“No.” Mr. Qin refused without hesitation.
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t have money.”
“I despise you…” Huo Mian pounded Qin Chu’s shoulder.
“I’m truly penniless. I’ve handed all my money to my wife…” Mr. Qin looked innocent.
Huo Mian giggled; holding his arm, she cooed, “Then tell me your favorite line.”
“I like the line from the popular poem Once for a Whole Day:
A lifetime gone,
turning and turning, mountains, rivers, stupas—
But not to seek rebirth,
only to meet you along the way.”
“I guessed it.” Huo Mian smiled.
“Do you like this line, too?”
“No. My favorite line is this:
For many years,
you have been in my heart,
I put down heaven and earth,
but never put down you.”
“This line is beautiful, too.”
“You lost. Now give me money…” Huo Mian extended her hand to him.
“Honey, you’re a little villain. I told you I wouldn’t bet…”
“It’s not up to you. I said we are betting on it and we must do it. Now you owe me money and you can’t deny it. Your son is watching you…” Huo Mian pointed at her belly.
“You can only threaten me with our son…”
Mr. Qin picked up his cellphone and transferred 100,000 yuan to her account.
“Wow… I said 50,000 and you gave me 100,000. You’re indeed rich,” Huo Mian read the bank message and said smugly.
“No. The extra 50,000 yuan is for the next time you trick me into your debt,” said Mr. Qin calmly.
“Haha! Honey, you can pay a monthly fee which will be cheaper…”
They bantered with each other until it was almost 12 AM.
Qin Chu patted Huo Mian’s shoulder. “Honey, you must sleep now.”
“How about you?”
“I’m not sleepy; I’ll watch some ball games,” said Qin Chu.
If it was before, Huo Mian would believe him.
But after Xiaowei told her about Qin Chu’s illness, she had felt heavy inside, worrying about his insomnia.
“I’m not sleepy, either. I’ll watch it with you…”
“No, you must sleep.” Mr. Qin’s tone was serious.
“Then I’ll go get some warm milk. They say milk can help people sleep.” Huo Mian got up.
Qin Chu stopped her.
“I’ll go and get it. Don’t get up.”
When Qin Chu came back with only one glass of warm milk, Huo Mian said, “Honey, I don’t want to drink it now. Would you drink it for me?”
Qin Chu: “…”
“Drink it; it’s a shame to waste it.”
“Okay.” Without a fuss, he drank the milk.
Huo Mian turned on the blue-tooth boom box on the bedside table and played some soothing music.
“Honey.”
“Yeah?”
“I’ve learned some massaging skills lately. I’ll teach them to you first; then you can do the massage for me, okay? It will relieve my headache.”
“Okay.” Qin Chu nodded.
“Lie down then. I’ll do the massage for you first so you can learn it.”
“Okay.”
Huo Mian was quite subtle, knowing Qin Chu would refuse her if she told him she was trying to help him sleep.
After consideration, she decided to do it subtly. Firstly, she coaxed him to have a glass of warm milk, then she put on some soothing music; the last step was giving a massage on his head, hoping it would help his insomnia.
– In Su Yu’s house –
No one ate much at Zhixin’s engagement banquet because everyone was having fun.
Returning home, Zeng Rou made a plate of fried rice with eggs and ate it with a packet of pickles.
Su Yu walked over and grabbed a handful of rice from her plate, stuffing into his mouth.
“What are you doing?” Zeng Rou looked up at him.
