Chapter 340 The Night Before
It was Song Jianing’s father who had called him. After the Old Master passed away, the whole Song family was under the charge of Song Jianing’s father. His Second Uncle was in Jinan and his Third Uncle was in Tianjin, both on business. All the in-laws of his two aunts came from wealthy families. Consequently, his two uncles were both government officials. Besides, the Song family in Beijing was influential and the Song family in Shandong had powerful connections in Northeastern China. Besides, originally, they were old and well-known families.
Consequently, Song Jianing dared not disobey his father’s order at all. Otherwise, he would be punished in the future, which had happened previously. As a result, he had no choice but to lock Qin Sheng up and waited for his father and his Second Uncle tomorrow, who would hold a discussion first before making up their minds.
Two bodyguards supported Qin Sheng and took him into a guest room. Originally, Song Zhiqiu had intended to follow them. However, she was stopped by Song Jianing, who definitely would not allow Song Zhiqiu to stay with Qin Sheng alone. Otherwise, nobody would know what would happen then.
At this time, Song Jianing withdrew and discharged all the bodyguards. Only he and Song Zhiqiu remained. He asked Song Zhiqiu to sit on the sofa. However angry he was, he would not do anything to his sister. Consequently, he calmed himself down first and planned to talk some sense into Song Zhiqiu.
After Song Jianing poured a glass of water for Song Zhiqiu, he sat across from her and said, “Zhiqiu, why did you do so? Could it be that you still can’t forget him? I just can’t see anything good about him. Two years have passed. You are too good for him. You should have your own life and restart all over again.”
Song Zhiqiu sipped some water and calmed herself down. After that, she explained to Song Jianing solemnly, “Brother, if you really care about me, you should let him go. A lot of things did not go the way you expected. He and I talked things out already. He came to Tsingtao to relax and apologize to me conveniently this time. As for what happened before, he had his secret sorrow. I already forgave him. We are neither enemies nor friends. He will leave Tsingtao tomorrow. From now on, we won’t have any connections at all.”
After Song Jianing heard out Song Zhiqiu’s explanation, he felt somewhat relieved. At least the situation going on between Qin Sheng and Song Zhiqiu did not go the way as he had expected. However, Song Zhiqiu’s words did not make him decide to spare Qin Sheng, since what Song Zhiqiu had said was only related to the current grudge. He still needed to settle old accounts with Qin Sheng. Speaking of the ancient jade that had been taken away by the Zhang family, the Old Master had remembered it with concern before he had passed away. The Song family would not let bygones be bygones regarding this.
“Is what you said true?” Song Jianing did not trust Song Zhiqiu, more or less.
Of course, Song Zhiqiu would not be frank. If she had forgotten Qin Sheng, she would not have been worked up that night. Never would she have had sex with Qin Sheng. As the saying goes, once the wine goes in, the truth is revealed. After she had gotten drunk, she had begun dancing after going home. Her mood at that time could not be more evident.
However, on the second day, after she had woken up, she needed to come back to reality. After all, she was no longer the old girl who had completely disregarded her safety for the sake of love. She was completely grown up now and would not get easily worked up by anybody. As for the issues happening between Qin Sheng and her in the past, she would pretend nothing had happened at all and let all bygones be bygones.
Song Zhiqiu smiled bitterly as she replied, “Regarding an issue like this, could I ever lie to you?”
No matter what Song Zhiqiu said, Song Jianing would not let go of Qin Sheng. However, he needed to take the relationship between Song Zhiqiu and him into consideration since he did not want to fall foul of her simply because of a scumbag. Consequently, he said on purpose, “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
Song Zhiqiu, who believed Song Jianing’s words foolishly, said, “You did not give me any chance at all. Brother, in this case, can you let him go now?”
Song Jianing appeared to be reluctant as he said, “It would be somewhat difficult for me to let go of him now. Zhiqiu, you know that. My father already knows about this and your father will be here tomorrow morning. If I let him go, do you know what would happen to me then?”
Originally, Song Zhiqiu had intended to say that she would bear all the consequences. However, she gave it up in the end because she knew her Eldest Uncle’s temperament, who definitely would not blame her. However, Song Jianing would be doomed.
“If so, what should we do?” Song Zhiqiu still trusted Song Jianing because Song Jianing had been on her side all along.
To pull through the night restfully and stop Song Zhiqiu from meddling with other issues, Song Jianing had no alternative but to say, “We can only do as we are doing currently. Let him stay here tonight. When the seniors get here later, we can plead for him together at that time. The seniors in our family probably won’t put us in a difficult position.”
Song Zhiqiu pondered for a while, thinking that what Song Jianing had suggested seemed to be the only option for them. She agreed in the end.
This issue finally came to an end. Qin Sheng had been tortured for half a night. Song Jianing tried to talk Song Zhiqiu into going home to rest first and come back tomorrow morning. Song Zhiqiu still felt concerned about Qin Sheng and insisted on staying here. Fortunately, Song Jianing’s wife and children were not at home tonight. Otherwise, Song Jianing would not have brought Qin Sheng here.
Outside the villa, after Zhuang Zhou and Nan Gong went out of their way, they finally ran to the rooftop of the villa next door and observed the situation going on inside through the curtain slit of the French windows. Fortunately, nobody lived in the villa next door. Consequently, they had such an opportunity.
Nan Gong let out a sigh as she said, “To be honest, this woman is amazing, still protecting him at this moment. He should learn to cherish her instead of being a womanizer.” As a woman, she understood the other woman’s feelings naturally. She thought quite highly of Song Zhiqiu. Both her condition and what she had done today made Nan Gong admire her.
Zhuang Zhou did not give a damn about these things at all. He glimpsed at his watch as he said, “We should go to the airport to pick them up.”
“Don’t we need to keep an eye on him anymore?” It was the first time that Nan Gong had seen Zhuang Zhou treat Qin Sheng like this.
Zhuang Zhou smiled randomly as he said, “To him, some physical pain is nothing at all. You don’t know about his good fighting skills. I suggest that you learn from each other when the time comes. The official show won’t be put on tomorrow. However, it will be none of our business at all. In the future, Qin Sheng won’t be as hard-pressed as he is now.”
Nan Gong let out a long sigh and said, “Yes. It’s finally coming to an end.” Nobody but herself knew whether she was referring to her task finally ending or Qin Sheng’s miserable life coming to an end soon.
Early in the morning, in Tsingtao Liuting International Airport, Qin Changan’s Gulfstream G650 just landed in, which was the most advanced personal jet under the charge of Gulfstream. Its range could be as far as 13,000 kilometers. The Gulfstream G650 directly flew from Beijing to Los Angeles. It was not until the year before last that Qin Changan had changed from the Bombardier to the Gulfstream G650, which he would normally take while going out. After all, his identity was somewhat special. On normal days, he would entertain some special guests.
During this period, Qin Changan stayed in Beijing. Consequently, aside from Qin Ran taking the Gulfstream G650 twice, the Gulfstream G650 would stay in the Capital Airport at other times, which would be in the charge of Air China’s business jet corporation.
Zhuang Zhou personally drove with Nan Gong and went to the airport to pick up Gongsun and Qin Ran. They had not brought anyone else with them for the trip to Tsingtao this time, only the two of them came. After all, they needed to keep this piece of news a secret. Otherwise, it would not be good for either Qin Sheng or Qin Changan. Although Qin Changan had not reminded him about this point, Gongsun knew what he should do.
Both Zhuang Zhou and Nan Gong were familiar with Qin Ran and Gongsun. Consequently, it was not strange when they met each other.
After they picked Qin Ran up, Qin Ran said quite courteously, “Uncle Zhuang and Sister, you’ve worked hard this time.” She said so not only for herself but on behalf of both Qin Changan and Qin Sheng. Without their protection, Qin Sheng would have met with a mishap.
Zhuang Zhou chuckled as he said, “Ran Ran, we are family members. Don’t regard us as outsiders.”
Nan Gong echoed him as she said, “Yes, Sister.” There was a huge difference between the way she looked in front of the family members of the Qin family and the way she looked in front of outsiders. In front of outsiders, she looked more like an indifferent killer, while in front of the family members of the Qin family, she was just a girl who was not grown up yet.
Qin Ran replied calmly, “OK. In that case, I will not make any polite remarks.”
It was not until this time that Zhuang Zhou looked at Gongsun, patted him on his shoulders, and greeted him by saying, “Old lad, you were willing to come out.”
Gongsun laughed out loud then said, “Since such a big issue has occurred, how could I not come out?” He was quite familiar with Zhuang Zhou, and they could be considered old friends. They had known each other for many years.
Nan Gong was quite straightforward instead. She hugged Gongsun without hesitation as she said, “Uncle Gongsun, long time no see. I missed you so much.”
“You did not disappoint me this time, young girl. I feared that you would give up your job.” Gongsun knew Nan Gong’s temperament was not good. He had wondered if she could be patient if she were assigned a kind of task like this.
Nan Gong pretended to look unhappy as she said, “Though I won’t obey others’ words, I definitely will obey your words.”
Gongsun laughed happily as he said, “Enough! Stop showing off your cleverness. It’s so cold outside.”
It was not until after they got in the car and Zhuang Zhou drove in the direction of downtown that they talked about Qin Sheng’s official issue.
Qin Ran looked worried as she asked, “What’s going on with my brother now, Uncle Zhuang?” It was not until she had met Uncle Gongsun that she had known that why Qin Changan had finally made up his mind and asked her to go to Tsingtao to pick Qin Sheng up. It turned out her brother had met with a mishap again. It was unknown how he had offended the Song family in Shandong, who had abducted him.
Qin Ran felt somewhat speechless. How come anybody could bully his brother on their own free will and trample him to death mercilessly? He had exerted great effort to get out of Jiujiang, which he had done with great difficulty. Now, he had just settled in Tsingtao and the Song family had come to deal with him. She wondered why her brother was so ill-fated.
Zhuang Zhou knew that Qin Ran loved Qin Sheng dearly, more than anyone else. Consequently, of course, he did not disclose what should not be said to her; for example, Qin Sheng had suffered some physical pain. Even though Nan Gong and he could not give a damn about this, Qin Ran certainly would.
Zhuang Zhou replied honestly, “Qin Sheng is fine now. He is in the villa of No. 8 on Laiyang Road, which belongs to Song Jianing, the Eldest Young Master of the Song family. Qin Sheng’s friend, namely, the Eldest Lady of the Song family, Song Zhiqiu, is by his side. Nothing major should happen to him.”
Qin Ran frowned heavily as she asked, “What does the Song family intend to do?”
Zhuang Zhou added, “Qin Sheng and the Song family should hold a grudge against each other from before. It seemed that he had some emotional conflicts with the Eldest Lady of the Song family, Song Zhiqiu. Consequently, the Song family got into a fight. Based on the current situation, they should deal with Qin Sheng tomorrow.” All he had said was just his speculation. After all, he had been following Qin Sheng over the past few days.
Qin Ran knew nothing about the issues going on between the Song family and Qin Sheng. It did not matter at all. All she cared about was how her brother was doing now. Consequently, she said, “Hm. Thanks, Uncle Zhuang, I got it.”
Zhuang Zhou asked her, “Shall we go over there now?”
Qin Ran did intend to go there now because if she went there now, obviously, she would make such a big scene. Consequently, she replied, “Forget it. Since Qin Sheng is fine tonight, we will go to the hotel first and have a rest since it is pretty late now. We will go there tomorrow morning.”
Gongsun nodded quietly. Qin Ran was not impulsive at all. She still knew how to deal with issues correctly.
Qin Ran’s reply met Zhuang Zhou’s expectations as well. Consequently, he smiled as he said, “OK. We will go back to the hotel first. Since the hotel is not far away from No. 8 on Laiyang Road, we can go there early tomorrow morning.”
Half an hour later, they arrived at the hotel. Instead of talking further, they directly checked in and rested.
All was well this evening…