Qin Ya shuffled her feet. “Um, I…”
“Did you hear us talking?” Su Zhan asked, his face darkening. He didn’t want anyone else to know about his past.
Qin Ya wanted to argue that she didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but Su Zhan’s face made her cower in fear. “What were y’all talking about? Did Grandma send me away just to talk about me?”
Su Zhan’s expression softened for a second. “Yeah. She told me to be nice to you. Also, where’s the food?”
“I left in a hurry, so I didn’t bring any money,” Qin Ya said, avoiding his gaze. She began to regret telling that lie.
However, to Su Zhan, it looked like she was just being embarrassed. He smiled and pulled out his wallet from his pocket. “Here.”
Qin Ya looked up at him. “Just give me a hundred and not the whole wallet.”
Su Zhan stuffed his wallet into her hand. “We’re husband and wife, everything of mine is yours too.”
Qin Ya looked at him, her fingers curling around the wallet.
Su Zhan laughed. “You’re moved by that? I haven’t even given you my fortune yet. You’re so easy to bribe.”
Qin Ya glared at him. “I’m going to buy food now.”
“Alright.”
Su Zhan watched her leave once more before going back into the room. His phone rang suddenly, and Shen Peichuan’s name was displayed on the screen. He answered the call, and before Shen Peichuan could say anything, he asked, “Is that bastard dead yet?”
“I don’t think he’ll die. He’s going through surgery now. How’s your grandmother?” Shen Peichuan asked. He probably called to ask about Su Zhan’s grandmother’s condition anyway.
Su Zhan pulled a chair over and sat down. “She’s fine. It’s just a few scratches. The doctor says that she can go home tomorrow.”
“Alright,” Shen Peichuan said, but didn’t hang up.
“Just say it. Why are you being so hesitant?”
“Um…well, Xinyan asked me to call you,” Shen Peichuan said, figuring that he should come clean with Su Zhan. “She felt guilty about this, so she told me to give you a call to find out how your grandmother’s doing.”
Su Zhan knew that all this had nothing to do with Lin Xinyan.
His grandmother’s appearance was a surprise, and so was the kidnapping. After all, Lin Xinyan almost got into deep trouble herself trying to save his grandmother.
“She’s not in the wrong. I know that.”
“Alright. I’ll go and visit after I’m done with this…”
“It’s fine. Everyone’s been really busy last night. You should get some sleep before we go home tomorrow. Also, you’ve been away from work for some time, so you should probably go back and clear things up too.”
Shen Peichuan gave a sound of approval and hung up.
Su Zhan put his phone back into his pocket. His grandmother looked over and asked, “Who was it?”
“Shen Peichuan. He called to ask how you’re doing, and I told him that you’re fine,” Su Zhan said, pulling her blankets up to her chin. “Let bygones be bygones. Don’t tell Qin Ya about my parents.”
“She’s not a stranger,” his grandmother said. She didn’t see a need to keep Qin Ya in the dark.
“I don’t want to feel embarrassed,” Su Zhan said, his face darkening.
That happened every time his past was brought up.
His grandmother didn’t see it as anything embarrassing, since it wasn’t his fault anyway. “Hm? Are you planning to hide this from her forever? She’s your wife, and she’s going to spend the rest of her life with you. You have to trust her even if she doesn’t trust you. Do you know what has the biggest cause of breaking a marriage? A lack of trust.”
She may be old, but her mind was sound and her wisdom aplenty.
“Maybe later, when I’m ready,” Su Zhan said, ready to drop the matter. “You must be tired. Get some rest.”
His grandmother wasn’t going to drop it so easily. “You’re married! Why wouldn’t you be ready? Are you still thinking about that Liu Feifei?”
“No. Why are you bringing her up?” Su Zhan said, and he couldn’t help but wonder if something was gravely wrong with his grandmother. First his parents, now his first love – what’s going on with her?
“Grandma, are you feeling alright? If something hurts, let me call the doctor now…”
Piak!
“Are you putting a curse on me or something?” His grandmother said while she gave his body a light slap.
Su Zhan’s voice turned into a whisper. “Then why are you talking about the past all of a sudden?”
“I’m worried about you!” His grandmother stressed.
Su Zhan pulled the blanket further upwards. “I’m an adult, and I know what I’m doing. If you want to make me happy, then take care of yourself.”
His grandmother sighed and said, “If you’re sure about your love for Qin Ya, then don’t ever change your mind, no matter what happens or who you meet in the future.”
“I know. Just don’t worry,” Su Zhan didn’t take it to heart.
She’s just a chatty old lady.
After a while, Qin Ya returned with the food, which she set on the table. “I’m not familiar with this place, so I took some time to look around.”
She returned Su Zhan’s wallet to him. “Here, your wallet.”
“Just hang on to it,” Su Zhan said, stuffing two spring rolls into his mouth and swallowing them after chewing for a couple of seconds. He took a huge gulp of water to wash them down. “Can you stay here with Grandma? I need to run some errands.”
“Sure,” said Qin Ya.
After Su Zhan took his leave, Qin Ya adjusted the bed so that Su Zhan’s grandmother got in a sitting position, before sitting down and picking up the bowl of porridge to feed to her. “Come Grandma, have some porridge.”
The old lady smiled and opened her mouth obediently.
She could feed herself, but she just wanted to be pampered by Qin Ya.
Qin Ya made sure that the porridge had cooled down before she started feeding Su Zhan’s grandma.
Slowly, the bowl of millet porridge was emptied, and Qin Ya took a piece of tissue paper to wipe the old lady’s mouth. Su Zhan’s grandmother lay still and enjoyed being fussed over by her grandson’s wife.
“Why did Su Zhan go out?” Su Zhan’s grandmother asked.
“I’m not sure,” Qin Ya said as she cleared the table.
“You’re not going to ask him?” The old lady asked tentatively.
Qin Ya didn’t catch what she really meant by that question. She threw the plastic bowl into the dustbin and said, “He said that he had some errands to run, no? He knows what he’s doing, so you don’t have to worry.”
Qin Ya had thought that she was just being worried about Su Zhan, and she walked over to lower the bed again. “I’ll be right here if you need me. Get some rest, Grandma.”
Su Zhan’s grandmother was indeed exhausted, but she was more satisfied with Qin Ya’s attitude.
Qin Ya clearly trusted Su Zhan when she didn’t bother to ask him about his whereabouts.
On the other hand, Su Zhan obviously had his reservations about Qin Ya.
Su Zhan’s grandmother sighed.
Meanwhile, Su Zhan called Shen Peichuan again after exiting the room.
Shen Peichuan picked up in a flash.
“Where are you?”
“The hospital.” Shen Peichuan was puzzled. Didn’t he say that he was waiting for He Ruize to get out of surgery?
“I’m asking you which hospital. I’m going there to see you,” Su Zhan said. Now that he had his hands free, he was going to find He Ruize and seek revenge for what he had done.
