Chapter 77

Chapter 77

The year He Qian met Qin Song, He Yuchuan was still away studying at a junior college.

While preparing for the wedding, He Qian sent He Yuchuan a WeChat message:

“Xiaoyu, I’m getting married this summer, can you come?”

Half a day later, He Yuchuan replied:

“Sis, I wish you a lifetime of happiness together. I’ll send the gift money, but I won’t come to the wedding. Like I said before, you must live a good life.”

He Qian stared at those words for a moment, then put down her phone.

The first few years of marriage, He Qian was truly quite happy; she loved Qin Song deeply.

Although Qin Song’s parents weren’t the easiest to get along with, Qin Song always knew to protect He Qian.

Whenever He Qian had conflicts with her in-laws, Qin Song would always take He Qian’s side, even when many times Qin Song’s mother would throw plates and smash bowls at home, pointing at Qin Song’s nose and cursing him.

But Qin Song’s conflicts with his parents weren’t solely because of He Qian; the three of them themselves occasionally had friction too.

Once, Qin Song was arguing with his father, and in the middle of the argument, his father suddenly raised his leg and kicked Qin Song hard. He Qian was extremely shocked at the time.

In her understanding, parents hitting children should only happen during childhood.

Generally, once children reach adolescence, few parents would still choose to use physical violence when conflicts arise – by then, children’s self-esteem is already strong, and parental beatings can create deep rifts in the parent-child relationship.

But at this time, Qin Song was no longer a child or a teenager; he was almost thirty!

His father actually hit Qin Song right in front of his daughter-in-law; He Qian found this utterly outrageous.

Qin Song told He Qian that his parents didn’t hit every child; they had never laid a finger on his younger brother Qin Bao.

Apparently, when Qin Song’s mother was pregnant with his brother, her health was weak and she nearly lost the pregnancy. In the end, she had to stay bedridden every day, drinking medicine to nurse her health, and barely gave birth to the child, who was also premature.

From then on, Qin Song’s parents regarded their younger son as the apple of their eye, believing that God had snatched this child back from the King of Hell for them, a blessing upon their family.

They named the younger son “Qin Bao.”

Qin Bao grew up having everything handed to him on a silver platter; whatever he wanted, his parents gave.

He was often sick as a child, a little medicine jar, so his parents always supplemented his nutrition. Combined with the effects of hormone medications, Qin Bao grew into a chubby little boy with a round face.

Qin Song had dark skin, while Qin Bao had fair skin.

Qin Song had a long face with angular features, while Qin Bao had a round, fleshy face.

When the two went out together, few could tell they were biological brothers.

Compared to Qin Bao, Qin Song was such a worry-free child for his parents: he was healthy, independent, and studied diligently without needing parental reminders.

But people have a trait – they grow to love more and more the things they’ve invested effort into.

Although Qin Song outperformed Qin Bao in every way, because the parents had poured more effort and emotion into Qin Bao, they openly favored Qin Bao without any pretense.

Qin Bao was spoiled and pampered, lazy all day long, disliking exercise and study, but he was full of cunning and had a sweet tongue.

Spoiled as he was, he didn’t dare to be arrogant – because he had a tough older brother above him to keep him in check.

As for brotherly affection, Qin Song had none for Qin Bao; simply restraining himself from giving him a good beating was hard enough.

His disgust for Qin Bao could be said to run from top to bottom, inside and out.

First, Qin Bao’s name already disgusted Qin Song. He couldn’t understand what his parents were thinking, taking a word like “Bao,” which describes cubs or babies, and using it alone as a person’s formal name.

At age two, being called Qin Bao is cute.

At age six, it’s still passable.

What about at twenty? Forty? Fifty?

Qin Song found it laughable just thinking about it.

Not only that, he also felt Qin Bao wasn’t manly.

His parents raised him like a girl, and as a result he really turned into a sissy.

All day long at home he does no chores, plops on the sofa like a mountain of flesh, and just runs his mouth off to coax laughter from his parents – Qin Song despised that kind of person who talks a lot but does little.

When Qin Song was little and liked some toy, his parents would always find excuses not to buy it, and when pressed they’d throw out “boys should be raised poor.”

He often dreamed of playing with his desired toys.

But when it came to Qin Bao, his toys were practically piled into mountains! Thrown all over the place in heaps, making Qin Song grind his teeth in hatred.

However, this wasn’t the worst.

The worst was when Qin Song was seven or eight, he casually jaywalked and was beaten at home by his father with a clothes hanger. After the beating, he was made to kneel as punishment for an entire night.

Yet Qin Bao had never been hit once. His parents couldn’t bear to touch a single finger of his.

If he were some other family’s child, Qin Song would have envied him, let alone that he was his own younger brother, sharing the same parents.

After learning all this, He Qian felt even more heartache for Qin Song. She urged Qin Song to send his parents back to their hometown, or just to Qin Bao’s place, so they could reunite.

Qin Song gave a bitter smile and shook his head. “I don’t trust that. If he can just not mooch off them, that’ll be the greatest luck. As for supporting the parents in their old age, don’t even think about it.”

He Qian was silent for a moment, then hugged Qin Song from behind.

Qin Song wasn’t romantic; he didn’t know to send flowers or gifts, but he always handed over all his earnings to He Qian, keeping only a little pocket money for himself.

He Qian felt this was enough; she didn’t need empty romance. Qin Song made her feel secure and down-to-earth.

This man was responsible, dutiful, self-reliant, and filial.

Whether he loved her passionately or not, she didn’t know.

But He Qian felt that he was truly good, and he was truly good to her.