The last time Xie Yang saw Tao Yang’s name appear on the Internet was after the police issued a notice of Tao Yang’s arrest. It was three days after Tao Yang was arrested. There was a happy Spring Festival atmosphere on the Internet and the thing Tao Yang did that night wasn’t exposed.
The announcement by the police was very simple. It was a one sentence statement of the year, month and location where the police caught Tao Yang, who was planning to do something. Tao Yang had his own flow of melon eaters and soon, the topic of #Tao Yang was caught# climbed up the hot search.
Xie Yang was about to click into the hot search topic to see the excitement when he found that it was gone.
He paused before entering Tao Yang’s name into the search box. A lot of news about people with the name Tao Yang popped up. For example, a 65 year old Tao Yang from M City returned property to its owner, a 23 year old takeout delivery man in H City acted heroically, a 28 year old Miss Tao Yang from K City violently beat up a subway pervert… all types of content were available from the last two or three years.
There were so many Tao Yangs but there was no actor and designer Tao Yang.
Xie Yang realized something. He glanced sideways in the direction of the yard, retracted his gaze and clicked on the top line of news about the Mr Tao Yang who returned property to its owner. He opened the comments area and chose to set it by time.
A large number of newly issued question mark comments popped up just like Xie Yang guessed. The hot search appearing and then the hot search being withdrawn definitely wasn’t his illusion. He temporarily put away eating melons and checked the evaluation of ‘I See Xuanyuan’ by various professional critics.
The movie had been in theaters for a few days and the degree of online discussion had increased. Many critics gave professional evaluations one after another. The exaggerated praise of fans wasn’t objective so Xie Yang wanted to see some sharp comments.
He had just finished reading two movie reviews about his acting skills that said he was ‘ingenious but immature, better than expected’ and ‘perfect emotional expression but flawed lines’. Then he found another topic that said #why did Tao Yang’s hot search disappear# climbing up the hot search.
He raised his eyebrow and clicked it. Then Mr Tao Yang who returned property to its owner appeared again.
The melon-eaters were a collective mass of ‘???’ again.
Xie Yang couldn’t help laughing. This type of stupid money-burning act of staring at Weibo and withdrawing the hot search must’ve been done by a petty mouse. He got up and walked toward the yard. The moment he was about to open the door, he heard the uncle and nephew who were shoveling snow also mention Tao Yang.
“Uncle, I thought you were really going to buy Tao Yang’s plagiarism hot search. I didn’t expect it to be just to stimulate him.”
There was the loud sound of snow being shoveled followed by Qiu Xing’s chilly voice. “He isn’t worth my money.”
“Removing the hot search also takes a lot of money—”
“Concentrate on your work.”
Xie Yang narrowed his eyes. Plagiarism? What was this? He stepped back and started to eavesdrop.
The uncle and nephew quietly shoveled at the snow. Then Feng Qinglin’s voice was heard again. “Uncle, do you still want to hide it from my little uncle?”
The sound of snow being shoveled became louder.
Qiu Xing spoke fiercely, “Don’t bother your little uncle with these things.”
“…Yes.”
Qiu Xing’s voice eased again. “Thank you for your hard work this time.”
“It isn’t hard. Then should the related searches in foreign countries be withdrawn as well? Until when?”
“Until no one remembers the murderer. Don’t talk about Tao Yang and Mu Zhouyi in front of your little uncle in the future. He was scared this time.”
Scared? Xie Yang was full of question marks.
The uncle and nephew were still talking.
“My little uncle was scared?” Feng Qinglin was obviously also full of question marks. His tone was tentative with a bit of disbelief and doubt. “He was really scared?”
Qiu Xing’s tone was extremely serious. “Yes. He had to be coaxed to sleep and will be anxious if he can’t find me when he wakes up. In any case, don’t talk about Tao Yang and Mu Zhouyi in front of him in the future. Have you heard?”
“…I heard it.”
Xie Yang, “……”
He opened the door and looked at the uncle and nephew in the yard. “What are you talking about?”
Qiu Xing froze. He turned his head and looked over. Then he directly threw away the snow shovel and strode back to embrace him. He moved Xie Yang back into the house with a tone of coaxing a child. “Why are you coming out dressed like this? Go in. Don’t you want to play with your phone? Don’t worry, Qinglin and I are outside and we’re not far away.”
Before being stuffed back into the house, Xie Yang clearly saw Feng Qinglin’s eyes widen with the meaning ‘Little Uncle, you are so fragile’.“……”
The door was closed. Xie Yang raised his eyes to look at Qiu Xing. Qiu Xing took off his scarf and jacket, wiped his hand on the towel at the door and placed it on Xie Yang’s neck to test the temperature. Then he reached out and rubbed Xie Yang’s head. “Isn’t it boring? Are you hungry? Do you want Master Liao to make you some snacks?”
Xie Yang saw Qiu Xing’s caring appearance and the funny mood of being ‘slandered’ suddenly disappeared. Who was scared? He pulled down Qiu Xing’s hand and held it while asking, “How much snow is there? Do you want help?”
“No, Wu Shui will bring someone to shovel the snow in the backyard. It is enough to have me and Qinglin in the front yard.” Qiu Xing took Xie Yang’s hand and pulled Xie Yang close to him, asking again, “Are you hungry? Do you want a snack?”
Xie Yang wasn’t hungry at all but seeing Qiu Xing’s obviously nervous and concerned appearance, he nodded and replied. “Suddenly I want to eat egg custard.”
“I’ll let Master Liao steam it.”
Qiu Xing took Xie Yang back to the living room and set him on the sofa. He kissed Xie Yang’s face before going to the backyard to call Master Liao. Xie Yang watched Qiu Xing leave and pondered for a moment. Once Qiu Xing turned back, he stated, “Ah Xing, I don’t want to care about Tao Yang’s affairs anymore. You can handle it for me.”
“Okay.” Qiu Xing stepped forward and sat next to Xie Yang, holding Xie Yang in his arms. “I’ll take care of it. Don’t worry, he will never show up in front of you again. He can’t hurt you anymore.”
Based on this attitude, the mouse had really been frightened. Xie Yang hugged back and touched Qiu Xing’s back. “Yes.”
They finished shoveling the snow and came in to eat. Once Feng Qinglin entered, Xie Yang found an excuse to get rid of Qiu Xing and caught Feng Qinglin. “What plagiarism? What did you and your uncle do behind my back?”
Feng Qinglin froze. Then he lowered his head, adjusted his expression and asked, “What plagiarism? What happened to Uncle?”
Xie Yang looked at Feng Qinglin, “You learned to act. You are pretending to be stupid.”
“……”
“Honestly, I promise not to tell your uncle.”
Feng Qinglin weighed the pros and cons. Then he looked at Xie Yang’s expression and tentatively asked, “Then Little Uncle, are you—”
“It is your uncle who is scared, not me. He is now in the stage of being overly nervous after being stimulated.”
“……”
Feng Qinglin watched Xie Yang who didn’t seem to be frightened. He was silent for a moment before choosing to confess. He talked about how Qiu Xing used some means to find out Tao Yang’s real hiding place and how Qiu Xing used words and destroyed the design books to stimulate Tao Yang.
Then he quickly added, “Uncle had a sense of balance. He didn’t overdo it or make it difficult for the police. He didn’t really completely destroy the designs or buy the hot search about Tao Yang… but he does intend to suppress those designs and not let them see the light of day.”
Xie Yang felt incredulous and repeated, “Your uncle hit Tao Yang?”
“Yes but it was only two punches. Little Uncle, don’t get me wrong. Uncle didn’t mean to hide this from you. He was just worried.”
“Well done.”
Feng Qinglin looked at Xie Yang. “—Eh?”
Xie Yang smiled and raised a hand to pat Feng Qinglin on the shoulder. “Good nephew. Your uncle wants to ask you for something.”
Feng Qinglin instinctively shrank back. “W-What is it?”
“You can help your uncle deal with the matter of Tao Yang and Mu Zhouyi. Try to finish it as soon as possible. Your uncle is timid. I hope these stimulants will disappear from your uncle’s world as soon as possible. If you encounter difficulties then come to me secretly. I will help you. Remember, you should secretly find me, understood?”
“……”
Xie Yang’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t understand?”
“I understand.” Feng Qinglin hurriedly nodded. “Uncle, I understand.”
Xie Yang was satisfied. He took back his hand and smiled warmly. “This year’s Spring Festival red envelope hasn’t been issued yet. I will give it to you in a while.”
“…Thank you Little Uncle.”
That evening, Feng Qinglin received a generous ‘bribery’ red envelope from both Qiu Xing and Xie Yang.
Qiu Xing instructed behind Xie Yang’s back, “Don’t forget. Don’t mention Tao Yang and Mu Zhouyi in front of your little uncle.”
“…I won’t forget it Uncle.”Xie Yang ordered Feng Qinglin behind Qiu Xing’s back, “Work hard and don’t say anything.”
“…Yes, Little Uncle.”
Thus, everything was good and Xie Yang and Qiu Xing finally had a good Spring Festival.
On the fifth day of the new year, Xie Yang and Qiu Xing had finished most of their work and took Feng Qinglin to sweep the graves of Mother Qiu and Father Qiu. As they were preparing to leave the cemetery, Feng Qinglin suddenly said to the graves, “Grandpa, Grandma, I will bring my mother back to reunite with you as soon as possible.”
Xie Yang noticed Qiu Xing’s fingers moving and took the initiative to hold his hand. Xie Yang asked Feng Qinglin, “When are you going to pick up your mother?”
Feng Qinglin didn’t answer and instead turned to Qiu Xing. “Uncle, when do you think is appropriate?”
“As soon as possible.” Qiu Xing held Xie Yang’s hand with a calm expression but his hand slowly tightened as he emphasized, “The sooner the better.”
Qiu Xing chose the 15th of the new year as a good day to move the grave and the matter was carried out at a super fast speed.
Qiu Jing’s grave was located in a very remote corner of the Feng family’s cemetery. The gravestone was very small and the orientation wasn’t good. Qiu Xing had a calm face as he moved through the graves of the Feng family. He stopped when he passed the grave of the old man of the Feng family. He stared coldly at the photo of the old man before going straight across it.
The entire grave-moving ceremony took more than an hour. The younger generation of the Feng family came to make trouble after hearing the news but they were blocked by the bodyguards brought by Qiu Xing.
Once the grave was opened, Qiu Xing and Feng Qinglin held an umbrella and carefully took out Qiu Jing’s ashes, wrapping them in cloth. Xie Yang noticed that Qiu Xing stared at the urn for a long time after it was taken out before blinking quickly. He stepped forward and gently touched Qiu Xing’s back.
Qiu Xing looked back at Xie Yang and controlled his emotions. He told Feng Qinglin, “Let’s go home.”
The group returned to the cemetery where the Qiu family’s ancestors were located and re-buried Qiu Jing’s ashes. The Liu family members except for those from Liu Jiang’s line, some honest members of the Qiu family and Liu Sha were waiting to welcome Qiu Jing back home. The ashes and old grave stone were placed in the new grave. Then it was sealed and a new gravestone erected.
Liu Zhu looked at the gravestone of Mother Qiu. “Second sister, haven’t you been worried all the time? Now Jingjing is back and you can be at ease.”
Qiu Xing stared at Qiu Jing’s new gravestone for a long time. Then he took Xie Yang and pulled him forward. He told the new gravestone, “Sister, this is Xie Yang. Yang Yang, greet her.”
Xie Yang looked at the photo on the grave stone. The eyebrows were somewhat similar to Qiu Xing but the face was much softer. He called out to the woman who was smiling brilliantly, “Sister.”
Qiu Xing’s grip on Xie Yang’s hand tightened. Then he crouched in front of the gravestone and burned paper incense for Qiu Jing. At the end of the grave-moving ceremony, they were leaving the cemetery when Feng Qinglin suddenly spoke. “Uncle, I want to change my surname.”
Qiu Xing replied, “Your surname is your right. I won’t force you or interfere with you. Do it if you want.”
“Yes.”
Qiu Xing urged Xie Yang to wash as soon as dinner finished that night. Then he pulled Xie Yang to bed. After going to bed, he didn’t do anything. He just hugged Xie Yang tightly and touched the back of Xie Yang’s head.
The mouse was acting like a baby.
Xie Yang huddled in Qiu Xing’s arms and deliberately said, “I’ll be bald if you keep touching the back of my head.”
Qiu Xing stiffened and actually examined the back of Xie Yang’s head before pressing his hand against it. “Don’t talk nonsense.”
He had started scolding people again. It seemed the stage of excessive tension had passed.
Xie Yang smiled and kissed Qiu Xing. Qiu Xing stared at Xie Yang and touched his face.
Xie Yang also reached out a hand and gently touched Qiu Xing’s head, which was full of hair. He spoke in a warm voice, “You have done everything Mom asked you to do. Your sister has returned home while Qinglin has become sensible and asked to change his surname. The Feng family has received retribution and Rongding is well managed by you.” He met Qiu Xing’s gaze and leaned forward to kiss his forehead. Then he praised, “Ah Xing is really powerful.”
Qiu Xing stared straight at Xie Yang and his expression slowly relaxed. He hugged Xie Yang tightly, caressing his back while speaking in a low voice, “Yang Yang, Mom should be very happy right now.”
“Yes.”
Qiu Xing’s arms tightened again and he buried his head, taking deep breaths against Xie Yang’s body.
“In fact, when I was young, my sister secretly visited me… she just trusted people too easily and was soft-hearted. She didn’t mean to be unfilial.”
Xie Yang gently touched the back of Qiu Xing’s head. “It is Feng Dian’s fault.”
“…En.”
A few minutes later, Xie Yang moved back and stared at Qiu Xing’s sleeping face. He touched Qiu Xing lightly. When sleeping, this person’s brow was no longer furrowed. Xie Yang leaned forward to kiss his forehead again.
“It’s been hard on you all these years. Good night, Ah Xing.”