The sound was like a thin needle stabbing into her mind, twisting violently inside her skull.
The pain was so intense that she could barely keep herself upright. She swayed unsteadily, both hands clutching her head as nausea churned violently in her stomach.
In that instant, all her senses seemed to shut down. Her body swayed more and more dangerously.
In a daze, she vaguely felt someone patting her.
But when she raised her head, the world spun wildly before her eyes.
The harder she tried to see what was happening, the blurrier her vision became. The images and sounds around her gradually drifted farther away, becoming increasingly indistinct.
All she could hear was a sharp ringing in her ears. Everything before her eyes had turned stark white. Her head felt heavy, her feet light, and it was as though she were walking on clouds.
In her haze, she suddenly remembered how her father had looked before leaving for the front line.
He had held her hand, his face filled with worry and reluctance to part.
“Mingzhi, my Xiao Mingzhi is still so young. If I were to die at the front and never make it home, wouldn’t that leave you an orphan?”
That memory was clearer than the others.
Qin Mingzhi remembered very clearly that she had only been four years old when her father said those words.
He knew how difficult the mission he was about to undertake would be. He also knew there was a very real possibility that he might never return.
Unable to bear the thought of leaving his young daughter alone, he soon found a woman to become her stepmother and take care of her.
Mingzhi remembered her father holding her tiny shoulders as he said,
“Mingzhi, this is Aunt Caiyan. She was a close friend of your mother’s and used to work at the same factory as her. When you were very little, she even held you in her arms at the hospital.”
“While Daddy is away on this mission, you must behave and live with Aunt Caiyan. She’ll take care of everything for you and make sure you’re well looked after.”
“You must listen to her and wait at home for Daddy to come back.”
“But if Daddy doesn’t come back…”
His expression darkened for a moment, but he forced a smile.
“That’s all right, too. Daddy has already made all the necessary arrangements. I’ll make sure you can grow up without any worries.”
“Mingzhi, take good care of yourself.”
At the time, little Qin Mingzhi had no idea how heavy her father’s words were. She only knew that hearing them made her feel terribly uncomfortable.
She threw her arms around her father and burst into tears.
She never imagined that something really would happen to him, and that he would never come home again.
On the day she learned that her father was truly never coming back, Aunt Caiyan—who had previously only come by every day to take care of her—suddenly arrived with bags and bags of belongings and moved in with her daughter.
Holding her daughter’s hand, she told Qin Mingzhi,
“Mingzhi, this is your biological younger sister. She’s your father’s daughter and mine.”
“I was afraid you wouldn’t be able to accept it, so I never told you. The truth is, your father and I had been together for a long time. We were planning to register our marriage, but then this accident happened.”
“Before your father left, he had already made arrangements for me to continue taking care of you.”
“As your mother.”
Little Qin Mingzhi stood there in shock.
She had not even had time to come to terms with losing her father, yet suddenly she had gained a stepmother as well.
Unable to believe it, she shook her head.
“Daddy never told me he was going to find me a new mother. And I already have a mother. How can you be my mother?”
Although Aunt Caiyan had always treated her kindly and gently and genuinely took good care of her, little Qin Mingzhi still couldn’t accept having someone else take the place of her mother so suddenly.
Zhu Caiyan walked over and pulled a letter from her pocket. Pointing to the writing on it, she read it aloud to Mingzhi.
At that age, Mingzhi couldn’t recognize many characters yet, so she took the letter to the adults nearby and asked them to read it for her.
The contents were roughly the same: her father had indeed written that he wanted Zhu Caiyan to take care of her.
The uncle who read the letter for her also said that anyone could tell at a glance that the handwriting belonged to her father.
Thinking back to how her father had said before leaving that he had already made all the necessary arrangements, and that she would be able to grow up without worries even if he never returned…
So was this what he meant by “arrangements”?
He had arranged for Aunt Caiyan to raise her?
Little Qin Mingzhi’s tears fell one after another.
She didn’t want a new mother.
She didn’t want a younger sister she had never even met.
All she wanted was for her father to come home safely.
But by then, it was already too late.
Zhu Caiyan crouched down and gently stroked the top of her head.
“Xiao Mingzhi, don’t worry. Auntie will take good care of you just as I always have. I’ll raise both you and your sister until you’re grown.”
“Don’t let your father down. Eat well and grow up healthy. I’m sure your father, wherever he is, would be comforted to know you’re doing well.”
Several military leaders who had come to inform her that her father had died a heroic death were standing nearby. Hearing those words, they were all deeply moved.
Qin Mingzhi was only a child. No matter how difficult it was for her to accept everything that had happened, she could only passively go along with the arrangements made by the adults.
Because of that letter, Zhu Caiyan naturally became Qin Mingzhi’s legal guardian.
And because of Qin Mengxue, although Zhu Caiyan had never officially registered a marriage with Mingzhi’s father, the two had been living together as husband and wife. She was therefore considered the deceased soldier’s family member and was entitled to the benefits afforded to military families.
For all these years, in the eyes of outsiders, Zhu Caiyan had raised two children all by herself and had done an excellent job. She had always been regarded as a responsible and devoted military family member.
In fact, perhaps because she wanted to be especially mindful of Qin Mingzhi’s feelings, she appeared to care for and indulge Mingzhi even more than Qin Mengxue.
Whatever Qin Mingzhi liked, Zhu Caiyan would always make sure she got it first. If Mingzhi wanted something, she would almost always give it to her.
Whenever Qin Mingzhi and Qin Mengxue argued as children, Zhu Caiyan would always comfort Mingzhi first, telling her not to argue with her little sister.
Even when Qin Mingzhi got into trouble with her classmates outside, Zhu Caiyan would always protect her.
There was one incident in particular.
Once, Qin Mingzhi and Qin Mengxue had gone out together. For some reason, the two of them got into an argument. In the middle of the commotion, there was suddenly the sound of shattering glass.
The family whose window had been smashed immediately rushed outside, demanding compensation.
At the time, Qin Mingzhi herself hadn’t even figured out whether she or Qin Mengxue had broken the glass.
But when Zhu Caiyan arrived, she kept apologizing to the family and asking them not to blame Qin Mingzhi.
She told them that Mingzhi had lost her father when she was very young and that the poor girl had already suffered so much.
The people looked at Qin Mingzhi with complicated expressions. In the end, they let out a long sigh.
“Forget it. We’ll let it go since she’s the daughter of a fallen soldier.”
“But you really need to discipline this child properly. Otherwise, won’t she grow up into a little troublemaker?”
Zhu Caiyan readily agreed.
Yet when she took Qin Mingzhi home, she didn’t scold her.
Instead, she crouched down and gently told her that what had happened was wrong and that she needed to be more careful in the future.
Qin Mingzhi herself had no idea who had actually broken the glass.
She desperately tried to explain, insisting that she genuinely hadn’t known what was happening and that she hadn’t done it on purpose.
Zhu Caiyan grabbed her arm and told her not to get so worked up.
Qin Mingzhi struggled to pull her arm free, wanting Zhu Caiyan to listen while she explained exactly what had happened.