BFILWY CH 67

Chapter 67: First Encounter at the Little Tailor Shop

At this moment, An Heng had meticulously dressed up, adorning himself with high-end designer brands from head to toe. He exuded the aura of a wealthy, spoiled rich kid—someone naive, foolish, and overflowing with money. Holding a large paper bag in his hand, he strode into the small tailor shop.

“Excuse me, are you Tailor Qin Yuhe?” An Heng asked. His gaze discreetly swept across the tiny shop. Though the space was small, it was kept neat and tidy. A cabinet on the side was stacked with various bags, likely containing clothes from customers either awaiting alterations or already completed. Judging by this, business seemed to be doing quite well.

The woman sitting in front of the sewing machine looked up and saw a young man with a tense expression. He was undeniably good-looking, and for a moment, she found him somewhat familiar. However, after thinking it over carefully, she was certain this customer had never visited before. Based on his phrasing, he must have been referred by someone else.

“Hello, I’m Qin Yuhe,” she responded warmly, standing up to greet him.

Just then, An Heng’s phone suddenly rang. Qin Yuhe gestured for him to answer, indicating that he could take his time. Without hesitation, An Heng picked up the call right in front of her, speaking in an indifferent and careless tone, “What? Twenty thousand? How would I know where it went? There’s still over a hundred thousand in my drawer. Just take it yourself. Don’t bother me with such trivial matters.”

With that, he impatiently ended the call and turned to glare at Qin Yuhe.

Qin Yuhe, who had been flipping through a pair of pants she had just finished altering, paused at the sudden silence. Looking up, she noticed the previously cocky and careless young man now appeared somewhat awkward.

She took the initiative to ask, “Do you have any clothes you need altered?”

“I heard you do embroidery here,” An Heng said gruffly, shoving the paper bag toward her. “I have a few dress shirts. I want my initials embroidered on the cuffs. Can you do that?”

Qin Yuhe took the bag and pulled out the shirts for inspection. The fabric was top-notch—clearly high-end designer pieces.

“Of course, no problem. What letters would you like embroidered?” she asked.

“AH,” An Heng replied.

“The embroidery will be placed here,” Qin Yuhe explained, using tailor’s chalk to mark the sleeve cuffs. She then pulled out some sample embroidery swatches. “You can choose a font style you prefer.”

Actually, An Heng usually had his embroidery done at the small embroidery workshop in his home. He never really paid much attention to it before. But this time, in order to get close to—or rather, to test—Qin Yuhe, he specially bought new shirts and put on a show of flaunting his wealth in front of her. The embroidery was merely an excuse.

However, when he saw the embroidery samples, he was genuinely impressed. The craftsmanship was exquisite, even more refined than the embroidery done at home.

“Did you embroider all of these?”

Earlier, he had intentionally acted rudely, addressing her casually as if challenging her expertise, even provocatively asking, “Can you even do it?” But now, faced with the delicate and beautifully stitched lettering, An Heng unconsciously changed his tone, addressing her with respect. He completely forgot about his persona as a spoiled rich kid and seriously started selecting a font.

Qin Yuhe didn’t rush him. She simply returned to her sewing machine and continued working on a pair of pants for another customer. The steady hum of the machine echoed through the room, indicating her swift and skillful work.

Once An Heng had chosen a font, Qin Yuhe confirmed the thread color with him. Then, she pulled out an order form.

“Sir, may I have your surname? I’ll need your details and contact number for the record.”

“My surname is… Ai. The ‘Ai’ with the grass radical.” An Heng hesitated before quickly making up a surname. The surname An wasn’t common, and he didn’t want Qin Yuhe to immediately associate him with anything just by hearing it.

As they were speaking, a voice called out from inside the house.

“Mom, I’m heading to work.”

A young man wearing oversized sunglasses slowly walked out. He carried a backpack on one shoulder and held a bundle of white collapsible sticks in front of him, using them to navigate his surroundings. His other hand was raised slightly to protect his face. Perhaps noticing that his mother was speaking with a customer, he politely greeted, “Good evening, sir.”

An Heng froze.

This person… couldn’t see?

He had just called Qin Yuhe “Mom,” so he must be Qin Sian.

An Heng carefully examined the part of his face visible beneath the sunglasses. He couldn’t tell who he resembled, but perhaps due to his own subconscious bias, he felt that Qin Sian’s straight nose looked somewhat similar to An Shi’s.

“There’s an event at the restaurant tonight, so I might not be coming home,” the young man said.

“Another event? How many times has it been already? Why are you working so many late shifts lately?” Qin Yuhe frowned in discontent.

An Heng also frowned.

What kind of restaurant job would keep a blind person working so late at night?

“It’s summer break. Young people like to party late into the night. Events like these are good—I can get more tips from customers,” Qin Sian explained, his voice growing softer toward the end.

Qin Yuhe sighed, still murmuring complaints as she checked over his appearance. “I get it. I just don’t want you exhausting yourself.” Since there was a customer present, she refrained from saying too much. She smoothed his collar, ran a hand over his hair, and forced a smile. “Alright, my handsome boy, be careful on the way. Try to come home early after work.”

Qin Sian smiled and nodded, bidding farewell to both his mother and the customer before slowly making his way toward the door.

Realizing he was blocking the way, An Heng quickly stepped aside.

Once outside, Qin Sian flicked his wrist, and the bundled white sticks snapped open into a straight white cane. He tapped it lightly against the ground and steadily walked away.

An Heng turned back to see Qin Yuhe watching the door as well, a faint but bittersweet smile on her lips.

He couldn’t help but ask, “Your son… what happened to his eyes?”

Qin Yuhe withdrew her gaze from the doorway. As if feeling apologetic for taking up a customer’s time, she smiled briefly before explaining, “Corneal disease. His condition started when he was fifteen, and over the past two or three years, he’s nearly lost all his vision.” She spoke as she filled out An Heng’s order form.

“Completely blind?” An Heng pressed on. “Then how does he work in a restaurant? Isn’t that dangerous? And… his condition—can’t it be treated? Corneal disease… isn’t a corneal transplant enough to fix it?”

Though he was practically bombarding her with questions, Qin Yuhe wasn’t annoyed. Instead, she responded with a calm, patient smile, as if she had long grown used to such inquiries.

“My son sings at a music restaurant. It’s not dangerous. Even if he can’t see, life has to go on. He learned to take the bus by himself, found the restaurant on his own, and bravely gets on stage to sing. These are his survival skills.”

As for the treatment,” she sighed helplessly, “yes, a corneal transplant would solve the problem. But so many people are waiting for one, and we haven’t been able to get a match. Plus, the cost of transporting corneas from overseas is extremely high. That’s why we’re saving up, hoping that by the time we get our turn, we’ll have enough money.”

She quickly finished filling out the form and handed the carbon copy to An Heng with a smile.

“Mr. Ai, please keep this receipt. It will make it easier to find your order when you pick up your clothes next time.”

Dazed, An Heng accepted the receipt and walked out of the small tailor shop with mixed emotions.

Standing by the window, he watched Qin Yuhe, who had already returned to her sewing machine. He raised his phone and secretly took a photo of her.

With a mind full of questions, An Heng got back into his car. His mother had sent him to find the Qin family, but she never mentioned that Qin Sian was blind.

Pulling up the photo of Qin Yuhe, he studied the nearly forty-year-old woman on the screen. It was clear that she didn’t take much care of herself—her clothes were simple, and she wore no makeup—but there was a warm, gentle aura in her demeanor.

Despite not living a wealthy life and having a blind son, she still faced life with optimism and resilience.

Zooming in on the image, An Heng examined her features carefully. There was a sense of quiet satisfaction in her expression, as if she was simply grateful to have work to do.

He felt lost.

He had thought that a woman who had suffered so much would be filled with resentment, yet Qin Yuhe seemed so calm and at peace.

Why?

Even when her son needed money for medical treatment, why didn’t she come to the An family for help?

Starting his car, An Heng looked up and saw Qin Sian waiting at a bus stop.

Just then, a bus pulled in. A few passengers got off, and from the way Qin Sian’s lips moved, it seemed the driver was speaking to him. An Heng watched as Qin Sian smiled and nodded, then carefully boarded the bus.

It seemed that he had built good rapport with the bus drivers, as they all greeted him and reported the route number whenever they stopped.

Watching the bus pull away, An Heng made a quick decision.

He was going to follow it.

He wanted to see just how well Qin Sian could survive on his own.

(To be continued…)