Although the barbecue and seafood were delicious and the beer tasted good, Qin Sheng was not interested anymore. That was because he had been shocked by what Song Ruyu said. It didn’t occur to him that this girl would be so amazing, to be working in the policy research office of the CPC central committee, which everybody knew was strict with their recruitment. Even if the applicants were descendants of the families whose predecessors had been leaders at the CPC, if they weren’t genuinely talented, they would be unwilling to have them work in such a department.
Song Ruyu asked amusedly, “What’s wrong with you?” To her, what she did was nothing but a profession. After all, a lot of her friends worked in Ministries and Commissions; few of whom liked to work in her department, which had little extra gain to reap.
On the contrary, Song Ruyu liked what she did very much. That was because, by doing her job, she could take part in the stipulation of the national policies and genuinely change the destinies of many people with practical actions. For example, speaking of her trip to Shanghai that time, the most important task for her was to accompany her leader to research the feasibilities related to the concept of the Greater Bay Area Surrounding Hangzhou Bay, which was a state-level strategy. Previously, they had gone to various places, including Hangzhou, Ningbo, and the South of Suzhou. Shanghai was the last stop of their journey. It wasn’t until their journey came to an end that she had requested two days off.
Qin Sheng forced a smile; he shook his head and replied, “Nothing at all. Let’s drink, drink.”
Song Ruyu frowned as she replied, “I am not gonna drink. Beer tastes terrible.”
Qin Sheng smiled awkwardly and said, “Then you can skip drinking. You take care of the food and I will attend to the beer.”
After their dinner, Qin Sheng sent Song Ruyu home. She had been living in her relative’s house during her two days off. Before that, she had stayed in a hotel arranged by the municipal government along with her leader and colleagues.
By the time Qin Sheng arrived home, Lin Su, who was still working overtime, had not returned home yet, making Qin Sheng feel helpless. He thought, “My girl is so dedicated when it comes to working.” He somewhat regretted asking Lin Su to help his sister. Based on the current situation, it would be better for Lin Su to go back to her previous company and continue her previous career. After all, it was she who had the final say in the Lin Family at the moment.
In the following two days, Qin Sheng accompanied Song Ruyu to hang around in Shanghai. During this period, they even visited Chongming Island. Qin Sheng sensed that Song Ruyu had many virtues, among which, the most highlighted one was that she was quite innocent at heart. Everything she saw appeared to be quite vivid and simple to her. Her most fervent interest was to indulge herself with street food. It was especially true when they arrived at the Happy Farmhouse at Chongming Island, never had Song Ruyu stopped from enjoying the local snacks.
Since Song Ruyu would go back to Beijing that afternoon, the old lady had called Qin Sheng the night before, asking him to have lunch with Ruyu at noon and to take her to the railway station.
Zhu Qingwen, who had nothing to do, also joined them for lunch. She had been quite occupied in the past few days and got no time for Song Ruyu. Since it was Song Ruyu’s first time visiting Shanghai, it would be unreasonable for her, a host in Shanghai, to not find an opportunity to meet her in person once. Consequently, Zhu Qingwen had called Qin Ran, asking her whether she was available at noon. Qin Ran had told her that she couldn’t make it since she was quite entangled with company matters.
However, fearing that her Small Aunt would make a slip of her tongue, Qin Ran had no choice but to keep her Small Aunt informed in advance, telling her about the marriage agreement the Song Family and the Qin Family had made. Zhu Qingwen was somewhat surprised after learning about the marriage agreement. It didn’t occur to her that the Old Master Song and the Old Master Qin had made such a marriage agreement.
As a result, Zhu Qingwen was as indecisive as Qin Ran. Knowing about Lin Su and Qin Sheng’s love stories, she had met Lin Su, whom she found to be quite satisfactory. However, the girl from the Song Family was no worse than Lin Su in any aspect, especially her family background, which the Lin Family certainly could not be compared to. It was partly because of the Song Family’s help that Qin Changan had been able to reach his current social status. The social status of the Song Family would be unshakable as long as the Old Master Song was still alive.
In the end, Zhu Qingwen directly stopped thinking about this issue and decided to leave it as it was. Anyway, she would support Qin Sheng’s decision regardless of whom he would choose in the end.
The lunch was a simple one. All the dishes served were the children’s favorites. The old lady sat on the head seat while Zhu Qingwen sat beside her to take care of her. Qin Sheng and Song Ruyu sat across from them. Zhu Qingwen eyed them up and down expressionlessly and thought, “After looking at them, they do have the air of a couple, like a perfect match.”
Zhu Qingwen thought that humans were born to be greedy. If Lin Su or Song Ruyu were the only available options, of course, they certainly didn’t need to make a choice or think about anything else. However, it turned out that in fact, both Lin Su and Song Ruyu were amazing; both suited Qin Sheng perfectly. This left them in a somewhat awkward situation.
The old lady asked smilingly, “Ruyu, how were these two days? Did Sheng’er take care of you well?”
Song Ruyu replied obediently, “Grandmother, I had quite a good time. Qin Sheng took me to many places, which I had never visited before. I also enjoyed delicious food. By the way, I feel sorry for troubling him these days.”
The old lady smiled as she replied, “This child is too polite. Don’t act so politely, since your family and my family are familiar with each other. Sheng’er had nothing to do, it was his pleasure to show you around. Moreover, he will need your attention and help when he goes back to Beijing in the future.”
Following that, Zhu Qingwen said, “Ruyu, you and Sheng’er have the same age. Consequently, you should communicate with each other more in the future. I guess you already knew what happened to him. This child is ill-fated. His elders, including grandmother and I, feel sincerely sorry for what he experienced. However, since we are in Shanghai, we can’t take care of him once he goes back to Beijing, where he is supposed to only have a few friends. Being the case, you should help him more in the future.”
The reason why Zhu Qingwen had said so was to follow Qin Ran’s advice, which was to create opportunities for Qin Sheng and Song Ruyu.
Qin Sheng knew both his grandmother and his Small Aunt loved him dearly. However, he was not a three-year-old child but a mature adult, who did not need Song Ruyu’s caring at all. Instead, he probably needed to take care of her in the end.
Song Ruyu smiled gently, nodded, and said, “Grandmother, Auntie, I will certainly return the favor when he goes back to Beijing.”
The old lady said happily, “This child is so considerate.”
After they had lunch, Qin Sheng drove Song Ruyu to the railway station. On the way, Song Ruyu asked, “When will you go back to Beijing?”
Qin Sheng replied casually, “Tomorrow, if everything goes well. That’s because the classes for advanced studies, which I attend at Tsinghua University, will start the day after tomorrow. Being the ambitious young man that I am, I’ve never skipped a class. I’m completely devoted to my studies.”
Song Ruyu replied gently, “Then, I will treat you once you’re done with your studies in Beijing.”
Qin Sheng didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as he said, “Sister, you’ve already treated me four times in the past three days. Why are you planning to treat me again in Beijing?”
Song Ruyu smiled cutely and replied, “The situation in Beijing will be different. I will be a host there.”
What Qin Sheng said was just a joke. He accepted Song Ruyu’s invitation gladly. Even so, he was thinking about how he should communicate with her brother. Based on what had happened that day, Qin Sheng could tell what kind of social position Song Ruyu’s brother took in Sijiu City’s social circle.
After Qin Sheng saw Song Ruyu off, he drove back to Pudong in a hurry. By the time he arrived at Pudong, Hao Lei had arrived in Shanghai along with Tang She from his hometown in Zhejiang. Originally, Tang She was supposed to have a steady career in Hangzhou. However, due to his involvement in Qin Sheng’s issue, he had ended up miserably, making Qin Sheng feel somewhat guilty.
After Hao Lei helped Tang She complete the check-in procedure, they finished lunch together with Chang Baji. Following that, they chatted away in the room, waiting for Qin Sheng’s arrival.
After Qin Sheng opened the door and walked in, Tang She stood up somewhat excitedly. Never did it occur to him that Qin Sheng and his brothers would keep him in their minds. After all, they had been incapable of defending themselves at that time, eventually having been driven out of Hangzhou city. Even so, Tang She never regretted the choice he had made at that time. Everyone needed to be responsible for their choices regardless of the result. Moreover, back when he was in Hangzhou, he wouldn’t have risen from the bottom of Poly International without Qin Sheng’s appreciation.
Tang She, clueless about how to start the conversation, had no choice but to say, “Brother Qin.”
Qin Sheng walked over; he hugged Tang She and said in a deep voice, “Brother, you don’t need to say anything else since I knew everything about you. Let bygones be bygones. The good days are just starting. You don’t need to pay attention to any other things during this period. All you need to do is to recover well from your illness. Once your health is back to normal, we will rush back to Hangzhou to have our revenge.”
Tang She’s blood started to boil once he heard what Qin Sheng said. Of course he would seek revenge against those bastards who had broken his arm.
Qin Sheng added, “Tang She, when I was besieged on all sides, there were only a few ones, including you, accompanying me on my life’s journey. I will skip how Brother Lei and Lao Chang helped me at that time. After all, our relationship is there. However, to be honest, it didn’t occur to me that you would stand by my side without hesitation. Nor did I expect that Gu Xiaobo would betray me. Since you stood by me, I will certainly promise you a glorious future.”
Tang She, who was moved by what Qin Sheng had said, replied somewhat incoherently, “Brother Qin, I wonder how qualified I am to be treated by you like this. I just did what I should do. That’s all.”
Qin Sheng patted Tang She on his shoulder as he said, “As the saying goes, it is the most warm-hearted thing to help people in their time of need. I know it clearly in my mind.”
At dusk, Qin Ran didn’t ask Lin Su to continue working overtime like other colleagues usually did, possibly knowing that Qin Sheng would go back to Beijing the following day and also anticipating Lin Su’s obsessive work ethic. Instead, she ordered Lin Su to go home directly after work.
By the time Lin Su arrived at the Shimao Riviera Garden, Qin Sheng had already made dinner ready and was waiting for her; it consisted of four dishes and one soup, indicating that he was certainly a good household man. Ages had passed since Lin Su had enjoyed the dishes cooked by Qin Sheng. She felt somewhat surprised once she saw the sumptuous dinner.
Feeling somewhat concerned about Lin Su, Qin Sheng said, “I will go back to Beijing tomorrow. While I’m there, I will probably visit Xi’an once. You have to take care of yourself when I’m gone. Please contact my sister or my Small Aunt if there’s any issue.” Based on Qin Sheng’s guessing, the group of people, including Yan Chaozong, might already be aware that he had returned to Shanghai and knew his whereabouts.
Lin Su replied gently, “Sister arranged two bodyguards for me; they will pick me up before and after work. I will stay at the office at other times. Nothing should go wrong.”
Qin Sheng replied thoughtfully, “It’s better to be on alert. After all, Yan Chaozong is in Shanghai now. If it weren’t for my sister who can’t leave the business in Shanghai behind, I would eagerly take you back to Beijing so that I wouldn’t have to worry about these things.” Based on the Qin Family’s social status in Beijing, if Yan Chaozong dared to make trouble there, he would certainly bring about his destruction.
Lin Su held Qin Sheng’s hands and replied, “Got it. You should go back to Beijing with peace of mind.”
Of course, they had an unforgettable night, since they would be separated for some time.
In the morning, it wasn’t until Lin Su went to work that Qin Sheng took Hao Lei and Chang Baji with him and headed for Beijing. As the previous grudge and resentment needed to be resolved and the unknown crisis befell, Qin Sheng felt that the responsibility resting on his shoulders was heavier.