Qi Jinran glanced in the direction of the study with gloom in his eyes. “It’s nothing, don’t worry. I just have some differences with my uncle.”
“En, as long as there’s nothing. I just got grandpa’s message. The box has been arranged, and we should take uncle and the others to eat together.”
After Wen Yuan’s words fell, Lin Jiabin also came out of the study. He glanced at Qi Jinran, and there was a smell of hating iron for not becoming steel.
“Uncle, wait to rest a bit. Let’s go eat first, my parents and grandpa are here.” Wen Yuan smiled and looked at Lin Jiabin.
Lin Jiabin smoked a cigarette in the room and hummed coldly.
Zhou Ke came over and whispered, “Uncle, or… I’d better go back to my house.”
“You haven’t eaten, why are you in a hurry to leave?” Lin Jiabin was full of irritability.
“Yeah, Miss Zhou, you came all the way from abroad. Take a good rest first, don’t rush home.” Wen Yuan smiled and looked at Zhou Ke.
Zhou Ke looked at Wen Yuan, a trace of something flashed across her face, and her black eyes drooped.
Smoking the cigarette, Lin Jiabin suddenly remembered something, and took out a jade bracelet from his clothes and handed it to Zhou Ke. “Xiao Ke, this is your little aunt’s relic. Take it to Jinran and speak smartly, do you understand?”
Zhou Ke took the bracelet and hummed softly. Qi Jinran was not in the room, and probably went to the corridor next door. While Wen Yuan was talking to her cousin, she looked around and found a tall and handsome man standing at the end of the corridor smoking a cigarette.
The girl clutched the bracelet and walked to the man nervously.
In fact, she saw Qi Jinran once when she was very young, at the funeral of Qi Jinran’s father and mother. At that time, the boy was only ten years old, his face was pale and gloomy, sitting in a wheelchair, staring at the people who came to express condolences without saying a word. The man no longer had the weak and gloomy appearance she remembered, but became so beautiful and noble that she hardly dares look directly.
Originally, she was unwilling to do her uncle’s bidding, but her father owed a huge amount of gambling debts. They’ve already borrowed from their relatives, and no one else could help. Only this distant uncle lent a helping hand, so she decided to try anyway. Now, after seeing the man’s appearance, Zhou Ke’s original nervousness faded a lot, and there was even a secret expectation in her heart.
If she is with such a man, even if she has no name or distinction, as long as she can ensure that the family is safe, she is willing. She knows that her three views1as in her thinking, sense of responsibility. morality are not right, but her family is in a downturn, and she was also forced to this step.
“Cousin.” She tried to smile, holding the bracelet in her slender hands and handing it to Qi Jinran.
“This is what my uncle asked me to give to you. It’s little aunt’s relic. It probably wasn’t found when sorting things out before, and kept it.”
Hearing her words, Qi Jinran stopped smoking and picked up the bracelet. In his impression, his mother seemed particularly fond of jade bracelets, and his father once bought her a whole box of jadeite jewelry. Those clothes and jewelry piled up in the utility room. He hadn’t looked for many years, and didn’t expect that there was a bracelet left behind by his uncle.
“Troubled you.” The coldness in Qi Jinran’s eyes receded slightly.
“It should be me troubling cousin in the future.” Zhou Ke knew what Lin Jiabin meant by asking her to send the bracelet. The other party just wanted her to have a good relationship with him.
“Where does your family live?” Qi Jinran asked him suddenly.
Zhou Ke was overjoyed, thinking that Qi Jinran was interested in her. After all, when he came out of the study, he should already know what his uncle was thinking. At that time, when she saw him being angry, she thought he didn’t like her. But now, things seem to be turning around.
“My family also lives in Wancheng, but it’s close to the suburbs. My mother was an employee of a state-owned enterprise. My father was also at a state-owned enterprise before, but he was laid off later and caught the bad habit of gambling—”
Qi Jinran wasn’t interested in her tragic life experience, and coldly interrupted. “Are you short of money? How much do you want? I’ll give it to you.”
Zhou Ke’s jade-like face froze, looking at him in disbelief. The man’s black eyes were very cold and extremely sharp, as if clearly seeing through the deepest thoughts in her heart.
Zhou Ke twisted her fingers and lowered her head in shame.
“Cousin, you misunderstood. I didn’t come to ask you for money. I just heard from my uncle that you were getting married, so I wanted to come to your wedding and join in the fun.”
Qi Jinran raised her brows slightly, his eyes showing doubt as he scrutinized her face.
Could it be that he thought wrong? Zhou Ke didn’t know Lin Jiabin’s absurd thoughts? Maybe Zhou Ke just came back to visit relatives?
Qi Jinran had countless thoughts, and finally straightened his mouth.
“Okay, then you can leave after the wedding.”
As long as this woman doesn’t do anything, he won’t touch her for the time being.
“Jinran, it’s time for us to eat at Emgrand.” Wen Yuan’s voice came from not far away.
Putting the bracelet away, he snuffed out the cigarette, threw the remaining bit into the ashtray, and turned to walk back inside
When they arrived at Emgrand, Grandpa Qi and Wen Yuan’s parents were waiting.
Seeing the appearance of Lin Jiabin’s family, Wen Yuan’s parents were very enthusiastic. Only Grandpa Qi’s expression was always indifferent. Although he was polite and respectful, he did not appear to be very enthusiastic.
“Xiao Yuan, you can see that Xiao Qi is about the same age as you, and his parents are taller than you. Sure enough, those who grew up abroad are different.” Ye Xia couldn’t help pulling Lin Qi and Wen Yuan to compare heights.
“Mom, how old am I, why are you dragging me to compare with others?” Wen Yuan was speechless.
“Xiao Qi and Xiao Wei, what do you want to eat? Just order it.” Wen Yuan handed the menu to the sister and brother of the Lin family.
“Brother Yuan, you can just order. My sister and I can eat anything.” As soon as Lin Qi arrived, he fell in love with this cheerful and smiling little sister-in-law. The two were of similar age, and whether it was basketball, football or other sports, they can talk about anything.
Wen Yuan thought for a while, and then handed the menu to Zhou Ke, who was sitting next to Lin Wei.
“Miss Zhou, what do you want to eat? We have already ordered main courses, so it depends on whether you want to have dessert.”
Zhou Ke smiled at him, with a gentle smile. “I can eat anything.”
Seeing their humble appearances, Wen Yuan didn’t force it, and added a few desserts and drinks.
“Jiabin, how have you been abroad in recent years? Your company should be pretty good, right?” Grandpa Qi asked.
Lin Jiabin took a sip of tea and sighed with melancholy.
“It was okay in the first few years, but not as much now. The labor cost abroad is too high, and there are various unions and worker protection associations. Those workers are particularly difficult to deal with, lazy and unruly. Many similar companies have chosen to build factories in Southeast Asia, where the cost is lower. Now that I am older, I don’t have the energy to manage the company.”
Lin Jiabin glanced at Qi Jinran, who was diagonally opposite. “When it comes to ability, I still have to praise my nephew. He is the CEO of a multinational group at a young age, and has a bright future.”
Grandpa Qi smiled. “I heard that you want Xiao Qi to stay in China and study business management with Jinran?”
“Yes, that’s what I think. Xiao Qi has also graduated from college, and it’s boring to stay abroad for a long time, so why not let him go back to China to exercise?”
“Xiao Qi, do you want to follow Jinran?” Grandpa Qi looked at Lin Qi next to Wen Yuan.
Lin Qi was tangled. Being stared at by a dozen pairs of eyes at the dinner table, he shook his head weakly under his father’s compelling gaze.
“Grandpa, in fact, I have already found a job abroad, but the salary is not very high. But I really like that job.”
“Isn’t it great to be able to do what you like?” Qi Donghui looked at him with a smile. “If you want to follow Jinran to learn business management, it will take a lot of energy and cost, and management is not suitable for everyone.”
Grandpa Qi’s words matched Lin Qi’s heart, and he nodded quickly.
“Grandpa, that’s what I thought. Please help me to persuade my dad, he insists I go back to China.”
Lin Jiabin was unhappy to hear his son’s words. “What are you talking about, you little bastard? Isn’t this for your own good! You follow your cousin in the future, if you do well, maybe you can get shares of the company, which is better than being a social worker abroad.”
Wen Yuan never thought that this uncle had another reason to return to China. He thought they came back specially for Jinran’s wedding, but he didn’t expect that it was not the case at all.
He looked at Qi Jinran next to him. His face was slightly dark, and there seemed to be a hint of sarcasm in his black eyes. He felt as if something had grabbed his heart, and he couldn’t help shaking Qi Jinran’s hand under the table.
The man turned his head to glance at him, and held his hand, as if to tell him not to worry.
“Okay, we’re eating now, so don’t talk about work.” When the dishes came, Grandpa Qi made a final decision and took the lead in holding up chopsticks.
“Let’s eat quickly, I’ll show you around in the afternoon. There’s a forest park here, the scenery is good.”
Ye Xia and Wen Chengmin naturally agreed, and brought up topics to divert Lin Jiabin’s attention.
Scum is scum. They didn’t even bother trying to hide it.
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