A guest

The bell jingled, the wheels whirred, and the boy pedaled merrily. The girl sat quietly on the rear rack, her fingers gripping the hem of her skirt tightly against her knees...

Instead of having Junzi drive them, Qin An had ridden a bicycle back with Li Xinlan...

Outside the dormitory building, Qin An handed the bicycle over to Li Xinlan, only to find her eyes red, the cute little freckles on the sides of her nose twitching as though she were struggling not to cry...

"What's wrong?" A woman's thoughts were hard to fathom, and a young girl's even more so. He had no idea what he had done to make Li Xinlan want to cry...

"You... you... how could you... be so overbearing... when we clearly don't have that kind of relationship!" Li Xinlan finally failed to hold back and began to sob softly. Then she felt humiliated for crying in front of Qin An, who was younger than her, and felt terribly wronged...

Li Xinlan stamped her foot in distress, then ran aside and crouched beside the wall...

"Silly girl..." Qin An crouched down too, casually plucking a stalk of foxtail grass and brushing it against Li Xinlan's face. "If I hadn't made our relationship sound closer, why would he help you?"

"What do you mean?" Li Xinlan stopped crying, pushed the foxtail grass aside with her fingers, and stared blankly at Qin An...

"If there were nothing between us, even if Secretary Tang knew Tu Gang was harassing you, why would he help you? You're neither family nor friend... but since he thinks you and I have that sort of relationship, if you were being harassed and he did nothing about it, that would make him heartless... understand?" Qin An explained, the foxtail grass relentlessly sweeping over the tears on Li Xinlan's cheeks...

Li Xinlan nodded, only half understanding. Knowing Qin An had no bad intentions toward her, she could not help laughing as the foxtail grass tickled her cheeks...

"Look at you, crying one moment and laughing the next. Have you no shame..." Qin An suddenly felt that the line sounded familiar. It seemed to be one of Zhao Min's lines in the version of The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber starring Steve Ma and Cecilia Yip...

When he got home, Qin An was delighted to discover that they had a guest...

Her long, glossy black hair drew attention wherever she went. With her curved brows and the habitual upward tilt of her lips, her face always radiated a natural warmth. She sat a little reservedly on the sofa, the matte chiffon of her elegant camisole lending her an airy charm. If a woman like her appeared in Qingshan Town, where people were accustomed to describing strikingly beautiful women as "a beauty straight out of the television," she would certainly be one of a kind, unforgettable at first sight... An Shui...

"An Shui, how did you know my house was here?" Qin An's joy spilled out naturally, without the slightest pretense. In his memory, he should have been the one to bring An Shui home, rather than her coming here on her own...

"I kept feeling it was rather rude to stay at the Qin Family's Old Residence without coming to visit Uncle and Auntie... so I came over without letting you know first..." An Shui smiled as she explained to Qin Huai and Li Qin, who were studying her from the side. She had only just arrived, having also timed her visit for when Qin An would be coming home from school. "I asked a man for directions along the way. He said he knew where you lived, so he gave me a ride on his bicycle..."

"Hehe, a beauty like you, An Shui, loved by everyone and charming even the flowers, naturally gets a ride from every passing vehicle too..." Qin An dropped his schoolbag and sat beside An Shui, looking at the alluring collarbones beneath her soft, smooth shoulders. The gold metal straps should have been a mark of gaudiness, yet on her they complemented her bearing so perfectly...

"What nonsense..." Though An Shui had heard plenty of compliments, being teased by this thirteen-year-old little brother still made her a little shy. An unconscious hint of reproach entered her voice, making Qin An wish he could paste this image of her over his heart and savor her beauty even in his dreams...

"When did Qin An get so close to you... stay for dinner. I'll go cook..." Seeing that her son knew their guest well, Li Qin naturally invited her to stay. Although she had no direct family ties with An Shui, who would not like such a beautiful girl, a member of the younger generation at that?

Although Qin An had already eaten, he absolutely would not say so now. Otherwise, once An Shui knew he had eaten, she would not stay for dinner...

"Sorry for the trouble..." An Shui replied with a smile, then said to Qin Huai, "Qin An's English is very good. Once he starts high school, he could certainly begin preparing to apply to universities abroad..."

At the time, being able to study abroad was an extraordinarily honorable achievement, let alone getting straight into a foreign university after graduating from high school. Qin Huai had not placed such high hopes on Qin An, but An Shui's words pleased him greatly. He naturally believed that his son's talent for English came from inheriting his excellent genes...

"It's still early. We can talk about that later... Miss An, I heard Xiangshan say that your family is actually a major shareholder in his Taiwan Company, is that right?" Qin Huai had also heard Qin Xiangshan mention An Shui. Qin Xiangshan had lamented that the Qin Family had no third-generation descendants of a suitable age. Otherwise, they could try making a match. An Shui would truly be a daughter-in-law to treasure!

"Uncle Xiangshan is the major shareholder. My family just put in a share and waits for the dividends. Uncle Xiangshan handles all the company's operations and management. I only started working at the Taiwan Company after graduating from high school. As soon as Uncle Xiangshan mentioned returning to the mainland, I couldn't sit still. I'd wanted to come here and have a look for ages..." An Shui felt a sudden warmth in her palm as Qin An slipped his fingers into it. He had actually taken her hand right in front of Qin Huai...

She thought that although she had said that nonsense to Qin An about being his little girlfriend, being overly intimate in front of Qin Huai might earn his parents' dislike and make them think she was a frivolous girl. A little nervous, she tried to withdraw her hand, but Qin An pulled her up. "Dad, An Shui came to spend time with me... talking to you, she has to act all grown-up. It's exhausting..."

Qin Huai was slightly embarrassed, but felt none of the things An Shui had feared. He felt he had his son figured out: the boy clung to any pretty girl he saw, but that did not necessarily mean he had any particular designs on her...

"No... I have something to discuss with Uncle..." Seated on the sofa, An Shui rose, but did not let Qin An drag her into his room. She took a bankbook from her small bag and handed it to Qin An...

"Hmm? Miss An, what is this..." Like most people, Qin Huai was rather sensitive to things like bankbooks...

"This is the bank account I set up for Qin An..." An Shui looked at Qin An. "Hasn't Qin An told you yet?"

"Told us what?" Qin Huai's voice grew stern as he glared at Qin An. This boy had plenty of clever little ideas, but he had better not have dreamed up some crooked scheme to swindle people out of their money...

"I wrote a novel and asked An Shui to find a publisher for me... what she probably means is that if a publisher helps me publish it, I can earn some money, and she'll transfer it into this account..." Qin An flipped through the bankbook. It was in his name. He remembered that real-name registration had not yet been introduced at the time. Opening a bank account was very simple, and all you needed to withdraw money was the bankbook and the password...