BXBX NOVEL Chapter 35.2: This is Your Home (II)
When she reached downstairs, Su Bei sighed in relief.
But the next second, she almost got a heart attack.
Qin Shao was sitting on the sofa, reading some documents. Su Bei was stunned. Their eyes met for two seconds before she lowered her head in a guilty conscience. Su Bei then smiled stiffly and called with a soft voice: “Dad.”
“What’s wrong?” Qin Shao put down the documents in his hand. When he looked at the watch on his wrist, he frowned.
“Ah, nothing.” Just came down for a walk? Or to see why dad hasn’t slept yet? Su Bei was hurriedly thinking for a good excuse, but Mr. Qin had directly seen through her.
Qin Shao: “Are you hungry?”
Su Bei: “…”
She nodded.
Mr. Qin secretly thought: It’s not a good habit to eat at this hour. However, seeing the girl standing in front of him with her head drooping pitifully, Mr. Qin’s heart was softened.
“Go and see if there is something to eat in the kitchen.” He relented.
Su Bei’s eyes instantly lit up. “Thank you, Dad.” She looked up at Qin Shao and smiled sweetly.
Seeing Su Bei trotted into the kitchen, Qin Shao chuckled a little. The next second, a small head popped out from the kitchen door.
“Dad, do you also want to eat?”
Qin Shao: No.
However, the word got stuck in his throat. He asked back instead: “What are you going to make?”
“Noodles?” Su Bei pondered for a moment and said: “There are also bread, dumplings, small steamed buns, or I can fry it instead.”
Qin Shao: “Anything is okay. Just cook anything you want.”
Su Bei went back into the kitchen. She took out some small buns from the refrigerator, put it with some water on a plate, and heated it in the microwave. She then took out the oil, fried the buns until golden brown underneath, and sprinkled it with some onion and black sesame.
After finished cooking, Su Bei arranged the small fried buns on a plate and brought it to Mr. Qin.
Mr. Qin first glanced at the plate of delicious-looking fried buns, then at Su Bei. Seeing the girl’s eyes shining brightly with the words ‘praise me’ on her face, Mr. Qin secretly smiled and said: “Sit and eat.”
“Okay,” Su Bei sat down next to Qin Shao: “Dad, this is your chopsticks.”
Qin Shao originally was not hungry and had no habit of eating midnight supper. After receiving the chopsticks from Su Bei, he put it down again. Qin Shao then lowered his head to look at Su Bei, who was sitting next to him: The girl was eating attentively with her head lowered down. The buns she chewed puffed her cheeks.
An inconspicuous smile flashed across Mr. Qin’s eyes, but his expression quickly became stern again: “Hold your appetite. It’s easy for your stomach to get indigestion if you eat too much at this late hour.”
If he wasn’t supervising, was this girl going to eat the whole plate alone? Hasn’t she have her dinner?
Actually, she hasn’t.
Remembering that the plate also had Su Xiaobao’s share, Su Bei counted the remaining buns and stopped eating.
When Mr. Qin saw this, however, her action instead became: This girl surely is obedient.
But when he remembered why Su Bei hadn’t eaten enough and how restrained she was in front of Madam Yang, Mr. Qin frowned again.
“Xiao Bei.”
“Yes, Dad?”
“Remember, this is your home.” Qin Shao said, his eyes were serious and earnest. As for other people, they were only a guest at most. There was never any reason why a host should give in because of a guest.
It seemed that he must find another place for Madam Yang to stay—Mr. Qin secretly decided. He never paid attention to this kind of thing before. He had many houses, so when Madam Yang lived in Jingyuan whenever she came to visit, he just had to temporarily stay at another place. Since anywhere was the same for him, it never had been a big deal before. But now it was different: this was also the home of Xiaobei and Xiaobao.
An insignificant person lived in his house, but still wanted to point her finger at his children and made them uncomfortable. How could this thing be tolerated?
After Su Bei heard Mr. Qin’s words, she guessed that he probably didn’t want her to be so restrained. Su Bei nodded and replied: “Okay.”
—
“How is it at school?” Qin Shao suddenly remembered the “early love” problem that caused him so much headache. He changed the topic and asked about Su Bei’s situation at school.
Su Bei didn’t know the real reason behind this question. So when she heard that Mr. Qin actually cared about their situation in the school, she became so flattered.
“Xiaobao and I are very good at school.” Su Bei smiled happily and added, “We also getting along with our classmates.”
Qin Shao: “With male classmate?”
“No,” Su Bei shook her head: “Both.”
Qin Shao: “Are there some people who especially close with you?” For example, the little brat from Xie family.
Su Bei: “Yes.” For example, Su Xiaobao and Xie Minxuan’s relationship was very good.
…
“You are still young. Your mind and worldview have not been matured, and the ability to judge right and wrong still not perfect… No matter who you are in contact with, you must maintain an appropriate distance and have to know the limit…”
For an unknown reason, from talking about school friends, Mr. Qin suddenly began to preach about this kind of in-depth topic. But Su Bei still sat on the side, listening obediently. She would nod on time to time and replied: “I know.”
“Some brat might look awesome in your eyes, but in fact, all things he has are given by his family. He is just a useless young boy. He is immature, has no responsibility, does not even know what responsibility is, and also has no ability to bear any kind of consequences.”
Except for directly mentioning the words ‘Xie family boy,’ Mr. Qin said all the key points.
“You are a girl. You have to know to protect yourself…”
Mr. Qin was still in the middle of his speech when something suddenly hit his arm and slightly sank. He moved his head a bit, looking at his right side and found that Su Bei had been asleep. Her head was leaning on Qin Shao’s arm, and because of inertia, pulling down the sleeve of his shirt.
Su Bei tied up her hair on the top of her head tonight. Under the warm yellow light, The girl’s soft and fair profile looked so calm and lovable. Her shallow breath fell on Qin Shao’s arm, making him a little itchy. He moved his arm slightly. However, Su Bei seemed to feel it. She moved a bit, rubbing her head towards Qin Shao’s arm, as if looking for a comfortable angle. Qin Shao watched attentively, unmoving. Su Bei’s long eyelashes seemed to flicker a few times, but she did not wake up.
Another question popped inside Mr. Qin’s mind: Should he carry her? Or wake her wake up and let her go to bed by herself?
Su Bei was sleeping so soundly, making him unwilling to wake her up.
Should he just carry her back to her room?
Mr. Qin frowned. His face filled with unfamiliar dilemmas.
—
Suddenly, the phone in Su Bei’s hand lit up, taking Mr. Qin’s attention. He didn’t like the fact that children now always have to hold mobile phones even when they eat and sleep.
Shaking his head, Qin Shao took the mobile phone that almost fell from Su Bei’s hands and placed it on the table next to him.
At this moment, a stream of new messages popped up:
[vvvv: Darling, are you asleep?]
[vvvv: Please, don’t sleep, ah! I have something to tell you. I need you right now. I really need you!]
[vvvv: Call, call!]
[vvvv: Darling? Honey? Baby? Are you there?]
[vvvv: If you don’t answer me, I will give you a serial call to death.]
T/N:
RIP vvvv, even if your life is short, it’s nice to know you.