Ni Jianren probably also knew that his act of running away was a bit embarrassing, so he still didn't show up by nightfall.
That evening, the family closed the courtyard gate and set up a table in the yard for dinner.
Qian, who was used to delicacies and paying attention to health, had no appetite when she saw the table full of home-cooked dishes.
"This thing is called water bamboo, it's a southern dish. I saw it at the market and bought some for you to try, Qian'er," Qu Xue said, sitting beside Qian, with Chen Lin opposite.
Qian moved her bowl away, "I don't want to eat."
Qu Xue's chopsticks awkwardly paused in the air. Seeing this, Chen Lin wanted to grab the bowl, but Qu Xue gave him a look, so Chen Lin lowered his head to eat, while Qian pursed her lips.
It was really stomach-turning to watch.
Some things, if you don't know, everything seems normal; once you do, everything just feels nauseating.
"Why isn't Dalong back yet?" Chen Lin asked about his son's whereabouts.
"Who knows, he said there's extra classes at school, might come back a bit late today," Jia Xiufang said.
"An internet cafe," Qian said, eating absentmindedly, probably knowing the food was made by Qu Xue, she had no appetite.
"What nonsense are you talking about? Your brother is going to be in the third year of middle school this semester, next year he'll have the high school entrance exam, how can he go to a place like that?" Jia Xiufang nudged her daughter.
"Go check the internet cafe, you'll find out everything."
Even though Qian had just returned from rebirth, she knew her brother Chen Zilong very well. Spoiled by parents, he's useless. Chen Lin hid her university acceptance letter just to fund his son's schooling activities, and Chen Zilong, being "promising", didn't even make it into high school.
"What's wrong with Qian'er, is she in a bad mood?" Qu Xue noticed that since Qian returned, there had been no smile on her face.
And the look in her eyes was particularly frightening, as if nothing could be hidden from her, making Qu Xue extra cautious with her words in front of her.
"His dad, Qian'er's leg is injured, go buy her some ointment from the pharmacy after dinner. I don't think the medicinal wine is working," Jia Xiufang thought her daughter was in a bad mood because her leg hurt.
"How did her leg get injured?" Chen Lin wouldn't know if Jia Xiufang didn't say.
He had played mahjong all afternoon, completely unaware that his wife and child had been beaten by a lunatic.
"Isn't it the crazy son of Aunt Seven's family? He came out accusing me and Qian'er of being Japanese devils, and hit us with a stick," Jia Xiufang started a conversation with no end in sight, opening her chatterbox.
Her words were all over the place, taking five minutes to explain one thing clearly.
After hearing it, Chen Lin's anger flared, slamming his bowl on the table with a bang.
"You useless woman! Qian'er was beaten, and you just came back like this?"
Jia Xiufang, fierce outside, was a bit afraid of Chen Lin at home. Seeing him lose his temper, her voice softened.
"I...I found medicine for Qian'er..."
"That's irrelevant!" Chen Lin didn't care whether his daughter was in pain or not, hitting the table and pointing at Jia Xiufang to scold her.
"Aren't you usually quite powerful? Their family beat ours, why didn't you go to Aunt Seven to argue it out? Demand compensation! Qian'er is about to get engaged, if she breaks a leg, make them pay!"
To Chen Lin, the child's injury was far less important than taking the opportunity to extort money; he was notoriously stingy.
Aside from owning a laundry shop, where they brought in cleaning supplies, despite being able to buy a whole box wholesale, he insisted on having them sell it wholesale-priced but took it one bag at a time, sometimes sneaking some when the sales rep wasn't looking, and when caught, he stubbornly claimed it was a test, advertising for their products, trying out different effects, sales reps would sneer at Chen Lin's name.
"With the child like this, how can I have the mind to go extort?" Jia Xiufang was also a bit scared; if not for the sudden appearance of that handsome and outstanding man, both she and her daughter would have been seriously injured, she hurried back seeing her daughter's injury, who could think of asking for money.
"Who said it's extortion! You useless woman, she should give us the money, hurry up after dinner and go make a fuss for me, if you don't bring me back the money, stay at their home tonight." He lost money in mahjong today and wanted to vent at home.
"His dad? Isn't it too much? Aunt Seven doesn't have much money either, raising a lunatic by herself, lost her husband early, and Qian'er's leg isn't that serious, just apply some ointment—"
"Smack!" Chen Lin slapped Jia Xiufang across the face.
"Oh dear, brother-in-law, what are you doing!" Qu Xue stood up to intervene, but seeing it, it was a half-hearted kind of stop.
"Get out of my way, this useless woman deserves a beating!"
This scene unfolded like a farce right before Qian's eyes.
Seeing her mother beaten and her father only caring about money, Qian stood up without a word, placing her delicate hands on the table's edge, and with a slight push, crash!
The whole table of dishes, along with serving plates and bowls of porridge, was overturned by Qian.
Chen Lin, who was raging, and Jia Xiufang, who was slapped, were both stunned.
Qu Xue was even worse off; using her academic prowess, Qian accurately calculated the angle, and Qu Xue was drenched in spilled porridge. The slight heat made her let out a cry.
The sticky porridge dripped over the peak of endless scenic beauty, sticky and messy.
Qian always had a low presence at home; she didn't like to talk much and was always quietly studying, so when she suddenly erupted, not only was Chen Lin shocked, even Jia Xiufang didn't expect it.
A few seconds later, Chen Lin came to his senses and seeing the table overturned, dishes broken, and food spilled, he angrily charged at Qian, waving his arm to hit her, while Jia Xiufang hastily intervened.
"His dad, calm down, the child didn't do it intentionally! Qian'er, don't just stand there, apologize to your father quickly! Say you didn't mean it!"
Jia Xiufang sometimes got beaten by her husband, but it was usually in private, seldom seen by the children, she feared Chen Lin would also hit Qian.
Qian lowered her head, picking up a broken dish, gesturing it at Chen Lin, "Try coming over, see what happens!"
"You've gone mad, you dare hit your father!" Chen Lin pushed Jia Xiufang aside, Qian snorted, grabbed Qu Xue, who was wiping porridge off the peak nearby, and pressed the broken dish against her neck, scaring Qu Xue into a gasp.
"I won't hit you, I'll hit her!"
"Brother-in-law! Save me! Qian'er, quickly put that down!" Qu Xue was completely at a loss as to why she got involved.
Jia Xiufang was also dumbfounded, "Qian'er, are you possessed by something? Oh no, there's no shaman around here, what do we do, his dad, the child is bewitched!"
A perfectly normal kid, how did it suddenly turn out like this?
Chen Lin, a bit shaken as well, still spoke tough.
"Let her slash, if she had that kind of courage, she wouldn't have failed the university entrance exam." In Chen Lin's mind, his daughter was a timid person, not even daring to speak up, how could she dare to hurt someone?
Qian suddenly flashed a charming smile at Qu Xue. "Did you hear? It's your 'brother-in-law' telling me to slash, I'm going to do it!"
She extended her hand, ready to act!