Zhou Linlin arrived at Qin Qing’s home carrying many high-end gift boxes.
“Oh my god, your place is such a mess! Are you the only one here? No one is taking care of you?”
Zhou Linlin looked around, unsure where to put the gift boxes. The living room floor was littered with trash, and the sofa was piled high with clothes, leaving no place to step. Qin Qing was sitting on the metal cot on the balcony, idly playing with his phone.
“Come over here and sit.” He beckoned to Zhou Linlin.
Zhou Linlin walked to the balcony, looked around, and finally let out a sigh. Unexpectedly, the cleanest part of the house was the balcony. The narrow metal cot was covered with a pristine white sheet, the floor was spotless, and the air was filled with a rich floral fragrance, intoxicating with just a gentle sniff.
“What perfume are you wearing?” Zhou Linlin placed the gift boxes in the corner of the balcony and brought her nose close to Qin Qing’s head, sniffing incessantly like a little dog.
Today, she was again wearing an ill-suited lace dress and high heels, her long hair draped over her shoulders, dressed like a young lady, yet her face still had strong, angular features. 996 immediately jumped into the pile of gift boxes, precisely locating the ones containing food and prying them open with its paws. It moved vigorously, but Zhou Linlin couldn’t see it at all.
Qin Qing shook his head. “It’s just ordinary body wash.”
“You’re lying! If a body wash with this scent existed on the market, it would have sold out long ago!” Zhou Linlin put her hands on her hips, pretending to be fierce.
Just then, Qin Bao’er walked out of her room. Seeing Zhou Linlin, she immediately put on a fawning smile, her eyes constantly darting towards the stack of gift boxes.
“The house is such a mess. Don’t you know how to clean up?” Zhou Linlin pointed at the trash on the floor and demanded.
“My brother usually does the cleaning.” Qin Bao’er looked aggrieved.
“Your brother’s hand is injured!”
“It’s only his right hand. He still has his left hand, doesn’t he?”
“Are you even human? Is injuring your right hand a small matter?”
“He can still run and jump. Why isn’t it a small matter? The doctor said that after the cast is removed, his right hand will still be usable.”
“But he can’t use it right now. He needs someone to take care of him! You have nothing to do all day. Don’t you know how to help your brother? Can’t you even do some housework?”
“How am I doing nothing? I need to study for my graduate school entrance exam!”
“Graduate school, my foot! Your thesis was so bad it was practically garbage. You barely even graduated from undergrad! And you want to go to graduate school? You’re a joke! You’re just lazy and don’t want to go out and work!”
“Who do you think you are? Why do you have the right to tell me what to do?”
Zhou Linlin had been spoiled by her grandparents, and Qin Bao’er was the apple of Shen Mingshu’s eye. Both had bad tempers. As they argued, they quickly got into a heated fight. Qin Qing didn’t intervene. He just sat to the side, propping his cheek on his left hand, his thin lips curved in a faint, unreadable smile. 996 rummaged through the gift boxes and found a bag of bird’s nest. After taking two bites, it spat them out with a “Pfft pfft pfft,” then rushed between the two women, cheering, “Fight, fight, fight…”
Qin Qing changed from propping his cheek to covering his face with his hand, looking seemingly helpless, but the corners of his lips curled even higher. Zhou Linlin, known as the female tyrant of Haishi, never lost a fight. She quickly reduced Qin Bao’er to tears. When Qin Bao’er tried to retreat to her bedroom, Zhou Linlin followed. Seeing the luxurious decor inside the bedroom and the high-end cosmetics covering the dresser, she exploded again.
“Damn it! Qin Bao’er, you and your mother are really inhuman! Qin Qing works so hard every day, comes home and has to sleep on the balcony, while you and your mother live in such nice rooms! What do you take Qin Qing for?”
“None of your business! Get out of here!” Qin Bao’er forcefully pushed Zhou Linlin out.
Zhou Linlin banged on the door, shouting, “Qin Bao’er, come out! Give your room to Qin Qing! You haven’t contributed a damn thing to this family! You go sleep on the balcony! Have you no shame? You graduated and won’t work, still letting your brother support you! Don’t you have hands and feet?”
“Stop knocking. Forget it.” Qin Qing stepped forward to intervene.
“No, Qin Qing, don’t you think it’s weird? Your mother and sister treat you—”
Qin Qing raised his slender index finger and gently pressed it to his thin lips. “Shh…”
Zhou Linlin fell silent. At that moment, the sound of the door opening came from the entrance, followed by Shen Mingshu’s impatient scolding: “Qin Qing, Qin Qing, where are you? The house is such a mess. Don’t you know how to clean it up?”
Clearly, in her eyes, Qin Qing, even with a broken right hand, still had to do the housework. As long as he wasn’t dead, he had to sacrifice everything for this family. Fire blazed in Zhou Linlin’s eyes.
But Qin Qing still smiled so calmly. “It’s pointless to argue with them. Go home.”
Qin Qing ushered Zhou Linlin into the hallway. Seeing the eldest daughter of the Zhou family, Shen Mingshu, who had been looking impatient, immediately put on a sycophantic smile.
Zhou Linlin opened her mouth to curse, but heard a helpless yet gentle whisper in her ear: “Be good. Go home.”
No one had spoken to Zhou Linlin in such a caring tone since her grandparents died. Her cheeks flushed, and the anger in her heart naturally subsided by more than half.
As she stepped into the elevator, Zhou Linlin turned back and said to Qin Qing, who was standing at the door seeing her off, “I will save you. Just wait for me.”
Qin Qing merely waved his hand, smiling silently. The elevator descended. Qin Qing closed the door and went back inside.
“Clean up the house. I’m tired. I need to sleep.” Shen Mingshu tossed her bag carelessly onto the sofa and ordered, looking exhausted.
The bedroom door slammed shut, leaving Qin Qing standing in the living room, looking helplessly at the mess around him.
“The original owner was right to leave this world early.” He sighed inwardly, then slowly walked to the balcony, closed the sliding door, and isolated himself from that dirty, indifferent, selfish world.
“This is your mission. You can’t just shirk your responsibilities and refuse to do it.” 996, who had followed him onto the balcony, immediately warned.
“I’ve already completed all the plot points so far.” Qin Qing smiled slightly.
“But you’re subtly sabotaging the plot! You’re trying to get rid of the original owner’s problems.”
996 said angrily, “Let me tell you, that’s impossible! Even if you dislike Shen Mingshu and Qin Bao’er, in the plot, you still have to support them for life! You’d better adapt quickly!”
“Support them for life? Is that stipulated by the plot?” Qin Qing raised a long, slender eyebrow, his expression uncertain.
“Yes. The original owner was a very filial person. Even after returning to his own family, he never forgot Shen Mingshu and Qin Bao’er. He constantly bought them things and sent them money. Hurry up and clean the house. For the next six months, just get used to the life of a dutiful son. After six months, I’ll find a way to let you go through the plot points of returning to your ancestral family. Don’t cause any more trouble by then, or we’ll die here!”
996’s tone was stern as it warned. Qin Qing sighed softly and slowly stood up. 996 thought he was going to endure the sharp pain in his right hand to clean the room, but instead, he took out his phone and used a housekeeping app to hire a cleaner. Two hours later, the house was clean and tidy. When Shen Mingshu woke up from her all-night mahjong session and learned what had happened, she scolded Qin Qing severely for wasting money and made him transfer the remaining balance from his card to her. His phone was taken away, and when he got it back, his savings were completely gone.
Qin Qing sat alone on the balcony, holding his empty phone, murmuring to himself, “Support them for life…”
996, perched on the windowsill, grinned, baring its teeth. “That’s right! Support them for life! For the next six months, you’ll be their beast of burden.”
Qin Qing swept his eyes over the cramped balcony and smiled wryly. “It really is a beastly existence.”
“You can still smile? Is six months too short? Should I let you enjoy it for another six months?” 996 threatened maliciously.
But it didn’t take six months. Only half a month later, Zhou Linlin arrived at Qin Qing’s home, accompanied by a middle-aged couple, a young man, and two old men.
She placed a stack of documents on the coffee table and said, “This is the paternity test result. Take a look.”
Shen Mingshu stared blankly at the young man standing at the entrance, her eyes filled with fear. This man was Qin Zishi, her son! The water glass Qin Bao’er was holding crashed to the floor with a bang. Only Qin Qing remained calm. He picked up the paternity test and flipped through it carefully, page by page.
“Six months?” He chuckled softly to himself.
996, perched on the sofa, was dumbfounded. Meow? What is wrong with this world, meow? Why did something that wasn’t supposed to happen for six months happen so many days early? Wasn’t Zhou Linlin the vicious female supporting character? Why is she following Zhou Yourou’s plot?
Qin Qing’s eyes were lowered, his expression calm as he flipped through the report, as if completely unaffected by the sudden news. But a careful observer would notice that his left hand, holding the report, was trembling slightly. This involuntary physical reaction betrayed his inner turmoil. The two old men sitting across from him, looking at his extremely handsome yet tired face and his right arm in a cast, had tears of pity in their eyes.
“You don’t need to keep reading. You are our child. You look exactly like your grandmother.” The old man leaning on a cane said, his voice slightly choked. “I am your grandfather, Ji Mingtang.”
The vigorous old man sitting next to Ji Mingtang immediately spoke up: “I am your grandfather, Qin Guangyuan.”
The two old men looked sternly at the middle-aged couple and the young man. The three of them then spoke, slightly awkwardly.
“I am your father. My name is Qin Huaichuan.”
“I am your mother, Ji Lan.”
“My name is Qin Zishi.” Qin Zishi didn’t introduce his identity. He was the one in the most awkward position.
Qin Qing continued to flip through the report. He looked at the one-sentence conclusion for a full five minutes, his left hand pressing on his knee, trying hard to stop the trembling.
996 curled its lip. “I’ll give you a ten out of ten for that acting.”
Ji Lan stared at Qin Qing, her eyes slightly red. Qin Huaichuan also sized up this son, but his gaze held no excitement at finally meeting him, only scrutiny and calculation.
Shen Mingshu, keenly aware of Qin Huaichuan’s thoughts, looked at Qin Zishi and said in a trembling voice, “You, you graduated from Harvard, didn’t you? I’ve seen your interview. Your parents raised you so well!”
Tears of relief welled in her eyes.
Mentioning education, Qin Huaichuan frowned and asked, “Qin Qing didn’t go to university?”
They had already looked into this situation, but it still bothered them.
“Yes, he started working right after high school. It’s really quite embarrassing.” Shen Mingshu lowered her head, looking unusually flustered. Her evasive answer gave the false impression that Qin Qing had given up on his education simply because he preferred to play around.
Qin Qing looked up and smiled bitterly. “At that time, the family had no income. If I didn’t work, who would support my mother and sister? I really wanted to go to Haida University. The acceptance letter even came. But thinking about the situation at home…”
Overcome with sudden sadness, he couldn’t finish the sentence. Qin Qing smiled stoically, his thin lips curving, but a faint flush crept to the corners of his eyes. He was embarrassed, and he was sad. Haida was a top-tier domestic university, and he had gotten in while working part-time and studying. If he had been given good enough conditions, his achievements would certainly have been even greater.
Shen Mingshu’s intention had been to use Qin Zishi’s advanced degree to highlight Qin Qing’s mediocrity. However, Qin Qing’s response revealed his exceptional intellect and extraordinary perseverance. He was a responsible, filial, and intelligent child. The two old men nodded frequently, their faces full of admiration.
“It’s okay, it’s okay. If you’re willing, we can still send you for further study. You can get a diploma anytime. The years of experience you’ve gained in society are your real treasure!”
“Good child, you’ve suffered all these years. Everything will be fine once you come home.”
Ji Mingtang and Qin Guangyuan’s fondness for Qin Qing was palpable.
Ji Lan hurriedly took out a tissue to wipe her tears and said with heartache, “It’s all in the past. You won’t suffer anymore.”
Qin Huaichuan patted Qin Qing’s shoulder. That slight trace of prejudice had disappeared, leaving only relief. Not having a diploma wasn’t a big deal, as long as he was smart. At this point, Qin Zishi felt even more awkward.
But only for a moment. He quickly adjusted, stepped forward, and gently put his arm around Qin Qing’s shoulder. Sincerely and apologetically, he said, “I’m sorry. You should have been the one to suffer these hardships. Thank you for taking care of my mother and sister in my place. I’ve come to take you home, and also to assume the responsibilities I should have borne. I’ll take care of this family from now on. You focus on being a good son to your parents.”
Qin Qing turned his head and looked into Qin Zishi’s eyes. Qin Qing was 185 cm tall, with an incomparably handsome face, a tall, slender physique, and an innate noble bearing that hardship could not erase. Qin Zishi, at best, was 175 cm, and his features were merely delicate. Standing side by side, ignoring their attire and resumes, Qin Zishi was simply far inferior to Qin Qing. You reap what you sow – that saying has never been wrong.
The two old men liked Qin Qing more and more the longer they looked at him. Ji Lan also stepped forward and tightly embraced this son she had found again after being lost. Qin Huaichuan silently held Qin Qing’s hand, patting it repeatedly to show affection.
Shen Mingshu frowned as she watched this scene and asked uneasily, “Are you taking Qin Qing away? What about Zishi?”
Please don’t let them swap, please don’t! She screamed in her heart. The Qin family had discussed it before coming. They wanted both children. They wouldn’t swap them back. Qin Zishi and Qin Qing would be brothers from now on.
Qin Huaichuan stated his decision and comforted her, saying, “From now on, let’s interact as one family. Qin Qing is both your son and mine. Both our families have the surname Qin. It’s fate.”
Shen Mingshu wept and nodded excitedly. “Okay, okay, okay. I, I can’t bear to part with Qin Qing. I would be very grateful if you could let him stay by my side.”
Great, this was the result she wanted! Great! Zhou Linlin watched this scene sarcastically.
996 licked its paws and said gloatingly, “You can’t shake her off, meow! You’ll never get rid of this cheap mother! Before, you were her beast of burden. From now on, you’re her ATM!”
Meow meow meow, Qin Qing must be so frustrated right now, right? 996 turned to admire Qin Qing’s expression, but saw him looking at Zhou Linlin, his thin lips pressed together.
Zhou Linlin clenched her fists and suddenly spoke up. “How strange, Aunt Shen. Qin Qing got into Haida University, one of the top five universities in the country. Why did you make him drop out and instead send Qin Bao’er, whose grades are terrible, to school? Aunt Shen, that doesn’t make sense! What mother would force her son to ruin his own future? What were you thinking?”
Shen Mingshu was stunned by the question. Qin Bao’er hid in the corner, not daring to speak, but she felt indignant. Just because her grades were bad, she couldn’t study? What kind of logic was that? Qin Zishi, who had been embracing Qin Qing, stepped back, looked at Shen Mingshu, and surprise and suspicion flashed in his eyes. Ji Lan was startled for a moment, then showed an expression of disbelief. She had already guessed something.
Qin Huaichuan, Qin Guangyuan, and Ji Mingtang were all taken aback, then their expressions changed dramatically. The warm, joyful family recognition scene turned completely cold in an instant. Shen Mingshu’s whole body stiffened, her breathing rapid.
Before she could come up with a reasonable answer – in fact, she couldn’t think of one – Zhou Linlin dropped another bombshell: “Aunt Shen, did you already know that Qin Qing wasn’t your biological son?”
Yes, that was the crux of the problem. Only if she had known in advance that Qin Qing wasn’t her son could Shen Mingshu have made such an unreasonable decision.
“No, no, I didn’t! I didn’t know!” Shen Mingshu yelled in panic. This time, without the original owner repeatedly making excuses for her and saying that dropping out was his own decision, she had no way to whitewash herself.
Qin Bao’er quickly chimed in, “Who could possibly know something like that! Don’t slander people!”
996 flicked its tail and complained, “Meow, that’s not how the script was written, meow! Zhou Linlin, stop adding lines for yourself!”
As 996 pounced and lightly scratched Zhou Linlin’s shoes, Qin Qing looked at Shen Mingshu from across the room. Suddenly, his eyes reddened, and his voice became slightly hoarse: “What Zhou Linlin said, is it true? You knew all along? So that’s why you have so many photos of Qin Zishi saved on your phone?”
This accusation was purely Qin Qing’s speculation. He wouldn’t snoop through Shen Mingshu’s phone, but he was certain a mother who missed her son would act that way. Shen Mingshu, who had been trying to talk her way out of it just a moment ago, immediately gave herself away the next.
“You looked through my phone!” She first demanded harshly, then realized she had slipped up.
996 was shocked. “Qin Qing, you’re adding lines for yourself too?!”
Shen Mingshu lunged for the sofa, grabbed her phone, and was about to delete her entire photo album, but Ji Lan snatched the phone away, held the screen up to Shen Mingshu’s face to unlock it, and then found the photo album. The album had a category labeled “Son.” Opening that category revealed it was full of photos of Qin Zishi – some collected from the internet, some secretly taken in real life. No further questions were needed. The answer was crystal clear.
“You knew all along that Qin Zishi was your son? So that’s why you didn’t let my son go to university? You deliberately ruined his future?” Ji Lan was shaking with rage.
Qin Zishi, who had been so elegant and composed just moments ago, had lost all his calm. If Shen Mingshu was such a vicious woman, then his position in the Qin family would become very uncomfortable. The faces of Qin Huaichuan, Qin Guangyuan, and Ji Mingtang were terrifyingly grim. Any thought they might have had of accepting Shen Mingshu and Qin Bao’er as relatives had vanished completely, replaced by sheer fury.
“Uncle Qin raised your son so well! Why did you have to destroy his son? No matter what, Qin Qing was raised by you. How could you bear to deprive him of his right to an education? How could you bear to make him go out and work at such a young age? How could you bear to ruin his entire life?” Zhou Linlin was adding fuel to the fire.
Shen Mingshu couldn’t answer a single one of these questions. Could she bear it? Of course she could. The child wasn’t hers. What did it matter if he lived or died? The hatred in the Qin family’s eyes deepened.
Qin Qing, his eyes red, asked in a hoarse voice, “When did you find out? The year I started middle school?”
This question touched upon Shen Mingshu’s deepest, most hidden hatred. She, who had been so full of guilt a moment ago, erupted instantly.
“Qin Qing, do you know how your father died? The year you started middle school, he got your school physical exam report and saw your blood type. No one in our family has Rh-null blood! He was so distracted that he got into a car accident! He was killed because of you! You’re the one who destroyed my family! Why didn’t you die instead?”
Shen Mingshu lunged at Qin Qing, clawing at him, her face twisted with hatred.
“Die! Die!” she shrieked, tears streaming from her flushed eyes.
Ji Lan also lunged forward, grappling with Shen Mingshu. “Don’t you touch my son! Your husband’s death had nothing to do with him! What gives you the right to ruin him? What gives you the right?”
The tall Ji Lan slapped Shen Mingshu’s head sideways with one swing. Qin Zishi actually stepped forward, shielding Qin Qing, playing the role of a protector.
“This is not Qin Qing’s fault. This is all fate.” He spoke deliberately, his voice full of pain.
The two old men, who had been quite dissatisfied with him just before, now showed relieved expressions. But Zhou Linlin, thinking the situation hadn’t escalated enough, asked loudly, “Does Qin Zishi know you’re his mother? Have you two been hiding this all along, just to scheme for the Qin family’s property?”
Shen Mingshu, who had been venting her resentment so righteously, froze. Ji Lan seized the opportunity and slapped her several more times.
Shen Mingshu didn’t fight back. Instead, she shouted, “Zishi doesn’t know anything about this! I swear I never contacted him! As long as he lives well, that’s enough for me. I won’t trouble him, and I won’t harm him. I am his mother!”
Qin Zishi’s back was trembling. Was it from anger or shame? A flicker of mockery flashed in Qin Qing’s dark eyes, but on the surface, he looked even more sorrowful. His slightly reddened peach-blossom eyes overflowed with shattered tears.
“You wouldn’t harm him, so you chose to harm me instead? But I’m the one who called you ‘Mom’ for twenty-five years…”
Qin Qing said this as if he were about to cry. Without waiting for Shen Mingshu’s response, he turned and left. This cold home had never had a place for him. What was even more tragic was that he had only now discovered this fact. Two bitter tears fell onto the floor. The door slammed shut. 996 was dumbfounded. Holy meow, it was only now realizing that Qin Qing was also a master of acting! 996 quickly jumped onto the window, climbed down the drainpipe, and caught up with Qin Qing in the first-floor lobby. Qin Qing, walking out of the elevator with a leisurely step, no longer had a single tear on his face. His slightly reddened eyes had become clear and bright.
With his left hand in his pocket, he strolled comfortably down the sun-drenched street, his thin lips slightly upturned as he sighed inwardly, “Support them for life? Hmm?”
996: “…Holy meow, you win this round.”
Qin Qing: “Did I get the points for the ‘returning to the ancestral family’ plot point?”
996 looked at the script, then at the mission list, and spoke reluctantly, “You got them, but that’s not how the script was written. Are you deliberately sabotaging the plot?”
It didn’t receive an apology from Qin Qing, only a careless, low chuckle. By now, it finally understood that Qin Qing only cared about completing the plot points; he wouldn’t use the “correct” method at all! What was the correct method? 996 flipped through the script again and felt like crying. The plot where the two families merged into one and lived happily together had been butterfly-effected away!
“Qin Qing, if the plot demanded that you die, would you die?” 996 looked up and asked, then emphasized, “You’ve seen it too, haven’t you? The power of fate is irresistible. What is meant to happen will happen, sooner or later.”
A glint of light flickered in Qin Qing’s eyes, and he chuckled softly. “I know fate is unchangeable. If heaven’s will demands my death, I will certainly comply, but I will choose a comfortable way.”
So, no matter what he did, even in death, he would seek a way that pleased him.
996 took a deep breath and vowed, “Qin Qing, just you wait. I’ll find a way to get you under control eventually!”
Just vibes, late nights, and coffee keeping this translation project alive. If you want to help fuel the next chapter, Ko-Fi and PayPal are linked below.
