The children knew Qiao Lanshu was coming back today, but they didn't know what time.
So the moment school let out, the three siblings forgot about everything else. Han Ye pedaled his old twenty-eight inch bicycle as fast as his long legs would carry him, with Qin Qiao'an riding on the back and Xiaxia perched on the front. The bike bell rang all the way from the street to their front door.
Before Han Ye even came to a full stop, Qin Qiao'an dashed inside, shouting excitedly: "Mom, Mom, Mom, are you back?"
Qiao Lanshu had already heard the commotion and came out of the house with a smile: "I'm back. Did you all get out of school?"
Qin Qiao'an's eyes lit up the moment he saw his mother. He tossed his schoolbag into the yard without a second thought, and it landed right in the vegetable patch.
Qin Yuanzheng, standing behind Qiao Lanshu, raised an eyebrow and shot Qin Qiao'an a look that said trouble was brewing.
But Qin Qiao'an was far too excited at that moment to spare even a glance at his father.
He dashed over and threw his arms around Qiao Lanshu: "Mom, you're finally back! We missed you so much!"
Qiao Lanshu nearly toppled over from the impact.
She quickly steadied herself and hugged Qin Qiao'an back, patting his sweaty forehead as she said: "An'an, you've grown so tall in the six months I've been away."
Qin Qiao'an had just started the fourth grade, and he was already a big kid now. At nearly five-foot-two, he was the tallest in his class, sitting in the very last row. Standing next to Qiao Lanshu, he was almost as tall as she was.
Qiao Lanshu said with pride: "And you've gotten even more handsome."
As Qin Qiao'an grew older, he looked more and more like Qin Yuanzheng. His complexion took after Qiao Lanshu — fair and light — but his face and features were all Qin Yuanzheng's. Even his hands and feet were big like his father's. At only ten years old, he was already tall and sturdy, and he was bound to grow into a real handsome young man someday.
Xiaxia lagged behind a step, then ran up to Qiao Lanshu breathless and sweaty, looking up at her with sparkling eyes: "Mom, I missed you so much."
With that, Xiaxia nudged Qin Qiao'an aside a little and wrapped her arms around Qiao Lanshu herself.
Qin Qiao'an quietly moved to Qiao Lanshu's left side, giving up the right side to his sister.
Both siblings clung to Qiao Lanshu, refusing to let go.
Han Ye picked up Qin Qiao'an's schoolbag, dusted it off, and walked over happily: "Mom, I missed you too."
Before Qiao Lanshu could say anything, Qin Yuanzheng spoke in a low voice: "You're practically a grown man now. Don't you go joining in and hugging your Auntie Qiao."
Han Ye was nearly fifteen and already over six feet tall, looking almost like a full-grown adult. If he tried to come over and hug Qiao Lanshu, Qin Yuanzheng would kick him.
Han Ye rubbed his nose and muttered: "I never said I was going to hug her."
He couldn't help but feel nostalgic for the old days.
Back when he was little, Qiao Lanshu had held him plenty of times.
But when he was small, he could get away with acting cute and shameless. Not anymore — he'd get a beating now.
Qiao Lanshu put an arm around each of the two kids and said: "You're all home at just the right time. I brought gifts for all of you. Come take a look."
As soon as the children heard about gifts, they all cheered and followed Qiao Lanshu into the house.
Qiao Lanshu unzipped her duffel bag and pulled out a complete set of Jin Yong's martial arts novels — all ten volumes, brand new and beautifully packaged.
Xiaxia's eyes lit up instantly, and she pounced over: "Mom, did you get these for me?"
Qiao Lanshu nodded with a smile: "I was going to get you the San Yan Er Pai collection, but I thought about it, and you're still a bit young for those. They might be too much of a challenge. Why not try some martial arts novels instead? You love those, don't you?"
Xiaxia nodded eagerly: "I do! I absolutely love them!"
She didn't have much pocket money these days, and she had too many books she wanted to read, so she'd gotten a library card and went borrowing books every single week.
But Jin Yong's martial arts novels were way too popular everyone wanted them and they were always in short supply.
Half the time she could find the first volume but not the second, or sometimes she couldn't find the first at all but the second one would show up. Either way, she could never get through a full series smoothly.
And now her mother had gone and bought her all ten volumes at once. Xiaxia said from the bottom of her heart: "Mom, you're so good to me."
Qin Yuanzheng looked at Xiaxia and shook his head. This girl took after her mother — when she was truly moved, all she could say was 'you're so good to me,' nothing else.
Han Ye crouched beside them, watching Xiaxia clutch her books with a look of deep gratitude, and said to Qiao Lanshu: "Mom, why did you get her so many books? You don't know, she's been reading herself silly lately. All day she walks around like a bookworm, totally spacey..."
Xiaxia shot him a glare: "You're the spacey one. You're the silly one."
Han Ye pointed at her: "See? That right there is you acting silly."
Xiaxia turned her head away and ignored him.
She couldn't beat Han Ye in a verbal fight, so she decided to just stop talking and focus on tearing open her gift.
Qiao Lanshu smiled as she watched them bicker. Qin Qiao'an tugged on her arm, all worked up: "Mom, Mom, what did you get me? Let me see!"
Qiao Lanshu pulled out a box set of illustrated picture books based on the Four Great Classical Novels and handed them to Qin Qiao'an: "Here. You don't like reading proper books, but you love picture books, so I got you a complete set."
Qin Qiao'an grabbed them excitedly: "Mom, how did you know I love these?"
Then he glanced at Qin Yuanzheng, hugged the comic books close to his chest, and said: "Dad, Mom bought these for me, so you can't scold me for wasting time."
Qin Yuanzheng looked at Qiao Lanshu with a hint of helplessness.
Qin Qiao'an's grades had always been so-so scattered somewhere in the middle of the pack. Qin Yuanzheng wanted to push him to do better in school, which was why he had banned comic books like these.
But Qiao Lanshu spoiled them. She believed that besides studying, there were plenty of other pastimes worth exploring — like reading novels, comic books, poetry, or essays.
Being a teacher, Qiao Lanshu was well-educated, and when it came to the children's schooling, Qin Yuanzheng always deferred to her.
He teased: "No wonder the bag felt so heavy. Turns out it was packed full of books."
Qiao Lanshu laughed: "It's not just books. There's a radio in there too."
She took out a small, compact radio and handed it to Han Ye: "Here, Han Ye. I got this for you. You can keep it in your room to listen to the news and radio programs. Oh, and you can even use it to practice English. There are English channels and military channels. You can listen to those."
Qin Qiao'an jumped up immediately, shouting: "Bro, bro! We can also listen to Teresa Teng! We can buy cassette tapes tomorrow!"
Han Ye hadn't expected Qiao Lanshu to buy him something so expensive, and he felt genuinely happy.
It was clear that auntie Qiao loved him a lot — his gift was the most expensive one of all. Han Ye was secretly delighted.
He said to Qin Qiao'an: "Alright, tomorrow we'll head to the record store and pick up a bunch of tapes."
The two brothers excitedly went off to fiddle with the radio.
Meanwhile, Xiaxia clutched her books like precious treasures and headed to her room.
Qin Yuanzheng crouched down next to Qiao Lanshu and said with a helpless smile: "Why did you buy them a radio? They'll probably stay up all night listening to music instead of sleeping."
Qiao Lanshu smiled and said: "Don't worry. Han Ye knows where to draw the line."
Qin Yuanzheng lowered his voice and asked: "That must have cost you a pretty penny. Do you still have any money left on you?"
Qiao Lanshu nodded. "Yes, I got second place in my class, with a two hundred yuan prize."
As she spoke, she took out a men's watch with a Shanghai-brand movement, took Qin Yuanzheng's hand, and slipped the watch onto his wrist, saying softly, "Didn't your watch break? You've had it fixed so many times. Why not just replace it? I bought you a new one—see if it fits?"
Qin Yuanzheng hadn't expected to get a gift himself, and a smile broke out on his face before he could stop it.
He didn't scold Qiao Lanshu for spending money.
Because he also loved it when Qiao Lanshu bought him gifts.
He stretched out his arm to look at it, grinning. "It fits. Of course it fits—my wife picked it out."
Qiao Lanshu said, "Glad you like it. I was worried you wouldn't. This one was bought all the way from the capital, so there's no returning it."
Qin Yuanzheng pulled Qiao Lanshu into his arms and kissed her on the cheek, saying, "My wife is the best. You spoil me the most, don't you?"
Before Qiao Lanshu could say anything, she looked up and saw Xiaxia standing at the bedroom door, watching them with a completely expressionless face.
Qiao Lanshu: "..."
Qin Yuanzheng: "..."
Xiaxia said very seriously, "Go on, you two. I didn't see anything."
Then Xiaxia turned and went back to her room, gently closing the door behind her.
Qin Yuanzheng: "..."
Qiao Lanshu jabbed him with her elbow. "See? I told you to be more careful."
The kids were still little!
Qin Yuanzheng coughed and stood up, saying, "It's fine. We're affectionate all the time—they've grown up watching us. They're used to it by now."
Qiao Lanshu tidied up her luggage, then went with Qin Yuanzheng to cook dinner.
The whole family had a lively meal together.
After dinner, Han Ye didn't go back to the Han family. He actually hadn't been back in months. From the time Qiao Lanshu left for the capital for training until now, he hadn't returned to the Han residence, so now that Qiao Lanshu was back, he really should go home for a visit.
But Qiao Lanshu had bought him a radio, so he heartlessly forgot all about Han Wenlin and stayed at Qiao Lanshu's place to keep playing with his radio.
...
The new school year began, and all the kids moved up a grade. Qin Qiao'an entered fourth grade, while Xiaxia, having skipped a grade, went into third grade.
Unfortunately, she couldn't skip two grades, or she'd have been in the same class as Qin Qiao'an.
Still, being in third grade was good, because there was no Teacher Qian in third grade—all the teachers were new, and they were very kind to her. Knowing she was a grade-skipper, they doted on her.
And so the kids started school without a hitch.
As for Qiao Lanshu, her position had been adjusted—she'd been promoted to head of the teaching research group. As the new semester began, she had new work to do.
She was so busy from the start that she barely had time to cook for the kids. Qin Yuanzheng came home early every day to make their meals.
Sometimes he couldn't make it back, so he'd have the kids eat at the police station cafeteria. Han Wenlin was the bureau chief, after all, so he'd cover their meal costs.
The peaceful, busy days lasted only a few days before Qiao Lanshu was once again summoned as a parent—something she hadn't experienced in a long time.
When Qiao Lanshu heard that a teacher wanted to see her, she felt a flicker of nervousness out of habit.
She asked the messenger at the gate, "Which grade's teacher is looking for me?"
It couldn't be Xiaxia again, could it?
Xiaxia was such a good kid, and her new homeroom teacher really liked her.
The gatekeeper smiled. "Oh, it's from the middle school next door. They said your son has some issues at school and needs a parent to come in and help sort things out."
Qiao Lanshu: "..."
Qiao Lanshu let out a sigh of relief. It wasn't Xiaxia.
Then her worry kicked back in. Not Xiaxia—it was Han Ye, who was in middle school?
Wouldn't that mean the problem was even more serious?
If it was Xiaxia, she'd have some idea of what was going on, because she knew Xiaxia was very well-behaved and would never cause trouble.
But if it was Han Ye, there was no telling what the situation was.
Qiao Lanshu hurriedly asked her department head for leave and rushed over to the middle school next door.
The school teachers had thought to come find her, probably because Han Wenlin wasn't at his office—he'd gone out on business.
Being a police bureau chief kept him pretty busy. Han Wenlin still wasn't married, and he didn't pay much attention to Han Ye, precisely because he was so busy he often couldn't find the time.
Qiao Lanshu wore a light blue shirt and black pants, with her hair pinned up at the back of her head—a crisp, efficient look.
The teachers at the middle school campus didn't interact much with those at the high school, but most of them knew each other.
So when Qiao Lanshu walked into the teachers' office, Han Ye's homeroom teacher, Zhao Yanfang, stood up and called out, "Teacher Qiao, over here."
Qiao Lanshu came over but didn't see Han Ye.
She walked to Zhao Yanfang's desk, her face full of concern, and asked, "Teacher Zhao, did Han Ye get into trouble again? He didn't get into another fight at school, did he?"
Back when Han Ye was in elementary school in Longcheng, according to Han Wenlin, he'd made the whole school a mess—arguing and fighting every day, becoming a notorious problem student.
The teachers would go out of their way to avoid him.
After all, he was a little demon—and his father was the police bureau chief—so no one dared to mess with him.
Han Wenlin had even come to Qiao Lanshu to complain and asked her to talk some sense into the boy, because apart from Qiao Lanshu, Han Ye wouldn't listen to anyone.
Teacher Zhao shook her head and sighed. "If it were just a fight, I wouldn't have called you in."
After all, Han Ye was fifteen now and knew his limits. He'd hit people hard enough to make them cry, but he wouldn't actually injure them to the point where parents had to get involved.
Teacher Zhao would just make him stand in the corner, scold him, or have him do extra chores, and that usually did the trick.
But today's problem, Teacher Zhao couldn't handle—it required notifying the parents.
She lowered her voice and said to Qiao Lanshu, "Teacher Qiao, here's what happened. Han Ye—well, he was romantically involved with a girl in his class. And the love letter she wrote him—he posted it on the blackboard. The whole class saw it. The girl ran home crying, and afterward, her best friend testified that Han Ye was the one who put the letter up, and also said that Han Ye was behaving improperly toward the girl."
Having a relationship with her, acting improperly, and then treating her like this—it made the girl so angry she went home crying and didn't come to school today.
Qiao Lanshu frowned. "When did this happen?"
Zhao Yanfang sighed. "Yesterday afternoon. There was a stir in class, but since it was almost time to leave, it didn't blow up. This morning, that girl didn't show up and didn't ask for leave, so I asked around and found out what had happened. That's when I called you in right away."
Qiao Lanshu was silent for a moment, then asked, "Where's Han Ye? Get him over here and ask him."
Zhao Yanfang lowered her voice. "I already asked. Han Ye says he wasn't in a relationship, but several girls in the class testified that they'd seen him with that girl multiple times—sometimes going to the hill behind the school together, sometimes on the sports field. It looked like their relationship was anything but ordinary."
Qiao Lanshu: "..."
