Chapter 55: What Secret Is Qin Mo Hiding?

Chapter 55: What Secret Is Qin Mo Hiding?

Qin Yan frowned at his phone, and when he saw who was calling, his frown deepened even further.

He hung up.

Before long, the phone rang again, the insistent ringing growing more and more annoying.

Su Zhiyu put down his spoon. "I'll step out for a bit."

He figured Qin Yan didn't want to answer the call because he was there.

"No need." Qin Yan stopped him, picking up his phone. "It's my brother calling. Not sure what he wants from me. You keep eating."

Su Zhiyu could only nod. "Okay."

Qin Yan answered the call and casually put it on speaker.

The man's voice came through the speaker, clearly reaching every corner of the dining room. Unlike his usual steady demeanor, it carried a hint of gloom and urgency.

"A Yan, Grandma's been hospitalized. I'm coming to pick you up now."

Grandma?

Qin Yan froze, a dull ache striking his heart. It wasn't until the call was hung up that he managed to regain his senses.

From what he could recall of the original owner's memories, he had been raised by his grandmother before Qin Mo brought him to the city.

So he must have been close to her...

"Hey, don't worry too much." Su Zhiyu's soft voice snapped Qin Yan back to reality.

Qin Yan didn't have the original owner's memories, and the comic didn't seem to elaborate much on this background. He wasn't sure what kind of emotional bond the original owner had with his grandmother.

"Su Zhiyu."

Qin Yan saw the worry and hesitation in Su Zhiyu's eyes, and from that, he could vaguely guess the answer.

The original owner must have cared deeply about his grandmother.

"I..."

He stood up, unusually at a loss for what to do.

Qin Mo's car arrived quickly.

Qin Yan's heart involuntarily clenched. Su Zhiyu parted his lips slightly but said nothing, silently stepping aside to make way.

The atmosphere in the dining room instantly became heavy and suffocating.

As Qin Yan walked past him, he heard a soft reminder: "Take care of yourself."

Qin Yan paused mid-step, nodded, and said, "Mm. Wait for me to come back."

Su Zhiyu watched him leave, then, as if something occurred to him, hurriedly left the dining room and went upstairs. He lifted a corner of the curtain in his room and only caught a glimpse of a car speeding away.

So urgent.

It must be serious.

The show recording was about to start soon... Would he even be able to come?

...

Qin Yan sat in the back seat, with Qin Mo beside him.

The man sat with a cold, stern expression, eyes closed as he rested, his voice tinged with exhaustion. "Grandma's in the hospital. She really wants to see you."

Qin Yan hesitated for a moment, then tentatively asked, "Brother, how long has it been since we last went back to see Grandma?"

Qin Mo was silent for a long time before speaking flatly, "I don't know. She wants to see you. You should go back and visit her more often."

Qin Yan's heart skipped a beat, and he took the opportunity to probe for information.

From Qin Mo's attitude and reactions, it was clear he wasn't close to their grandmother. The one who was close to her was the original owner—the one she had raised.

But what about Qin Mo?

Qin Yan carefully reviewed every detail from the original comic, combined it with the words being spoken now, and vaguely sensed that Qin Mo might be hiding some secret.

By the time they arrived at the hospital, it was almost noon.

Qin Mo went straight to find the doctor and didn't go to the ward, only telling Qin Yan to go see their grandmother by himself.

The little old lady was already in her seventies, leaning against the hospital bed in a daze, her murky eyes staring blankly out the window.

Lifeless, like a withered tree.

Qin Yan's heart clenched again, an indescribable sadness nearly overwhelming all his emotions.

Was that... the original owner's emotion?

Qin Yan's hands trembled slightly as he walked into the ward, his voice carrying a quiver he hadn't even noticed himself. "Grandma?"

The old lady jolted, her cloudy eyes turning back. When she saw who it was, her eyes immediately lit up, and a smile spread across her sunken cheeks:

"Is that Xiao Yan? Xiao Yan, you're back?"

Qin Yan's eyes burned as he sat down by the bed, taking the old lady's outstretched hand and nodding. "It's me, Grandma. I'm back."

"Good, that's good."

"Grandma, how are you feeling? Is there anywhere that hurts? Your forehead..."

A bandage was wrapped around the old lady's forehead—she was clearly injured.

At her age, injuring her forehead... Had she fallen?

"I'm fine, I'm fine." The old lady clung tightly to Qin Yan's hand, staring at him without blinking, as if she couldn't get enough of looking at him.

"Grandma..."

"Xiao Yan, you're finally back. Grandma thought she'd never see you again. Grandma missed you so much."

Looking at the old lady's withered appearance and listening to her slurred words of longing, Qin Yan nearly broke down in tears.

He was a child raised by his grandparents, so he always felt a particular softness and closeness toward lonely elderly people who missed their grandchildren.

When he used to go to school, had his grandparents also waited eagerly, watching for when he would come home?

Qin Yan snapped out of it. If the original host had been so close to his grandmother, why hadn't he gone back to visit her for such a long time?

He'd been piling up questions the whole way.

But he didn't dare say or ask too much, afraid of slipping up. Most of the time, he just steered the conversation with his grandmother, learning about the original host from her words.

Those lively, innocent impressions of him seemed a far cry from what he'd seen in the comic.

Before he knew it, time had passed.

The next day, Qin Mo got the old lady discharged and took her back to the countryside.

Qin Yan was puzzled: "Grandma's head wound hasn't healed yet. Why don't we stay a few more days? She's way too thin."

Qin Mo's gaze swept over coldly, his tone toward Qin Yan unusually distant: "The house needs her. They'll be lonely."

They?

Wasn't Grandma the only one left at the countryside house? Who else could there be?

Qin Mo sighed, reached out and patted Qin Yan's hair, his tone softening:

"A Yan, everything I do is for the both of us. I'm the only one in this world who'll never hurt you and will always love you."

His eyes were dark as ink, and when he gazed deeply at Qin Yan, there was an unreadable depth in them.

Like they were veiled in mist.

Qin Mo... What secret is he really hiding?

Feeling those eyes on him, Qin Yan suddenly got a chill down his spine and instinctively wanted to pull his hand away.

Qin Mo's expression shifted instantly.

"You don't like your brother anymore?" His voice went low as he grabbed Qin Yan's arm, his gaze turning icy. "I told you, I'm the only one who will never hurt you."

"..."

Qin Yan glanced out the window at the increasingly barren countryside and had to pull himself together.

"Brother, I'm just tired. I want to rest for a bit."

The hostility in Qin Mo's eyes faded slightly, but his gaze still locked onto Qin Yan's face: "Tired?"

Qin Yan clicked his tongue, not missing a beat: "Yeah, I've been talking with Grandma for ages. I'm beat."

"Fine."

Qin Mo slowly released his grip.

Qin Yan's pounding heart gradually went back to normal. He didn't understand why Qin Mo had suddenly gotten so worked up. Did it have to do with Grandma? Or with him?

"A Yan."

"!"

Qin Mo turned his head to look out the window, his voice back to its cold, flat tone, giving nothing away.

"New Year's is coming up. You haven't paid your respects to Mom and Dad in three years. Since we're back, let's go pay our respects."

Qin Yan just said "mm" without a second thought.

Qin Mo's fingers, which had been tapping the window, suddenly stopped, his pupils shrinking slightly—like he was surprised, like he was relieved.

Three years.

Dad, Mom, A Yan and I are back to see you.