"Dad, where did you find this basket?" Sheng An only asked after her breathing had steadied.
"Oh! A young man who came to the village last time gave it to me; he said he picked it up from the road."
The last time Qin Yue came to investigate Sheng Ning’s origins, he had pretended to ask for directions to specifically interact with Sheng Laosan. He had the appearance of a young man who was honest and simple, which left a deep impression on Sheng Laosan.
"Dad, you know him?" Sheng An was surprised, her eyes wide.
"Mm! This young man is quite pleasant and very polite," Sheng Laosan praised.
"Dad, you’ve been fooled! He’s nothing but a bastard, a hooligan!" Sheng An said with disdain.
"Nonsense!" Sheng Laosan scolded sternly, "How can a young girl curse at someone so casually? What wrong has this man done to you?"
"Isn’t it exactly that he has wronged me?"
"How has he wronged you? Tell me. If you really have a point, I will go and settle the score with him, but if you don’t, even though you’re my daughter, I won’t allow you to insult anyone randomly." Sheng Laosan was a man of principle; having said that, he started to drag Sheng An off to find the person.
He had met the man in the east end of the village, who claimed to be visiting relatives—likely a neighbor in the village.
"Dad, let go, let go. Isn’t it enough that I admit I was wrong?" Sheng An was almost scared to death. She had clearly been bullied by him, taken advantage of. But she dared not say so! If she spoke out, it wouldn’t just be a major embarrassment for her, but also make her parents lose face.
"You little wretch!" Sheng Laosan said, "You’re not allowed to curse at people randomly in the future."
"Yes, yes, yes, let’s go home, Dad! I’m starving!" Sheng An really couldn’t understand how such a scoundrel, a hooligan, could have gained her dad’s trust?
Mm! Considering how honest Dad was, it’s likely that he was fooled! Very possible; just look at Xu Xianxiong—infamous as a local ruffian and hooligan ten miles and eight villages around. Everyone else would take a wide berth upon seeing him, yet he became my dad’s best friend.
Eh! Could that hooligan be my brother-in-law’s brother? Perhaps my brother-in-law was mistaken, and the small hooligan is actually the old hooligan’s biological son.
He was here to find his real parents.
The more Sheng An thought about it, the more convinced she became that her speculation was true; the more she thought about it, the more Qin Yue seemed to resemble Xu Xianxiong in appearance and stature.
Maybe that really was the case. The last time her brother-in-law came to their house, he was silent and uncommunicative, nothing at all like Uncle Xu.
Lost in her thoughts, Sheng An was suddenly roused by her dad’s surprised voice.
"Cuifen, when did you get back?" Sheng Laosan exclaimed upon seeing Qin Cuifen carrying a small cloth bundle returning home.
"Did you get time off? Did Ningning come back with you?"
Qin Cuifen had been expelled, had no money on her, and it had been a long time since her family had sent her any money. She couldn’t survive another day in the city and had to rush back in embarrassment.
Initially, she had outright refused to return because it was shameful, and she had lost face. When she left, she walked out with her head held high.
And now she had come back in such a sorry state, especially having been expelled by the General Union—she couldn’t afford to lose that face.
Most importantly, after what had happened.
Zhao Zhiqiang, Hai Lan, and Sheng Ning—she would let none of them off. Given any slight chance, she would seek her revenge a thousandfold, a hundredfold.
"Eh? Qin Cuifen, could it be that you were expelled by the General Union?" Sheng An mocked disdainfully, catching a flash of surprise in Qin Cuifen’s eyes.
Why does it feel like Qin Cuifen changed so much in less than a year at the General Union? She looks completely different from before she left!
Sheng An couldn’t understand exactly what was different but somehow Qin Cuifen looked prettier than before, as if her skin had become lighter.