Before Qin Sheng came in, the people in the two dining rooms respectively were both in awkward atmospheres. Lin Songhao embarrassed the Lin brothers and hurt their dignity, pushing them into a dilemma. It was really hard for them to give up their dignity to make the Lin Family get through this difficult time.
Meanwhile, Lin Su, who finally started to speak after a long silence, rejected Chen Jiahao decidedly, astonishing everybody. Lin Ze was up in arms.
Qin Sheng couldn’t wait anymore and skipped his lunch, driving toward the Lins’ house as soon as possible. With mixed feelings, he raised his head to eye the amazing large house and its yard, the look of which spoke of its hundred years of history, and sighed for this family’s decline.
He hadn’t been here in the past two years, but the memory was clearly drilled into his head. He used to be a common person, very normal in all aspects. People laughed at him for his unrealistic dream of falling for Lin Su and wanting to take advantage of her to gain success without making efforts. The whole Lin Family looked down upon him and he was finally driven away by them violently. None of his friends had been treated that way by their girlfriends’ father at their first meeting. Qin Sheng was hurt so much.
Then, what about this time?
“Qin Sheng, may I ask you what happened between you and the Lin Family?” Qu Fan was curious about it. He had informed the Lins that he was going to come, telling them he would come for some business talk and their further cooperation, which exactly met the Lins’ needs. So they, of course, welcomed him because, after all, it was known that the Qu Family’s enterprise was prepared for IPO.
Qu Fan hesitated to ask at first, but since they had chatted away relaxedly along the way, feeling more familiar, he thought his question might not offend Qin Sheng now.
Qin Sheng didn’t intend to explain for it was such a long long story. He just flashed a small smile and said, “Brother Qu, you’ll get to know soon.”
Qin Sheng didn’t feel good about Qu Fan’s name because he shared the same family name as Qu Huanxi, his past enemy in Hangzhou, who had made him suffer a lot. But actually, they were from different families in different cities. If not, Qin Sheng would have been hesitant to meet up with him.
Sensing Qin Sheng’s hesitation, Qu Fan didn’t ask anymore. “Let’s go.”
Inside the larger dining room, the conversation was still in stagnation. Lin Songhao was smoking his cigar, saying nothing. The Lin brothers squinted their eyes and seemed to be thinking about something, and their wives didn’t dare to say a word. The steward hurried in and said, “Eldest Master, Young Master Qu is here.”
Lin Changting was surprised. “Qu Fan? I thought he was coming at 2 o’clock in the afternoon. Why did he come so early?”
Lin Songhao heard it and his face froze. “Oh, Third Uncle and Sixth Uncle have gotten the Qu Family on board. Is that why you don’t care about me?”
Lin Changting ignored Lin Songhao’s teasing. He was hesitating for he had arranged the time properly so that Lin Songhao and Qu Fan wouldn’t meet each other. But Qu Fan had arrived too early and destroyed his plan.
Anyway, he couldn’t help asking Qu Fan to come in. It was the Lin Family’s rule to always welcome their guests. Lin Changting rose and said, “Changhe, you continue the talk with Songhao. I’ll go meet Qu Fan.”
Lin Changhe nodded and understood that his elder brother didn’t want Lin Songhao and Qu Fan to meet. Lin Songhao, however, stood up to leave. “Since you have some other arrangement, I’d better go now. And I wonder whether the Qu Family will help you.”
Lin Songhao left then. Lin Changting and Lin Changhe exchanged a glance, knowing that they couldn’t stop him, and followed to see him off.
On the other side, the situation was super awkward. Chen Jiahao’s face was as white as a sheet and he said nothing. He knew that it was hard to handle Lin Su, but he was particularly interested in her distant character and accomplishments. She was a real lady, much better than those Barbie dolls.
He didn’t have any chance before, as he knew about the engagement between the Lin Family and Yan Family. Compared with the Yan Family, the Chen Family was nothing at all. But he didn’t expect that the engagement would be ruined by Lin Su and he saw his opportunity present itself.
So then, he asked his father to ask the Lin Family for an engagement and the Lin Family accepted, although Lin Su was unwilling. It had been two months since that time, with Chen Jiahao’s hopes being slashed. But a call came to him today and told him that Lin Su had agreed. Chen Jiahao was wild with joy and went to Lins’ house immediately, but he never expected what was waiting for him.
“Shut up! How dare you criticize me? Who are you?” Lin Su didn’t have any feelings for her brother Lin Ze. She was not cold-blooded, but her so-called brother had never treated her as his sister.
Lin Ze gave up on continuing the conversation. He just hated Lin Su even more, thinking that she was spoiled by their grandmother. He rose and was about to leave. “I can shut up. Someone else will teach you a hard lesson then.”
Then Lin Ze went out, almost at the same time that the Lin brothers went out from the other side.
In the sitting room, Qu Fan was sitting on the sofa, waiting for the Lin brothers. Rather than being nervous, he was exhilarated about what was going to happen. He made some guess that maybe the Lin Family’s current predicament was due to offending the Qin Family.
Qin Sheng stood with his back to Qu Fan deliberately, eyeing the internal frame of the Lins’ house. Nan Gong and Chang Baji stood by his side.
At this very moment, Lin Changting, Lin Changhe, and Lin Songhao stepped out of the dining room and encountered them. Lin Songhao said in a host’s tone, “Oh? Xiao Qu? It’s so surprised to meet you here.”
Qu Fan was shocked for a second by being surprised to meet this man, but he soon understood the situation since Lin Songhao was from a branch of the Lin Family.
Qu Fan hesitated, worrying that Lin Songhao might help the Lin Family if Qin Sheng was to do something. But considering the Qin Family’s position, Lin Songhao’s help meant nothing. Qu Fan then calmed down and even expected Lin Songhao to join this show.
Qu Fan rose slowly and said, “Glad to meet you here, Brother Lin. Everything going well?”
Lin Songhao was a somebody in Ningbo, at the same level as Qu Fan’s father. He didn’t care for Qu Fan at all. “Xiao Qu, I heard that you wanna lend a hand to the Lin Family. To be honest, be careful.”
But the gaze in his eyes was telling Qu Fan that if he helped the Lins, Lin Songhao would make him pay the price for it.
Lin Changting and Lin Changhe were helpless but could do nothing to stop it, and their attention was attracted by the three strangers behind Qu Fan. Why were they standing with their backs to everybody?
Qu Fan didn’t want to join the war. “Brother Lin, I don’t understand you. I’ve just come to visit Uncle Lin.”
Lin Songhao squinted and offered a fake smile, holding his rage inside. He didn’t expect that Qu Fan would dare to offend him and would not be afraid that his words might hurt the Qu Family.
“Qu Fan, I thought you were coming at 2 o’clock. You should have informed us in advance.” Lin Changting was still smiling, but speaking in a critical tone.
Qu Fan, considering that he was not the hero of today’s show, shifted everybody’s attention from himself to Qin Sheng. “Uncle Lin, in fact, I’m just taking my friend here. He wants to meet you.”
“Friend? What friend?” Lin Changting was unhappy since he thought Qu Fan was coming to help.
Qu Fan made an inviting gesture to Qin Sheng. “This is my friend. Do you know him, Uncle Lin?”
Then everybody eyed Qin Sheng. At the same time, Lin Ze went out from the smaller dining room and saw the people gathering in the living room, feeling surprised.
Qin Sheng turned back to the other people and sneered. “Uncle Lin, how are you doing these days?”
When Lin Changting recognized Qin Sheng, he sucked in a deep breath with his eyes growing wider, as if he had seen a ghost in the daytime. He took a few steps back and stood still, staring at Qin Sheng with a sense of horror. He pointed at Qin Sheng, wanting to say something, but the words were pooling in his mouth and wouldn’t come out.
Lin Changhe was in a similar state as his brother. He could hardly believe that Qin Sheng would stand here after two months of disappearing, and everybody thought he was dead. How dare he come to Lins’ house one more time? What did he want?
Lin Ze, who was standing beside, cried out in astonishment. But since he knew little about what was behind Qin Sheng now, he was not scared and even screamed at him. “Qin Sheng, how dare you come here?”
Lin Ze’s screaming attracted the attention of the people in the smaller dining room. They all heard the words “Qin Sheng”. Lin Su ran out to the living room right away, with other people following and wondering what happened there.
Qin Sheng didn’t give a damn about Lin Ze. But if he continued to disturb him, he would give the young man a tough life lesson.
Qin Sheng smiled and gazed at Lin Changting and Lin Changhe. “Are you surprised? Maybe you thought I was dead. Sorry to disappoint you.”
Lin Songhao met Qin Sheng before and knew some of his story, but all those complex things were none of his business. He even didn’t bother to give Qin Sheng a glance. “Yo, are you staging a performance now? Ningbo is not your place.”
Qin Sheng didn’t know the relation between Lin Songhao and the Lin Family, but since Lin Songhao started the conversation, Qin Sheng was willing to make him understand the situation here.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Qin Sheng gave Lin Songhao a threatening glance.
Lin Songhao froze a second or two, not imagining that Qin Sheng would be so rude to him. What the hell was this bastard doing?
“You son of b*tch…” Lin Songhao screamed loudly in a rage.
Qin Sheng spoke to Nan Gong before Lin Songhao could say more. “Shut his mouth, please.”
Nan Gong sneered, rushing at the arrogant man in less than no time. Lin Songhao’s two bodyguards realized the danger at once and blocked Lin Songhao.
Qin Sheng didn’t care about those people’s fight because he saw Lin Su come out. She was standing there, in grey clothes, eyeing him with a mixed sense of excitement, love, and worry in her pair of red eyes.
It had been two months since he had last met Lin Su. She was skinny, looking pale. Qin Sheng felt painful over Lin Su’s suffering and his rage toward the Lin Family became even stronger.
He thought, “Today, nobody can stop me.”
