The Next Day
Without her calming essential oils, Qin Moyeun couldn't hold it together. She ended up going to the hospital for an IV drip, her cold sweat soaking her and making her look completely worn out.
Zhao, her assistant, was by her side, seeing her in such a disheveled state for the first time.
As the CEO of Qin Financial, Qin Moyeun always cared about her image. She was almost always dressed in custom-made high-end suits that highlighted her perfect figure, paired with exquisite jewelry and elegant heels. Her aura was one of confidence and charm.
Tall, slender, and with an air of cold elegance and nobility, her every move was graceful, and she rarely smiled, always maintaining a calm and composed demeanor. She gave off a vibe that kept others at a distance.
But now, her perfectly styled hair was a mess, her eyes were bloodshot, her lips were chapped, and she looked like she was on the verge of a breakdown.
Yet, despite her condition, she had been in power for years. She straightened herself up and instructed, "Old Zhao, go get A-Yun."
She was extremely on edge.
In the past, whenever Qin Yun visited her at the company, he would often take on some of the more challenging tasks for Qin Financial, lightening her load and easing her headaches. Plus, there was something about his scent that always seemed to relieve her exhaustion.
She believed that Qin Yun was a lucky charm for the family, and being around him brought her good fortune. The more she cared for him, the more good luck she felt she received.
But recently, when she was near her brother Qin Yun, that comforting scent seemed to have disappeared.
At the time, she thought she was just too tired or maybe not in her usual state to notice it. But now, during her nervous breakdown, she wanted to figure out whether Qin Jiang's calming essential oils or that faint scent from her brother A-Yun were what actually relieved her nerve issues.
Deep down, she still believed it was Qin Yun's good fortune that protected her and eased her pain. Her pride wouldn't allow her to make such a low-level mistake of confusing who she should be grateful to.
After all, A-Yun had been trained in medicine by a mysterious master since he was a child. But what did Qin Jiang know? Probably just some basic knowledge about herbs used to treat animals in the mountains.
The difference in knowledge and education between Qin Jiang and Qin Yun was like a huge gap between them.
Qin Moyeun massaged her temples, silently admitting that she was truly sick. Otherwise, she wouldn't have thought that Qin Jiang's low-level massage skills could alleviate her condition.
Especially considering that empty bottle of essential oil. Didn't she purposely spill it herself?
It was an unbranded product with no label—who even knew how long its shelf life was? Qin Jiang would always leave her with half a bottle after a massage in case she needed it, but an opened bottle would lose its effectiveness over time, unlike when Qin Jiang first brought it.
As someone who had always lived a life of luxury, Qin Moyeun was very particular about the products she used for maintenance, wellness, and beauty. But since Qin Jiang was her brother, she didn't want to hurt his feelings, so she would wait until he left to have her assistant throw it away.
After all, the next time Qin Jiang visited, he would take back that strange, ordinary-looking glass bottle.
Meanwhile, on the other side…
Qin Yun's mother, Jiang Mengyao, had just returned home when she saw her youngest son looking battered and bruised.
She didn't waste any time and immediately sent Qin Yun to the VIP ward of the city hospital to recover.
"Mom, I'm really fine. Qin Jiang was probably just mad at me in the moment. If it helps him vent his frustration about me marrying into the Yan family, then I actually feel better about it. It doesn't hurt—I mean, look, the swelling on my face is almost gone."
Qin Yun lay in the hospital bed, the marks from Qin Jiang's slaps still clearly visible on his face, looking even worse than before.
Jiang Mengyao sat by the bed, exuding the grace and elegance of a noblewoman. Her appearance was well-maintained, with skin that seemed untouched by time, soft and glowing.
But at that moment, her brow was furrowed, and her eyes were filled with disappointment, disdain, and anger toward Qin Jiang.
"A-Yun, I know you've always been kind, obedient, and understanding, but being too nice just invites trouble! That wild child Qin Jiang dared to bully you behind my back again. It seems the punishment of kneeling in the ancestral hall for three days and nights last time wasn't enough. This time, I'm going to give him thirty lashes with the rod to teach him a lesson, to correct his lowly and shameless behavior, and to show him what 'brotherly love and respect' really means."
Jiang Mengyao felt nothing but shame and humiliation when she thought about her son, Qin Jiang.
She had raised Qin Yun herself—though he wasn't in the best health, he embodied all the manners and qualities of a noble young man.
But Qin Jiang? When he was brought back to the Qin family at 17, he was filthy, with clothes that were torn and patched up.
Anyone who didn't know better would've thought he was a beggar pulled out of some trash heap.
She couldn't believe that in this day and age, someone could be that poor. She suspected that the young man had dressed that way on purpose to garner sympathy from the family and edge out her own son, Qin Yun.
Jiang Mengyao's heart sank, immediately convinced that Qin Jiang was cunning and had likely picked up bad habits from living at the bottom of society.
Soon enough, she found that Qin Jiang indeed couldn't shake off his lowly habits—he was dishonest, stealing things, lying, and even engaging in gambling, which the Qin family despised.
Framing his own brother and resorting to violence when provoked—his nature was rotten to the core.
Such a terrible character made him no different from a wild, heartless dog.
But blood ties can't be severed. Since she gave birth to him, it was her duty to discipline and punish him.
Just then, Qin Xianyun, the fifth sister, walked into the hospital room. When she saw the injuries on Qin Yun's face, she was momentarily stunned.
That injury—it wasn't that bad when it happened!
But she didn't dwell on it, assuming it must've been because Qin Jiang hit him too hard.
"Mom, you might not get the chance. Qin Jiang has already moved out and declared that he's cutting ties with our family!"
Qin Xianyun spoke matter-of-factly, as if it was no big deal.
She didn't believe that Qin Jiang had the guts to actually cut ties with the Qin family completely.
Jiang Mengyao was taken aback but quickly recovered, her face hardening with a chilling frost. "He really is a wild child. The fortune-teller wasn't wrong when they said he's a curse—wherever he goes, he only brings disaster. He'll never enjoy a good life. He's avoiding responsibility for hurting A-Yun by pretending to cut ties with the family, thinking he can escape my punishment? He's still too naive."
These harsh words came from his own mother, but no one in the room found them inappropriate. After all, Qin Jiang had always been the bad child in the Qin family, and their mother was used to scolding him.
Fifth sister Qin Xianyun recalled how Qin Jiang looked so carefree and full of swagger when he left the house, as if breaking away from the family was something to celebrate.
The Qin family was his birth family, yet Qin Jiang seemed eager to rid himself of them, which was just infuriating.
Qin Xianyun nodded in agreement. "Mom's right. If we
don't discipline him ourselves and let Qin Jiang's bad behavior continue, he'll only cause trouble outside and tarnish our family's reputation."
As for the "cursed" label, even though Qin Xianyun had grown up with a good education and didn't really believe in superstitions, she couldn't help but notice the coincidences. Before Qin Jiang came home, Qin Yun had been healthy and was even the charming and respected figure at school. But after Qin Jiang returned, Qin Yun got sick, and their grandfather also fell ill and rarely left the house.
Their grandmother believed that Qin Jiang's return brought misfortune upon the family, affecting the oldest and youngest members the most. But kicking Qin Jiang out wasn't really an option—it would ruin the Qin family's reputation, and despite being supposedly "cursed" by him, their grandfather still defended Qin Jiang and insisted on keeping him in the family.
The family even went as far as to publicly announce that Qin Jiang was the long-lost son of the Qin family!
But the thing is, Qin Jiang was considered a bad luck charm.
So, the whole family came up with a plan to move his room to the attic, far away from everyone else.
Grandma even brought in a spiritual master to perform rituals all over Qin Jiang's room in the attic, and they plastered the door with talismans to ward off evil spirits!
Everyone in the family believed this, so Qin Xianyun just went along with it, accepting that he was the family's scapegoat.
After that, whenever Qin Yun got sick and needed a blood transfusion from Qin Jiang, she thought it was only fair and never felt bad for Qin Jiang.
Grandma was right: the blood Qin Jiang was giving wasn't just blood, but a debt he owed to A-Yun!
"Cough… cough…"
The weak coughing from Qin Yun on the hospital bed made both people in the room tense up.
Qin Yun was different from that troublemaker Qin Jiang. Qin Yun had grown up under their watchful eyes, and his closeness to them was something Qin Jiang could never match.
"Mom… Mom, I suddenly feel really bad…"
"Fifth Sister, help me…"
Qin Yun weakly spoke, barely audible, and his face looked even paler.
Seeing the swollen handprint on his face made Jiang Mengyao both heartbroken and furious.
"Hurry, call the doctor!"
"Xiao Wu, go find Qin Jiang and bring him to the hospital. Tell him it's my order, and he must come. I'm his mother—I gave him life, and now he has to repay that debt!"
Jiang Mengyao quickly pressed the button to call the doctor and urgently told Qin Xianyun what to do.
Qin Yun had been weak since childhood, and after Qin Jiang came back, he suddenly developed leukemia and needed regular blood transfusions. But Qin Yun's blood type was rare—P blood type.
The P blood group system is another blood type system beyond ABO, including P1, P2, P1k, P2k, and p phenotypes. The p blood type is a rare phenotype within this system. In certain regions, it occurs in one in a million people, and among the population in China, the frequency is even less than one in a million.
With such a rare blood type, it just so happened that both Qin Jiang and Qin Yun had it.
So, naturally, Qin Jiang became Qin Yun's blood bank.
Every time Qin Yun got sick, Qin Jiang had to be there, or he had to draw fresh blood and deliver it personally to the Qin family.
He did all of this without a word of gratitude from the Qin family. Instead, they felt it was only right for him to do so.
After all, he was the older brother, and that meant he had to sacrifice for his younger brother.
He was healthy, so he was expected to support his sickly brother.
"Mom, don't worry, I'll head to Huajing University right now to find Qin Jiang. For A-Yun's sake… even if I have to drag him back, I will!"
Qin Xianyun wasted no time, rushing out of the hospital room.
Assistant Zhao had just arrived at Qin Yun's private hospital room when he saw the doctors hurrying back and forth anxiously.
He quickly called Qin Moyeun to report the situation.
As he was speaking into his earpiece, a graceful female voice stopped him: "Assistant Zhao, what are you doing here?"
Assistant Zhao quickly explained and mentioned Qin Moyeun's illness.
"Alright, I got it. Moyeun is strong—she's just dealing with a bit of mental stress, so I won't go see her just yet."
"A-Yun just went into surgery, and as his mother, I need to be here for him."
"Tell Moyeun that once she feels better, she should come and be here for A-Yun too. As the eldest daughter of the Qin family, she needs to set an example by caring for her younger brother!"
Jiang Mengyao spoke as if it was the most natural thing in the world. As a mother, she felt she needed to be there for her children. But over the years, her daughters had become more independent and didn't need her as much.
Qin Yun, however, was different. He needed her the most.
He was frail and often sick, and only he relied on her completely.
After so many years of caring for Qin Yun, Jiang Mengyao had gotten used to prioritizing him over everything else. That's why she didn't feel the need to visit Qin Moyeun.
Her eldest daughter was mature and independent—she wouldn't be selfish enough to blame her mother for not being there.
Qin Moyeun overheard her mother's words through Assistant Zhao's earpiece.
So this is what it feels like to not be important to your own family...
She felt like she had seen this scene before.
There was a time when Qin Jiang got injured while cleaning a window on the second floor. He fell and got hurt badly, with glass shards cutting into his skin, and he broke nearly all his bones.
Coincidentally, Qin Yun was having one of his episodes at that time.
But since they had already prepared and stored Qin Jiang's blood in advance, they didn't need him to personally go to the hospital.
Qin Jiang was found injured by the housekeeper, Aunt Xu, who rushed him to the hospital. He was being treated in a room down the hall from where Qin Yun was having surgery.
Even though Qin Moyeun couldn't stand Qin Jiang's rebellious nature, as the eldest sister of the Qin family, she felt it was her duty to go and check on Qin Jiang in the other emergency room.
But just as she was about to go, Jiang Mengyao stopped her:
"Qin Jiang has always been strong and healthy. Even if he gets hurt, it's just a surface injury. He's just trying to steal attention from A-Yun and win the family's sympathy with a pity act!"
"No one in the family is allowed to visit him. If we give in this time, he'll think he can always use this trick. Next thing you know, he'll be faking injuries to get money for gambling."
"I won't let him spiral into that kind of behavior. From now on, the Qin family won't give him a cent. None of you are allowed to give him pocket money behind my back, or all my efforts to discipline him will be in vain."
But a month later, when Qin Jiang came home on crutches, with scabs all over his face and body, even Qin Moyeun couldn't help but flinch at the sight.
Was that really just an act?
Those wounds were very real.
Later, she asked Aunt Xu, who had taken Qin Jiang to the hospital, and learned that Qin Jiang had gotten hurt because their mother had mentioned she wanted to see stars at night.
It was rainy season then, and there were no stars, so Qin Jiang had climbed up to stick glow-in-the-dark stars on the window for her, which is when he fell.
On top of that, when Qin Jiang fell, there were several banana peels on the ground—clearly placed there on purpose.
But by the time Qin Jiang returned home, his injuries were too severe, and it was too late to find any evidence.
As Qin Moyeun listened, her frown deepened. That day, she had come home to grab some files, and she had seen their fourth sister, Qin Shuyun, who usually took care of Qin Yun during his episodes, sitting on the couch eating a fruit salad.
And it just so happened to be a banana salad!
Normally, Qin Shuyun didn't even like bananas.
But at the time, Moyeun hadn't thought much of it. She grabbed her files and left, and as she was driving back to the company, she got the news that Qin Jiang had fallen.
Knowing how the family felt about Qin Jiang, she reluctantly went to the hospital. But first, she went to check on Qin Yun in the emergency room, planning to visit Qin Jiang afterward...
After learning the truth, Moyeun chalked it up to a series of unfortunate events. She couldn't believe that her own family would intentionally harm each other.
To maintain peace in the Qin family, she didn't pursue the matter with Qin Shuyun, assuming it was all just an accident.
She had planned to tell her mother that Qin Jiang got hurt while putting up glow-in-the-dark stars for her, but she got too busy with work and didn't think it was that important.
She never found the right moment to mention it, so she never did.
Or maybe, deep down, she just accepted Qin Jiang's sacrifices as normal, thinking it was no big deal for him to get injured and take a month to recover.
After all, he's a man—it's just a few injuries!
But now, as she sat on the hospital bed, her head pounding with pain, and no one around her, she finally understood how Qin Jiang must have felt all those times.
But the damage was already done.
She was too proud to lower herself and make amends with Qin Jiang. In a couple of days, he would be coming to the company to give her a massage.
Maybe then, she could give him a chance to apologize to the family and bring him back home.
That way, she could quietly make it up to him in her own way.
But for some reason, this time, she felt a strange sense of unease.