"Yours? Since when is it yours? That is my family’s, not yours," Qin Xiangyang really wanted to slap Qin Xiangmei, he truly did. He was at the absolute end of his patience with her. He knew that Qin Xiangmei, not daring to confront them, only knew to bully Granny Lu, who was easy to talk to. This trouble she caused today, he was determined to resolve it for Granny and to prevent any further harassment.
Qin Xiangmei was breathing heavily, her small face turning both pale and flushed. She turned and walked away, but quickly came back, picking up the bedding from the ground. Regardless, she wouldn’t give up the keys. What could they do, forcibly snatch them?
Hmph. A deep snort came from her nose, really behaving as if others had no way to deal with her.
"You’re not giving the key?" Qin Xiangyang’s scoff carried from behind her, involuntarily giving Qin Xiangmei a sense of crisis she couldn’t articulate. Her footsteps faltered, but didn’t stop.
She simply wouldn’t give them up. What could anyone do to her?
"The screen is Brother Jian’s, not ours, just like that house," Qin Xiangyang smirked, knowing this would compel Qin Xiangmei to hand over the key voluntarily. "The screen is worth one hundred thousand yuan. Your private sale of it counts as theft. If the screen isn’t produced, Qin Xiangmei, then get ready to pay back one hundred thousand yuan. Even if you could afford it, you’d still end up in the police station. You know what it’s like there; after all, you’ve been there before."
"Your brother isn’t clean-handed, and you’re the same? Oh Qin Xiangmei, Qin Xiangmei, you even dare to steal something worth one hundred thousand yuan?"
"I didn’t steal it," Qin Xiangmei suddenly shouted sharply, turning herself into the center of attention.
"Whether you did or not, it’s for the police to decide, not me," Qin Xiangyang said casually, leaning against the wall. "If you don’t want to lose face, it’s best you hand over the key. If you don’t, the police will come tomorrow. Qin Xiangmei, if you’re arrested, tell me, how are you going to pay back that one hundred thousand, let alone continue your studies? With a record of dishonesty, I don’t believe any employer would dare to hire you in the future."
Qin Xiangmei bit her red lip hard, gripping her hands until her fingertips hurt, ultimately pulling a key out of her pocket. She found the biggest, most ornate key in the bunch; all the others were smaller. These two keys were distinct, and as of now, unrelated to her.
Qin Xiangyang took the key and left without looking back. In his eyes, Qin Xiangmei was less important than cornstalks in the field. He remembered his sister’s words, about taking some cornstalks to give away.
His heart wasn’t that cruel. If Qin Xiangmei hadn’t pushed herself into this corner, he would never have used this to force her. Even for a grown man to bully a young girl, frankly, he felt uncomfortable about it. But some people were just ungrateful wolves that you could never feed enough. Such harmful misfortune.
With red eyes, Qin Xiangmei returned to her dorm holding her luggage, the more she thought about it, the worse she felt. All of them bullying her, no one was good.
She grabbed her wallet to call Hu Li.
She cried while on the phone, exaggerating her eviction by Qin Xiangyang for over half an hour, and fruitlessly spent another 30 yuan on the call. She wanted to say more, but thinking about the expensive phone bill, she dared not continue.
She wiped her face vigorously and cursed Qin Xiangyang and his sister. Anyway, when her parents came, she would see how Qin Xiangyang would end it. She would make them kneel and beg for her return; if she didn’t move back into the Siheyuan, she wouldn’t be Qin Xiangmei.
She returned and had a big fight with He Juan. Others overheard and didn’t dare to make a sound.
Once they heard that the screen was worth 100,000 yuan and He Juan paid only 1,000, taking away something worth 100,000 yuan, it was incredible to these students. They seldom saw 1,000 yuan, let alone 100,000. Some secretly cursed He Juan for making a fortune in bad faith, unfairly selling somebody’s 100,000-yuan item for 1,000 yuan. Yet others thought, perhaps Qin Xiangmei was making things up, or it was a case of a willing buyer and willing seller. Now that there was trouble, no one could really clear it up.
In the end, both parties were responsible. They had lost any good reputation they might have had.
Whilst they envied He Juan’s good fortune, they also felt sour grapes.
Qin Xiangmei, after having her key confiscated and belongings rolled up, realized that with even the thickest of skins, she couldn’t possibly return to the Siheyuan now. Even though she knew in her heart that the screen might not truly be worth 100,000 yuan, if the others insisted it was, what was she to do?
Qin Xiangyang even threatened to have her locked up in the police station, her brother had nearly been convicted for just taking Jian Zhiqing’s watch, which was worth only a few yuan. But that screen was 100,000 yuan. My goodness, 100,000 yuan, not a small amount at all.
She couldn’t panic. She had to wait for her parents, she had to stay calm, yes, absolutely calm.
In this extreme anxiety, Qin Xiangmei spent her days fighting with He Juan. How others had spread the word about their dormitory’s issues, she didn’t know, but now both of their reputations weren’t so great. After fighting for such a long time, even a good reputation might be destroyed.
As for whether they fought to death, it was none of Qin Xiangnuan’s concern. All the fruits and cornstalks were picked and given away to people in the school. These were not expensive gifts, but the effect was good. One had to say, Qin Xiangyang always had an excellent reputation in school, he was a high-tech talent, good with computers, knew English, and his qualifications were excellent across the board. Which student to keep if not him, and if it were about connections, he certainly wasn’t without them.
The school’s paperwork had arrived. Granny Lu held the document, smiling for a long time, and was ready to set aside a day for thanksgiving. Now, she wasn’t worried about Qin Xiangyang anymore. He didn’t have to go to some tough place to join the army. It was so nice to stay at school, to be an instructor and not to toil.
This was a big event for the Qin Family; recently there were many visitors at home. Granny Lu rarely went to the shop, mostly attending to family guests. Even Mr. Song had come, though everyone knew the old man was just eager to see the Qingming River Painting screen. It was a shame that this time, he couldn’t.