Shi Ning recoiled instantly. “I just came out for fresh air ,” she stammered, already turning to flee. “And I’m going to go in and play chess with Grandpa soon.”
“Xiao Ning!” Qin Hongyi called, hurrying after her.
Shi Ning risked a glance back and saw Qin Hongyi take two steps, then turn to scoop up the enormous turtle he’d been trailing, before resuming his pursuit. “Xiao Ning, Dad has something to tell you.”
Shi Ning’s scalp prickled with dread as he chased her. She muttered under her breath, “How can a father-in-law intentionally wait for his daughter-in-law and chase her from behind?” It’s truly terrifying! She regretted ever deciding to stay in this old house.
Shi Ning broke into a run. Qin Hongyi, clutching the large turtle, relentlessly followed.
The barrage floated across her vision:
[Oh my god, what kind of picture is this, chasing people with a big turtle in his arms, does this turtle have to walk?]
[Is this the turtle that the old man wants to learn to crawl?]
[Dad Qin is so cute, what is the female supporting role running for? She still looks terrified.]
[Thinking of the plot that was mentioned briefly, Shi Ning overheard that Qin’s father was a pervert and had improper thoughts about her.]
[The plot in the book was calculated. Someone drugged Qin’s father and locked him and Shi Ning in a room to provoke the father-son relationship between Qin’s father and Qin Heye.]
[Fearing that he would hurt Shi Ning and destroy his father-son relationship, Qin’s father jumped down from the 31st floor. His head was shattered and one of his legs flew off. It was horrible!]
There are always people who want to harm me!
Seeing this horrific revelation, Shi Ning slammed on the brakes, nearly colliding with the ornamental lake. She swerved violently, twisting her body to the side.
Plop.
“Ah!” Qin Hongyi, who had been charging close behind, tumbled directly into the viewing lake due to his momentum. The two elegant white swans on the water’s surface shrieked in alarm and rapidly swam away.
Shi Ning stood awkwardly on the shore, watching Qin Hongyi flounder in the water. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it.” She offered, “Do you want to call a servant?”
Qin Hongyi swam to the edge himself, seemingly more concerned about his soaked, unsightly clothes. “No, Dad will just say a few words to you. I’ll get up after you leave.”
Shi Ning was baffled. As long as he wasn’t harboring improper thoughts about her, there was no need for such distance. “Then say it,” she prompted.
Qin Hongyi remained in the water, the large turtle bobbing beside him. He looked somewhat embarrassed. “What did He Ye do to make your attitude change so much?”
“Ah?” Shi Ning was confused by the sudden question. But Qin Hongyi’s gaze was open and humble. Without the barrage to guide her, she answered vaguely, “Suddenly I just… got it. I think Qin Heye is very good.”
“Isn’t it because He Ye did something special?” he pressed.
Shi Ning was stumped. From the barrage, she knew Qin Heye had secretly loved her for ten years and would imprison her for forced love if she dared to divorce him. Was that considered “something special”? She certainly couldn’t say that aloud. “He didn’t do anything special.”
Qin Hongyi looked a little disappointed. “Is that so.”
Shi Ning found his disappointment strange. He had specially waited for her, standing by the lake with an old turtle swimming next to him, just to ask this? “Why is Dad asking me these questions?”
Qin Hongyi, though still embarrassed, confessed to Shi Ning. “Dad has been with your mom for decades, and she is still indifferent to me. She looks at me with disgust.” He continued, “Then Dad saw that you had the same attitude towards He Ye before, so I wondered what He Ye had done and how he moved you, and Dad wanted to learn from him.”
Married for decades, and still asking his daughter-in-law how to win over his own wife? No matter how thick-skinned Qin Hongyi was, his old face still flushed.
Shi Ning was dumbfounded. “Uh…” She had never expected such a revelation. Was he actually being honest? From what she’d seen before, Qin Hongyi seemed quite domineering, perhaps even more so than Qin Heye. Shui Qianlan often seemed as obedient as a tamed cat in front of him. But was it, in fact, the other way around?
Qin Hongyi looked at Shi Ning with earnest pleading. “Can you teach Dad to change your mom’s opinion of me a little bit? Not too much, just not to hate me so much, just resist me.”
Shi Ning was at a loss. “No, how can I teach this?” And the barrage hadn’t told her anything about Shui Qianlan’s true personality. She was still annoyed that Shui Qianlan had deemed her unworthy of Qin Heye.
Qin Hongyi, seeing Shi Ning’s silence, didn’t press. “It’s okay, you go back.” He then mused aloud, “Anyway, after decades, my wife didn’t ask me for a divorce, and she didn’t mess around outside, which was already very good.”
Shi Ning hadn’t realized that Qin Hongyi, with his elegant and friendly facade, was also a devoted husband. No, is it a hereditary forced love? A sudden thought sparked her gossip reflex. “Dad, are the ancestors of the Qin family born in the year of the dog?”
Qin Hongyi looked at her, utterly confused.
Shi Ning explained, “They all have the dog-licking gene, and they all like to be spare tires.” She wondered if there was also a “scum-attracting woman” physique in the family. Her mother-in-law actually had a “white moonlight”? She wouldn’t be like her, supporting the white moonlight, right? It’s truly bloody!
Qin Hongyi remained silent. Could she not say they were all just infatuated?
Shi Ning cautiously asked, “If my mother-in-law doesn’t like you, why don’t you divorce?” Just like Qin Heye, was the underlying threat “dare to divorce, dare to force love”?
Qin Hongyi explained, “Your mother didn’t say she wanted to divorce, and then her white moonlight died, her heart died, and she just made do with her life.”
“White moonlight + stand-in + dead literature,” Shi Ning mused aloud. “No wonder Dad lost so badly, decades have passed, and he’s still not happy.” Qin’s father’s emotional history could also be written into a book.
Qin Hongyi sighed. “…Okay, it’s okay, you can go back.”
Just then, new barrages flashed:
[Shui Qianlan’s white moonlight is Qin Dad! After Qin Dad jumped from a tall building and died.]
[On the seventh day after Qin Dad’s death, Shui Qianlan wore her wedding dress and died in front of his tombstone. She committed suicide for love.]
Shi Ning stared at the barrage. No… This can’t be! Shui Qianlan liked Qin Hongyi, so why would she say her “white moonlight” was someone else and Qin Hongyi was just a “substitute”?
One by one, don’t just have a mouth, don’t just eat and not talk.
Shi Ning looked at Qin Hongyi, who was still in the lake, and demanded, “Dad, do you have any misunderstandings? You should explain it clearly.” She lectured him, “The mouth is not given for recharging your phone bill, and it is not a silent speaker. You can only look at it but not use it.”