Chapter 461 - The Back View of Qin Chang'an Indicated He Was Lonely

Chapter 461 The Back View of Qin Chang’an Indicated He Was Lonely

All the households in the Hutong alley where the Qin Family house lay were secluded and distinguished homes, whose doors were closed tightly on usual days. People could not see what was going on inside the household from outside. Consequently, all the families living there were not ordinary ones at all. On usual days, rarely would they visit each other. After all, each family household was crowded with visitors and vehicles. Moreover, people living there were either the rich or the powerful, who were too occupied to have time for their neighbors.

To say the least, they were old neighbors to each other living there for many years. Of course, they knew each other quite well. Even so, they were not much connected. Even if they knew the detailed background of each family nearby, they did not pay a visit specifically. Once they met each other, they only nodded and greeted, respectively. That was because, in the vanity fair of Sijiu City, where people did not necessarily make friends with each other, the social circle and social status mattered the most.

Qin Sheng did not know the family background of Ke’er’s family. If Qin Changan were by his side, of course, he would tell him what the job of the elders of the Li Family was. Likewise, Ke’er’s family members knew the Qin Family’s background as well as Qin Changan’s prestigious social status. Even so, the Li Family, which was not an ordinary one, was not in the same social circle as the Qin Family. Consequently, the Qin Family and the Li Family were not close.

If it were on usual days, Ke’er’s parents certainly would not venture to disturb the Qin Family. However, since the man from the Qin Family had sent Ke’er home in person today, no matter how deliberately they had tried to keep distance with the Qin Family, they needed to pay a visit in person out of courtesy in case the outsiders would consider them as uneducated ones.

After the bodyguard at the entrance walked in and informed Qin Sheng that there were visitors for him, Qin Sheng walked out to greet them in a hurry as Chang Baji and Hao Lei followed behind him.

Ke’er’s parents were standing in the front courtyard with Ke’er, who did not take the liberty to walk in. Knowing the house rules of a distinguished family like this quite well, they had no choice but to wait for the owner to come out.

Hardly had Qin Sheng walked out of the intermediate courtyard when Ke’er broke free from her mother’s restraint, ran over quickly, and joked on purpose as she said, “Brother, here we meet again. Did you miss me?”

The innocent Ke’er was quite frank and candid—that trait was one only a distinguished family could provide. That was because only children from prominent families could be protected from the darkness and filthiness in the world. As for the children from ordinary families, they had to go through the bitterness imposed by life from a young age, which was how the reality looked like.

Ke’er’s mother, who was not far away from her, said in a somewhat displeased tone, “Ke’er, don’t be so rude.” She, who was supposed to have just arrived home, was dressed quite formally.

Ke’er’s mother was a quite beautiful middle-aged woman in her 30s, looking graceful. However, her eyebrows were somewhat clouded with reservedness and aloofness. On the contrary, the man standing beside her said smilingly, “Kids all act like her. You should just leave her alone.”

Wearing a pair of glasses, the man looked amiable and smiled frequently. He walked to the front of Qin Sheng slowly and said, “Sorry for disturbing you. I am Ke’er’s father, Li Kun. This is my wife, Fu Wen. Thanks so much for what you did today. We don’t know how to describe our gratitude in words.”

Qin Sheng stroked Ke’er’s head and smiled gently as he said, “You are welcome. It’s a piece of cake for me. However, I didn’t expect that Ke’er’s family house would be in the same alley as mine. Consequently, we are neighbors on the same street. But you need to be more cautious in the future. Ke’er is so young. It’s dangerous for her to travel alone outside. However occupied you are, you should not forget picking her up.”

Qin Sheng’s words were somewhat blaming the Li couple. Ke’er’s mother replied somewhat unhappily, “We’ll treasure these words well. What happened today is an exception. Originally, I thought he would go to pick up Ke’er. Surprisingly, he even forgot such an important task.”

Li Kun stopped smiling as he said, “I told you that I had an unexpected meeting. The leader assigned many tasks to me in person, which was related to whether I could stay in the department in the following days or not. I texted you to explain my situation. Can’t you relate to me?”

Ke’er’s mother snorted and said, “If you are busy, so am I. I wonder why you were so busy in the department with no extra gains to reap.”

Ke’er pouted her lips and said helplessly, “Another quarrel. They quarrel with each other all the time.”

Qin Sheng kind of sensed that the atmosphere between Ke’er’s parents was somewhat subtle. It was clear that Ke’er’s mother was exceedingly mighty while Ke’er’s father did not have much say in the family, making them quarrel with each other all the time.

“I don’t want to quarrel with you.” Li Kun’s reply rendered Fu Wen speechless.

Following that, he turned around and said to Qin Sheng, “Sorry for embarrassing ourselves in front of you. We like to squabble on the usual days. Anyway, thanks so much for your deed today. The reason why we visited you is nothing but to express our gratitude to you in person.”

It was not until Qin Sheng heard what Li Kun had said that he realized that he had not even asked them to come in and sit for a while. Consequently, he replied in a hurry, “It’s okay. I sincerely mean it. It is kind of cold outside. Let’s step inside and sit for a while.”

Li Kun refused Qin Sheng’s invitation subtly as he said, “Thanks for your invitation. However, the elders of my family are waiting for us to go home for dinner.”

As Li Kun conversed with Qin Sheng, Fu Wen eyed Qin Sheng up and down quietly and constantly. She knew the family background of the Qin Family in this alley. However, never had she seen the man in front of her before. According to Ke’er, his name was Qin Sheng and he lived here. Fu Wen wondered how he was connected to the very “man”.

Fu Wen asked in a seemingly unintentional manner, “Hasn’t Master Qin arrived home yet?” After she finished her words, Li Kun glared at her right away, indicating he was irritated by her question.

Qin Sheng, who did not take the interaction between the Li couple seriously, shook his head smilingly and said, “Yep. He has not come back yet. He may be caught up and will come back late.”

It was unknown whether it was because Qin Sheng was too polite or Fu Wen was pushy that the latter asked unscrupulously, “Many years have passed since we lived here. Why had we never met you? Can I venture to ask about how you are connected to Master Qin?”

After Fu Wen finished her last sentence, the look on Li Kun’s face changed. However, he was more looking forward to Qin Sheng’s answer. After all, he was also curious about Qin Sheng’s identity.

Qin Sheng said frankly, “He is my father.”

Fu Wen smiled charmingly and said, “Oh, there it is.” She did not follow up with her previous question—why they had never seen Qin Sheng before.

Fearing that his wife might take the liberty to ask Qin Sheng more questions randomly, Li Kun said hurriedly, “Since It’s late, we won’t bother you anymore. We will invite you to be a guest in our family house some other day. Excuse us for taking the leave first.”

After Li Kun finished his words, he called Ke’er over to his side. Ke’er, who bade goodbye to Qin Sheng reluctantly, left the Qin Family house with her parents. Qin Sheng walked them out of the entrance.

After they left the siheyuan of the Qin Family, Li Kun snorted and said, “The way I see it, you are too engaged with gossiping. Why did you ask those questions? You overstepped your boundaries with your questions.”

Fu Wen replied disapprovingly, “How come I overstepped my boundaries with my questions? Don’t tell me that you are not curious about the young man’s identity. I won’t buy it.” Although people said women were born to assist their husbands and bring up their children, she did not think so. On the contrary, in her opinion, there was no way that women were surely inferior to men. Moreover, she had accomplished more achievements in her career constantly than her husband, making her hold a higher status at the Li Family.

Li Kun sneered and said, “Qin Changan had been in trouble incessantly in recent days. It does not make any difference at all even if we know the young man’s identity.”

Fu Wen analyzed the situation as she said, “Is that the reason why you purposely keep the Qin Family at arm’s length? The way I see it, the members of your family can sometimes be too short-sighted. That’s the reason why you can’t always make any big breakthrough. In my opinion, the game hasn’t come to an end yet. Indeed, Qin Changan is not much connected with the Zhu Family. However, since the young man is Qin Changan’s son, if something happens to Qin Changan, will the Zhu Family stand by? What do you think? Consequently, none of us know what the result will be.”

Li Kun, who was unconvinced by his wife’s words, said, “Then we should bet on that!”

Fu Wen replied confidently, “How and what’s the bet? Feel free to tell me.”

Li Kun deliberated for a while and said playfully, “I bet the Zhu Family won’t lend any hand to Qin Changan. If I win, is it OK that we try that posture out? If you are the winner, I will take care of the housework throughout this year.”

After hearing Li Kun’s shameless words, Fu Wen blushed, looking more graceful. She hesitated for a while and said, “Okay, I am in.”

It seemed that the Li couple had forgotten that Ke’er was still behind them. Fortunately, Ke’er was currently absent-minded, thinking about what kind of excuses she could find to play with Qin Sheng outside in the future. Even if she heard what her parents had said, she would not understand the relative meaning at all.

In the siheyuan of the Qin Family, Chang Baji and Hao Lei left after the dinner. Nan Gong had arranged the dwelling place for them, which was in a nearby five-star hotel. After all, there were many hotels nearby.

After Qin Sheng packed up his luggage, he got the materials needed for the next day’s classes ready. After that, he resigned himself to wait for Qin Changan to come back.

It was not until almost midnight that Qin Changan, who reeked of alcohol, returned to the siheyuan with Gongsun. As Qin Changan, who was somewhat drunken, saw Qin Sheng sitting in the living room, he smiled gently and said, “You are home.”

Although the deadlock between Qin Changan and Qin Sheng had not been broken yet, their relationship in these days was not as stiff as before. Qin Sheng stood up and replied, “Yep. I came back this afternoon.”

Qin Sheng hesitated for a while and said, “As an elder, you should drink less alcohol in the future since alcohol is bad for your health.”

Although what Qin Sheng had said seemed somewhat casual, Qin Changan’s heart felt warmth after he heard Qin Sheng’s words. After all, his son was expressing his concern about him. Qin Changan replied happily, “I reunited with several old friends and drank some alcohol. That’s all. Everybody in Beijing knows I am a social drinker.”

Following that, Qin Changan said in a hurry, “But I think I should drink less alcohol. After all, I am old, old.”

It was not until Qin Changan sat down that Qin Sheng greeted Uncle Gongsun. The house servants served Qin Changan with Sober-Up Tea they had cooked hurriedly. After all, they had been accustomed to Qin Changan’s late arrivals.

Qin Sheng said evenly, “Although my sister did not tell me how you had helped me in Ningbo, I knew you did have helped me out there. Thanks so much for what you did for me.” After Qin Sheng finished his words, he felt that what he had said sounded weird.

Qin Changan replied solemnly, “A father and a son don’t need to say thanks to each other. Did you ever see me acting like this? You are my son, and you were bullied by others. If I don’t stand up for you, how can I be qualified to be your father? People from the Qin Family should not be pushovers, whom anybody could provoke.”

Qin Sheng nodded and did not talk back. After all, they were connected by familial ties.

Qin Sheng hesitated for a while and asked, “Did something happen to our company?”

Qin Changan, who was surprised, retorted directly, “Who told you that? How is it possible? Since I, Qin Changan, have been hanging around in Sijiu City for many years, I have experienced many big scenes and gone through many ups and downs. It’s nothing but a petty issue. You don’t need to overthink it.”

Fearing that Qin Sheng would bring up more questions, Qin Changan drank up the tea, stood up directly, and said, “I am tired, so I won’t say anything else to you. If you have other questions, let’s discuss them tomorrow.”

Qin Sheng nodded gently and replied, “OK.” He could tell that Qin Changan, who had tried hard to remain sober after seeing him, was drunk. However, after the alcohol went to his head, he could not remain sober all the time, which could be seen from the way how he had talked. Qin Sheng was surprised about how he had not talked somewhat stately as before.

As Qin Sheng saw Qin Changan going upstairs alone, he found out and wondered whether it was because Qin Changan was drunk or too old that he had to lean against the handrail while going upstairs. Stooping, Qin Changan kept going forward with some difficultly.

The light at the stairs was dim. At that moment, Qin Sheng sensed that the back view of his father indicated he was lonely…