When Madam Qin brought up marriage, Qin Xiaoshuang rolled his eyes. "What's so great about getting married? Is marrying a cripple really such a good thing? If Big Sis knew, she'd never agree!"
Qin Wenrou put down the phone and said seriously, "That man is very rich. She wouldn't lose out by marrying him."
Qin Xiaoshuang raised his voice and sneered even more. "If she wouldn't lose out, why don't you marry him? Don't think I don't know why you're sucking up to Lan Yingjun."
Qin Wenrou choked, her eyes reddening. "Xiaoshuang, don't say things like that. I... Brother Jun and I have known each other for a long time. We've always been close."
Qin Xiaoshuang gave a cold snort. "Hmph. Do you dare swear to that?"
Qin Wenrou stammered, "I, why wouldn't I dare..."
Madam Qin wept bitterly. "Enough. Your sister is already gone. The Nalan family's marriage arrangement..."
Qin Wenrou tensed. "Mom, I absolutely won't marry in her place."
Madam Qin sighed. "Sigh..."
Qin Xiaoshuang sneered.
Qin Wenrou hurriedly explained, "I have a boyfriend, Mom. Besides, I can't steal my own sister's fiancé. Mr. Nalan is my brother-in-law. It wouldn't be right."
Qin Xiaoshuang said, "Hmph. You just don't want to marry your crippled brother-in-law."
Qin Wenrou said, "You..."
The arguing gave Madam Qin a headache. "The Nalan family's marriage arrangement... We can only call it off..."
Aunt Cui, the elderly maid, said worriedly, "Madam, the company's finance department has been pressing us these past few days. They say our cash flow is about to dry up, and the company can't keep going. If we call off the engagement, I'm afraid..."
She was afraid the Qin Corporation would go bankrupt outright.
It had only been a few days since the eldest young lady died, and the company was already in trouble. There was infighting, people were taking advantage of the crisis, and even the competition had seized the chance to kick them while they were down.
Yet the Qin family had few relatives and no one they could rely on.
Madam Qin sighed. "Sigh, our Qin family is just unlucky. I suppose this is our fate... For now, let's focus on giving Xin'er a proper funeral."
Qin Wenrou supported Madam Qin and ordered the maids, "Why haven't you taken care of it yet?"
Aunt Cui nodded. "I'll close the coffin right away."
But Qin Xiaoshuang was still clinging tightly to it. "I want to see her alive or see her body dead. I haven't seen the body, so Big Sis isn't dead! She'll definitely come back!"
Qin Wenrou frowned. "Do you think this is good for her? You're disturbing her funeral!"
Qin Xiaoshuang glared at her. "What kind of funeral is this? You set out a table and hang a white mourning banner, and that's supposed to be enough? Have you ever seen anyone hold a funeral at the back entrance, like they're ashamed to let anyone see it?!"
Aunt Cui explained, "The funeral is being kept low-key because Second Miss may get engaged in the future. She'll need to use the front entrance, and we don't want bad luck to affect her."
Qin Xiaoshuang shouted furiously, "Bad luck?! Qin Xin is my sister too! Why don't you consider her? Qin Wenrou, do you have any conscience? Do you remember how Big Sis gave up her college entrance exam choices for us? You know she loved astronomy and physics! She studied medicine to treat you and me! She worked day and night to earn money to pay our medical bills and find you a suitable heart for your transplant! And now you think her funeral is bad luck, because it might stop you from using the front entrance for your engagement?!"
Qin Wenrou: "..."
Aunt Cui: "..."
Could the dead really be compared to the living?
Of course the dead had to make way for the living.
This young master really didn't know any better.
Aunt Cui continued carrying out Qin Wenrou's orders, telling the servants to close the coffin.
In the struggle, one of the wooden stools supporting the coffin wobbled and toppled over. The entire coffin crashed onto the lawn with a loud bang.
Everyone stopped and held their breath.
A pale blue school uniform jacket, stained all over with blood, drifted out of the coffin.
The Imperial University emblem was still pinned to the upper left corner, with a name embroidered beneath it: Qin Xin.
It was the uniform Qin Xin had left behind at Ice Lake when she had her accident.
It was also the only evidence that she had died.
She had lost so much blood. How could she possibly have survived?
Qin Xiaoshuang stared silently at the jacket. At last, he couldn't hold back his tears. Huge drops rolled down his cheeks!
"Big Sis—!"
With a thud, he dropped to both knees and hugged the jacket, sobbing uncontrollably.
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