Chapter 26

As soon as the clock struck seven, Su Xiaoxiao bolted out the door.
Grandma Su was in the kitchen cooking when she heard the commotion. She turned and asked, “Where are you running off to this early?”
“Going to find Jin Qishan. It’s really important!” Su Xiaoxiao shouted as the door slammed behind her.
Grandma Su shook her head. “What could be so urgent with that child?”
“Bang, bang, bang!” Su Xiaoxiao pounded on Jin Qishan’s door like her life depended on it.
After a while, the door opened to reveal Dong Xiaohong, her face full of irritation. “What are you banging for? What do you want?”
Since Jin Yongzhong’s business had been struggling, the money he sent home had dwindled. Over time, Dong Xiaohong had grown tired of him, and of pretending to be the sweet, dutiful wife.
Su Xiaoxiao leaned forward, calling loudly, “Qishan! Qishan, come out! I need to talk to you!”
Dong Xiaohong glared. “He’s not home.”
“Then where did he go?”
“How would I know?” she snapped, slamming the door shut.
Su Xiaoxiao stomped her foot in frustration. Where could he have gone this early in the morning?
She waited downstairs, pacing anxiously. When she got tired, she sat on the curb by the road.
She didn’t know how much time had passed before a pair of black-and-white sneakers stopped in front of her.
Su Xiaoxiao looked up. It was Jin Qishan.
He was wearing a black tracksuit, his sharp features damp with a fine sheen of sweat. His bangs clung to his forehead, wet and soft.
So he went running,
Jin Qishan broke the silence. “What are you doing sitting here?”
Su Xiaoxiao stood up, dusting off her pants. “Waiting for you.”
He blinked, surprised. “Waiting for me? Why?”
“Um, do you want to visit your hometown for a bit?” Su Xiaoxiao hesitated, testing the waters. “Your grandma must miss you, right?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Just say what you mean. No need to circle around it.”
Su Xiaoxiao tugged gently on his sleeve, tilting her head up to look at him. “Qishan, I dreamed that your grandma got bitten by a dog.”
And in that moment, she realized, he was already half a head taller than her.
Jin Qishan chuckled. “What kind of weird dream is that?” He figured she was just imagining things, always worrying about his grandma so much that she’d dreamed about it.
“Don’t laugh, I’m serious. I dreamed she got bitten and then,” Su Xiaoxiao bit her lip before whispering the rest, “got rabies.”
When Jin Qishan saw the genuine fear in her eyes, something inside him jolted, like a current running through his body, leaving every nerve tingling.
For a split second, all his restraint crumbled.
He reached out and gently patted her head, his voice soft and low.
“Silly girl. It was just a dream. Not real.”
It was the most intimate thing Jin Qishan had ever done to Su Xiaoxiao in all these years.
Because deep down, he harbored feelings he didn’t dare admit.
So he guarded that secret carefully, terrified that even the smallest slip, one stray gesture or look, might give him away.
Su Xiaoxiao, however, was too preoccupied with convincing him to believe her dream to notice anything unusual.
“You have to trust me,” she said earnestly. “My instincts are really accurate. Let’s go back and check, okay?”
The feeling of being cared for, of having someone worry about his family, was foreign but warm.
Jin Qishan smiled, indulgent. “Alright. Wait here, I’ll just go change.”
Su Xiaoxiao nodded. “Okay, come to my house when you’re ready.”
As they walked home, Jin Qishan led the way.
Su Xiaoxiao followed behind absentmindedly, her thoughts elsewhere. Halfway up the stairs, she missed a step and nearly fell face-first to the ground.
“Ah!”
In an instant, Jin Qishan turned, his reflexes sharp. He caught her by the arm and pulled her up.
Because of the momentum, Su Xiaoxiao fell straight into his chest. His other hand instinctively came up to steady her waist.
For a moment, his body froze. The warmth of her waist under his palm, the soft scent of her hair, it all crashed into him at once. His breath caught.
His pulse pounded. His throat tightened. His palms burned. Something deep inside him began to slip beyond control,
“Ah, that scared me to death,” Su Xiaoxiao said, shivering from the rush of adrenaline.
Jin Qishan quickly let go and turned away.
“Hey, what are you walking so fast for?” she called after him. “I almost fell! Aren’t you even going to ask if I’m okay?”
He fumbled with his keys, opened the door, and shut it behind him with a sharp bang.
Outside, Su Xiaoxiao called, “Once you’ve changed, come find me, okay?”
Inside, Jin Qishan closed the door, grabbed a change of clothes, and went straight to the bathroom.
Cold water poured down his skin, but it couldn’t cool the heat in his chest.
Her scent lingered at his nose, her warmth still ghosted against his arms.
He felt like he was going insane.
That shower took longer than usual.
Dong Xiaohong, waiting to do her makeup, grew impatient. When Jin Qishan finally emerged, she immediately sneered, “Took you long enough. Trying to scrub off a whole layer of skin?”
Drying his hair with a towel, Jin Qishan froze mid-motion.
Then, slowly, he turned his head, his gaze sharp and cold. “Didn’t I warn you not to provoke me?”
Dong Xiaohong stiffened. Her mind flashed back to a year ago, when she’d made the mistake of badmouthing Su Xiaoxiao in front of him. Jin Qishan had grabbed her by the throat and said, “Watch your mouth. Don’t mess with me, or anyone around me.”
When he’d said “anyone around me”, his grip had tightened, his eyes red with anger.
She’d stood there trembling, hardly daring to breathe.
Now, just as suddenly, he dropped the towel and walked off as if nothing had happened.
Only when his figure disappeared from sight did Dong Xiaohong finally exhale and mutter under her breath,
“Of course, a motherless brat. Just like a mad dog, biting whoever he pleases.”

After packing a few things, Su Xiaoxiao sat at the dining table, waiting for Jin Qishan. But time passed and he didn’t come.
Didn’t he say he was just changing clothes?
What was taking him so long?
Just as she was about to give up waiting, Jin Qishan finally arrived.
She frowned when she saw his damp hair. “You even took a shower?”
He replied with a casual, quiet “Mm.”
“Alright then, let’s go,” she said, grabbing her pink backpack, only for him to take it from her naturally and sling it over his own shoulder.
Grandma Su came out from the kitchen and quickly handed each of them a piece of bread and a carton of milk. “Eat these on the way. Xiaoxiao was so worried she couldn’t even finish breakfast.”
Jin Qishan froze for a moment, surprised that Su Xiaoxiao had taken her dream so seriously.
Grandma Su smiled and explained, “Sometimes her hunches are spot on. She even predicted that thing, the one about, what was it again?”
Su Xiaoxiao supplied, “The Olympics.”
Grandma Su clapped her hands. “Right, right, the Olympics! She dreamed they’d win the bid, and it really happened, on the exact date, too!”
Jin Qishan glanced at Su Xiaoxiao again, this time with genuine astonishment.
Grandma Su said kindly, “If you’re worried, go take a look. You haven’t visited your grandma in a while anyway.”
He nodded.
They took a cab to the bus station and bought tickets for the earliest bus to the countryside.
On the ride, Su Xiaoxiao gazed out the window, while Jin Qishan quietly watched her reflection in the glass.
The country roads were rough, the bus jolting up and down the entire way. Su Xiaoxiao hadn’t eaten breakfast, and before long, the motion made her sick.
By the time they arrived, she stumbled off the bus and ran to the side of the road, retching miserably.
Jin Qishan rubbed her back gently to soothe her.
When the nausea finally subsided, she straightened up, pale and weak, and held out a trembling hand. “Water.”
He immediately pulled a bottle from his bag and handed it to her.
After a few small sips, the color began to return to her face.
“Can you walk?” he asked, worried. “Want me to carry you?”
She shook her head, resting for a few minutes on the bench by the bus stop. After eating some bread, she managed a faint smile. “I’m fine. Let’s go.”
Before leaving, Jin Qishan had tried calling his grandma, but no one had answered, neither the home phone nor her mobile.
He wasn’t too worried, though. His grandparents were always like that. The phone might as well have been decoration, getting through to them was a matter of pure luck.
By the time they reached Grandma Jin’s house, it was almost noon. The front gate was tightly shut, and no matter how many times Jin Qishan called out, no one came to open it.
Eventually, the elderly woman next door, Auntie Sun, poked her head out and said, “The Yu family’s daughter over on the west side of the village is getting married today. Your grandparents went early to help out with the wedding banquet.”
At that, Jin Qishan’s head snapped up, his dark eyes wide with surprise.
Su Xiaoxiao didn’t notice his reaction. “Do you know how to get there?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Auntie, which house is theirs exactly?”
The old woman chuckled. She wasn’t surprised, after all, he’d left the village when he was still a child. It was a miracle he even remembered her.
“Second row on the west side, fourth house. You’ll see the red double happiness characters pasted on the door. Remember to call Old Yu ‘Grand-uncle,’” she instructed. “If my granddaughter wasn’t napping after her milk, I’d walk you there myself.”
“Thank you, Auntie,” Jin Qishan said politely. “We’ll go by ourselves.”
As they left, Su Xiaoxiao waved cheerfully. “Goodbye, Auntie Sun! We’ll get going now!”
The old woman smiled, her wrinkles deepening. “Alright, alright, go on then. Goodbye, dears.”
Watching their retreating backs, she sighed wistfully. “Time flies, Little Shan’s all grown up now, and so handsome! Even brought his girlfriend home!”

Before they even reached the Yu family’s house, Su Xiaoxiao and Jin Qishan could already hear the lively noise of the feast. Following the sound, they quickly found the place.
Village banquets always started early, so by the time they arrived, the meal was already winding down. After weaving through the crowd, Jin Qishan finally spotted his grandmother.
When Grandma Jin saw him, she froze, blinking in disbelief, as if afraid her eyes were deceiving her. She looked again and again before finally realizing it really was her Little Shan.
She grabbed his hands, touching them over and over with trembling fingers. “You, you came back?”