Chapter 193: A Voice She Knew Too Well
The torrential rain in Beijing was getting heavier and heavier. It rained without any signs of ceasing at all. A lot of people were estimated to have been up all night. However, Qin Changan felt more and more peaceful. He actually felt a bit exhausted after he had been tortured by Qin Sheng’s issue for half a year. He was not as firm as before.
He also hoped to reconcile with his son soon. The best ending for him would be that Qin Sheng would step into the Qin family calmly and be an official member of the Qin family from now on. He would pass Qin Sheng everything he had and make him prop up the Qin family’s back, while for himself, all he needed to do was be in charge of the general orientation of his family behind the scenes. Based on the understanding and knowledge he had gotten of Qin Sheng in half a year, Qin Sheng definitely was not that kind of rich playboy. At least, this lad was smart, bold, and capable. He just did not have a platform to display his talent.
Once Qin Sheng came home, Qin Ran would definitely get married. Since the number of people in Sijiu City who had been after his daughter was quite high, he should think about his daughter’s marriage in a careful way. However, instead of forcing Qin Ran to get married, he would let her make her own choice. Qin Ran should choose someone from a quite nice family. In that case, the Qin family would be officially on the right track henceforth. When that time came, he could spend his remaining days happily in a real sense. Since the brother and the sister could help take care of each other, in addition to the prestige held by the Zhu family’s side, the Qin family should not have any big issues at all in dozens of years.
However, most importantly, the process of reconciling with his son was indeed a bit of suffering. Qin Changan also wanted to make it happen fast. But he had to remind himself that he should not be too eager. After he learned of the news that Qin Ran had gone to Xiamen, he thought about it more carefully. Perhaps he had been overthinking. Maybe it was not a bad thing to let Qin Ran reconcile with Qin Sheng first.
Qin Changan had been waiting for Qin Ran’s call and he finally received it. When the phone rang, his instincts told him that it was definitely a call from Qin Ran.
“You already know about it, don’t you?” Smiling happily, Qin Changan said. However mightily he had treated the outsiders, he would always treat his daughter with a smiling face while facing her.
Qin Ran did not intend to let her father off that easily because she was still in a fit of anger. She snorted, “If my answer is negative, you plan to hold me from the truth and cover it up, don’t you?”
Qin Changan let out a sigh and explained, “I am his father and you are his sister. There is no reason for me to stop you from seeing each other. As your father, didn’t I know how much you had been missing him over these 20-plus years?” He did not want Qin Ran to misunderstand him. Though other people could do that, his daughter could not.
Upon hearing these few simple sentences, Qin Ran calmed herself down. She also felt there was no reason for her father to stop her from reconciling with her brother. In that case, there had to be other reasons. So she said in a soft voice, “Dad, what are you thinking exactly?”
The word “Dad” meant that Qin Ran had gotten Qin Changan’s point and she intended to sit down to have a good conversation with Qin Changan. Qin Changan felt pretty relieved. After all, she was his daughter.
“Time flies so fast. Over 20 years have passed. He is leading a life that is completely different from ours. You have no idea who on earth he is. If you reconcile with him in such an abrupt way, the way you see it, can he accept it all of a sudden? Based on my understanding of him these days, he will be averse to it. Even if we reconcile with him, we will not get along with each other in a short period. So I chose this approach instead. I will approach him slowly and gradually, which will build a connection with him. Then reconciling with him will be smoother,” Qin Changan said slowly. As for whether Qin Ran could understand his endeavor or not, he had no idea.
After Qin Ran heard her father out, she was locked in contemplation. Instead of arguing with her father, she highly agreed with what her father had said. She had not been that insightful as her father regarding this issue. However, she spoke then. “Then when can we reconcile with him? Dad, I really miss him a lot.”
“It won’t take long. You can rest assured,” Qin Changan said pretty confidently.
Qin Ran held herself tight and said meaningfully, “Dad, can I see him? I just want to see him and I won’t hold other purposes at all.”
“You are his sister and you have the right to do that,” Qin Changan nodded and said.
Red-eyed, Qin Ran said, “I am afraid that I can’t restrain myself.”
“If you really can’t restrain yourself, then you don’t need to. Whatever you do, I won’t blame you.” Qin Changan consoled her. He was already immoveable since he had gone through so many crises and had seen much of the life; however, Qin Ran was different. She was just an ordinary woman and she could not be as immovable as him.
Qin Ran wiped her tears away. She believed that her father also wanted to reconcile with her brother so much; however, the time was not yet ripe. Since she had been looking forward to reconciling with her brother for so many years, she would not mind waiting for another short period. Besides, her brother had been found, which was the most important thing of all. At least she was not fantasizing and waiting in vain.
“Dad, can I see him anytime I want?” Qin Ran asked in a low voice.
Qin Changan chuckled. “I have told you that since you are his sister, whatever you do, it is appropriate.”
Qin Ran let out a sigh of relief. Since her father had already got in touch with him and understood him slowly, they had consequently been bonding with each other gradually. Then she would also do the same. Until the time they would reconcile with each other, everything would go smoothly. Even if her brother knew the truth, she firmly believed that he could understand their endeavors. Well, then that is what she would do.
So far, Qin Ran had understood Qin Changan’s endeavor and made her own decision. She was far more determined.
“Dad, when did you find him?” Since they had talked everything out, and in addition, her brother had been found today, Qin Ran was in a pretty good mood at this time. She wanted to have a good conversation with her father. After all, she had completely laid down all her resentment toward her father today.
Qin Changan thought for a while and said, “The first half of last year.”
“You actually knew about it last year. You are such an old fox to have concealed yourself so well. If you had not been going to Xiamen so frequently recently, I would have not found out about it.” Qin Ran taunted her father while smiling.
Qin Changan smiled bitterly. “No matter how careful I am in executing the plan, it’s still possible to overlook something important. The plan was still discovered by you, a sneaky fox. Tell me how you discovered my plan?”
“I got people from my uncle and asked them to follow you. Then I found out.” Qin Ran smiled tenderly. She did not hide anything from her father at all.
Frowning slightly, Qin Changan said, “Oh, you actually asked for help from your uncle, a legend. However, did he find out this news?”
Qin Ran turned around, picked up a bottle of water, and said, “He doesn’t know yet. I have already warned the man not to leak this secret to my uncle. However, upon contemplation, if my uncle ordered him forcibly, this secret would not be kept after all. If so, then all the members in the Zhu family would know about this news. So it still depends on whether or not we can reconcile with my bother soon.”
Qin Changan replied disapprovingly, “Forget it. If he finds out, then just let it be. Anyway, he will know about it sooner or later.”
“Yes. I agree. Grandmother is almost 90 years old. She usually tells me that in her remaining days, what she wishes most is to see Qin Sheng in person again. You also know that grandmother loved my brother the most in his childhood. She has been troubled by this over these years. Otherwise, she would not have blamed you to such extent and she would not have refused to see you.”
This was indeed a test for Qin Changan. If all the members in the Zhu family found out this news, they would definitely reconcile with Qin Sheng. After all, few days were remaining for the respected aged elder grandmother and she could not afford to wait a bit longer.
Qin Changan did not say anything at all. Qin Ran then went on asking, “Dad, how has brother been doing in these years? Is he good?”
“He’s neither good nor bad.” Qin Changan said thoughtfully, “I will email you his information later and you can check it out then. I will just skip the explanation via talking.”
“OK.” Qin Ran nodded in a hurry. At the same time, she was looking forward to the email. It was true that she wanted to know more about her brother and his past so that she could get along with him better.
Meanwhile in Pearl Bay Garden, Qin Sheng had no idea that he had brushed by his biological sister once again. However, the situation this time was different from that last time. For the situation taking place last time, neither of them had known each other’s identities. However, this time, Qin Ran knew everything.
Lin Su was watching TV in the living room while Qin Sheng was reading books in the study absent-mindedly. He just could not calm himself down. In the end, he gave up reading completely. He then opened the windows, stood by the bedside, and felt the sea breeze on his body.
Since he was already fully recovered, he was thinking about the following decisions he was going to make. It seemed that he had already made up his mind. However, everything needed to be started from scratch and everything would be unknown. While facing this kind of unpredictability, Qin Sheng felt a bit helpless. At the same time, he also needed to take Lin Su into consideration. He was not a selfish person, nor could he be one.
A moment later, Lin Su pushed the door open and walked in after she finished watching TV. Staring at Qin Sheng’s preoccupied appearance, she walked over slowly and held Qin Sheng’s waist from behind. Clinging to Qin Sheng’s back tightly, she said gently, “What are you thinking about?”
“I have made up my mind. We will leave Xiamen in a few days,” Qin Sheng said directly.
Lin Su was not surprised at all. So she replied in a soft voice, “OK. Where are we going?”
“Hangzhou.” Qin Sheng revealed his answer. This was the best choice that he had made after deliberating.
Why did he choose Hangzhou?
Firstly, Zhuang Zhou had told Qin Sheng that he was most powerful in Zhejiang province. If Qin Sheng went to Zhejiang, he would be capable of protecting him from the threat of the Yan family. He would not need to worry about the Lin family’s harassment. Secondly, Qin Sheng remembered that Jiang Xianbang had said that the Xue family was pretty influential in Zhejiang. Xue Qingyan’s social network was far more complicated in Hangzhou. If he went to Hangzhou, Xue Qingyan could also take care of him, which would act as another form of insurance to him.
“Then I will start preparing tomorrow. I will put the cafe shop up for sale in the coming days,” Lin Su said gently.
Qin Sheng turned around, held Lin Su in his arms, and said, “You have to endure hardship with me again. You will probably need to face those people and those issues from the past again. Are you afraid of them?”
Lin Su smiled and shook her head. “With you by my side, I am afraid of nothing.”
Qin Sheng kissed Lin Su on her forehead and said, “No worries. I will definitely work harder and make you become the most blessed woman in the world.”
Lin Su held Qin Sheng more tightly. Actually, she wanted nothing aside from her hope that Qin Sheng could be safe and sound. Everything would be fine as long as Qin Sheng was by her side. And for these other things, they were all external things in this external world. Originally, she had intended to tell Qin Sheng that she did not want him to suffer from excessive tiredness, but she held that back in the end.
Qin Sheng patted Lin Su lightly on her back and said, “You go to take a shower first. I am going to make a call.” Lin Su left sensibly because she knew that Qin Sheng had decided not to be in a missing status anymore and he was prepared to contact his previous friends.
Qin Sheng made the first call directly to Xue Qingyan, who was in Shanghai.
At this time, it was around 10 o’clock at night. Xue Qingyan had just come back from a banquet. She felt a bit exhausted in recently because she was always fully occupied by her work and she also had quite a few social engagements. After all, it was all credited to her brother, wasn’t it?
Since Qin Sheng had gotten injured and disappeared consequently, Xue Qingyan had not been in a good mood. She directly terminated her membership in Shangshan Ruoshui. Moreover, to be frank, she was pretty disappointed with Shangshan Ruoshui and she was even more so with the Ye family. Following Xue Qingyan’s example, quite a few members also dropped out of it. Among them, two VVIP members were included. Consequently, Shangshan Ruoshui’s business went down directly all of a sudden.
While for Boss Ye, so far, he still did not figure out what had happened exactly. He had asked Xue Qingyan out several times; however, Xue Qingyan always refused him relentlessly without stating the detailed reason. Anyhow, Boss Ye was one who played a part. Everything ended up with nothing definite eventually.
On her way back to Green City Huangpu Bay, the driver was driving stably and Xue Qingyan was closing her eyes to have a rest. She came to her senses after the mobile ring tone sounded several times. It turned out to be a strange number calling from Xiamen. Xue Qingyan frowned slightly since she didn’t know who was calling her. After all, this was her personal number instead of a number for work. Only her friends and acquaintances knew this number.
She picked up the call subconsciously. Then she heard a voice come from the other side of the phone. “Sister, are you sleeping?”
Xue Qingyan was stupefied because she knew this voice all too well…
