0162: Lost Savior

"How about a kiss?"

He actually could have just leaned in and kissed her, but since Ji Yun did not agree, he would never touch her without permission.

"No kiss. Wait until you figure out who your girlfriend is going to be."

"Then if I pick Celebrity Chu as my girlfriend, can I kiss you?"

"In your dreams!"

Ji Yun tapped him right on the forehead, then slipped past his side and scurried out in a flash.

Half a minute later, he came out after changing his clothes, and ran into Old Man Qin, who was not yet sixty years old and had hair that was nearly completely white.

Over a month ago, right before he went to meet Su Qingwan's mother at the vegetable market, he had bumped into Old Man Qin, whose hair hadn't looked like that back then.

Just a week after that day, Granny Qin had passed away, and now his hair had turned completely white, showing just how massive the shock had been for him.

Fortunately, Old Man Qin was in good physical shape. When he was young, he had been one of the top-notch, hard-working masters at construction sites. Even now in his older age, he still had more strength than the average young man.

"Kid Xu, I heard from your mother that your cooking is even better than hers?"

"Haha, not that amazing, but I can whip up a few dishes, not many though."

Xu Lin replied with a bit of modesty. Indeed, he didn't have a huge repertoire of top-tier dishes; he could only manage about four or five dishes that reached a master chef's level.

"Don't be modest. I'll have to taste your cooking next time."

"Alright, alright." Xu Lin sat down next to Ji Yun.

Old Man Qin looked at the two of them, a smile forming at the corners of his mouth. "Dating?"

"No, no, just classmates," Xu Lin replied. Ji Yun nodded, but the old man just shook his head as if he saw right through them and picked up a peanut.

At that moment, his dad came back from outside. As soon as he stepped through the door, he caught sight of Old Man Qin's back.

"Oh, Brother Qin is here. Having a drink?"

"Nah, my stomach's been acting up lately. I'll just have some beer, skip the hard liquor."

"Hahaha, I thought you quit drinking altogether. I can't handle hard liquor either; let's do four beers each."

"Deal."

A few minutes later, all the dishes were served—six large platters in total, all meat dishes, or rather, over three pounds of pork transformed into five of those dishes.

A portion of braised pork, crispy fried pork, mushrooms stir-fried with pork, spicy green peppers stir-fried with pork, sweet and sour pork tenderloin, steamed fish, along with a small cold dish and peanuts.

"Ji Yun, how much rice do you want?" Ms. Li brought the rice cooker to the edge of the table, letting everyone scoop as much as they wanted.

"Auntie, I won't have any carbs tonight."

"No way, eat at least a little." Xu Lin picked up a bowl and scooped half a bowl for her.

"Xu Lin, watch it or I'll attack your weak spot."

"You still need to eat. You've lost weight from working out lately."

"Did I? I haven't noticed losing weight anywhere."

When Ji Yun was taking a shower yesterday, she had specifically checked herself out in the mirror and didn't feel like she had gotten thinner at all.

"I wouldn't know either." As Xu Lin spoke, he picked up a piece of sweet and sour pork tenderloin, sliding one hand around Ji Yun's waist.

"Xu Lin, I remember the competition is tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah." He nodded, thinking she hadn't minded his hand, and continued to move it further up.

"Running races don't require using your hands, do they?"

Xu Lin hurriedly pulled his hand back, obediently lowered his head, and focused on eating his rice.

Across the table, Dad and Old Man Qin were drinking and chatting, wandering from neighborhood trivia to grand world affairs—truly a classic men's drinking session where anything could be discussed.

"Little Xu not having a drink?" Old Man Qin suddenly glanced at him and handed him a bottle of beer.

"If I didn't have school tomorrow, I'd keep you company. But since there's a sports meet tomorrow, I'd better skip the alcohol today."

"Fair enough. The next time I get some meat, I'll have you cook a dish, and you'll have to share a drink with me then."

"You got it!"

"Speaking of which, a week ago, I took on a small gig with Old Luo to install some kitchen cabinets for someone, and something unexpected happened."

"Oh?" Dad took a sip of his drink. An accident?

"Just as we finished installing, a commotion suddenly broke out upstairs. I went up to take a look, and they said a young woman had slit her wrists, while the elevator was still undergoing maintenance."

"On top of that, the ambulance was blocked at the west gate, and a crowd was panicking, not knowing what to do."

"I just charged right over, shouted a word, and carried that girl all the way down!"

"Even though I didn't know if doing that would affect her condition, dragging our feet would have cost her her life for sure, so I just went ahead and did it."

"Anyway, we got her into the ambulance, and after that I didn't keep track. Tell me, young girls these days really something else."

"Probably something to do with relationship troubles, I suppose."

"Who knows? Judging by her family's place, they were pretty well off, and the girl was quite pretty too. Sigh~"

A few more minutes passed, and Ji Yun and Ms. Li had finished eating and stepped away. Just as Xu Lin was planning to clear away the empty plates,

the door was suddenly knocked on. He hurriedly set down the plates and walked over. Expecting it to be Chu Fengyi and the others, he was met instead by a familiar man and woman.

Qin Lang and his daughter. Ever since Chu Qingchan came to the house for the first time and inadvertently taught them a lesson,

aside from Qin Lang coming over twice to apologize, they hadn't been seen since. Even the grandfatherly figure they used to be so close with—his dad's sworn godfather—was too embarrassed to visit anymore.

After such a long time, what business did he have bringing his daughter here?

"Uncle Qin, is there something you need?"

Xu Lin didn't invite them in right away. Leaning against the doorframe, he asked first.

"The old man asked us to drop off some things."

"Come in." Since it concerned the old man, Xu Lin had nothing more to say.

Although Qin Lang was a parasitic freeloader and his daughter was an arrogant and lost person, the old man himself was genuinely a wonderful human being.

Though they hadn't met many times, the bond between the old man and his father had lasted for nearly thirty years, practically no different from that of a real father and son.

As that Qin Tiantian passed by him, Xu Lin caught a heavy scent of medicine lingering around her, as if she had just walked out of an infirmary.

Still, he didn't dwell on it and followed them inside. The moment his dad saw them, his expression instantly turned frosty.

"What are you here for?"

"The old man said it was your birthday a few days ago. He remembered, but was too embarrassed to come over, so he sent me to bring you a gift today."

"Tell the old man there's no such thing as an elder buying things for a younger person. Take it back."

"No can do. The old man said I had to leave it here. It's nothing expensive anyway, just a belt."

"Oh... a belt... alright then."

Hearing that it was just a belt, Xu Dad didn't refuse any further. The item had already been bought, so he might as well accept it.

Just at that moment, Qin Tiantian, standing near the back, shuddered violently and bolted toward Old Man Qin at the front.

Thinking she was up to some kind of antics, Xu Lin tried to stop her, but she suddenly dropped to her knees right beside Old Man Qin.

The old man, who was pouring himself a drink, froze. He looked down at Qin Tiantian in bewilderment. "Young lady, what's going on here?"

"Thank you, thank you for saving my life."

"Huh? You are—?!" Old Man Qin lowered his head, took a closer look, and jolted in shock!

"You're that girl who... slit her wrists?!"