Their chit-chat continued, unhindered by the previous interlude. At this time, Qin Sheng had attracted everybody’s attention. Ma Weiyang and Zhang Da had endless questions for him, for they were even more worried about Qin Sheng than Qin Ran. They were eager to listen to his experiences and his ups and downs over the past 20 years. Qin Sheng was somewhat surprised by their enthusiasm and didn’t know how to react properly.
The other two men, Yin Hao and Yang Shihua, only spoke a couple of sentences but paid close attention to the others. They just stayed involved in the chat and never interrupted others’ speech. Even though their families had some connections with each other more or less, these two had entered the circle later than others. Also, they were relatively younger, so they chose to keep a low profile.
Compared with Wei Li, who had tried extremely hard to enter the group, Qin Sheng made it rather easily. This was not only because of his relationship with Qin Ran or Qin Changan, but also thanks to the Qin Family’s firm position in Beijing for several generations.
“You’ve been staying in Xi’an all these years. Old Master Qin kept you well-hidden. We all made our best effort to find you, but failed miserably.” Ma Weiyang was surprised when Qin Sheng told them that he had been living in Xi’an. She thought Old Master Qin had locked him up in some remote place, fearing that someone would chance upon him.
Since Old Master Qin was mentioned, Zhang Da asked, “Sheng, now that you’re back, what about your grandfather? My grandfather said he wanted to invite Old Master Qin to drink his tea.”
Qin Sheng sighed and said with sorrow, “He passed away a few years ago.”
Zhang Da regretted talking about this, for he made Qin Sheng recall the sad memory. Ma Weiyang also glared at him due to his inappropriate words.
Qin Ran was suddenly reminded by his words. She was focused on Qin Sheng so much that she didn’t ask about their grandfather’s death, though she had already known that. The other reason was that she was not close to their grandfather. Unlike Qin Sheng, who had lived with the old man for decades, she had only met him a few times.
“Where’s his tomb?” Qin Ran asked, breaking the awkward silence and making everybody else feel relieved.
Qin Sheng answered simply, “At the foot of the Zhongnan Mountains.”
Qin Ran nodded and said, “When you have free time, we should go and take a look. Anyway, he’s our grandfather.”
“Of course.” Qin Sheng nodded. Chinese New Year was coming, and he was going to Xi’an to meet all those friends and relatives there. Recalling their familiar faces, he abruptly remembered Uncle Lin. He was framed, went broke, and then was even sent to prison. Qin Sheng had no way to help him in the past, but now, after knowing that he was born into such a powerful and wealthy family, he might as well try to make up for his regrets. However, Qin Sheng was unsure how to talk about this with Qin Changan.
At this very moment, the room door was opened without any warning.
Along with it, a familiar voice came. “Zhang Da, where’s Sheng? I came from Xisanhuan, such a long way from here. If you trick me, I will beat you into your grave.”
The voice was from Fan Dezhi, who had been enjoying his family time but rushed to here due to Zhang Da’s call. He was so eager to come that he was still wearing the leisurewear under his down jacket.
The atmosphere in the room was a bit sorrowful before Fan Dezhi stepped into the room. Now everybody here was staring at him and his unkempt hair.
“Brother Fan, what’s wrong with your hair?” Yin Hao said while laughing.
Fan Dezhi felt embarrassed and said, “Shut up.”
Then he turned to Zhang Da and asked, “Where’s Sheng?”
Zhang Da didn’t want to grace his silly question with an answer. Since there were six people here and only one of them was a stranger, of course, that stranger had to be Qin Sheng. Otherwise, how could he sit between Qin Ran and Ma Weiyang?
But Zhang Da knew that Fan Dezhi was just too excited. He pointed at Qin Sheng and said while giggling, “He’s over there.”
Fan Dezhi stared at Qin Sheng and was astonished by how he had changed. He was a little boy when he left, but a grown-up now after more than 20 years. He found himself too shocked to believe it.
Fan Dezhi turned to Qin Ran and asked again, just to make sure, “Ranran, is he really Sheng?”
“Yeah,” Qin Ran answered with a nod.
Fan Dezhi didn’t trust others aside from Qin Ran. He finally accepted that the fellow over there was Qin Sheng. He assumed that Zhang Da was playing a trick, never expecting Qin Sheng to be found after all these years. The huge surprise made Fan Dezhi, who was always calm, emotional. He gave Qin Sheng a big hug and patted him on the back. “Good boy. You’re finally back. It’s good. It’s so good.”
Everyone understood Fan Dezhi, for he had complicated feelings for Qin Ran. He hoped that Qin Ran could lead a happy life, but he also knew that it was impossible for her unless Qin Sheng was found. Now, she could be relieved, and nothing could be an obstacle for her anymore. She was free to look for her own happiness at last.
Fan Dezhi was happy for her from the bottom of his heart.
After Fan Dezhi calmed down, Zhang Da asked him to go to the corner, knowing that he had a couple of questions. He needed to tell a lot of things to Fan Dezhi beforehand, like that matter in Shanghai.
“I’m so happy today, so we must drink a lot to celebrate,” Fan Dezhi said with exhilaration. In fact, he had promised his wife three months ago that he would quit drinking. However, it was too hard for him to keep that promise. He had pledged to her several times, but all in vain; just as the old Chinese saying goes that people are supposed to get drunk when good things happen.
Qin Ran said, “My younger brother said he wanted to drink, so I brought him here, otherwise you wouldn’t have met him. No more nonsense now.”
Ma Weiyang also chipped in, “Aha, it seems that Sheng can knock back a few. All right, since he wants to drink, let’s get tanked tonight. If anybody says no, he’s not my friend anymore.”
Zhang Da said playfully, “But we’re absolutely not as good as Sheng. He grew up in Xi’an, and everyone knows that the people living in the northwest can drink like a fish.”
Yin Hao also laughed and said, “Take it easy. We have so many people here, and we’ll all give it our best shot. What do you want to drink? I’ll go and get some for you.”
“Sheng, just tell me what you want, and I’ll have it in front of you. If you say something that I don’t have, I’ll search through all of Beijing to get it for you.” Ma Weiyang liked Qin Sheng for no reason. After all, he was Qin Ran’s younger brother.
Qin Sheng knew that these people were all his sister’s real friends. They might have different positions and characters outside, but when they were together, they showed their real selves to each other, never pretending or putting on a false front.
Therefore, Qin Sheng answered without hesitation, “Beer, white wine, red wine, Western wine… Anything is good with me.”
Ma Weiyang giggled at Qin Sheng’s words and fancied him even more. She roared, “Haozi, grab something to drink.”
The atmosphere reached its peak in an instant. Yin Hao, accompanied by Yang Shihua, burst out laughing and went out to grab the drinks.
Li Bai, the famous poet from the Tang dynasty, wrote a poem: “I invite you to wine; do not put down your cup; I want only to get drunk and never to wake.”
Su Shi, a famous poet during the Song dynasty, also wrote a poem: “Bright moon, when did you appear? Lifting my wine, I question the dark night sky.” And another verse: “Drinking is the only way to get rid of a sad memory.”
There were so many odes to drinking in the history of Chinese literature.
In China’s thousands of years of traditional culture, wine was an essential thing. People drank when they were happy and also when they were sad. Getting intoxicated made them extremely emotional, letting go of all the bad feelings and memories.
Today, this party had to end up with everybody getting drunk.
A Chinese saying goes that when people are downing wine, nothing in the world can make them drink less. Qin Sheng was also eager to get wasted. He had been leading a particularly careful life due to the fear of the killers’ arrival, let alone did he go to relax and have a drink.
However, he didn’t have to worry about anything tonight and could hit the bottle, worrying about nothing and caring about nothing. The only thing he should be interested in tonight was how to get smashed. He really wondered what he would be like when he was wasted. Qin Sheng knew that no matter what happened, and no matter what he would do after getting drunk, his sister would definitely handle everything for him and send him home. This was the first time he could be a wayward person.
Since Qin Sheng had totally relaxed and stopped fretting about everything, so in the end, he, of course, got hammered.
For the whole night, apart from Qin Ran, who only took a few swigs, everyone was on a jag, especially Qin Sheng. He went to the toilet several times to vomit and ended up falling asleep. He was so content that he wore a smile, even while sleeping.
Ma Weiyang was also out like a light. She could go a binge, and it was not so easy to get her pie-eyed. However, she was utterly wasted since she had boozed a lot for Qin Sheng when Fan Dezhi, Zhang Da, and the others came to toast.
The rest were also pumped up but still remained conscious more or less. Qin Ran had asked them about their arrangements after the party, especially when getting drunk. As a result, now some were sent back home, and the others were dropped off at the World Trade Hotel nearby.
After everyone left, Qin Ran took Qin Sheng back to the siheyuan, which was not far away from Wangfujing, the CBD area. She then called Gongsun, asking him to make tea and cook some porridge for the drunk Qin Sheng.
In the siheyuan, Qin Changan had already gone to bed. If there was not any prearrangement, he had a regular schedule for daily routines. He usually went to sleep before 11 o’clock in the evening. So, when Qin Ran and Qin Sheng arrived home, only Gongsun was waiting for them.
Qin Ran had her own room in the siheyuan, so she would stay there tonight since it was so late. Before they arrived, Gongsun had asked a servant to clean a room next to Qin Ran’s for Qin Sheng. All the stuff in Qin Sheng’s room was exchanged for new ones.
Qin Sheng was carried home by two bodyguards. Qin Ran wanted to have him drink some tea and eat some porridge, but he remained unconscious. So she just asked the guards to send him to his room.
After that, Qin Ran went out of the room. Gongsun, who was standing in the corridor, complained, “Ranran, how could you let him drink so much?”
“He wanted to drink, so I just let him do it. He felt good, for he had enough.” Qin Ran didn’t worry that much. She hoped that Qin Sheng would not hold back and wished that he could relieve the pressure on his shoulders, even though getting wasted. At least, he would relax his nerves a bit.
Gongsun sighed and said no more. These people from the Qin Family had the same character. This was exactly the Qins’ style.
