Moonlight Left Behind chapter 36
“That won’t do. Xiao Qin’s room only has one bed, and squeezing him in there is already difficult; there’s no way you two can stay together.”
“Besides, our guesthouse isn’t doing very well; there are times when the rooms aren’t full, so you don’t have to worry…”
“This child, Xiao Qin, has helped me a lot. I treat him like my own child, and since you’re his elder, we’re practically family. There’s no need to be polite among family, right…?”
As she spoke, she cast a glance at Qin Yue, signaling him to take Lin Qinzhuo back to their room. This little brat was clenching his fists, glaring at Director Zhou as if he wanted to swallow him alive, and Dou Xiaohua was genuinely afraid he would do something reckless.
In fact, even without her saying it, Qin Yue wouldn’t let Lin Qinzhuo have any further contact with Zhou Zhengze. That kind of scum didn’t deserve to be touched by the young master; it would only dirty his hands.
He released one hand and looked into Lin Qinzhuo’s furious eyes, his voice soft yet firm: “Don’t get into any more conflicts with him, and don’t let Grandma Dou know, okay?”
“If you agree, I’ll let you go. If not, I won’t.”
“Young master, speak.”
Lin Qinzhuo’s cold, hard gaze softened the moment their eyes met. His eyes were reddened, and his expression was quite aggrieved, but he obediently responded, “Okay.”
Qin Yue really let go of his grip. He had held on tightly out of fear that the young master would act impulsively, leaving five distinct finger marks on that slender wrist, making Lin Qinzhuo look pitiful, as if he had suffered a great grievance.
“Let’s go back to the room.” But this normally spoiled young master didn’t even feel the pain; instead, he stretched out his arm, cautiously clutching Qin Yue’s clothes, looking at him with pleading eyes.
Everything had deviated from Qin Yue’s original plan. He should have turned around and left; this was the best opportunity, and if he didn’t leave now, it would be too late. But faced with Lin Qinzhuo like this, he compromised once again.
“Okay, let’s go back to the room.”
They returned to Qin Yue’s room, and Lin Qinzhuo still had obvious tear stains on his face, though his emotions were gradually stabilizing. Thinking about the foolish things he had done that afternoon, he inexplicably began to feel embarrassed, lowering his head and not daring to look at Qin Yue.
Qin Yue didn’t say anything, leaning against the desk with his arms crossed, looking at Lin Qinzhuo sitting at the head of the bed. The young master’s eyes were truly swollen from crying; his originally large and round almond eyes were now reduced to slits, his double eyelids turned into single eyelids, shimmering with tears.
There was also a patch of dried mucus on his left cheek. Qin Yue wanted to wipe it away but didn’t want to embarrass the young master, so he said nothing.
They sat in silence, exchanging glances, the atmosphere becoming strangely awkward and tense.
Fortunately, after a while, Dou Xiaohua knocked and entered. The two boys, who had been feeling awkward, immediately huddled together, with Lin Qinzhuo even stretching his arms in front of Qin Yue like a protective mother hen, warily watching his own grandmother.
This sight truly surprised Dou Xiaohua. Not wanting to sit directly on the child’s bed, she moved a chair from the desk and sat down.
“Tell Grandma what’s going on. What were you acting crazy for just now, huh?”
She knew her grandchild well. Although Lin Qinzhuo was mischievous, he knew where to draw the line and wouldn’t do something reckless like pushing an elder in public. There must be something she didn’t know about.
“I…” Lin Qinzhuo glanced at her, then turned to look at Qin Yue behind him. The latter pursed his lips and subtly shook his head. Lin Qinzhuo understood that he had promised Qin Yue not to say anything.
So he turned back to Dou Xiaohua and said, “I just don’t want Qin Yue to leave. I want him to stay.”
The little kids thought their secret was unnoticed, but Dou Xiaohua saw it clearly. She increasingly felt that there was something they were hiding from her, and she was vaguely worried.
So she deliberately adopted a serious expression and said to Lin Qinzhuo, “Then you tell Grandma what happened today. Why did you push Director Zhou?”
Lin Qinzhuo pouted and fell silent, tears beginning to fill his eyes again.
Dou Xiaohua sighed and said, “Xiao Zhuo, Xiao Qin, you both need to understand that I won’t scold you. If you have any grievances, you must tell me. Otherwise, I won’t be able to keep Xiao Qin here. Do you understand?”
Lin Qinzhuo didn’t understand. The prolonged crying had left his head feeling swollen, and he was still an immature young boy, acting entirely on his own likes and dislikes—impulsive and reckless.
He was determined to keep Qin Yue with him and stubbornly insisted, “I want Qin Yue to stay! Grandma, please let Qin Yue stay! I won’t argue with him anymore. Don’t chase him away; he can’t leave…”
In just a few days, the relationship between the two children had progressed rapidly, but it was still unlikely to reach this extent. Dou Xiaohua held him in her arms, her confused gaze darting to Qin Yue.
But the latter kept his eyes downcast, lost in thought, not looking at her.
“Xiao Zhuo, you must understand that Director Zhou is Xiao Qin’s guardian. Now he wants to take Xiao Qin back, and if we don’t have a reasonable reason, we can’t oppose it. Do you understand?”
Lin Qinzhou: “I don’t care! I want Qin Yue to stay; he can’t go back with that person!”
He was determined to keep Qin Yue, but his lips were tightly sealed, refusing to utter a word. Dou Xiaohua was at her wit’s end.
Having failed one approach, she had no choice but to try another. “Xiao Qin, what do you think?”
The boy who was called raised his head, first glancing at Dou Xiaohua and then at Lin Qinzhou, who was also looking at him with red, swollen eyes, staring at him with a wronged expression.
“Don’t you want to go back to the welfare home? Here’s what I think: given your age, you only have two more years before you can leave the welfare home and live independently. At that time, if you want to, you can come back here. We will always welcome you.”
“But if you really don’t want to go back, you must give me a reason. Otherwise, how can I explain to Director Zhou? The old director has a hard time too; a child just running away for no reason—what can he do, right?”
Dou Xiaohua thought she was being sincere, believing the two children would understand her.
But they didn’t.
These two little rascals, one hesitating to speak, and the other outright yelling, “Absolutely not! He’s not doing anything wrong! He should just die!”
“Lin Qinzhou!” Dou Xiaohua slapped her grandson hard on the forehead. “What kind of talk is that?”
She was so angry she felt dizzy. “You two little brats, tell me, don’t you have any sense? You refuse to tell me anything but you are here throwing a tantrum. Do you believe I’ll really hit you?”
“Now I’m giving you two a choice: either explain the situation clearly to me, or Qin Yue goes back with Director Zhou. There’s no third option. And you, Lin Qinzhou, wipe your tears. If you keep talking nonsense, see if I won’t hit you!”
Dou Xiaohua was known for her good temper on Coral Island, always gentle with everyone, but today she was driven mad by these two little rascals. She knew that under the current circumstances, if she didn’t take a firmer stance, she wouldn’t get to the truth.
And sure enough, Lin Qinzhou changed his expression after she finished speaking. “Grandma… it’s not okay…”
“I’ll go back with him,” Qin Yue said.
His tone was calm, but his face was pale. Dou Xiaohua looked at the two children, her heart already softening, but she still pretended to be uncompromising, saying, “Fine, if you’ve decided, I respect your choice.”
“No! You can’t go back!” Lin Qinzhou’s face turned pale. He jumped up and hugged Qin Yue, trembling as he buried himself in Qin Yue’s arms. “Grandma, I can’t tell you why, but that person named Zhou is no good. If Qin Yue goes back with him, he’ll die! He can’t go back!”
Now it was Dou Xiaohua’s turn to change her expression. She looked sternly at the two children. Lin Qinzhou was already crying uncontrollably, while Qin Yue was tense, clenching his jaw.
He seemed to want to touch the person clinging to him, but for some reason, he finally withdrew his hand, keeping it tightly clenched by his side.
For a moment, no one in the room spoke; only Lin Qinzhou’s cries echoed, intermittently calling out “Grandma” and “Ge,” pleading passionately.
However, the other party stood still like a wooden pole.
“Alright, I understand,” Dou Xiaohua finally said. “I will find a way to let Qin Yue stay. Now, you two little rascals, hurry up and take a shower and then go to sleep.”
Qin Yue suddenly looked up, staring at Dou Xiaohua in disbelief. Lin Qinzhou also struggled to open his eyes, looking at his grandmother. “Grandma?”
“Stop crying. I promise to let Xiao Qin stay, so you two, hurry and take a shower and go to sleep before I change my mind. Got it?”