Thanks to her identity expose during the competition on the previous weekend, when Su Bei came to school on Monday, she successfully gained a loyal fan named Xu Yangyang.
"God Q, god Q, you finally come!" Before Su Bei and Su Xiaobao even entered the school building, Xu Yangyang already ran in front of Su Bei excitedly.
Su Bei: "Call me by name."
Xu Yangyang stubbornly shook his head: "No, calling name is so unfamiliar, it's better to call you god Q."
Red hackers was a separate community, and its members have their own way of getting along. Just like how big brother Xu still called Su Bei 'baby Q' even after knowing her real name, Xu Yangyang also wanted to keep calling her 'god Q.'
Su Bei: ...is that so?
Su Xiaobao: Retard.
"God Q, this is the gifts I specially prepared! The previous ones cannot be counted. Today is my real formal meeting gifts for you." Xu Yangyang handed over the thing on his hands to Su Bei. It was another package full of things. The difference was today's gifts were packed in a pink box.
"This time, you will definitely like them!" Xu Yangyang said with full confidence.
Thinking of the gifts he prepared when he still didn't know [Q] was a girl, Xu Yangyang was incredibly embarrassed. Those previous gifts were chosen out of misinformation. But today, he bought all the new gifts after specifically doing proper research. The new gifts would surely bury his previous shame.
"Look at this keyboard. I especially found a specialist to customize it, definitely suitable for you to use in the competition." Xu Yangyang took out a professional-grade keyboard from the box. This keyboard was not only high-tech, but also painted in girls' favorite pink color!
After that, Su Bei watched Xu Yangyang took out one thing after another from the box as if offering precious treasures: a cherry blossom pink penny board with a cute anime print, pink cat ear headphones, multi-colored hairbands, a small pink schoolbag with small wings decoration, a stationery box decorated with pink rhinestones, and a barbie pink thermos cup.
Xu Yangyang: "How? Great, isn't it?"
Su Bei: "..."
Xu Yangyang's 'fan activity' attracted the students nearby.
"Isn't that the school flower? Who is that boy?"
"He is also from class 8-7. I think his name is Xu Yangyang."
"This is my first time seeing a boy giving a full box of gifts to a girl. It is pretty romantic."
The crowds didn't know the ins and out of this matter. Seeing Xu Yangyang giving gifts to Su Bei, they thought he was confessing to the school flower.
"Do you think his confession will be successful? Will Su Bei accept it?"
"Impossible. Su Bei is the school flower. Ordinary boys aren't her level."
"But I think this Xu Yangyang looks good enough. He is pretty handsome."
"Haha, compared to this, I'm even more curious if he will be beaten to death by young master Su or not."
"You are right!"
Young master Su's 'sister complex' was famous in the school. Several boys tried to confess to Su Bei before, but the result was either they were driven away in public by the cold-faced Su Xiaobao or were slaughtered in the basketball court until they doubted their life.
"This Xu Yangyang actually dared to give Su Bei gifts in front of young master Su. Is he not afraid of death? Haha!"
—
However, the result surprised everyone: Su Xiaobao didn't drive Xu Yangyang away, but took the initiative to accept the gifts Xu Yangyang gave to Su Bei. Afterward, the three walked to the classroom together.
The onlookers were stunned.
"F*ck, what kind of development is this. Too mysterious."
"Impossible. Does young master Su accept Xu Yangyang as 'brother-in-law'?"
...
In the classroom, Dong Wenqi laughed so hard after seeing Xu Yangyang's gifts for Su Bei. "Hahaha, do you want to make me laugh to die? If you didn't say these are gifts, I thought you are preparing to run away from home. How can anyone give such a big box of gifts at once."
"Also, Xu Yangyang. What kind of aesthetic do you have? So much pink. Even if I like pink myself, my eyes still hurt."
"And look at the funniest one, barbie thermos!"
Xu Yangyang was embarrassed: "What's wrong with those? I specifically asked on the internet. Everyone said that it is girls' favorite color."
Dong Wenqi: "Haha, either you were deceived, or the people you asked have an incurable straight-male disease."
"My gosh, I cannot. Take them away. They make my eyes hurt."
"Re-really?" Xu Yangyang looked at Su Bei embarrassedly. Was his gift-giving going to fail again this time?
Su Bei nodded slightly——individually, these gifts were actually pretty good. But putting together, they were indeed a bit too ridiculous.
Xu Yangyang: "Then Q—no, Su Bei, this time is also not counted. Give me another chance to make up for the meeting gifts. When we go climbing the Hongfeng mountain, let me be your underling! That's all, bye!"
Xu Yangyang ran back to his seat, Su Bei looked at Dong Wenqi and asked confusedly: "What does he mean?"
Dong Wenqi laughed twice before explaining, "He wants to be your coolie! You picked up free labor. This transaction is very profitable."
"Huh?"
"Ah, right. You still don't know." Dong Wenqi explained further: "If there is nothing wrong, this week or the week after, our school will organize an outdoor excursion..."
The school outdoor excursion held once a year was one of Weiming Middle School's routine events. It lasted three days. The school would invite parents alongside the students to go hiking, camping, and picnics in Hongfeng Mountain Scenic Area.
Students usually studied all day, and their parents were similarly busy with work. It was a rare opportunity for parents and children to go out together, so everyone looked forward to this excursion.
After listening to Dong Wenqi's explanation, Su Bei nodded: "So, the whole school will go?"
Dong Wenqi: "Not necessarily so. Some people don't like group activities and apply to not participate. In addition, the ninth grade has to take cram lessons, so they cannot go. Only seventh and eighth grades will participate."
Dong Wenqi patted Su Bei's shoulder: "This is a rare opportunity to have fun, we should cherish it!" She then proceeded to tell Su Bei her experience when going to Hongfeng Mountain last year. Su Bei listened for a while and finally began to look forward to the outdoor excursion.
"Su Bei, will Uncle Qin go with you?"
"I don't know..." Mr. Qin was quite busy.
~
In the evening, Mr. Qin called the twins to his study. Su Bei and Su Xiaobao sat side by side. Su Bei secretly guessed the reason why Mr. Qin called them, and unconsciously scratched the scar on her face with her fingertips.
At this time, Su Bei's scar has scabbed, and sometimes was itchy. Su Bei would occasionally scratch it unconsciously, and when looking in the mirror, would also try to pull the scab off.
A pair of large hands stopped Su Bei's movement.
Qin Shao: "Don't scratch it."
"Oh." Su Bei replied weakly, and obediently put her hand away.
After examining the scar on his daughter's face, Mr. Qin straightened his posture and began to say: "I have to tell you something."
"What?" Su Xiaobao interrupted Mr. Qin's words. The boy looked at his father coldly and said: "You want to find us a stepmother?"
Qin Shao was taken aback.
Qin Shao: What stepmother?
Seeing Mr. Qin's gaze turned to her, Su Bei lowered her head. She indeed told Su Xiaobao about this matter before. At that time, she tactfully said to her brother: "Mr. Qin has the right to pursue his own happiness, and probably also has the need to get married." However, Su Bei did not expect that Su Xiaobao could accurately guess her meaning from those two sentences.
When Mr. Qin saw Su Bei's lowered head and her gloomy face despite her effort to look calm, he quickly guessed that this girl had misunderstood his words that night.
Mr. Qin was helpless, but also a little amused. He asked back: "You think I'm looking for a woman to marry back and be your stepmother?"
Su Bei nodded.
Su Xiaobao glared at Qin Shao with a look of 'If you dare to say it's true, I will immediately cut off our relations with you and take Su Bei away.'
Su Bei: "Isn't it?"
"No," Mr. Qin immediately replied: "I'm not going to talk about stepmother, and there is no such person either."
After a pause, Qin Shao looked at them straightly and said: "What I want to talk to you today is about your biological mother."
The twins instantly stupefied.
Su Xiaobao: "What did you say?"
Su Bei: "!!!"
The misunderstanding already big enough, but Mr. Qin actually wants to talk about their biological mother? Is he talking about Su Mei, the side character from the novel who has gone offline for years?!
Su Bei: "She's not dead?"
Su Bei's reaction was understandable. In the novel, the female side character Su Mei has completely gone offline after the wedding scene of the main couple. After that, the novel never mentioned 'Su Mei' even once again. So, the novel's reader naturally thought that Su Mei already received her lunchbox.
(T/N: Receiving lunchbox: Refer to when an actor/actress finished their part of filming and leave the set. Similar to the word 'going offline,' in novels, it is a slang for when a character stopped appear permanently.)
Su Bei also reached the same conjecture: She and Su Xiaobao's biological mother should have met some accident, or were 'taken care' of by the main couple. Su Bei never expected that she would hear the word 'biological mother' in this lifetime, not to mention from their father.
Mr. Qin thought his children's reaction was reasonable. However, seeing Su Bei and Su Xiaobao's attitude toward their 'biological mother,' Mr. Qin felt somewhat satisfied.
"Not dead. She is back." Mr. Qin told them the truth.
"You have seen Song Yancheng. More than ten years ago, because of one of his schemes, I had a physical relationship with your biological mother, and you two were born." Qin Shao didn't conceal the truth just because he wanted to save face or other similar reasons. Although Xiaobei and Xiaobao's birth was an accident, it didn't change the fact that they were his treasures.
Qin Shao briefly told the children almost everything he found out about Su Mei, including what she did after giving birth to them, where she went, her remarriage, and her new family. Except for the inappropriate things Su Mei did to compete with Lin You and that she gave birth to them to force Song Yancheng to marry her, Mr. Qin didn't hide anything. He simply didn't want them to have a bad feeling about their own birth.
"So, Dad, when you ask me whether I want a mother before, you are talking about Su—our biological mother?"
"Yes, you have grown up. Both of you already have a basic perception and judgment of matters. I tell you this because you have the right to know. As for how to deal with this matter, you two also have the right to decide by yourself."
~
Author's Note.
The author has something to say:
Mr. Qin: Although the children were born accidentally, they are my treasures.