Qin Zhonghui nodded excitedly and sniffled. It was his turn, so he immediately took the form and went inside.
After taking just two steps, Qin Zhonghui realized his daughter hadn't just made an appointment for his hand—she'd also signed him up for a full physical?
"Little Nine, this…"
"Dad, the money's already spent, and they don't do refunds. It'll be a waste if you don't go! Just get everything checked out while you're here."
"Alright then."
After watching Qin Zhonghui go inside, Qin Jiao leaned back in her chair. Sunlight streamed through a nearby glass window, spilling onto her fair, beautiful face.
In her past life, her father, Qin Zhonghui, was eventually diagnosed with stomach cancer. He could be overly good-natured at times, always believing that their grandparents weren't biased and that their uncle's family had never bullied her and her sister.
But in reality, he was a very warm-hearted person.
When he worked as a migrant laborer, he often had to cook during mealtimes. He would rather go hungry himself just to let his wife, Su Yun, eat something first to tide her over.
Over time, skipping meals like that gave him stomach problems.
Qin Zhonghui never spent money on himself and just endured the pain. Later, with so many tragedies at home, including Xiao Shi getting lost... the illness eventually developed into stomach cancer.
Qin Jiao's eyes stung. She sniffled, pressed a hand to her eyes, and forced her tears back.
When she opened her eyes again, she found a handkerchief held out before her.
The handkerchief was a drab, gray-and-blue plaid, but it was incredibly familiar to Qin Jiao.
Shen Yi had a bad temper and a peculiar personality, yet he had a habit of always carrying a handkerchief.
When she first found out, Qin Jiao had thought he was a total weirdo. 'What kind of grown man carries a handkerchief around?' But later, after they were married, she happened to learn that Shen Yi had been kidnapped as a child, along with a neighborhood friend.
The friend's artery had been cut, and blood was gushing out. Little Shen Yi's clothes were in tatters, and he tremblingly pressed his hands to his friend's wound.
But the blood just kept flowing and flowing, until his friend's body grew cold.
After Shen Yi was rescued, he woke up with a vacant look in his eyes. His first words were, "If only I'd had a handkerchief."
The young Shen Yi had thought a handkerchief could stop the bleeding. Even after he grew up and knew it was impossible, the habit remained. He carried a handkerchief with him everywhere he went.
Gray-and-blue plaid.
Qin Jiao didn't take the handkerchief. "No, thank you," she said. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm with my grandfather. You?"
"I'm with my dad. He's here for a doctor's appointment."
The conversation was stilted. The Shen Yi that Qin Jiao knew was a man of few words to begin with, and ever since her rebirth, she had no desire to get too close to him.
Recalling that marriage... it had truly been torture for them both.
Thankfully, in this life, many things had already changed. Shen Yi should know by now that what happened at the guesthouse was Lin Nian's doing, not hers.
In this lifetime, the closest they would ever be was classmates.
But who would have thought that after calmly putting his handkerchief away, Shen Yi wouldn't leave, but would instead sit right down next to Qin Jiao.
Qin Jiao was on pins and needles.
'I made a promise to myself to stay far away from him, so how did we end up sitting together now?'
'Then again,' she thought, 'his grandfather is probably seeing a doctor nearby, so it's perfectly reasonable for him to be waiting here.'
She wanted to leave, but she knew her dad would worry if he came out and couldn't find her. They didn't have cell phones at this time, so she had no choice but to sit and wait patiently.
They sat there in awkward silence. Qin Jiao felt so uncomfortable she wanted the floor to swallow her whole, so she finally broke the silence. "The money I owe you—I'll definitely pay you back when school starts."
Shen Yi: "..."