Unedited
…….
The Peak
“Just to let you know. She hasn’t forgiven you, yet.” Zhou Jingren shoved his hand in his pocket, his eyes glued at the man who sat in front of him. For a few seconds, silence surrounded them before the loud thunder outside cracked the air. “Lily is emotional because of her pregnancy. It will take some time.” Zhou Jingren said. “If one would think clearly, everything that happened in the past was your fault. And yes, I am blaming you for everything that Lily went through.”
Qin Chuan’s gaze didn’t falter as he nodded. “I know.” Zhou Jingren did not miss the defeat In the older man’s voice. “I did not come here because I was looking for your sympathy.” Qin Chuan managed to say. “I came here to let you know that I will be waiting.”
“If you hurt her again— “
“I know.” Qin Chuan interrupted him. “I know.” Assurance laced his voice as he lowered his head. He recalled the awkward dinner earlier. Lily’s blank eyes and Qin Yuanfeng’s stern gaze. The two sat opposite him and ate their dinner silently as he thought of ways to say something — anything. In the end, Qin Chuan pursed his lips and stayed quiet. The dinner ended without anyone saying something.
Not even Zhou Jingren utter a single word. However, despite the awkward environment, Qin Chuan still felt a little lighter, maybe even happier. If one would think about it, this was the first dinner that they had peacefully. No drama, no unnecessary insults. Just them eating together.
“We will leave Hong Kong soon.” Zhou Jingren said after a few minutes of silence. Until now, he does not have a favorable opinion of the man opposite him. However, he thought that the man at least deserved to know where his children will stay in the next few months. “Lily will give birth soon.” He added. In response, Qin Chuan nodded, understanding flashed in his eyes.
There is no need for Qin Chuan to inquire more about the matter. He was even lucky that Zhou Jingren told him about their plans for his — his grandchild. Qin Chuan swallowed his nonexistent saliva before he let out a sigh. “I came here to give you this.” He handed him a flash drive.
“The torture?” Zhou Jingren said.
“Qi Xia died the other day.” Qin Chuan said. “He bit his own tongue.”
Zhou Jingren nodded in response. “And?”
“He said he was not able to see the person who Zhou Huifang talked to, but he was able to speak to the man on the phone. He said he had a thick British accent, someone from Europe. He said he was not able to recognize some of the man’s words as he was not really used to hearing the accent. But he was positive it was from Europe.” Qin Chuan said.
Zhou Jingren nodded as he recalled Harringfort’s accent when he introduced his name. “Is there anything else?”
“Blue eyes.” Qin Chuan’s words snapped Zhou Jingren out of his stupor. “He said that Zhou Huifang would mention a man with blue eyes. They even call him blue-eyed man as they don’t know his name. But he promised — well, the man told them to gather everyone that you have offended in the past. The people that you and Lily offended in the past.” Seeing Zhou Jingren’s grim face, Qin Chuan continued. “That’s why they sheltered Tang Lingyun and… tried to — did what they did with Su Ma. He said the plan was to distract Lily and remove her attention from you. They thought she would waste her time dealing with me and Su Ma.”
Alas, they were wrong. The truth was as clear as day. To Lily, Qin Chuan was not someone so important. Instead of dealing with him and Su Ma, Lily chose to cut ties instead. Qin Chuan shook his head inwardly. Just what was he expecting? Lily must have thought that he was nothing but a stranger. A father in name. Someone who donated his sperm to Bec.
Now that he had the time to think about everything, Qin Chuan realized that Lily does not owe him anything. Not her attention, not her time and not her respect and love. In fact, he was the one who owed her a lot. A sad smile slithered on his face as he continued talking about what he did to Qi Xia.
“So this blue-eyed man wanted Lily to focus her attention on you.” Zhou Jingren stated. This was akin to a piece of the missing puzzle that he had been looking for. First, distract Lily. Then the case about Su Mingyu and the assault. If one would think about it properly, it was like someone wanted Lily to focus her attention elsewhere while Su Mingyu would work her with Zhou Jingren. Of course, this was nothing but pure speculations.
The only thing that made him think this way was the fact that Su Mingyu tried to set him up the last time that she saw him. What if that was the goal all along? Surely, coming in to see him with the purpose of setting him up for a sexual assault case, was not something that she must have thought of in one day, right?
With everything that had been going on, would it be safe to say that the true goal of this blue-eyed man is to separate him from Lily? Now, if the blue-eyed man was indeed Harringfort, then why would he try to ruin Zhou Jingren’s marriage? Clearly, Harringfort said that Zhou Jingren became a member because of Old Man Yu’s death. So the hell would he try to sabotage his marriage? Was Zhou Jingren overthinking all along? Or Harringfort had some connection to Lily aside from him being the future husband of Lily’s cousin?
“I also found something else.” Qin Chuan said as he put his attention on the case that he brought with him. “Call me paranoid.” Qin Chuan said. “But after what happened with Tang Lingyun I started to overthink everything. Analyzing things that do not really exist. That includes Qi Xia’s words.” He then showed Zhou Jingren a decrepit notebook with leather binding.
