Lin Su and Lin Yue were chatting away in the bedroom of the suite, temporarily forgetting about what was happening outside between those men. Though Lin Su could have said something, she’d rather allow Qin Sheng to make the decision, and she knew he could handle this.
Lin Yue still had a couple of questions about Qin Sheng’s incredible changes, but hesitated to ask. “Sister, on our way here, Dad said he would always leave it to me to decide my relationship and marriage and I can marry whoever I want. Maybe it’s due to Qin Sheng, I think.”
Lin Su flashed a small smile. “Lin Yue, no, he is not that influential. Second Uncle has always been open-minded about your matters. I think he’s worried about you, lest there be a repeat of what happened to me.”
Lin Yue shook her head and said, “Sister, to be honest, I’m not as brave as you, who confronted the whole Lin Family. If I were you, I might have given in to the family very early on, and I might not have such a capable husband as Qin Sheng to make me dare to give up everything for him.”
Lin Su held Lin Yue’s hand and said with a smile, “Nonsense. You’re still so young and have a long way to go. You’re such a beautiful young lady, and will eventually encounter your loved one. You know, when I saw him for the first time, I’d never imagined that I would give up everything for him one day in the future. Life is full of unexpected things, after all.”
“I hope so.” Lin Yue sighed, thinking about her own worries. She almost lost her expectation for the rest of her life due to witnessing Lin Su’s matters, but felt quite relieved after her father said that.
“Sister, I really wonder what happened to Qin Sheng, he almost became a different person. Since what happened a few days ago to the family, things became weird. You know, with Eldest Uncle’s temper, he should have hit Qin Sheng for his harsh and rude attitude, but he didn’t, even a couple of days later, he still didn’t. I know my father came to you today for the purpose of settling down the conflicts.” Lin Yue described her suspicion carefully.
Even Lin Su didn’t have a picture of the whole story, so she just said, “It’s hard to say. My husband-to-be is a real legendary person, he’s had so many unbelievable experiences. You’ll know about that later. This could be very easy to understand, just the law of the jungle, the most basic principle of the world.”
“Geez, forget it. The only thing I care about is that you and Qin Sheng are all good and have some babies. I’m expecting to be aunt.” Lin Yue erased the sense of puzzlement on her face and offered an innocent smile then.
Lin Su laughed. It had been several years since she met Qin Sheng, fell for him, and started a serious relationship. They overcame ups and downs together over the past two years, and finally overcame the barrier of her family. Now it was time to think about marrying.
Lin Su preferred to have a proper schedule for her life, timing her education, relationship, career, and then marriage. She liked the steady feeling of doing things step by step to gain a sense of safety and a better life.
Lin Su had attended lots of friends’ weddings. Every time she saw others in wedding gowns, showing off their brilliance, she just imagined her own wedding. Would she feel much too excited and shed tears, or be calm and easy as she always was? She had no idea until now, but she felt like tasting the sweetest honey.
The two sisters’ minds were both wandering in different directions. Lin Yue’s mind came back first due to the sudden silence outside. “Sister, it’s too quiet, so…”
“Let’s go and have a look.” Lin Su held Lin Yue’s arm and stepped outside, only to see Qin Sheng enjoying the tea in the living room.
Lin Yue looked left and right, “Brother-in-law, where’s my dad?”
“He already left.” Qin Sheng turned to her and smiled.
Lin Yue was puzzled and annoyed. “He forgot me? What’s wrong with him?”
“Maybe he just wanted you to accompany your sister longer. It’s time for lunch, you can have lunch with us and go back home after.” Qin Sheng giggled.
Since Qin Sheng didn’t want to eat out, they ordered food to be delivered to their suite. They chatted and had a few laughs over lunch. Qin Sheng tried to persuade Lin Yue to go to Shanghai with Lin Su, but she was afraid of her family, so Qin Sheng promised to handle this for her. He knew that the Lin Family would never say no to him again.
Lin Changting and Lin Ze were waiting at home anxiously for Lin Changhe’s news, which would influence the future of the Lin Family—to struggle to continue on, or to end right there and become a paragraph in a history book. It all depended on the result of the negotiation between Lin Changhe and Qin Sheng.
When they heard the sound of Lin Changhe’s car enter the yard, Lin Ze, who was waiting in the yard, rushed up to it and asked Lin Changhe the moment he got out, “What is it? Second Uncle?”
Lin Changhe had a cloudy face and didn’t answer. He had to consult his elder brother first and ask for his agreement.
Because Lin Changhe was silent, Lin Ze thought the negotiation had broken off. He was hopeless since if Qin Sheng insisted, the Lin Family would be really finished.
When his Second Uncle left from the back door, his father, Lin Changting, had persuaded those people surrounding the Lins’ house to go, buying them another two days to consider. Lin Ze was scared by those people since the Lin Family had never experienced such difficult times.
And his father, Lin Changting, was busy answering the phone call one after another. Every time his cellphone rang, Lin Ze felt too tense and almost developed a phone-phobia so that he had no choice but to turn off his own cellphone.
“Where’s your father?” Lin Changhe asked.
Lin Ze said, at a loss, “In the study. He received a couple of calls from the municipal-level officials. We had to put forward a solution, or they’d intervene by force.”
“I’m meeting your father. I will inform you after we make the final decision.” Lin Changhe nodded. These were all within his expectation and he also answered calls a couple of times on his way home. The Lin Family was shouldering unprecedented pressure.
Lin Changhe entered the study and Lin Ze waited outside by the door, eavesdropping and stopping other people from approaching.
“You’re back? What’s going on?” Lin Changting gave his brother a glance and did not raise his head. He knew Qin Sheng, who always demanded a big price for negotiation.
Lin Changhe said, “It depends on our decision now.”
“Go ahead, I can take it,” Lin Changting squinted and said. He was getting old in one night, almost using up all of his strength.
Lin Changhe said in a stable tone, “He promises to stop, but has two conditions. If we refuse, he’ll beat us to the graveyard.”
“What are they?” Lin Changting said with a low voice.
Lin Changhe relayed Qin Sheng’s first condition to his elder brother and eyed him. Lin Changting frowned, but didn’t show his viewpoint. He thought for a few minutes and nodded. “That’ll be okay. Other people must help. Just an apology, for the sake of Lin Family, I can do anything.”
Lin Changhe, who was afraid that his elder brother would refuse, was relieved a bit. His elder brother seemed to have thought about a lot and understood that the most important thing for them now was to protect the Lin Family, which was the root of all their accomplishments.
“What about the second?” Lin Changting asked.
Lin Changting rose suddenly the moment he heard Qin Sheng’s second condition from Lin Changhe. His voice was shaky with anger. “This i-i-i-is freaking robbery! How dare he! Our Lin Family would never do that! 40%? Does he have any idea of what 40% means?”
“Elder brother, I’ve tried my best. Qin Sheng only gave us half a day to think about this. If we don’t respond in time, he’ll take it as a refusal and will have a bigger plan for us,” Lin Changhe said with a sigh.
Lin Changting grabbed a ceramic ashtray and smashed it down to the floor in a howling rage and shouted, “I’ll never ever agree to this! I don’t believe that he can go that far. Our Lin Family can spare no efforts to fight against him.”
“Elder brother, for your information, the incidents we encountered last year were all done by Qin Sheng. And in his words, it was not him, but the Qin Family. I have no idea with the so-called Qin Family is yet.” Lin Changhe was calm, knowing that he was always not the one to make the decision, and this still depended on his elder brother, Lin Changting.
Lin Changting said nothing more, but just clenched his fists and locked his jaw, with an impulse of killing Qin Sheng floating in his mind.
At this very moment, Lin Ze opened the door and rushed in. “Dad, don’t you understand what we’re facing? 40% is not such a heavy price to pay to save us now, and we’ll still have 60% anyway. Moreover, you’ll give it to Susu, your own daughter, one of the Lin Family. Why are you so angry? If you don’t agree to it, we’ll lose everything and incur a great debt.”
Lin Changhe added, “Elder Brother, that is quite correct. I also thought the 40% was too much, but if we refuse, the Lin Family will be nothing, and we’ll have nothing then.”
Lin Changting, shedding tears, had never felt so helpless. He had been making all his efforts to maintain the Lin Family. How did everything move onto the wrong track? And everyone was standing on the opposite side of him, so what could he do now?
Lin Changting squatted down on the floor, with his forehead against his knees, waving at Lin Changhe and Lin Ze. “Leave me alone, I need some time alone.”
Lin Changhe and Lin Ze exchanged a tacit glance and left without saying anything, waiting for Lin Changting to make the final decision. But Lin Ze didn’t understand Lin Changhe, who would stand with his brother at any time with any possible result, even if it might be bad.
Time went by, but Lin Changting was still in his study, and nobody went to see him. It was almost sunset, and the other people of the Lin Family became even tenser.
Finally, when it was exactly 6 o’clock, Lin Changting compromised.
In the meantime, he made another decision that Lin Changhe would be the decision-maker of all the affairs of the Lin Family, and he would never participate in anything after this.