Chapter 548 - 578: Heaven is Watching
Although Old Mrs. Qin had suffered from a stomach ailment before, her body was still quite robust from years of manual labor. She was already younger than Mr. Qin to begin with.
But Mr. Qin gave his wife a harsh scolding. He said, "With our third son around, do you think he’d let you go without food or drink?"
"Besides," he added, "don’t you have to help our third son look after Xiao Tao?"
But after saying this, Mr. Qin probably thought of something else. In the end, he said, "If it really comes to that, just go to our eldest son. Would he and our second son really watch you fall by the wayside with no one to care for you in your old age?"
"If they did, they’d be utterly heartless!"
Mr. Qin arranged all his assets meticulously, giving everything to his youngest son. He washed his hands of everything else.
He had been doing alright and could have made it through the New Year, but who would have thought that Feng Lan would be released from prison early? Because her younger brother had been sentenced to death, the Feng family resented her. Unable to return to her maiden home, she had no choice but to seek out Qin Jiqun.
But when Feng Lan arrived in Three Families Village, she found out that Qin Jiqun had also been put away.
She saw Xiao Tao fighting with someone on the roadside. She took the boy back to Mr. Qin and declared, "This son is mine, and I have to take him. And since the Old Qin Family can’t raise a son for free—aren’t you selling the house?"
"Alright then. Sell this large, tile-roofed house, and the money goes to me. I need it to raise my son."
Xiao Tao had grown wild during this time and had no money to spend. Egged on by Feng Lan, he joined in the ruckus, pressuring Mr. Qin to sell the large, tile-roofed house.
After all, that way, he would have spending money.
Feng Lan had always been a shrew. In the end, she actually strong-armed the sale, got the money, and left with Xiao Tao that very night. By the time Mr. Qin realized what had happened, his grandson was gone!
He was so enraged that he passed away on the spot and couldn’t be revived.
The villagers helped with the funeral arrangements. They could only call Qin Bogang first. Qin Bogang and Sun Li had no choice but to take leave from work to handle matters. Then, they called Qin Zhonghui in North City.
It was almost the end of the year, a very busy time, but this was a major event. A trip back was unavoidable.
Qin Na was still in her postpartum confinement and couldn’t travel, so Su Yun stayed behind to look after her and the other children. Qin Zhonghui, Sun Jianhua, and the two sisters, Qin Jiao and Qin Shi, a group of four, returned to Ping’an Town together.
They first went to Qin Bogang’s house. That night, Qin Jiao and Qin Shi squeezed into Qin Xiaolan’s room, and the three of them slept together.
While Xiao Shi listened to English tapes on her personal stereo nearby, Qin Xiaolan sidled up to Qin Jiao and said, "Big Sis, don’t you think it’s ridiculous? Grandpa doted on his precious grandson his entire life, but now that he’s gone, his favorite son is still in prison, and his favorite grandson has run off somewhere with Feng Lan. Isn’t that ironic?"
Since he was an elder who had already passed away, Qin Jiao didn’t offer much of an opinion, saying only one thing.
"What goes around, comes around."
After hearing this, Qin Xiaolan thought for a moment and then nodded emphatically.
Although Mr. Qin’s past actions had broken the hearts of his two sons, Qin Bogang and Qin Zhonghui, the brothers didn’t neglect a single one of their duties for the funeral.
They even sent word to Qin Jiqun in prison.
When Qin Jiqun learned his father was gone, his first words were, "So who gets the things he left behind? Who gets the house back home?"
If it hadn’t been for the iron bars between them, Qin Bogang would have slapped his third brother right across the face!