The room fell silent.
The old man’s breathing was absurdly loud.
Bei Qinghuan knew she had pushed him to his limit and didn’t provoke him further.
Yan Guifang looked up at the clock on the cabinet, her patience stretched to its breaking point.
Knowing her mother was in a hurry to get to work, Bei Qinghuan went to support the old man.
“Grandpa, let me walk you back.”
Bei Shi’an pushed her away and stood up, trembling. “I don’t want to be angered to death by you just yet. I’ll go back myself!”
Despite his words, Bei Qinghuan still escorted him downstairs.
The Bei family lived on the second floor. It wasn’t high, but for an eighty-year-old man, it was still a strenuous climb.
Wheezing and panting, Bei Shi’an paused on every step, taking a full five minutes to reach the ground floor.
Before leaving, he still had to deliver a lecture:
“I won’t say anything else, but you remember your place! As the child of a second wife, you must respect your elder brother and be filial to him. You’ve been back in the city for so long, yet you haven’t even come to see your elder brother. Is that any way to behave?”
Bei Qinghuan, who had originally intended to walk the old man home, abruptly let go of his arm.
“I wouldn’t dare. As the child of a second wife, I don’t even have the right to see my elder brother! Besides, you’ve probably forgotten, old man, but it was your noble grandson from the first wife who didn’t want to see us. How could I possibly disobey him?”
This time, Bei Qinghuan didn’t spare the old man another glance and turned to go back upstairs.
At her doorway, Yan Guifang was waiting anxiously. “Is he gone? Is he far away? Oh my, I’m going to be late again today.”
Bei Qinghuan shook her head. “He’s walking slowly, he’s still downstairs. If you’re in a hurry, just go. What are you afraid of him for?”
This time, Yan Guifang finally said it outright, “I’m afraid he’ll die here!”
“He won’t die. He ate well and took good care of himself when he was young, so his old bones are still strong. As long as he doesn’t fall and become paralyzed, he’ll be fine for another three to five years.”
In his youth, the old man had been a famous tailor in Haicheng, specializing in cheongsams and long gowns. He had caught the eye of a certain gang boss’s wife and had lived a good life.
He began taking on apprentices very early on. Not only did he consume a great deal of ginseng and deer antler gifted by his reverent apprentices, but he even had them attend to him when he used the toilet.
Hearing Bei Qinghuan’s words, Yan Guifang shook her head helplessly and left. “Sigh, as for the Qin family’s matter, wait until I get back to discuss it. Honestly!”
Watching her mother hurry away, Bei Qinghuan’s spirits sank a little.
Her grandfather’s visit today was another reminder that her birth had not been anticipated by this family.
Not only was she not anticipated, but she had also been deeply loathed.
Bei Qinghuan’s mother, Yan Guifang, was quite beautiful. Now, not yet forty, she was still a handsome woman.
However, because she was born prematurely, she had been constitutionally weak. Fortunately, her maternal grandfather, an Old Chinese Medicine Doctor, had managed to save her life and she had survived to adulthood.
But her grandfather had known from early on that it would be very difficult for Yan Guifang to conceive.
To prevent Yan Guifang from having conflicts with her in-laws over her inability to have children after marriage, it was made clear to all potential suitors when she reached a marriageable age that she might be infertile.
So in the end, Yan Guifang married Bei Qinghuan’s father, Bei Wenxuan, who had been a widower for two years.
At the time, Bei Wenxuan was already in his thirties and had been a factory director for several years. His eldest son, Bei Qingming, was about ten, and his eldest daughter, Bei Qingshu, was seven.
Therefore, Yan Guifang was not required to have children.
And the Bei family, aside from Yan Guifang’s pretty looks, valued her “advantage” of being infertile.
Because Bei Shi’an was an old traditionalist who believed his eldest grandson was the legitimate eldest son and grandson, the best in the world.
His eldest grandson had already lost his mother. If this second wife were to give birth to another child who would steal the eldest grandson’s money and love, then that child would be heinous.
But as fate would have it, Yan Guifang, who was widely known to be infertile, became pregnant less than two months after getting married!
Back then, three generations of the Bei family had argued over Yan Guifang’s unexpected pregnancy.
Bei Qingming, in particular, influenced by who knows who, cried and threw tantrums, saying he didn’t want a younger sibling and that if his stepmother had a child, she would harm him and his sister Qingshu.
During the worst of it, Bei Qingming pushed Yan Guifang down, nearly causing two lives to be lost in one body.
Fortunately, Bei Wenxuan was not a thoughtless man and was also very fond of Yan Guifang. He withstood the pressure and allowed Yan Guifang to give birth to Bei Qinghuan.
But because of this, a deep rift formed between the father and son, Bei Wenxuan and Bei Qingming, and they didn’t speak for many years.
Later, when Bei Qingming got married, the factory happened to be allocating housing. Feeling he owed his son, Bei Wenxuan specifically gave the large apartment that should have been his to his son’s family and his father. He, Yan Guifang, and their two daughters squeezed into the small, thirty-square-meter apartment they lived in now.
While Bei Wenxuan was alive, the two families would visit each other during holidays and festivals, and things were generally peaceful.
After Bei Wenxuan died, they stopped visiting even for holidays and festivals.
Otherwise, Bei Qingming was now a section chief in the factory’s technical department. Had he ever shown any concern for his unemployed little sister?
Thinking of that biological brother who would turn his head away whenever they met on the road, Bei Qinghuan felt an indescribable frustration.
When she was little, that brother had led the charge in bullying her, yet her grandfather still wanted her to respect him?
Heh.
He should be burning incense in gratitude that she hadn’t caused him trouble!
Bei Qinghuan shook her head, forcing herself not to dwell on these disgusting matters, and picked up her cloth bag to head out.
By her calculations, her first royalty payment since returning to the city should be arriving soon.
That was what mattered most.
All mail for the 3508 Factory was delivered to the gatehouse at the main entrance.
Bei Qinghuan deliberately walked out of the residential area and toward the factory area.
As she reached the main road of the factory area, someone in the security department uniform came over to stop her. “Stop, stop. There’s a shipment going out today. Wait for the convoy to pass before you go.”
Bei Qinghuan stood waiting by the side of the wide road, which was lined with two rows of tall pine trees.
Soon, a line of military green trucks drove out.
There were about seven or eight of them.
Each one was fully loaded, its cargo properly secured under a military green tarpaulin.
And in the front passenger seat of the first truck sat the dark-faced man Bei Qinghuan had seen in the infirmary.
This time, he wore a military cap, his gaze fixed forward, his expression stern. As he reached the gate, he even saluted the soldier on guard duty.
Well, he was a “Military Representative” after all. A bit rough around the edges, but he had quite an imposing air.
Ye Xiaoyun certainly had unique taste.
Thinking of Ye Xiaoyun’s blushing face from yesterday, the corners of Bei Qinghuan’s mouth curled up.
Oh, the story of Ye Xiaoyun getting rebuffed by the gruff man would be enough to make her laugh for half a year.
The trucks passed quickly. As the last one approached, Bei Qinghuan slowly turned her head and saw the “Comrade Correspondent” sitting upright in the passenger seat.
What a coincidence, he saw her too.
At that moment, Bei Qinghuan’s face, caught in the middle of plotting how to tease Ye Xiaoyun, had the very picture of a sly little fox’s expression.
But the instant she saw Jing Xiao, her smile slowly faded, and she rolled her eyes at him quite impolitely, as if thoroughly impatient.
This was the first time Jing Xiao had seen her face clearly.
Not like the first time, when her hair had hidden half of it, leaving only her eyes.
Nor like the second time, when she wore a mask, leaving only her eyes.
And not like the third time, in the hazy night, where she too was a hazy figure.
Now, it was her whole face, her whole person, standing in the sunlight, framed by the lush green.
Her figure was slender and straight, with an innate stubbornness;
Her face was small and delicate, brimming with healthy vitality.
And that deliberate eye-roll she gave him—that little gesture was incredibly animated.
Just like the tabby cat he had raised as a child