Chapter 9: Heartbeat

Qin Yanci suddenly laughed. "Are you trying to coax me like a child?"

"A partner," Ying Sisi corrected him.

Qin Yanci felt a strange sensation in his heart. Biting into a snack, he mumbled, "Mm, a partner."

Ying Sisi thought for a second, then pulled out a stamp. "Have you seen this before?"

Qin Yanci's eyes lit up as he flipped it over to look. "A stamp from the Republican era. Where did you get it?"

Ying Sisi was secretly delighted; he actually seemed to know something about them. She pretended to be casual and said, "I picked it up. I heard people say that old stamps are very valuable. Is that true?"

"It's true. I studied them and collected them back when I was a student. Based on what I know, a single one like this is worth at least seven or eight yuan."

Ying Sisi couldn't suppress her secret joy. Seven or eight yuan for one stamp?

She had counted them yesterday; there were over a hundred and thirty in that book.

They were from various eras.

Some could be traced as far back as the last century.

If one was worth that much, wouldn't she strike it rich if she sold the whole book?

She suppressed the urge to let her lips curl upward. "Seven or eight yuan? That's a lot. Where can I sell it?"

Qin Yanci: "In antique markets. These places are quite hidden nowadays; ordinary people probably wouldn't be able to find them. Are you going to sell it? I can ask around for you later."

Ying Sisi was excited, so excited that she grabbed his hand. "A-Ci, you really are my lucky star." If she tried to find a place on her own, she might never find an antique market.

Qin Yanci lowered his eyes, his gaze falling on her hand.

Compared to his dark skin, she was truly white, like the white part of a green onion. Unlike the delicate skin on her face, her hands were quite rough.

Just like his.

They were the hands of someone who worked.

For some reason, his heart raced and his throat went dry. He thought about how, just now when she was feeding him snacks, he should have bitten her finger when it almost touched his lips to taste what it was like.

Or perhaps he should let her warm his bed; after all, they were an engaged couple, and she had agreed to it.

At that moment, the sound of a door opening came from outside.

Then, a burst of noise.

Ying Sisi was the first to step out.

A young couple holding a child came into view. The young man wore a navy blue cotton coat, and the woman was wrapped tightly in a large coat.

Following beside them was a middle-aged woman with a somewhat haggard face.

They were Qin Yanci's eldest brother and sister-in-law, and his mother.

Ying Sisi took the initiative to greet them. "Auntie, Brother, Sister-in-law, hello."

"Sisi? Is our Yanci here too?"

Qin Yanci appeared from the kitchen.

Mother Qin froze for a moment, her eyes quickly turning red. She stepped forward hurriedly. "Yanci, you're back. You've grown so tall." She reached out to touch his face, but he dodged her.

Mother Qin's movements stiffened, and she murmured, "You've gotten thinner, and darker too."

"The sun is strong at the farm, and life is hard. How could I not get thinner and darker? I can't compare to you all, enjoying life in Yanjing, all of you being raised to be white and plump," Qin Yanci said, his words laced with sarcasm.

The family had nothing to say in rebuttal.

Ying Sisi found it strange; it was the first time she had heard him speak so many words in one breath.

Qin Yanci's eldest sister-in-law was named Lu Yuechun. She tried to ease the atmosphere. "Yanci, do you want to see your little niece?"

"Not interested." Qin Yanci went straight back to his room.

"Yanci." Mother Qin chased after him.

Lu Yuechun's worried gaze followed Qin Yanci's retreating back before shifting to Ying Sisi a moment later. "When did Sisi arrive?"

"Not long ago." Ying Sisi accompanied Lu Yuechun back into the room to get a closer look at the child. The baby was fair and clean, with very long eyelashes. She praised, "She's so cute."

"Once you marry in, you should hurry up and have one too."

Ying Sisi thought to herself: *You all have occupied all the houses; where would we live if we had a child?*

She hadn't had a decent place to live when she was little, and she still didn't have a child. What would be the difference between a child and herself?

She was unwilling to let a child taste the bitterness of life from a young age.

On the surface, she said coquettishly, "Sister-in-law, don't tease me."

(End of Chapter)