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Chapter 4: See Xie Yan again if I have a chance
“Oh-ho, who’s Little Sis calling heartless now? Your third brother treats you better than the first and second brothers combined!”
Xue Yongkang, the third in the family, was born in the same womb as Xue Qingdai—they were twins. He was a chubby baby weighing over six pounds at birth, strong and robust ever since. He could eat up to eight coarse buns in one go. Compared to the frail and weak Xue Qingdai, his presence only made people feel more pity for the delicate little girl.
Everyone joked that the third brother stole all the nutrients from the fourth child in the womb.
It was Grandpa who decided to name him Xue Yongkang (“Forever Healthy”), hoping to bless his twin sister with a life of good health.
The old man playfully swatted a bamboo stick at him, flicking it in the air—a light, teasing swing.
Xue Yongkang let out an exaggerated yelp, “Ow! Look, even Grandpa’s jealous of me. Who treats you better than I do, huh?”
Wearing trendy jeans, he had a playful manner and resembled the old man greatly in his younger days, which often irritated their upright grandfather, Xue Deming.
Yongkang’s eyes, inherited from their grandmother, always carried a teasing charm. He never minded how the whole family favored Little Sis. In fact, he was the best at coaxing her.
With his hands in his pockets, he pulled something out and said, “Little Sis, look! Your third brother got you that Pianzihuang pearl cream all the city girls are fighting over.”
He stuffed the warm jar into her hand. Xue Qingdai turned it over and over in her palms.
In the novel’s original plot, third brother Xue Yongkang was on the verge of being arrested when he decided to flee. But before doing so, he wanted to leave his sister with enough money. He risked his life to deposit it at the bank and was caught on the spot.
That fiery sincerity of a youth ended in a cold, dark prison—the book never revealed his final fate.
Now, Xue Qingdai’s heart ached to numbness. Emotions she never had in her previous life—sorrow, joy, anxiety—now wrapped around her like a constant tide.
“Yes, Third Brother, you’re the best to me!” she said sweetly.
Grandpa’s bamboo stick lashed out again, but Yongkang ran and jumped, howling dramatically as he dodged—never even touching the stick. His performance was perfect.
Xue Qingdai smiled and shook her head.
“Grandpa loves Daidai best too!” she added.
Ignoring his resilient grandson, Xue Deming dug out a cloth pouch and started counting out some money. He almost used spit to moisten his fingers, but remembered his granddaughter liked cleanliness, so he used his rough fingers to count a few notes and three jin worth of sugar tickets.
“If he gave something, I’m giving too.” Just watching that little bunny of a granddaughter bounce around made his blood pressure rise. If it’s a competition, so be it!
—
When Yang Xiaomin came home for lunch, she was met with a table full of messy junk food. Her head throbbed.
Her little girl had just started to recover—how could she resist this temptation?
“Who bought all this?!” Her death glare locked right onto the third brother, Xue Yongkang. She was already thinking about how to punish her son.
Yongkang raised his hands in surrender, wearing that classic “guilty but cute” look. Yang Xiaomin grabbed the broom and charged at him.
Xue Qingdai walked over slowly. “Mom, try the peanut crisp candy I bought!”
She unwrapped the oiled paper and popped a piece into her mom’s mouth.
“Oh, you bought this? It’s delicious. Mom loves this kind!”
She even gave an encouraging review—after all, it was her daughter’s first time buying something. Positive reinforcement was essential!
Yongkang twitched at the corner of his eye. With a nudge of his foot, he tapped Grandpa’s shoe. “See? Your daughter-in-law has a honeyed tongue to win over your granddaughter. You better learn a thing or two.”
Grandpa Xue raised the bamboo stick and kicked his leg up—Yongkang disappeared in a flash.
“You little rascal! If I were just a few years younger, you wouldn’t stand a chance!”
Watching her grandfather dart around like that made Xue Qingdai nervous. She resolved to take a look at his leg injury before heading to the capital.
—
By dinnertime, aside from Second Brother Xue Fengrong who was away in the army, the whole family was finally gathered.
Grandpa held a bottle of Red Star Erguotou and had just lifted it when Xue Qingdai snatched it away.
“Grandpa, if you want to spend more time with me, no more drinking.”
Her father, Xue Chengyi, was about to join in with a glass but quickly put his cup down under Yang Xiaomin’s glare.
Xue Deming clenched his jaw and resisted his craving.
Dinner was simple: sweet potato soup, half cornbread buns, half white flour buns. The main dishes were a big plate of stir-fried cabbage with lard, a side of pickled radish with cilantro, and the only meat—leftover pork cracklings from rendering lard.
The cabbage had just been pulled fresh from their garden by Xue Qingdai that morning. The leaves were plump and dewy, still frosted from the cold, with a few fat green worms on them that had already eaten their fill.
Yongkang tried to convince eldest brother Xue Shiyou to go rabbit hunting with him in the woods at night. To soften him up, he kept using his chopsticks to put food in his bowl.
Shiyou frowned—his sword-like brows tight enough to kill a fly. He stared down at the cilantro he hated most, then took a bun and smiled dumbly at his little sister across the table.
He glanced at his third brother who kept hinting at him with his eyes—then promptly ignored him. Nothing good ever came from Yongkang’s ideas.
As everyone was finishing up, Grandpa Xue tugged at his white beard and called a short family meeting.
“Daidai told me today she’s unhappy with her fiancé. Six years engaged and not a single message—that’s indeed not right.”
“Big Brother, later you’ll write two introduction letters—one for Daidai and one for that rascal over there. I’ll also take 200 yuan from my retirement savings for a trip to the capital.”
“If the chance arises, go meet Xie Yan.”
“The tickets in the capital aren’t the same as ours here. I’ll call some friends and get you some food and cloth coupons too.”
Even though he was well-respected in the village, Eldest Brother Xue Shiyou still nodded obediently in front of Grandpa. He swallowed his rare white bun, savoring the slight sweetness.
His little sister going to the capital… and getting 200 yuan?! That was nearly half a year of Grandpa’s savings.
Once again, he was reminded of just how spoiled Daidai was.
As for Grandpa’s suggestion about “maybe” seeing Xie Yan—it sounded like a double-negative to him. Grandpa probably had no intention of letting her meet him at all. That old man had at least 800 tricks up his sleeve.
Everyone in the Xue family doted on Xue Qingdai. As for her fiancé, Xie Yan—someone who might one day take her away—they treated him like he didn’t even exist. No one even wanted to mention his name. Even if there were news from Xie Yan, it would be tossed straight into the fire. The whole “go meet him” story was just a pretense—the real goal was to let Qingdai relax and enjoy herself in the capital.
Third brother Xue Yongkang, who liked to call himself the “little rascal,” exchanged a knowing look with Grandpa Xue Deming and grinned, “Mission accepted!”
Grandpa’s plan was killing three birds with one stone:
Xue Qingdai’s hand was gently gripped by her mother Yang Xiaomin, full of reluctance. The warmth of her mother’s calloused palm lingered in her heart.
Yang Xiaomin had prepared plenty of food for the journey, knowing how important this trip was for her daughter.
Xue Yongkang had long arranged with five of his coworkers to take turns covering shifts—one week each—so he’d have a whole month off. He casually plucked a blade of grass by the tracks and thought: two hundred yuan wouldn’t be nearly enough for his little sister in the capital.
Before they left, he even requested two months of his salary in advance.
The next day, Xue Qingdai boarded the green train and couldn’t help but marvel at the Xue family’s efficiency.
A heavy food parcel was carried by Third Brother, while she wore the plain gray cloth shirt her mother had told her to wear in advance—to stay low-profile and avoid catching the attention of human traffickers.
Her half-covered face made her look especially delicate and pitiful. Only a pair of crystal-clear eyes peeked out from under the collar, and her soft, fair hands revealed she was no ordinary girl.
She clung tightly to Xue Yongkang’s sleeve.
Yongkang protectively led her to their seats. Since Qingdai had spent the night meditating and regulating her breath, her complexion wasn’t as pale anymore, and her body was slowly recovering.
But inside the stuffy train car, the air was foul, and she still found it hard to breathe.
She lifted her head and glanced upward. On the top bunk, a man’s blackened toenails wiggled in her line of sight, and she could practically smell the sour stench just from the sight.
“Third Brother, I want to get some fresh air outside,” Qingdai said softly, her voice still weak and delicate—sweet enough to melt anyone’s ears.
The men lying on the bunks below immediately craned their necks to look down, curiosity piqued.
Yongkang’s heart broke hearing her voice. A long train ride was torture for someone as frail as his sister. He reached over to adjust her collar higher, covering her more securely.
Then his peach blossom eyes turned sharp like blades as he swept his gaze across the men who were looking at her with ill intent.
“Scram!” he growled.