Chapter 77: Entrustment

“What happened?”

Liu Cuiying was initially speaking to her family, but unexpectedly, Ji Duo’s tall figure appeared on the upper floor of the neighboring building. She then remembered that Lin Qiao was also on the bus, “It was the bus from their school going to the college entrance exam. Something happened on the way back!”

“What about the people on the bus? Are they okay?” Ji Duo’s voice was still calm, but his words were faster than usual.

“I don’t know.” Hearing his question, Liu Cuiying was momentarily stunned, “I just heard that they are all at Ren’ai Hospital and called for another bus to go back.”

She then regretted, “Why didn’t I ask clearly before running back?”

Ji Duo didn’t say anything else and quickly went downstairs.

Liu Cuiying also hurried into the house, “Old Liang, Old Liang, call your driver! Junzi had an accident!”

As it turned out, Commander Liang was straining in the bathroom, “Wait a minute, I’ll be out soon!”

“How can you still be in the bathroom at a time like this!” Liu Cuiying was anxiously pacing.

While Commander Liang hurriedly pulled up his pants, Ji Duo had already appeared at the courtyard gate. “I called a car, sister-in-law. Come with me.”

“Little Ji is reliable.” Liu Cuiying immediately left Commander Liang and went out. Not long after, Commander Liang also followed.

The three of them took Ji Duo’s car to Ren’ai Hospital and saw the large bus the school used for transportation from a distance.

The collision didn’t seem too serious from the front; the hood was lifted, and parts were scattered everywhere. It was unclear if it was rear-ended. There was no one on the bus, but there were many people in the hospital lobby not far away, and a few young faces could be seen.

As soon as the car stopped, Liu Cuiying immediately got out and ran towards the hospital entrance, “Junzi! Liang Jun!”

Commander Liang followed closely behind.

After a few shouts, a familiar head popped out from the hospital, “Mom, why are you here? And Dad, too.”

“With such a big incident, how could I not come?” Liu Cuiying pulled her son up and down, checking him over. Seeing that he was fine, she finally breathed a sigh of relief, “You scared me to death.”

“What could happen to me?” Junzi, always carefree, felt a bit embarrassed under his mother’s scrutiny.

“Where’s Lin Qiao?” With his tall stature and long legs, Ji Duo arrived a step earlier than Liu Cuiying.

Junzi originally wanted to call her “Teacher’s wife,” but when he met those dark eyes, the words inexplicably stuck in his throat, “Inside.”

Ji Duo didn’t say anything and strode inside.

Inside, there were even more people, and it was even more chaotic. With his good memory, Ji Duo saw a girl from Lin Qiao’s class sitting on a chair in the corridor, crying, “I, I’m sorry, Teacher Lin…” Hearing this made his heart sink further.

“Is Lin Qiao inside?” His gaze fell on the tightly closed door of the consultation room.

His voice was so cold that it immediately stopped the girl’s crying, “Yes, she’s inside…”

Ji Duo said nothing more and pushed the door open with such force that it seemed he was about to face a trial: “Qiao, Qiao!”

Lin Qiao turned her head and saw a face filled with worry, tension, and anger. A face that usually showed no emotion but now had a drastically changed expression.

She was stunned, and the anxious Ji Duo was also shocked. “Are you okay?”

As if not believing it, he quickly stepped forward and checked her up and down, left and right, “Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Why would I be hurt?” Lin Qiao was confused by his inspection.

This reaction didn’t seem like she was pretending to be calm. Ji Duo relaxed his hand on her shoulder and frowned, “Didn’t they say the exam bus had an accident?”

“It did,” Lin Qiao said. “It broke down halfway and couldn’t be fixed. I had no choice but to let the students get off and wait for another bus to come back and pick them up after dropping off the others.”

“Then why are you here?” Ji Duo’s voice still sounded tense.

Lin Qiao glanced at a girl beside her, “She was too nervous and had a stomach spasm, so I brought her here for an IV.”

The girl was indeed clutching her stomach, her face pale with pain. When she saw Ji Duo looking at her, she shrank back inexplicably.

The air suddenly became quiet. After a while, Ji Duo’s expression returned to its usual calm and composed state, “It’s good that you’re okay.”

His words were calm, but when had Lin Qiao ever seen him so flustered?

Then, Lin Qiao noticed that the man’s usually meticulously buttoned shirt was half open, revealing a camouflage vest underneath, clinging to his firm muscles. The buttons were only fastened up to the fourth one, and the lower part of the shirt was completely untucked, unlike his usual neat appearance. And he, a man who always presented himself with a strict and cold demeanor, had walked all the way like this without noticing.

Lin Qiao’s feelings suddenly became a bit complicated.

She didn’t need to ask to know that the man must have rushed over, thinking something had happened to her.

She didn’t need to ask to know that on his way here, his anxiety and worry had overshadowed all his calm and rationality.

Otherwise, if he had observed a little more carefully, he would have noticed that the school bus was not damaged at all.

Otherwise, with his usual composure, he would have had time to button up his shirt and tidy his appearance, even if he was halfway through dressing.

Lin Qiao pursed her lips and pulled the man’s shirt to help him button it up.

Only then did Ji Duo notice his appearance. His face stiffened, and he wanted to take over and quickly button it himself. But seeing the top of Lin Qiao’s head as she lowered it, he stopped.

They had been married for over a year, and this seemed to be the first time Lin Qiao helped him button his shirt. The action wasn’t particularly gentle, but the gesture itself was close enough, enough to soothe his anxious heart.

Seeing Lin Qiao finish buttoning up, Ji Duo was about to say something when Liu Cuiying knocked on the door and poked her head through the gap, “Little Ji, I made a mistake. It wasn’t a car accident. The bus just broke down.”

Ji Duo looked up and noticed a girl from Lin Qiao’s class secretly watching them. When she saw him looking, she quickly averted her gaze.

He said nothing more, just responded to Liu Cuiying, “Got it.” He tucked in his shirt and asked Lin Qiao, “How much longer here?”

Lin Qiao glanced at the IV bottle, “About another hour. I’ve already contacted her parents.”

The girl’s parents arrived quickly, coming with the school bus that had returned to pick up people.

Lin Qiao handed the girl over to her parents and saw another student crying. She comforted them, “It’s okay. Just one subject didn’t go well. I remember you’re good at biology. We’ll make up for it tomorrow.”

It turned out the students had underperformed and felt they had let Lin Qiao down after more than a year of guidance…

Ji Duo had been too anxious; if he had listened a bit longer, he wouldn’t have misunderstood.

Except for the girl who needed the IV, Lin Qiao counted everyone who had come, closed the bus door, and returned to school with them.

Ji Duo sat in a nearby jeep. When the bus started, he followed.

Liu Cuiying and Commander Liang returned with him just as they had come. On the way, Commander Liang scolded Liu Cuiying for not listening clearly and getting alarmed.

When the bus stopped at the school gate, Lin Qiao comforted the students one by one, handing them over to their waiting parents. For those whose parents hadn’t come, she arranged for at least two students to go home together, reminding them to sleep early for the next day’s exam.

Ji Duo had Xiao Fang take Liu Cuiying, Commander Liang, and Junzi home first, while he waited and walked back with Lin Qiao in the night.

Neither spoke on the way home. When they arrived, Lin Qiao found a familiar dish of braised prawns on the kitchen table.

The pink and oily prawns were arranged on a white porcelain plate. Though cold, they still emitted a tempting aroma.

She couldn’t help but look back at the man.

Ji Duo, a few steps behind, had just closed the courtyard gate. His steps were steady, his face serious, and his shirt neatly tucked into his military pants, showing no sign of the earlier disarray at the hospital.

When they started their married life in this small courtyard, each with their own thoughts, she hadn’t expected him to be the one to pick up the frying pan.

Lin Qiao smiled slightly, “Even though it was a misunderstanding, seeing you at the hospital today made me a bit happy.”

People’s reactions in emergencies don’t lie. Ji Duo’s loss of composure showed he cared more than she thought.

Lin Qiao, always straightforward, wouldn’t pretend otherwise. Seeing him like that at the hospital had indeed moved her.

Seeing someone so composed lose their cool for her, any girl would be touched.

Ji Duo hadn’t expected her to say that. Momentarily stunned, he quickly stepped forward and hugged her.

The sudden movement and tight embrace made Lin Qiao stumble forward, her head bumping into his chin.

Ji Duo seemed unfazed and just raised his hand to rub her head, “Can we get rid of that small blanket now?”

His tone was serious, leaving Lin Qiao momentarily speechless. She leaned back to look at his expression, “You’re pushing your luck, aren’t you?”

His expression remained unchanged as if she hadn’t just called him out, “It’s fine if we don’t. I respect your choice.”

He probably planned to move her over once she fell asleep, right?

This man wasn’t the type to passively take hits. Given a chance, he’d turn the tables and reclaim some ground. But if he only knew how to be humble and pleasing, he wouldn’t be himself, and Lin Qiao wouldn’t have been moved in the first place.

Sometimes, a bit of spirit makes things interesting. Lin Qiao raised her hand to pinch the man’s chin, her red lips moving closer, “You want to get rid of the small blanket?”

Her eyes were teasing, and the distance between their lips was just a breath away.

Ji Duo’s eyes darkened, and just as his Adam’s apple moved, Lin Qiao pushed him away, “Keep dreaming.”

Problems were still problems.

She turned to open the rice cooker, saw there was rice inside, and quickly served herself a bowl. If she didn’t eat something soon, she would starve. She needed to sleep early tonight, as she had to accompany the students to the college entrance exam tomorrow. There was no time to argue with him.

Ji Duo didn’t say anything more, took an apron, “I’ll stir-fry two more dishes.”

One dish was cauliflower, and the other was green pepper stir-fried with meat, both quick dishes. The man had already learned to cook quite a few home-style dishes.

Lin Qiao had taken a few bites of rice when she remembered something and asked Ji Duo, “Why did you seem a bit angry at the hospital?”

“Fifth Yu confessed this afternoon.” Ji Duo didn’t hide the coldness in his voice, “I was afraid their family would act desperately and target you.”

In hindsight, he realized he had been overly concerned.

The Yu family had already lost Fifth Yu. If they didn’t try to save him or clean up their mess, how stupid would they be to give them more leverage?

It turned out the dumbest one in the Yu family was the one inside, not outside.

When the old man of the Yu family heard that Fifth Yu had confessed, he couldn’t catch his breath. Under pressure, Fifth Yu also revealed who had helped him fake the suicide. Of course, he didn’t tell the whole truth. He still hoped his father would get him out, but he might as well have exposed all the truth because he implicated his elder brother, Yu Jin’s father.

When the old man of the Yu family heard this, he fainted on the spot, wishing he had never had this son. He had never seen someone drag their own family into trouble. Even if he had said it was him, his status and poor health would make it difficult for them to interrogate him. But that fool insisted it was his elder brother. Once he was inside, how could he be released without revealing something?

Sure enough, a few days after the Yu Family’s eldest son was taken in, the disciplinary committee got involved, and the old man of the Yu family ended up in the emergency room that night. He was saved, but half of his body was paralyzed, and he couldn’t speak clearly, lying in bed with wide-open eyes in frustration.

His eldest daughter-in-law came to the hospital crying, “What did his elder brother ever do to him? Why did he harm him like this? If I had known he was such an ungrateful wretch, it would have been better if…”

Before she could finish, the old man of the Yu family angrily pulled out his IV, shattering the glass on the floor.

Seeing that he was no longer reliable, Yu Jin’s mother turned to the Song family, hoping they would help for the sake of their children.

Song Jing’s parents agreed verbally and comforted her, but they were worried after she left. “What should we do? If we had known Yu Jin was like this and the Yu family had such issues, we wouldn’t have switched and would have chosen Ji Ze.”

Although Ji Ze was no longer in the army, he was still lively. His father, Ji Jun, wasn’t very ambitious but had no issues. As long as the old man of the Ji family and Ji Duo were around and willing to support their only nephew, Ji Ze’s life would be better than that of the turbulent Yu family.

But who could have predicted that the seemingly prosperous Yu family, with many children and grandchildren, would suddenly lose three members?

Now, the old man of the Yu family was paralyzed, and Yu Jin’s mother had to seek help from the Song family, making this marriage alliance a complete loss.

“Should I go find Ye Minshu?” Mother Song tentatively asked, “She’s in a tough spot lately. I could comfort her, and she still has leverage over us…”

“Can’t you all just stop?” Father Song hadn’t spoken yet when Song Jing stood up.

Since Yu Jin’s incident, she had become particularly silent. Song’s parents were worried and didn’t pay much attention to her. Unexpectedly, when she finally spoke, it was to confront them.

Mother Song frowned, “What do you mean by ‘stop’? We’re doing this for you.”

“For me? By weighing my worth and selling me to the highest bidder?”

Song Jing wanted to laugh coldly, but tears fell first, “I’m an independent person, a university student. Can’t I walk my own path like Lin Qiao?”

That country girl came to Yandu looking shabby, but over the past year, she had made suggestions, won awards, and was admitted to Qing University as a graduate student, becoming someone Song Jing admired. In contrast, her family background and education seemed like mere packaging to sell her at a better price.

Sometimes, seeing Lin Qiao’s confident and composed face at school made Song Jing feel ashamed and reluctant to be seen by her.

Wiping her tears, Song Jing said, “You don’t need to worry about me. I’ve already contacted a school in the south.”

“What do you mean?” Song’s parents were shocked.

Song Jing calmly replied, “With things like this, I can’t stay in Yandu. The south needs teachers who speak good Mandarin.” She smiled, “I have a classmate from the south who graduated early like me. We both sent our resumes, and they agreed to take us.”

What Ji Ze, what Yu Jin? She was only twenty-three. Why should she bind her life with marriage so early?

Lin Qiao married Ji Duo but still shone in her field, living a vibrant life.

Determined to leave, Song Jing prepared her household registration and introduction letter and hid them with a classmate. Despite her parents’ attempts to stop her, they couldn’t. The train took her to a new life on the day of Gu Shaoping’s memorial, the first time Lin Qiao accompanied Ji Duo to pay respects to his friend.

“Committing murder and fleeing, covering up the crime, Fifth Yu was already sixteen years old that year, and he can’t escape the death penalty.”

Old Gu’s age-spotted fingers caressed the tombstone, “The old man of the Yu family is paralyzed, but he still has children and grandchildren. They will make sure he lies in bed, anxious and unable to find peace. As for those who bullied your sister back then, Grandpa will help her get justice. You… you can rest assured.” His voice choked with emotion at the end.

Su Zheng poured a cup of wine in front of the tombstone, “Fourteen years, brother, we finally avenged you. You…” He looked up and blinked hard, “You, forever fifteen, shouldn’t be drinking, right?”

Ji Duo, always reserved, showed no emotion. He just held Lin Qiao’s hand. “This is my wife, Qiao Qiao.” He paused. “The first among us brothers to get married, isn’t she beautiful?”

In front of her, he would at most say she wasn’t ugly, but in front of his childhood friend, he could admit she was beautiful.

Lin Qiao couldn’t help but glance at him, and Su Zheng’s eyes showed a hint of disdain.

Ji Duo remained calm, “She’s also very smart. Not only did she win a gold medal at the Invention and Creation Exhibition, but she was also admitted to Qing University as a graduate student.”

“Is he here to praise his wife because he can’t say it normally?” Su Zheng whispered to Gu Lao.

Old Gu understood, “He wants Shaoping to know he’s doing well, has a good partner, and doesn’t need to worry.”

The deep bond of youth carried for so many years; now that the truth was out, it was time to let go of the burden. Moreover, Ji Duo’s wife was indeed excellent. If it weren’t for his bad luck, fearing to implicate others, he would have wanted to recognize her as a god-granddaughter.

Leaving the cemetery, Lin Qiao noticed a brown paper bag on the back seat of the jeep. She thought it was some document the man needed, so she picked it up and handed it to Ji Duo, who opened it in front of her.

“These are some of my childhood photos,” Ji Duo said. “I had Xiao Fang fetch them from the old house earlier.”

“Your childhood?” Lin Qiao was genuinely curious. She had a photo she always thought was of him, but it turned out to be Ji Ze’s. No wonder he found an excuse to take it back later.

Unexpectedly, the first thing that fell out was a little girl with a high ponytail and red dots.

“Who is this?” It looked too much like the photo of her original self as a child. Lin Qiao couldn’t help but pick it up.

As she spoke, she noticed Ji Duo’s expression was off. He took the photo from her, “Mom packed it wrong.”

Lin Qiao wasn’t foolish, “This wouldn’t be you, would it?”

Ji Duo didn’t speak, but his silence was an admission. Lin Qiao couldn’t help but laugh, “It really is you, let me see more.”

She grabbed the man’s hand, and Ji Duo had no choice but to take out the photos again.

Looking closely, there was still some resemblance, but he was much younger then and didn’t have the serious demeanor he has now. However, there was only one photo with the high ponytail, the others were more normal, with expressions ranging from wide smiles to lively eyes.

“Weren’t you like this when you were young?” Lin Qiao couldn’t help but pick up a photo and compare it to his face.

“No,” Ji Duo let her compare, “Didn’t Old Gu tell you? I was the bully of the courtyard when I was young.”

“Really?” Lin Qiao found it hard to imagine.

Ji Duo found a photo for her, around twelve or thirteen years old, holding a gun and aiming.

Lin Qiao lowered her voice, “A real gun?”

Ji Duo nodded, “I haven’t missed a shot since I was twelve.”

He said it lightly, but to handle a real gun at such a young age, he must have been quite bold and mischievous.

“Then how did you…” Lin Qiao started to ask but realized the answer herself.

Only life’s changes could turn a lively, domineering person into the steady, self-controlled man he is now.

Falling from a high place, being sent down with his parents, witnessing the unclear death of a friend…

Ji Duo was a responsible and affectionate person, likely taking everything about the Gu family as his own responsibility.

Sure enough, Ji Duo pulled out a few group photos, including him, Su Zheng, and an unfamiliar boy.

“Fourteen years.” He rubbed the familiar smiling face with his thumb.

He used to carry the burden of Old Gu and Shaozhen Shaoping, but now he only carries the country and her.

Lin Qiao looked up and met his focused gaze.

Ji Duo put all the photos she had seen into the bag and handed it to her, “From now on, you keep them.”

She didn’t know if he was entrusting her with the photos or his future life.

Lin Qiao felt the weight but hesitated and didn’t push it back, “I’ll keep them for now.”

“Okay.” He quietly watched her, raising his hand to touch her temple.

At night, when he made the bed, he only put one big blanket. After finishing, he looked at Lin Qiao.

Lin Qiao didn’t speak, just raised an eyebrow.

He then put the small blanket back as if nothing had happened.

The next day, Lin Qiao officially reported to Qing University. Her mentor introduced her to the assistant and a few senior students preparing for the graduate exam next semester. They thought she was a junior, specially chosen by Professor Zhang, but she was the youngest and a year ahead of them.

Zhang Changning was a bit absent-minded in life but very serious about research, almost immediately getting busy with work without much small talk.

On the other side, Ji Duo had just arrived at the military camp in the morning when his superior called him over.

Commander Ding, a few years older than Commander Liang, with deep frown lines and nasolabial folds, was also a serious man who didn’t like small talk. He got straight to the point, “The front line rotation is coming up again, you know that, right?”