It was their daughter's urgent cries of "Daddy!" that startled Xu Ruyi.
Xu Ruyi looked over, stood up, left her father, and ran to Qin Guan's side. "What's wrong? Honey? Are you feeling unwell?"
She was as gentle as always, her concern completely genuine.
Cold sweat soaked Qin Guan's back, but his heart, lodged in his throat, settled for a moment—Xu Ruyi didn't know yet. She definitely didn't know. She wasn't aware of Qi Min yet, so her attitude towards him hadn't changed!
That meant his father-in-law had been about to tell her but hadn't gotten the chance yet.
"I... I'm fine. Maybe... maybe I got up too early this morning, didn't eat much breakfast... low blood sugar," he stammered, the cold sweat on his back churning like a silent wave. He grabbed Xu Ruyi's arm, turning his back towards his father-in-law's direction. "Um, Ruyi, why don't you stay with Little Pear? She wants to fly the kite. I... I feel a bit dizzy when I run."
"Little Pear is fine, let her play by herself for now," Xu Ruyi said supportively, holding Qin Guan. Her eyes were still only on him. "What's wrong? Ah, you're covered in sweat! Cold sweats? Let me help you over to rest!"
"I'm really fine, don't make a fuss, don't," Qin Guan worried his father-in-law would see through him. He took a deep breath, stood firm, and gently took Xu Ruyi's hand. "Don't worry, Ruyi. I've just been a bit too busy lately, feeling a bit weak. Please, don't make a scene, it's embarrassing. Let's not talk about it... let's keep playing!"
"Little Pear," he turned to his daughter, "didn't you say you wanted to buy goldfish?"
His daughter loved small animals.
Sure enough, at the mention of goldfish, Little Pear cheered. "Yes, yes! I want little goldfish! Mommy, you promised me! Buy me two today! I want one red one, one purple one!"
"What kind of fish is purple?"
Xu Ruyi scolded lightly. Seeing Qin Guan's color return somewhat, she relaxed, taking her daughter's hand. "Mommy promised, and I'll keep my word. We'll get them later..."
"Go now!" Qin Guan urged her—he needed to get these bystanders away quickly.
The nanny, Auntie Feng, had already left—she needed to go back early to cook.
"I'm a bit hungry. Weren't you saying you'd show off your skills at lunch today?" He squeezed his wife's hand, forcing a smile. "Your signature dish, braised pork belly, it's my favorite."
"Alright," Xu Ruyi smiled too. "I'll get her the fish, then we'll head back first. Dad over there—"
"I'll take care of Dad, don't worry!" Qin Guan lowered his voice, nodding solemnly.
However, Xu Ruyi still walked over to her father. She crouched down, straightened his collar, and spoke to him like coaxing a child. "Dad, I understand what you said. Don't worry a bit. I know what to do. Right now, you just focus on resting and getting better. That's the most important thing to me, understand?"
Qin Guan stood nearby the whole time, not a trace of panic.
He drank water slowly, calmly.
He calmly watched his father-in-law nod to Xu Ruyi and hug Little Pear.
He calmly waved goodbye to Xu Ruyi.
"Qin Guan, be careful pushing Dad!" Xu Ruyi called out hastily before being dragged away by her daughter.
Now it was just Qin Guan and his father-in-law.
He could finally have what he wanted—a private, face-to-face talk with his father-in-law—before Xu Ruyi learned the whole truth.
And his father-in-law—Qin Guan slowly twisted the cap back onto his water bottle, his peripheral vision frantically scanning the man—sat motionless. His face was calm, his eyes looked straight ahead.
His expression was no longer evasive, but resolute.
He was prepared too.
He was definitely waiting for Qin Guan to speak.
Qin Guan cleared his throat lightly. His heart pounded silently, oppressively—hadn't he prepared too? Why was he still so panicked at this moment?
It was like—
Like last time.
Last time, it was him, young and small, facing his crazy mother.
"You're faking it! You're not crazy at all! You've been pretending every day!" Qin Guan clutched the diary protectively to his chest, screaming at the woman in utter breakdown.
She had read his diary! All his words, all his deeds, all his thoughts were recorded there!
She had snooped!
"Guan'er..." She shook her head painfully, closing her eyes. Murky tears traced paths down her haggard, thin cheeks to her chin, gathering into a single, despairing drop that trembled.
"Don't call me that!" Qin Guan was frantic, lost, his mind blank, completely unsure how to respond—she had never called him by his name. In fact, she probably didn't even know his name. She had always called him "Baby," a meaningless "Baby."
She called cats and dogs "Baby" too!
She shouldn't be talking... talking so normally!
But she was. She struggled to sit up, hunched over, looking at him desolately. Her eyes seemed to flood with years, even decades, of sorrow in an instant. "Guan'er, you... how could you? How could you be like this? How could you be so... twisted?"
Her words were still slurred, yet spoken clearly—in precise, educated Mandarin.
Who would have thought? His drunkard father's savage beating had actually knocked her sane?
Qin Guan stood frozen, staring at his suddenly lucid mother in disbelief.
Since he could remember, he had longed for his mother to be sane, normal.
He never imagined he would be so terrified of her sanity, her normality.
"You read it? You snooped! You—who told you to look! You're faking! Faking stupidity! Faking it so I'd have to take care of you!"
Layer upon layer of pretense was stripped away. Qin Guan felt naked, nowhere to hide, unable to defend himself. He shouted incoherently, blustering, his small body pressed against the wall behind him, unable to move.
"I was mad for many years, many years..."
She wiped away her tears with trembling hands. Her scarred, lined hand brushed her temple as if, like a teenage girl, she was trying to sweep back strands of hair from her cheek. But her hand swept nothing—her hair was all shaved off. Now there was only a bluish, bare scalp crossed by an ugly, centipede-like scar.
"It feels like I slept for many years, yet I remember everything. Like a dream, a long nightmare..."
"But, Guan'er," she looked at Qin Guan, sobbing, tears welling like a spring, "my life is already ruined. Whatever happens to me, I can accept it. But you... you're different. Your life is just beginning. How could you..."
Just then, there was a loud clang outside the door.
Qin Guan's taut nerves snapped instantly. He didn't stay to hear his mother's lecture. He didn't even have the courage to face her. He fled the room like a coward, running away as fast as he could—
"Sit down," his father-in-law said, pulling Qin Guan back from the humiliating memory.
His father-in-law's voice held an indisputable decisiveness.
Qin Guan took a deep breath—this time, he was an adult. He had to handle this calmly.