After Aunt Zhao had prepared the lunch the previous night, she had gone back directly to the hotel, making Qin Sheng and Qin Ran spend the time together by themselves. After that, she had eaten randomly in the hotel. On usual days, the servants and the maidservants had eaten in an independent dining hall in the siheyuan. Except for Gongsun, nobody else was entitled to eat in the dining hall of the main building.
At this moment, after Aunt Zhao placed all the dishes on the table. She was about to go upstairs to clean the room for Qin Sheng and wash the clothes, which Qin Sheng left after he had gotten changed.
As Aunt Zhao was about to leave, Qin Sheng stopped her and said, “Aunt Zhao, where are you going? Are you going to skip lunch?”
Aunt Zhao smiled and said, “You eat first, I will do some cleaning and eat after you are done with lunch.”
As a maidservant, Aunt Zhao still knew about this rule well, namely, the servants and the master could not eat together in the same table, which was also the one prevailing in the wealthy and influential families.
Qin Sheng did not mind that much at all. Besides, they were not in the siheyuan of the Qin family. Consequently, he said, “The dishes will turn cold soon. You sit down and eat with me. There are not so many rules here. It’s not too late for you to do the cleaning after lunch.”
Aunt Zhao was somewhat at a loss. After all, she had guessed Qin Sheng’s identity right. However, she was not certain yet. Nobody told her the exact info. She felt somewhat moved in secret. It did not occur to her that Qin Sheng would be so amiable. If there were only Qin Sheng in the villa, she might sit down as requested. However, Nan Gong was also here. If Nan Gong told Eldest Lady about this, she might be fired later on, which was not a good thing to her.
Consequently, Aunt Zhao replied obsequiously, “It’s inappropriate for me to do so, isn’t it?”
Nan Gong persuaded Aunt Zhao as she said, “Aunt Zhao, you can just sit down and eat lunch.” After that, she gave Qin Sheng a hard look and thought, “Well, you are fairly sentimental.”
Since Qin Sheng and Nan Gong had said so, Aunt Zhao sat down restlessly and served Qin Sheng and Nan Gong with rice and soup in a hurry.
There were two reasons for Qin Sheng to do so. Firstly, he was not used to that kind of life like this. Secondly, as Nan Gong was sitting across him, if Aunt Zhao had not been there, he would have feared that this woman would turn the table out of anger and fight with him. Now, since Aunt Zhao was there, Qin Sheng was at ease.
As they were eating, the doorbell rang once again. Aunt Zhao, who had thought the visitor would be Qin Ran, went to open the door in a hurry. However, it turned out to be the security guard of the residential quarter.
It was simply impossible for the security guard to catch up with Qin Sheng and Nan Gong, who had no choice but to pull out the surveillance video, only to find out that Qin Sheng and Nan Gong had entered the villa one after another. Consequently, he came over to inquire about the situation.
Qin Sheng stood up and explained to the security guard, saying that nothing had happened between them, who were siblings, and they had joked with each other. By saying so, he had taken advantage of Nan Gong once again.
The security guard also saw that the beauty was eating inside. He mumbled a few words, saying they should be more watchful in the future and what if they got hurt since the floor was so slippery in snowy days. After he finished his words, he left directly.
After they finished lunch, Nan Gong planned to go back to the villa across the street. Though she had been exposed in front of Qin Sheng, she still needed to go on with what she should do.
Qin Sheng asked randomly, “Are you going back to the downtown area or going back to your stronghold? If you are going back to the stronghold, the way I see it, it will be too troublesome. Don’t you think it is too exhausting? Anyway, I already knew your existence. Since Qin Changan asked you to watch over me, you can live here. Isn’t it better for you to watch over me by living closer to me?”
Qin Sheng did not play cards as normal, making Nan Gong feel somewhat confused and wonder what on earth Qin Sheng was thinking about. She turned around and stared at Qin Sheng for several seconds, intending to figure out what he wanted to do.
Qin Sheng replied frankly, “Rest assured that I am not interested in you physically and mentally. I would rather let you stay here than being watched by you. In that case, I will feel much more comfortable in secret.” He did not like being watched at all, feeling that he did not have any privacy at all. Also, it would be upsetting for him to do anything under that kind of circumstance.
Nan Gong said thoughtfully, “Are you sure about that?”
Qin Sheng replied disapprovingly, “Of course. Don’t talk nonsense. Could it be that you will eat me alive?” After that, he intended not to bother with Nan Gong anymore. Lying on the couch casually, he went on browsing through the book, which he had been greatly intoxicated with.
Nan Gong did not act politely. Since Qin Sheng had said so, she would be saved from a lot of trouble. However, she still needed to report to Uncle Gongsun. If her foster father consented to her request, she would move over there directly.
After Nan Gong made up her mind, she walked out of the villa in the end and called Uncle Gongsun first. Even if she had to live under the same roof with Qin Sheng, she needed to go there and move her stuff over here.
Half an hour later, Nan Gong returned to the villa since her foster father had consented to her request. She had told Uncle Gongsun everything that had happened this morning, including what Qin Sheng had said at that time. Of course, she had kept some things from Uncle Gongsun.
As Nan Gong moved in, Qin Sheng, who had been lying on the couch and reading, had already fallen asleep. The book was pressed on his chest. Nan Gong mumbled a few words and went upstairs to keep track of the drama. Watching the US TV series, the movies, and so on was her sole hobby. On usual days, seldom had she gone shopping. It was Qin Ran who had asked her to go shopping with her every time.
Qin Sheng slept until five o’clock in the afternoon. As he was sleeping, Aunt Zhao had covered him with a blanket. As for Nan Gong, she was not in a mood to take care of Qin Sheng. It was not until Aunt Zhao was cooking dinner in the kitchen that Qin Sheng was awakened with a start.
Qin Sheng glimpsed at the clock and found out that it was over five o’clock, feeling somewhat surprised. He did not know why he had become so sleepy in recent days. The more he slept, the drowsier he became. He looked completely dejected.
It seemed that people’s state of mind did go like that. The poorer one’s state of mind was, the more dejected one would look. One would feel like falling into an endless abyss. However hard one had tried, one could not climb out of it. Instead, the better one’s state of mind was, the more vigorous one would look. Under this circumstance, one would feel being stoked, who would not feel exhausted at all, even if one was deprived of sleep for two consecutive days.
Qin Sheng did not take his current situation as a good one. He hated his current state a lot.
Without ever informing anybody in the villa, Qin Sheng changed shoes and went out to buy cigarettes. After Qin Sheng purchased the cigarettes, he chatted with the security guard at the entrance of the residential quarters for a while. When Qin Sheng returned, he found out Aunt Zhao had gotten the dinner ready. As for Nan Gong, when she saw that Qin Sheng had gone without even bringing his mobile with him, she felt somewhat concerned for him, fearing that he would run away.
Nan Gong questioned Qin Sheng, “Where have you been?”
Qin Sheng found it funny and said, “Could it be that I should report to you whatever I do? Should we sleep on the same bed so that you can watch me at any moment?”
Nan Gong cursed as she said, “Such a hooligan.” After that, she turned around and went to the kitchen.
Qin Sheng did not eat much for dinner. As a bowl of rice bottomed out, he went to the basement, only to find out there was a gym, as well as a billiard table. Qin Sheng was skilled at playing billiards. At high school, speaking of how they had entertained themselves, except for gaming in the internet cafe, it would be playing billiards and board games.
He was not the only one who was good at playing billiards. The group of people, including Hao Lei, were also masters. Among them, of course, Su Qin was included. They often competed with each other and made a bet that the loser would be responsible for taking care of every member’s meal. The group made up of Qin Sheng and Su Qin would win the game for most of the time.
Su Qin, who got a quiet temperament, did not like playing billiards at all. She preferred playing the piano, reading, and so on. However, when Su Qin saw the members of Qin Sheng’s group playing billiards, she would like to get involved rather than feeling bored by herself. Back when Qin Sheng had taught her how to play billiards at the beginning, however hard she had tried, she just could not get it right. As a result, Su Qin had been mocked by Hao Lei’s members, who had said she had been too stupid. Consequently, Su Qin had gotten herself a teacher after she had gone home. The teacher had been teaching her how to play billiards every weekend. Two months later, Su Qin had finished her apprenticeship and beat Hao Lei’s group instantly, making everybody feel astounded.
At this moment, of course, Qin Sheng had not thought of Su Qin yet. He would not even know whether the woman, who had cried hard on the street amid the heavy rain in Hangzhou, had let go of him from the bottom of her heart for real.
Originally, it was not easy for lovers to run across each other. It would be more heart-breaking for lovers to miss each other. Unfortunately, not every couple of lovers, who had loved each other deeply, could get old together.
Speaking of what could adjust one’s state of mind with the fastest pace, it would be exercising. Qin Sheng had not gone to the gym for some time. He had gone there fewer times ever since he had arrived in Hangzhou. In Shanghai, he had managed to find time to go to the gym three or four times weekly. Back when he had been in Xiamen, he had been staying in the gym frequently due to the need to recover himself. However, due to many chores, he had rarely gone there in Hangzhou. No wonder that when he had been at large at Huang Mei Town, Qin Sheng had felt it clear that he was somewhat powerless.
On the treadmill, Qin Sheng sweated profusely. His clothing was soaked wet completely in the end. Qin Sheng simply took off his upper outer garment, bared his arms, and went on running. After he had been running for 10 miles, following that, he started to do the physical exercises with apparatus, which were so familiar to him.
At first, Nan Gong went downstairs and saw that Qin Sheng was running. She found it boring and went upstairs again. It was not until Aunt Zhao went back to the hotel that she went downstairs once again. After all, she had to check on what Qin Sheng was doing once in a while.
When she saw that Qin Sheng was sweating while baring his arms, she could not help feeling somewhat astonished. It was because she had caught sight of those startling scars on Qin Sheng’s body, especially several ones on his back. It was known that scars represented men’s meritorious service medals, which meant the bearer had gone through many things. Nan Gong didn’t know what Qin Sheng had gone through. However, the way she saw it, an ordinary one, who avoided doing any work, sat idle and enjoyed others’ work, and achieved nothing, definitely would not have the kind of scars as that of Qin Sheng.
“Whoops, your body figure is quite good.” Though feeling astonished, Nan Gong still did not treat Qin Sheng well.
Qin Sheng put down the dumbbells and eyed Nan Gong’s curvy figure up and down with a torrid look. He smiled as he said, “Compared with yours, mine is far worse.”
Knowing that Qin Sheng could not utter decent language, Nan Gong snorted as she said, “If you have not exercised for a long time, don’t do excessive exercise on the first day in case you can’t get off the bed tomorrow.”
After Nan Gong finished her sentences, she turned around and went upstairs.
Qin Sheng did not know whether he should laugh or smile. It seemed that this woman was hard on the outside and soft on the inside. However, he knew where his limit lay. Of course, he would act according to his capability.
After Qin Sheng had been exercising for two hours, he was completely exhausted. After he went home, he took a shower and hit the sack without thinking about anything at all. Qin Sheng did not know that Nan Gong, who slept next door, was tossing and turning restlessly. However hard she tried, she could not fall asleep. After all, at this moment, there were only two people, namely, Qin Sheng and her, in the villa. As a man and a woman were together alone, it was unknown what would happen. Besides, she knew that Qin Sheng did not get along with her well. In this case, what should she do if Qin Sheng made fun of her tonight?
Unfortunately, she had overthought it. Qin Sheng simply did not have time to make fun of her. As a result, as she waited and waited, she fell asleep, subconsciously in the end.
It snowed outside in the morning. Qin Sheng, who liked snowy weather, did not plan to snuggle up in bed inside the villa and kill the time. He went downstairs, got changed, and went out for running. It was a kind of enjoyment for him to appreciate the snowy scene as he was running on such a snowy day.
Nan Gong got up confusedly, glimpsed at the watch, and awoke with a start. She got dressed and ran into Qin Sheng’s room, only to find out that Qin Sheng was no longer there.
Nan Gong was somewhat panicked. She ran downstairs in a hurry and asked Aunt Zhao hurriedly, “Aunt Zhao, where is Qin Sheng?”
Aunt Zhao replied casually, “He went out for running.”
Nan Gong frowned as she said, “Why didn’t you wake me up?”
Feeling puzzled, Aunt Zhao replied, “He told me that you should sleep a little more. So I didn’t wake you up.”
Nan Gong let out a sigh, went back to the room in a hurry, and rinsed her face off casually. After that, she got changed in a hurry and went out to look for Qin Sheng, fearing that she could not report to her foster father at that time if Qin Sheng had run away for real.
By the riverside of the residential quarter, Nan Gong saw Qin Sheng from afar. As she was about to go over and approach him, two men, who were dressed in black coats, blocked her way.
The look on Nan Gong’s face changed slightly. It was because she did not know who the counterparts were. She glimpsed at Qin Sheng, who was not far from her, only to find out that a middle-aged man, who looked pretty forbidding, was standing by Qin Sheng’s side. The man’s back view seemed somewhat familiar to her.
It was not until the man leaned to one side that Nan Gong recognized who he was and understood what was going on instantly. She turned around without hesitation and left…