Chapter 353 Qin Changan Didn’t Give a Damn about It
Right now, Qin Sheng didn’t want to know the social status and family background of this so-called father, which was because he would find out about all of these sooner or later. All he wanted to know now was the truth about everything that had happened during this period. What on earth was the truth?
It was because, up until now, he was still doubting that he had been living in a world where Truman had lived during this period. Someone had set everything up for him. It was because he felt that many things had taken place coincidentally and he had been a lucky dog. It was especially true with the things that had happened after the accident on Mount Jiuhua. Everything might be overthrown, which might lead to another different conclusion.
Qin Changan sat across from Qin Sheng slowly and waited for Qin Sheng’s questions calmly. He would disclose all the truths to Qin Sheng. Never would he keep Qin Sheng in the dark, nor would he care about whether Qin Sheng could bear the emotional clash or not.
A man must experience sufficient ups and downs and great storms. Only after that could one be fully cultivated. Only by doing so could one maintain his composure calmly and stay strong no matter what they encountered.
As a result, Qin Changan did not mind that Qin Sheng might bear a grudge against him after learning all the truths or that he might not officially acknowledge him as his father from the beginning to the end. That’s because whatever Qin Sheng’s reaction might be, he was Qin Sheng’s father, which was a reality beyond all doubt. Whether Qin Sheng would officially acknowledge him as his father or not didn’t matter at all. However, Qin Changan had another more important identity, namely, the Qin Family’s steersman. Consequently, Qin Sheng was the Qin Family’s future successor. In this case, everything Qin Changan had done was worthwhile.
Though Qin Sheng was far more psychologically powerful than his peers, he still looked somewhat diffident while facing Qin Changan. It was not until he pondered for a long time that he spoke up and asked, “When did you start to know about my existence?”
Qin Sheng had raised this question in such a straightforward manner. All he wanted to know was nothing other than when Qin Changan had found him, why he had delayed reconciling with him, and what he had done during this period. As a result, Qin Changan found it funny as he replied, “Ever since you were born, I had known I had a son. Consequently, I knew about your existence the whole time. However, my father, namely, your grandfather, took you away and left Beijing later on. I had been looking for you in the past two decades. However, all my efforts had failed. Your grandfather was not ordinary at all. If he wanted to make someone disappear, few people could find the target. Besides, the reason why he had taken you away was that he had been avoiding his enemies. Even so, I know that what you want to know was when I found you instead of what I just disclosed. As for that, let me think about it.”
After Qin Changan finished his opening remark, he kept Qin Sheng guessing on purpose. The look on Qin Sheng’s face was solemn. He was waiting for Qin Changan’s answer.
“It should be one month before you came back to Xi’an. You had done one thing in Shenzhen and had been connected to a friend of mine who once had gotten along with me pretty well. He and I had known each other since childhood. He had come across some obstacles on his career journey afterward, making him plunge into the business arena. He could be counted as someone influential in Shenzhen now. He thought that you very much looked like a young Qin Changan. Besides, he knew I had a son who had been separated from me for over two decades. And it so happened that your family name was Qin. So he told me about you. As for what happened next, it was much more simple. I could easily locate your whereabouts with my connections. Originally, I had not held out any hope at all. However, I was extremely astonished by the result.” Qin Changan elaborated on the process of how he had found his son frankly to Qin Sheng without adding any exaggeration at all.
Upon hearing this result, though Qin Sheng had expected it already, he still found it inconceivable. Originally, he had thought that probably Qin Changan had known about his existence after he had gone to Shanghai. However, never did it occur to him that the timing would be so long ago, which was before the timing that he had guessed.
After Qin Sheng came to his senses, he questioned Qin Changan as he asked, “Then, why didn’t you reconcile with me?”
Qin Changan glimpsed at the accumulated snow outside the window and chuckled as he said, “You have your world. So do I. Based on my guess, you must know that my world is vastly different from that of most of the people in the world. If I had reconciled with you abruptly, your life trajectory would have been disrupted first. Secondly, I wondered if you could accept it had I asked you to come into my world all of a sudden and if you could put up with the pressure thus caused. Thirdly, since you and I have been separated for more than two decades, even though I am your father, I barely know you. I dared not take such a risk. I needed to confirm who you are first.”
What Qin Changan had said made Qin Sheng feel somewhat touched because what Qin Changan had said did make sense. Qin Sheng already knew that Qin Changan was not a simple man. If he had reconciled with him abruptly during that time, he might not have necessarily put up with the suffocating pressure successfully. His world and Qin Changan’s world had not been connected at all. There was even a huge difference between them. To the ordinary, they might need to work hard for three generations to get into that kind of world like Qin Changan’s and get free from that kind of world like that of Qin Sheng. For Qin Sheng, it might take him a whole lifetime.
After the first question was over, Qin Sheng went on asking the next one. “Had you ever seen me before we met each other in Xiamen?”
Qin Changan ordered the servant to go inside and pour a glass of water for him since it was time for him to take medicine. Gongsun had been waiting outside already. He asked the servant to take all the medicine that Qin Changan would take on normal days into the room. After all, Qin Changan was almost 60 years old. His health condition was far worse than before. He had to preserve his health well.
From the beginning to the end, the whole communication process was delayed for a few minutes. Qin Sheng had been waiting for Qin Changan’s reply during that period.
It was not until Qin Changan had taken the medicine and the servant had left the room that Qin Changan answered Qin Sheng’s second question. “Yes, I had. The first time was in Xi’an, specifically, that afternoon when you went back to Xi’an. I saw you in front of the grave of the Old Master at the foot of the Zhongnan Mountains. The second time was in Shanghai. I saw you once hurriedly at the entrance of the residential quarter where you had lived.”
Qin Changan replied honestly. After Qin Sheng heard his answer, he felt somewhat stressful because Qin Changan’s answer was almost the same as his guess, making him feel somewhat frightened.
Consequently, Qin Sheng spoke up without warning as he said, “Are Han Guoping and Jiang Xianbang both your connections?”
Qin Changan didn’t know whether he should laugh or cry as he replied, “No. They don’t have any connection with me. As for that, you don’t need to feel doubtful.”
Upon hearing Qin Changan’s answer, Qin Sheng felt somewhat at ease in secret as he asked, “Then, Zhuang Zhou must be your connection. How are you two connected?” He did not doubt what Qin Changan had said at all. After all, he had known Han Guoping during the two years when he had been traveling around. As for Jiang Xianbang, he had known him since his childhood, who was his grandfather’s connection. If they had been Qin Changan’s connections, it would not have taken Qin Changan so long a time to find him. However, it turned out they were not Qin Changan’s connections. As for Zhuang Zhou, undoubtedly, he had to be Qin Changan’s connection. After all, he was outside right now.
Qin Changan had known that Qin Sheng definitely would ask a question like this, consequently, he was not surprised at all. So, he said in a low voice, “As for the relationship between Laozhuang and me, we could be counted as friends as well brothers to each other. However, it was your father who formed such a good affinity. In Laozhuang’s opinion, he always thinks he owes our family a thumping favor. As a result, in the past few years, he has been helping me with a lot of things, which makes me feel indebted to him.”
It did not occur to Qin Sheng that the relationship between Uncle Zhuang and the Qin Family would be so complicated. Even so, he did not want to think of these issues right now. Instead, he continued asking, “I want to know who else your connections are.”
This question was somewhat naive. The matters that had taken place in recent days had already disrupted Qin Sheng’s basic capability of judgment, making him start to deny a lot of things that had happened previously. He was still too psychologically weak and not strong enough.
Qin Chang chuckled as he replied, “As for your connections in both Shanghai and Xiamen, none of them are my connections. As for the ones in Hangzhou, Cao Da could be counted as my connection. After all, he was referred to you by Zhuang Zhou. Besides him, who else is my connection? Old Master Liu could be counted as one. Since he was pretty close to the Chen Family, who also knew something about the Old Master, the Chen Family had sent somebody over to inquire about your issue. In order not to leak out the secret, I went to Hangzhou in person and made him hold his tongue. Otherwise, the way you see it, what was the reason why the price of his paintings could be driven that high in the art market recently?” The way he spoke was casual, which was especially so when he spoke about the issue related to Old Master Liu. It seemed that all of these issues were negligible to him.
As Qin Chang went on talking, the look on Qin Sheng’s face became more and more ghastly because the truth was exactly as he had expected. It was true that he had been living in a world that Qin Changan had set up in advance for him, making him look exactly like the leading male actor in The Truman Show.
However, he still restrained his impulse and did not get angry directly because he had more questions to ask. As a result, he went on asking, “Since you know so much about me, could it be that you know everything that happened to me? Had you been sending people to watch over me in secret all the time? Otherwise, dating back to when I was on Mount Jiuhua, why did Uncle Zhuang save me again at the critical moment?”
Qin Changan knew that the critical moment of the first formal conversation between him and his son finally came. However, he did not want to keep anything from Qin Sheng despite that Qin Sheng might hate him, who might probably believe that Qin Changan had acted according to his own free will because of his wealth and influence. Even so, he still wanted to tell Qin Sheng that at most times, one could do whatever one wanted if one was rich and powerful, which was especially true for most of the ordinary people. That was the cruel reality.
Qin Chang replied quite sharply, “If you think what I did was watch over you, then just let it be. However, the way I see it, what I did could be counted as protection of you, more or less. Otherwise, I would not have saved you on Mount Jiuhua and in Huang Mei Town. If it had been an ordinary person in your situation, in which you had offended those powerful enemies, they would have been dead a long time ago.” The way Qin Changan spoke might have been too straightforward, indicating that he did not care about Qin Sheng’s feelings at all. However, what he said was true. Ordinary people would not be that reckless. Qin Changan had a different point of view from that of Qin Sheng.
However, Qin Sheng did not care about at all that Qin Changan had replied to his question in such a manner because he had heard some critical words, namely, Huang Mei Town.
It did not occur to him that it was Qin Changan who had helped him overcome the difficulty in Huang Mei Town, which he somewhat could not accept. It was because of this issue that he felt like he was a lame duck who could only overcome difficulties with others’ help. Based on his character, he simply could not accept a result like this, which was simply a naked insult to him.
Qin Sheng gritted his teeth as he asked, “When did the so-called protection on your side start?”
Qin Changan questioned him as a reply, “What do you think?”
Qin Sheng thought for a while and replied, “Did it start in Xiamen, Shanghai, or Xi’an?”
Qin Changan shook his head and smiled bitterly, who seemed to be somewhat disdainful because he thought that Qin Sheng should have guessed the timing right. As a result, he replied immediately, “No. It started from the moment I found you. Never have you escaped from my capability range.”
This answer completely ignited the fury in Qin Sheng’s heart, which he had been suppressing for a long time. He stood up straightly with a “bomb” and stared at Qin Changan in the face as he said, “Why?”
Qin Sheng’s fury could not pose as a threat to Qin Changan at all, who had seen much in life. He was still calm and poised except for him being somewhat nervous in the beginning. At this moment, he was peaceful.
With a smile on his face, he explained, “I won’t tell you the reason because the reason means nothing to you now. However, someday you will understand my good intentions.”
Upon finishing his last sentence, Qin Changan stood up and left without hesitation at all and did not pay attention to Qin Sheng, who had been carried away by his fury. It was because in his opinion since he had finished what he should say, he was not in a mood to deal with Qin Sheng’s meaningless questions.
As for whether Qin Sheng could understand his good intentions or not, he did not care about it at all, because he was Qin Changan…