Wei Ling reached home, exhausted, in the wealthy district of Beijing.
“I’m back.”
In the living room, Shen Jingyan sent someone to pick Shen Qiongzhi and Qiao Weimin up from the airport. Qiao Chen was sitting by the side as the few of them chatted.
Upon hearing something, Shen Jingyan looked over and saw that she’d returned. She got up and approached her. “You’re back? Are you tired?”
Wei Ling saw how thoughtful he was to get her bag and felt much more at ease. She shook her head and said, “I’m alright.”
Shen Jingyan handed her bag over to the housemaid and asked her, “Did you see Master Nie today?”
Qiao Chen was standing by the couch politely, but upon hearing this, her eyes couldn’t help but light up as she turned towards Wei Ling. Her heart was practically in her mouth as she wrung her hands.
Wei Ling didn’t even glance in her direction. She took off her scarf and said helplessly, “I did see him, but Master Nie did not give me any face. He rejected me right away. I even bumped into Tang Wanru and her daughter. They were also looking for Master Nie. In the end, Master Nie did not agree to anyone, he simply said he was not accepting any disciples.”
Shen Jingyan was not surprised by that. He simply sighed and said, “Ah, as I guessed. If Master Nie agreed so easily, he wouldn’t be Master Nie any more! Forget it, we aren’t pinning all our hopes on him anyway. If this doesn’t work, we can think of something else.”
Wei Ling thought so, too. She nodded in acknowledgment.
They had wanted to go through Master Nie as it was a shortcut to success. Qiao Chen could ride on Master Nie’s fame to enter the elite circle of Beijing.
But this shortcut was non-existent now. Everyone, including Wei Ling and Shen Jingyan, was a little upset.
Qiao Chen could feel the slight tension at home. She put her feet together and lowered her head. Although she hadn’t done anything wrong, she felt embarrassed.
Qiao Weimin and Shen Qiongzhi felt that way, too.
Both of them were sitting on the couch uneasily.
Shen Jingyan pretty much noticed that he had subconsciously made it a little tense at home, so much so that the Qiao Family members could not hold their heads up. He consciously suppressed his unhappiness and forced a smile, saying to Qiao Chen kindly, “Chen Chen, your Aunt and I will help you figure out something with Master Nie. What’s most important now is that you successfully enter Qing University. The examination is on the 6th, just three days away. Study while you can in these three days, it’s always better to do more rather than less, got it?”
“Mm. Don’t worry, Uncle, I’ll be doing more revision over the next few days.” Qiao Chen looked up at him obediently.
Shen Jingyan’s expression softened as he saw how sensible she was. He then turned to Shen Qiongzhi and Qiao Weimin and said, “Sister, Brother-in-law, since you’re here in Beijing, just put up here. I’ll get them to prepare the guest room.”
They had already talked about this on the way here, during the two-hour car ride. Hence, faced with Shen Jingyan’s suggestion, Shen Qiongzhi immediately responded as planned. “Don’t trouble yourself, Weimin and I have already booked a hotel room. We won’t be troubling you here.”
Wei Ling turned to look at her in shock. She hadn’t expected her husband’s sister to have such a high emotional quotient. But when she turned to Qiao Weimin, she understood it all.
Shen Qiongzhi was not this wise. Qiao Weimin, on the other hand, had been a businessman for many years now. This was likely his idea.
Disdain filled her eyes.
It was for the best that they did not put up at her house. Having Qiao Chen alone was bad enough, not to mention two more people. Honestly, they had more than enough to host these two people, but seeing this down-and-out couple day in and day out was annoying.
