At the hospital.
Sheng Xue stood to the side, anxious and uneasy.
The doctor was redressing Qin Zhen’s wound. The wound was deep, with the flesh turned outward.
Sheng Xue’s face was pale. This wound had been inflicted by her younger sister, Sheng Qing.
Several days had passed, and it was still bleeding.
Clearly, Sheng Qing had struck with a ruthless heart at the time.
The doctor finished bandaging the wound and left. Butler Zhong pushed the door open and came in.
Qin Zhen: “Have you found her yet?”
Butler Zhong shook his head with a sigh: “Major Chen hasn’t sent any good news yet.”
“Send more people to search. We must find that wild girl.”
Butler Zhong went out again.
“Qingqing is back. I’ll discipline her, but… can you show some leniency?” Sheng Xue’s ten fingers twisted together nervously.
“She dared to use a knife on me this time. Next time, she’ll dare to kill. Your blind protection will only ruin her.”
Qin Zhen’s expression was stern: “Sending her to prison for reform can still save her life.”
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 quickly asked: “Is it Qingqing? Has she returned to the Qin residence?”
Qin Zhen hung up: “Yes.”
Sheng Xue hurried back to the Qin residence. Sure enough, she saw Sheng Qing in the living room.
“Qingqing!”
Her sister’s startled cry rang out. Sheng Qing looked up in a daze, “Sis…”
At this time, her sister hadn’t committed suicide yet.
Sheng Xue stumbled as she ran over, “Hurry, leave! Qin Zhen is very angry. He wants to send you to prison.”
As she spoke, she pushed Sheng Qing toward the door, “Go hide outside for now. I’ll persuade him…”
Feng Xiaojing also said: “Right, hide for a few years first…”
Sheng Qing: “Shut up.”
Feng Xiaojing was actually intimidated by her gaze and fell silent for a moment.
Sheng Qing’s nose tingled, and she hugged her sister.
“Sis, I’m not afraid.” Sheng Qing’s voice choked up, “Brother-in-law won’t really do anything to me.”
Sheng Xue’s eyes widened in shock: “You… what did you say?”
She had always despised Qin Zhen.
In the past, whenever she saw Qin Zhen, she never had a good expression.
She’d either curse him as a scumbag or call him a bastard turtle.
And now she was calling him brother-in-law?
Was she having auditory hallucinations?
Meanwhile, Qin Zhen, who had just stepped one foot through the front door, suddenly froze.
What did that wild girl call him?
Sheng Qing wiped away her tears, “What I did was wrong. I won’t leave. Where’s brother-in-law? I have something to say to him.”
“…” Sheng Xue stood there dumbfounded. It wasn’t her imagination.
Feng Xiaojing frowned. Had Sheng Qing gone crazy?
Qin Zhen’s brows knitted tightly: “What do you have to say to me?”
Only then did Sheng Qing notice that Qin Zhen was standing at the front door.
He hadn’t died either. That was good.
He was still so tall and imposing, not covered in tubes, lying in a hospital bed kept alive by IV drips.
Qin Zhen walked step by step toward the living room, his face cold and hard, his presence overwhelming.
A soldier who had fought bloody battles on the battlefield carried a hint of bloodlust in his very bones.
No wonder her sister always seemed like a frightened rabbit in front of him—fearful, terrified, and intimidated.
“So you know to come back?” Qin Zhen spoke in a cold, harsh tone.
Sheng Qing looked around and spotted a stick in the corner.
She walked over, picked up the stick, and weighed it in her hand.
It was heavy.
It would probably hurt quite a bit if used to hit someone.
Holding the stick, she walked step by step toward Qin Zhen.
Butler Zhong shouted loudly: “If you dare act out again, I’ll call the guards!”
Sheng Xue was also startled: “Qingqing, don’t!”
Feng Xiaojing continued to stir the pot: “Oh my, Sheng Qing, you’re still trying to hit people? Guards, hurry up and arrest her.”
Watching the young woman holding a stick, Qin Zhen’s expression darkened: “What, you still want to fight?”
Sheng Qing walked up to him: “You hit me. You can do it however you want, or even punish me by military law.”
Butler Zhong: “…?”
Sheng Xue: “…?”
Qin Zhen: “…”
Feng Xiaojing was also stunned.
The living room fell into an eerie silence.
Everyone looked at her with strange expressions.
Sheng Qing shoved the stick into the man’s hand: “Brother-in-law, go ahead and hit me. I did something wrong, so I deserve to be punished.”
Qin Zhen paused, then said, “Butler Zhong.”
The dumbfounded butler let out an “Ah” and hurried over: “General.”
Qin Zhen said, “Go call a doctor over—a psychiatrist. Have her checked out.”
Now it was Sheng Qing’s turn to be speechless: “…”
Butler Zhong actually started to go, but Sheng Qing stopped him: “Uncle Zhong, my brother-in-law was just joking with you.”
That respectful “Uncle Zhong” stunned the old man silly. “This… General…”
Was Sheng Qing, who didn’t scold him, still Sheng Qing?
Sheng Qing smiled bitterly.
In her previous life, she had hated the Qin family.
Even this butler—she had never given him a kind look.
“Since she says there’s no need, then forget it.” Qin Zhen stared at Sheng Qing with sharp eyes. “Yesterday you were still screaming about killing me, and today you’re suddenly well-behaved?”
Sheng Xue also sensed her sister’s change and asked with concern: “Qingqing, did something happen that I don’t know about?”
Feng Xiaojing deliberately said, “Maybe she’s finally come around and doesn’t hate the Qin family anymore?”
A seemingly well-intentioned remark, yet it planted doubt in Qin Zhen’s mind.
Sheng Qing had always hated the Qin family—how could she suddenly stop hating them?
Just as Sheng Qing was about to say something, her vision suddenly went black, and she collapsed to the floor.
“Qingqing!” Sheng Xue was startled.
Qin Zhen frowned. “Call the family doctor over.”
The doctor arrived quickly and examined her, then said: “She has a high fever. Let’s give her an IV first and see how she’s doing tomorrow.”
Sheng Xue sat by the bedside with worry.
Qin Zhen’s brow furrowed even deeper.
He turned and went out, summoning Butler Zhong: “Did you find out?”
Butler Zhong said quietly, “I checked the surveillance and asked the guards. They said this 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 came back, holding some documents. He should have found something.”
“Tell him to come to the study and report.”
“Yes.”
**
In the study.
The young officer placed the documents in his hand on the desk.
“General, Miss Sheng spent these two days with a young man named Lu Yunan.”
Qin Zhen opened the folder—Lu Yunan’s detailed information was all inside.
After reading it, he said, “Did Qin Shi come back?”
Butler Zhong: “The servants said he took a phone call and left again.”
“Have him come over tomorrow morning. Tell him I have something important to discuss with him.”
The next day.
Qin Shi stepped through the front door.
Butler Zhong stepped forward to take the suit jacket the man had taken off: “Second Young Master, the General has been waiting since early morning.”
“What does he want with me?”
Butler Zhong didn’t know how to explain Sheng Qing’s situation, so he could only smile awkwardly: “Better let the General tell you himself. Have you had breakfast, Second Young Master?”
Before long, Qin Zhen came downstairs.
The two brothers sat down at the same dining table.
Looking at Qin Zhen’s arm wrapped in white gauze, Qin Shi sneered: “A little ingrate managed to wound you like this? Brother, aren’t you afraid of being laughed to death if word gets out?”
At that time, Qin Shi had absolutely no good impression of Sheng Qing.
In his memory, Sheng Qing had been causing trouble ever since the day she arrived at the Qin family.
The way she looked at the Qin family members was always filled with intense hatred.
Like a defiant little beast, always trying to fight back.
In recent years, as she grew older, she became even more rebellious, reckless, and unlikable.
The Sheng Qing who had cried like a little kitten in his arms last night was either crazy or possessed.
“You don’t tell, I don’t tell, who’s going to laugh?” Qin Zhen said, tossing a document to Qin Shi: “There’s a file here. Take a look.”
Qin Shi casually flipped it open. “Lu Yunan?”
Qin Zhen nodded: “He’s that little girl Sheng Qing’s boyfriend. Three years ago, he started secretly investigating Sheng Qing, plotting to get close to her.”
Boyfriend?
That brat was pretty rebellious, wasn’t she? How old was she to already be finding herself a man?
Qin Shi casually flipped through the file.
The Qin family was a tall tree that caught the wind—many enemies wanted to see their family fall.
Lu Yunan’s calculated approach was probably aimed at the Qin family.
Qin Zhen said: “A couple of days ago, this girl saw me arguing with her sister, and in a fit of anger, she wounded me. Taking advantage of the chaos, she ran away from home. After she came back yesterday, something seemed off about her.”
It was indeed off.
Qin Shi closed the file: “Are you suspecting that Sheng Qing’s strange behavior is because of this Lu Yunan?”
“Maybe yes, maybe no,” Qin Zhen said. “I’m giving you a task.”
Qin Shi sensed something was wrong.
Sure enough, the next second he heard his big brother say: “Get in more contact with that girl, see what she’s really up to.”
Qin Shi was displeased. “You want me to spy on her? Why go through all that trouble? Just throw her in prison. That way, you can control Sheng Xue to obey your every word, and it’ll permanently solve the problem of that little ingrate.”
“…” Butler Zhong silently wiped the sweat from his forehead.
There was a saying that circulated outside.
Better to suffer Qin Zhen’s beating than to incur Qin Shi’s wrath.
It meant that if you offended the Qin family, you’d rather be beaten to death by Qin Zhen than be hated by Qin Shi.
The Second Young Master of the Qin family—he looked impeccably dressed and courteous, but his ruthlessness was carved into his bones.
Qin Zhen frowned: “Throwing her in prison is simple. The hard part is dealing with Sheng Xue crying and making a fuss afterward. It’s troublesome.”
Qin Shi was contemptuous: “Five years, and you still can’t handle a woman. You really have the nerve to call yourself a man.”
Qin Zhen: “…”
**
Sheng Qing changed her clothes and headed out. Feng Xiaojing also came out of her room, wearing a very plain and simple dress.
Seeing Sheng Qing’s outfit, Feng Xiaojing almost didn’t recognize her.
A white dress, paired with a thin black belt.
A gentle cinch accentuated the girl’s slender waist.
Her hair was tied up in a bun, youthful and lively, with an oval face so pretty it made others jealous.
In the past, Sheng Qing’s style of dressing had been very bold.
Low-cut tops, mini skirts, and seductive makeup that didn’t match her age.
Qin Zhen was a man with traditional and conservative values. Every time he saw her dressed like some kind of monster, his expression was always quite colorful.
The more Sheng Qing acted rebellious and ill-mannered, the easier it was for the Qin family to dislike her.
And as long as Feng Xiaojing was obedient, she could win the Qin family’s favor.
As long as these two sisters from the Sheng family kept digging their own graves, they’d be kicked out of the Qin family sooner or later.
Feng Xiaojing called out to her: “Sheng Qing, why are you dressed so conservatively? That’s nothing like you.”
Sheng Qing glanced at her sideways. “Then tell me, how should I dress?”
Feng Xiaojing blurted out, “Of course, dress like you used to—bold, sexy, your own unique style, one of a kind.”
“Is that so?” Sheng Qing smiled and walked off.
Feng Xiaojing was completely baffled.
That’s it?
After hearing such flattering words, she didn’t even go back to her room to change?
…
Sheng Qing went downstairs and saw Butler Zhong in the living room.
She felt deeply ashamed in front of this old butler.
He had served the Qin family his whole life, and even Qin Zhen always showed him respect, yet she had often pointed at his nose and scolded him.
“Uncle Zhong.” Sheng Qing walked over and greeted him.
Butler Zhong glanced at her several times.
He had never seen Sheng Qing dressed so properly before. In the past, she always looked like a little gangster girl about to take a cleaver to the streets.
“Breakfast is ready. The General and the Second Young Master are in the dining room…”
Sheng Qing froze. Qin Shi was here?
Her calm heart began to pound violently.
As she neared the dining room, she could hear the two brothers talking.
Qin Zhen was a military man, his voice on the louder side.
As for Qin Shi, his tone was slow and casual, always carrying a hint of lazy nonchalance.
As if sensing something, Qin Shi, lounging in his chair, turned his head back lazily.
A flicker of surprise passed through his deep eyes.
In his memory, Sheng Qing was like a tomboy, always dressed in a mismatched way, covered in messy accessories, with exaggerated smoky-eye makeup, just like a little gangster girl.
But the girl standing before him now, in a white dress, was clean and beautiful.
Bathed in dazzling light, she stood gracefully.
She looked as well-behaved as one could possibly be.
“You’re up?” Qin Zhen pointed to the chair beside him. “Come sit.”
“Okay.” Sheng Qing lowered her eyelashes and slowly walked over to sit down.
“You had a fever and passed out yesterday. How do you feel today?” Qin Zhen spoke again.
“I’m fine now. Thank you for your concern, Brother-in-law.” Sheng Qing said softly.
“Cough.”
Qin Zhen choked a little. Having been called a scumbag and a bastard so often, he wasn’t used to her being this polite all of a sudden.
Feng Xiaojing also arrived at the dining room, greeting sweetly, “Brother Qin Zhen, Brother Qin Shi.”
Qin Zhen smiled and nodded. “Mm.”
Feng Xiaojing had just sat down when she suddenly heard Sheng Qing speak up. “Brother-in-law, what do you think of my outfit today?”
Qin Shi, who was drinking coffee, raised an eyebrow slightly.
Qin Zhen looked her over from head to toe. “A young lady should dress like this. In the past, your clothes were too revealing. Not good.”
“I also think one should dress according to one’s age.” Sheng Qing said with a smile. “But Feng Xiaojing said I was dressing too conservatively and told me to be bolder and sexier.”
Feng Xiaojing, who was eating, sprayed a mouthful of rice everywhere.
Qin Shi set down his coffee cup, expressionless. “Butler Zhong, replace the entire breakfast.”