In the living room of Lin Family’s house, the people there were all astonished for they didn’t imagine that Lin Su could be persuaded after two months of resisting. Had Song Chu’s and Tan Jing’s words worked? Lin Yue had even more curiosity on his face, wondering what had made her sister gave in. Did something happen between Lin Su and Qin Sheng to make her decide that?
“Chu, Jing, thank you for your efforts. Had known your words would work, I would have asked you to come earlier.” Lin Changting had been really tired and annoyed due to the predicament in recent times. He had made the choice under the pressure from his mother. He felt guilty for making his mother so angry.
However, due to Lin Family’s present situation, as the decision-maker, he couldn’t help but do something to save the whole big family, or he would be condemned and sneered at by everyone in Ningbo City.
Song Chu and Tan Jing were both Ningbo locals and hadn’t got married, who came back to Ningbo for the Spring Festival. Tan Jing was engaged and would marry on the Labor Day holiday this year.
They were both Lin Su’s best friends but with different personalities. Song Chu loved money above everything else and was never happy about Lin Su taking Qin Sheng as her loved one. Tan Jing would rather Lin Su fall for Yan Chaozong, but she always supported Lin Su’s own will, for which overrode anything else in a relationship. Money couldn’t buy true love and happiness.
So when they went to talk with Lin Su, Song Chu spoke a lot while Tan Jing said almost nothing. Tan Jing admired Lin Su’s insistence out of love, especially when she was born into such a big family.
“Uncle Lin, we just did what we could to help. We just hope for Susu to live a better life.” Song Chu was good at speaking. She was so beautiful and articulate that she was always popular among people. So it was natural for her to be picky and didn’t intend to marry, even though she had countless suitors.
Song Chu and Tan Jing were both working in Shanghai and were influenced by the modern culture there, caring more about their own life than marriage.
Tan Jing had a boyfriend, but she was not satisfied with his middle-class family background because he couldn’t afford an apartment and other things that she thought were necessary for marriage in Shanghai. But their relationship lasted from when they were undergraduate students to now, and from the influence of Lin Su, Tan Jing finally made up her mind to get engaged. Song Chu thought that Tan Jing and Lin Su were both so silly and bold as to marry poor guys. She was sure that they would suffer from the reality of life sooner or later and decided that she would never marry in spite of a careful choice.
Lin Changting, his wife, and his son, Lin Ze, were all here. Lin Ze had an interest in the beautiful young ladies, Song Chu and Tan Jing, so he kept putting topics forward and smoothing out the conversation, itching to attract one or both of them. Lin Yue looked at Lin Ze’s show indifferently, feeling embarrassed for her sister and future brother-in-law.
“Lin Ze, give Jiahao a call and ask him to come and talk to Susu,” Lin Changting said to his son. Chen Jiahao was the perfect husband he had chosen for Lin Su. The Chen Family was emerging in Ningbo, and Chen Jiahao’s father got along well with some big businessmen in Zhejiang province, unlike him, who had been isolated by them.
Lin Ze hung out with Chen Jiahao often. Chen Jiahao was into Lin Su for a long time. If Yan Chaozong had not been chosen by Lin Family, they would have gotten married.
Lin Ze called Chen Jiahao the moment he was asked by his father, thinking that Chen Jiahao would be really lucky to have his charming sister.
When Lin Ze went out to make the call, Lin Su came out with her clothes changed. She walked down to the people in the living room and didn’t have a cold and distant face as usual. She greeted her father and mother-in-law politely. “Dad, Senior Mom, good afternoon.”
Lin Changting’s wife looked down upon Lin Su, the daughter of her husband’s mistress, who had gotten the whole Lin Family into trouble. She hated Lin Su for biting the hand that fed her over the past more than 20 years. The Lin Family had provided her with a pretty good life and education. Lin Su, however, was not willing to do any little things in return. If not for her husband’s mother, she would have taught that evil girl a tough lesson.
The Lin Family had chosen her future husband very carefully; they were all elites with similar family backgrounds. Despite the status of the Yan Family, Yan Chaozong was a real celebrity in Shanghai with everything that a woman would admire. How could Lin Su fall for a small potato? The funniest thing was that the poor crazy girl was finally abandoned by her loved one. Then the Lin Family got her Chen Jiahao, another excellent young man. How dare she reject him one more time? Why was she doing it?
Lin Changting’s wife was particularly dissatisfied with what Lin Su had done, so she grunted and left, saying nothing to the silly young lady. Lin Su had gotten used to her attitude long ago, while Song Chu and Tan Jing were embarrassed and felt sympathy for Lin Su.
Lin Changting had the opposite attitude because Lin Family needed Lin Su’s help to get through their present difficulties. If Lin Su married Chen Jiahao, the Chen Family would inject capital to the Lin Family’s company immediately and even assist in the company’s financing.
“It’s good that you say ‘yes’. I’ve made every attempt.” Lin Changting sighed, thinking about what had happened lately.
Lin Su said nothing and just offered a smile to her two best friends and didn’t blame them for coming to persuade her.
Lin Changting thought then said, “You can continue to chat. Jiahao’s coming, you can let your friends have a look for you. They will confirm that I’ve found the right one for you. I’m going to work in the study.”
Lin Su nodded to her father. “Mmm, got it.”
Lin Changting and his wife left, so Lin Yue took a seat by her sister’s side and had a surprised look on her face. “Sister, how could you give in? What about Qin Sheng? You’re leaving him?”
Song Chu was not familiar with Lin Yue, they had only met a few times before. She was not pleased and she said, “Lin Yue, what do you mean by saying that? Love means nothing in life. What can Qin Sheng give your sister? She shouldn’t have chosen Qin Sheng. Yan Chaozong was the prince in a lot of women’s hearts, but your sister didn’t cherish him. She must feel regret now.”
Lin Yue argued, “Sister Song Chu, do you want to marry Yan Chaozong? But he would never like you.”
“You!” Song Chu was irritated but didn’t dare to throw a tantrum since this was the Lins’ house.
Lin Su shot Lin Yue an angry glare. “Lin Yue, behave yourself.”
Lin Yue shut her mouth in a bad mood. Since her elder sister gave in to the family, her own marriage would be decided by others as well. Alas, she just wished that she had been born into a normal family.
Tan Jing realized something. When Song Chu was talking to Lin Su, she was firm in her eyes, and didn’t want to change her mind at all. How could she give in in just an hour?
“Susu, you really decided that?” Tan Jing held Lin Su’s hands and asked, feeling sad for her.
Lin Su flashed a small smile. “You’ll know that later. We can finally speak privately now. Don’t worry about it anymore. What about you? Did everything go well?”
Lin Su’s calmness made the others even more curious.
It was 11 o’clock when Qin Sheng and the other two arrived in Ningbo. Nan Gong was driving Qin Sheng in an SUV. If it were a GT, they might have been caught by the police for speeding.
Getting off the highway and entering the city, Qin Sheng got a call. His sister had arranged for someone to receive Qin Sheng in Ningbo. This man was in his 30s and was a classmate of Qin Ran at university. He worked in his family’s company after graduation, which was also well-known in Ningbo, but was still far from that of the Lin Family.
The man, named Qu Fan, was excited when he got the call from Qin Sheng. Qin Ran had well informed him of her younger brother’s intention in Ningbo. He should worry about nothing and just assist to put on a big show.
Qu Fan had heard something about the Qin Family. Qin Ran was appointed as the deputy president of the Student Union of Tsinghua University, one of the best universities in China, when she was still a sophomore. This young lady must have some backers behind her.
Qu Fan, though he was also born into a rich family in Ningbo, had no idea of what upper class was until he attended Tsinghua University in Beijing. He was clear about his position all the time and had kept a low profile and had gotten along well with other students and teachers, especially Qin Ran.
After graduation, Qu Fan went back to Ningbo directly, but he kept in touch with all his old friends from university and was willing to spare time for them to meet up. This was exactly the reason why his company was almost ready for its IPO with the assistance of all his friends.
Qu Fan picked up the call from Qin Sheng and greeted him politely. He told Qin Sheng that he had been waiting for him at the Wanhao Hotel, the most luxurious hotel in Ningbo. Qin Sheng hung up the phone and turned on the GPS, then went to the hotel with Chang Baji and Nan Gong.
10 minutes later, they met the very man. He wore a shirt with a suit and was not tall but looked energetic.
After greeting, Qu Fan led Qin Sheng and the two to check-in. He specially booked the presidential suite for Qin Sheng and was willing to pay for this friendship. He observed the two people following Qin Sheng and thought that they were bodyguards to protect Qin Sheng, since this man was going to make some waves.
After the three settled down, Qu Fan asked, “Qin Sheng, I’ve booked lunch for us. We can talk over lunch, OK?”
Qin Sheng rejected his invitation politely. “I’m sorry, Brother Qu. But I have something urgent to deal with in the Lin Family.”
Qu Fan nodded, wondering what had happened between this man and the Lin Family. It seemed that he couldn’t wait even a second.