The first thing I did was to find out

Chapter 561 My Dearest Little Brother

According to the information obtained by the private investigator hired by Luo Jun, Lin Qi has not been doing too badly in recent years.

Although he wasn't good at farming, he did receive land back then, so he was able to survive. Although he couldn't write, he knew a few characters and wasn't completely illiterate. In fact, he learned arithmetic from Chen Shun by using an abacus and eventually became the brigade's accountant.

The 10 yuan that An Youyou sent in her second life was also sent at just the right time. At that time, Lin Qi's son was getting married and was short 10 yuan for the bride price of a girl from the city. Lin Qi had borrowed from all his acquaintances and was just short of that 10 yuan. It seemed that the marriage was about to fall through when An Youyou's letter arrived just in time.

Because An Youyou didn't leave her name, and the contents of the letter were a jumbled mess, Lin Qi's reaction upon receiving the letter was said to be very strange. He was first shocked, then overjoyed, and then he hugged the letter and cried his eyes out, exclaiming that his boss was actually alive. He then fainted from crying.

The Lin family was terrified, thinking Lin Qi had suffered a shock and was about to die. They almost went to the neighboring village to ask a shaman to summon Lin Qi's soul. After Lin Qi's son got married smoothly, Lin Qi continued to write diligently, sending letters to that address for more than 10 years without receiving any response. Countless villagers speculated that the letters were from Lin Qi's old flame, which led to numerous bizarre yet tragic love stories.

Qin Huai was shocked that Luo Jun's private investigator could find out such detailed information, so detailed that it seemed as if he had been there and witnessed Lin Qi's reaction after reading the letter.

This private investigator is so skilled, why hasn't he been able to find out anything about Jiang Weiming after so long? Is it really that hard to find out about a chef at a state-run restaurant? Or are there just too many state-run restaurants in Sichuan, and these chefs are so secretive that even a private investigator with his exceptional skills can't get any information?

Besides uncovering gossip, the private investigator also learned about Lin Qi's current situation.

Like Grandpa Wang, Lin Qi was lucky enough to be relocated, but he received far fewer houses than Grandpa Wang, only three houses in total.

He only has one son and one daughter. After the demolition, he fairly gave each of his children an apartment, keeping the other one for himself. Over the years, he has also given a considerable amount of the demolition compensation to his children and grandchildren. A few years ago, Lin Qi's wife passed away due to illness, and her medical treatment also cost a lot of money. According to a private investigator's analysis, Lin Qi should still have some money on hand. The reason he lives in a nursing home in the suburbs is because he prefers the countryside and doesn't like the city.

Moreover, this nursing home was relatively close to Lin Qi's old production team. In recent years, Lin Qi's dementia had become increasingly severe, to the point that he no longer recognized his grandchildren and, most of the time, his children. He frequently tried to escape from the nursing home, and each time he was caught, he would resist fiercely, shouting things like he was going to the village to wait for his eldest son to come and help him achieve great success—things that no one could understand.

Qin Huai, An Youyou, and Shi Dadan received these detailed documents and recent photos of Lin Qi only after they disembarked from the plane. The three of them booked tickets to Shanghai almost immediately after the private investigator found Lin Qi's address, and the private investigator hadn't even finished compiling the relevant information when they landed.

Qin Huai felt there was no need to tidy it up anymore.

An Youyou had already imagined the whole story, conjuring up a dramatic family drama about a demented elderly person being bullied in a nursing home, and unscrupulous children taking money and ignoring their parents, hoping for the elderly person's early death so they could divide up the property and assets.

"Xiao Qi's life is too miserable." An Youyou sighed. "I think I can become successful in this life if you, boss, are willing to give me 52% of the shares of Yunzhong Restaurant. But will Xiao Qi live to see the day I become successful?"

Qin Huai: ?
"Can't you achieve success on your own?" Qin Huai asked, his soul churning.

Which of us is the protagonist of the system novel, and who is going to give gifts to whom?
"Can Dr. Qu conquer Alzheimer's disease within two years?" An Youyou murmured.

Qin Huai: ...

Okay, so it seems An Youyou treats me quite well, she just wants 52% of the shares in Yunzhong Canteen. If it were Qu Jing, she'd be asked to conquer Alzheimer's within two years and write a medical miracle.

Qin Huai glanced at the time and then at the address of the nursing home, and suggested, "It's already past 4 pm, and this nursing home stops accepting visitors at 6 pm. It takes more than two hours to get from the airport to the nursing home if there's no traffic, so we definitely won't be able to see Lin Qi today. Why don't we book a hotel that's not too far away, within a 40-minute drive of the nursing home, and go to the nursing home early tomorrow morning?"

“The information I read says that this nursing home is quite strictly managed and has professional doctors and nurses. Visitors have to register, and they don’t necessarily have to be relatives. We’ll definitely need to leave our real information, so we’ll have to make up an identity related to Lin Qi.”

"Visits can only be made with the elderly person's consent."

An Youyou opened the hotel she had saved beforehand and sent the link to Qin Huai: "Boss, you don't need to make things up, just tell the truth. I'll say I'm the boss's granddaughter, and you two are my friends. Xiao Qi will definitely meet me."

"Boss, how about this hotel? I've compared several online, and this one has the best environment but is the most expensive. I'd like to stay in a suite! I've never stayed in a suite before!"

Qin Huai: ...Stop taking advantage of me. You've never stayed in a suite before, and you think your boss has? ...Okay, your boss has.

Qin Huai glanced at the link An Youyou sent and thought the price wasn't too outrageous. The three-legged toad had been poor for three lifetimes, so it was only natural for a toad to want to enjoy itself. He nodded in agreement.

It's impossible to give away 52% of the shares in Yunzhong Canteen, but you can still stay in a suite for one night.

Qin Huai and his two companions took a taxi to the hotel. On the way, Shi Dadan sent Qin Huai a list of several restaurants they had their eye on for dinner. Qin Huai chose one that had a relatively mild flavor.

Yesterday, Qin Congwen suddenly felt like making dumplings. He said he hadn't shown off his skills in a long time and wanted to make beef dumplings for his family so they would know that this old master chef, Qin, was still as good as ever.

Indeed, he's still got it. Qin Huai thought the beef dumplings were at best a C- grade; the filling was too salty and a bit oily. After eating those dumplings, Qin Huai felt nauseous from last night until now, and even when he got off the plane, the greasy taste of the beef dumplings was still lingering in his throat.

Thankfully, the private investigator brought good news at noon today, otherwise Qin Huai would have had to go home to eat beef dumplings tonight—they didn't finish the beef dumplings from yesterday.

Now that Qin Huai has run away, all that's left is for Qin Luo to suffer, and to enjoy Qin Congwen's incredibly salty beef dumplings at home.

On the second day, Qin Huai slept in late and didn't get up until 7:30 in the morning. After having a plain breakfast at the hotel, he sent a message to ask An Youyou if she was up yet.

An Youyou not only got up, but also went to the nearby fruit shop and convenience store to buy a deluxe two-piece set for visiting the elderly—a fruit basket and a box of pure milk.

It's a very luxurious two-piece set. The fruit basket is beautifully packaged and looks very expensive. The pure milk is imported and is organic skim milk with letters printed all over it.

It's important to know that these two items were purchased with An Youyou's own money. Given An Youyou's current financial situation, bank account balance, and usual spending habits, this was definitely a huge expense.

This shows how much the eldest brother cares for his younger brother.

An Youyou didn't mention asking Qin Huai to reimburse her for the two items. In An Youyou's view, first-class flights and hotel suites were things she could take advantage of, but her little brother was her little brother, and supporting him definitely required her own money. If she didn't have the money, she would have to borrow it, and borrowed money had to be repaid.

An Youyou was so excited about seeing her younger brother whom she hadn't seen for over half a century that she couldn't eat breakfast. She had to ask Shi Dadan to go to the restaurant and get her breakfast back.

Shi Dadan lived up to expectations. Despite finding the hotel breakfast to be so-so, he brought out his fighting spirit from the Cloud Canteen, making the normally quiet hotel feel like it was packed with customers. He also encouraged the guests at the tables next to him to eat a couple more plates of breakfast.

With a big eater like this sitting next to you who loves breakfast, it's hard not to have a big appetite and eat a couple more plates.

Of course, in order to complete the thousand-day breakfast mission, Shi Dadan still ate a bite of the breakfast Qin Huai had made—Qin Huai used the hotel's kettle to boil a soft-boiled egg for Shi Dadan. At 8:45 a.m., the three arrived at the nursing home.

Upon arriving at the entrance of the nursing home, Qin Huai felt that the environment of this nursing home should be quite good.

Most nursing homes, at least the ones Qin Huai visited, were relatively lifeless. They were small buildings, and the elderly residents spent most of their time in their rooms, only being taken out by caregivers to bask in the sun on sunny afternoons.

The nursing home isn't very large; right inside the entrance is an area for the elderly to sunbathe and do activities. From Qin Huai's perspective, you can see chessboards, Go boards, a few activity facilities for the elderly, and many flowers and plants. Through the windows, you can also glimpse mahjong tables, ping-pong tables, and some fitness equipment in the activity room on the first floor.

There is also a tea room.

The staff at the nursing home were very conscientious and responsible. After registering the names and contact information of Qin Huai and the other two, they confirmed with An Youyou that her grandmother was indeed called "Big Brother." After receiving An Youyou's affirmative nod, they did not ask any further questions, but simply went to give feedback, asking the three of them to wait a moment in the visitor reception room.

About five minutes later, the nursing home staff led the three to Lin Qi's room and informed them of the special precautions for visiting Lin Qi.

First of all, the windows of Lin Qi's room are sealed with iron bars. There's no need to be alarmed about this; the iron bars are merely unsightly and do not affect the room's ventilation. The reason for the iron bars is that although Lin Qi suffers from severe Alzheimer's, he is still agile and has a glorious history of escaping the nursing home by climbing out of a third-floor window in the middle of the night and running back to his village, which almost scared the nursing home's caregivers and security guards to death.

Secondly, there is a professional caregiver hired by Lin Qi's family to work 12-hour shifts outside Lin Qi's room. Because of Alzheimer's disease, Lin Qi often has some minor troublesome issues, and his family specifically hired a professional caregiver to ensure he receives better care.

In the end, Lin Qi stayed in a single room not because he was ostracized or had violent tendencies that required special care, but because if he had a roommate, he would encourage the roommate to run away with him.

He even tried to bribe his granddaughter with apples so that she would help him run away.

The nursing home staff specifically reminded Qin Huai and his companions that if Lin Qi tried to bribe them with apples, they only needed to accept the apples and inform the caregiver outside the door afterward. During this time, they would increase their surveillance of Lin Qi to prevent him from running away again.

Of course, you can eat the apples yourself. The apples at the nursing home are all freshly purchased every day and are quite sweet.

Regarding this, Qin Huai and the other two: ...

Even An Youyou couldn't help but scratch her head. She didn't expect her little brother to be so energetic at his age. No wonder he was the little brother who begged for food from her back then.

The nursing home staff led the three to the door of Lin Qi's room. Qin Huai glanced at the room number, 307, and there was indeed a caregiver sitting outside the door, playing on her phone and waiting.

Upon seeing Qin Huai and his group arrive, the caregiver looked up and smiled at the four of them, nodding to show that although she was playing on her phone, she was still sticking to her post.

The staff opened the door for the three: "Theoretically, the first visit time for non-relatives is one hour, but if Mr. Lin is willing, your visit time can be from now until 12 noon, and from 2 pm to 6 pm."

"You can have lunch at our nursing home's restaurant at your own expense."

"Okay, thank you for your hard work," Qin Huai said quickly, watching the staff member leave.

An Youyou was the first to go in, followed closely by Qin Huai, while Shi Dadan cautiously brought up the rear to close the door.

An Youyou happily ran into the room carrying a fruit basket and milk. The rooms in the nursing home were not large, but they were very clean, well-lit, and odorless.

"Xiao Qi, I've come to see you!"

An Youyou's first words startled Qin Huai. Just as Qin Huai was about to stop An Youyou and tell her not to get straight to the point, to give the old man some time to process, especially since he was an elderly person with Alzheimer's, Lin Qi's answer surprised Qin Huai even more.

He was already a typical old man, his face and hands covered in age spots, his hair thin and wiry, the skin on his hands drooping, his face full of wrinkles, his hair completely white and sparse. He was unrecognizable as the little boy Lin Qi from years ago. He ran nimbly towards An Youyou, took the fruit basket and milk from his elder brother with the demeanor of a younger brother, and put them down. His eyes welled with tears, and his voice was hoarse as he said:
"Boss, I've finally been waiting for you to come find me!"

"I've been sending you letters for over ten years, and you haven't received a single one; they've all been returned."

“The people here are not good people. I want to go back to the village to wait for you, but they won’t let me. Every time I run away, they arrest me. Now they have two people outside the door who are watching me every day.”

Lin Qi immediately complained to the boss.

Qin Huai: ...Dude, are you just going to accept this so easily? Are you just going to accept the fact that your boss has come back from the dead, is still alive after half a century, and has changed his appearance over the years?
This level of acceptance is comparable to that of Xia Murui.

No, he's even stronger than Xia Murui. They accepted that before they even started explaining.

Are all of you older folks so receptive to change?

Just as Qin Huai was about to suggest that the two stop the family reunion and instead sit down and introduce each other's basic information, Lin Qi said something that made everyone present unable to sit down.

“Boss, I originally saved up 10 gold bars for you. Over the years, the kids in the family have been disappointing, and by the last few years, we only had 5 left. A few years ago, my wife got sick, and we spent two more, so now we only have 3 left.”

"Boss, you won't blame me, will you?"

An Youyou:! ! !

An Youyou felt truly guilty now, thinking she must have deserved to die in her past life for not thinking of finding Lin Qi. Compared to Jiang Weiguo and Xu Chenggang, Lin Qi was her dearest little brother!

An Youyou's voice became incredibly gentle: "Of course not. Where are those three gold bars? You didn't deposit them in the bank, did you? I can't easily retrieve them now that I'm in a certain position."

"They're not in the bank, boss. I remember you told me to bury them under the big tree in the village so you can dig them up tonight."

There are no surveillance cameras in the village.

(End of this chapter)