Chapter 247: Chapter 247

Qin Xi brushed aside Mr. Qin’s hair to look, finding only a large bump that hadn’t broken, and she let out a sigh of relief. Li Xianglu, fuming, just stared in the direction Qin Zhen had run off. Whose naughty kid was this, recklessly throwing things at people?

Soon after, Qin Zhen appeared around the corner, dragging a child by the collar. The child was mischievous too, and not scared at all by Qin Zhen, who was tall and strong. The two of them arrived where they were, tugging and pulling at each other.

Li Xianglu glared with widened eyes: "Whose child are you to be throwing things at people? Qin Zhen, take him to the police station and let the cops lock him up." Scaring a child with the police was always effective.

Upon hearing this, the child, who was originally defiant, changed expression and suddenly burst into tears, soon sobbing so hard he could hardly breathe, making it seem as though he was the victim. People coming and going all turned to look.

Li Xianglu was furious. Qin Zhen, who was holding the child’s collar, was also stunned. Who was this? Thinking they are in the right even after hitting someone!

Just as Mr. Qin, who didn’t feel dizzy anymore, was about to scold the child and tell him to let go, he froze when he saw the child’s face: "Xiao Xin, it’s you!"

Upon seeing Mr. Qin, the child immediately bared his teeth and cried out: "I don’t want you to be my dad!"

Everyone was taken aback. Qin Zhen, not pleased, tugged at the child’s collar and shoved him a bit: "Hey, what are you saying? Who is going to be your dad? That’s my dad. You wish!"

The child also paused, glanced at the two tall, young men beside him, and then looked at Mr. Qin with a pouting, aggrieved face: "You already have two children, why do you still want to be my step-dad? Boo hoo, I don’t want my mom to remarry."

Everyone frowned upon hearing this. Mr. Qin, standing next to them, helplessly shook his head: "This is Yang Huan’s daughter."

Li Xianglu looked over. The child looked about ten years old, thin and dark, with her nose twitching. Qin Zhen’s eyes almost popped out in disbelief; this kid still rejects his dad, and he doesn’t want his mom to become their step-mom either, hmph!

Li Xianglu took a tissue from her bag and handed it over: "Alright, wipe your tears. No one is going to be your step-dad. You’re so big now, yet you believe anything anyone says. Don’t you have a brain? Running out carelessly , aren’t you just shaming your mom? Silly!"

The child paused, took the tissue, wiped her tears and snivelled. She thought over Li Xianglu’s words, realizing she had been fooled. But before the child could say anything, the four had already walked away.

Qin Zhen awkwardly asked: "Dad, are you really going to marry that Yang Huan? Look at her naughty kid, even naughtier than me. You’d be driven insane in the future!"

Li Xianglu burst out laughing: "Come on, she’s not as naughty as you. Think about when you were over ten years old, stealing tiles from roofs, that was something! If Dad can put up with that, he can surely tolerate a girl."

Qin Zhen, upon hearing this, glared round-eyed: "You agree with Dad marrying that woman?"

Li Xianglu approached Qin Zhen and patted his shoulder: "Alright, Dad can make his own decisions. Unless you plan to accompany Dad for the rest of his life, you can’t obstruct his right to pursue happiness, Qin Zhen. You’re an adult now, and you can no longer act like a child. You can talk it over with Anna and see what she thinks. She definitely won’t have the same opinion as you."

Qin Zhen, eyes wide: "Nana won’t think like that, she’ll agree with me."

Li Xianglu snorted and leaned against Qin Xi, choosing not to speak any further.

Back at the courtyard house, Qin Zhen made a phone call and left. Li Xianglu signaled Qin Xi with her eyes, and Qin Xi whispered: "Do you think he’ll come back incredibly angry?"

Qin Xi shook her head seriously: "I think he’ll feel wronged, then incredulous."

Li Xianglu’s eyes widened: "That twisted?"

Qin Xi nodded, inscrutable.

There was plenty of meat left over, some of which was given to friends, and a large portion left for making sausages and preserved meat. Sister Xing arrived at noon, cooked for Mr. Li, and then started chopping meat with Li Xianglu joining in almost as soon as she walked through the door.

Qin Shouren had terrible skills, and Qin Zhen had run off again, leaving only Li Jianqing, Qin Xi, Li Xianglu, and Sister Xing to work on the meat stuffing and making sausages.

By four in the afternoon, Li Xianglu kept nodding off. Qin Xi compassionately sent her off to sleep and finished up the remaining work with Li Jianqing and Sister Xing.

Meanwhile, Qin Shouren and Mr. Li were having tea and chess, chatting away.

Mr. Li looked at the still youthful Qin Shouren: "Shouren, you’re still young. Why not find yourself a partner?"

Qin Shouren blushed, the chess piece in his hand neither placed nor retained.

Mr. Li’s eyes lit up at the sight: "Do you have someone in mind?"

Qin Shouren nodded, took a sip of tea, and then said, "She’s a colleague from the hospital, a gynecologist, divorced and with a ten-year-old girl. She has a nice personality, and we got to know each other through a surgery. I think she’s a decent person."

Mr. Li nodded and said, "It’s not easy for a woman to raise a child on her own. Didn’t her family help her out a bit?"

Qin Shouren put down the tea cup and shared what he knew.

Her family background is quite simple, and she has a good nature. It’s just that her ex-husband, who wanted to avoid being a burden to her, had come to her door several times. Yang Huan never agreed to remarry him. When he showed up at the hospital, he happened to encounter Qin Shouren on duty, who helped ward him off. The man’s mother had a foul mouth, claiming that the daughter-in-law wasn’t remarrying her son because she had an affair outside.

So the two of them had nothing to do with each other originally, but rumors spread throughout the hospital.

Qin Shouren began to face this matter seriously. He found that Yang Huan was indeed quite good, with a nice disposition, and it would be nice to spend life together. But he had promised his two children that he wouldn’t remarry until the younger one was settled down.

Hearing Qin Shouren’s concerns, Mr. Li nodded and said, "You don’t need to worry about Qin Zhen. He’s in a relationship now, and you’ve met the girl before. It’s the young lady from the Lu Family."

What? Qin Shouren was stunned. His younger son was actually dating a girl from the Lu Family? How was that possible? With the son’s simple and naive appearance, could the girl like him? And even if the girl liked him, would the Lu Family be willing to accept a child from such a family background as their son-in-law?

Just as Qin Shouren began to worry, his young son walked in with a look of grievance on his face.

Qin Shouren had seen his son throw tantrums and be stubborn, but it was rare to see his younger son pouting and close to tears. He quickly came over and sat his tall and strong son down in a chair, asking with concern, "Xiao Zhen, what’s wrong? Did someone hit you?"

Qin Zhen’s face immediately stiffened. Couldn’t he be upset for other reasons? Did it always have to be about getting hit to feel wronged?

Qin Shouren was unaware of Qin Zhen’s internal turmoil. He just felt that his younger son rarely showed such an expression and as a father, he needed to give some comfort, "What happened, did you argue with Anna?"

Upon hearing his father’s question, Qin Zhen pouted, "Dad, you should get married soon, to Yang Huan."

Mr. Qin was stunned. What was going on with this kid? Was his brain kicked by a donkey? Why would he say things like that? Wasn’t he the one most opposed to his father remarrying?

At this moment, Li Xianglu also got up, carrying a basin of fried meatballs. She overheard Qin Zhen’s suggestion for Qin Shouren to get married, opened her mouth wide, quickly walked to the chair, and reached out to touch Qin Zhen’s forehead, then her own, and compared the two. There was nothing wrong; it was even cooler than her own. Seeing Qin Shouren’s worried glance, she quickly said, "Dad, he doesn’t have a fever."

Qin Shouren was puzzled, too. If the child didn’t have a fever, what was the matter?

Qin Zhen almost fainted with anger. Why did everyone think he was sick when he was acting normal? He turned his head away, huffing and refusing to speak.

Li Xianglu stuffed two hot fried meatballs to Qin Shouren, "Dad, try these. They were just fried, these are all-meat ones, and there are some with radish and potatoes." She sat next to her grandfather, stuffed one into Mr. Li’s mouth, and then sat down, munching while asking, "Come on, did Lu Anna scold you?"

Qin Zhen puffed up his cheeks and said, "Nana would never scold me!"

Li Xianglu rolled her eyes toward the ceiling and huffed, "Then what’s wrong with you? Were you robbed?"

Qin Zhen took a meatball from his father’s hand and ate it in a few bites—the crispy meatball was really tasty. However, his heart was still in pain—why would Nana call him a selfish person?

The kitchen was all set; the sausages were all hung up, only the bacon needed to be smoked. With the meatballs and crispy pork fried up into four big basins, and with only two days left until New Year’s Eve, the dough had already risen, ready to steam buns tomorrow. The fish was to be fried, and some lotus root stuffed with meat could be prepared, too.

In the afternoon, Li Xianglu took charge and made a stew with freshly fried meatballs, crispy pork, cabbage, glass noodles, and mushroom slices for everyone, alongside hot steamed buns. The family ate with joy, except for Qin Zhen, who was so aggrieved that he only ate three buns.

After the meal, everyone sat down, and Qin Zhen finally vented his grievance about Lu Anna calling him selfish.

Li Xianglu was about to die laughing, continually giving Qin Xi the thumbs up—she had guessed it spot on!

ps: These two updates are both 3000 words, I’ve corrected the Chapter that was wrong yesterday, so it’s like I updated four Chapters yesterday.

Today there’s still more, but it’ll be after midnight.

It’s so hot today, you sweat for two hours after being out for five minutes. Even if my husband ran away, I wouldn’t chase him—it’s just too hot!