He is a man.

He should have been the pillar of the family.

But now his wife is shouldering most of the burden at home, which is something he absolutely cannot tolerate.

Fortunately, he hasn't been idle these days.

I originally planned to wait a few more days, but now it seems it's time to close the net.

When he went to Zhang Qing's house to deliver the donkey cart, Zhang Qing pulled him aside and asked, "How is Chenchen? Is she alright?"

Qin Huai said, "It's nothing. The doctor said it was just a puncture in the abdomen, and the intestines inside are fine. I'll stay in the hospital for a few days, rest for a few days, and then the stitches will be removed."

"That's good."

Zhang Qing had originally planned to go to town this morning, but Qin Huai wouldn't let him. He kept thinking about it while working in the fields, and couldn't concentrate on his work.

Finally hearing Qin Huai say that everything was alright, Zhang Qing finally breathed a sigh of relief after being on edge all day.

Although he felt sorry for the brother and sister who had suffered such a tragedy at such a young age, he was closer to Qin Huai because they had grown up together. So he couldn't help but give Qin Huai another piece of advice—

"Brother Qin, I always feel that the brother and sister have an unclear background. They were rescued by us, and now they've encountered this kind of thing. It seems like the other party is deliberately targeting them."

“It’s fine for you and your sister-in-law to take them in, but it would be a loss if it got you into some kind of deadly trouble. Why don’t you hand them over to the town’s police station?”

Don't blame Zhang Qing for being ruthless. When faced with danger, anyone would instinctively protect their loved ones; it's only human nature.

Qin Huai understood, but he had more important things to do today. "The deployment on the mountain is almost complete. Let's go up the mountain tonight and look for traces of that wild boar!"

Zhang Qing's eyes lit up. "Really?"

Qin Huai and Zhang Liang spent more than a month setting traps on the mountain to hunt this wild boar.

Wild boars are extremely intelligent animals with a keen sense of smell; once you startle them, it becomes very difficult to catch them.

Therefore, Qin Huai always made the arrangements alone, and Zhang Qing didn't actually know the specific steps involved.

But he knew that as long as he followed Qin Huai, Qin Huai would definitely share the wild boars he caught.

Upon hearing that they could finally move out, Zhang Qing immediately went back to change his clothes.

Qin Huai didn't delay. He went back to change his clothes, took his tools, and went out.

The sky grew increasingly dark, giving the impression that a storm was brewing.

Qiao Qiqi lay on the hospital bed, holding Xin Xin in her arms. The little girl was too frightened to sleep alone, so Qiao Qiqi held her in her arms.

Even in her arms, the little girl couldn't sleep soundly.

She was often awakened by nightmares, her eyes wide open. She would glance at Qiao Qiqi, then at Chenchen in the next bed, and only after confirming that it was safe would she close her eyes and go back to sleep.

But soon, she would be awakened by a new round of nightmares.

After going through this cycle for more than two hours, Qiao Qiqi could only hold her tighter and tighter, while glancing out the window.

It should be past ten o'clock by now, why hasn't Qin Huai returned yet?

She felt uneasy, but Xin Xin needed her, so she could only force herself to stay in the ward and wait for news.

And so they waited until midnight.

A faint sound finally came from the doorway.

Qiao Qiqi immediately looked up at the door and saw the ward door open, and a familiar figure walked in into the dim light of the corridor.

It's the Qinhuai River!

Qiao Qiqi immediately asked in a low voice, "Why so late?"

"Something came up and I'm sorry I made you worry." Qin Huai came to the bedside and saw that Xin Xin and Chen Chen were both asleep, but she was clearly not asleep at all, and he felt a little sorry for her.

He reached out and touched her hair, then pulled the blanket up and adjusted her pillow. "It's getting late, go to sleep."

Qiao Qiqi's probing gaze swept over him, and after confirming that there was no problem, she finally couldn't stay awake any longer, closed her eyes, and quickly fell asleep.

When I woke up in the morning, Qin Huai was already gone.

Qiao Qiqi looked at the empty bed and felt a strange emptiness in her heart.

She carefully got up, and just as she finished dressing, Xin Xin woke up. She glanced at her hesitantly, her mouth moved, but no sound came out.

Qiao Qiqi noticed and asked softly, "Xin Xin, do you need to go to the toilet? Perfect timing, I need to go too, wait until I fold the blankets."

As she spoke, Qiao Qiqi quickly folded the blanket, returned the pillow from the next bed, and then picked up the crooked pillow, about to straighten it—

Suddenly, a stack of money rolled out from under the pillow.

A thick wad of cash, it looked like it was over 200 yuan.

A flash of lightning struck Qiao Qiqi's mind as she suddenly recalled Qin Huai's actions of pulling the blanket up and adjusting her pillow last night...

Realizing that the money was left by Qin Huai, she quickly picked it up and counted it.

There are 220 yuan!

She didn't know where Qin Huai got so much money, but since he wasn't here, Qiao Qiqi could only put the money in her pocket and ask him when he came over that evening.

After taking Xin Xin to the restroom, Qiao Qiqi took her back to her ward. Just as she was about to tell Xin Xin to wait obediently in the ward while she went to buy breakfast, the ward door was pushed open.

"Mother? What brings you here?" Qiao Qiqi turned her head and saw Lin Chunying, and was immediately stunned.

Lin Chunying frowned. "Such a big thing happened at home and you didn't tell me. Were you trying to worry me to death?"

While grumbling, she reached into her bag and took out the dumplings she had brought. "These are your favorite zucchini dumplings. Are you hungry? I made a lot, so eat up!"

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