From arresting Feng Lan and her brother at night, to going to the police station to give their statements, and then finally returning—by the time everything was done, it was already past four in the morning. The sky was just beginning to show the pale light of dawn.

Shen Yi saw the exhaustion in Qin Jiao’s eyes. He knew she must have been frightened today, so he gave a quiet, slightly disappointed hum. He pressed the ointment into her hand and urged, "Be sure to put it on."

"Okay."

Qin Jiao finally had a chance to enter her space. She was surprised to find that Xiao Shi was still awake. The little girl was clearly exhausted, yawning nonstop, but she was forcing herself to stay up. The moment she saw Qin Jiao, she asked nervously, "Sis, did they catch the bad guys? Are you all okay?"

"Yes, we’re all fine. Silly girl, why didn’t you go to sleep? Didn’t I tell you to go to the inner room and rest if you got tired?"

Qin Shi shook her head. "I couldn’t. I didn’t know if you were safe yet, so I couldn’t rest easy. I wouldn’t have slept even if I was tired."

Looking at how thoughtful Xiao Shi was being, Qin Jiao’s heart melted. She stroked her little sister’s soft hair and said, "Alright, come on. Let’s go home." 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"Okay."

Qin Jiao took Xiao Shi home. The mess that Feng Lan and her brother had made had already been cleaned up by Su Yun, and everything they had tried to take had been recovered. Su Yun hurried the two girls to wash up and get some sleep.

Qin Jiao was exhausted, too. After tidying her room, she washed up and fell asleep with her little sister, Xiao Shi.

She wasn’t sure how long she’d been asleep, but she was vaguely aware of the sound of crying. When she opened her eyes and looked at her watch, she saw it was already noon.

Qin Jiao sat up. Xiao Shi was still asleep beside her. Qin Jiao gently pulled the light blanket over her. Once she was sure the crying from downstairs wasn’t coming from her parents, she went to wash her face and change her clothes.

When Qin Jiao came downstairs after getting ready, she saw her uncle, Qin Jiqun, sitting on the living room sofa, his face a mess of tears and snot. He seemed to have cried himself out, as he was now just sighing nonstop.

Qin Zhonghui was sitting beside him. He sighed and handed his younger brother a tissue. "This isn’t a question of whether we want to settle this privately," he said. "They’re already in custody. Besides, that Feng Dayong is connected to a murder case. How Feng Lan is sentenced is up to the authorities."

Qin Jiqun wailed, "My Xiao Tao is going to lose his mother!"

The corner of Qin Zhonghui’s mouth twitched. "It’s not that serious. Feng Lan didn’t kill anyone. She’ll serve a few years in prison, at most."

Qin Jiqun kept wailing, "But what are Xiao Tao and I supposed to do for all those years!"

Qin Jiao, who had just come down the stairs, spoke in a cool, detached voice. "Uncle, your feelings for Feng Lan certainly run deep. But have you ever stopped to think? Her brother is a criminal, and she herself is resorting to robbery. Aren’t you worried she’ll be a bad influence on Xiao Tao?"

Qin Jiqun hiccupped and abruptly stopped crying.

Qin Jiao turned and walked into the kitchen, where Su Yun was busy. "Mom, I’m hungry," Qin Jiao said. "Is there anything to eat?"

"Lunch will be a little while, but I kept some steamed buns and sweet triangular pastries warm for you in the pot. You can have one to tide you over. Is Xiao Shi awake yet?"

"Not yet." Qin Jiao took a sweet triangular pastry from the pot. She bit into it carefully, wary of the hot, molten sugar filling. After a few bites, she motioned with her chin toward the living room and asked in a low voice, "Why is Uncle here? Did he know all along what Feng Dayong and his sister were up to?"

Su Yun replied, "He just got here from our hometown. He brought a chicken and some mushrooms. Said he heard you got into a top university and came to congratulate you. He even said your grandpa sent him. Isn’t that something?"

Qin Jiao nodded. "That’s certainly a first."

’I’ve lived two lives, and this is the first time my grandfather has ever shown any concern for me. Heh.’