Chapter 64

Qiao Xinyi’s gaze swept over Fu Qingshan like a blade. “There’s this too?”

“I don’t know,” Fu Qingshan immediately explained. “Last time I went home, she said she wanted to introduce her niece from her family to me. I didn’t agree. I haven’t even met her.”

“That’s not that cousin auntie,” Fu Zeyu chirped in to explain, “It’s another auntie. Grandpa and Granny Zhang really like that auntie. She’s the one whose family came to see Granny Zhang after Uncle went back to the provincial city that day.”

“That auntie likes Uncle and wants to marry him. Granny Zhang held her hand and said she only recognizes that auntie as her son’s daughter-in-law.”

Fu Linzhou looked up at Qiao Xinyi and smiled, patting his own bald head. “Bald Auntie, my brother and I like you better because you’re bald too.”

Fu Qingshan’s face darkened slightly. He had no idea about this matter, so there was no use thinking about it now.

He pulled the two kids from behind Qiao Xinyi, then took them to the train station staff to register them. Before the train departed, Fu Qingshan and Qiao Xinyi each took one child onto the train. There were only two seats. On the train, Fu Qingshan and Qiao Xinyi each held one kid on their lap.

Qiao Xinyi held the older brother, who was not shy at all and curiously reached out to touch her hat.

“Keep your hands to yourself,” Fu Qingshan pressed Fu Linzhou’s hand back down and asked, “Who gave you the nerve to run to the train station? If it weren’t for Auntie Qiao seeing you and recognizing you, do you know what would have happened?”

Thankfully Qiao Xinyi had sharp eyesight. Even though the kids’ heads were shaved, she could still recognize them from photos. Otherwise, Fu Qingshan didn’t dare imagine the consequences.

“We didn’t run around. We wanted to go to the provincial city to find Uncle!” Fu Zeyu anxiously explained, “Grandpa and Granny Zhang are bad! They falsely accused me and my brother of stealing money!”

Fu Linzhou nodded repeatedly. “The day before yesterday morning, she said the five yuan she kept in her drawer was missing, and said only me and my brother were home, so she insisted it was us who took it.”

“She searched our room once and didn’t find it. When Grandpa came home at noon, she had him search again. The money seemed to magically appear under our pillows. Grandpa said we’re naughty and wanted to beat us with a bamboo stick.”

Fu Linzhou pouted, hands on hips. “My brother and I weren’t convinced. It’s obviously not us stealing, but they say it is, and we’re going to get beaten for no reason. So I grabbed the money from Grandpa’s hand and ran off with my brother. We didn’t want to stupidly stay at home and get beaten!”

“I and brother went to the train station with the money, planning to buy tickets, but they wouldn’t sell them to us. At the door, we met those two uncles. They said they could take us to the provincial city to find Uncle, so we followed them,” Fu Zeyu continued. Listening to him, it sounded reasonable, and they seemed quite justified.

“They put us on the train. Those two uncles said we had to transfer trains at City A to get to the provincial city, so we stayed overnight in City A. In the afternoon, they said they would take us on the train to the provincial city, but before we got on, my brother and I overheard them talking. We found out they weren’t taking us to the provincial city. They planned to take us to S Province to sell us,” Fu Linzhou clenched his fists, “If my brother and I were older, we would have beaten those two up!”

Fu Qingshan slapped Fu Linzhou’s still-moving fist. “You’re lawless! Do you really think the outside world is like the town where you can run around however you want?”

The town was full of neighbors who knew their roots and background. Fu Linzhou and Fu Zeyu were the only twins in town, so everyone knew the two boys were children of the Zheng family.

“Uncle, we know we were wrong. Can you not spank us when we go back?” Fu Linzhou calmed down after the scolding. He stopped pouting and clenching fists. While pleading, he leaned on Qiao Xinyi and gently shook her arm with his other hand.

He was asking Qiao Xinyi to plead for him, but didn’t dare let Fu Qingshan see his little gesture, so he deliberately hid behind Qiao Xinyi to block his arm from view.

They weren’t very old, but they were clever—and most importantly, very bold. Fu Qingshan glanced at Fu Linzhou and said, “Keep your hands still.”

Fu Linzhou made an “oh” sound, obediently placed his small hands on his knees, and sat up straight.

From City A to Tong’an County was already very close. At 10:30 p.m., the train arrived on time at Tong’an County train station.

After getting off the train, the two kids immediately pulled sour faces. Before getting off, they had thought they were going back to the provincial city with Fu Qingshan.

Fu Linzhou held Qiao Xinyi’s hand and walked behind Fu Qingshan and Fu Zeyu. He kept looking up at Qiao Xinyi, and once he was sure Fu Qingshan wasn’t looking, he beckoned her with his finger.

“I want to tell you a secret,” he said softly.

Qiao Xinyi bent down and leaned her ear close. The kid moved closer and whispered, “If Uncle hits us later, can you stop him?”

“Nope, I can’t. What if your uncle gets mad and hits me too?” Qiao Xinyi teased as she refused.

“You’re my uncle’s girlfriend. My uncle won’t hit you!” Fu Linzhou was a little anxious. “If you don’t help us, even though you’re bald, we won’t like you anymore.”

“That’s okay. As long as your uncle likes me, that’s enough,” Qiao Xinyi smiled warmly. But her words showed Fu Linzhou—such a little kid—the slyness of adults.

The small kid’s face fell, heavy with sadness. He sighed deeply, lowered his head, and kept holding Qiao Xinyi’s hand as they walked on.

At that moment, he looked exactly like a walking bundle of heartbreak.

By the time they reached the county town, it was already very late. There were no buses back to the town, so Fu Qingshan took the two kids to a guesthouse for the night. The next morning, after breakfast at the guesthouse, they packed up and boarded a bus back to the town.

Before they even reached home, the Zheng family’s neighbors spotted the two kids returning with Fu Qingshan and quickly spread the news.

“Zheng Youliang! Your kids, Xiaozhou and Xiaoyu, came back with Qing Shan! Hurry and tell everyone so they don’t have to keep looking!”

The neighbors shouted loudly. From a distance, Qiao Xinyi and Fu Qingshan could hear them.

There was no other possibility—the kids had gone missing, and the neighbors had surely searched high and low.

Zheng Youliang, the grandpa, hadn’t gone to work that morning. He was in the yard, worried sick and at his wit’s end about where else to look for the kids. Hearing the news, he immediately ran out.

Seeing his two grandsons, Zheng Youliang’s anger exploded. He grabbed the bamboo stick leaning in the corner, marched toward the two kids, and raised it, ready to strike.

“I told you not to run everywhere! You don’t even come home! You made the neighbors lose sleep and turn the whole town and county upside down looking for you two little brats!”

Fu Linzhou pulled his brother behind Qiao Xinyi to hide.

Fu Qingshan stepped forward, snatched the bamboo stick from Zheng Youliang’s hand, snapped it in half, and threw it aside.

Then he turned and called the two kids, “Go home.”