An indulgent brother spoils the child

Senior Chinese Medicine Physician Qian's brows were furrowed tightly enough to crush a fly. "Let go. What have I taught you since you were little? Be polite to others. Don't crowd around anyone you find cute."

Through Ye Qi'an's introduction, Ye Xunzhi learned that the Qian family had practiced medicine for generations, and Qian Li's parents had been the elite of the elite.

They had joined an international peacekeeping force and died on the front lines when Qian Li was two, so the old man had raised her from childhood.

Ye Xunzhi was even more shocked.

[How did such a rigid old man raise such a lively granddaughter?!]

Ye Qi'an hadn't avoided saying any of this in front of others, because Qian Li no longer minded. She winked proudly at Ye Xunzhi.

"My mom and dad were heroes, you know. Impressive, right?"

"Impressive." Ye Xunzhi obligingly clapped, but the girl's name sounded especially familiar.

A scene suddenly surfaced in her mind. Ye Qi'an, rarely seen in a black suit, stood at a funeral, his eyes filled with sorrow that wouldn't fade. His voice was dry as he told her:

"Little sister, my last teacher is gone too, along with his granddaughter."

Ye Xunzhi hugged him. "Don't be sad, Third Brother. What was Grandpa Qian's granddaughter's name?"

Ye Qi'an said, "Qian Li... You must have heard about the body-dumping case reported recently. They still haven't found the killer. My teacher couldn't bear it when he heard the news and died of a sudden heart attack..."

"Little girl, what's wrong?" A hand waved before her eyes, and Qian Li looked at her with concern.

"Nothing." Ye Xunzhi shook her head. Qian Li smiled. "You still haven't told me your name."

"My name is Ye Xunzhi."

"What a lovely name."

Qian Li was itching to hug her. At 175 centimeters, she was very tall even among girls.

That made Ye Xunzhi, who was currently only 150 centimeters tall, look especially petite. With her delicate features, she looked just like a doll.

Ye Xunzhi didn't mind being hugged. She was more concerned about something else, and her voice was soft.

"You're so pretty, big sister. Do you have a boyfriend?"

"I do." Qian Li nodded without trying to hide it.

Senior Chinese Medicine Physician Qian gave another loud huff at that, but voiced no objections.

Qian Li ignored the old man outright and said with a smile:

"He's a pretty good-looking guy, and he gets good grades too. He's always near the top of his class."

Although Senior Chinese Medicine Physician Qian was rigid, he really did give Qian Li, the family's only remaining child, plenty of freedom.

His exact words had been that dating was fine, but she absolutely mustn't get pregnant. Some things had to wait until after marriage, and a girl had to respect and cherish herself.

Qian Li had no objections to that and was quite cooperative. Dating was dating, and sleeping together was sleeping together. They were two different things.

Ye Xunzhi asked, "Can I ask what his name is?"

Qian Li readily answered questions she had no reason to avoid. "His name is Duan Sifan."

Ye Xunzhi clasped her hands together, her eyes sparkling, as the girls' conversation filled with gossip.

"Wow, how did you two meet?"

"Well..." Qian Li teased, then suddenly smiled at Ye Xunzhi. "I saw Sifan being bullied by a girl, and I rescued him."

"Ooh, that way of confessing is so romantic..."

Seeing the two girls beside him already whispering away, Ye Qi'an was about to tactfully move farther away.

Then he heard an exceptionally icy inner voice.

[It really is him. Duan Sifan, the real culprit who'll kill Qian Li in the future.]

Ye Qi'an's breath caught. He instinctively glanced at Senior Chinese Medicine Physician Qian, who continued tidying up without showing anything unusual.

[Who could have imagined that Duan Sifan would fall in love with someone who once hurt him? Stockholm syndrome. He's the person that girl deliberately sent to Sister Qian Li's side.]

[Because she had her eye on Sister Qian Li's family background and money. In the future, that girl will go to prison for manslaughter, suffer endless bullying there, and even have her face slashed and disfigured.]

[And that man called Duan Sifan will use Qian Li to climb higher and higher. While enjoying her resources, he'll shower Sister Qian Li with false affection.]

[Then, once he's achieved success and fame, he'll do that to Qian Li, who protected and supported him back then, right in front of that girl...]

What remained unsaid was self-evident. Ye Xunzhi had once paid a private detective a hefty sum to investigate all of this, and the detective had also sent her photos of Qian Li's mangled body from that time.

Actually, Ye Qi'an should have been responsible for investigating all of this, but he had been busy going abroad to investigate Old Professor Zhang's cause of death and couldn't be in two places at once.

Ye Xunzhi had volunteered to take it on. Investigating the entire chain of events had cost her considerable time and effort, leaving an especially deep impression.

Ye Qi'an's expression darkened. To think something like this had happened. Senior Chinese Medicine Physician Qian looked at his apprentice in confusion.

"What are you doing, just standing there? Come help tidy up. There are so many case sheets, all in a mess."

Ye Qi'an said, "Oh, I'm coming."

He walked over, but secretly pricked up his ears and listened closely.

Ye Xunzhi felt this wouldn't do. When it came to dumping a scumbag, the sooner the better, of course. Besides, after spending time with her, she quite liked this big sister.

Though carefree by nature, she was also gentle and attentive.

If Ye Xunzhi remembered correctly, those two had seemed especially fond of meeting at night before Qian Li died. She didn't know whether they had been like that when they were younger.

[If I remember correctly, that Duan Sifan's house is in the old district near this hospital.]

[It would be great if I could get Sister Qian Li to go there with me. It's late at night, so we might discover something unexpected.]

Ye Xunzhi acted on that thought, trying all sorts of ways to coax her. No matter how mature a girl this age was, deep down she would still have some desire to show off.

Ye Xunzhi seized on that and laid the flattery on thick, finally getting Qian Li to agree to take her along.

Qian Li said, "Sifan really does live pretty close to here. It'd probably take a little over ten minutes to run there. But Little Sister Little Xun, will your brother agree?"

"Don't worry about that." Ye Xunzhi answered readily, while racking her brains over how to persuade her third brother.

"Third Brother." Ye Xunzhi took Ye Qi'an's hand ingratiatingly. "Can I go have a late-night snack with Sister Qian Li?"

Before Ye Qi'an could speak, Senior Chinese Medicine Physician Qian voiced his disapproval first. "Eating at night is the worst thing for your health."

Qian Li played along. "It's fine, Grandpa. We'll only eat a little. I'll take the little girl out for a stroll, and we'll be back soon. Who knows the area around this hospital better than me? Besides, my fighting skills are top-notch!"

Senior Chinese Medicine Physician Qian wanted to stop them, but Ye Qi'an was already waving a hand. "Go on, go on. I'll wait here for you. Come back soon."

He reminded Ye Xunzhi, "You must stay right beside Qian Li to be safe. Don't run off."

"Okay, okay."

The two girls left in high spirits.

Senior Chinese Medicine Physician Qian gave another loud huff. "An indulgent brother spoils the child."