It is said that crying bitterly at midnight was an inevitable part of life. But was hardship necessary in order for one to experience life? Since everyone’s single final pursuit seemed to be no more than to lead a happy and peaceful life.
This was ridiculous.
It was a cold and rainy autumn day. A heartbroken woman was crying bitterly at the side of the road, due to matters of love. Anybody who saw this would be empathic, sharing the same sad feelings. Besides, this woman was such a charming beauty.
Some passers-by passed by, ignoring this woman, for fear of getting involved in any trouble. Some onlookers frowned and were hesitant to help. After all, this was just something that everybody might have gone through.
Eventually, an old couple stopped. The old lady held her umbrella over Su Qin and asked, “What’s wrong with you, little girl?”
Her husband took the umbrella and held it over Su Qin, sheltering her from the rain. The autumn rain was cold enough to make people develop some sickness. Most young people did not care about this, but they would eventually regret their ignorance one day.
Su Qin felt better after crying. Now she looked awkward, with all of her hair and clothes sodden by the rain. She raised her head and looked at the old lady, as she wiped her face. She then shook her head and said, “Thank you, I’m fine.”
The old lady realized that the woman beside her, was very beautiful. She felt sorry for her and said, “You silly girl, everything will be all right, just let it go. What you have suffered will become an important part of your memory. Lift your head high and go bravely ahead. You still have a long way to go in life.”
Su Qin stood up and took the umbrella from the old man. The old man said, “You’re such a beautiful young lady. God will bless you.”
“Come on. Go home, take a shower, and have a good sleep. Tomorrow will be another day,” the old lady said, with a kind smile.
Su Qin nodded hard, feeling that the knot deep inside her heart, was not that tight any more. She should live her life like how she used to, rather than what she was, now.
“Thank you very much.” Su Qin tried hard to show a lovely smile. She held her umbrella and left by taxi, to the hotel. She did not want to do anything now, except to have a good sleep.
The old lady took her husband by the hand, and the old man held the umbrella over his wife. The old couple was such a pair of love birds. The old lady sighed and said, “All young people are always grieved by love.”
“That’s what we used to be, when we were young. Youth!” The old man sighed.
They walked away slowly and chatted. That was exactly what people want in life. But how many of us can have it?
Qin Sheng saw Su Qin getting into the taxi, and then the old couple leaving. He had calmed down and was in a stable state now. He rarely let his feelings get out of control.
“Have I done something wrong?” Qin Sheng said to himself, and also asked Gu Qingyang, who was driving.
Gu Qingyang hesitated a little and looked at Qin Sheng through the rearview mirror. He did not know how to answer Qin Sheng. Gu Qingyang knew that the beautiful lady must have some relationship with Qin Sheng, or she would not be crying in the rain, and his Brother Qin would not be so upset.
“She’s Su Qin, the woman I used to love deeply. She was my first love, six years from the time we were in senior high to university. Qingyang, what do you think of my choice? Is it right, or wrong?” Qin Sheng laughed at himself, but tearfully.
Gu Qingyang was confused and said, “Brother Qin, I do not have a lot of experience, so I don’t understand these things. But I was taught one thing when I was young. Never hurt anyone who is good to you. It should not happen too often, when someone really cares about you.”
Gu Qingyang had just said some very simple words, which, however, made Qin Sheng feel even more sorrow. Was he really wrong?
“Let’s go.” Qin Sheng sighed and said. Anyway, he had made his choice, though it might be wrong.
Lin Su would not be home tonight, for Lin Yue had asked her to stay over with her in The One. She had informed Qin Sheng of this, and he said nothing. Qin Sheng stayed in the study and did not go to sleep until midnight.
Next Monday was the opening ceremony of Han Bin’s new company. After solving the problem of Su Qin, Qin Sheng had to face Lin Su now. His grandfather had said that it was his destiny to be trapped by untold romantic relationships.
Han Bing’s company was located at Beishan Road, adjoining the West Lake, and she paid an extremely exorbitant rent. But it was just a small thing for such a rich lady, who had inherited thousands of millions of property. After her father died, Han Bing changed totally, and was not wayward, like before. Now, nobody would help her without any conditions attached, no matter what difficulty there was. She had rid herself of those fake friends, and only stayed with the few, who were true to her. Her present life was to do what she liked to do, happily and comfortably. She did not care about money any more.
For the company’s opening ceremony, Han Bing invited a lot of guests and friends, most of whom were old friends of her father. Qin Sheng was also one of them, and he brought Hao Lei with him.
Han Bing was sometimes wayward and used to quarrel with Qin Sheng frequently. But in the work place, she was definitely a tough and iron-willed business woman, which Qin Sheng came to know, when he was still her driver.
Han Bing was busy at the opening ceremony, but in an orderly way. When Qin Sheng and Hao Lei entered, she came over to welcome them with a warm smile and said, “I was just thinking if you will turn up.”
“This is the opening ceremony of your new company. It’s much more important than any other business. If you become the country’s richest woman one day, then we’re your underlings, waiting for you to lead us by the hand.” Qin Sheng said, joking with Han Bing.
Today, Han Bing, who was busy greeting her guests, wore light makeup and was in an attire, which gave her an air of a business woman. At this moment, some elderly people came, so Han Bing gave Qin Sheng an annoyed glance and said, “Come on. Help yourselves. I’m too busy to entertain you today.”
“Anyway, congratulations. Go and mind your business. We’re cool.” Qin Sheng said and smiled at Han Bing. Hao Lei also said a few words of congratulations to her, and then a staff led them to their seats to have some tea.
At noon, when it was time to cut the ribbon, Qin Sheng stood beside Han Bing, which proved his special position in Han Bing’s mind. The two of them and the other guests did the cutting, as the fireworks started. It was then announced that Han Bing had started her own business in Hangzhou.
After cutting the ribbon, it was time to enjoy the celebratory feast for the opening of Han Bing’s new company. Qin Sheng and Hao Lei, instead of leaving, went to the restaurant with the others. Their responsibility was to keep an eye on Han Bing, in case she was harassed by any drunk guests.
Qin Sheng and Hao Lei did not leave until the event ended at three o’clock. They were both slightly drunk too. But it did not matter for Gu Qingyang was the one who was driving. Han Bing was in a very good mood and was drunk. She was sent home by her colleagues.
Life went on and difficulties would not disappear by themselves. Qin Sheng was running out of time. Chang Baji did not ask Qin Sheng anything. He had been staying at Boss Hu’s training venue. Lin Changhe did not ask Qin Sheng anything either, but still stayed in Hangzhou, waiting for more information. He thought Qin Sheng and Yan Chaozong had reached some agreement. He was checking his company’s accounts there, so he had good reason to stay in Hangzhou.
Everybody was waiting for Qin Sheng’s next step.
Yan Chaozong was also in Hangzhou. His family got along well with a couple of the local big families. That was because he was from Ningbo. A lot of families from Ningbo had sunk their roots in Hangzhou, long before. Besides, many big shots from Hangzhou developed their businesses in Shanghai, which was the economic enter of the state. That was why Yan Chaozong was busy with visiting these big families and big shots recently. He was the successor of the Yan family, so he had to get some knowledge about some principles of interpersonal relationships and interactions with others.
Yan Chaozong was just back from a feast in the evening, when he received Qu Huanxi’s call. Qu Huanxi couldn’t wait and blurted out, “What about that guy? Did he say anything?”
“Not yet. But why do you care about this, even more than me?” Yan Chaozong was confused. Qu Huanxi was literally a good-for-nothing young man from a wealthy family. However, he had never made any big mistakes.
Qu Huanxi said in a low and toneless voice, “I’m going to enjoy the show. Hahaha…”
“I’ll inform you the moment things get going. And you guys have to come and enjoy it, I need you to be the audience.” Yan Chaozong said in a tricky voice.
Qu Huanxi was quite happy and said, “Of course, I’ll bring more people to be your audience.”
After the call, Qu Huanxi’s smile disappeared. He drained the wine in the cup and looked at the mess on the table. He had not tidied up for a few days, as he was not in the mood.
He was the grandson of Old Monk. Everybody was afraid of him, and nobody wanted to offend him. He could own anything he wanted- luxury houses, cars, beauties… But he never found true love.
Of course he was a human being, rather than an animal. He had so many girlfriends before and now, but there was only one woman he had really fallen in love with. Though he had chased her, using all his possible means, the woman did not even gave him a second glance. After all the failed attempts, he gave up and just stayed by her side, without doing anything. But every time something happened to her, he would deal with it immediately, but did not tell her anything. That was the exact reason why Qu Huanxi became what he was, now.
Today, he was informed that the woman was getting married the next month. Finally, his dream had ended, and would never come true.
As Cao Da thought, Qin Changan, even though he was far away in Beijing, kept focusing on the situation in Hangzhou. Though he said he would never bother about Qin Sheng’s business and just let Qin Sheng deal with the problems himself, Qin Changan was still worried about the recurrence of the incident at Poly International. When he knew that Yan Chaozong went to Hangzhou, he asked Zhuang Zhou to follow. So recently, Zhuang Zhou had been tracking and protecting Qin Sheng. But he would never make an appearance, unless Qin Sheng was in mortal danger.
“Has Qin Ran boarded?” Qin Changan asked casually, and took off his presbyopia glasses, when Gongsun entered the study.
Gongsun nodded and said, “The plane has taken off.”
“It’s nice. Since she was not there now, nobody else will get involved in the situation in Hangzhou.” Qin Changan was satisfied with his arrangement for Qin Ran to have a business trip in Europe. So Qin Ran would not be able to help Qin Sheng any more. Last time, she had done too much and had become too high-profiled. He hoped Qin Sheng would be able to deal with the problem himself, this time.
Gongsun was interested in the progress and asked, “Master, what do you think our Young Master will do, to settle this?”
The Lins were pressing Qin Sheng even harder, in addition to the cooperation between Yan Chaozong and Qu Huanxi. It was hard for him, who was surrounded by his enemies, to make a choice.
“I don’t care how he will settle this, but one thing,” Qin Changan said coldly, knocking the table with his fingers, “He should never admit defeat and give in to his enemy.” This was his line in the sand. If Qin Sheng gave in to Yan Chaozong, then how could he stand against the other affluent second generations in Beijing. Compared to them, Yan Chaozong was a nobody.
Gongsun gave a forced smile, and said nothing.
At midnight, Qin Sheng went back to Golden Coast. Lin Su was not at home. Qin Sheng called her. Lin Su then told him that she was getting together with the Lin family cousins at The One. Her Second Uncle had asked her to stay there, as it was too late.
Qin Sheng ended the call after exchanging some caring words. He realized that this was some special signal given by Lin Changhe.
Tomorrow would be the last day. Qin Sheng had not worked out his situation yet. He walked into the study slowly, thinking that he had to make a choice by tonight…
