Song Xinya was racking her brain for a solution.
She had always been quick-witted, and before long, she came up with an idea.
After Shen's mother told Song Xinya what had happened, she asked cautiously yet hopefully, “Miss Song, you said you could cure my daughter. Is that really true?”
Song Xinya replied, “Since I said it, I’ll do everything I can to make it happen.”
A spark lit up Shen's mother’s eyes. “That psychiatric specialist…”
“Tomorrow, I’ll take you to see the psychiatric specialist and have your daughter properly examined,” Song Xinya said.
Tears shimmered in Shen's mother’s eyes. “Thank you, Miss Song. Thank you so much.”
Shen's mother walked Song Xinya to the door. When she looked up and saw the dazzling sunlight, the world seemed bright again.
She had originally thought that she and her daughter would spend the rest of their lives in darkness. She had never imagined that someone would come and bring them a ray of light.
Song Xinya waved at her. “Go back inside. There’s no need to see me off. Tomorrow, we’ll go together to get Shen Chaoyang treated.”
Tears immediately spilled from Shen's mother’s eyes and streamed down her cheeks.
She hurriedly raised a hand to wipe them away and choked out another, “Thank you.”
Song Xinya had just stepped outside when a booming voice rang out behind her.
“Wait, young lady!”
The roujiamo vendor came running over in a whirlwind, carrying twenty roujiamo. “If you want to leave, fine—but take these twenty roujiamo with you. I made them especially for you. No charge.”
That was the thing about older people—they knew how to show their affection. Give them a couple of compliments, and they would send you home with twenty roujiamo.
Song Xinya accepted the twenty roujiamo and tried to pay him.
The old man said, “No need. It’s just some dough and chopped meat. It didn’t cost me much effort. I’m not taking your money.”
No matter how Song Xinya tried to persuade him, the honest old man refused to accept payment.
She took out the two red hundred-yuan notes she had prepared beforehand and placed them on top of his head.
A gust of wind blew past, and the banknotes trembled precariously, about to be carried away.
The old man cried, “Oh, dear!” He raised both hands to catch them, and just like that, the money ended up in his hands.
When he looked toward the doorway again, Song Xinya had already vanished.
He sold his roujiamo for five yuan each, so twenty of them came to one hundred yuan.
The young lady had given him two hundred.
She was far too honest.
The old man turned to Shen's mother. “That young lady is a good person.”
Shen's mother smiled and nodded. “She really is. She’s kind, too.”
The old man’s eyes widened. “Weren’t you just trying to hit her with a shovel? Aren’t you ashamed? Don’t you feel guilty?”
Shen's mother lowered her head. “I’m ashamed. I feel guilty.”
The old man hunched over and walked back inside with his hands clasped behind his back. “It’s all right. As long as you admit your mistake and correct it, you’re still a good child.”
In the eyes of a man in his seventies, Shen's mother, who was in her fifties, really was just a child.
The honest old man couldn’t get over the fact that he had taken an extra hundred yuan from her. Once he returned inside, he kept turning it over in his mind, wondering how he could make more roujiamo for Song Xinya to eat.
Song Xinya carried the twenty roujiamo back to Zijin Huafu.
By then, Song Tingye, Song Tingyou, and Jin Ruizhi—the three high school seniors—had returned after evening self-study.
The moment Song Xinya walked through the door, Song Tingye came running over.
His sense of smell wasn’t good for much else, but when it came to food, his nose was even sharper than a dog’s.
He dashed over to her. “Sis, what delicious food did you bring us?”
“Dog food. Want some?”
“If dog food tastes good, of course I’m willing to eat it.”
“If you spread chocolate sauce over a landmine, you’d probably chew it up and call it a delicacy.”
“You can insult my intelligence, Sis, but not my sense of taste. I wouldn’t eat the landmine itself, but I would lick off the chocolate sauce smeared on the outside.”
What a frugal person—he wouldn’t even waste the chocolate sauce on a landmine.
Song Tingyou looked at the round shapes in the bag. “Sis, did you buy roujiamo?”
“Our Youyou is so clever. You got it right in one guess.”
Song Tingye stuck his head over. “Sis, I’m smarter than Youyou. I got a perfect score in math, while Youyou can’t.”
Song Xinya planted her palm on his face and shoved him away. “A giant in mathematics, but a dwarf when it comes to feelings.”
“Everyone is equal. I refuse to be discriminated against.”
“I’m your sister. Bloodline supremacy.”
Well, if she wanted to suppress him, then so be it. It wasn’t as if Song Tingye hadn’t been suppressed by her every day for years. After living beneath Song Xinya’s Five-Finger Mountain for so long, he had grown used to being dominated. He obediently submitted and put up no resistance.
At that moment, the only thought in his mind was: Sis, I want a roujiamo.
Song Xinya placed the roujiamo on the table. “They’re for your late-night snack.”
Song Tingyou was delighted too. “I love roujiamo, especially the kind with lots of lean meat and just a tiny bit of fat. It isn’t greasy at all, and it’s especially fragrant.”
Song Tingye was choosing a roujiamo when Jin Ruizhi walked over and slapped his hand away.
Song Tingye hissed in pain. “Why did you hit me?”
Jin Ruizhi picked out one with plenty of lean meat and just a little fat, then handed it to Song Tingyou.
“Let your little sister eat first.”
Song Tingye, that emotional dwarf, said to Jin Ruizhi, “You’re pretty good to my sister, you know.”
Jin Ruizhi replied, “You and I are good friends. Don’t worry—I’ll definitely take good care of your sister.”
Song Tingye gazed at him with clear, innocent eyes. “Thanks, bro.”
“No need to thank me. It’s what I should do as your brother.”
Song Tingye slung an arm around Jin Ruizhi’s shoulders and grinned. “You’re seriously too good to me.”
Song Xinya couldn’t stand watching any longer. “Just eat your food. Stop talking.”
“Why?”
Because it made him look especially stupid.
Song Xinya didn’t want to crush her little brother’s emotional cluelessness. On the other hand, she was also worried that if she enlightened the boy, he might go and start dating too young.
After all, her little brother was the top student in his grade, and he was exceptionally handsome.
With his red lips, bright eyes, refined features, and exquisite, picture-perfect face, he had inherited the striking beauty of their mother’s features—just like Song Xinya. He was handsome enough to attract plenty of attention.
The girls who liked him were as numerous as the hairs on an ox. Whenever they stuffed snacks into his desk, he would insist that they had simply bought too much to eat and were giving the extras to him.
Song Xinya looked around the living room. “Where’s Little Princess?”
The door to the room opposite opened, and Qin Yuyan walked out. “Little Princess has arrived.”
“Want a roujiamo?”
Qin Yuyan was as self-deluded as ever. “My sister-in-law bought it especially for me, so of course I’ll eat it.”
“Is your brother back?”
“He’s back. He’s waiting for you in the bedroom.”
Song Xinya pushed open the bedroom door and saw Qin Yuhe sitting on the bed. His broad back rested lazily against the headboard, and he held an English edition of Wuthering Heights in his hand, his lashes lowered as he read attentively.
Between his long, well-defined fingers was a one-yuan coin.
The year stamped on the coin was 2000…
