Chapter 343 Where to Go from Here?
There were people coming in and out of the hotel entrance. Qin Ran’s crying had attracted lots of attention. Seeing such a beautiful lady crying, anyone would pity her. It was just that no one stepped forward to disturb them.
When Qin Ran first met Qin Sheng, she only dared to tear up silently, as she had promised Qin Changan that she would not reconcile with Qin Sheng and did not want to arouse his suspicion.
This time around, Qin Ran finally did not need to care about anything else. She no longer needed to hide behind Qin Sheng and look at him silently. She no longer needed to worry about him and yet feel helpless that she could not do anything to help him. She no longer needed to sob secretly at night or when she was alone. From today onward, from this moment on, the separation of more than 20 years had finally ended. From this moment on, she could blatantly tell everyone that this was her younger brother, her biological younger brother. In the future, if anyone was to bully him, she could stand up for him without hesitation.
Gongsun felt emotional. Others did not know how much affection Qin Ran had for Qin Sheng. They did not know how much suffering she had gone through over the last 20-plus years. They did not know how many fights Qin Ran had had with Qin Changan because of this matter. But he knew better than anyone.
When they were little, the two kids were very fond of each other. At that time, Qin Sheng was a few years younger than Qin Ran yet he would always stand in front of her bravely to protect her. If he were to have anything delicious or fun, he would also give them to his older sister right away. These were Qin Ran’s happiest childhood memories.
Hence, when Qin Sheng was brought away by the Old Master, Qin Ran suffered tremendous emotional pain. It was just that she was still very young back then and did not understand a lot of things. The older she became, the deeper this pain grew.
Today, Qin Ran and Qin Sheng finally reconciled. The biggest crack in the Qin family had been sealed up. In the future, there would be no more torture or pain. Gongsun felt happy for the siblings and Qin Changan right from the bottom of his heart.
Zhuang Zhou sighed. If one did not experience this kind of separation that lasted more than 20 years, they would not be able to understand Qin Ran’s emotions at this moment. Without her influence and identity, she was just an ordinary woman like many others.
He could understand the feeling at this moment.
As for Nan Gong, she did not have any good feelings toward Qin Sheng from the start, but at this moment, her eyes were red. She thought that she was crueler, but seeing Qin Ran at this moment, she still could not help letting her tears fall. As an orphan, she could understand this feeling. If it were not for the Qin family, she did not know where she would be at this moment, leading what kind of life.
Qin Sheng was a little at a loss. He was still immersed in his own thoughts, recalling many things in the past. However, the more he thought about it, the messier his thoughts became and the more contradictions and doubts he had.
As for this woman who was bawling her heart out in his arms, he only met her a few times, and today, she became his sister. Qin Sheng did not know what he should do, but he could feel this woman’s deep affection for him. If there was no affection, she would not even be this upset. He seemed to finally understand why this woman was tearing up when he first met her. She even said that he looked like a friend of hers. She must have known right then that he was her younger brother.
From being unmoved at the beginning to feeling at a loss, Qin Sheng eventually slowly wrapped his arms around this woman. He patted her back gently yet he did not know why he did so. It seemed to be a subconscious move. There were countless fragmented memories floating through his mind. He started to feel a sense of familiarity. Perhaps, this was the so-called blood and affection.
“Sis?” Qin Sheng muttered to himself. In the past, he and his grandfather relied on each other. Other than him, he never had any relatives. Today, he suddenly gained an older sister and a father. But what about his mother?
Qin Sheng’s action was thoughtless, but it caused the sobbing Qin Ran to shudder. She thought that he was calling her. All these years, she had heard a lot of people call her “Sis”, but she had not heard this most familiar voice in more than 20 years. Although Qin Sheng did call her “Sis” in Hangzhou, it was just a form of respect. Today’s was completely different. Even so, she already shed happy tears the last time.
Qin Ran became more emotional and hugged him tighter. They silently waited for her to finish crying. She had suppressed it for more than 20 years, so she should be allowed to vent it all out freely.
After some time, Qin Ran was finally done. The number of times she cried this year was enough to shed all the tears she had in the first half of her life. Thinking of this, she would not cry a lot in the future, as it would be filled with laughter.
“I’m sorry for dirtying your clothes,” Qin Ran said with a runny nose after she let go of him. Looking at how she was both crying and laughing at the same time, people might think she was crazy.
The woman before him cried like a beautiful flower and there were still tears in her eyes. Her makeup was ruined, causing her delicate features to be a little tarnished. Qin Sheng would surely not blame her. Even if she was not his older sister, it was still a man’s honor to lend his shoulder to a beautiful lady.
Besides, the more he looked at this woman, the more he felt a sense of familiarity that he had not felt in a long time. He then stretched out his hand naturally and gently wiped away the tears from her face.
It was an ordinary move, but it melted Qin Ran’s heart. It was like the warm sun in the winter, making her feel extremely warm and comfortable. This was because she recalled that when she was young, her brother would do the same thing every time she cried. He would stand in front of her and stretch out his hand to wipe away her tears. He would say in a childish tone, “Sis, don’t cry. Sis, don’t cry.”
“Let’s go in, I don’t like to be surrounded by people.” Qin Ran then noticed that there were several on-lookers surrounding them. Her cheeks turned red from embarrassment yet she did not feel forced. This was her younger brother, so she could do whatever she wanted. This was the only time that she did not care about what others thought.
Gongsun and Nan Gong escorted them into the hotel. After Gongsun called Qin Changan to tell them that they were going back two days later, Gongsun had already arranged a room for Qin Sheng.
In the hotel lift, Qin Ran kept on staring at Qin Sheng, as if she was trying to look for something. Her gaze was full of gentleness and love. Those who did not know they were siblings might think that they were a couple.
Gongsun and Nan Gong did not know whether to laugh or cry, yet they understood Qin Ran.
Qin Sheng felt embarrassed by the way she looked at him so he fixed his gaze on the LED screen. However, Qin Ran said softly, “You should tidy up your hair. You need to shave your beard too. Your clothes smell. I’ll buy you two outfits later. What do you want to eat for lunch? I’ll get the hotel staff to make something or send someone out to buy it.”
When did Qin Ran ever care about any other man as much? Even Qin Changan did not receive this treatment. This caused Nan Gong and Gongsun to be in shock.
Qin Sheng did not answer as he was not used to this identity yet. There were still many things on his mind, so he did not know how to answer.
They finally reached their floor. Qin Sheng never thought that taking a lift could take so long. When the doors opened, he could not wait to get out, as if he was escaping. Seeing her brother’s silliness, Qin Ran covered her mouth and smiled.
Gongsun led Qin Sheng to his room. After opening the door, everyone else followed Qin Sheng in. He desperately needed some alone time right now, so after staying silent all the while, he finally turned around and said, “I want some alone time.”
Qin Ran then realized that she had been too excited and had forgotten his feelings at the moment. Hence, she replied, “Okay, okay. I’ll leave you alone for a while. We will just be next door. Call me if you need anything.”
After which, Qin Ran strode to the desk and looked for the hotel’s pen and paper to write down her phone number.
“Hmm, I need a smoke,” Qin Sheng said after a few seconds of hesitation.
Qin Ran was only afraid that he did not have any request, for that meant that he still treated her as an outsider. Hearing this, she replied happily, “I’ll get someone to buy some for you. What else do you need?”
Qin Sheng shook his head and said, “Nothing.”
After which, he turned around and walked to his balcony. His action was very obvious; he was sending them out. Qin Ran knew better and left with Gongsun and Nan Gong. She closed the door on her way out.
After everyone left, Qin Sheng finally had time to be alone. It was only at this moment that he felt that everything before his eyes could be real and he was really existing. This was not a dream, nor did he time-travel to a parallel universe.
Qin Sheng put aside all of his precautions and lay down on the bed directly. At this moment, he did not want to think about anything. He just wanted to take a nap, as he was really tired.
In the room next door, Gongsun was making a call to get one of the boys to buy some cigarettes. However, Qin Ran forgot to ask Qin Sheng which kind he wanted. Hence, Gongsun could only ask him to buy all of the commonly seen ones. The shop owner would probably be dumbfounded.
Nan Gong said a little worriedly, “Sis, he will be fine alone, right?”
Based on Qin Ran’s understanding of Qin Sheng during this period of time, she knew that he was not that kind of person, so she answered confidently, “He might not be able to accept right away all that has happened today. He needs time to process it, but not to the extent that he would do anything stupid. Besides, he still has lots to do.”
Nan Gong nodded and replied, “Then that’s good.”
Qin Ran looked at Nan Gong from head to toe and said excitedly, “Girl, based on your age, you should call Qin Sheng your older brother. So in the future, not only will you have an older sister, but you’ll also have an older brother.”
Nan Gong murmured subconsciously, “I won’t call him my older brother.”
“What?” Qin Ran did not hear clearly and asked.
Nan Gong brushed it off with a smile. At this moment, she did not dare to say anything bad about him. Otherwise, Qin Ran, his biological sister, would surely be pissed. Hence, she changed the subject and said, “Sis, aren’t you going to buy new clothes for him? Let me do it for you.”
“Oh, I almost forgot about that. Let’s go together.” Qin Ran did not hand this task to her. This was the first time she was buying clothes for her younger brother, so of course she had to do it personally. She really did not feel safe leaving it to others.
Nan Gong did not know whether to laugh or cry. With a sister like this, if Qin Sheng were to pass out from happiness, who would dare to bully him?
Nan Gong pointed at Qin Ran’s ruined makeup and said, “Sis, are you going out like that?”
Qin Ran then remembered and quickly ran into the bathroom to redo her makeup…
Qin Sheng slept for a long time. It was already evening by the time he woke up. The sky was starting to darken and the city’s night view was starting to light up.
Qin Sheng had a good sleep. He did not have any good sleep during this period. He would think about many things at night, causing him to be unable to fall asleep, so he was always in a daze.
He turned on the lights.
When he was about to get out of bed, he then realized that someone had covered him with a blanket. This caused his heart to feel warm. He had been lying on the bed the whole time and did not know when he fell asleep. The blanket was underneath him, so the one on top of him must have been brought in by someone else.
After getting up, he saw that there were many things on the table; food that had already become cold, newly bought clothes, and all sorts of cigarettes.
Qin Sheng suddenly entered a daze. He instantly recalled all that had happened in the morning. This time around, he finally knew that all of these things were real.
Then where would he go from here?