Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
“Lanlan.”
Qinglan sat on the edge of the bed, twisting a corner of the mosquito net with one hand, lost in thought when Liu Xiuzhen suddenly pushed the door open and entered.
Qinglan collected herself and hurriedly put down the book in her hands.
“Mother,” Qinglan called out as she stood up.
Liu Xiuzhen walked up to Qinglan, reaching out to touch her head, the smooth, shiny black hair gently sliding through Liu Xiuzhen's rough palm.
“Mother,” Qinglan lowered her head and softly called out again.
Liu Xiuzhen sighed and pulled Qinglan down to sit. “You tell me, your Brother is so useless, he has harmed someone’s daughter and himself. What should we do about it?”
As if she had done something wrong herself, the usually fierce and strong-willed Liu Xiuzhen lowered her gaze, unable to meet Qinglan's eyes directly.
Qinglan looked straight into Liu Xiuzhen's eyes for a moment before shifting her gaze to her face.
She had aged a lot; the wrinkles on her face and around her eyes had deepened.
Qinglan reached out to tidy up the messy hair at her temples. Although her Mother was strong-willed and sometimes unreasonable, which could be quite annoying for Qinglan, seeing her weary face made Qinglan feel a pang of sadness.
The strong Mother had been much quieter these past few days.
She could no longer remember when she had last been close to Mother, when she had last nestled in her embrace. Even sitting together like this, face to face for a while, had become rare.
But Mother was aging; she needed someone to talk to and keep her company for a while.
“Mother, you and Father should find something for Brother to do. Otherwise, if he keeps idling around like this, who knows what trouble he’ll cause in the future,” Qinglan said.
"Finding something to do is certain, but we also need to find a way to solve the current issue," Liu Xiuzhen glanced at Qinglan and shifted her gaze elsewhere.
"What does Mother mean?" Qinglan did not understand the implication of Liu Xiuzhen's words.
"You say," Liu Xiuzhen moved her chair slightly forward, leaning closer to Qinglan's ear, and asked mysteriously, "What if that woman across the street incites Shaw Min to sue Jiawei? What would you do?"
"Sue?" Qinglan's mouth dropped open; she had never considered this question.
She quickly covered her mouth, "No way, Mother and Sister Shaomin are not like that. It was Mother who came to rescue Brother the night Father hit him."
Before this, Qinglan had not thought about the issue at all. It was only after Liu Xiuzhen's reminder that she realized her own selfishness deep down. The person causing harm was her own family, so she naturally believed that the victim should forgive them and would certainly do so.
But why should the victim forgive? Why should they? Shouldn't bad people be punished? Just because the wrongdoer is the child of a powerful family in the village, does that mean the weaker victim should proactively or automatically give up on punishing them?
She had never considered the feelings of the victim, Sister Shaomin, or even her entire family. Shouldn't they retaliate?
Their lack of retaliation did not stem from being born to be bullied but from their kindness.
Yes, they were kind.
On the night Shaw Min was victimized, An Shaojie had considered suing Liu Jiawei for rape. However, Bai Cuifen refused.
Shaw Min, through tears and sobs, raised her tear-filled eyes and stopped An Shaojie from doing so.
"Shaw Min has already been harmed; if we sue him again, it would harm her further. Sending him to jail is also for his correction. If he could change after such harsh discipline from his father, that would be great," Bai Cuifen said earnestly.
"People's hearts are unpredictable; it seems fine now, but who knows when she might suddenly decide to sue Jiawei?" Liu Xiuzhen smirked slightly, revealing her usual disdainful attitude towards others.
"Then what can we do? Has Father not considered this issue?" Qinglan asked.
"Your father? Is he even considering this issue?" Liu Xiuzhen's lips curled into a sneer, revealing a look of disdain. "He would be more than happy to kill Jiawei, just to vent his anger for that woman across the way. Does he even care about his son? Look at him, he's been feeling miserable for just a few days, all because he's worried about that woman!"
"Mother." Seeing Liu Xiuzhen starting to complain again about Bai Cuifen, Qinglan stood up, wanting to leave the room. "Shouldn't Father feel bad for Mother and them? It's his son who did something wrong! Our family has wronged others; we should all feel bad."
Liu Xiuzhen grabbed Qinglan's arm. "Look at you, just like your father, siding with outsiders. Your mother wanted to talk to you about your brother and Shaw Min." Liu Xiuzhen waved her hand dismissively. "Forget it, I'm not going to tell you anymore."
"What brother and Sister Shaw Min's business?" Qinglan asked curiously, quickly stopping Liu Xiuzhen as she worried that Liu Xiuzhen might have some bad idea.
Seeing that her words finally piqued Qinglan's interest, she smiled smugly. "Isn't Shaw Min already involved with Jiawei? Why not just get those two together? That way, that woman won't have any thoughts to share with Jiawei anymore. Even if she doesn't want to share her thoughts, that brat from her family—look at his eyes! The day Shaw Min got into trouble, his cries made it clear he wouldn't let Jiawei off the hook. If Shaw Min and Jiawei become a couple, out of consideration for Shaw Min, he wouldn't do anything to Jiawei."
Qinglan didn't expect that the solution her mother mentioned was actually this one.
It was simply unreasonable! Qinglan thought to herself, "Mother, Sister Shaw Min was harmed by Liu Jiawei, and you're actually thinking of this ridiculous idea." Qinglan shook her head helplessly.
"How is this a ridiculous idea? Shaw Min is already in this state; I'm just helping her!" Liu Xiuzhen said.
"Helping her?" Qinglan was speechless. "Fine, go tell Father and see if he agrees. Even if he does agree, let's see if Sister Shaw Min agrees. She definitely won't!"
Qinglan pouted and shouted at Liu Xiuzhen. In her mind appeared a pair of eyes—caring eyes.
Those were the eyes of the handsome boy who came to see Sister Shaw Min among her classmates that morning. Although Qinglan had never been in love before, she had experienced the feelings of liking someone; it was a gaze filled with eager concern, changing with every piece of news about Sister Shaw Min. That boy must like Sister Shaw Min. A boy so handsome and sunny would surely be someone Sister Shaw Min liked as well.
Comment 0 Comment Count