After listening to Fan Jianshe’s explanation, Hu Yinglian and Xia Min exchanged bewildered looks.
Still unwilling to give up, Hu Yinglian asked again, “So… he really is the hospital director’s son?”
Fan Jianshe replied, “Of course! I’m on pretty good terms with Captain Chang from the forest farm security team. Captain Chang told me himself. Look at all the trouble this caused me—I even had to give away a whole pack of Pegasus cigarettes!”
Hu Yinglian nudged Xia Min with her elbow, signaling for her to bring something out as a token of gratitude.
Xia Min knew they still needed this distant uncle’s help, so she went inside and returned with a bag of candied dates.
“Second Uncle, sorry we don’t have any cigarettes at home. But these candied dates are good stuff from the county town. Take them home for Auntie.”
Fan Jianshe watched as Xia Min placed the dates beside him, though he still politely protested.
“Ah, we’re all family! What’s the point of giving me things like this? But you know your aunt—she insists on making all the decisions at home. I wouldn’t dare decide for her.”
In other words, he accepted them.
Xia Min smiled ingratiatingly and asked, “Did Captain Chang from the forest farm happen to mention whether the hospital director’s son said anything else?”
Fan Jianshe looked at her. “Like what?”
Xia Min hesitated. “Uh… like how he fell into the river?”
Fan Jianshe nodded vigorously.
“Oh, that! Yeah, he did! Apparently, his family is so rich that tons of girls are crying and begging to marry him. Somehow, all that relationship trouble drove him to jump into the river. But the moment he woke up, he regretted it! Ah, he probably picked the wrong woman and went back in that ambulance to settle things with her! You should’ve seen that ambulance speeding away with its siren blaring. What a grand sight!”
Fan Jianshe wasn’t deliberately making things up.
Poverty had simply limited his imagination.
Captain Chang had told him that the man’s “family circumstances were too good, and he couldn’t endure the hardships of being in a relationship.”
In Fan Jianshe’s understanding, if even the son of a high-ranking official couldn’t endure the “hardships” of romance, then he must have had too many women to choose from and couldn’t decide which one he wanted.
So naturally, that was how Fan Jianshe interpreted the story.
Hu Yinglian and Xia Min stared blankly at him.
“…”
Someone actually jumped into a river because he couldn’t decide which woman to marry?
How ridiculous!
But no matter how absurd the story sounded, there was one thing they could now be certain of.
The man rescued at the forest farm probably had nothing to do with Qin Yuan.
Which raised another question.
Where had Xia Junsheng gone?
With Fan Jianshe still there, the mother and daughter didn’t dare discuss anything openly. They simply continued thanking him.
Hu Yinglian sighed. “Thank you so much, Second Brother. It’s just the two of us women now, and Junsheng has disappeared too. That little bitch from the Qin family even hit Xiao Min. We were worried that the Qin girl might have joined forces with outsiders to bully us. That’s why we asked you to teach that man who fell into the river near the forest farm a lesson. But since he has nothing to do with the Qin family, then forget about it.”
Xia Min added, “That’s right. Sorry to trouble you, Second Uncle. Don’t forget the dates. Have a safe trip home.”
Fan Jianshe tucked away the candied dates, exchanged a few more pleasantries, and left with a cheerful smile.
But Xia Min couldn’t even wait for the door to close before bursting into tears.
“Mom, what are we going to do? I was hiding by the river that day when I saw a flashlight moving across the ice. Someone was coming, so I told Brother to hide first. But that person actually took off his clothes and jumped into the water to save Qin Yuan!
“Brother said that if the man successfully saved Qin Yuan, then our family wouldn’t get anything out of it, and there’d be no way for us to get her university admission spot. He said he had to go deal with that man. Then Brother went back onto the ice and told me not to show myself no matter what. He said he’d be back soon and that everything else should proceed according to our original plan.
“I thought Brother had pushed that man into the water. But there was no signal from him at the window all night! Then that idiot Qin Wang said the man they found at the forest farm was Brother.
“But now that man isn’t Brother, and he isn’t the one who saved Qin Yuan either. So where did Brother go?!”
Hu Yinglian raised her hand and smacked Xia Min on the head.
The motion looked forceful, but the actual tap was so light it wouldn’t have been enough to swat a mosquito.
“Look at you! This is what they mean when they say worrying makes you lose your head! Before, you kept whispering in my ear, ‘What if it’s Brother? What if it’s Brother?’ We made that whole trip to the forest farm for nothing! We didn’t gain anything, and that bitch Qin Yuan even managed to make us wait seven days!
“Calm down! I thought it over several times on the way back. Didn’t Fourth Aunt Mao and the others hear your brother shouting that someone had fallen into the river? And the only clothes left on the ice were your brother’s padded jacket and trousers.
“So if you ask me, your brother must’ve taken the clothes off that unlucky scapegoat and worn them when he left. He’s definitely fine!”
Xia Min still clutched her mother anxiously.
“Then where is Brother? We agreed that as long as everything went smoothly, he would tie a strip of cloth by the window as a signal. But there was nothing outside my back window! How am I supposed not to worry?
“Mom, what if he accidentally fell through the ice when he was leaving too?”
Compared to her daughter, Hu Yinglian was strangely calm.
It was almost as though she wasn’t worried about Xia Junsheng’s safety at all.
Even now, she merely glanced sideways at Xia Min before pulling her into the room and making her sit down.
“I know you’re worried! But your brother is clever. There’s no way he’d fall through the ice. As for why he didn’t leave the signal… I think Fourth Aunt Mao and the others caused too much commotion last night.
“The whole village was running around. There were torches everywhere, and even the dogs wouldn’t stop barking. Your brother probably didn’t dare come back to leave us a message!
“Let’s wait and see what happens tonight. Didn’t he tell you to follow the original plan? If there’s still no signal tonight, then wait another couple of days and go check the old kiln to see whether he’s hiding there.”
Xia Min stood up.
One hand rested on her stomach as she paced back and forth across the room, lost in thought.
Hu Yinglian’s gaze remained fixed on her daughter’s belly as she let out a heavy sigh.
“The most important thing right now is making sure Qin Yuan doesn’t escape us. I don’t know what’s gotten into that little bitch. She’s completely different from how she used to be.
“I thought all we had to do was make a scene and she and that idiot mother of hers would immediately give in. Who would’ve thought she’d stubbornly insist that your brother wasn’t the one who saved her?
“Now even I’m starting to feel uncertain. Did she actually see who rescued her?”
Xia Min sat back down beside Hu Yinglian.
Malice filled her narrow, upturned eyes.
“It doesn’t matter whether she saw clearly or not. The whole village already believes Brother saved her, so she has to marry into our family!
“If she doesn’t marry us and the two of us leave, then who’s going to earn work points and support you?
“That’s why I have to meet up with Brother and discuss what we’re going to do next. Seriously, what is wrong with him? Doesn’t he know we’d be worried? He hasn’t sent us a single message!”
Hu Yinglian poked her daughter on the forehead.
“You need to behave yourself for now. At a time like this, we have to stay calm. Even if your brother comes back tonight and leaves a signal, we still have to make sure he stays hidden.
“We absolutely have to wait until Qin Yuan marries into our family seven days from now before doing anything.
“Ah, no. Today is already almost over, so there are only six days left. It’ll pass quickly.”
Xia Min kicked the stool in frustration.
“I don’t care! I don’t care! What kind of trick did that idiot use to convince the clan chief to agree to seven days anyway?
“I don’t care! She slapped me! Once she marries into our family in seven days, I’m going to make her kneel in front of me!”
Hu Yinglian was actually worried that her daughter might hurt her foot kicking the stool, so she deliberately moved it out of the way.
Then she coaxed Xia Min in a gentle voice.
“Oh, making her kneel won’t be nearly enough! I’ll help you slap her. We’ll beat her until her teeth are scattered all over the floor. Now that’ll be satisfying!”
“Yes! That’s exactly what we’ll do!”
The mother and daughter became increasingly absorbed in imagining how they would torment Qin Yuan.
The more they fantasized about it, the more relaxed they became.
Neither of them mentioned the man Xia Junsheng might have pushed through the ice again.
It was as though the person who might have been thrown into the freezing river was nothing more than a bundle of straw—completely insignificant.
Just then, a faint sound came from the door.
It sounded almost like someone knocking.
The mother and daughter immediately fell silent.
Xia Min reacted even faster than Hu Yinglian. She sprang to her feet and rushed outside.
“Who is it?! Who’s out there?”
Guess who’s outside?
Who could it be?