Chapter 14 Like Leaves Falling Back to the Roots
When he was young, Qin Sheng couldn’t understand why his grandfather would always bring him to meet strangers. These people were all hidden in the endless Mountain Zhongnan, just like those ancient cultivators who lived in a secluded life and were extremely mysterious.
His grandpa could chat with interesting people he encountered for a whole day. He remembered that there was an old Taoist who lived in a deep place in Mountain Zhongnan. Each time they had to walk for two or three hours to his place. His grandfather always had a happy conversation with the person, and they would stay for two to three days straight when they came there.
Later on, as he grew older, Qin Sheng gradually got used to this kind of life, and even liked it slightly, because these people were really interesting. There were all kinds of people in different walks of life, including ordinary people, office workers, businessmen, officials, and gangsters. They were from diverse social cla.s.ses, many of which were very formidable.
Qin Sheng loved to listen to their stories and life experiences. There were some things that he couldn’t understand before, but the older he was, the more he understood that these things couldn’t be bought with money. He also understood more about his grandfather’s intentions, which resulted in him becoming more mature and prudent than others in his age.
When he met Han Guo Ping, Qin Sheng could tell that this person was not simple. He was definitely not an ordinary tourist who was just running around, but rather a helpless man who tried to seclude from the world, calm himself down completely and search for his true self, pretty similar to those secluded people.
During that period, he traveled many places with Han Guo Ping and heard the latter talking about many things. The two of them had many shared topics. In his opinion, Han Guo Ping was a formidable and ruthless person who could bend his knee this time and rise his head later. He had suffered many hardships and was looked down upon, betrayed and deceived by others. But he could accept everything calmly and deal with these issues straightly, thus he finally got the glory and success.
But Qin Sheng never thought that Han Guo Ping would end up like this …
It was only when the door of the study room was pushed open that Qin Sheng came back to his senses.
The one who entered was Han Bing. She was dressed in plain clothes. Her face was pale and she looked exhausted, but her expression was firm. From the moment she received the call, there was not even a single drop of tear.
“Miss!” Chen Bei Ming lowered his head slightly, and said respectfully. Master Han had pa.s.sed away, so all the burden of Han Family was on this girl who had not grown up yet. He was not sure if she could undertake it.
“Here you are.” Han Bing looked at Qin Sheng and asked calmly. She did not know why, but after the incident, she wanted to see this man that she had only known for a few days the most. Perhaps only by staying by his side would she be able to find the most missing sense of security.
Qin Sheng didn’t know what to say. He wanted to comfort her, but he didn’t know what to say. He could only nod his head in embarra.s.sment.
Chen Bei Ming said softly, “Qin Sheng, since Master Han has gone, we have many things to take care of. I want you to stay with miss twenty-four to seven, not even an inch away from her. I am afraid that after Master Han pa.s.sed away, miss might encounter dangerous situations, regardless of whether it is caused by those guys or our people.”
“Don’t worry. I promised Uncle Han that I will protect Han Bing and not let anything happen to her!” Qin Sheng said with narrowed eyes. Even if Chen Bei Ming didn’t say anything, Qin Sheng knew what he should do.
Chen Bei Ming never doubt people that were approved by Mater Han. He nodded and said, “Lady, I’ll be going first.”
After Chen Bei Ming left, only Qin Sheng and Han Bing stayed in the study room. The two of them were speechless for a moment. She had made dozens of calls without getting response. At that time she was entirely petrified. Now she finally saw Qin Sheng in person.
“Qin Sheng, I have no father anymore.” Han Bing suddenly said with red eyes.
After saying that, Han Bing’s toughness in front of outsiders instantly vanished without a trace. Without a warning, she started crying unrestrainedly.
Qin Sheng immediately walked over and hugged Han Bing tightly, “Just cry. It’ll make you feel better!”
Han Bing hated Han Guo Ping, but no matter what, he was still her father. Han Bing knew that he had a hard time for many years, and he had never said it. But Han Bing was not stupid, she could easily tell that as a poor kid in a countryside from the northwest, how much her father had to pay to become such a powerful person in Shanghai.
Han Bing only hated Han Guo Ping’s att.i.tude towards his family and his coldness towards her mother.
But no matter what, Han Bing knew that his father loved her the most, more than anyone else. However, the man who loved her just left suddenly.
What’s more, he used the most extreme method to end his life.
Mom was gone, so was dad. They left her. She had to walk in the long path of life alone.
After an unknown period of time, Han Bing finally stopped crying. Qin Sheng’s short sleeves had already been drenched completely by her tears.
“I’m sorry. I wet your clothes.” Han Bing said somewhat embarra.s.sedly as she let go of Qin Sheng. This was the first time she cried bitterly while hugging a man. But she did feel much better.
“It’s OK.” Qin Sheng shook his head.
The two of them sat on the sofa and chatted. Qin Sheng thoughtfully stared at the chair, vaguely seeing Han Guo Ping’s shadow. Sometimes, death was not scary. What was scary was being alive.
“Qin Sheng, I regret not listening to you. I regret not caring about him. I regret not speaking properly with him. I regret so much…” Only now did Han Bing understand Qin Sheng’s words that she would not have the opportunity to cherish the people or things if she did not do it now.
“Don’t blame yourself. I know you love him a lot!” Qin Sheng patted her shoulder.
“I’m so sleepy. I want to sleep! Is this a dream? Is G.o.d kidding with me? When I wake up, everything will be over, right?” Han Bing said dumbly.
“Lean on me to sleep if you want.” Qin Sheng knew that Han Bing wanted to escape from everything, but he knew that there were a lot of things that Han Bing needed to face later.
Thus, Han Bing leaned on Qin Sheng’s shoulder and fell asleep soon.
Qin Sheng waited until she fell asleep before letting her lie on the sofa, then she could feel more comfortable.
After leaving the study room, Qin Sheng asked some people to guard the door and prevent anyone to disturb her. He wanted Han Bing to wake up naturally. After that, he found Chen Bei Ming and asked what he could do. Chen Bei Ming arranged a bunch of things for Qin Sheng.
At noon, Xia Ding and the others finally woke up, so they called Qin Sheng. Qin Sheng told Chen Bei Ming that he had something else to do, and asked him to tell Han Bing after she waked up that he would come back soon.
When he returned to Xia Ding’s house, Yu Ke Fei and the others were chatting. When they saw Qin Sheng, they asked him with smiles, “Boss, why you ran away early in the morning? Did you do anything bad behind us?”
“Brats, could you not be so dirty with your thoughts? I haven’t seen you for two years. Who taught you to be like?” Qin Sheng laughed.
Xia Ding had just finished showering and was wiping his hair as he curiously asked, “Boss, what happened? What made you left in a hurry?”
“Something happened to a friend,” Qin Sheng said casually.
“Do you need help?”
Qin Sheng shook his head.
“Sigh, we’d better not drink too much. Alcohol is not good stuff. My head is splitting right now, and I still have to rush back to Beijing. I’m really envious of the three of you, you can get together anytime.” Cao Yu Feng stretched his waist and sighed.
“Lao Er, we can go to Beijing anytime if you want to meet up.” Yu Ke Fei said happily.
Xia Ding said snappily, “You brat, you are just spouting nonsense. You are so busy, like a ghost. Last time I went to Nanjing, I told you in advance, but you still didn’t come to see me, saying that you were not here.”
“I just can’t make it, Third Brother. Sometimes, you wish to live in an easier way, but you just can’t. With such a large company, if I don’t work hard, I would be annoyed to death by those old men.” Yu Ke Fei said helplessly.
Qin Sheng got a cup of water and walked over. “Lao Si is right. You all have your own business to do, and all of you are very busy. But whatever, people must live a happy life. Don’t let yourself feel wronged and live for the sake of others.”
“Boss is teaching us again.” Xia Ding laughed loudly.
Cao Yu Feng got up and said, “Alright, let’s go out and find a place to eat, then Lao Si and I have to go back to our places. We’ll meet again when we have time.”
“Let’s go! I’m starving!”
Xia Ding had already arranged the lunch in a nearby restaurant. The food was relatively light, and after lunch, the four of them embraced each other and said good bye. The chauffeurs sent Yu Ke Fei and Cao Yu Feng to the high-speed rail station and the airport.
Xia Ding looked at Qin Sheng and asked, “Boss, where are you going? I’ll give you a drive. Or, if you’re free, we can find a place to relax and talk.”
“I have something to do today. Let’s meet another day. I’ll call you.”
“Then where are you going? I’ll send you off.”
“No need, it’s not far.” Qin Sheng said casually.
“Don’t be polite with me. I’m free anyway.” Xia Ding dragged Qin Sheng to his car. Qin Sheng had no other choice but to let Xia Ding take him to Tomson Golf Villa.
In fact, Xia Ding had a lot of questions to ask since last night. Now that Qin Sheng was going to Tomson Golf Villa, he was even more curious about what Qin Sheng was doing, but he did not ask.
After sending Qin Sheng to his destiny, Xia Ding left immediately. When Qin Sheng returned to Han’ house, Han Bing was still sleeping, so he continued to help with Han Guo Ping’s funeral and so on. Han Bing didn’t wake up until 4 p.m.
In the next three days, Qin Sheng kept helping Han Bing. He saw this girl’s weak side and strong side, as well as how big Han Guo Ping’s business was and everything that Han Bing needed to face.
However, Qin Sheng was going to accompany Han Bing back to Tianshui of Gansu Province first. She was going to send her parents’ ashes back to their hometown for burial, which was Han Guo Ping’s will.
In Chinese tradition, people should be buried in their hometowns after death, just like leaves falling back to the roots.