin Shi had no good impression of Sheng Qing at all.
As far as he was concerned, Sheng Qing had been causing trouble ever since the day she came to the Qin Residence.
She always looked at the Qin family with intense hatred.
Like a defiant little beast, she was always trying to fight back.
Now that she was older, she had become even more rebellious and reckless, and no one liked her.
That Sheng Qing who had cried in his arms like a little kitten last night had either gone crazy or been possessed.
“If you don’t tell anyone, and I don’t tell anyone, who’s going to laugh?” Qin Zhen said, tossing the file to Qin Shi. “There’s a file here. Take a look.”
Qin Shi casually flipped it open. “Lu Yun’an?”
Qin Zhen nodded. “He’s that little girl Sheng Qing’s boyfriend. He’s been secretly investigating her for three years and scheming to get close to her.”
A boyfriend?
That brat was pretty rebellious. She was still so young, and already she had a man?
Qin Shi leafed through the file without much interest.
The Qin family was powerful enough to attract trouble. Plenty of enemies wanted to see them fall.
Lu Yun’an’s calculated approach was probably aimed at the Qin family.
Qin Zhen said, “A couple of days ago, that girl saw me arguing with her Older Sister. In a fit of anger, she hurt me, then took advantage of the chaos to run away from home. After coming back yesterday, she started acting strangely.”
She certainly was acting strangely.
Qin Shi closed the file. “Do you think Sheng Qing is acting strange because of this Lu Yun’an?”
“Maybe she is, maybe she isn’t.” Qin Zhen said, “I have a task for you.”
Qin Shi had a bad feeling about this.
Sure enough, the next moment his Elder Brother said, “Spend some time with that girl and see what she’s really up to.”
Qin Shi wasn’t having it. “You want me to spy on her? Why go to all that trouble? Just throw her in prison. That’ll make Sheng Xue do whatever you say, and it’ll take care of that little ungrateful brat once and for all.”
Steward Zhong silently wiped the sweat from his forehead.
There was a saying going around outside the family:
“Better to take a beating from Qin Zhen than to incur Qin Shi’s hatred.”
It meant that if you offended someone in the Qin family, you were better off being beaten to death by Qin Zhen than earning Qin Shi’s grudge.
The Qin family’s Second Young Master looked impeccably dressed and well-mannered, but cruelty was carved into his bones.
Qin Zhen frowned. “Putting her in prison is easy. The hard part is dealing with Sheng Xue crying and carrying on afterward. It’s a hassle.”
Qin Shi scoffed. “You’ve had five years and still can’t handle one woman. You should be ashamed.”
Qin Zhen: “…”
**
Sheng Qing changed her clothes and went out. Feng Xiaojing came out of her room, too, wearing a simple dress.
When she saw what Sheng Qing was wearing, Feng Xiaojing almost failed to recognize her.
A white dress, paired with a thin black belt.
Cinched at the waist, it showed off the girl’s slender figure.
Her hair was tied up in a bun, giving her a youthful, lively look. Her pretty oval face was enough to make anyone jealous.
Sheng Qing used to dress very boldly.
Low-cut tops, miniskirts, and sultry makeup that didn’t suit her age.
Qin Zhen was a traditional, conservative man. Whenever he saw her dressed like some kind of monster, his expression was always quite something.
The more rebellious and ill-mannered Sheng Qing acted, the more the Qin family disliked her.
And as long as Feng Xiaojing behaved, she could win the Qin family’s favor.
If the two Sheng sisters kept acting out, they’d eventually be driven out of the Qin Residence.
Feng Xiaojing called after her. “Sheng Qing, why are you dressed so conservatively? It’s not like you at all.”
Sheng Qing glanced at her sidelong. “Then tell me, how should I dress?”
Feng Xiaojing answered without thinking. “Obviously, like you used to. Bold, sexy—your own unique style.”
“Is that so?” Sheng Qing smiled and walked away.
Feng Xiaojing was completely baffled.
She just walked off?
She’d heard such flattering words and hadn’t gone back to her room to change?
…
Sheng Qing went downstairs and saw Steward Zhong in the living room.
She was filled with guilt toward the old steward.
He’d spent his whole life working for the Qin family, and Qin Zhen had always treated him with respect. Yet Sheng Qing had often pointed at him and cursed him.
“Uncle Zhong,” Sheng Qing said as she went over to greet him.
Steward Zhong glanced at her several times.
He had never seen Sheng Qing dressed so properly. She used to dress like a little thug who was about to take a watermelon knife out onto the street and start hacking people up.
“Breakfast is ready. The General and Second Young Master are in the dining room…”
Sheng Qing froze for a moment. Qin Shi was here?
Her calm heart began to pound.
As she neared the dining room, she could hear the brothers talking.
Qin Zhen was a soldier, and his voice was on the high side.
Qin Shi, on the other hand, spoke lazily, his tone always carrying a languid, nonchalant quality.
As if sensing something, Qin Shi, slouched in his chair, turned around lazily.
A flash of surprise crossed his deep-set eyes.
In his memory, Sheng Qing was like a tomboy, always dressed in a way that made no sense, covered in all sorts of mismatched accessories, and wearing exaggerated smoky eye makeup. She looked like a little thug.
But the girl standing in front of him now wore a white dress and looked clean and pretty.
She stood gracefully in the brilliant light.
She looked so well-behaved it was almost hard to believe.
“You’re up?” Qin Zhen pointed to the chair beside him. “Come sit.”
“Okay.” Sheng Qing lowered her lashes and slowly walked over to sit down.
“You fainted from a fever yesterday. How are you feeling today?” Qin Zhen asked.
“I’m fine. Thank you for asking, Older Sister,” Sheng Qing murmured.
“Cough.”
Qin Zhen choked. He was so used to hearing her call him a scumbag or a bastard that he wasn’t used to her being so polite.
Feng Xiaojing came into the dining room, too, and sweetly greeted them. “Brother Qin Zhen, Brother Qin Shi.”
Qin Zhen smiled and nodded. “Mm.”
Just after Feng Xiaojing sat down, Sheng Qing suddenly asked, “Older Sister, what do you think of how I’m dressed today?”
Qin Shi, drinking his coffee, raised an eyebrow slightly.
Qin Zhen looked her over. “A young girl should dress like this. The way you used to dress was too revealing. It wasn’t appropriate.”
“I think you should dress for your age, too,” Sheng Qing said with a smile. “But Feng Xiaojing said I’m dressed too conservatively and told me to dress bolder and sexier.”
Feng Xiaojing, who was eating, spat out a mouthful of rice. It sprayed everywhere.
Qin Shi put down his coffee cup and said expressionlessly, “Steward Zhong, replace the entire breakfast.”