Chapter 410 - Things Are Different Now (2/2)

Qin Ran understood her father, who had lost his wife and son and felt more painful than anybody else, but never said a word.

When it came to the Zhongnan Mountains and the villages there, everyone present was interested in the solitary people living there. The family was curious about Qin Sheng’s childhood when he lived with those mysterious people. Qin Sheng then talked about his foster parents and their care and good parenting of him.

The old lady couldn’t help interrupting again. “Sheng, when I get better, you should take me to Xi’an. I have to show my gratitude to the Lin Family for their care.”

The other people said, “Granny, you don’t have to worry about that. You take care of yourself, and we’ll handle other things.”

Qin Sheng stopped when he was going to say something about his regret toward the Lin Family, for he was away when the Lin Family needed him, which was the most regret he had felt in his life up to now. He didn’t want his grandmother to be more concerned. As his cousin said, if the old lady knew some of his story, it would be troublesome, let alone that Qin Changan had got down to dealing with that.

After describing his life in Xi’an, Qin Sheng talked about his experience when studying at Fudan University. They were surprised that Qin Sheng used to be so close to them, especially to Zhu Qingwen, who was a professor in Fudan, and Zhu Jiayou, who was also a student there but was two years younger than Qin Sheng.

After that, Qin Sheng spoke about their grandfather’s death. He inherited his grandfather’s will to travel around China during the next two years. When he was telling his own story, Qin Sheng was excited, with everything he experienced seeming to emerge in front of his eyes—the sights, the people, the interesting, the dull, and the dangerous.

People were listening to him carefully, sometimes worried, sometimes in admiration. The old lady also felt nervous and worried throughout the story. It was out of everybody’s expectation that Qin Sheng should lead such a tremendous life.

The end of Qin Sheng’s description was about his work in the most recent two years, about his moving from Shanghai to Xiamen, and then to Hangzhou, about how he was found by the Qin Family. When the story came to some dangerous part, Qin Sheng just made his words vague and short. He had consulted his sister beforehand and told the same version to his uncle before. Nobody felt suspicious.

The old lady, however, who had experienced all kinds of ups and downs and got along with various people, was clear that Qin Sheng just focused on the good and smooth parts, and hid a lot of sad parts. She could tell through Qin Sheng’s eyes as well as the details of his tone and gesture. She sighed, understanding that her good grandson just wanted her not to worry.

It was after four o’clock when Qin Sheng finished his story. The old lady usually had a noon break but she didn’t today due to Qin Sheng. She was sleepy then, so Zhu Yi and Qin Ran took her upstairs to have a rest and promised to wake her up when everyone arrived for dinner.

Zhu Qingyuan told them that he was going to drop by his wife’s cousin’s house, who was living nearby with his wife and children, and he would be back soon.

So now, only Qin Sheng and Zhu Jiayou remained in the living room. Zhu Jiayou was very interested in his cousin. “I’ve heard a lot about you, and I never expected that I could see you.”

Qin Sheng giggled. “Jiayou, we’ve met before. Did you remember the year before last? It was in the underground parking lot in Yuerong Manor, and you and my sister, you were waiting in front of the elevator, and my friend and I passed by.”

Zhu Jiayou was surprised by Qin Sheng’s good memory. “What? Really? I totally forgot that.”

Qin Sheng was a bit frustrated. “Of course you can’t remember that. I was a small potato and didn’t deserve your attention.”

Zhu Jiayou grinned. “Cousin, don’t say that. You’re much more important than me now in the Zhu Family. I still need your help.”

Qin Sheng soon found that his younger cousin naturally engaged with people.

At this time, Qin Ran and Zhu Yi came back into the living room. Qin Sheng stood up and said, “Sister, cousin, I’d like to wander around. This is close to where I used to work.”

Qin Ran frowned. “Do you want me to go with you?”

Qin Sheng shook his head. “No. I’m going to meet up with a friend. I’ll be back by six o’clock.”

Qin Ran nodded, still thinking of something. Zhu Yi said yes. Zhu Jiayou wanted to go with Qin Sheng but was refused politely. Then they just let Qin Sheng go.

Leaving from the old foreign-style house, Qin Sheng rented a shared bicycle and rode along Sinan Road to Shangshan Ruoshui.

He thought about Shangshan Ruoshui and sighed. “Things are different now…”