Taking Zhu Qingyuan’s identity into account, while heading for Shanghai in the south, they did not ride the Gulfstream G650 of the Qin Family. After all, Zhu Qingyuan held an official position in the government, who was at a pretty high level. Though it was just a private trip to visit his relatives and friends during the Spring Festival and the jet belonged to his immediate family, if somebody with ill intentions took advantage of it, he might get into some trouble. It was not a bad thing to act cautiously.
Most importantly, Zhu Qingyuan was Zhu Weiguo’s son. Consequently, Qin Ran and Qin Sheng sat in the front in first class seats with their sister-in-law and two kids. Zhu Qingyuan and two bodyguards sat at the rear in economy class. As for their luggage, it had been checked in at the counter.
It was the third day of Chinese New Year today. There were not many travelers on the plane. Qin Sheng talked with his eldest sister-in-law for a while and played with the two kids. As for Qin Ran, she chatted with her eldest sister-in-law about some topics related to females. Qin Sheng liked kids very much, especially the kind of kids like Nao Nao, who was smart and favorable. Grandma loved this great-granddaughter the most currently. Even the female flight attendant could not help praising her, who had said politely that the female flight attendant was so beautiful. She made everybody on the plane burst into laughter.
Nao Nao liked sleeping late, which was her favorite thing to do. All the other kids were the same as her, especially on winter days. On usual days, Nao Nao would not have gotten up yet at this time. Moreover, she had gotten up early and slept late in the last two days. Consequently, she fell asleep after making a noise for a while. Qin Sheng, who had been sitting beside her, squinted his eyes and started thinking about the things he would attend to in Shanghai. Qin Changan had asked him to stay in Shanghai for a few more days so that he could spend more time with his grandmother, who had not seen him in more than 20 years. In this case, could he do some deeds during this period? Even if he did not plan to offend Yan Chaozong currently, he should meet some old friends.
Before Qin Sheng was indulged in his thoughts, he felt sleepy since he had not gotten over the hangover. After all, Nao Nao by his side was sleeping so soundly. He had no choice but to catch up on his sleep so that he could see his grandmother, who loved him the most, with the best mental state.
As the New Year kicked in, the temperature in Ningbo started to rise. Everything was waking up gradually. However, everybody was still immersed in the atmosphere of the Spring Festival. They did not notice anything unusual in the surroundings.
Since the Lin Family was extremely rich in Ningbo, its old house, which took up thousands of acres, was greatly envied by many rich men. Many people probably were waiting for the Lin Family’s collapse so that they could buy their manor eagerly. Unfortunately, since the Lin Family had been existing on this land for hundreds of years, it was not easy for them to fall into collapse.
During every Spring Festival Holiday, the Lin Family’s manor would be decorated quite beautifully. Red lanterns and Chinese knots were hung on both sides of the road. Even the trees were decorated with landscape lights. Those who did not know the Lin Family’s manor would take it for a tourist spot.
During the Spring Festival Holiday, every family that was like the Lin Family would be crowded with visitors since they had been existing on this land for hundreds of years. Various luxurious cars parked in the courtyard. Two men of the Lin Family were entertaining the guests from different social circles. After all, there were quite many collateral relatives with the blood of the Lin Family. Since the grandma of the Lin Family was old, who was not in good condition due to her poor mood, she refused to entertain guests this year. Except for walking in the morning and at night and eating every day, most of the time, she stayed in the family hall to worship the Buddha.
Though it seemed that the Lin Family was crowded with distinguished guests, unknown risks were lurking. After all, the Lin Family had gone through quite a hard time this year, which had been initiated by Qin Sheng, or, to be more exact, Qin Changan, who was behind Qin Sheng. After Qin Sheng had met with a mishap on Mount Jiuhua last time, Qin Changan had secretly tripped up the Lin Family many times. The Lin Family had been too tired to deal with a series of his tricks. Moreover, the local government had implemented many macroscopic modulation policies in the housing property and financing industry in the last two years, making the Lin Family’s situation worsen. Consequently, up till now, these after-effects had yet to come to an end.
Consequently, after the Lin Family missed out on the alliance marriage with the Yan Family, the Lin Family started to look for another strong and powerful ally. Lin Su was still their bargaining chip this time. After Lin Changting found out that Lin Su had pretended to be pregnant, he was more anxious to find another strong ally who could provide him with more resources and capital flow.
It was true that it was ill-fated of Lin Su to be born in the kind of family like the Lin Family. Most importantly, she had a father who was ambitious yet incapable. Though his ability and insight were not good, he had great ambition and expectation.
Of course, Lin Su, who had become Qin Sheng’s woman formally, refused without hesitation and did not compromise at all. Lin Changting was overwhelmingly agitated, who directly put Lin Su under house arrest and stopped anybody from visiting her. Even the grandmother could not see her granddaughter. The grandmother was so angry that she had been in bed for several consecutive days. During the Spring Festival Holiday, she even refused to entertain visitors.
So the atmosphere of the Lin Family was quite subtle.
On the third day of the New Year, there were many guests in the Lin Family home. Let alone those descendants of the Lin Family’s collateral relatives, many relatives of the two hostesses arrived. Consequently, Lin Changting and Lin Changhe stay at home to entertain them, who did not have time for other chores.
At this time, Lin Yue sneaked out and went to the building where Lin Su had been placed under house arrest. On usual days, they would entertain the guests here. But this time, the Lin Family had arranged six people to keep an eye on Lin Su so that she could not get in touch with the outsiders. Moreover, the telephone cable and the internet inside the building had been disabled. They had even taken Lin Su’s cell phone away.
Lin Yue had cleverly avoided all the monitoring and those keeping an eye on her. She went to the rear kitchen of the building in the end. After she made sure that nobody was around, she knocked on the door a few times. After that, the door was opened from the inside. A middle-aged woman stuck her head out, looked around, and pulled Lin Yue into the room hurriedly.
The dark-skinned middle-aged woman frowned and said, “Second Miss, you only have 15 minutes. Don’t be late. Pay attention to my secret signal especially. Otherwise, I have to leave the Lin Family.” She was one of the servants in charge of watching over Lin Su. She was taking a great risk by allowing Lin Yue to sneak into the building from the back door. After all, Lin Yue had paid off the debt for her husband, who was addicted to gambling. This was what she did to return her favor.
Lin Yue, who wore a ponytail, nodded silently and said, “Aunt Gu. No worries. I will be out a while later.”
The middle-aged woman named Aunt Gu said anxiously, “Then you should go upstairs as soon as possible. Eldest Lady is in the room on the right side of the second floor. She is extremely miserable. She will be happy to see you.”
Lin Yue felt somewhat sad and nodded continuously as she went upstairs cautiously to see her sister. Up until now, she still could not understand why her eldest uncle had done so, since he had known that her sister had a boyfriend and insisted on forcing her to marry a stranger whom she did not have any feelings for. Moreover, her eldest uncle insisted on doing so after experiencing Yan Chaozong’s issue.
At the same time, she hated Qin Sheng, who was ungrateful, and wondered why he had not come to her sister’s side up until now. Instead, he let her shoulder all of these issues on her own.
“Knock, knock, knock…”
As Lin Su heard the sound of the knocks on the door, she, who dressed quite delicately every day, was reading by the window. Everything going on outside the windows could not affect her mood. She only felt moody whenever she thought of that man and wondered whether he was alive or dead outside. She wondered whether he was having a good time or a hard time. Was he suffering from hardship? Had somebody bullied him? Had he been wronged again? Would he feel very anxious and concerned when he could not get in touch with her?
More than two months had passed. Lin Su became much thinner and also smiled less. However, the look in her eyes was quite determined. Her free temperament became much more grateful.
After she heard the sound of knocking, she frowned slightly and wondered who would disturb her, since it was not the time for lunch yet.
Lin Yue called out somewhat anxiously, “Sister, it’s me. Open the door for me quickly.”
Lin Su felt quite surprised when she heard Lin Yue’s voice. She ran over quickly, opened the door, and saw her sister, whom she had not seen in a long time. Lin Su held Lin Yue’s arms and said surprisedly, “Lin Yue, why are you here?”
Lin Yue was so excited that she said with red eyes, “Sister, I missed you so much. You’ve been wronged.”
Lin Su, who was somewhat touched, refrained from crying and consoled her sister smilingly as she said, “Silly girl, why are you crying? I am pretty good here.”
Since Lin Yue’s time was limited, she did not have time to act sentimentally. Instead, she wiped away her tears in a hurry and followed her sister to the bedside. After they sat down, she asked, “Sister, are you all right?”
Lin Su wiped the tears away for her sister as she chuckled and said, “I’m pretty good. It is much quieter here. I read and play the piano every day. It is rare for me to be so relaxed. If I was outside, I’d have to face those I don’t want to meet and listen to the routine words they say every day, which would be much more tiresome.”
Lin Yue gritted her teeth as she said, “Sister, you should not have come back home. Instead, you should have gone to a place far away with him, which you have done in Xiamen. Only in that case would you be happy.” Lin Yue could foresee her sister’s future situation based on her current situation. Consequently, she had not been in a good mood recently. That was because her family had such a plan for Lin Su.
Lin Su shook her head and smiled as she said, “Lin Yue, I know you are blaming him. However, there are some things that you don’t understand. Compared with the pressure he is under, the wrongs I have suffered are nothing at all. He asked me to go home for my own good. That was because he was in a pretty dangerous situation at that time and could not protect me at all. If I chose to stay, I could only pull his legs. As long as he is alive, everything will be fine. Moreover, he promised me that he would be here to pick me up.”
Lin Yue frowned and said, “Sister, it has been such a long time since you last got any news of him. Do you still believe in him?” She dared not say anything merciless. That was because she was afraid that she would hurt her sister. Originally, she had planned to say, “Sister, since such a long time has passed, don’t be so naive. He must have forgotten you and put you behind him completely. He is just a coward.”
Lin Su nodded without hesitation and said, “Yes, I do. Of course, I do. I choose him by myself. If I don’t believe in him, who will? I strongly believe that choosing him is the best choice I have ever made in my life.”
Lin Yue somewhat admired her sister’s determination and resolution. Following that, she asked, “Sister, do you ever feel regretful?”
Lin Su shook her head resolutely again and said, “Regret? No, never. Do you know when I was the happiest? It was the half-year when I was in Xiamen. Every day, I accompanied him walking and exercising. I watched him reading in the corner and practicing calligraphy in the study. After that, he and I went to the vegetable market to buy vegetables. Then, I asked him to teach me how to cook. Following that, I listened to how he judged the dishes I had cooked, saying, for example, this dish was salty and that one was somewhat sour and I have to work hard in the future. Though he said so, he continued eating and finished all the dishes.”
As Lin Su talked, her eyes were filled with radiance. It seemed that she had gone back to the life she had lived in Xiamen, where she had enjoyed the most carefree and happiest days of her life. Consequently, she loved this man deeply and always would.
Though Lin Yue did not want to discourage her sister, she said, “Sister, the brother said that Qin Sheng is dead. If that is true, what will you do?”
Lin Su found it funny and said, “No, he isn’t dead. He said that he is a Texas cockroach. According to him, his grandfather did a fortune-telling on him, which said that he would live till at least 80 years old. How could he be dead?” That was because she thought of the man’s look when he had said such words to her. He had looked so talkative and it seemed that he had wanted to get a good punch.
Lin Yue asked her once again, “Sister, I am talking about what if, what if he is dead?”
The look in Lin Su’s eyes was somewhat dim. After that, she squinted, looked outside the windows, and bit her lips as she said slowly, “Then it will be time for me to say goodbye to this world when I hear this piece of news. Without him, I won’t have any other longings in this world.”
As Lin Yue heard this reply, she was astounded.
She thought that though Lin Su was strong, yet she was also silly…