CH 20

It is said that in the high school where she taught, she had been rated as the most popular teacher among students for several consecutive years because she was gentle and cheerful, allowing students to feel the care of family.

Lu Wanqing was gradually moved by her, but she never changed her words. Until Qi Bing passed away, she never called her “Sister Bing”

Towards the end, Qi Bing left her with a calm and lifeless look in her eyes. She didn’t yet know that Qi Bing held a deadly medicine bottle in her hand, didn’t know she was determined to die early; she merely begged her with tears: hang on, hang on.

Qi Bing couldn't speak, and blinked in her direction.

With this response, Lu Wanqing was very encouraged, saying: Sister-in-law, don't worry, I will help you take care of your family until  you get better. You must recover from your illness at ease and get better soon.

Lu Wanqing never thought these words would become the final regret of her life.

Qi Bing has been dead for ten years, and these words have tortured her for ten years.

She couldn't help but think, if she hadn’t said that at that time, would anything have changed?

In the distance, the driver pushed Lin Fengxun in the wheelchair and gradually approached.

Lin Fengxun looked at her and waved his hand, "Mom!"

Lu Wanqing smiled at him.

She looked normal.

As if the one in pain and regret in front of the tomb just now wasn’t her.

In the afternoon, Fu Jia, who had just finished the last subject of the exam, straightened his waist and found that he was sweating in the air-conditioned classroom.

Big head couldn't wait to discuss with him: "Lao Fu, how did you do this time? At noon I also saw that Teacher Liu invited you to dinner, you have to tell me about it..."

Before he finished speaking, Fu Jia stood up with his bag and interrupted him: "Sorry, I'm in a hurry." 

As if enlightened, Big Head asked tentatively, "Is it... Senior Lu?"

Fu Jia didn't answer and just grinned. No longer caring about Big Head, he rushed out of the second-year high school building and rushed into the third year of high school against the crowd of people.

Fu Jia didn't know which class Lu Qi'an was in after entering the third year section, or whether he had already left the classroom. Fumbling along the way, he finally found Lu Qi’an in Third Year, Class 1, packing his things by the window in the front row.

Fu Jia leaned against the back door, patiently waiting for him to come out.

But he, a stranger, leaned on the door and kept looking in with a strange smile on his face. He was so conspicuous that many people in the classroom looked at him.

Unlike everyone else, Lu Qi’an continued doing his own thing. Li Qinhe next to him was the opposite. Turning his head and seeing Fu Jia, his face immediately sank.

Fu Jia treated him as nothing and continued staring at Lu Qi'an,  making Li Qinhe's heart burn.  He stood up from his seat and walked towards Fu Jia. The classmates felt the murderous aura on him and made way for him one after another.

"Hey, Fu Jia." Li Qinhe put his hands in his pockets and shouted unceremoniously.

Fu Jia looked at him and reacted exactly like him.

He put away his smile and stared, his face cold enough to scrape ice.

Li Qinhe frowned and asked, "What are you doing here?" He was taller than Fu Jia, and when he asked this, he deliberately raised his chin to look at Fu Jia with a condescending gaze.

Fu Jia smiled silently.

He stepped into the classroom, regulating his breathing2, "It's none of your fucking business?3"

This sentence was loud and clear. 

The classmate onlookers were all stunned and Li Qinhe was also stunned for two seconds. Then, he asked in disbelief, "What did you say?"

Fu Jia once again became angry4,  "I said it’s none of your business. We’re not familiar with each other,  why should I report to you what I'm here for?"

Li Qinhe’s temples throbbed with anger.  He stepped forward, pushing Fu Jia's shoulder with the back of his hand, trying to push him out of the classroom: "Let’s talk outside."

Fu Jia was pushed by him and almost fell backwards. He held onto the door frame, his anger rising, "Going outside, do I have anything to say to you?"

Li Qinhe cursed silently, raised his hand to grab Fu Jia's arm, and led him outside of the classroom. "I’m warning you, don’t think I won’t deal with you just because you're at No. 6 High.  Hurry up and get out!"

Fu Jia stubbornly held on to the door frame, unwilling to step back.  New and old hatred piled together, making him especially want to hit people. But he held back, only gritted his teeth and cursed, sending greetings to Li Qinhe's entire family.

"You..." Li Qinhe clenched his fists.

Seeing that the two were about to fight5, there was an uproar in the classroom. It was common to see these types of events around Li Qinhe, so no one went to tell the teacher and no one stopped him, simply watching with excitement from the sidelines. 

Lu Qi'an turned around and saw the two of them were blocking the door and arguing. They were surrounded by classmates, some of them even from other classes. His eyes turned cold, and he shouted, "Fu Jia, what are you arguing about? ”

His voice wasn’t high or low, but it simultaneously frightened Fu Jia and Li Qinhe.

Li Qinhe quickly let go of Fu Jia, put his hands on the sides of his head, and touched the back of his head.

Unexpectedly, Fu Jia didn’t expect to be “named and shamed” by him. Feeling suffocated in his heart, he lowered his head and kept his hands and feet by his side in a well-behaved manner.   

"It’s nothing..." Fu Jia said, "I'm here to find you. I wanted to wait for you to come out but I didn't expect it to be like this."

Lu Qi'an approached him with a cold tone, but his eyes gradually warmed, "You shouldn't swear in public."

Fu Jia was taken aback and nodded stiffly.

He didn't think it was shameful to swear at Li Qinhe, but if Lu Qi'an said it was not good, then he was willing to admit his mistakes and correct them.

Li Qinhe was in a good mood as he watched Fu Jia being criticized, and couldn't help laughing.

In the next second, Lu Qi'an's eyes pointed towards him like a knife.

"You come out with me."

Li Qinhe felt a chill in his heart and wanted to explain, "No, I was just clearing my throat..." 

Lu Qi'an didn't say a word and walked out of the classroom first. Li Qinhe understood that he was being serious and hurriedly corrected his attitude, following behind him.

The two walked all the way to the staircase6  at the end of the corridor, avoiding the onlookers. Fu Jia also followed but, feeling awkward, he kept a certain distance from them.

Li Qinhe said before Lu Qi'an, “I know I started it today, but I had no choice. He has a foul mouth.”

Fu Jia was furious, hearing Li Qinhe complain first with bad intentions7, he sneered and said, "Did I say something wrong? Tell me, what does it matter to you if I come here to find someone?”

"How is it none of my business," Li Qinhe was so angry that steam was coming out of his ears8, "I’m a friend of Qi’an. If you want to bother him, of course I will stop you!"

Their voices got louder and louder, making Lu Qi’an feel unbearable9, “Still being noisy?”

"Of course we’re being noisy," Li Qinhe decisively said, “This person surnamed Fu transferred to No. 6 High. If I don’t clarify the situation,  who knows how he’ll bother you in the future. I must make things clear today!”

Fu Jia was already itching to make trouble to the extent that he couldn't hold it in anymore10. When he opened his mouth, he almost breathed fire, "What’s unclear? Lu Qi'an and I are now alumni, we have a senior and junior brother relationship. I came to find him for a normal conversation, what are you getting in the way for?"

Li Qinhe spit11 and said, "Normal, where are you normal? Back then your mother-"

"Enough!" Lu Qi'an's expression was even worse than both of them combined. He said to Fu Jia, "You go to my classroom and wait for me. You saw where it was, the third seat by the window."

Fu Jia didn't move.

He clearly heard Li Qinhe say the two words, "Your mother".

Lu Qi'an repeated himself, "Fu Jia,  go inside and wait for me."

Fu Jia gritted his teeth, didn’t speak, and returned to Lu Qi'an's classroom along the corridor.

Lu Qi'an confirmed that he had entered before saying, "Li Qinhe, do you know what you are doing?"

Even if Fu Jia wasn’t in front of him, Li Qinhe was still angry, "I know, I'm helping you! You paid attention to him once, why are you still doing so the second and third time? Fu Xiaoli in the beginning received money from Uncle Lin, drugged him, and later used the child as a bargaining chip for threats. This behavior is shameless, and now Fu Jia is exactly the same as her. Haunting you like a ghost, he even transferred to No.6 High, what's next?"  

He became more agitated as he spoke, his face flushing red. Lu Qi’an stared at him coldly, extremely calm.

"I'll tell you what he's going to do next. " Lu Qi'an said, "He wants to concentrate on studying in the No. 6 High, prepare for the college entrance examination, enter a first-tier university in the future, and have a life that is completely opposite to the present. In the future, he won’t have any connection to the Lin family or the Lu family. He will have an independent character and life.”

Lu Qi'an firmly said, "These things, I will help him do them. The reason he is in No. 6 High is because I helped him behind his back. He will continue to cling to me also because I deliberately guided him in the past.”

Li Qinhe was completely stunned.

"I want to explain clearly to you that you are now interfering in my private affairs. The private affairs between Fu Jia and me."

Lu Qi'an finished saying these unpleasant words first. Seeing that he couldn't say a word with his open mouth, he slowed down his tone, "Li Qinhe, I won’t overexplain, but you are my friend and I hope you can understand me. I won’t force you to support me, I just hope you can understand."

Between people, even if they were on opposite sides, as long as they understood each other they are able to move forwards.

Just like how he could never let go of Qi Bing's death, was unable to let go of his fathers behavior before her death, but he could try his best to understand them.

-

*Not proofread*

1. 小冰姐/Xiao Bingjie: small sister Bing.

2. 气沉丹田- Chinese medicine terminology, also used in martial arts (wuxia, xiaxia). It means to open your meridians, regulate your yin and yang, your qi, etc. (https://baike.google.com/item/%E6%B0%94%E6%B2%89%E4%B8%B9%E7%94%B0/4519413)

3. 关你屁事/guān nǐ pìshì- None of your business/fucking business/damn business. Pretty rude, basically.

4. The dantian is mentioned here again *covers face and cries*

5. 动起手来/dòng qǐ shǒu lái- The direct translation was “were about to start their hands.” The temptation to translate this to ‘were about to throw hands’ was so strong hahahaha.

6. 休息平台上/rest platform- The platform between staircases, or the floor before climbing the stairs. 

7. 听到李沁和恶人先告状- The direct translation would be “Hearing Li Qinhe wickedly/evilly complain first”        but…. That felt a bit childish…. 

8. 七窍生烟/qī qiào shēng yān- idiom: to be so angry fire comes out of your 7 orifices (mouth, eyes, ears, and nostrils). 

9. 忍无可忍/rěn wú kě rěn-idom: to feel unbearable, can’t bear it anymore, to feel fed up. 

10. 傅嘉原本就蠢蠢欲动的彻底压不住了: I probably butchered this sentence, have a go at it if you know how to read Chinese. 

11. 呸/pēi: if you're a seasoned danmei reader, you may recognise this ‘pei!’ as spitting onomatopoeia. The english version is ‘ptui!’ Both sound silly.