Moonlight Left Behind chapter 35
But I can’t protect you, Qin Yue thought. I can’t even protect myself, so how can I protect you?
He had already paid a painful price for his innocence. He used to think he could protect the little blind boy and the little one, but in the end, he hadn’t been able to save any of them. The little blind boy might even have been harmed because of him.
How could he dare to accept Lin Qinzou’s plea? He didn’t dare.
Qin Yue had been smiling all along, but perhaps affected by the young master’s emotions, he suddenly felt like crying too. The two immature boys clung tightly to each other, crying in each other’s arms.
“Ge, please…”
In Qin Yue’s original plan, after revealing that secret, he should leave, no matter where to; he just couldn’t stay on Coral Island any longer.
After that, he might soon be found by Zhou Zhengze again, or perhaps not.
If it were the former, he would go back with Zhou Zhengze and then look for an opportunity to kill that scum.
Whether it was to surrender or perish together, he didn’t want to continue like this; everything needed to come to an end.
Although he liked Coral Island very much, he ultimately couldn’t bear to tarnish this place or to cause trouble for Grandma and Lin Qinzou.
But this young master really cried too much. His tears made it impossible for Qin Yue to leave him behind and walk away. No matter how hard-hearted he was, those precious tears softened him.
In the end, he couldn’t bring himself to leave directly; instead, he first took the almost fainting Lin Qinzou back home.
Once he took him back, there was no way to leave. At the guesthouse, Dou Xiaohua had long since noticed that the two kids, one big and one small, were missing and had almost gone crazy looking for them.
Now that she finally saw them, her eyes instantly turned red. She grabbed one in each hand, unsure whether to scold them or not, and her tears fell to the ground.
Lin Qinzhou, who had just managed to stop his tears, was instantly brought back to crying again when he saw Dou Xiaohua, someone who could back him up, and that demon named Zhou.
At the shaved ice shop, he hadn’t dared to cry too loudly, but now, in his own territory, seeing Dou Xiaohua and Zhou Zhengze, his emotions completely broke down. His wails could be heard from three miles away.
Even Granny Wang from the fruit store and Aunt Zhou from the milk tea shop ran over, thinking Dou Xiaohua could no longer tolerate that “troublemaker” at home and was going to beat the child to death.
“What’s going on here?”
“What happened to the child? No matter what trouble he caused, you can’t hit him! Dou, don’t be impulsive; the child is still small; it’s not worth it…”
Dou Xiaohua’s tears had long been scared back by her grandson’s loud voice. Now, with two more onlookers, she found it both funny and frustrating.
She helplessly said, “What are you two talking about? Why would I beat the child?”
Granny Wang looked regretful. “Oh, you didn’t hit him…”
Just a few days ago, this little rascal had incited his silly friend to steal their only raw egg goose, and now Grandma Wang really hoped this brat would get a lesson.
“If you didn’t hit him, then what’s with all this noise? It sounds like a pig being slaughtered…”
Lin Qinzhou, with tear-filled eyes, glanced around at everyone present, and then his gaze fell on Zhou Zhengze, who was trying to reach for Qin Yue, his eyes showing unmasked disgust and hatred.
He fiercely broke free from Dou Xiaohua’s grip and, like a slingshot, shot out, smashing his head against Zhou Zhengze’s chest. “Don’t touch him—”
Zhou Zhengze, taken by surprise from the sudden collision, bumped his lower back against the sharp edge of a table behind him, causing him to feel a wave of pain and nearly lose his balance.
This frightened Dou Xiaohua. While anxiously checking Zhou Zhengze’s injury, she scolded Lin Qinzhou, “What are you doing? Have you thrown all your education to the dogs? How can you treat your elders like this?”
In response, Lin Qinzhou was unhappy. “He’s the one acting like a dog!”
“You—” Dou Xiaohua was furious. “You better apologize to Grandpa Zhou right now!”
“I won’t! He’s a dog! I won’t apologize to a dog!”
Zhou Zhengze, rubbing his waist, tried to reason calmly. “I’m fine; please don’t be anxious. Don’t take it out on the child; there might be a misunderstanding. He’s still young and prone to impulsive actions…”
“Pah!” Lin Qinzhou glared at him fiercely. “Stop pretending to be nice; you’re a dog! You’re worse than a pig or a dog! Bastard!”
Dou Xiaohua was exasperated. “Lin Qinzhou! You’re simply out of control—”
Usually, even when Lin Qinzhou caused trouble, Dou Xiaohua never thought of hitting him. But that day, she was so angry she raised her arm—yet the slap didn’t land on Lin Qinzhou’s face; instead, it struck Qin Yue, who stepped in for him.
At the moment the slap fell, Qin Yue, who had been silent all along, suddenly rushed forward and stood in front of Lin Qinzhou.
The loud slap stunned everyone present. Even Dou Xiaohua, consumed by anger, was left dumbfounded as she looked at the clear handprint on Qin Yue’s face, stammering, “Xiao, Xiao Qin, what are you doing…”
Lin Qinzhou was frantic. “Qin Yue! Qin Yue, are you okay? Does it hurt? Let me see, quickly!”
Qin Yue held the agitated young master down with his body, separating him from Zhou Zhengze, then looked at Dou Xiaohua and said, “Grandma, today’s incident is my fault. I dragged Lin Qinzhou out; don’t blame him.”
“Thank you for taking me in and caring for me during this time. I really, really appreciate it… I…”
He had been calm all along, but now he could no longer hold back. His words choked, yet he forced himself to hold back, speaking each word with difficulty.
“But… I have to go back. If I have the chance in the future, I will come back to see you… I—”
“No! You can’t leave!” Lin Qinzhou crazily hugged him from behind, wrapping around him with all his strength. “You… you owe me money. Until you pay it back, don’t even think about leaving!”
“Let go! Lin Qinzhou—”
“I won’t let go! You have to stay and work for me until the debt is cleared! Otherwise, you can’t go anywhere!”
“Xiao Zhou, stop making a scene. Let’s talk about this calmly; you can’t act like this!”
“Kid, how much does Xiao Qin owe you? I’ll help him pay it back…”
“Ah, what on earth is going on? I don’t understand! Everyone, don’t be impulsive, don’t be impulsive…”
The two children tugged and entangled with each other, while everyone watching tried to mediate. The already chaotic scene completely spiraled out of control, and Dou Xiaohua finally realized something was off.
She had been so furious earlier that she hadn’t noticed the children’s emotions were off; both had red eyes, their faces swollen like walnuts, clearly having cried for a long time outside.
Thinking about it, they had been living under the same roof for over a month and had grown attached. Now that one wanted to leave, the other certainly couldn’t bear it.
“Director Zhou, how about this? It’s getting late; why don’t you stay the night here? You can leave tomorrow. This way, the two kids have some time to talk and say their goodbyes.”
“I think they’re just reluctant to part, which is why it got so noisy. My grandson is definitely afraid you’ll take Xiao Qin away…”
Zhou Zhengze looked a bit troubled. “Wouldn’t that be too much trouble? We actually…”
“It’s not a bother at all. Don’t forget, we have plenty of rooms at this guesthouse. Just stay for one night and give the two kids a little time to adjust. It’ll help them accept it better, right?”
With that said, refusing any further would seem ungrateful, so Zhou Zhengze could only nod and express his gratitude. “Then I’m sorry for the trouble.”
“You’re too polite; it’s no trouble at all,” Dou Xiaohua said. “Come with me; you’ve had a hard day. I’ll show you to your room so you can rest. Later, we’ll have a meal together…”
Saying this, she turned her head and warned the two boys, “And you two little rascals, get back to your room! I’ll come to settle accounts with you later!”
Zhou Zhengze hesitated and didn’t move, his gaze inadvertently landing on the sullen-faced Qin Yue: “Actually, it’s not necessary to go through so much trouble. I can share a room with Xiao Qin; I wouldn’t want to disrupt your business…”
What an unashamed old man!
Lin Qinzhuo’s anger immediately flared up, and he gritted his teeth, about to start cursing: “You—”
But he was covered by Qin Yue’s hand, who shook his head at him.