Chapter 69: Going Back on One’s Word

When Su Qinghu woke up, daylight was already streaming in. She caught sight of the light peeking through the window cracks and was startled awake, sitting up abruptly. As she scrambled for her clothes, she grabbed the watch from her bedside table. Seeing where the hour hand pointed, she let out a long sigh of relief.

She wasn’t late for work, and she hadn’t made the kids late for school either.

Thank goodness.

Su Qinghu pressed a hand to her still-thumping heart, feeling the joy of having narrowly escaped disaster.

As she relaxed, something felt off. She turned her head to look beside her—Chen Lie was already gone. The spot where he’d slept was neat and tidy.

…Uh.

Su Qinghu scratched her sleep-mussed hair, feeling a little guilty.

She hadn’t seen him off, nor made him breakfast…

She sat there in a daze for a moment before getting dressed. As soon as she stepped out of the bedroom, she noticed something different about the living room table.

Usually, the table was spotless—aside from the kids’ backpacks, nothing else was ever on it. But today, there was a wooden ruler lying there, half hanging off the edge, just a few millimeters from falling.

Su Qinghu froze, then remembered the ruler Chen Lie had tossed onto the coal briquette mat the night before.

She took a deep breath and hurried over, reaching for it before she’d even reached the table.

Only after gripping the ruler did Su Qinghu feel at ease, finally able to pay attention to other things.

Beneath the ruler was a page torn from a softcover notebook.

Su Qinghu picked it up. A few strong, concise lines of writing met her eyes—Chen Lie’s handwriting, listing four things:

First, he’d left.

Second, he’d retrieved the money from Teacher Sun and left it under her pillow.

Third, she could take the kids to the compound anytime.

Fourth, he’d written down the date he’d transfer money to her each month.

One item per line, clear and to the point, not a word wasted.

Su Qinghu: …Not bad. She liked this kind of straightforward communication.

“Mom, what time is it? What time is it?” Erdan, still bleary-eyed, was pulling on his T-shirt as he anxiously asked Su Qinghu, “Oh no, if I’m late without asking for leave, I won’t get any pencils or softcover notebooks this month!”

Su Qinghu paused in folding the note, glancing at the panicked Erdan who looked about ready to bolt. She didn’t tease him. “It’s 6:50.”

Erdan let out a dramatic “Ah!” and plopped down on the floor. “Scared me to death, scared me to death!”

The money he made selling those pencils and notebooks was his little stash.

Dadan, on the other hand, was calm as ever. He strolled out of the bedroom, glanced at Erdan sitting on the floor, and gave a slow, dismissive “hmph” before looking away.

Not exactly hurtful, but definitely insulting—that was the vibe.

Erdan puffed out his cheeks but said nothing.

His older brother was a good student, had neat handwriting, and was in charge of the class bulletin board. Even if he was a few minutes late, the teacher would never scold him, only ask with concern if everything was okay.

Erdan wasn’t a bad student, but his handwriting wasn’t as nice as his brother’s. His homeroom teacher, who also taught Chinese, loved to catch him—if he was late by even a few minutes, he’d have to write out several pages of characters as punishment.

Su Qinghu finished folding the note and looked at the two of them. “It’s almost seven now. If we cook, it’ll be seven-thirty by the time we’re done…”

She waved her hand. “Go wash up. We’ll eat out this morning.”

“Yay!” Erdan cheered, leaping up from the floor, brushing the dust off his clothes, and scampering off to the bathroom.

Dadan looked at Su Qinghu. “Is that a letter from Dad?”

Su Qinghu nodded.

After a brief silence, Dadan met her gaze, pursed his lips, and decided to be self-reliant. “Can I read it?”

“Sure.” Su Qinghu handed it over without a second thought. “Here, take a look.”

Dadan finished reading and handed it back.

Su Qinghu took it, a thoughtful look on her face. “I feel like you only asked to read the letter because it was addressed to me.”

If it were someone else, maybe he wouldn’t have.

That was the impression Dadan gave her at that moment.

Dadan said nothing, turning to go wash up.

Su Qinghu called after him, “By the way, what were you and Erdan up to after school yesterday?”

“We weren’t up to anything,” Dadan replied, turning back. “We were just helping people.”

Su Qinghu: ???

Helping people?

These two?

Hard to believe, but she nodded and praised them sincerely. Then she added, “Next time, take me with you. I want to help people too.”

“You don’t believe us?” Dadan immediately picked up on the exaggeration in her tone. “So you want to check for yourself?”

Su Qinghu stretched lazily, her tone casual. “No, no, I just think we’re a family, and whatever we do, we should do it together. If you’re both out helping people, as your parent, I want to join in too~”

Dadan eyed her suspiciously, not buying her “the whole family should do good deeds together” line.

“What?” Su Qinghu bent down to meet his eyes, smiling innocently. “Is there something fishy about your good deeds you don’t want me to know?”

They were all mischievous kids once—who didn’t know the tricks?

Dadan pressed his lips together. “No.”

He looked her straight in the eye, not flinching.

“Do you know what you look like right now?” Su Qinghu patted his shoulder, straightened up, and grinned slyly. “Ever heard the story of ‘No silver buried here’?”

Dadan’s fingers curled, his confidence faltering for a moment.

“Haha, relax, relax.” Su Qinghu suddenly ruffled his hair and winked. “I just want to make sure the people you’re helping aren’t dangerous. As for the rest—”

“I won’t pry.”

Dadan clenched his fists, watching her walk back to the bedroom. His heart, which had been hanging in the air, slowly settled—but not quite all the way.

Still uneasy.

Su Qinghu put the note in her bedside drawer, then happily lifted her pillow. Sure enough, there was a wad of cash and some vouchers underneath.

There was more cash than vouchers.

She counted it, took some for her bag, locked the rest away, and then went to wash up.

By the time all three of them were ready and had their bags on, it was already 7:10.

After locking the door, Su Qinghu led the kids toward the breakfast shop. On the way, she asked, “So, how did you two get targeted?”

Dadan looked at Erdan, and Erdan, cheeks puffed out, reluctantly confessed, “After school, I wanted a soda. Big brother said I couldn’t let my buddies know about our pocket money, so I went far away to buy it…”

“When I took out the money, a pickpocket saw me.” Erdan grumbled, “He’s got hands and feet—why steal?”

“And the money?” Su Qinghu asked.

Erdan instantly stopped complaining, eyeing her warily before cautiously asking, “Why?”

Was she going to confiscate his pocket money?

Su Qinghu didn’t press, just asked, “Do you still have it?”

“…Yeah,” Erdan replied, clearly unwilling.

Dadan, listening on the side, felt exhausted. It seemed like whenever they faced Su Qinghu, his little brother could only tell the truth…"