Chapter 356 - Qin Rans Uncle (1/2)
Originally, Qin Ran had not planned to so quickly inform the family members, including her grandmother and her uncle, about the piece of news that her brother had come back home. However, the relationship between Qin Sheng and her father became so stiff now, which could not be elevated in a short period. As a result, Qin Ran had to find a breakthrough and find someone else to replace her father’s position who could care about Qin Sheng from a different perspective.
It was evident that she could not be the one because she had just built a connection with Qin Sheng. Consequently, she dared not to do other things randomly. After she thought it over and over again, she thought only her uncle could fit such a role. Anyway, she would tell her uncle about this piece of news sooner or later. As a result, she had no choice but to inform her uncle first and keep it from her father.
In a heavily guarded courtyard in Sijiu City, a middle-aged man who was dressed in a suit of martial attire just arrived home. This was a two-storey building made of red bricks. Security guards were on duty and patrolling at the entrance. The internal layout was quite simple. Most of the furniture inside was classical. It turned out that the flowers, plants, and some old photos were far more eye-catching.
Though the middle-aged man was over 60 years old, he still looked vigorous. His dignity, which was inherently borne by the military men, earned people’s respect immediately. He was still at a high rank now. Besides, he got further promoted amid the military reform this time.
In the dining hall, the dinner was already ready. The maidservant was busy doing her chores as was his wife. He had a pair of children who had all gotten married, settled down, and had children as well. His son succeeded him, who was appointed as a consultant in the military in the northwest. As for his daughter, she had taken part in an official career.
When the middle-aged man picked up Qin Ran’s call, he felt quite happy. He loved his niece dearly since this girl was born to be favored and loved by others. Besides, her life was somewhat bitter, which made him feel pretty sorry for her. As for those things, never was he willing to mention and think of them since they were the whole family’s taboos.
On usual days, this girl would make a call to greet him weekly and get around to visiting them every month. However, he had not heard from her in recent days. He was somewhat busy, since the end of the year was coming. As a result, he did not pay attention to this situation, more or less. It was not until this girl called him today that he thought back on the old days and realized that he had not seen this girl for some time. He could not help feeling somewhat self-condemned, feeling that he was less concerned about her.
However, after the call went through, the piece of news that the girl had told him made him, who had gone through life and death and seen much of the world, feel somewhat ill at ease because this piece of news was simply too astonishing.
The middle-aged man stood in the living room, feeling at a loss. He could not come to his senses in an instant. Qin Ran’s words of “I found my brother,” had a huge impact on him.
“Little boy, what do you want to do when you grow up?”
“Mother told me that you are a hero, Uncle. So I want to be exactly like you and become a military man so that I can protect our homes and defend our country after I grow up.”
“Aren’t you afraid that you are going to endure hardships?”
“No, I’m not.”
Just then, a woman had walked from sideways and said discontentedly, “Little boy, didn’t you just tell me that you are going to be a teacher after you grow up? Why did you change your mind so quickly?”
The little boy held a lollipop between his lips and said in a baby’s voice solemnly, “It is because you, Auntie, did not give me any candy while Uncle did.”
All the family members burst out laughing in an instant since this little boy had acted so materialistically, who was simply the life of the party in all the family members’ eyes…
The reason why the middle-aged man, as well as all the family members of the Zhu Family, loved their niece so dearly was that her mother had passed away at an early age and her brother had disappeared all of a sudden. Besides, her father went about his own business. Nobody in the Qin Family loved this girl dearly. Consequently, all the family members of the Zhu Family loved her more.
As for his nephew, this middle-aged man felt more guilty about him than his niece did. His high social status and powerful connections did not change anything at all. Even though so many years had passed, he simply could not find his biological nephew, which made him feel like a complete failure in life.
At first, whenever all of his family members got together, they all felt sorry for him if anybody had mentioned this little boy unintentionally, who was pitiable. At that time, the atmosphere would be reduced to a freezing point. As for the Old Master, he could still manage it and did not look sorrowful in front of outsiders. But the Old Lady could not help weeping quietly. As a result, in later days, everybody had a tacit understanding that nobody should bring about the issue related to their nephew in front of the Old Master, the Old Lady, and Qin Ran.
However, keeping themselves silent did not mean that all the family members of the Zhu Family had not exerted great effort to look for Qin Sheng. Never had they given up trying to find him over the past two decades. Whenever any clue was available, they would send people out immediately to check it out. Unfortunately, it was all in vain in the end.
However, it did not occur to the middle-aged man, who held no hopes at all after more than two decades had passed, that Qin Ran would tell him all of a sudden that his nephew had been located today. After the emotion of astonishment washed over him, he had an impulse to cry with joy instantly.
However, this middle-aged man was no ordinary man at all. He forced himself to calm down and locked himself in thought. Since the accident had taken place all of a sudden, he had to figure out the ins and outs. After all, based on the Qin Family’s social status and the Zhu Family’s background, somebody might have an ulterior motive. If somebody did so, it would be a secondary injury to Ran Ran. He definitely would not spare the kind of people like this.
In the dining hall, a middle-aged woman who was dressed well took a glimpse at that the man was at a loss in the living room and called him subconsciously, “Laozhu, why are you in a daze? Come over quickly and have dinner.”
His wife’s voice made the man come to his senses. He pointed at the mobile to his wife, who instantly got his point and left him alone. That was because whenever the man made a motion like this, it meant that something pretty important had taken place.
In the villa, Qin Ran knew her uncle definitely would be astonished by this piece of news. As a result, she was not anxious to say anything further and planned to tell her uncle more when he got here.
The middle-aged man could not help asking, “Ran Ran, is what you said true?”
Qin Ran knew that her uncle would not believe what she had said easily. As a result, she replied, “Uncle, I would not have informed you if I had not confirmed the authenticity of this piece of news. I brought him back to Beijing from Tsingtao last night. He is by my side now. My father already saw him.”