Qin Heye watched, his heart aching. Shi Ning, crying so piteously, all because Grandpa Qin threatened to kill him. She was protecting him! How could he not adore such a woman?
“Don’t cry, wife,” Qin Heye coaxed gently, his voice like a soft balm. “Give the phone to Grandpa. I’ll talk to him myself.” He promised, “I’ll make Grandpa apologize to you, and I’ll punish Butler Xu too.”
Shi Ning raised a hand to wipe her tears, but they continued to flow relentlessly. Through her sobs, she managed, “I can’t stop crying. Tell me a joke to comfort me.”
Grandpa Qin, ever the pragmatist, scoffed from beside her. “If he can tell jokes? I’ll learn to crawl like a turtle!”
Qin Heye’s gaze, fixed on Shi Ning’s tear-streaked face, was filled with heartache. After a brief silence, he spoke. “Do you know what Xiao Liu is most afraid of?”
Shi Ning shook her head, her eyes still brimming.
“Xiao Liu is most afraid of being busy.”
Shi Ning blinked through her tears, confused. “Why? Because you, the big devil, don’t pay overtime?”
Qin Heye’s face remained serious as he delivered the punchline. “Because others will call him Xiao Liu busy, a little hooligan.” Xiao Liu busy = little hooligan.
A sudden, unexpected “Puchi!” escaped Shi Ning. It wasn’t that the joke was particularly hilarious, but the sheer absurdity of Qin Heye, with his usually unsmiling, formidable demeanor, telling such a silly joke, was undeniably funny. Grandpa Qin, next to her, stared with eyes wider than a cow’s! After Qin Heye’s ascent to power, he rarely laughed, let alone told jokes. Yet now, he had delivered this utterly unfunny one.
Qin Heye gazed at Shi Ning, his expression impossibly gentle. “Don’t cry, okay?”
Shi Ning nodded vigorously, wiping the remaining tears from her face, and then handed the phone to Grandpa Qin. “Grandpa can’t scold Qin Heye!”
Grandpa Qin, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at Shi Ning, thought: Who’s the grandson here, anyway? But then he considered that his grandson had finally managed to soothe his granddaughter-in-law. He conceded; no more eye-rolling for now.
Grandpa Qin took the phone.
Qin Heye’s gentle expression instantly vanished, replaced by a chilling coldness. His voice was distant, devoid of warmth. “Grandpa.”
Grandpa Qin felt the breath he’d just regained suddenly catch in his chest again. Shi Ning watched, terrified that he would faint from anger once more. She quickly interjected, her voice firm, “Hubby, don’t talk to Grandpa like that. It’s very rude.”
Qin Heye frowned slightly. “hmmm.”
“Say good evening to Grandpa.”
Qin Heye’s voice, though still tinged with coldness, complied. “…Good evening, Grandpa.”
Shi Ning, seeing his stiff, utterly humorless expression, insisted, “You should say it with a smile. Smile. Be friendly.”
Surprisingly, Qin Heye obeyed, a faint, almost imperceptible smile gracing his lips. “Good evening, Grandpa.”
Grandpa Qin stared at Qin Heye, who greeted him with that faint smile, as if he’d witnessed a ghost in broad daylight. “Don’t smile,” he grumbled, “your smile is so ugly.” With that, he snatched the phone and turned away.
Shi Ning followed closely. Despite his age and slightly hunched back, the old man was still quite tall. To see the phone screen, she had to stand on tiptoe, craning her neck like a curious child peeking. Qin Heye, watching her, found her utterly adorable. The stiff smile on his face melted into a genuinely soft and natural one. “Aning, I want to talk to Grandpa alone.”
Shi Ning was still worried, fearing the old man might faint again. She reminded Qin Heye, “Then you must talk to Grandpa nicely, and don’t say anything to make him angry. He is old and can’t stand being angry.”
“hmhm.”
Shi Ning walked out of the study, glancing back every few steps to repeat her warning to Qin Heye. She finally stood in the yard, neck craned, eyes wide and unblinking, fixed on the study. If Mr. Qin fainted again, she needed to be ready to press his acupoints.
Xu Chang, having heard the commotion, rushed over. He saw Shi Ning standing alone in the yard, lurking stealthily, peering into the study. She looked like someone who had just committed a grave misdeed.
“Miss Shi, what are you doing outside? Where is the old man?” Xu Chang’s sudden, stern question startled Shi Ning.
She turned, then burst into laughter. Xu Chang’s face was smeared with ink, making him look like a dirty wild cat. The mercenary aura he usually carried was significantly diminished. “Hahaha!”
Xu Chang’s brow furrowed deeper, his murderous aura intensifying. “Where is the old man?” Without waiting for an answer, he made to enter the study with the doctor he had brought.
Shi Ning quickly stepped in front of him, blocking his path. She looked up at his ink-stained face and couldn’t help but giggle again. “Hahaha, Grandpa is talking to Qin Heye inside.”
Xu Chang glared coldly at Shi Ning. “The old man was mad at you…” Before he could finish, he vaguely heard the voices of Grandpa Qin and Qin Heye from inside the study, though they were indistinct.
Just then, Grandpa Qin walked to the window, his mobile phone still facing Shi Ning. “See, no one bullies your wife, she is the one who bullies others!” he exclaimed into the phone. “Got it, just believe her for the last time…”
Shui Qianlan and Qin Hongyi, drawn by the news, rushed to the scene. Seeing Grandpa Qin looking perfectly fine, they exchanged bewildered glances. Qin Hongyi turned to scold the servants. “The old man is fine, what are you saying!” The servants, too, were utterly confused. They had seen with their own eyes that Grandpa Qin was on the verge of collapsing. Had they been mistaken?
Shi Ning looked at their bewildered faces, a new question forming in her mind: who was the one poisoning Grandpa Qin? The barrage hadn’t provided any clues.
After Mr. Qin finished his conversation with Qin Heye, he looked at the crowd gathered in the yard. “Come in.”
The group entered the study. Mr. Qin handed the phone to Shi Ning, then coughed uncomfortably. “That… I’m sorry just now. Grandpa was anxious. Grandpa will believe you in the future.”
Mr. Qin apologized to Shi Ning! This scene sent a shockwave through everyone present! This was Mr. Qin! A man who had carried a gun in his youth, who had fought bandits, a quintessential old-school patriarch! As long as he breathed, he was the head of the family, his word absolute. Not even Qin Hongyi dared to defy him! Later, when Qin Heye took over the company, Mr. Qin, in failing health, had ceded his authority to his grandson. But even then, Mr. Qin had never apologized to anyone! He was the elder, the head of the family. Even when he was wrong, he was right!
Yet, this formidable Mr. Qin had just apologized to Shi Ning, and so politely!
Xu Chang was stunned! Did the old man even remember why he had summoned Shi Ning in such a rage? He’d intended to force her to divorce Mr. Qin! Everyone stared at Shi Ning, wondering if she had cast some kind of spell on Mr. Qin.
Shi Ning, taking the phone, smiled sweetly and obediently. “It doesn’t matter. Grandpa is old; I won’t bother him.”
Grandpa Qin was so incensed he almost rolled his eyes! He had intended to lecture Shi Ning, to hold her accountable! Instead, he had ended up apologizing to her!