Yu He, her grandmother, and the Qiao siblings arrived in the capital that evening and checked into a hotel.
The next day, she called Shi Ban and asked him to look for rental information centered around a courtyard house.
After hearing her request, Shi Ban said, "I happen to have a property in Beijing's Fourth Ring Road that's been empty for over a year. No one's living there, so you can see if it suits you. I'll send you the address and the gate code."
"Okay," Yu He replied, casually asking, "Why do you have a place in Beijing?"
She remembered Shi Ban was from the south.
"Don't be envious; Nan Ou insisted on giving it to me when he was pursuing me back then," Shi Ban said proudly, then teased, "You're going to develop your career in Beijing, but doesn't your Qin Qiye care about where you live?"
"I'm not envious. I just received a courtyard house a few days ago," Yu He said.
Shi Ban: "..."
Damn it, she'd made him jealous!
Shi Ban: "Then why are you still renting a place!"
"The courtyard house is for opening a traditional Chinese medicine clinic, and I need to rent another place for my grandmother and friend to live in," Yu He explained simply.
Speaking of the clinic, Shi Ban recalled the medicine Yu He gave him last time. "By the way, the medicine you gave me last time, after my godson took it, his post-operative rejection was greatly relieved. The attending physician was shocked and asked what divine doctor made the medicine."
"Oh," Yu He responded faintly, having long grown accustomed to such reactions.
"My godson's biological father asked me to ask you what reward you'd like," Shi Ban asked. "Don't be modest; he's the head of the Huo family, a real fat sheep, so feel free to take him for all he's got."
Head of the Huo family. Yu He found the name vaguely familiar.
She thought about it and realized, oh, wasn't that the person who caused the Shao family's young master, Shao Chen, to be beaten severely by his own grandfather?
When she had investigated Shi Ban's godson's condition before, she hadn't paid attention to who the child's biological father was.
"Tell him to leave a good review and introduce some patients to me when my TCM clinic opens," Yu He said.
Shi Ban: "No problem!"
After hanging up, Yu He took her grandmother and the Qiao siblings for breakfast, then hailed a car and headed straight to the address Shi Ban had sent.
The apartment was in a complex right next to the courtyard house for the clinic, about seven to eight hundred meters away on foot. The complex had good greenery, and the apartment was a four-bedroom, two-living room unit, which was perfect.
Yu He immediately finalized the rental with Shi Ban. That day, she paid extra to hire a cleaning company to thoroughly clean the apartment. Simultaneously, she converted the study and the small movie room into bedrooms, furnishing them with new furniture and daily necessities.
Three days later, after the renovations were complete, Yu He moved everyone from the hotel into the new apartment.
With four bedrooms, it meant one room for each person.
"It's so beautiful! Is this my room?" Qiao Qiao stood at the door of a pink-decorated second bedroom, looking at Yu He with emotion.
Yu He nodded. "It was a bit rushed, so the renovation is rather simple. Make do for now; we can add things you need slowly."
Qiao Qiao immediately shook her head. "It's not simple at all. You really don't need to spend so much on my brother and me. My brother and I can share a room and use a bunk bed."
Qiao Wei chimed in, "Yes, in this capital city where every inch of land is precious, renting such a large apartment is too extravagant. You've already been so good to us."
They had looked at apartments nearby, and the cheapest ones cost over a hundred thousand per square meter. For a unit this size, a monthly rent would be over ten thousand yuan.
At first, they were determined not to be separated from Grandma Yu and came to the big city with her to make a living, but they had underestimated the cost of living in a metropolis.
Yu He raised her hand to stop them. "Stop with the sentimentality. If you really feel indebted, then work hard for me in the future and help me take care of Grandma."
Although she had kept a room for herself here, she wouldn't be staying all the time. With the siblings looking after her grandmother, she would be at ease.
"Okay, we definitely will," Qiao Qiao nodded.
She knew Yu He disliked excessive sentimentality, so she stopped with her words of gratitude and resolved to repay her with actions.
Once their accommodation was settled, Yu He assigned tasks to the siblings: Qiao Qiao was to procure equipment for making medicinal meals, and Qiao Wei was to familiarize himself with Beijing's transportation routes. Preparations for the TCM clinic's opening began.
During this time, Yu He returned to Bei City to pick up the little pig.
After a busy day, that evening, Yu He lay in bed, cuddling the little pig and video-calling Qin Beiting.
On the video call, Qin Beiting sat in the back of a car. His handsome features showed a hint of exhaustion, indicating he had just finished his work and was on his way back.
"I've brought your son over. Do you want to see him? Tiramisu, say hello to Daddy," Yu He said, switching to the rear camera.
The little pig had been neglected by its little owner at the Ye family's place for a few days recently. Now that it was back with its little owner, it was nuzzling and acting spoiled on Yu He, unwilling to pay attention to Qin Beiting.
Qin Beiting: "I don't want to see it. What's so interesting about a pig? I want to see you."
As soon as Yu He switched the camera back to the front, the little pig immediately lifted its head, then snorted and climbed up Yu He's arm, turning towards the phone screen. Its snout was almost touching the camera, blocking Yu He's face.
Yu He was amused by its antics.
"Knock knock." Just then, there was a sudden knock on the door, and Qiao Wei's voice could be faintly heard from outside.
"Yu He, can you open the door?"
Qin Beiting, hearing the knock from his end and unable to make out what was being said outside, furrowed his brow slightly and asked with a hint of displeasure, "Who is it?"
Yu He got up. "Brother Wei, I'll open the door. Just a moment..." I'll call you back.
"Don't hang up the video call."
Before she could finish speaking, Qin Beiting interrupted her with an irrefutable tone.
He knew that Yu He's trip back to the mountains wasn't just to bring out Grandma Yu, but also a pair of siblings she claimed to have grown up with.
If it were the girl, fine, but a boy? Wouldn't that make him even more of a childhood sweetheart than himself?
This scoundrel knocking on her door in the middle of the night couldn't possibly be for any good reason.
Yu He: "..."
Yu He casually placed her phone on the desktop phone stand and went to open the door.
"Yu He." Qiao Wei stood at the door, holding a stack of cash. When the door opened, he scratched the back of his head somewhat shyly and handed the money to Yu He.
"There are many household expenses, and we can't spend all of your money. This is all my savings. It might not be much, but I hope you don't mind. Please take it. When I earn money in the future, I'll support everyone."
Yu He glanced at the cash in his hand, estimating it to be around ten thousand yuan. She then looked behind him at Qiao Qiao, who was watching her with genuine eyes while wearing pajamas. Yu He sighed slightly.
It seemed that if she didn't accept the money, these two siblings wouldn't be able to live there with peace of mind.
"Okay," she accepted the money.
Seeing that she had accepted it, the siblings finally breathed a sigh of relief and smiled brightly.
"Then I won't disturb your rest. Goodnight," Qiao Wei said.
"Goodnight."
Yu He closed the door and returned to her room. She picked up her phone, only to find that Qin Beiting had hung up the video call.
The chat window between them was suddenly flooded with transfer messages.
Received transfer: 520.00 yuan
Received transfer: 666.66 yuan
Received transfer: 888.88 yuan
Received transfer: 999.99 yuan
Received transfer: 1314.00 yuan
Yu He: ???