Chapter 96: A Small Matter About the Fact That My Father Is Actually a Hidden Master, Part 6

Once they had grown familiar enough and no longer held back in front of their biological parents, Qin Suqing’s curiosity flared at once.

“Him? He talked too much about a forbidden sibling romance, so his leg got broken.”

Qin Yancheng said, “No, really, I was just running my mouth. I was having a hard time accepting the fact that my sister was no longer my sister, that she was going to be taken away by someone else and I would never see her again. That’s all!”

“You think reality is some lawless land? Even careless talk comes at a price.”

Qin Yancheng: ...

Qin Suqing almost laughed out loud. Luckily, she held it in. After all, she had only just returned to her new family and was not yet very close with her brother. If she laughed and made him dislike her, that would be bad.

Qin Ye went to wash some fruit and brought up the matter of moving.

Feng Xiaolian had originally felt a little reluctant to leave the home she had grown used to, but Qin Ye called her aside.

“Our place has four bedrooms, two living rooms, a kitchen, and a bathroom. It used to be enough, with everyone having a room of their own. But our daughter has only just come home. Do you really want her to live in Yuanyuan’s room?”

“Yuanyuan’s room isn’t bad...”

“This isn’t about whether it’s bad. First of all, even though Yuanyuan isn’t our daughter, you surely can’t just instantly pretend we never raised her, right?

“Then the room that belonged to Yuanyuan should still be kept as it is. Whether she recognizes us or not is her business; whether we keep the room is our attitude.

“Second, that’s still Yuanyuan’s room. If you let Qingqing move in there, with the whole room full of Yuanyuan’s traces and presence, how is she supposed to feel?

“I’m telling you, girls her age are sensitive and thoughtful. They have things on their minds and won’t say a word.

“Even though Qingqing is our biological daughter and we can be more casual with her in daily life, you’d better pay more attention to her and make her feel our love.”

“I know. She didn’t grow up with us after all. Whether she’ll accept us is still hard to say.”

“Don’t worry, she definitely will. Have a little confidence in your own daughter.”

Feng Xiaolian insisted on moving herself. She did not trust Qin Ye, always feeling that he would throw away all the important things.

Qin Ye did not care either way. If he did not go, so be it. After helping pack everything up, he waited for the movers to come, then took Qin Suqing back to the hospital.

Come to think of it, Qin Suqing had to go to school. The New Year had only just passed, but it was about time for the semester to begin.

“Will changing schools affect you?”

Qin Suqing shook her head. “I’m very good at studying.”

Her tone carried a little pride.

Qin Ye nodded. “Your mother and I were top students back in school, too.”

“Couldn’t it be that I’m simply gifted, stronger than the previous generation?”

Qin Yancheng chimed in with his usual irritating flair.

Qin Ye smiled broadly. “It’s inherited.”

“It’s a genetic mutation.”

“Want me to beat you until you undergo a genetic mutation?”

Qin Yancheng: ...

Hah. As if he could not believe it.

His father, in middle age, after suffering such a devastating blow, had simply chosen perversion over silence.

Look at him. Back in the day, his dad had been so easygoing. Now he threatened violence at the slightest provocation.

Could it be that breaking this leg had somehow flipped some terrifying switch in his old man?

Ah, if there were a medicine for regret in life, he would never have carelessly blurted out that he wanted to be with Yuanyuan.

At the time, he really thought his idea was brilliant. Indeed, men were all bad sorts, and so was he.

But if he ended up with Yuanyuan, at least he definitely would not mistreat her. That would be a win for everyone, would it not?

And is that not how those idol dramas always went?

The more he thought, the more reasonable it seemed; the more he spoke, the more excited he became. Then a burst of searing pain shot through his leg, and a wail replaced his passionate declaration of love.

When he broke it, he had not only broken his leg. He had broken his vanished youth and love as well.

Qin Yancheng was deeply desolate.

Still, Qin Suqing looked even more like him, and she was especially adorable, soft and sweet. Qin Yancheng had feared that he would have a hard time getting along with her, but in the end he discovered that this sister seemed better by far than that other one.

No, how could he think that?

That was unfair to Yuanyuan.

But then again, why had Yuanyuan left and never returned? Not only had she not come back to see the family, she had not even made a single phone call.

Surely it could not be that the Tan family had restricted her freedom and would not even let her call, could it?

After thinking it over, Qin Yancheng decided that once his leg healed, he would go and see what kind of life Yuanyuan was living.

If the Tan family was some cold, hellish den of dragons and tigers, full of man-eating monsters, then Yuanyuan might as well come back.

He was about to graduate and would soon be working and earning money. Supporting one more person would be nothing. He could afford it.

Qin Yancheng was very confident.

So confident, in fact, that his leg healed quite quickly, with not a single mishap. Before long, he could be discharged, though he still limped a little and needed a cane.

But that was only because the bone had not fully mended and could not yet bear weight. It did not mean he had become a cripple, as in the original plot.

Qin Ye knew exactly what he was doing.

If he said he was breaking a leg, then it would only be a leg, and nothing else.

Qin Suqing’s transfer went smoothly as well. She adjusted well, and after the placement exam results came out, it was clear that she had not been affected at all.

Feng Xiaolian now poured all her attention into her daughter, and the more time she spent with her, the more heartbroken she became.

People always said that the child who cried got the milk, but Qin Suqing was the opposite: she was obedient and sensible to a fault, always wronging herself so that others could have their way.

Tan Yuanyuan was different.

At first glance, she looked like a meek little bootlicker now, but in truth, she was an extremely self-centered person at heart, very good at using the circumstances around her to her own advantage.

The pocket money in Qin Yancheng’s hands never stayed there for long before it ended up in Tan Yuanyuan’s.

Of course, it might simply have been because Qin Yancheng was an idiot, the kind that could be talked into anything with just a few words, and still help count the money after being cheated.

That would truly be a sad story.

Overly sensible children often make people feel sorry for them.

Feng Xiaolian was exactly like that.

As for Tan Yuanyuan, Tan Yuanyuan was busy being a bootlicker. Family? What family? None of that mattered.

Time flew by. Qin Ye left early and returned late every day, busy with secret research. Once Qin Suqing had settled in, she performed well on the college entrance exam and got into the university she had wanted.

She did not choose art, though. She chose civil engineering.

If she had done that in the Tan family, Qin Suqing would have been subjected to a full-blown interrogation. In the Qin family, only Qin Yancheng clicked his tongue and complained that such a sweet and adorable girl should be doing art instead of becoming a construction worker and so on.

The result was being grabbed by the ear and scolded by Feng Xiaolian.

How dare you talk back to your little sister in front of your parents?

Qin Yancheng increasingly felt that his place in this family was shrinking, even more than when Yuanyuan had still been here.

Ah, another day spent missing Yuanyuan.

The Qin Yancheng who was missing Yuanyuan soon received a message from Tan Yuanyuan, asking him to meet her outside.

Qin Yancheng practically bounced in place with delight.

His dad had said Yuanyuan did not want any further contact with them, but see? He had said Yuanyuan was not that kind of person.

Qin Yancheng went to meet Tan Yuanyuan with his cane.

Tan Yuanyuan had changed into designer clothes, and even the jewelry she wore was luxury brand name pieces. Yet at this moment she looked extremely constrained, perhaps because of the refined young man sitting across from her.

“Your foster parents’ son is very good to you. If he finds out you are not really his sister, do you think he will be like in the dramas and fall for you at once, willing to do anything for you?”

Someone asked this with curiosity.

Tan Yuanyuan was not actually that close to any of them, but she wanted to get closer to Meng Yuan, so she forcibly inserted herself into the group. Even when she was isolated and could only sit off to the side playing on her phone, she refused to leave.

Besides, anyone with eyes could see that her target was Meng Yuan, which only made this bunch of boys and girls, all at the age when they loved chaos and trouble, even more excited.

They lived for the spectacle.

And if someone was willing to provide it voluntarily, all the better.

Of course, this had to be approved by Meng Yuan.

Meng Yuan did not care either way.

There were plenty of girls who liked him. He had seen more intense ones than this. But bootlickers like Tan Yuanyuan were still rare.

After all, most girls, even if they adored him crazily and acted as though they could not live without him, would collapse once they got close enough to sense his indifference and contempt.

The better ones would stop liking him. The worse ones would turn hostile and start hating him.

Adding another Tan Yuanyuan was merely a bit of flavor in an otherwise boring life.

The only thing Meng Yuan was interested in was how long she could keep liking him.

After all, the second-generation rich kids around him were each more awful than the last.

If she was mocked, ridiculed, and cruelly bullied, and still ignored coldly by the person she liked, how long could she sustain this so-called affection?

People really ought not to be so shallow. One should not look at a person and immediately act as if no one else in the world could do, all with such a deeply devoted expression. That only made him feel sick.

Meng Yuan smiled carelessly, but Tan Yuanyuan watched him with joy blooming in her heart.

Fortunately, she had gathered the courage to confess her feelings. And fortunately, he was willing to see what she would do for him.

Although his tone was utterly indifferent, as though he did not care at all, she believed that even if his heart were made of stone, she would still warm it with her own sincerity.

Qin Yancheng, brimming with excitement, leaned on his cane and came to see whether Tan Yuanyuan, who had been taken in by the Tan family, was living well.

When he reached the place, he was a little stunned. First of all, he had not merely never been here before; he had never even heard of it.

It was probably a place open only to a certain class of people. In other words, there was a threshold for coming here, and ordinary people would not even know such a place existed.

Qin Yancheng was clearly one of those ordinary people who did not know.

Just as he was beginning to back out, he saw the Tan Yuanyuan of today.

He raised a hand. “Yuanyuan~”

Tan Yuanyuan’s feelings were complicated, and she was a little moved. Although this brother was a bit foolish, he had always been very good to his sister.

In other words, Qin Yancheng had always treated her, his sister, very well.

These people wanted her to call Qin Yancheng over clearly with bad intentions. She could tell, but she did not want to disappoint Meng Yuan.