"Playing the hero? You think you’re Zorro?" shouted Qin Jian, "What did I emphasize about discipline before we started? Do you no longer wish to work? Bringing shame and disgrace to our design institute!"
Scared by the shouting, Tian Niu flinched, knowing he had done wrong.
However, in his heart, he didn’t think he had made any mistakes, reasoning that since the deed was already done, the worst case would be to humble himself before him and that would be the end of it.
So, he hurriedly apologized and admitted his mistake, "Wasn’t it just because we saw those two people bullying Sister-in-law? We just lent a hand! Qin, look, if it hadn’t been Sister-in-law, we might have helped anyway!"
"Right, right, right, we didn’t do much, at most we just won’t do it again!"
Everyone began to quickly admit their mistakes and say good things, upon which Qin Jian’s expression softened. Finally, he said, "Thank you, but let’s not have a next time, okay?"
Seeing Qin speak , everyone’s expressions relaxed and they returned to their usual joking and smiling selves, "It’s nothing, Qin. You’ve been so good to us, helping out a little is the least we could do!"
With a slight smile, Qin Jian said, "Alright, disperse!"
After dinner, Tian Niu lay in his bed staring at the ceiling blankly, "I can’t taste a thing in my mouth, haven’t had meat for several days! I’m starting to crave it!"
"Same here! But what can we do? There’s nothing in this place. After we finish the work here, we can think about good food once we’re back in the city!" Lin Chen smacked his lips and said.
While they were talking, they heard the door. Qin Jian came in, his hands full of things: "I’ve brought you guys a special meal tonight!"
At these words, Tian Niu sprung up, watching as Qin Jian took out one thing after another from his pockets, his eyes widened with excitement. There were luncheon meats, fruit cans, peanuts, four pig’s trotters, and several big white steamed buns.
"Qin, what’s all this?"
"It’s a thank-you for your ’good deed’! You’ve worked hard, so consider this a reward, and also a plea for you to cause me less trouble in the future, otherwise I won’t be able to handle it," said Qin Jian with a smile as he invited everyone to sit down and eat together.
"You shouldn’t have, Qin," said Lin Chen, feeling a bit embarrassed.
"Spare the expense? Let’s not say more than needed. Come on, let’s eat!" said Qin Jian, and he opened all the luncheon meats and cans.
The group buried themselves in a good meal, which served as a bit of an improvement to their lives.
After the meal, Qin Jian paid back the money he owed to Tian Niu and everyone else, and then left the communal dormitory to return to his own room.
"Hey, what do you think Qin meant by that?" asked Tian Niu, somewhat puzzled.
"Don’t know, one minute he’s scolding, the next he’s rewarding," Lin Chen was also confused.
"Could it be that Qin thinks he was too harsh on us and felt guilty about it? Maybe because he couldn’t bring himself to apologize outright, he decided to buy us food as a kind of indirect apology?" one warrior suggested.
Suddenly, Lin Chen had a realization, "Could it be that Qin was actually thanking us? Maybe he also detested that mother and daughter but due to his position and responsibilities here, there are certain things he just can’t do. And we just happened to do exactly what he wanted to, but didn’t dare to do himself?"
Slapping his thigh, Tian Niu exclaimed, "Right! That must be it. Qin likes Sister-in-law so much, and she’s suffered so much; how could it not hurt Qin’s heart? It must be that."
From a public standpoint, as the leader of the team, he naturally had to reprimand them.
But privately, from the bottom of his heart, he was grateful to them for standing up for An Hao!