When Qi Ye appeared at the school gate, he attracted a lot of attention. He was tall and handsome, with a dashing demeanor. While unmarried young girls might have been a little shy, married women with children were a different story.

If looks could materialize, Qi Ye would have been stripped naked by all those old ladies.

The stares were blatantly explicit, and the crowd whispered amongst themselves, trying to figure out who this new parent was and why they'd never seen them before.

When the school bell rang, Qi Nianping and Qi Nian'an walked out hand in hand. The older one looked serious, while the younger one pouted and wiped away her tears with her sleeve.

Qi Ye was taken aback. After regaining his senses, he quietly moved away, wanting to know what had happened.

Standing in a slightly quieter spot by the door, Qi Nianping led Qi Nian'an to a corner, looked at her, and whispered, "Cry, and then we can go home."

Qi Nian'an pouted, not crying out loud, but sobbing softly. When he had cried enough, tears still clung to his eyelashes. "Brother, I want to tell Mom and Dad."

"No!" Qi Nianping's inherent stubbornness finally showed itself at this moment. "Do kids have to tell their parents about their fights?"

Qi Nianping always spoke gently to Qi Nian'an. Because the two brothers depended on each other for survival, Qi Nian'an relied on Qi Nianping much more than he outwardly showed.

Qi Nian'an felt even more aggrieved. He wiped away his tears, and little pearls fell one by one. "But I don't want to fight. My mother said that fighting is not good behavior for children."

“Yes, I know,” Qi Nianping was two years older than Qi Nianan, but he was unusually mature for his age. Even now, he still wanted to coax Qi Nianan into keeping it a secret from the family. “But Mom and Dad are both very tired. Mom is carrying a younger brother and sister, and it’s very hard for her. Dad is too; he has to support the family. Great-Grandma is getting old…”

Qi Nian'an stuck out her bottom, lifted Qi Nianping's chin with one hand, and wiped away Qi Nian'an's tears with the other. "Everyone is working so hard, so we can't be inconsiderate, you know?"

"But it hurts..." Qi Nian'an whimpered. Qi Nianping tried to coax her for a while, but seeing that Qi Nian'an was about to take advantage of the situation, he simply turned cold and said, "Nian'an, you have to listen to me. What are you planning to do these few times? Have you forgotten what kind of life we ​​used to live?"

The days I used to live.

Qi Nian'an shuddered and shrank back. "Brother, I haven't forgotten, but what if Great-Grandma finds the wound when she bathes me?"

This is easy to handle. Qi Nianping had already thought it through. "We'll take a shower ourselves tonight. It's just a minor injury. If we're careful, we'll be fine."

"But……"

Qi Nian'an thought somewhat coquettishly, "What if I become famous in the future?"

That will be even more terrifying.

Qi Nianping said seriously, "Don't be so delicate. Compared to before, we're living a much better life now than you could ever imagine. So, please don't worry your parents, okay? Everyone is..."

Before she could finish speaking, Qi Nianping was grabbed by the back of her neck and lifted into the air by Qi Ye.

Qi Nianping: "..."

A hint of bewilderment finally appeared on that pretentious, mature-looking face. Qi Nian'an had already seen Qi Ye by this time and was so frightened that she didn't even know how to cry anymore.

Qi Nianping turned his head and met Qi Ye's expressionless face. He gave a smile that was more like a grimace. "You little rascal, you've really made something of yourself. You can even teach your younger brother now?"

Qi Ye didn't give Qi Nianping a chance to speak at all. He grabbed Qi Nianping by the back of his neck and made him sit on his shoulders. Then he picked up Qi Nian'an, who was still standing there dumbfounded, and strode home.

At home, Shen Fenghua and her grandmother were getting quite anxious. Seeing the three of them return safely, they breathed a sigh of relief. "Why were you so slow today? You scared me half to death. I thought something had happened on the way."

"I'm fine, but these two kids are a bit off," Qi Ye said, then paused and looked at Qi Nianping sitting on his shoulders, "Especially you, you brat, you'd better have a good talk with me later."

Qi Nianping became quiet and sat on Qi Ye's shoulders without saying a word.

It wasn't until Qi Nian'an glanced at Shen Fenghua, whose eyes were filled with concern, that he suddenly struggled to get off Qi Ye, threw himself into Shen Fenghua's arms with a pitiful expression, and began to cry loudly, "Mom!"

Shen Fenghua was startled by this sudden turn of events. Touching the little body in her arms, which had already gained some weight, she quickly comforted her, "Okay, okay, don't cry, An'an, don't cry. Tell Mommy what's wrong?"

Since Qi Nian'an had already been exposed, she whimpered and pulled up her trouser leg, her eyes blurry with tears, "Mom, it hurts."

A large bruise was clearly visible on Qi Nian'an's knee, standing out starkly against her fair skin.

It's not just bruised and purple, but also scraped and broken. The worst part is even oozing blood. I don't know when it was injured, and it's already starting to scab over.

Shen Fenghua was startled. "What's wrong?"

She pulled Qi Nian'an to sit on the stool. "How did this happen?"

Grandma rushed over to see what was going on, exclaiming, "Oh dear, what happened?"

Qi Nian'an sobbed softly, "Mom, they bullied me and my brother, saying that we were unwanted bastards. I didn't accept it, so they beat me and my brother. We couldn't beat them."

Qi Nianping stood silently to the side with his head down.

Shen Fenghua suddenly felt a pang of sadness and beckoned to Qi Nianping, "Pingping, come here too."

Qi Nianping stood there stunned for a moment, then slowly walked over. Shen Fenghua tugged at his clothes, "Let Mom see, are there any other wounds on your body?"

Shen Fenghua felt genuinely guilty. It would have been one thing if she hadn't taken care of the child, but she had failed in her responsibilities by taking over and caring for him. The child was being bullied at school, and she didn't even know it.

This was her dereliction of duty.

Qi Nianping shook her head. "Mom, I'm not hurt."

“It’s all my fault, I didn’t even notice you two were being bullied at school,” Shen Fenghua said remorsefully. Qi Nianping panicked, “Mom, it’s not your fault, we…”

“You can’t handle this,” Qi Ye said, looking at the two children. “Take them inside for a bath first, and check if they have any other injuries. If not, great. If they do, get them out quickly and apply medicine.”

The matter can be postponed, but the wound needs to be treated as soon as possible; otherwise, it will become infected and fester, which will be quite difficult to deal with.

The two children were taken away by their maternal grandmother to take a bath. Shen Fenghua and Qi Ye were talking, "What exactly is going on?"

"It's simple, it's just these two kids..." Qi Ye paused, then changed his words, "It's Nianping. This kid is afraid of causing us trouble, so he won't let Nian'an say anything. When I arrived, I was listening to Nianping lecturing Nian'an."