I rush into the yard to see Grandpa blocking the way into the house with his shoulders and a man in a suit with his back towards me, trying to barge in. Grandpa doesn’t budge and the man seems to get angry, reaching out to shove him.
“What are you doing?” I rush forward to stop him, standing in front of Grandpa in case he hurts him.
When I look at his face, I realise it’s the sunglasses man. Is this guy a psycho, stalking a little girl like this?
He looks like he’s about to charge forward again so I holler out a warning: “Don’t get closer! Stay away!”
“Mian Mian, you’re finally back! This guy is so bizarre, he suddenly came over saying he wanted to see Qiuqiu. What does a five-year old girl have anything to do with him?” Grandpa exclaims indignantly, our return seeming to give him the boost he needs to fire up once again.
I turn to look into the house, but there’s no sign of Yan Wanqiu.
“Where is she?”
“In your room, napping,” Grandpa says quietly.
As he speaks, the subject of our conversation comes down the stairs, rubbing her eyes. The sounds of all the fighting must have woken her up.
“Tea Egg Grandpa, is it time to eat…” Drowsiness clouds her features, and there are red marks on her cheek where she slept against the mat.
The sunglasses man had calmed down, but at the sound of Yan Wanqiu’s voice, he starts getting riled up again and begins yelling her name, trying to get inside. “Qiuqiu! Qiuqiu! It’s Daddy, Qiuqiu, come here and let me see you, Qiuqiu…”
Grandpa and I shove him away from the door in a chaotic flurry of hands and feet. Granny takes this opportunity to hurry inside the house and shut the door, removing any possibility of the man breaking in.
“Is there something wrong with you? Her dad’s perfectly fine and dandy, what in the world are you even saying?” Grandpa asks angrily. “If you aren’t leaving, I’m really calling the cops!”
In contrast, while he’s raging, I’m only shocked.
Because earlier, I glimpsed the man’s mood index when he caught sight of Yan Wanqiu. He was happy and overjoyed to see her, and not in the perverted sense either.
Is there a possibility he’s telling the truth, that he’s the neighbour's Mr. Wang and not some lunatic pedophile?
“That man isn’t even her father, I am! I’m willing to do DNA testing to prove it!” The man laps himself on the chest, full of confidence.
Overheard, the sun is blazing heat, revving up for the day. Hiking all morning to pay respects to the dead expired all my energy. The sun shines right in my face, anxiety making me sweat, and I start feeling light-headed.
“Sir, even if what you’re saying is true, you can’t act like this,” I cajole him. “Won’t you calm down? You’ll frighten the girl if you act like you just did.”
Despondency clouds the man’s eyes and his movements become less frenzied. And just then, as if fate planned it all out, a familiar SUV drives up to our yard. Yan Kongshan comes raging out of the car, his face frighteningly stormy.
I have no idea how he managed to have such perfect timing.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Ding Baizhou!” Yan Kongshan charges directly right in front of the man, his voice so chilly that even though it’s the height of summer, our backs feel ice cold. “What did I tell you before? Did you forget already?”
Ugfnlberis, atf recuijrrfr wjc’r wbbv lcvfz kjr jikjsr yief ja atf rluta bo Tjc Bbcurtjc, yea atlr alwf, jiwbra jr lo tlr fwbalbcr tjnf jmmeweijafv ab atf qblca bo fgeqalbc, la lwwfvljafis aegcr gfv.
“Qtja gluta vb sbe tjnf ab xffq wf ogbw rfflcu ws bkc vjeutafg?” tf vfwjcvr jcuglis. Lf rajixr bnfg ab Tjc Bbcurtjc, jvvlcu, “Tbe’gf ilxf atlr, sbeg rlrafg’r ilxf atlr, atlr lr j cfuifma bo sbeg gfrqbcrlylilalfr!”
The two of them are so riled up that it looks like they’re about to start fighting. I pull the sunglasses man back with both arms, trying to stop him for fear that someone will get hurt.
“Mister, calm down. You don’t need to be so angry.”
The man knits his brows and shoves me aside. “This is none of your business, move!”
I lose my footing and fall towards the floor. All I hear is Grandpa calling out in shock before a flash of pain pierces my head and the next thing I know, I’m lying on the ground.
As I prop myself up unsteadily, Grandpa comes rushing over, sounding like he’s about to cry. “Mian Mian, dear child, don’t scare me!” He holds my face, “You’re bleeding. Mian Mian, are you okay?”
I can feel liquid sliding down my temple. I was unlucky, having managed to hit my head on the wall nearby. The rough exterior of the wall scraped my head, leaving behind a wound that feels like it’s on fire. I lift a hand to my temple and bring it down. Grandpa’s right, I’m bleeding.
“Grandpa, don’t worry. I’m fine,” I reassure him, moving my head around.
“I didn’t mean to…” The sunglasses man couldn’t have known how weak my legs were, that all it took was a simple shove for me to fall to the ground, bleeding. “I, I barely even pushed!” he exclaims, clearly in shock.
Before he can go any further, a furious Yan Kongshan grabs him by his collar and punches him. “Ding Baizhou, it seems you want to die.” He forces the man down over the wall and punches him again.
Ding Baizhou doesn’t fight back, all the strength zapped out of him by the two punches to his face. He looks dazed, blood streaming out of his nose, groaning out of his mouth. When Yan Kongshan raises his arm to punch him again, he starts shaking in fear.
Yan Kongshan is so angry that his mood index is a dripping blood-red, and my heart skips, afraid that things have escalated to a point of no return and that someone is going to end up dead.
Without explaining to Grandpa, I force myself up from the ground and charge forward to wrap my arms around Yan Kongshan’s waist. “Enough, enough, stop! You’re going to kill him. Qiuqiu is still in the house!”
I feel his body tense for a moment, and then he calms down, as if considering whether to listen to me or not.
I tighten my arms, wanting to get him to move. The muscles on his body are like rocks, each individual muscle emanating terrifying power through the thin material of his clothing.
“Why do young people always resort to violence? Let him go, let’s all talk nicely.” Grandpa has finally gotten a hang of himself and comes over to act as peacemaker. He says to Ding Baizhou, “Don’t make any moves, I’m going to make him let you go, but don’t be stupid, you hear? You can’t beat him.”
All I hear is a small sound of agreement from the man. In my arms, Yan Kongshan’s muscles slowly relax and a moment later, he lowers his fists and lets Ding Baizhou go. I loosen my hold on him as well.
Right when I’m about to let out a sigh of relief, loud sirens pierce the silent street and a black police car parks outside our yard. From it comes a senior police officer who looks about fifty. “Who called the police?” he asks immediately as he enters.
The four of us in the yard stare at each other. No one answers.
Then the door behind us opens a crack. Granny sticks her head out the door. “I did,” she says, raising her hand.
And so what happens is she ends up staying at home with the kid while me, Yan Kongshan, Ding Baizhou, and Grandpa are taken to the police station.
It’s the first time in my life that I’ve ever been to the station aside from when I had my ID photos taken, and I’m so anxious and ill at ease that I don’t even know where to look.
“Look at the kid, his face is all scratched up because of you! You should reflect on your actions!” The old police officer has a metal tea mug in one hand and is drumming a finger on his desk with the other. “Write it down, write it all down.”
After we’re brought to the station, we‘re reprimanded fiercely by the officer, and because Yan Kongshan and Ding Baizhou got into a fight, they’re also forced to write a thousand-word reflective essay on their wrongdoing before proceedings can continue.
Yan Kongshan settles down and seems to speed through his essay, words flowing out of his pen smoothly and easily, the pen moving like a dancing dragon. In half an hour, he’s finished.
The officer looks it over and then laughs. “You must’ve written a lot of these in the past. This is like the poster child of all self-reflective essays.”
The corners of Yan Kongshan’s mouth turn up. “I was a naughty child, I’ve been forced to write a lot.”
The officer folds the paper in half and tucks it into his chest pocket, then prompts Ding Baizhou to write faster. The other man looks pitiful, tissues stuffed into his nostrils, sprawled across the table struggling with his paper. He keeps scratching his head in frustration.
To be honest, he looks a lot like me when I’m taking exams…
“And that’s what happened, that person made the first move.” Grandpa is off to the side, telling a young female officer the entire sequence of events, “My grandson’s only eighteen and he just got into university, plus he’s so handsome. Who’s going to take responsibility if something happens to his head? Yes, violence is wrong, but Mr. Yan here was just doing it out of self-defence in the heat of the moment! Don’t make any mistakes here!”
Ding Baizhou lifts his head, unable to resist explaining, “I really didn’t mean to hurt him…”
“You think your intention matters? If you hurt someone, you hurt them, stop trying to justify it!” The old officer cuts in harshly.
I feel a nudge against my toes. Below the table, Yan Kongshan has a leg stretched out and the tops of our shoes are touching. I stare up at him.
He’s staring at my temple, and seeming to sense that I’m staring at him, lowers his gaze to meet mine.
“Does it hurt?” he asks soundlessly, his mouth forming the shapes of the words.
I feel like I’ve been electrified, from the point where our feet touch all the way up to my temple where my wound is throbbing numbly.
I shake my head to let him know it’s not that bad.
The wound looks terrifying, but I stopped bleeding early on and now it only hurts when I move my eyebrows.
After five minutes, Ding Baizhou turns in his essay. The old cop scrutinises it somewhat distastefully and seems to force himself to accept it and fold it into his pocket.
“Alright then, tell me what’s going on.” He places his tea onto the table where he sits at the head, the four of us on either side. The question is directed towards Ding Baizhou.
The man in question looks furtively at Yan Kongshan before muttering, “He won’t let me see my daughter.”
The officer turns to Yan Kongshan. “Why aren’t you letting him see his daughter?”
Yan Kongshan purses his lips and doesn’t say anything. It’s clear he has no desire to talk about this in front of everyone. After a long while, the officer loses patience and repeats the question.
“She’s not his daughter,” he says at last, left with no choice but to offer up something.
Ding Baizhou is instantly on edge: “Not my daughter? Qiuqiu was born eight months after Xinyu and I broke up five years ago. How is she not my daughter?”
Yan Kongshan suddenly lunges up with his palms splayed on the table as if he’s about to pounce across it. “You have no right to bring up my sister.” His voice is low, his eyes so dark they look like bottomless chasms.
The other man deflates. He leans back in his chair and says quietly, “I didn’t know she was pregnant then–”
“And so what if you did? Would you have not left the country and married someone else?” Yan Kongshan interrupts, his voice cold. “You abandoned the woman who’d been with you for ten years for the opportunity to leave the country and marry rich. What, you regret your choice now that you suddenly find out you have a child? Stop disgusting me.”
When I think the man’s a pedophile, he turns into the neighbour’s Mr. Wang. Just when I think he’s the neighbour’s Mr. Wang, he turns into a modern Chen Shimei.
And Yan Kongshan isn’t a father as I assumed, but an uncle?
“I…” Ding Baizhou’s lips quiver. His face turns red, then white. “I wronged your sister in our relationship. But you shouldn’t have hidden the child from me.”
“You should stop spouting your bullshit.” Yan Kongshan’s tone turns menacing, “Don’t force me to beat you up here.”
Ding Baizhou goes silent.
“Pardon? What’s with the attitude here? Is no one taking me seriously?” The old cop knocks a fist against the table. He turns to Ding Baizhou and says, “Tell me what it is you want.”
“I want to talk to my daughter, interact with her, have a relationship with her!” The words come bursting out of him immediately; it’s clear he’s thought about this a long time.
The cop turns to Yan Kongshan. “What do you think?”
My neighbour leans back in his seat, his expression stubborn. He lifts his chin and stares straight at Ding Baizhou. “In your dreams,” he spits out.
The cop nods in comprehension. “Okay, so no resolution is to be had. Then you should go to court and use the law to protect yourself.” Turning to Ding Baizhou, he adds, “Before the dispute is settled, don’t go trespassing on their property. That’s illegal, got it? If I get a house call like that again, I’m gonna have to treat you to a meal in jail.”
Ding Baizhou stares at the cop, stunned, then sweeps his gaze over me and Yan Kongshan. He points a shaking finger at us and says, “You… You people are all working together, huh? You rotten bastards!”
“Watch your language!” The officer shouts, his brows furrowed.
Ding Baizhou stands up suddenly, his chest heaving up and down. He glares at Yan Kongshan furiously. With tissue paper stuffed in his nose, he looks almost comical. “This isn’t over!” he warns before heading out and slamming the door behind him.
At his exit, Grandpa suddenly pipes up. “Little lass, what just happened?” he asks curiously, nudging the female officer at his side.
Came to see if anything updated and this one updated 3 seconds ago 🤣🤣 Thank you~
aish! I helped raise my niece and she is more my daughter than her birth mother ever was.. and would I have reacted the same as Mr. Handsome? HECK YES I WOULD HAVE. IDC if he knew or didn’t know or whatever.
thanks for the chapter <3
Awww poor Mian Mian he got hurt. But I mean on the bright side he hugged his crush’s waist 👁
Thanks for the chapter!
»To be honest, he looks a lot like me when I’m taking exams…« Mhm, same lol The table was my… bed during exams, I was all over it lol But it was really comfy that way :3
That “father” has a problem…
Thx for the double update :3
finally, MC’s misunderstanding was cleared up ^▽^
thanks for the chapter! ~♡
Thanks for the chapter (⌒o⌒)
I was like MianMian Grandpa:
Who Am I???
Where I am???
What happens just now???
Thanks for the chapter<3
+1
I kinda figured that Dong guy was a Chen shimei long ago….
oof, this chapter’s packed 😷
btw, is his name ding baizhou or ding baichuan? i spotted a few typos(?) in the chapter
…that ‘father’ sure has problems…brain damage perhaps?
Thanks for the chapter~
Thank you for the chapter 💕
Thank you for the chapter! 💜
Thanks for your hard work!
DBZ, you are a scum. The cop is right though, he needs to go through the legal channels. He left and never looked back (until now). He can’t just demand parental rights out of the blue.
I was sixteen when my niece was born and her parents couldn’t sort themselves out and she came to live with me and my parents. Both my parents worked so I had to take her to daycare before school, pick her up after school, take her with me to the community center when I had to do homework and wake up in the middle of the night whenever she cried for 2 years before my sister-in-law came out of the blue to take her out of the country. I was unhappy, but I had no say.
I stand by YKS and his decision.
Loving this novel.
the grandma is actually the mvp here
You didn’t raise or provide for the child, on top of that it’s been years since you broke it off and abandoned the child’s mother. Why are you coming back now and disturbing their peace?
Thank you for the chapter <3