After correcting her mistakes, Li Qing looked up at the clock on the wall and realized it was already past eight in the evening.
She stretched her limbs, preparing to go downstairs to help out and then head to her part-time job at the convenience store after ten.
Just as Li Qing stood up, Zhao Wenyi opened the office door with a serious expression.
“Xiao Li, come down and take a look.”
“?”
Li Qing was puzzled but followed Zhao Wenyi downstairs.
As soon as she reached the staircase landing, she saw Yuan Miao execute a reverse back throw, sending a drunken man tumbling into a booth sofa.
Yuan Miao snorted twice.
“Don’t think being drunk gives you the right to harass other customers!”
Li Qing fell silent.
Yuan Miao’s movements, angles, and even his defensive stance were identical to hers.
This move had been taught to her by Zhao Wenyi.
And in the future, she had taught it to Yuan Miao.
Zhao Wenyi murmured with a deep expression, “He really is your son… Who’s the father?”
“?”
How would Li Qing know?
All she knew was that Yuan Miao’s identity was now completely confirmed.
Seeing the drunkard stand up cursing and seemingly ready to retaliate, Li Qing walked over expressionlessly.
“Who do you think you are, daring to play the hero in front of me! Ask around if anyone here knows who I am!”
The two girls Yuan Miao had saved paled at these words, nervously glancing at him.
“Thank you, little brother, but you should…”
“Sir, this is a proper bar.”
Yuan Miao shook his head at them and turned to address the drunkard.
As soon as he finished speaking, the drunkard seemed to sober up a bit, his eyes darting away nervously.
“?”
Yuan Miao was confused, wondering if he had somehow become intimidating.
But he soon realized it wasn’t him who had changed.
It was because his mom had arrived.
Li Qing’s gaze settled on the drunkard, her tone calm. “You know the bar’s rules.”
Luo Zhengyu, having received the message, walked in from outside, grabbed the drunkard by the collar, and dragged him out.
“You’re lucky this time. Don’t let it happen again.”
“Yes, yes, I just had too much to drink…”
Once sober, the drunkard lost all his earlier arrogance, apologizing profusely with a forced smile.
Li Qing shifted her attention to the two harassed girls.
“Sorry for the scare. Your drinks are on the house tonight.”
The two girls nodded, overwhelmed by the gesture.
Li Qing turned to leave, and Yuan Miao immediately followed, looking at her with admiration. “Mom, you’re so cool!”
Li Qing stumbled slightly, giving Yuan Miao a silent glance.
She still wasn’t used to suddenly having a biological son who was around her own age.
……
Upstairs was Li Qing’s room.
She often came here when she fought with Li Jianhui.
Li Qing had always been stubborn.
As a child, lacking strength, she was no match for Li Jianhui and often ended up bruised and bloodied.
As she grew older and realized her mother would get caught in the crossfire while protecting her, Li Qing tempered her temper.
Later, when she gained enough strength, she kicked Li Jianhui so hard he broke a bone, and he never dared to hit or scold her casually again.
With her mother in the hospital recently, the thought of Li Jianhui’s disgusting face made Li Qing reluctant to go home, so she simply stayed at the bar.
The next day.
Li Qing was about to ride her electric bike to school when she saw Yuan Miao standing downstairs, gazing at her with eager eyes.
“What’s up?”
Li Qing stopped in her tracks.
Yuan Miao volunteered that he wanted to experience sending his mom to school once.
Li Qing asked him in return, “Does the future me often take you to school?”
As soon as she finished speaking, Yuan Miao, who had been full of anticipation, seemed to think of something, and his expression gradually turned somber.
He shook his head dejectedly, “Not really often…”
Although his mom later got the best prosthetic limb available at the time, which looked almost no different from a real limb if you didn’t look closely, Yuan Miao still didn’t want to tire her out.
Li Qing’s expression faltered for a moment.
She didn’t ask further and rode to school as usual.
No one could predict the future, and she wasn’t particularly curious about her own.
Li Qing walked into the classroom, saw Yuan Tingshen already in his seat, rolled her eyes, and walked to her own spot.
“You…”
Yuan Tingshen had just started speaking when he noticed Li Qing stacking a few more books on the desk.
She strictly adhered to the “demarcation line” she had drawn yesterday. As soon as she sat down, she took out test papers to work on, not sparing Yuan Tingshen a single glance.
Yuan Tingshen felt utterly defeated and confused.
He had even asked Liao Ting if he had somehow offended Li Qing, but Liao Ting seemed even more incredulous than he was.
“What?! You don’t know either??”
“………”
Yuan Tingshen didn’t respond at the time.
If he knew the cause and effect, he wouldn’t feel so helpless now.
Yuan Tingshen took a deep breath.
“You don’t want to sit with me?”
Li Qing still ignored him, but Yuan Tingshen heard a clear, disdainful snort.
He fell silent. It seemed she really did dislike him.
For a moment, he felt at a loss.
This was Yuan Tingshen’s first experience with a crush, an unexpected deviation from the predetermined path of his life.
He knew he was reserved by nature and had prepared himself for a long-term effort.
But no one had told him what to do if the person he had a crush on inexplicably disliked him.
He could solve complex equations, but he couldn’t decipher Li Qing’s true feelings.
Yuan Tingshen sighed.
Just then, his phone screen lit up.
A text message alerting him to a transaction on his supplementary card came through.
“?”
A flicker of disbelief flashed in Yuan Tingshen’s eyes.
……
“Thank goodness, thank goodness.”
Yuan Miao stood in front of the ATM and breathed a sigh of relief.
Thankfully, he still remembered his dad’s supplementary card number, and thankfully, this card had existed twenty years ago.
He withdrew ten thousand yuan, planning to go to the nearby mall to buy some gifts to bribe his uncles and gather information about his mom.
Yuan Miao had been keeping track of the timeline these past few days. His mom would suffer accidental burns a year later, leading to an amputation.
Not just his mom—he heard his uncle and Uncle Luo were also injured in that accident.
Uncle Zhao lost an arm because of it, and Uncle Luo was left with horrific burn scars over most of his body…
He absolutely couldn’t let them repeat that tragedy!
……
After finishing a page of problems, Li Qing leaned back in her seat and stretched, catching a glimpse of Yuan Tingshen’s odd expression out of the corner of her eye.
She glanced at the phone in his hand and curled her lip slightly.
Wucheng No. 1 High School didn’t forbid students from bringing phones, but only Yuan Tingshen dared to openly take his out in the classroom.
Li Qing wasn’t interested in his affairs and was about to look away when she suddenly met Yuan Tingshen’s eyes.
Yuan Tingshen spoke abruptly, “It seems like my house has been robbed.”
“???”
Li Qing was utterly bewildered.
If she remembered correctly, Yuan Tingshen lived in Wutong Garden, the most upscale and secluded hillside villa in Wucheng.
That place had 24/7 surveillance with no blind spots, and the security team consisted of retired soldiers or criminal investigators.
Even delivering takeout required three rounds of checks and handing over an ID card.
How could a thief possibly break into such a heavily guarded place?!