Strongest Counterattack

Qin Sheng sat beside the window for a while. He was not in the mood to appreciate the fleeting scenery. After all, compared with the scenery in the spring, the scenery in the winter was just so-so. Originally, Qin Sheng had not been in a good mood. In addition, the weather was cloudy. Consequently, he felt more gloomy.

Since there was central heating on the train, Qin Sheng did not feel cold at all. There was only Qin Sheng and another uncle across from him in the soft-berth sleeper coach, where Qin Sheng stayed. The uncle told Qin Sheng that he was going to Jinan to visit his son. After Qin Sheng chatted with the uncle for a while, he fell asleep right away.

The train stopped and left. It would take Qin Sheng twenty hours to arrive in Qingdao tomorrow afternoon. Qin Sheng just laid there without any intention to get up. Halfway through, the travelers in his coach came and went. Qin Sheng did not even bother to pay any attention to them. He passed his time all the way to Qingdao by sleeping, feeling both mentally and physically exhausted.

Originally, he had thought he could take root in Hangzhou. However, it did not occur to him that he would still end up being a passer-by there. Anyhow, speaking of his life in Hangzhou, it was the richest one he had ever had in the past few years. In Hangzhou, he had met his beloved woman, bosom friends, supporters who favored him, and a substantial career and job. Upon looking back, Qin Sheng found out that only his life in Xi’an previously, and his life while studying in Shanghai afterward, could be comparable to that in Hangzhou.

Since Qin Sheng had no choice but to give up the life in Hangzhou and restart his life, which was similar to that in Xiamen, where he had been living for two years, he felt somewhat reluctant to do that. He felt rather exhausted and was not willing to go on living his life like this, any longer.

During the time when Qin Sheng was on the train, Chang Baji had left Huang Mei Town and had gone back to Hangzhou City. It was because the group of people, including Chu Sikong, had all returned to Hangzhou. Of course, Feng He and Gu Xiaobo were also included. If Chang Baji had not been severely injured now, he would have been tempted to eradicate Gu Xiaobo. However, he did not dare to risk doing that at all.

As for Hao Lei, Chang Baji had contacted him and advised both he and Tang She not to worry about Qin Sheng, since Qin Sheng had left Jiu Jiang, safe and sound. Of course, he did not disclose to them where Qin Sheng had gone to. However, he did tell Hao Lei about everything that had happened last night, including the part where Gu Qingyang’s life was still uncertain and how Gu Xiaobo had betrayed them, and so on. He did so in order to warn the group of people, including Hao Lei, in case they were contacted by Gu Xiaobo.

Of course, both Hao Lei and Tang She were stunned. It did not occur to them that so many things had taken place last night. As for whether they could figure out the reason, it would take time for them to figure it out slowly.

In Beijing, Qin Ran, who had flown all the way from Europe and had not even gone home, had rushed all the way to Jiujiang by plane, directly. After she had stayed there for several hours, she had taken another flight and rushed back to Beijing. Since she had been on the go without taking any break for dozens of hours consecutively, she would have been worn out if she were not such a strong person, not to mention the fact that she was a female. In addition, she was worried about her brother.

Though Qin Ran was physically exhausted, she felt secretly motivated. It was because she thought it was worthy of her to do all of these things, since she was doing them for her brother’s sake. As long as she was doing things for the sake of her brother, however tiresome and troublesome the whole process was, Qin Ran would not be afraid at all.

After Qin Changan went back to the siheyuan of the Qin Family, he did not go to the company. Nor did he meet the visitors. Instead, he rested in the siheyuan since he had stayed up the whole of last night. He was not as energetic as the young men. Basically, he slept for the whole day.

When Qin Ran went back to the siheyuan, it happened that it was time for dinner. Since Zhuang Zhou had informed Gongsun in advance, the chef had cooked additional dishes. Instead of going back to the siheyuan with Qin Ran, Zhuang Zhou and Nan Gong took their initiative to go to Qingdao instead. They would converge with Qin Sheng and go on protecting Qin Sheng, secretly.

Gongsun, who had been waiting for Qin Ran in the yard in advance, helped Qin Ran carry her bag. After that, he ordered the servants to put Qin Ran’s luggage case in her room. He murmured as he said, “You are so good at torturing yourself, Qin Ran. Though you took the flight back and forth for two consecutive days, you are not tired at all. You certainly have not had dinner yet, right? Your father is waiting for you in the dining hall.”

Qin Ran knew Uncle Gongsun loved her dearly. Consequently, she did not talk back and went to the dining hall directly. Qin Changan was taking his time eating, chewing slowly and swallowing carefully. His table manners was completely different from that of Qin Sheng. If others saw it, they would doubt whether Qin Sheng was really Qin Changan’s biological son or not.

Qin Ran took her seat. Before she could say anything, Qin Changan stopped her as he said, “Feed your belly first. These are all your favorite dishes.”

Originally, Qin Ran had intended to talk back. However, she held her silence and had no choice, but to pick up the chopsticks. Qin Changan refilled her bowl with several of Qin Ran’s favorite dishes.

It was not until Qin Ran almost finished a bowl of rice that she said, “When do you plan to reconcile with my brother?”

Qin Changan refilled a bowl of soup for Qin Ran and replied evenly, “He is safe now. We don’t need to reconcile with him immediately.”

Upon hearing Qin Changan’s words, Qin Ran was so angry that she stood up instantly. She yelled directly as she said, “Qin Changan, the way you see it, nobody should interfere with you, right? Do you believe that I will call my grandmother and uncle right away? Do you believe that I will go to Shanxi and ask Eldest Uncle to be here?”

Her brother was still outside and dragging himself around, yet Qin Changan was enjoying the delicious food here instead. There was no way that Qin Ran would put up with Qin Changan this time. She was really angry. Not only had she planned to turn to her maternal grandmother and her maternal uncle but she had mentioned her Eldest Uncle, who was known to few people. Qin Changan feared her Eldest Uncle the most.

As for who Qin Ran’s Eldest Uncle was, he was much more legendary than Qin Changan, and was also Qin Changan’s biggest support. Without his support, the Qin Family would not have had such a great foundation today.

Qin Changan was at a loss for a while. It seemed that nobody had mentioned these people in front of him for such a long time. He was hesitant for a while and said at last, “As a girl, is it suitable for you to do that? I mean let’s leave it for a few more days. Let him adjust to his surroundings in Qingdao. At that time, you can meet each other. In your opinion, is it suitable for you to meet him now? Since he has just experienced so many things a moment ago, if you drop this bombshell on him all of a sudden, I am afraid that he won’t be able to pull himself through, in a short period.”

It was not until this moment that Qin Ran understood that she had been tricked by Qin Changan. She had no choice but to say, “It seems that you have your own plan, why didn’t you tell me?”

Qin Changan was speechless and replied, “Did you ever ask me?” He thought that he must have owed Qin Ran a lot in his previous life. Qin Ran was the only one, who dared to make threatening gestures and act rudely in front of him. If it were somebody else, Qin Changan would have slapped him or her in the face already.

Qin Ran admitted her mistake hurriedly and said, “Alright, alright, alright. It is my fault.”

Qin Changan said thoughtfully, “That’s right. You stay in Beijing for several days and have a good rest. After he is emotionally stable, you can go to Qingdao then and bring him back to Beijing. I will wait for him right in Beijing. As for your grandmother, don’t inform her currently. After Qin Sheng meets me, I will let her know. Since the Zhu Family has resented me for so many years, it’s time for us to relieve the tension between us.” It was true that there was a stalemate between the Zhu Family and him. Qin Sheng was the key for Qin Changan to relieve the tension between himself and the Zhu Family.

When Qin Ran heard that she could finally reconcile with her brother, she was in such a good mood that no words could express her feelings now. The look on her face was as bright and radiant as a flower, in an instant. She showed her white teeth and even her eyes were filled with smiles. She smiled sweetly, stood up, and said, “Alright. I will go home first. You take your time eating dinner.”

Qin Changan felt speechless and asked, “Are you full? Why are you in such a rush?”

Qin Ran replied without even turning her head, “I am afraid that you will dislike me for being too noisy.”

A long-lost smiled showed up on Qin Changan’s face finally. It seemed that their current way of getting along with each other, made them feel more like getting along as a father and a daughter. During normal days, they had treated each other as if they were enemies. After all, they were still father and daughter, whatever the grudge was, which they had held against each other, and would be open to each other, in the end.

The next afternoon, Qin Sheng, who had been sleeping all the way, arrived in Qingdao finally. During the journey, except for eating halfway, he had been sleeping throughout basically. It seemed that he had intended to sleep it off since he had not slept well for several months. However hard he tried to wake himself up, he was out for the count.

When Qin Sheng stepped out of the train, he found the moment somewhat familiar to him. It was because the last time when he had gone back to Shanghai from Xi’an, he had also taken a train there. At that moment, he had been fully confident about his future. In addition, he had boasted beside the Huangpu River, saying quietly to the Huangpu River and the tall buildings and great mansions across the river, “Someday, this city will keep me in its mind for many years.”

However, more than a year had passed. He had gone through many ups and downs, and had gone back to the starting point, in the end. Everything had to be started from scratch now.

Did he regret it? Not at all. It was because he was still young. If he gave up at this moment, his entire life would be doomed.

Qin Sheng ordered a car to the hotel located in the Scenic Area of the Eight Main Roads of Qingdao, which he had booked in advance. After he finished his lunch, he planned to walk around in the Scenic Area of the Eight Main Roads. After that, he would go to the seaside and relax.

The reason why the Eight Main Roads was called the Eight Main Roads was because there had been eight roads at the beginning, which was named after eight passes of the Great Wall, namely Shaokwan Road, Jiayuguan Road, Hanguguan Road, Zhengyangguan Road, Linhuaiguan Road, Ningwuguan Road, Zijingguan Road, and Juyongguan Road. These roads intersected with each other, forming a scenic area, which took up a radius of ten miles. Consequently, the whole scenic area was generally referred to as the Eight Main Roads. It was a well-known recuperation district, wherein lay many remnant historical buildings.

After Qin Sheng finished walking around the scenic area, he went to the seaside. Back when he had been in middle school, Xu Wei was his favorite singer. His current situation was exactly the same as what the lyrics in one of Xu Wei’s songs “Once You” described, “Once, you ever dreamt of walking around the world while holding a sword in your hands and enjoying the hustle and bustle of the world. When you were young, you were somewhat frivolous. Now you lead a wandering life.”

However, there was a difference between Qin Sheng’s life and the leading character’s life in the lyrics. The girl, whom he once had loved dearly, did not vanish into the void. They just did not stay together anymore. However, he still had his girl, whom he liked, by his side. But, every time when he felt sad, he would go to the sea on his own, which was the same as what the lyrics described. After Qin Sheng hung around the sea for a while, he felt somewhat better. He remembered back when he had been in Xiamen at that time, Lin Su had accompanied him for a walk by the seaside every morning and every nightfall. The life during that period was the most leisurely and carefree that Qin Sheng had ever enjoyed in his life.

Ever since his childhood, Qin Sheng had experienced many things, including many bad ones and good ones. All of these experiences were memories, which he held. He would not ever regret it at all.

When the night fell, Qin Sheng regained his good mood. But, at this moment, he received Chang Baji’s text instead. He did not have time to register a new sim card yet, so he still used the old number in Jiujiang, and planned to deal with these errands tomorrow.

The text content was pretty simple. However, after Qin Sheng checked it, he stayed where he was, without moving at all. It took him quite a while before he finally came to his senses. It was because the text content went as below, “Qingyang is dead.”

Though Qin Sheng had somewhat expected this result, he had been somewhat hopeful that it would be a positive one instead. However, when he got the exact update, he still could not take it, within such a short period.

Qingyang was dead. It was true that Qinyang was dead, in such a manner.

Qingyang had died for his sake. If Qingyang had not tried to protect him, he definitely would have been alive. A young man, who was at his most beautiful age, had died in this way. Never would he have a future again. Qin Sheng felt deep remorse and guilt. The grievance, which had been accumulated in the past a few days, exploded in an instant. He felt so depressed that he did not know what he should do.

He wanted to drink. Drinking was the only thing he would like to do. He wanted to vent off his feelings completely, and disregard everything.

As a result, Qin Sheng, who felt upset, went into a random bar and sat in front of the bar counter. He stared at the passers-by, who came and went continuously, and drank consecutively. During the period, some beauties tried to hit on him. However, he was not interested at all.

Qin Sheng was so drunk that he was in a total daze. All he could think about now, was that he should rise up quickly so that he could seek revenge for Qingyang, and get all of his enemies killed.

As a result, he thought of the alluring woman subconsciously and dialed her number without any hesitation. After the call went through, he spoke directly and said, “I am in Qingdao.”