Chapter 205: Secret Researcher
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Most people didn’t realize that Professor Chen referred to Chen Shulan.
The two of them looked rather elegant and presentable, and the car they came in was no ordinary car. The license plate was even more eye-catching.
Qin Ran watched Wei Zihang and Pan Mingyue head in before turning to the two strangers coldly. “You’re here for my grandma?”
“If you’re Professor Chen Shulan’s niece, then yes, we’re here for that.” The older man was looking around while the middle-aged man answered her.
That was when Ning Qing and the rest understood. This “Professor Chen” whom the two extraordinary people were talking about was none other than Chen Shulan. Old Master Lin was shocked as he whispered to Lin Qi, “That Chen Shulan was a professor?”
Lin Qi was confused too. He shook his head and said, “I checked on her before. There was nothing that mentioned that Yu’er’s grandmother was a professor.”
He and Lin Jinxuan were very strict with their criteria when they looked for a stepmother. The first criterium was that the other party wasn’t to bear any more children; the second was that her family background had to be clean enough, such that they were incapable of threatening Lin Jinxuan in any way.
Hence, he had looked at Ning Qing’s information several times to make sure that her background was perfectly fine.
Ning Qing was a rather pragmatic lady, and Lin Qi knew that as well. But precisely because she was such a person, Lin Jinxuan could trust that she would know what she needed to do to remain in the family.
What Ning Qing and Qin Yu had done were all within Lin Qi’s expectations.
If he had found out that Chen Shulan was a professor, he might not have married Ning Qing.
At this point, he turned to look at Ning Qing and realized that she and Mu Ying seemed completely surprised.
“You didn’t know about your mom too?” Lin Qi asked.
Ning Qing shook her head. Her mind was in a mess at this point. She had been very ambitious when she was younger and studied in a middle school outside of Ninghai Town. The last memories she had of Chen Shulan and her father were them leaving the house early and returning late as factory workers.
Besides Ning Qing, Mu Nan was also taken by surprise.
He turned to look at Qin Ran.
Qin Ran seemed to have smiled for a moment before her eyes went dark. “My grandma is Chen Shulan.”
The older man who had been scanning the surroundings now turned to Qin Ran. He was in a traditional suit and looked rather stern. “Then we’ve come to the right place.”
“May I ask, you both…” Ning Qing could barely mask her shock as she looked at them.
Before she finished her sentence, Qin Ran interrupted.
“You’re from the capital?” Qin Ran adjusted the flower on her chest and looked at them calmly.
“Mm, we’re…” The older man was about to say something.
Qin Ran cut them off as well. She nodded and turned away as she said, “Then, I’m sorry. Please leave. My grandma already said she’s not seeing anyone from the capital.”
Their expressions darkened.
“Ran Ran, how could you treat our guests this way?!” Ning Qing glanced at Qin Ran then turned towards the two men apologetically. “I’m sorry, my daughter’s being insensible.”
With that, she invited them in.
Qin Ran didn’t move nor excuse herself from their path. She looked up at Ning Qing, with eyes that she had never seen before. Her words were cold and cutting. “If you want the funeral procession to run smoothly, don’t move.”
“Cheng Mu.” With that, Qin Ran called for him without even s.h.i.+fting her gaze.
Cheng Mu and Jiang Hui had been standing around the whole time.
Upon hearing Qin Ran’s voice, he brought three people forward. They looked rather cold.
The three of them stood horizontally, blocking the entrance.
The three bodyguards were no small fries. All the people sent here by Jiang Hui were specially trained elites.
Although Cheng Mu was a rather simple-minded man, the training he received had equipped him with skills that surpa.s.sed even the special forces.
The four of them together had Ning Qing take a step back.
The two people from the capital had awful expressions. The middle-aged man looked at Qin Ran and asked, “Girl, do you know who this is?”
He was referring to the older man beside him.
It was obvious that these people weren’t to be offended, especially the older man. Ning Qing got anxious. “Ran Ran!”
Right then, a voice was heard saying, “Director Fang, it’s been a while.”
Everyone turned to where the voice came from.
It had been snowing for a few days now.
He was wearing a black coat that reached his knees. The b.u.t.tons were undone, revealing the black s.h.i.+rt beneath. He also had a grey scarf around his neck.
There was a black umbrella in his hand as he strode over. As he got closer, they could see that his handsome features had been highlighted by the snow in the background.
It was Cheng Juan.
His face wasn’t recognized by many in the capital, let alone in Yun Cheng.
But as the old man Director Fang saw Cheng Juan, his expression finally changed.
“Young Master Cheng, your family is here for this event too?” His lips were slightly pursed and his voice hoa.r.s.e. It was hard to listen to him.
Cheng Juan handed the umbrella to Qin Ran. He glanced at Director Fang easily and said in a laid back tone, “If you go in there today, then I’ll be involved.”
Director Fang looked at Cheng Juan.
Cheng Juan wasn’t moving or making way. He adjusted the scarf around his neck slightly.
Three minutes later, Director Fang and the middle-aged man left without a word.
**
The two of them left as abruptly as they had arrived.
Their car drove off quickly.
Cheng Juan glanced at Cheng Mu. Cheng Mu nodded and recalled the car plate number, then quickly got somebody to look into it.
“Is everyone here?” Cheng Juan looked down at Qin Ran.
Qin Ran kept the umbrella and nodded.
Cheng Juan took the umbrella back and handed it to Cheng Mu. He then held Qin Ran’s wrist and walked in with her, saying to Cheng Mu, “Stay at the entrance and receive the other guests.”
When he walked past Cheng Mu, Cheng Juan paused for a while before saying, “You stay with Cheng Mu.”
The whole time the two of them had their conversation, it was as if Ning Qing and the rest weren’t even present.
Too much had happened in these two days.
From the day Chen Shulan pa.s.sed away to Feng Loucheng’s appearance that same night, the Lin family and Ning Qing could barely keep up.
And today, Feng Loucheng, Jiang Hui, Master Wei, Princ.i.p.al Xu… It was hard to meet any single one of them, let alone all of them together. Besides Lin Jinxuan, perhaps n.o.body in the family would ever get to meet these people.
And today, they managed to meet all of them at Chen Shulan’s funeral.
Including Cheng Mu, Cheng Juan, and Jiang Hui’s underlings.
Too much was going on and even Lin Qi felt as if he was living in a dream.
He had so many questions. What sort of professor was Chen Shulan? Why wasn’t it on any of her details? How did they know Feng Loucheng and the rest? Why did they look… familiar?
And who was the Director Fang that Cheng Juan was talking about?
They stood there in silence.
Old Master Lin looked at Ning Qing and simply asked, “Have you ever heard of a Fang family or a Cheng family in the capital?”
He heard that Director Fang addressing Cheng Juan as Young Master Juan.
Ning Qing had no idea where to look or where to place her hands. She shook her head in confusion.
Lin Wan married into the Shen family, which wasn’t considered a big or powerful household in the capital. Even Qin Yu’s apprentices.h.i.+p banquet was considered too prestigious for the Shens.
How many powerful and wealthy families had Ning Qing really seen? Even if she had seen them before, she wasn’t introduced to them.
“No.” Ning Qing shook her head.
Upon hearing that, Old Master Lin didn’t ask anymore. There were only two possibilities for this.
Firstly, these two families were really ordinary. It was only logical that she had not heard of them.
Secondly, these two families were so high up in the society that the Shen family couldn’t even get to them. So it also made sense if Ning Qing had never heard of them…
If this had taken place a few months back, Old Master Lin would undoubtedly have thought of it as the first possibility.
But with what had happened at Yun Ding Hotel… Old Master Lin had to believe that it was likely the second possibility.
His sentiments were shared by Lin Qi.
Neither of them said a thing. Old Master Lin turned to look at Mu Nan with eyes that held an unreadable expression.
“Dad, do you know who they are?” Ning Qing looked at Old Master Lin and Lin Qi’s odd expressions.
Mu Ying had been looking down but now looked up at them.
“Not really.” Old Master Lin sighed. Back then, he had pinned all his hopes on Qin Yu.
But now…
Old Master Lin turned around and walked in. He had to admit that although his judgment was accurate most of the time, he had probably made a huge mistake this time…
**
In a villa at Yun Cheng.
Lu Zhaoying got off the car but didn’t go in. Instead, he signaled for the butler to take him inside.
Butler Cheng nodded and led a bespectacled man in a suit into the house.
Only when they had both entered did Lu Zhaoying turn to Cheng Mu. “You said Director Fang addressed Qin Ran’s grandma as Professor?”
How could Ning Qing and the rest not have known about this at all?
Cheng Mu nodded emptily. “Young Master Jiang is very close to those in the research inst.i.tution. I asked him and he said this sort of situation isn’t implausible.”
“Go on.” Lu Zhaoying looked at Cheng Mu.
Cheng Mu glanced at the house and then lowered his voice. “Some of them are the nation’s top-secret researchers. They signed a confidentiality contract, and even their families are not to be told. Remember what Mr. Gu said about the uranium?”
Only when the contract had expired, or if he was no longer involved in such business, was he able to make things known to his family?
Until then, he couldn’t leak any information.
Lu Zhaoying bit a cigarette and found that Cheng Mu made a lot of sense.
But upon second thought, something felt off about it. “Wait, no. Did you think about that yourself?”
How could Cheng Mu know all these?
Hadn’t he always thought that Chen Shulan was just an ordinary old lady?
Why would he guess that she was some special researcher who had signed a contract?
Cheng Mu was speechless.
He sighed and said, “… This is Young Master Jiang’s speculation.”
He had overheard when Jiang Dongye explained this to Gu Xichi.
Lu Zhaoying nodded. “No wonder.”
He reached out and patted Cheng Mu on the shoulder. “Go on in, Master Juan will need your help. I’ll go over to Qian Dui’s.”
Lu Zhaoying smiled, knowing that Chen Shulan’s case wouldn’t be settled so easily.
Cheng Juan hadn’t handled a case in a year. Lu Zhaoying didn’t know much about Cheng Juan, but he was sure that anything that Cheng Juan looked into, he would definitely get to the bottom of it.
**
Cheng Juan was sitting on the couch and saw that the butler had brought someone in.
Butler Cheng looked down and saw that Qin Ran, who hadn’t slept in days, had finally fallen asleep on Cheng Juan’s lap.
Cheng Juan didn’t get up. He simply draped a blanket over her.
He then pointed at the adjacent couch and softly said, “Sit.”
This was the psychologist that Cheng Juan had gotten from the capital.
This psychologist knew Master Juan of the Cheng family. He sat down carefully and said in a hushed tone, “I’ve received the report from you. This lady has a pretty severe case of bipolar disorder. This often means she exhibits extreme forms of frustration even on inappropriate occasions and has trouble sleeping… With dramatic life events or changes in her lifestyle, her mental state would crumble and she’d be very destructive… but…”
The psychologist looked at Qin Ran who was asleep and said with some surprise, “If she can fall asleep, that’s a good sign that she could recover.”
This man had seen many patients before and was a renowned doctor in the capital. Otherwise, Cheng Juan wouldn’t have flown him over.
Cheng Mu went in after his talk with Lu Zhaoying.
He stopped in his tracks upon hearing the psychologist’s words.
“Destructive…” Cheng Juan’s tapped away the edge of the couch lightly.
“A change of environment would be better for her.” The psychologist presented his first aspect of the therapy. “The longer she stays in this city, the more dangerous she could become.”
Cheng Juan nodded. “So we need a change of environment.”
“That’s right. It’d help her relax, and the aggression she holds inside her would be reduced.”
“I got it.” Cheng Juan then got Butler Cheng to see the psychologist out.
The psychologist thought that Cheng Juan had taken his advice. Before leaving, he gave Cheng Juan a few more ways to calm a patient down.
Cheng Mu saw that the doctor even took out a pen and paper and wrote down some things. He could barely believe it.
He then looked at the psychologist expressionlessly. Calm a patient down…
Given the situation now, if Miss Qin was going to kill someone, Master Cheng was more likely to hand her a knife and a napkin to wipe her hands with…
Calm a patient down…
What was he thinking…