Chapter 169: Where’s Xiao Gu?

Uncle Hai signaled for the attendant to bring a chair over.

He was about to introduce Qin Ran to Jiang Hui when he heard his exchange with Cheng Mu.

The surname Cheng wasn’t uncommon in the capital, but…

Not many would have Jiang Hui address them as “Young Master Cheng”.

Uncle Hai didn’t have to think much to figure out Cheng Juan’s identity.

He looked at Cheng Juan for a while, then glanced at Lu Zhaoying beside him. He was slightly confused.

He looked toward Lu Zhaoying and the bunch of people, slightly stunned.

Uncle Hai remembered that the three of them had greeted him very politely when they entered…

Lu Zhaoying and Cheng Juan exchanged glances.

Cheng Juan looked at Qin Ran for a bit. She was calmer than everyone else as she remained seated on the couch, apparently chatting with someone on her cell phone.

Wei Zihang had been sitting calmly the whole time and he only got up to greet the guests when they came.

Qiao Sheng and Lin Siran, on the other hand, remained seated the whole time, a little lost.

It wasn’t so bad for Lin Siran. She didn’t know Master Juan nor Lu Zhaoying, and she had only seen Feng Loucheng’s face in the papers. As an ordinary citizen, she didn’t take much notice of these things.

But Qiao Sheng was different. He knew Cheng Juan and Lu Zhaoying because of Xu Yaoguang, and he also knew Feng Loucheng personally.

He had thought that he was just here for a simple meal, but why did Sister Ran invite these people?

“Uncle Jiang, please sit.” Lu Zhaoying finally snapped back to his senses and gestured towards the chair that the attendant brought. He then asked the question he was dying to know the answer to. “Who were you invited by?”

Upon hearing Lu Zhaoying’s question, Cheng Mu kept his eyes on Jiang Hui.

Cheng Mu and the rest thought that Qin Ran’s apprenticeship banquet was just a simple gathering. After all, Lu Zhaoying had mentioned many times that Qin Ran and her friends weren’t well-to-do at all.

Who would have expected that things were so strange around here?

He could understand why Qian Dui was around, but Feng Loucheng’s arrival made no sense to Cheng Mu.

It was just an apprenticeship banquet, what was the ever-busy Mayor Feng Loucheng doing here? And it wasn’t just that. What about Jiang Hui?!

Jiang Hui sat in his chair and reached for a cup of tea on the table. He looked at the group of people on the couch, cleared his throat, and was about to say that it was Master Wei who invited him.

That was when Mu Nan, Chen Shulan, and Master Wei arrived.

Uncle Hai immediately stepped forward and helped Chen Shulan in too.

“Master Wei.” Jiang Hui immediately got up, approached him politely, and greeted him.

He then turned around and said to the rest of them who had now stood up as well, “Master Wei is taking in a disciple today. I’m here to see who’s that gifted person.”

With that, he noticed that Lu Zhaoying and Cheng Mu were a little stumped.

Only Cheng Juan reacted to the situation and took a few steps forward.

“Grandma Chen.” Cheng Juan looked at Grandma Chen and greeted her.

He then turned to face Master Wei. “Master Wei.”

Master Wei had been talking to Jiang Hui and was now waving Qin Ran over to say hi to Jiang Hui.

He wasn’t Uncle Hai and naturally had an idea who Lu Zhaoying and Cheng Juan were. But even he was shocked to see Cheng Juan at such an event.

He hid his surprise well, though. “Ran Ran, this is Jiang Hui. You can just call him Uncle Jiang.” Qin Ran greeted him accordingly.

Jiang Hui glanced at Cheng Juan, humbled by his presence.

Almost everyone had arrived, so Master Wei got everyone to sit down.

Grandma Chen and Master Wei sat in the middle. Jiang Hui sat by Master Wei’s side, while no one dared to take the two seats beside Grandma Chen.

Everyone else left the seats for Qin Ran and Cheng Juan.

**

Lu Zhaoying sat down and finally understood what was going on. He turned towards Cheng Mu and asked, “So the teacher that was supposed to take Qin Ran under his wing is Master Wei?”

Jiang Hui wasn’t any stranger to Master Wei, and it wasn’t hard to understand why he was around.

But what was surprising was that… Qin Ran was the disciple Master Wei wanted?!

Cheng Mu nodded, a little stunned.

He felt like he had lost a part of his brain.

When Lu Zhaoying asked Qin Ran the previous day, what had she said…?

Cheng Mu was thinking about a random old man.

Beside him, Lin Siran, Qiao Sheng, and a few others were discussing in hushed tones.

“Qiao Sheng, have I heard about Master Wei before? His name sounds rather familiar,” Lin Siran whispered to Qiao Sheng.

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But Cheng Mu heard her.

He poured himself a glass of cold orange juice and took a sip.

This made more sense to him. Lin Siran seemed more like the sort of person Qin Ran would be friends with.

“Sounds familiar?” Qiao Sheng asked. “He’s the teacher that Qin Yu went to the capital to learn from.”

This was what Qiao Sheng had heard from Xu Yaoguang.

But Xu Yaoguang also said that Qin Yu did not manage to be accepted by Master Wei, so she went to another teacher instead.

Xu Yaoguang liked playing the violin, and he had mentioned Master Wei to Qiao Sheng a few times before.

Back then, Qiao Sheng even exclaimed that this Master Wei was well-renowned.

After all, Qin Yu’s violin skills were known to be top-notch in the First Middle School.

Hence, finding out that the teacher Qin Ran was going to learn from was none other than Master Wei was a shock to Qiao Sheng.

He picked up his cell phone and sent a message with a whole line of exclamation marks to Xu Yaoguang, expressing his shock.

Xu Yaoguang replied with a single question mark.

Qiao Sheng replied: [You will never guess who Sister Ran is being apprenticed to!]

Xu Yaoguang did not send another question mark. He simply wasn’t interested.

But Qiao Sheng couldn’t hold it in and turned to Wei Zihang instead. “What you said the other time, was it true? You said you heard someone playing the violin better than Qin Yu?”

Qiao Sheng didn’t take it to heart when Wei Zihang used to talk about how Qin Yu didn’t play the violin well. He thought that Wei Zihang was trying to sing a different tune from the rest to get Qin Yu’s attention. But Wei Zihang did not make any move to pursue Qin Yu after that.

Now Qiao Sheng finally believed that Wei Zihang had been speaking the truth back then.

Wei Zihang simply looked at Qiao Sheng like he was a fool.

**

The ceremony wasn’t really about the banquet. The main point was for Master Wei to pave the way for Qin Ran instead.

Not many of them were actually eating at the table.

“Grandma Chen, I’m Feng Loucheng.” Feng Loucheng and Qian Dui introduced themselves to Chen Shulan and greeted her Grandma as a form of respect.

Chen Shulan smiled at them. “I know, the two of you are the policemen that Ran Ran told me about.”

Qian Dui nodded seriously. “Yes.”

Meanwhile, Lu Zhaoying and Cheng Mu, who knew their actual identities and backgrounds, were speechless when they heard that.

Qian Dui was involved in investigations and the like. Perhaps it wasn’t so wrong to call him a policeman too…?

Jiang Hui coughed and almost choked on his food when he heard this introduction.

Jiang Hui was involved in the incident regarding Xu Shen. Back then, he already knew of Qin Ran’s existence, but he wasn’t so curious or interested in her.

And now, looking at the group of people at the table, he couldn’t help but realize that Cheng Juan, Lu Zhaoying, Feng Loucheng, and Qian Dui were actually extraordinary people whom most would never be able to invite to a private event.

Feng Loucheng had a promotion in sight, and soon he would be more than just a mayor. In terms of standing, he was comparable to Jiang Hui himself.

He had met Master Wei the previous day as well and knew that these people here weren’t invited by him.

Jiang Hui took a sip of his alcohol and said, “Master Wei, this apprentice of yours is no ordinary person.”

She was only in Year Three now. By the time she went over to the capital, what would she be like?

In fact, even Master Wei himself was surprised. He and Uncle Hai had thought that Qin Ran’s friends were just her classmates, but who would have expected that each one that arrived was more prominent than the previous?

She was Master Wei’s only disciple, and it was no wonder that Jiang Hui regarded her highly.

The gift he prepared for Qin Ran was a rare and valuable violin.

Jiang Hui didn’t know how to play the violin, but he had a hobby of collecting them. He couldn’t help buying rare ones at auctions whenever they caught his eye.

“I hope you’ll be just like your teacher in the future.” Jiang Hui smiled.

He felt that Master Wei’s disciple was well-esteemed. Hence, he had already gotten somebody to bring it over from the capital a few days back.

He glanced at Cheng Juan and Lu Zhaoying, wondering if his gift was good enough.

Wei Zihang casually handed Qin Ran a gift but got her to unwrap it at home.

Seeing Jiang Hui’s violin, Lin Siran was hesitant about the blade of grass in her pocket.

Chen Shulan was unusually happy today. Although the doctor hadn’t allowed her to consume any alcohol, she didn’t feel the least bit upset.

She held the cup of tea in her hand as she looked at the people sitting around the table.

“I didn’t expect that with Ran Ran’s temper, she could still have so many friends.” She was a kind old lady, speaking to Cheng Juan’s group once in a while, then chatting with Lin Siran, Qiao Sheng, and the rest thereafter.

She watched as Wei Zihang and Pan Mingyue handed Qin Ran their gifts.

Chen Shulan leaned back in her seat.

Qin Ran placed the gifts on a seat that the attendant had specially brought over. Cheng Juan sat beside her and helped her move her chair.

Chen Shulan scanned the table. “Ran Ran, where’s Xiao Gu? He called earlier, saying that he had some issues with the car and would be a little late. Why is he not here yet?”