“I apologize, don’t blame Mr. Qin.”
She was about to bow.
“Dr. Sun, it’s not your fault, it’s just an
allergy, some medicine will do.”
Watching him downplay the situation, my
disappointment deepened.
My allergy was discovered when Quintin, knowing I’d never had seafood, secretly left
me a piece. He thought I was going to die,
and sobbed uncontrollably in the bedroom
until the adults took me to the hospital.
After that, seafood was removed from the Qin
family’s menu.
But now he said some medicine would do.
I didn’t want to argue and turned to leave.
Opening the door, the sight before me was
strange.
Dr. Sun’s taunting voice followed me.
“Officer Sarah, for the convenience of Mr.
Qin’s treatment, I’ll temporarily move into this
room.”
“I’ve moved your belongings to the innermost
room.”
“It’s for Mr. Qin’s sake, you don’t mind, right?”
I’d moved next to Quintin’s room to easily
monitor him, but now that it was unnecessary,
it didn’t matter where I slept.
I walked to the innermost room without a
word.
The small storage room had no windows, and my belongings were scattered on the floor.
I began to pack, stopping when I reached the
<
corner.
The things in the corner were so familiar, all
the gifts I had given Quintin, from expensive jewelry to hand–knitted scarves.
All of them were here, dusty and faded, just like our past friendship.
I stared for a moment. No wonder I’d never
seen him use any of my gifts.
He always said, “Sarah’s gifts are so
precious, how could I use them casually? I’ve found a good place to keep them.”
So his “keeping them” meant throwing them away in a storage room.
I smiled bitterly, gently wiping the dust off them, before calling the orphanage.
Since the original owner didn’t cherish them, I’d find new owners.
<
When the orphanage staff left with the things,
Quintin appeared at the door.
“What are they doing here?”
“Nothing, just taking care of some unwanted
things.”
I spent the rest of the day in the storage
room.
Without Quintin and Dr. Sun, my heart was
surprisingly calm.
I even started daydreaming about my
unrealized dreams.
When I was lost in thought, Quintin entered
with a bowl of chicken soup, his face filled
with concern.
“Sarah, this is chicken soup I’ve been
simmering for hours. Eat it while it’s hot.”
I stared at the bowl he forced into my hands. I
<
had no appetite.
Every time Quintin hurt me, he’d graciously give me a bowl of chicken soup.
He used these bowls of soup to make me
willingly impersonate my sister and endure his punishments.
I thought Dr. Sun’s arrival would end this, but he still remembered.
