Qin Sheng was confused. What he knew then was far from enough to figure out what was going on, unless he could find the drunk man they met at the VICS. It was already half past one, which was too late to do something. Qin Sheng didn’t bother to think about it anymore; he just wanted to go back home to sleep. He was tipsy and a bit dizzy since he really drank a lot that night.
“Something’s wrong with what happened tonight,” Hao Lei said on their way back to Dengshikou Alley. Even he had realized something, let alone Qin Sheng.
Chang Baji was confused and asked, “What is it?”
Hao Lei told him about the details he noticed that night so that Chang Baji, who was very good at thinking and analyzing, might give them a probable answer. Hao Lei and Chang Baji both knew that Qin Sheng was at an even more dangerous position than before. He didn’t have to care about his old foes, but they were still there. They were just waiting for an opportunity to present itself and they seized it, to beat Qin Sheng to death. Adding Qin Sheng’s new identity as the successor of the Qin Family, he had a lot of new enemies who were unknown to him at present.
Chang Baji listened to Hao Lei and said while he frowned, “We should be more careful these days. Even though this is Beijing, we cannot be too careful.”
Qin Sheng didn’t say a word but thought. No matter what made those people show up that night, he had some invisible enemy somewhere, who would finally show up one day.
Chang Baji and Hao Lei took Qin Sheng to the Qin Family’s siheyuan and left. They lived in a hotel somewhere near. It wouldn’t take them a long time to go back to their place even by walking. Nan Gong was already working on finding a good place for them to live. They wouldn’t stay at the hotel too long.
Nan Gong had returned and was waiting for Qin Sheng in the yard. She heard the sound of some people coming and went out then. She met Qin Sheng in the front yard. She looked at Qin Sheng in the dim light, feeling disgusted by the smelling of alchohol she noticed. She always showed a stone face to him.
“My father’s home?” Qin Sheng asked before Nan Gong spoke.
Nan Gong frowned and said, “He came back home at 11, and has been waiting for you until now. He’s been tired these days, don’t you know that? Why did you come back so late? You really like drinking, huh?”
Nan Gong scolded Qin Sheng with her sharp voice. She even wanted to scold him by using his family’s troubled times, along the lines of doing nothing to help and but still going out to have a drink. But she didn’t say it since everybody would blame her for hurting Qin Sheng, even if they were only words.
Qin Sheng felt guilty due to Nan Gong’s words. He thought his father would have also returned home late too, so he took this chance to go meet up with Han Xu. He just didn’t expect that his father would have returned so early and wait for him till then. He frowned and asked, “Why didn’t you call me?”
“Humph.” Nan Gong didn’t answer, simply turning back to the middle yard. Master Qin was there, waiting for Qin Sheng for quite a long time.
Qin Sheng didn’t dare to offend Nan Gong, who was sharper and stronger than him. He followed Nan Gong down to the side living room. Before he entered the room, Qin Changan’s scolding voice came out. Gongsun, who was standing beside the door, made a gesture to them, asking them to keep quiet. Qin Sheng and Nan Gong couldn’t help but act accordingly.
Qin Changan noticed Qin Sheng’s arrival, and ended his call with some staff in a few words. He then approached his son. His dark and cloudy face transformed into a sunny day in the spring time. “You’re home?”
Qin Changan was strict with Qin Sheng in some respects, but he was just a kind father who would never pressure his own son in the daily life.
Nan Gong and Qin Sheng took their seats on the sofa close by. Qin Changan sat facing them and asked, “I heard from Gongsun that you got into trouble. What happened? You even went to the police station?”
Qin Sheng didn’t want to worry his father even more and add to his fatigue, so he just tried to hide the truth. “Just a little bit of trouble. I went to meet up some of my classmates, but got into conflict with some drunk men. No big deal.”
Qin Changan clearly knew that Qin Sheng was very good at martial arts and was capable of handling small situations. So he didn’t ask anymore and turned to another topic. “I know you’ve been working on the things of the Lin Family in Xi’an, for that Mr. Lin. I’ve contacted some friends to deal with it. The Supreme Judicial Court has accepted the appeal of his case and would ask him to appear in the court soon.”
Qin Sheng was a bit excited about the news. “Really? Mr. Lin will be released soon, right?”
“I’ve asked about the details of his case and consulted some legal professionals and my friends working in the Supreme Judicial Court. That rival of Mr. Lin had some source in the provincial goverment and he was rising in his political career in those days. Somebody must have received some benefits from him. That was why Mr. Lin lost in the game. But things are different now since the one behind his rival is in jail and his rival is enduring difficult times. And, I know someone in the provincial government, so you don’t have to worry about it,” Qin Changan said slowly. There were always too many unjust cases piling up. Only those who had leverage behind them could make it out of jail. It was very common. That Mr. Lin and his family was very lucky since they had done something good for Qin Sheng in the past, and he was going to pay back through this. And Qin Sheng was the only reason why Qin Changan, such a big shot in Beijing, was taking part in the business. After all, this was not a profit-making deal.
Qin Sheng got Qin Changan’s meaning and wanted to say “thank you,” but he hesitated, for this situation was embarassing.
Qin Changan changed to a different topic then. “What about your curriculum timetable this month?”
“I have classes two days per week, and will have more in the last month of the semester. We have some activities like doing investigation work in a real company.” Qin Sheng thought his father was asking about his study at the Tsinghua University, but it wasn’t totally correct. Qin Changan’s real purpose of making him apply for this program was that he wanted his son to know more about what other rich young people were like. This might be helpful once Qin Sheng worked in the family’s company.
Qin Changan nodded and said, “You have quite a lot of free time, right? When you’re free, you can go to Xi’an for the Lin Family’s case in case anything goes wrong. Some people might not be happy about our interfering.”
Qin Sheng understood and said, “Fine, I’ll attend class tomorrow and go to Xi’an the day after tomorrow.”
Qin Changan met a few old friends that night and but he didn’t drink. Unlike his tipsy son, Qin Changan was sober. But he was tired since he spent almost the whole night on working things out.
“Go and have some rest. It’s too late.” Qin Changan waved his hands, implying that Qin Sheng should leave. He still had something else to deal with at the moment.
Nan Gong rose and said, “Foster Father, good night.”
“Ye’zi, you really made a lot of efforts these days. I appreciate your work in the company,” Qin Changan said casually. He had spared no efforts to cultivate Nan Gong into a capable staff. He was quite content about her work; she could handle everything assigned to her.
Nan Gong answered in an obedient tone, “Foster Father, I’m just doing my job.”
Qin Sheng didn’t rise and leave though. He thought that the evening was a good opportunity to talk about Uncle Jiang’s trouble with his father. Master Qin was quite busy in recent days, and he finally had a chance to talk to his father. He thought of Qing’er, so he started a conversation.
“I have something else to talk to you,” Qin Sheng said.
Qin Changan was a bit surprised. “Oh, what is it?”
Qin Sheng hesitated a bit, but finally said it. “When I was studying and then worked in Shanghai years ago, Uncle Jiang helped me a lot. He then got into trouble and had to escape abroad. I wonder if you can help.”
Qin Sheng was quite relieved after speaking out. No matter what answer he would be given, he had done his part to try.
Nan Gong was a bit irritated because of the hour. And Qin Sheng was taking his father’s sleeping time and damaging his father’s health for other people’s business.
Qin Changan was not surprised about this business and didn’t get angry. He just said, “I knew you would talk about this sooner or later.”
Qin Sheng thought for a while and said, “He used to help me a lot. I’m not the kind of person who forgets other people’s help. I’ll feel bad if I did so. Can you help? If it is too much, just forget it.”
Qin Changan said in a low tone, “Jiang Xianbang’s case is much more complicated than that of the Lin Family. I know that he got involved in a couple things, big things at that. But you don’t have to be worried. Since he was able to escape abroad, someone must be protecting him.”
Qin Sheng understood what his father meant. It wasn’t that easy to escape abroad at the moment. Since Uncle Jiang was still living an easy and comfortable life, he was not in real danger. But his father also said that Jiang’s case was much more complicated than that of the Lin Family.
Qin Sheng was really worried and asked further. “What do you mean by saying that?”
“Just wait and see. I need time to figure out what’s going on, like the relations behind, the profit behind. Then I’ll make a choice. If I’m sure that it is too much, I’m not gonna help then. Don’t blame me for that.” Qin Changan was quite honest about his answer to Qin Sheng.
Qin Sheng understood his father, but still felt a little frustrated. There was still hope anyway. He said, “Emm, I get it.”
After that, Qin Sheng said good night and rose to leave. He still needed to talk with Uncle Jiang to know more about the details of his case. Then he would have a plan. But what about Qing’er? She would be really disappointed, right? But Qin Sheng couldn’t help. He was not yet as capable as his father. If he were to take his father’s position one day, he would definitely try his best to help in this kind of situation.
Qin Sheng and Nan Gong lived in a wing building at the left side of the siheyuan. Qin Ran’s room was in between theirs. They walked, one following the other. When Nan Gong reached her room, she stopped and said, “I wish you wouldn’t trouble your father, my foster father, with everything related to your friends. If you were standing on his position, you would know how much pressure he shoulders. That’s all, thank you.”
Then she entered the room and slammed the door.
Qin Sheng felt quite awkward after Nan Gong’s scolding. It was his father, wasn’t he? But Qin Sheng didn’t get really angry since he knew that Nan Gong really cared for his father, even more than he did.