I Suspect Something’s Not Right.
“One thousand!” the Qin family exclaimed in shock.
“You really handled such a big matter without saying a word!” Auntie said, somewhat in awe of her mother-in-law.
“Where’s the money? That was Er Ni’s spot. The money should be ours!” Qin Shi’s stepmother demanded, her eyes glaring.
“Mom, did you really sell it for a thousand yuan?” Qin Shi’s father asked in disbelief.
Seeing the entire family’s greedy eyes fixed on her, all asking about the money, Grandma Qin became furious and yelled, “If your father hadn’t hurt his leg, would I have sold it? Money, money, money! That’s all you think about. The money is gone!”
After shouting at everyone, she turned her anger towards Qin Shi, “You’re always causing trouble every time you go out and come back!”
“Stay home and get ready to marry!”
Ignoring Grandma Qin’s stubbornness, Qin Shi calmly said, “Grandma, you should return the money as soon as possible. Selling a university slot is illegal, and you can be arrested and sent to jail.”
Grandma Qin’s words were caught in her throat, but then she remembered that her eldest daughter’s in-laws had also sold a slot and hadn’t been caught. She regained her defiance, “Nonsense!”
Qin Shi put down her chopsticks, took out the newspaper she had spent the entire afternoon finding in town, and handed it to Grandma Qin. “Grandma, it really is illegal. Look, many people have already been arrested.”
The college entrance exams had only recently been reinstated, and there were countless cases of people illegally buying and selling slots, which the authorities were cracking down on and had reported.
However, the village was backward, and the villagers were either ignorant or knowingly breaking the law.
Grandma Qin glared at Qin Shi, her anger boiling, “I don’t want to see it!”
Since Grandma Qin refused to take the newspaper, Qin Shi placed it next to her and picked up her bowl to finish her porridge.
Hmm… the sweet potatoes were good, but the rice wasn’t, and the person who cooked it had been careless, making the porridge taste even worse.
Auntie picked up the newspaper and, seeing a row of people in handcuffs, felt a jolt of fear and handed the paper to her son, Qin Cong, asking him to read it.
“What’s written there?” she asked anxiously.
Qin Cong glanced at the headline, then at the image depicting the arrest of those involved in buying and selling university spots, and felt a jolt of fear. He looked at Grandma Qin with panic, saying, “Grandma, this is real. You can really get arrested for this!”
“Ah!” Grandma Qin was terrified. “It can’t be true. Other people bought spots too! Why aren’t they in trouble? I don’t want to go to jail, I don’t want to…”
Grandma Qin, a typical rural woman with limited knowledge, was naturally scared of the police and the police station. Hearing that she could be jailed, she was immediately petrified.
“So, Mom, you really sold Er Ni’s university spot for a thousand yuan?” Qin Shi’s stepmother couldn’t believe that all the money was spent. In the countryside, there wasn’t much to spend on, and Grandma Qin hadn’t been to town. The money must still be hidden somewhere.
“Right, Mom…” Auntie wasn’t foolish either and quickly inquired, but was interrupted by Grandpa Qin’s shout.
“Is this the time to think about money instead of helping your mother?!” Grandpa Qin banged the table, and the room fell silent instantly. No one dared to say another word, even Grandma Qin’s crying stopped.
Grandma Qin paused for a moment before continuing to wail, looking pitiful. She was terrified of even passing by the police station, let alone being jailed. She was scared, heartbroken over the money, and ashamed, crying sorrowfully.
Grandpa Qin looked at Qin Shi, who continued eating as if nothing had happened, and felt a chill in his heart. He hadn’t expected the seemingly obedient Er Ni to be so cold-hearted.
” Er Ni,” Grandpa Qin spoke up, “what your grandma did was wrong, but we can’t just watch her go to jail, can we? Think of something.”
Qin Shi replied, “If she turns herself in, the police might be lenient considering her attitude.”
“But she would still go to jail!” Grandma Qin cried bitterly. “Everyone else is selling spots, why can’t I? Why are the police only after me?”
Hearing this, Qin Shi turned to her, “Do you know who else sold spots? You can report them. I heard there’s a reward for it, but I’m not sure if it’s true.”
Grandma Qin’s crying diminished slightly at the mention of a reward, but then she thought about the fact that those people were her relatives. If she reported them, how would her family view her? She would be ostracized and gossiped about.
Grandma Qin resumed her high-pitched, fluctuating wails.
“Grandma, please stop crying!”
“Second sister, is there no other way?”
“Other people have done the same and nothing happened. I think it’ll be fine.”
The Qin family chattered incessantly, creating a chaotic scene at the dining table. Except for Qin Shi, no one paid attention to the food.
Qin Shi tuned out her noise and focused on the plate of scrambled eggs, thinking it was a pity. She had anticipated the chaos and thought she wouldn’t be able to eat. If she had known, she wouldn’t have bought the sesame cakes.
“Others aren’t in trouble because the police don’t know. Once they find out, they’ll definitely act.” Qin Shi put down her bowl and said, “My classmate already knows, so others will too. Grandma, you should return the money and get the spot back as soon as possible.”
“Yes, yes, we’ll return the money!” Qin Cong nodded vigorously. “If we resolve this quietly before the police find out, we’ll be fine!”
Auntie’s expression changed, her mind still on the thousand yuan. A formal worker’s monthly salary was only about thirty yuan. A thousand yuan was almost three years’ salary. Who could easily give that up?
Everyone at the table, except for Qin Shi, was reluctant to part with the money. But if not returning it meant jail time, they had no choice.
“Quickly, get the money back to them!”
“Yes, Grandma.”
Grandpa Qin and Qin Cong urged Grandma Qin continuously. Auntie, Uncle, and Qin Shi’s stepmother were also reluctant to give up the money, but out of respect for their elders, they couldn’t just watch Grandma Qin go to jail, so they stayed silent, watching intently.
Grandma Qin clutched her chest, wailing louder, refusing to give up the money. Finally, fed up with the persuasion, she cried out, “No money, only my life! I might as well go to jail; at least they provide food and shelter!”
Hearing this, the stepmother raised her head. Grandma Qin, seeing the obvious interest in her eyes, howled even louder, “You all just want me to go to jail so you can split the money! Heartless wretches! What did I do to deserve such a daughter-in-law!”
Under the harsh gaze of the family, the stepmother retorted, “What are you saying, Mom? Are your eyes crying so much that you’re seeing things?”
The stepmother also covered her face and began to cry. “I haven’t even said anything out of concern yet, and you already label me as heartless. I’ve been married to Qin Jianguo for so many years, raised two children, and gave you a son. I’ve worked hard, if not achieved great deeds. How could you do this to me!”
“You sold our Er Ni’s university slot in secret and now you’re saying this about me. I… I can’t live like this!”
Qin Shi watched her stepmother crying theatrically at the dining table, competing with Grandma Qin in a crying match. She raised her eyebrows slightly. This stepmother was quite the actress, no wonder she had her father wrapped around her finger.
The dual chorus of crying, each louder and more dramatic than the other, made Qin Shi’s head throb. She finished the last sip of porridge in her bowl, set it down, and addressed everyone. “I’ve said what needed to be said. You all handle it as you see fit. I’m going back to my room.”
With that, she got up and walked away decisively.
Grandpa Qin watched her retreating figure, recalling her refusal to marry Lu Cai and the subsequent newspaper revelation. He felt a deep chill in his heart. Raising a child who turned out to be such a troublemaker, he regretted not letting his wife drown her back then. If they had done it, they wouldn’t have all this trouble now!
His eyes filled with resentment as he turned to Grandma Qin and shouted, “Tomorrow, find the person and return the money, or I’ll personally take you to the police station!”
He then turned to Qin Shi’s stepmother, shouting impatiently, “Stop crying already! If you want to cry, do it in your room!”
The stepmother ran off, still crying, with Qin Jianguo, Si Ni, and her younger brother immediately following her. This worsened Grandpa Qin’s mood, and he spat at Qin Jianguo’s retreating back, “Married and forgot his mother!”
Grandma Qin, hearing this, cried even harder, her tears flowing like a faucet turned on full blast, genuinely heartbroken.
Unable to bear it any longer, Grandpa Qin pulled Grandma Qin back to their room, leaving Auntie, Uncle, and their son still seated at the dining table.
The three of them exchanged glances.
Qin Cong asked his mother, “What do we do now?”
Auntie picked up her chopsticks and started eating the scrambled eggs voraciously, “Eat, what else can we do? We can’t starve to death.”
Normally, she wouldn’t dare to eat so much of the eggs. Now, she seized the opportunity to eat as much as she could.
While eating, she rolled her eyes toward the second branch’s house, “It was their turn to wash the dishes today, and she slipped away again!”
She vowed to make sure Qin Shi would wash the dishes tomorrow, or she would feel greatly cheated.
Back in her room, Qin Shi could hear the noise from the next room—men comforting and coaxing the children. It was lively and loud. She couldn’t help but roll her eyes.
They really acted like they were the only family!
If it were the original owner, she would have been heartbroken, crying and feeling deeply hurt.
But now it was Qin Shi, and she didn’t care at all. She was used to it; her parents were even worse than this.
Qin Shi fetched some water, washed up, and went to bed, preparing to sleep.
Lying on the cold, hard bed, Qin Shi wrapped herself tightly in the quilt, thinking that Grandma Qin would definitely be reluctant to part with the money and wouldn’t easily turn herself in.
Moreover, in this small village, even if the matter of buying and selling university slots got out, it might be suppressed by the villagers. For them, reputation and face were more important. So, the outcome of this situation was still uncertain.
However, during this period, she should be able to have some peace. Qin Shi glanced at the locked cabinet, closed her eyes, and prayed in her heart that Lu Zetian would act quickly, preferably returning before this matter was resolved.
Meanwhile, the Lu Zetian she was thinking about was being pulled by his mother to listen to some relative talk about Qin Shi’s family background. According to this relative, Qin Shi was a smart but quiet and honest child. The more Lu Zetian listened, the more he felt that this relative was unreliable, suspecting that the person being described was not the same one he had met.
But after returning to the military and filing the marriage report, when Lu Zetian received the background information on Qin Shi from the military, he fell into doubt.
The background and history in the information matched what Qin Shi had told him, and the photo was the same, with even the small mole on the bridge of her nose in the same position. Yet, Lu Zetian felt that the person in the information and the person he had met were not the same.
With a serious expression, Lu Zetian looked up at his superior and said, “Commander, please investigate further. I suspect there are some issues…”
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