Chapter 302 What the h.e.l.l?
What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
Though Qin Sheng was no more than 30 years old, he had experienced quite a few life-risking dangers. The latest one was the crisis at Mount Jiuhua. He was almost dying, but finally escaped and survived then. If Zhuang Zhou had not come in time to help, or if he had not been sent to the hospital in time, Qin Sheng would be in heaven now.
But Qin Sheng was never afraid of these dangers that pushed him in front of death. Every time he survived, he became even stronger spiritually. He was afraid of nothing then, since he didn’t care about death any more.
Qin Sheng took some deep breaths and stared at Chang Baji. From last night to today, he was lost in chaos and almost became another person. He thought about how his grandfather had educated him since he was young. If his grandfather were still alive, he would not feel disappointed with any choice that Qin Sheng had made, but with Qin Sheng’s terrible status now.
Qin Sheng’s hollow eyes then lighted back to normal, and he said in a firm voice, “Lao Chang, I’m sorry for making you all worry.”
“I said before that no matter what decision you make, I’ll always stand with you for support. But you should never give up yourself. If so, then why are we persevering so hard?” Chang Baji also thought a lot these days. He used to think that Qin Sheng’s decision to give in to Yan Chaozong would make him feel disappointed. But the truth of the world is that most people have to lower their heads and bend their back sometimes for survival, or for seeking some possibility to success. Once you succeeded, all those obstacles and pains from other’s unkindness would be what you were going to talk about during a tea break. Chang Baji only followed Qin Sheng for no more than one year, but what happened during that time was enough for him to realize Qin Sheng’s amazing potential. If Qin Sheng had not come across such a powerful enemy as Yan Chaozong, he would definitely develop his own business and become somebody in 10 years. Though Qin Sheng was facing this hard nut to crack, he thought he should believe in Qin Sheng. It was a gamble now, and he bet on Qin Sheng’s destiny of becoming somebody.
Now Qin Sheng was sober. He walked up slowly to and embraced Chang Baji. Qin Sheng said with fire in his eyes, “Fine. Lao Chang, since you’re behind me, I believe that I, Qin Sheng, can overcome any obstacle.”
Chang Baji laughed and said, “That’s the person I’ve been following. You deserve to be the grandson of Old Master Qin.”
Qin Sheng and Chang Baji laughed and went out of the study. Lin Su was busy cooking in the kitchen. Before Lin Su finished, Qin Sheng took the time to take a shower and change into clean clothes. Gu Qingyang came to help and cleaned the mess in Qin Sheng’s study.
Lin Su just made a quick meal of noodles and vegetables. But Qin Sheng was so hungry that he gobbled the bowl of noodles, thinking it was a true delicacy.
After the meal, Qin Sheng turned on his phone and received the message from Yan Chaozong, informing him of the time and place. The time would be noon the day after tomorrow and the place was unknown. Someone would come and pick him up to go there.
Qin Sheng showed the message to Chang Baji, who thought for a while and asked, “Will he pull any c.r.a.p on you?”
“What c.r.a.p can he pull on me? It’s not Yan Chaozong’s style to just make me disappear. He’s from a big family, and has to consider lots of pros and cons,” Qin Sheng said and didn’t agree with Chang Baji. This was exactly Qin Sheng’s style. Lin Su was in the kitchen, washing up. He only said these things when she could not hear in order to not make her worry.
Chang Baji hesitated and said, “We’d better be careful tomorrow. We should bring some of our men in case of anything unexpected.”
“OK.” Qin Sheng agreed and nodded.
Chang Baji stayed in the Golden Coast for over an hour. After being sure that Qin Sheng was all right, he left with Gu Qingyang. He would arrange the rest of the things. The day after tomorrow, he was going to ask Gu Qingyang, Gu Xiaobo, Hao Lei, and Tang She to follow Qin Sheng. He had to make sure that n.o.body could hurt Qin Sheng.
Since the two guests left and Lin Su had finished the washing, she went into the sitting room to talk to Qin Sheng. She frowned, staring at Qin Sheng. “Are you hiding something from me?”
“What can I hide from you?” Qin Sheng shrugged and smiled. “I’m fully occupied with the company’s business and we’ve experienced a lot recently. I’m suffering from great pressure. I need some time to calm down.”
“Are you sure you’re all right?” Lin Su asked, squinting her eyes.
Qin Sheng embraced Lin Su tightly and said, “It’s OK, really. Don’t worry. I almost died several times but still survived. I won’t be beaten by anything.”
“Fine,” Lin Su said and felt relieved. She thought that Yan Chaozong might have made some trouble, but maybe she was wrong since Qin Sheng said they didn’t make any agreement the day before yesterday and her Second Uncle gave her the same answer.
Lin Su thought about what her Second Uncle talked with her about and said to Qin Sheng, “I’m resigning from the company. I was going to tell my manager today, but I didn’t because I’ve been busy with your things. Second Uncle asked me to take charge of the business of the Lins’ branch company in Hangzhou. I’ve already accepted it.”
“That’s better. It’s not good for you to work in some charity foundation. You’re a qualified financial professional,” Qin Sheng said, teasing.
Lin Su laughed and then said, “By the way, I’m going to Ningbo this weekend. Would you like to go with me?”
“I have something to solve with Yan Chaozong. And I don’t expect any good att.i.tude from your family. I’m afraid I will make you get into trouble with your family again. So maybe it’ll be better if you go home alone. When I settle Yan Chaozong’s business and when your family’s att.i.tude changes, I’ll go with you then. OK?” Qin Sheng said further that Lin Su’s grandmother was in a bad condition, so she should go back home to visit the old lady, which was her responsibility as a grandchild. And he should not get in the way of the relationship between Lin Su and her family.
Lin Su hesitated a little. She understood Qin Sheng and finally nodded. “That will be nice.”
Qu Huanxi got up and went to meet Yan Chaozong. They’ve made an all-round plan, waiting for the protagonist and audience today to come and get ready. All other ch.o.r.es were handled by Qu Huanxi’s underlings.
The next day, all the people in this field in Hangzhou received the invitation from Qu Huanxi and Yan Chaozong. It told them the time, 12 o’clock, and the place, Yuerong Manor in Xixi, but with no description for what would be going on. This was exactly what Yan Chaozong had informed Qin Sheng of.
It was obvious.
Old Monk and his underlings would definitely come. Some guests, including Boss Hu, Luo Changgong, Yang Deng, and the Dugus were invited by Yuan Ke and others. After all, Qu Huanxi was not influential enough. Besides, Yan Chaozong also invited his guests.
The people invited by Yan Chaozong were all confused by this, wondering what Yan Chaozong was planning. Some might think that the Yan family was going to increase their investment in Hangzhou. While Qu Huanxi’s guests suspected that Old Monk would take some big action. Soon after, Hangzhou became turbulent and all those people were expecting what would happen the next day.
Third Master Wu and several big shots at the same level as Luo Changgong received the invitation and talked about it. Some of them were willing to go, but others were not. They thought the meeting was for declaring the successor of Old Monk, and it was none of their business.
In the evening, when Yang Deng was having dinner at Luo Changgong’s home, he casually asked, “What the h.e.l.l do you think Old Monk is doing? Since they had taken such a big action.”
“No idea. We’ll know when we arrive there. Now that we’re free tomorrow, why not go and have a look?” Luo Changgong said at will while drinking wine.
Yang Deng wanted to ask Qin Sheng to go along with him, but he didn’t for fear of disturbing Qin Sheng, who was occupied with various businesses recently. Of course, he didn’t imagine that Qin Sheng was the protagonist of this show.
Yang Deng nodded and said, “Well, let’s see what they can do to entertain us.”
At the same time, Lin Changhe also received a call from Yan Chaozong, saying that the Yan family was holding a luncheon at Yuerong Manor in Xixi and the guests were all family members that were close to the Yan family and their partners, so Lin Changhe should not be absent from this occasion. Lin Changhe felt it a little weird, but still accepted the invitation.
Qin Sheng had no idea of what was going on outside of his house, where he stayed the whole day. He didn’t go anywhere, but just read in his study. Only books could make him calm when other things annoyed him. Reading was beneficial anyway. With the long pa.s.sage of history, all those wise men had written their experiences and opinions into books for future generations to study and then practice.
Chang Baji didn’t go to meet Boss Hu. He had arranged all the things for tomorrow, and his men would be divided into two groups—one would track Yan Chaozong at Amanfayun and the other would follow him to protect Qin Sheng.
Chang Baji heard that something was happening around Old Monk, but he didn’t ask further because he thought it was none of Qin Sheng’s business. After all, he knew nothing about the relationship between Yan Chaozong and Qu Huanxi.
On the third day, it was time. Chang Baji arrived at the Golden Coast at about eight o’clock. Qin Sheng was waiting for Yan Chaozong’s call at home.
At 11 o’clock, at the same time, Qin Sheng received the call from Yan Chaozong, saying that his men had reached the gate of the Golden Coast and asking Qin Sheng to go. Chang Baji received the call from Hao Lei, who was at Amanfayun, saying that Yan Chaozong had left.
Lin Su had already gone to work in the morning, and Qin Sheng was at home alone. He hung up the phone and just left.
Qin Sheng went downstairs and saw Chang Baji, along with Gu Qingyang, Gu Xiaobo, and others. Chang Baji whispered, “Yan Chaozong has left.”
Qin Sheng thought for a second and said, “I know. He called me.”
Qin Sheng and his men stepped out and saw two Audi A6Ls parked beside the gate. Five or six men wearing black suits got out of the car and said to Qin Sheng politely, “Mr. Qin, Master Yan asked us to pick you up. Let’s go.”
Gu Xiaobo was worried and said, “Brother Qin…”
Qin Sheng waved his hand and said, “You guys just follow behind.”
After that, Qin Sheng got in the car. Chang Baji, Gu Qingyang, Gu Xiaobo, and others got in two other cars, closely following behind.
No conflicts.
At this moment, at a crossroad with a traffic light, the two Audi A6Ls suddenly sped up and went at the red light. Chang Baji then realized that things were getting worse. He didn’t hesitate and said, “Follow them!”