Chapter 356 Qin Ran’s Uncle
Originally, Qin Ran had not planned to so quickly inform the family members, including her grandmother and her uncle, about the piece of news that her brother had come back home. However, the relationship between Qin Sheng and her father became so stiff now, which could not be elevated in a short period. As a result, Qin Ran had to find a breakthrough and find someone else to replace her father’s position who could care about Qin Sheng from a different perspective.
It was evident that she could not be the one because she had just built a connection with Qin Sheng. Consequently, she dared not to do other things randomly. After she thought it over and over again, she thought only her uncle could fit such a role. Anyway, she would tell her uncle about this piece of news sooner or later. As a result, she had no choice but to inform her uncle first and keep it from her father.
In a heavily guarded courtyard in Sijiu City, a middle-aged man who was dressed in a suit of martial attire just arrived home. This was a two-storey building made of red bricks. Security guards were on duty and patrolling at the entrance. The internal layout was quite simple. Most of the furniture inside was classical. It turned out that the flowers, plants, and some old photos were far more eye-catching.
Though the middle-aged man was over 60 years old, he still looked vigorous. His dignity, which was inherently borne by the military men, earned people’s respect immediately. He was still at a high rank now. Besides, he got further promoted amid the military reform this time.
In the dining hall, the dinner was already ready. The maidservant was busy doing her chores as was his wife. He had a pair of children who had all gotten married, settled down, and had children as well. His son succeeded him, who was appointed as a consultant in the military in the northwest. As for his daughter, she had taken part in an official career.
When the middle-aged man picked up Qin Ran’s call, he felt quite happy. He loved his niece dearly since this girl was born to be favored and loved by others. Besides, her life was somewhat bitter, which made him feel pretty sorry for her. As for those things, never was he willing to mention and think of them since they were the whole family’s taboos.
On usual days, this girl would make a call to greet him weekly and get around to visiting them every month. However, he had not heard from her in recent days. He was somewhat busy, since the end of the year was coming. As a result, he did not pay attention to this situation, more or less. It was not until this girl called him today that he thought back on the old days and realized that he had not seen this girl for some time. He could not help feeling somewhat self-condemned, feeling that he was less concerned about her.
However, after the call went through, the piece of news that the girl had told him made him, who had gone through life and death and seen much of the world, feel somewhat ill at ease because this piece of news was simply too astonishing.
The middle-aged man stood in the living room, feeling at a loss. He could not come to his senses in an instant. Qin Ran’s words of “I found my brother,” had a huge impact on him.
“Little boy, what do you want to do when you grow up?”
“Mother told me that you are a hero, Uncle. So I want to be exactly like you and become a military man so that I can protect our homes and defend our country after I grow up.”
“Aren’t you afraid that you are going to endure hardships?”
“No, I’m not.”
Just then, a woman had walked from sideways and said discontentedly, “Little boy, didn’t you just tell me that you are going to be a teacher after you grow up? Why did you change your mind so quickly?”
The little boy held a lollipop between his lips and said in a baby’s voice solemnly, “It is because you, Auntie, did not give me any candy while Uncle did.”
All the family members burst out laughing in an instant since this little boy had acted so materialistically, who was simply the life of the party in all the family members’ eyes…
The reason why the middle-aged man, as well as all the family members of the Zhu Family, loved their niece so dearly was that her mother had passed away at an early age and her brother had disappeared all of a sudden. Besides, her father went about his own business. Nobody in the Qin Family loved this girl dearly. Consequently, all the family members of the Zhu Family loved her more.
As for his nephew, this middle-aged man felt more guilty about him than his niece did. His high social status and powerful connections did not change anything at all. Even though so many years had passed, he simply could not find his biological nephew, which made him feel like a complete failure in life.
At first, whenever all of his family members got together, they all felt sorry for him if anybody had mentioned this little boy unintentionally, who was pitiable. At that time, the atmosphere would be reduced to a freezing point. As for the Old Master, he could still manage it and did not look sorrowful in front of outsiders. But the Old Lady could not help weeping quietly. As a result, in later days, everybody had a tacit understanding that nobody should bring about the issue related to their nephew in front of the Old Master, the Old Lady, and Qin Ran.
However, keeping themselves silent did not mean that all the family members of the Zhu Family had not exerted great effort to look for Qin Sheng. Never had they given up trying to find him over the past two decades. Whenever any clue was available, they would send people out immediately to check it out. Unfortunately, it was all in vain in the end.
However, it did not occur to the middle-aged man, who held no hopes at all after more than two decades had passed, that Qin Ran would tell him all of a sudden that his nephew had been located today. After the emotion of astonishment washed over him, he had an impulse to cry with joy instantly.
However, this middle-aged man was no ordinary man at all. He forced himself to calm down and locked himself in thought. Since the accident had taken place all of a sudden, he had to figure out the ins and outs. After all, based on the Qin Family’s social status and the Zhu Family’s background, somebody might have an ulterior motive. If somebody did so, it would be a secondary injury to Ran Ran. He definitely would not spare the kind of people like this.
In the dining hall, a middle-aged woman who was dressed well took a glimpse at that the man was at a loss in the living room and called him subconsciously, “Laozhu, why are you in a daze? Come over quickly and have dinner.”
His wife’s voice made the man come to his senses. He pointed at the mobile to his wife, who instantly got his point and left him alone. That was because whenever the man made a motion like this, it meant that something pretty important had taken place.
In the villa, Qin Ran knew her uncle definitely would be astonished by this piece of news. As a result, she was not anxious to say anything further and planned to tell her uncle more when he got here.
The middle-aged man could not help asking, “Ran Ran, is what you said true?”
Qin Ran knew that her uncle would not believe what she had said easily. As a result, she replied, “Uncle, I would not have informed you if I had not confirmed the authenticity of this piece of news. I brought him back to Beijing from Tsingtao last night. He is by my side now. My father already saw him.”
Upon hearing Qin Ran’s words, the middle-aged man felt more at ease instantly. Half of his doubts went away. However, he had to confirm again. As a result, he said, “Ran Ran, where are you now?”
Qin Ran replied frankly, “My brother’s mental state is not very good. The relationship between him and my father is somewhat stiff. Consequently, I brought him to Yanqi Lake to take a breath.”
The middle-aged man was hesitant for a while. After that, he said, “Send me the location details and I will ask the driver to pick you up. I will ask for more detailed information from you after we see each other.”
Qin Ran could understand how her uncle was feeling now. Even though she had planned to stay with Qin Sheng here tonight, since her uncle had said so, it indicated that he had to hold this issue in high regard. Consequently, she replied, “No need. Uncle, I will drive to your home.”
The middle-aged man replied quite straightforwardly, “It is late at night, it snowed today, and the traffic might be heavy. Just wait for the driver there.” The way he had spoken was irrefutable.
Qin Ran was hesitant for a few seconds. After that, she had no choice but to nod in agreement.
After Qin Ran ended the call, she went back into the living room. Qin Sheng had done the washing up and prepared some fruits. He was browsing through Memoir of the Literature.
Qin Ran peeled an orange for him as she said, “Qin Sheng, I won’t accompany you here tonight since I have something to attend to later on. I will visit you tomorrow. Is it OK for you to stay here alone?”
Qin Sheng raised his head, put down the book in his hands, and took Qin Ran’s orange as he replied casually, “Well, it is fine. Sister, you go on doing your own business. I am used to being alone.”
Though Qin Sheng had replied in such a casual manner, his words still made Qin Ran feel somewhat upset. She had a pain in her heart in an instant.
Upon seeing Qin Ran’s look, Qin Sheng instantly knew what was going on with her. He felt that he should be more prudent while talking with his sister in the future. Though some words might mean nothing to him at all, they might make his sister feel different after hearing them. As a result, Qin Sheng replied in a hurry, “I mean, I like to stay alone.”
Qin Ran did not say anything further, nor did she intend to look into the kind of topic like this. Otherwise, she would be unhappy and her brother would overthink it. Consequently, she found a random topic and distracted Qin Sheng’s attention.
They chatted casually in the living room. About an hour and a half later, Qin Ran’s mobile phone rang. She picked up the call, talked on the phone for a while, then hung up.
Her uncle’s driver was already outside the villa. She stood up and started to pack her things up. After that, she said to Qin Sheng, “Qin Sheng, I will leave now.”
Qin Sheng followed her, stood up in a hurry, and said, “Sister, I will walk you out.”
Qin Ran refused him. “No need. It’s cold outside.”
Qin Sheng did not mind her words, picked up her bag, and went outside directly. Qin Ran did not know whether she should laugh or cry. She had no choice but to follow him to go outside.
An Audi with a military license plate was parked outside the entrance. The military plate looked pretty eye-catching, which, of course, Qin Sheng had taken notice of. However, he did not say anything at all or raise any questions.
Qin Sheng waved to Qin Ran as he said, “Notify me when you arrive at the destination.” After that, he saw Qin Ran get in the car and leave.
After Qin Sheng went back to the living room in the villa, a sense of loneliness and desolation came at him unsolicitedly, which was pretty terrible. Normally, one could only feel like this when one was empty and lonely in secret, which also indicated that one was psychologically weak. Qin Sheng did not want to be tortured amid this kind of feeling. Consequently, he directly went upstairs and took a shower, planning to go to bed.
After Qin Sheng took the shower and lay in bed, he picked up the mobile subconsciously, which his sister had just bought for him today. There was only his sister’s number in the contacts. However, since he had kept many people’s numbers in his mind, he was thinking about whether he should contact them now or not, informing them that everything was fine on his side.
Though his wandering life had come to an end and his fearsome and awkward experience had been halted, Qin Sheng gave up his idea in the end because he had not switched his mind state successfully yet. Besides, he didn’t know how to explain many things to his friends. As a result, he decided that he should contact them after he had digested everything completely and accepted them.
Qin Sheng slept till half-past eight o’clock. It was not until Aunt Zhao had prepared breakfast that he got up. He greeted Aunt Zhao, finished washing up, and ate breakfast.
Feeling somewhat bored, Qin Sheng wanted to go outside for a walk. After he informed Aunt Zhao, he directly went outside.
It seemed that it had snowed slightly last night. The scenery outside was as stunning as ever, which was unique to the northern countries. Qin Sheng had not seen scenery like this for a long time. He strolled around in the residential quarter on his own. The scenery on the hilltop was far more beautiful. Consequently, Qin Sheng planned to go to stroll around on the back mountain. However, he always felt that he was being tailed all the time or a pair of eyes had been watching him from behind.
Due to Qin Changan’s issue, Qin Sheng now hated being watched over the most. As a result, he wanted to figure out whether somebody was watching him or not. To him, it was not difficult to do that at all. Consequently, he began playing the game called “The Cat Catches the Mouse”.