CHAPTER 399: CHAPTER 408: SHE DOESN’T NEED A FATHER

Jian Zhiqing gently massaged his own forehead. Was this really necessary?

In the evening, Qin Xiangyang returned home, and Granny Lu had also come back from the store. It seemed like there was always too much to say; however, in the end, when words were on the tip of her tongue, it all just became a sigh.

"Brother Jian, what exactly happened, are they gone?"

Qin Xiangyang didn’t dare to ask Granny Lu or Qin Xiangnuan; his sister’s face looked terribly upset. He hadn’t even started speaking, and at the glare from his sister’s eyes, he didn’t dare to move. He could only come and ask Jian Zhiqing. Hu Li’s family of three, did they really leave?

"They left?" Jian Zhiqing found the word somewhat ridiculous. "Do you think they would be content not having eaten the meat?"

"No," Qin Xiangyang knew Hu Li’s type well. That person used to always look for petty advantages in the village; without securing her advantages, how could she leave so easily? Not only Qin Xiangyang wouldn’t believe it, but no one in Dadao Village would believe it either.

"So, where are they now? Where did they go?"

"They’re staying in the police station."

Jian Zhiqing wrapped his arms around his chest and slightly narrowed his eyes as he spoke, "Qin Pengfei stole my clothes, stole my watch, and has now been charged with burglary. If we don’t detain him for a few days, how can we teach them a lesson, make them understand that in the big city, unlike their rural village, everything has to abide by the law and order."

"Detained by the police?" Qin Xiangyang’s mouth fell open. "That can’t be possible, is it really true?"

"Yes, detained," Jian Zhiqing felt there was nothing wrong with it. Hu Li was just a bully who fears the tough; offending him brought no benefits, and offending the young girl even less so. If the little girl couldn’t handle it, he would step in.

"But is this really okay, Brother Jian?"

Qin Xiangyang still felt something was amiss. He sat down, feeling uneasy. By sending Hu Li and her family to the police station, they surely wouldn’t be willing to let it go so easily. Would they cause more trouble later? Initially, to avoid the Qin Family, they had even moved away to Shenjia Village. Later, because of Hu Li’s schemes, his sister came alone to the Capital City, unable to even write the name Qin properly. Despite everything, they were still connected by blood.

Though they might deny it, having people here, they couldn’t withstand the pervasive gossip, couldn’t handle the spitting of others.

Moreover, Qin Guohua hadn’t arrived yet, and it seemed Qin Guohua would be arriving soon. If this were ancient times, a single word ’filial piety’ could weigh down on him and his sister for a lifetime, preventing them from raising their heads.

"Let’s detain them for a few days," Jian Zhiqing understood whose people Qin Xiangyang was worried about. He reached out and patted Qin Xiangyang’s shoulder, "Don’t worry, that family of three won’t be able to cause any further trouble. In this world, no one lets themselves be flattened and rounded without reason. Right now, we aren’t targeting them, but a necessary lesson must be taught. Otherwise, they won’t know how to stop bullying you and your sister."

"I..." Qin Xiangyang gritted his teeth and, after thinking it over, decided to be ruthless and not concern himself with the Qin family’s people until Qin Guohua arrived. After all, he and his sister had done nothing wrong. The Qin family’s arrival was just to take advantage of them; Jian Zhiqing was right. Letting them go this time was a compromise, a compromise for a lifetime.

And he was unwilling.

He believed his sister felt the even less inclined.

Jian Zhiqing was now not worried about Qin Xiangyang; rather, he was concerned about Qin Xiangnuan, that young girl’s thoughts were too heavy. If not careful, she might take things too hard and wouldn’t come out of it. He had to talk to her properly.

"I don’t agree,"

Qin Xiangnuan outright refused, as it related to the Qin family, she disagreed with it all.

She could even take a knife to chop Hu Li; there was nothing she wouldn’t dare to do to get them out. With that family’s presumptuous nature and shamelessness, wouldn’t they cling like a stubborn plaster, stuck to them for a lifetime?

Jian Zhiqing reached out his hand, but Qin Xiangnuan turned her face away.

And Jian Zhiqing, bewildered, was left frustrated.

"Nuannuan, listen to me."

Qin Xiangnuan didn’t want to listen because she felt that whatever Jian Zhiqing was going to say, she wouldn’t like it. Yet Jian Zhiqing’s voice continued while she sat there without leaving; he spoke, and she listened.

"Right now, your brother has important days of residency at school. If this news spreads to his school, it won’t be good for him. Just endure this for a while; anyway, they can’t take advantage of you. You originally put this Siheyuan and other possessions in my name just to prevent such things. Since you’ve thought it through, then let her stay under your watch, are you still afraid they could turn the sky upside down? If others disgust you, don’t you want to disgust them back? Avoiding them is never the best solution."

His hand moved up again, resting on top of Qin Xiangnuan’s head, "You are no longer that little girl who had nothing. Now you are independent and have your own skills and talents; they can’t do anything to you, nor can they threaten you."

"Making it difficult for others isn’t about making oneself suffer, but about living a better life than others, understand?"

"Life won’t always follow your desires. I know you dislike the Qin family, and I know you really hate Qin Xiangmei, but sometimes, we need to learn to endure and bear, do you understand?"

Qin Xiangnuan somewhat disliked Jian Zhiqing’s words, but he was right. She couldn’t always avoid Qin Xiangmei. In her previous life, she had avoided them for a lifetime. Though facing them occasionally disgusted her, keeping them under watch allowed mutual disgust.

"Do you really not want to recognize them?" Jian Zhiqing seriously faced her and raised his voice, "After all, he’s your father."

"I don’t have a father," Qin Xiangnuan coldly laughed, a depth in her eyes beyond her years like an old decaying tree, long forgotten by time yet the memories of hatred remained unchanged.

What use was such a father who wanted her life, ruined her, once was enough, and another return would take her brother and granny too?

"I don’t need a father," she had never needed the role of a father. Without a father, she and her brother still survived and fared well. However, Jian Zhiqing’s words indeed touched a tender spot—her brother was her weak spot, for which she must compromise.

A few days later, when Qin Xiangnuan came home, she heard Hu Li’s curses echoing inside. She raised the corners of her lips in a faint smile, yet her eyes showed no trace of joy. They were back, earlier than she’d expected.