His Sunday Substitute - Chapter 25

“Do you still like me?”…

In the Qin family mansion at Chaoyang Mountain, Qin Weishu gazed at the desolate courtyard, at the flowers, plants, and trees withering miserably in the winter cold. His eyes slowly lifted, settling on the only towering red pine that remained evergreen through all seasons.

He stared for a long time until Old Yan beside him gently reminded, “Master, it’s cold. Let’s go inside.”

Qin Weishu withdrew his gaze and nodded. The silhouette of his retreating figure bore an uncanny resemblance to that solitary red pine.

“Li Ruyin’s death anniversary is in a few days. Jian should be coming back, right?” Qin Weishu asked.

“Yes, Master,” Old Yan replied respectfully. “Our people watching the young master say he’s already booked his flight. And…” He hesitated before continuing, “There’s a young man by the young master’s side now. But since I haven’t yet identified who he is, I didn’t report it to you.”

Qin Weishu paused mid-step but quickly resumed walking calmly. “Keep investigating this. Report back only when you have all the details. Now, what has Cangye been up to lately?”

The mention of Qin Cangye immediately made Qin Weishu’s tone more severe, laced with unmistakable irritation.

“Young Master still frequents Feiyue Gaming Company, visiting Li Jinmiao’s office daily for a while.”

“That little bastard is deliberately provoking me, isn’t he?” Qin Weishu cursed angrily. “He’s the one who wanted to break off the engagement, insisted on saving Li Corporation, and now he’s practically throwing himself at Li Jinmiao! What the hell does he want? Is he itching for a fight with me?”

“Master, please calm down,” Old Yan quickly soothed.

Taking a deep breath, Qin Weishu steadied himself against a shelf displaying priceless porcelain, composing himself before asking, “Any other unusual behavior?”

After a brief hesitation, Old Yan answered somewhat awkwardly, “Young Master has developed quite a fondness for spicy hot pot recently.”

“Spicy… hot… pot?” Qin Weishu turned to stare at Old Yan in disbelief, his voice rising several pitches. His shrewd instincts immediately sensed something amiss. “Are you sure it’s just about the food? Not some other motive?”

Old Yan paused, then replied firmly after consideration, “Positive. I checked with Li Jinmiao’s office cleaners, Young Master finishes every last bite before leaving.”

Qin Weishu’s mouth twitched. Suddenly, he swept his arm across the shelf, sending a porcelain piece worth tens of thousands crashing to the floor with a loud smash. “Insane! Completely out of his mind!”

Qin Cangye continued appearing daily at Su Yinuo’s stall, though he spoke less and only arrived after the peak business hours. He no longer ordered combos, instead selecting low-calorie, high-fiber vegetables, non-fried tofu products, and chicken breast.

The affectionate gaze he once directed at Su Yinuo was gone. Like any ordinary customer, he’d hand over his tray of chosen ingredients, then wait quietly to the side, hands in pockets, expression detached as he stared into the distance. Once his order was ready, he’d take it and leave without a backward glance.

Su Yinuo felt a pang of sadness. After wallowing in it for a while, she began to berate herself inwardly: Didn’t you want nothing to do with him? Isn’t this for the best? What are you even upset about? You’re the one who keeps pushing him away every time, so why are you heartbroken now that he’s giving you the cold shoulder? You can’t have it both ways, Su Yinuo. You’re the one who lacks the courage to be with him!

Watching Qin Cangye’s retreating figure grow smaller in the distance, Su Yinuo’s eyes burned, and her lips trembled slightly.

No matter how hard she tried to suppress the overwhelming emotions, tears threatened to spill. Just as they were about to fall, her phone rang.

Su Yinuo answered the call, only to hear her mother’s terrified scream through the receiver: “Get out! Get out of my house!”

“Mom!! What’s wrong? What’s happening?” Su Yinuo barely got the words out before the call cut off with a loud crash.

Tears streamed down her face as fear sent her hands shaking uncontrollably. She immediately turned off the stove, intending to drive home, but the car was cluttered with a soup pot and food containers, she couldn’t drive without clearing them first.

Something’s happened to Mom. Su Yinuo was too frantic to tidy up. Stumbling, she pushed the car door open and rushed out in a daze.

Through her blurred vision, she spotted Qin Cangye’s figure growing ever more distant. Tearing off her mask and clutching her phone tightly, she sprinted toward him.

“Qin Cangye!” It was the first time she had ever called his name. Tears streaked her face as she grabbed his wrist. When he turned around, shock written across his face, she sobbed, “I’m sorry, please help me! Something’s happened to my mom!”

The takeout box fell from Qin Cangye’s hand. Without hesitation, he scooped Su Yinuo into his arms and dashed toward the Phantom parked outside the complex.

The moment they got in the car, he barked at Wu Heng, “To Nuonuo’s house!”

Though he didn’t know what was happening, Wu Heng could tell from their expressions that it was urgent. He immediately started the car and slammed on the accelerator.

“Don’t be afraid, Nuonuo. I’m here. Everything will be fine!” Qin Cangye held Su Yinuo tightly, gripping her ice-cold, trembling hands.

In just over ten minutes, the speeding Phantom arrived at Lotus Community. From a distance, Su Yinuo could already see several rough-looking men loitering in the yard.

“Nuonuo, stay in the car. I’ll handle this!” Qin Cangye set her down on the seat, his gaze turning icy. As soon as the car stopped, he flung the door open and charged out.

Su Yinuo had regained some composure. She followed him out and dialed the police.

“Miss Nuonuo, stay back,” Wu Heng, who had rushed out after them, held her back at the gate.

Inside the yard, Qin Cangye didn’t waste a single word. With a swift kick, he sent a bald man wielding an iron rod crashing to the ground. Picking up the fallen rod, he swung it at two men lunging toward him, striking their seemingly brawny but defenseless arms with ruthless force.

The two howled in pain and collapsed. As they tried to get up, Wu Heng caught up and delivered two more kicks for good measure.

Hearing the commotion, two more men burst out of the house, one of them clutching a television he had just ripped off the wall.

“Who the hell are you?” the man roared at Qin Cangye, his voice laced with forced bravado and unmistakable fear.

Because Qin Cangye’s expression was too cold and domineering, too intimidating! He stared fixedly at the two men who had rushed out, not even glancing sideways as he bent down, grabbed the back of the neck of the bald man who was trying to get up in front of him, and slammed him hard onto the red brick floor.

Like a beast that ignored all rules, driven only by violence.

Watching the blood oozing from the bald man’s forehead, the man holding the television shuddered, then raised it and hurled it at Qin Cangye. Qin Cangye sidestepped, lunged forward, and drove his right knee hard into the man’s stomach.

The man vomited a mouthful of bile, collapsed to the ground, then sprang back up, grabbed a brick from the floor, and threw it at Qin Cangye.

Qin Cangye dodged again, seized the man’s arm, twisted it sharply, and heard the crack of a dislocated bone, followed by the man’s agonized scream.

The group was no match for Qin Cangye and Wu Heng. Within minutes, all but one, who had yet to act and was trembling against the wall, had been taken down, completely incapacitated.

Su Yinuo, who had just finished calling the police, rushed in and recognized the man shaking by the wall: the son of the driver responsible for her mother’s car accident!

She didn’t understand why, after more than a year, he would come back to cause trouble. Too worried about her mother to think further, she dashed inside.

“Mom! Mom! Are you okay?” Su Yinuo sobbed as she threw herself beside Zhang Lihua, who sat pale-faced on the floor, grabbing her hands to check for injuries.

“I-I’m fine, just fell,” Zhang Lihua stammered, her voice trembling. “Nuo, why are you back so soon? I was going to tell you to call the police. Those people are despicable!” As she spoke, tears streamed down her aged face, and she burst into furious curses: “The moment I picked up the phone, they shoved me to the ground! They heard our neighborhood is being demolished and threatened me to pay them, demanded a million! A bunch of bandits!! I didn’t even make them pay for my leg! Where would I get a million? Where?! If they want it, they can dig it out of my coffin!!”

Zhang Lihua’s emotions spiraled out of control. Su Yinuo hugged her tightly, crying as she comforted her, “It’s okay, Mom, it’s okay now.”

“How can it be okay? They wrecked our home! They said they have connections and aren’t afraid of the police!” Zhang Lihua wailed in despair.

“It’s fine, Mom, really. We can replace what they broke. If they have connections, so do I! I have a friend, a really powerful one! He’s the one who brought me back today! He knocked them all down, and he’ll help us…”

To calm her mother, Su Yinuo had no choice but to “use” Qin Cangye. After nearly ten minutes of reassurance, she finally soothed her mother’s distress. Helping her up from the floor, she handed her the crutch and supported her as they stepped outside.

By then, the police and Qin Cangye’s lawyer had arrived.

The moment the driver’s son saw the officers, he dropped to his knees, pointing at Qin Cangye and howling, “He killed someone! Officers, arrest him! He killed my uncle!”

The police glanced at the bloodied bald man sprawled on the ground and immediately called for an ambulance.

Before Qin Cangye’s lawyer could speak, Su Yinuo and Zhang Lihua shouted simultaneously, “They were the ones who smashed our house first!”

“Officer, I was the one who called the police!” Su Yinuo helped her mother lean against the wall and strode over to the four approaching officers. With reddened eyes, she spoke pitifully yet firmly, “I called the police. These people are robbers! They heard our house was going to be demolished and came to threaten my mother for a bribe. Look at what they’ve done to our home. My friend came to help me, and they even tried to attack him. My friend was acting in self-defense. These people are gangsters! They even said they weren’t afraid of me calling the police because they have connections at the station!”

“Alright, alright, little girl, calm down. Don’t worry, we’ll get to the bottom of this,” the officer, clearly sympathetic to the brave and pitiable girl, reassured her. After photographing the scene for evidence, they took everyone to the police station.

The questioning lasted until evening. By the time they left the station, it was pitch dark outside. Su Yinuo supported Zhang Lihua, both utterly exhausted. Qin Cangye hadn’t come out yet, so Su Yinuo helped her mother sit on a nearby flower bed and said, “Mom, let’s wait a bit longer. I want to wait for my friend.”

The old residential area had insufficient surveillance, completely missing the scene in Su Yinuo’s courtyard. However, it clearly captured the gang charging into her home, brandishing clubs aggressively.

Qin Cangye had noticed this during his earlier inspection, so he had acted without hesitation. Moreover, the hospital reported that the injured man was no longer in critical condition.

Later, thanks to Qin Cangye’s experienced lawyer, he was deemed to have acted in self-defense and faced no charges. Meanwhile, the gang was detained on suspicion of illegal trespassing, robbery, provocation, and other offenses. Qin Cangye’s lawyer also vowed to pursue the case to the fullest extent.

After the exhausting afternoon, Su Yinuo had completely forgotten about keeping her distance from Qin Cangye. When she saw him emerge with his lawyer, she hurried over and asked, “Is everything alright? Are you okay?”

“Everything’s fine, don’t worry,” Qin Cangye replied gently, taking her hand in his and warming it in his palm. “There’s no need to worry anymore. I’ll make sure these people don’t see daylight for at least ten years.”

“Thank you,” Su Yinuo tried to pull her hand back but gave up when she couldn’t.

“Thank you,” she repeated, her voice trembling as tears welled up and spilled over. “Thank you for helping me. If it weren’t for you, I don’t even want to imagine what would’ve happened. I treated you so poorly before, yet you still helped me. I’m sorry.”

“What do you mean, poorly?”

Qin Cangye gently pulled her into his arms, holding her tenderly. He cupped the back of her head, brushing his fingers through her soft hair, and whispered, “As long as you still like me, that’s all the kindness I need.”

The girl in his arms trembled slightly.

A faint smile curved Qin Cangye’s lips as he lowered his head and pressed a kiss to the dark strands by her ear. Softly, he asked, “Do you still like me?”