Chapter 33: Arrived Home Safely

Around nine o'clock, Su Huan woke up and suddenly remembered something; she picked up her phone from the nightstand and found not a single WeChat message from Qin Yun, instantly feeling disappointed.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, she gave a faint, bitter smile and gently patted her own face: "Su Huan, Su Huan, snap out of it—you're twenty-seven, don't act like a lovesick fool."

After a quick washup, she noticed there were no vegetables left in the fridge, so she immediately placed an order via Dingdong on her phone.

Less than half an hour later, the doorbell rang. Su Huan opened the door, took the plastic bag from the Dingdong rider, thanked him, and was about to close the door when she suddenly spotted a box beside it.

"Whose parcel is this? Did they deliver it to the wrong address?"

After hesitating, she picked up the box and found inside a small silk pouch and a note.

"I'm leaving. A little gift for you, Boss Su."

Su Huan's heart skipped a beat; she quickly set the vegetables down and pulled out the silk pouch. Carefully opening it, a pale blue jade rabbit appeared before her eyes.

It was a "plump" jade rabbit, its body a full oval with soft, seamless curves. Its small ears pressed neatly against its head, and its eyes were rendered with minimal lines, giving it an endearing, innocent look.

The top of the pendant had been deliberately shaped into a curved "loop," paired with a red braided cord and a single red carnelian bead, making the color scheme strikingly bright.

Instantly, a smile spread across Su Huan's face; she rushed back to her bedroom and called Qin Yun.

The phone rang twice before being answered.

"Hey, did you like the little gift? Don't be fooled by the lack of carving—it's actually more complex than it looks, took me ages to make."

Qin Yun's cheerful laugh came through the line; Su Huan replied happily: "Yes, I love it—you still remember I was born in the Year of the Rabbit."

"Haha, can't help it—you were the youngest in the whole class, impossible to forget."

"Are you on the highway now?"

"I've passed the Shaoxing service area; I'm almost at Yuyao."

Su Huan stroked the jade rabbit pendant in her hand, a strong impulse rising within her—but over the phone, she held back, saying only: "When will you come back to Hangzhou?"

"I don't know." Qin Yun thought about his plans. "I'll only come out once I've decided what kind of self-media path to take. If I return to Hangzhou, I'll contact you."

"Okay, you must contact me."

Qin Yun found the voice on the other end strange, but didn't think much of it: "Alright, I've got to focus on driving now. Goodbye."

"Yeah, goodbye."

After hanging up, Su Huan clutched the jade rabbit pendant and collapsed onto her bed.

"Crazy… crazy… I'm really crazy."

Around ten-thirty, Qin Yun's car passed the toll booth and entered the Dongxi Expressway. He noticed the speed limit here was 90, whereas just before, on the latter half of the bridge, it had been 80—unfair, since he'd always flown directly to Mount Putuo Airport in past years.

Soon, the car exited the expressway and entered Lincheng's territory. Qin Yun rolled down his window; a gust of sea breeze and the familiar fishy odor rushed in—Lincheng had several specific spots where the fish smell was especially strong.

Turning off Hai Tian Avenue, the Zhoushan Fishery Dormitory building came clearly into view.

Not long after, he parked his car beneath his building. Somehow, parking spaces had been added here—he hadn't been back in a year and a half, and everything had changed.

His mother had mentioned on the phone that the exterior renovation of the Zhoushan Fishery Dormitory was nearly complete; it no longer looked as rough and shabby as before.

This was an old neighborhood, about twenty years old, originally built to solve housing problems for fishing workers. Qin Yun's home was on the second floor—but "second floor" here meant the first actual living level; the bottom was just a parking shed and storage.

After parking, he looked up and immediately spotted a figure by the kitchen window.

Coincidentally, the figure in the window also looked down—the mother and son locked eyes.

He waved, grabbed the bags from the car, and strode up the stairs.

"Son, I thought you'd stay in Hangzhou a few more days—why are you back today?"

Qin Yun kicked off his shoes and walked in, smiling: "Everything's done, so I came back."

Qin Yun's mother, Hu Fen, was just over fifty but still looked young, dressed fashionably and keeping up with the times, never left behind.

"I'll wash you some fruit—then let's go buy seafood. Look at you, you've lost so much weight."

Hu Fen didn't immediately ask about marriage, fearing it would upset her son. But she knew full well that in this marriage, her son had been the one who suffered. Still, he had insisted on it back then, and she had given her advice—now that he was home, how could a mother add salt to his wounds?

"Okay, Mom—just wash me some grapes."

Compared to his bright, renovated home in Beijing, Qin Yun found his mother's house gave him far greater freedom—no sense of compromise or suppression.

Two women: one only took and demanded; the other gave him everything selflessly.

He recalled his mother's words at the time of his marriage—now he understood: they were the wisdom of experience, seeing through everything at a glance. Perhaps his stubbornness these past few years had stemmed partly from this—he didn't want her words to come true too soon.

Qin Yun wandered around the house, watching his mother happily busy, and felt a pang of guilt.

Since his father's death, mother and son had relied on each other. But after college, though he had winter and summer breaks, he spent most of his time in Beijing. After graduation, he stayed in Beijing for work, rarely seeing his mother even once a year.

Truly, he was unfilial.

"Mom, I bought you a set of cosmetics—not a big brand, but all my classmates said it's good."

Hu Fen nodded cheerfully: "Thank you, son."

In many families, when children brought gifts home, parents would complain: "Why waste money on this? I don't need it—I can still use the old one…" But his mother never said such things.

No matter what he bought, she gave him high emotional value—she joyfully accepted it and proudly showed it off to everyone.

This made Qin Yun deeply admire his mother.

Mother and son sat on the sofa, eating fruit and chatting. Qin Yun recounted every amusing incident from his journey back from Beijing—even his rock climbing.

As expected, when he mentioned it, Hu Fen's face darkened with worry: "Isn't that too dangerous?"

Qin Yun reassured her: "Mom, what's hard isn't hard for those who know how; what's easy isn't easy for those who don't. If you prepare properly, it's not that dangerous."

What else could he say? He couldn't tell her the death rate for this sport was terrifying—she'd have a heart attack.

Hu Fen nodded and said: "See? You really should've studied in a big city. Look—you're not only solid in your professional knowledge, you can rock climb, fix cars, even repair musical instruments. Where else could you learn so much in our little town?"

Qin Yun laughed helplessly but didn't correct her—he couldn't say, "Even if you were on Mars, it wouldn't matter."

His son's skills came from the system, not from learning.

Mother and son chatted for nearly an hour before Hu Fen clapped her hands: "Come on, let's go shopping—it's already eleven. I wonder if they still have those sesame snails you like."

The market was just across from the Zhoushan Fishery Dormitory, in Binhai New City—not far. When they arrived, they were lucky: someone had just brought in a batch of freshly picked sesame snails. They also picked some swimming crabs and small white shrimp—seafood complete.

People in Zhoushan eat seafood every meal—every household does.

In other cities, this would be unimaginable.

Back at home, seeing his mother busy, Qin Yun used pliers to crack open sesame snails while chatting with her.

"Mom, isn't Jiajia going to take the college entrance exam next year?"

Jiajia was his aunt's daughter; they were close as children, but as they grew older, they became just friends in their social circle, meeting only during the New Year, rarely speaking otherwise.

"Yes, Jiajia is in her final year of high school, and Hu Di is in his third year of junior high—he'll take the senior high entrance exam next year too."

Hu Di was his uncle's son.

As they chatted about relatives and some amusing stories from his mother's company, a hearty lunch was soon ready.

"How are Grandpa and Grandma? How about we visit them at Huni next Saturday?"

Qin Yun looked at the plump crab in his hand, broke off half, and gave it to his mother.

Taking the crab her son offered, Hu Fen nodded: "They're fine—still farm, still play mahjong. But your grandparents miss you; you're always busy, you never even find time to call them."

Qin Yun sucked in a mouthful of delicious crab meat and admitted guiltily: "You're right—I've been careless."

These past years in Beijing, work was busy, life was busy, marriage was busy—he never stopped to think. Now he realized how much he'd ignored.

"By the way, didn't you invite Grandpa and Grandma to come live with you? Why won't they come?"

"Your grandfather refuses." Hu Fen sighed. "He says staying a few days occasionally is fine, but living here long-term? No way. How can a man live permanently at his daughter's house? That old man is so stubborn."

Qin Yun laughed: "Then why not stay a few days here, a few days there, rotating? I'm sure Aunt and Uncle wouldn't mind."

"Stubborn, useless," Hu Fen said helplessly. "He's heartbroken thinking about those few mu of farmland going to waste. He says if no one lives in the house, it'll collapse eventually. I thought, does living in it stop it from collapsing? If it's going to fall, it'll fall."

Thinking of his grandfather's stubbornness, Qin Yun burst out laughing.

"By the way, I remember last year Grandpa's bathroom was already bad—the underground pipes were cracked, and he had to fetch water from the well just to wash his face. Is it fixed now?"

"Fixed. Everyone chipped in some money and did a full renovation."

As the mother and son chatted idly over lunch, the electric fan blowing gently, Qin Yun felt an unprecedented ease he had never known before.

"Call your uncle later and invite him over for dinner tonight."

Qin Yun blinked: "Uncle's ashore?"

His uncle was a sailor, spending the whole year on ships.

"Didn't you check the family group? He came ashore yesterday."

"Alright, I'll call him later."

After eating, while his mother was busy, Qin Yun wandered down to the first-floor bike shed, where they kept a storage room.

Qin Yun opened the storage room door, turned on the light, and looked at a motorcycle parked in the corner.

The motorcycle was covered in dust; the last time he rode it was when his father was still alive—fifteen full years ago.

He couldn't have fixed it before, but now, with Vehicle Repair Lv1, repairing a vehicle with no serious damage was effortless.

"Old friend, wait—I'll get you running again in a few days."