For what had happened in Hangzhou, Xue Qingyan was able to help Qin Sheng, but before she found the appropriate way, Qin Sheng’s enemies had taken action and Qin Sheng had no choice but to escape from Hangzhou.
Xue Qingyan had no idea of what happened that night until she received a message from Qin Sheng saying, “Sister, I gotta go. See ya.” For one night only, a lot of people disappeared, Qin Sheng, Lin Su, Chang Baji, and Hao Lei…
Xue Qingyan could imagine how dangerous the night was when Qin Sheng left. Yan Chaozong was impossible to let Qin Sheng leave easily and must have done something to stop him privately.
And she received another message from Qin Sheng on the next day’s afternoon. It was also short, “Am safe.”
Then she could never get in touch with him over the next two months. Was he still alive? She had been thinking about that, feeling sorrow and sighing.
Xue Qingyan never expected that she could see Qin Sheng here at Zhu Qingwen’s place. How could Qin Sheng know Zhu Qingwen, such a wealthy and powerful woman? When Qin Sheng entered the box, Xue Qingyan’s face froze in a second due to her great astonishment.
Though she had experienced a lot, this was totally out of her imagination, and she could hardly believe that it was Qin Sheng. She eyed and tried to confirm several times. Was this someone who was pretty much like Qin Sheng? It was too weird.
Other people had expected that Xue Qingyan would be so surprised, after all, Qin Sheng was unreasonable to be here. Zhu Qingwen and Qin Ran watched Xue Qingyan’s facial expressions and liked her better due to Qin Sheng.
Qin Sheng smiled and walked down to Xue Qingyan. He softly called her wandering mind back with a sense of mildness in his eyes. “Sister, long time no see. You’ve been worrying about me, right?”
Qin Sheng’s words and tone made Xue Qingyan sure that it was Qin Sheng, her lovely younger brother who had disappeared for two months.
Xue Qingyan’s eyes turned red out of excitement and happiness. She was totally confused by what she saw and didn’t know what to say. She saw Qin Sheng, who had become a different person, and then gave Zhu Qingwen a glance asking for an explanation. This was too incredible for her.
“Qingyan, you’re very surprised to see Qin Sheng here, right?” Zhu Qingwen walked down to Xue Qingyan’s side with Qin Ran following.
Xue Qingyan said, “Sister, what’s going on?”
Zhu Qingwen held Qin Sheng’s arm. “Qingyan, I’m introducing you my nephew Qin Sheng, Qin Ran’s younger brother, my elder sister’s son who has disappeared for years.”
“What?” Xue Qingyan was even more astonished about Zhu Qingwen’s explanation.
Qin Sheng was Zhu Qingwen’s nephew? Incredible! Last time when they met Qin Sheng in Shangshan Ruoshui, Zhu Qingwen obviously didn’t know him. Why did Qin Sheng become her nephew suddenly?
The news was too shocking. Qin Sheng used to be one of the common people who had ambition but no luck. He was like a drowned mouse due to offending Yan Chaozong and was almost killed. And then he was threatened by several forces in Hangzhou and had to escape. It was just two months after those troubles, and Qin Sheng should become the nephew of Zhu Qingwen, whose husband was the most powerful man in Shanghai city. It was incredible that Qin Sheng’s social status soared from the ground to that height.
Xue Qingyan thought it was no more than a normal date, and never expected the following surprises. She could hardly breathe.
Naturally, Xue Qingyan could barely believe what happened in front of her. Anybody would have done the same if they had been there. That was life, full of ups and downs, and polished by a couple of jokes made by the Heaven in between.
“Qingyan, you’re really surprised, ha? So was I when I met him at home. Anyway, it’s true. We gotta take it.” Zhu Qingwen patted on Xue Qingyan’s shoulder. “Sit down. You have enough time to ask any questions.”
They sat down and gave Xue Qingyan some time to digest all the information. Zhu Qingwen and Qin Ran had the order and then chatted in low tones. Qin Sheng sat beside Xue Qingyan, who was staring at him like he was some monster.
“Sister, I can’t imagine that Qin Sheng’s your nephew. Last time we met, you didn’t know each other, right?” Xue Qingyan’s mind went back and she stopped thinking and suspecting. She asked the question and found that it was meaningless. If Zhu Qingwen had known who he was and protected him, then Yan Chaozong and his underlings wouldn’t have offended Qin Sheng.
Zhu Qingwen took a sip of tea and said, “Of course. You know, I just knew who he was yesterday. He’s my nephew who had disappeared for twenty years. He had come back to our family, but we haven’t declared the news to the public.”
“Disappeared for twenty years?” Xue Qingyan frowned.
Qin Sheng explained, “Sister, you know my story. I was brought up by my grandfather in Xi’an, and I didn’t expect that I still had such a big family. Life’s a miracle.”
Zhu Qingwen said, “There were some stories between the Qin Family and we Zhu Family. Qin Sheng’s grandfather took him away from home after my elder sister passed away. We’ve been looking for him throughout the country and failed. It had been twenty years since then. A few months ago, his father found him, and took him back to our family.”
After Qin Sheng’s and Zhu Qingwen’s explanations, Xue Qingyan got it and was not that surprised now. Anyway, this was incredible to everyone, especially Qin Sheng himself.
“Twenty years… so complicated. It’s all destiny.” Xue Qingyan sighed.
Zhu Qingyan smiled and said, “Forget it, anyway, let bygones be bygones. Qin Sheng’s back, and we won’t worry anymore.”
“Exactly.” Xue Qingyan nodded.
Zhu Qingwen said, “Qingyan, today I asked you to come for expressing the Zhu Family’s and Qin Family’s gratitude for what you’ve done to help Qin Sheng. Qin Sheng’s told everything about you to us.”
Xue Qingyan was a bit surprised. She eyed Qin Sheng and sighed. “Sister, I didn’t do much for him. If I had done anything, he wouldn’t have suffered that much. But he really did a lot for me.”
“Sister, don’t say so. You were the only person who treated me so well before I went back to my family.” Qin Sheng said honestly.
Qin Ran thought for a while and said, “Qingyan, we know you’ve tried. We didn’t blame you for doing nothing, and you had difficulties after all.”
Qin Ran was at a similar age with Xue Qingyan and she was showing kindness through calling Xue Qingyan by her name.
“I know, but you don’t have to thank me. I just treat Qin Sheng as my younger brother.” Xue Qingyan nodded and refused Zhu Qingwen’s gratitude politely.
Zhu Qingwen knew about Xue Qingyan’s character. She smiled faintly and said, “Since you said so, then I’m not going to say anything else to embarrass you. We just go on chatting away.”
“That would be nice.” Xue Qingyan nodded and smiled.
At this moment, a waiter came in and asked whether the food could be served. Zhu Qingwen said yes and ordered a nice bottle of red wine for today’s happy reunion, whilst Qin Ran contacted the bodyguard by phone to come to drive them home later.
The dinner went on smoothly with all the topics surrounding Qin Sheng. Zhu Qingwen and Qin Ran were all curious about how Qin Sheng and Xue Qingyan knew each other and what they had experienced in Shanghai. Xue Qingyan told the story and mentioned her bad first impression of Qin Sheng, amusing them. Zhu Qingwen then told them interesting things about Qin Sheng’s childhood.
When the dinner was almost over, Zhu Qingwen and Qin Ran left and went to the old foreign-styled house to visit the old lady, allowing Qin Sheng and Xue Qingyan to have some private conversation.
Qin Sheng and Xue Qingyan saw the two ladies off and then went back to the box. All of a sudden, Xue Qingyan embraced Qin Sheng. He was surprised and confused.
“You’ve gone for two months. I’ve been worried about you so much.” Xue Qingyan said with the keenest emotion in her tone.
Qin Sheng was embarrassed by the hug from such a beautiful young lady. He smelled her light perfume and listened to her honest words, feeling relieved, and then threw his arms around her. “Sister, sorry.”
“It’s nothing, as long as you’re fine.” Xue Qingyan said with her eyes closed, trying to concealing some unspeakable feelings.
Qin Sheng sighed and said, “Sister, you see, I really become somebody from nobody. When I was nobody, anybody else could bully me. But I’m rich and powerful now. How incredible!”
Xue Qingyan giggled and laid down her arms. “From nobody to somebody? Then you’re the only one person who can do this in the world.”
Qin Sheng thought about this. He was not the only one of course, but was absolutely one of very few.
But he didn’t know that due to his new identity, bigger challenges were coming silently…