I Suspect Something’s Not Right.
“One thousand!” The Qin family collectively gasped in shock.
“You really made such a big decision without telling anyone!” The eldest aunt couldn’t help but admire the boldness of her mother-in-law.
“That was Erni’s college spot! The money should belong to our branch of the family,” Qin Shi’s stepmother said angrily, glaring at Grandma Qin.
“Mom, did you really sell it for a thousand yuan?” Qin Shi’s father asked, equally surprised.
Faced with the growing number of inquisitive, money-hungry stares from her family, Grandma Qin lost her temper and yelled at them, “If it weren’t for second son’s leg injury, would I have sold it? Money, money, money! That’s all you ever think about! The money’s gone! Spent!”
Having vented her anger on the family, she turned on Qin Shi. “And you! Always stirring up trouble! Every time you come back, it’s something new!”
“Stay put at home and wait to get married!”
Qin Shi looked at her stubborn grandmother and didn’t bother arguing. “Grandma, you’d better return the money to them soon. Buying and selling college spots is illegal. You could be arrested and sent to jail.”
Grandma Qin, about to curse, was stunned into silence by Qin Shi’s words. But then she remembered that others had done the same and hadn’t been caught. This bolstered her confidence again. “Nonsense!”
Qin Shi calmly put down her chopsticks and pulled out a newspaper she had spent the whole afternoon finding in town. She handed it to Grandma Qin. “It’s true. It’s illegal. Look here—many people have already been arrested for this.”
College entrance exams had only recently been reinstated, and cases of buying and selling spots were rampant. Authorities were cracking down hard, and the matter had been widely reported.
The village, being backward and its people ignorant or deliberately defiant, was out of touch with such developments.
Grandma Qin glared at Qin Shi, her anger bubbling. “I don’t want to look!”
When she refused to take it, Qin Shi placed the newspaper next to her and resumed eating her porridge.
Hmm… The sweet potato’s decent, but the rice isn’t. Whoever cooked this porridge was careless—it tastes even worse than usual.
The eldest aunt picked up the newspaper and saw a row of handcuffed individuals on the front page. Her heart skipped a beat as she passed it to her precious son, Qin Cong, for him to read. “What does it say?”
Qin Cong immediately noticed the headline and quickly scanned the article. It confirmed arrests for illegally trading college spots. Panic flashed across his face as he turned to Grandma Qin. “Grandma, it’s true! You could really get arrested!”
“Ah!” Grandma Qin was terrified. “That can’t be! Other people have done it, and they’re fine! I don’t want to go to jail! I don’t want to!”
As a typical rural woman with no experience outside her village, Grandma Qin had a deep-seated fear of police and jails. Just the idea of being arrested sent her into hysterics.
“So, Mom, you really sold Erni’s college spot for a thousand yuan?” Qin Shi’s stepmother refused to believe all the money had been spent. There wasn’t much to spend on in the village, and Grandma Qin hadn’t gone to town. The money must still be hidden somewhere.
“Exactly, Mom…” The eldest aunt wasn’t a fool either and was about to press further when Grandpa Qin’s booming voice interrupted them.
“Enough! Instead of figuring out how to help your mother, you’re all just fixated on the money, huh?”
The room fell silent as Grandpa Qin slammed the table. No one dared speak further, and even Grandma Qin’s crying paused momentarily.
After a brief pause, Grandma Qin resumed her wailing, louder and more pitiful than before. She was torn between fear of jail, distress over the money, and embarrassment at the situation, crying as though her world was collapsing.
Grandpa Qin glanced at Qin Shi, who was calmly eating as if nothing had happened, and his heart sank with disappointment.
He had always thought of Erni as obedient and considerate, but now he realized she was cold and unfeeling.
“Erni,” Grandpa Qin began, “what your grandmother did was wrong, but you can’t just stand by and watch her get into trouble. Think of a way to help her.”
Qin Shi put down her bowl and said flatly, “If she turns herself in, the police might show leniency if she has a good attitude.”
“But wouldn’t that still mean jail time!” Grandma Qin sobbed. “Why can others do it and not me? Why don’t the police catch them instead of me?”
Hearing this, Qin Shi turned to her. “Oh? You know others who’ve done it? Then report them. I’ve heard there’s a reward for whistleblowing—though I don’t know if that’s true.”
Grandma Qin’s sobs grew quieter at the mention of a reward. But after considering that the others involved were distant relatives, she realized reporting them would ruin family ties and make her the target of gossip. Her wailing resumed at full volume.
“Grandma, stop crying!”
“Erni, isn’t there another way?”
“Other people seem fine after buying and selling. I think this will blow over.”
The Qin family erupted into chaotic chatter, with everyone talking at once. Only Qin Shi continued eating, ignoring them. No one else seemed to notice the food on the table.
Qin Shi tuned out the noise, eyeing the scrambled eggs on the plate with mild regret. She’d expected a scene when she got home and hadn’t anticipated being able to eat. If she’d known, she wouldn’t have bought those sesame cakes earlier.
“Other people haven’t been caught because the police don’t know about them. But once they find out, they’ll definitely act,” Qin Shi said, setting down her bowl. “My classmate already knows. I’m sure others will, too. Grandma, you should return the money and get the college spot back while you still can.”
“Yes, yes! Let’s return the money!” Qin Cong nodded frantically. “If we fix it before the police find out, we’ll be fine!”
The official workers’ monthly salary was just over 30 yuan—barely a thousand in two years, let alone nearly three years’ worth. Who would be willing to give that up?
Not just Aunt, but everyone present, except for Qin Shi, was reluctant to part with such a huge sum. Yet, faced with jail time, there was no choice but to pay up.
“Just return the money to them already!”
“Yeah, do it, Grandma,” urged Grandpa Qin and Qin Cong, trying to persuade Grandma Qin.
While Aunt, Uncle, and Qin Shi’s stepmother couldn’t bear to part with the money, their sense of filial piety prevented them from standing by and watching Grandma Qin go to jail. The room fell into a heavy silence as they watched her.
Grandma Qin clutched her chest, sobbing loudly, refusing to hand over the money. Finally, fed up with their pleas, she shouted between sobs: “I don’t have money, but I’ll give my life instead! Fine, let me go to jail—they’ll feed and house me there!”
Hearing this, the stepmother’s head snapped up, her expression betraying a glimmer of interest. Catching this, Grandma Qin let out a wailing scream, crying even louder.
“You all can’t wait for me to go so you can split the money, can you? Heartless wretches! What did I do to deserve such a daughter-in-law?”
Under the sharp gazes of everyone, the stepmother immediately retorted, “What are you talking about, Mom? Your tears must’ve blurred your vision!”
She covered her face and started crying too. “I haven’t even finished expressing my concern, and now I’m being called heartless! I married Qin Jianguo, raised two children to adulthood, and even gave your family a son. If not credit, don’t I deserve some sympathy? How could you treat me like this?”
She escalated, slamming her hand on the table. “You secretly sold our Erni’s university spot, and now you accuse me of being heartless? I… I might as well not live anymore!”
Watching her stepmother throw herself onto the dining table and wail as if her life depended on it, Qin Shi raised her eyebrows slightly. This woman was a skilled performer—no wonder she had Erni’s father wrapped around her finger.
The two of them cried louder and louder, their sobs turning into a chaotic duet of melodrama. Qin Shi, finding the racket unbearable, finished her porridge, set the bowl down, and announced, “I’ve said all I needed to. You figure it out yourselves—I’m heading back to my room.”
With that, she stood and left decisively.
Grandpa Qin, watching her retreating figure, recalled her earlier insistence on not marrying Lu Cai before revealing the newspaper. His heart felt icy cold.
Raising a child only for them to become a disaster—he regretted it deeply. If he had known, he wouldn’t have stopped his wife from drowning Qin Shi when she was born. That would’ve saved them all this trouble!
His gaze darkened, and he turned to yell at Grandma Qin: “You’ll go tomorrow and pay them back. If not, I’ll take you to the police station myself!”
He then snapped impatiently at the stepmother: “Stop your wailing already! If you want to cry, do it in your room!”
The stepmother ran off, covering her mouth and still sobbing, followed closely by Qin Jianguo, Sini, and her brother. Seeing them all leave, Grandpa Qin grew even angrier and spat at Qin Jianguo’s back: “Married a wife and forgot his mother!”
Hearing this, Grandma Qin began to cry even harder, tears flowing uncontrollably like an open faucet. She was genuinely heartbroken.
Unable to bear it anymore, Grandpa Qin pulled her back into their room, leaving only Aunt’s family at the dining table.
The three exchanged awkward glances.
“What now?” Qin Cong asked his mother.
Eldest Aunt picked up her chopsticks and shoved a piece of egg into her mouth. “What else? Eat. People can’t starve.”
Ordinarily, she wouldn’t have dared to eat such a big piece of egg, but now? She ate with abandon, making the most of the opportunity.
As she chewed, she shot a disdainful glance toward the second household’s room. “It’s their turn to do the dishes today, but she slipped away again!”
Tomorrow, she’d make sure they did the dishes—no way was she letting this slide.
Meanwhile, Qin Shi, back in her room, heard the commotion next door: a man comforting a crying child. It was lively, almost festive. She couldn’t help but smirk.
What a united little family they were!
If it were the original Qin Shi, she would’ve cried herself to sleep from anger and heartbreak.
But this was her now—completely indifferent, already used to it. Her biological parents had been even worse.
Qin Shi fetched some water, washed up, and climbed into bed, bracing herself against the cold, hard mattress. She wrapped herself tightly in the blanket, thinking to herself that Grandma Qin would never willingly part with the money or turn herself in.
In this small village, even if the university spot-selling scandal broke, the villagers might cover it up to save face. Reputation mattered more than morality here.
For now, at least, she’d get some peace and quiet.
She glanced at the locked cabinet in the corner of the room, then shut her eyes, silently praying for Lu Zetian to hurry back and resolve this mess before it dragged on any further.
Meanwhile, the Lu Zetian she was thinking about was being dragged by his mother to meet some distant relative, who was rambling on about “Qin Shi’s” family background.
To hear this relative tell it, Qin Shi was a quiet, studious, and obedient girl. The more Lu Zetian listened, the less reliable this relative seemed. He began to suspect the person being described wasn’t the same Qin Shi he had met.
Later, back at the barracks, after filing a marriage report, Lu Zetian reviewed Qin Shi’s background information.
The information matched what she had told him, and even the small mole on the bridge of her nose lined up with the photo. But somehow, Lu Zetian couldn’t shake the feeling that the person in the file wasn’t the same as the one he knew.
His expression turned serious as he looked up at his commanding officer. “Sir, I think we need to investigate further. I suspect something’s not right.…”
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