Chapter 414 Really Something

If it wasn’t for the difficult dealings between the Zhu Family and Qin Family, the two families could have sought hegemony through joint efforts, leaving the rest of the famous families far behind. Yet every coin has its two sides. The case with the two families was actually an advantage for both of them because they didn’t need to take extra things into account when making decisions, at least, they wouldn’t become an impediment to each other.

Strictly speaking, there were actually two branches of the Zhu Family, one of which was led by the old lady, the other was led by Zhu Qingwen’s husband. That explained why her children had all adopted the surname Zhu, rather than her husband had married into the bride’s family.

Qin Changan was on top of the commercial world while Zhu Weiguo was in the army. And the real and authentic replacement for Old Master Zhu was Zhu Qingwen’s husband, who had been smashed all his way up for a promising future through ups and downs, establishing a solid foundation in politics for the Zhu Family.

The two families advanced side by side. Though there had been discord, things were getting better after Qin Sheng came back.

It was hard to tell whether the harmonization meant anything to the rest of the family members, but it did mean a lot to Qin Sheng, a small nobody who just came back to a big family. As long as Qin Sheng wanted his revenge, he was in great need of his identity and resources for sure. The more profound their powers got, the easier he could achieve the goal.

The only problem was that Qin Sheng was still unclear about these family issues, hence he might have to uncover them one after another as time went by. And today would reveal the identity of his uncle-in-law. For now, the only information he got was that his uncle-in-law was working in Shanghai, and he totally had no clue about the exact details. However, according to his sister, he now could go take a wild guess.

Except for the old lady who was holding Nao Nao in her arms, all the others were heading out to meet the head person who had just been promoted to another level. Throughout the whole two families, the only two people that could be as his equal were Zhu Weiguo and Qin Changan. The middle-aged man was loaded with more work affairs than usual during the Spring Festival, so it was not easy for him to make time for this family gathering. Anyway, family bonding always came first. In particular, the juniors had come all the way from Beijing to pay their respects, so his presence was obviously necessary.

The man’s car was an ordinary Audi A6L with a common license plate. The driver and the secretary were sitting in front, while he and Zhu Qingwen in the back. As the car parked, the power couple then stepped outside and strolled back to the bungalow, leaving the driver and the secretary where they were.

The man was a good father, whom Zhu Jiayou and Zhu Yi both felt proud of. Family time was always a luxury that he couldn’t afford, but his children seemed to be quite used to it and showed their profound consideration. It was never easy for them to see their father come back from work so late at night, yet they couldn’t do anything to help. Then the only thing they could do was be good enough not to be a distraction to him.

At the sight of this man, Zhu Qingyuan seemed to be quite related to his uncle-in-law, for he too, chose a career in politics, in which he had hard decisions to make and hard nuts to crack. Besides, the case was even worse with his own father Zhu Weiguo, who had even more work affairs to deal with and much less time for family.

The moment he showed up, the middle-aged man was greeted by all the others, yet Qin Sheng chose to stand by the side, silently observing the man who seemed to have this streak of superiority going on. Thanks to his frequent contact with those power people recently, he might manage to figure out their social status through their manners and subtle expressions.

“Uncle-in-law, it’s really a surprise to see you this year.” Qin Ran came forward to extend her greeting to her uncle-in-law after the seniors finished theirs. She was quite familiar with him since she had spent all her childhood vacations in both her grandma’s and aunt’s house in Shanghai.

When he was at work, he was on top of his game, but when it came to family, he seemed much more approachable. On hearing Qin Ran’s words, he replied with a caring smile, “You kids have come all the way from Beijing to see me, how can I let you down?”

At the moment, Zhu Qingwen patted her husband on his arm and winked in Qin Sheng’s direction, indicating something they had previously shared. She had told her husband the young man’s story as soon as she met him, but the latter didn’t believe it at all. Anyway, it did come out of the blue to see a young man lost for more than 20 years and pop out all of a sudden. He was still dubious about it even after his wife’s explanations. The facts didn’t sink in until he finally met Qin Sheng in person right now.

His name was Zhu Changshun, wearing a T-shirt and jacket that were the typical style of a government official. In the eyes of everyone, he walked slowly toward Qin Sheng.

Qin Sheng felt a bit intimidated by the fierce look in the man’s eyes, and he addressed him uncertainly, “Hello, Uncle-in law.”

The greeting seemed to have softened Zhu Changshun a bit, and he replied with a slight nod, “Honestly speaking, I didn’t believe that you were back when your aunt told me at first. You know, it’s been over 20 years, and who else would keep you in mind? I know it sounds harsh but most of us might have lost hope in finding you again, I’m afraid.”

Zhu Changshun put out these words in a burst of emotions rather than courtesy, for the reason that the young man’s mother had been really nice to him and his wife back in those days. At that time, he was in bad shape when studying in Beijing. Treatment was required but he couldn’t make time for that, and besides, his wife was far away in Shanghai. It was Qin Sheng’s mother who urged him to go to the hospital, prepared the medicine, and delivered it to where he studied through public transportation for a whole month, let alone those small little caring moments. Her kindheartedness moved him so deeply that he paid her back by taking very good care of Qin Ran ever since.

Therefore, the unexpected passing away of that kind lady shocked him no less than his wife. It took a long time for Zhu Changshun to come around. He questioned God as to why good people are always taken first, but he received no answer.

Qin Sheng found it hard to say anything, and after a short consideration, he replied, “Uncle-in-law, I’m sorry to have kept you concerned all these years.”

“Qin Sheng, don’t be. You are actually the innocent one. It’s us here who owe you an apology that was late for over 20 years. We found you too late. And we are sorry for the sufferings you’ve gone through.” Zhu Changshun sighed with emotion while patting him on the shoulder.

Qin Sheng said with an ironic smile, “Honestly speaking, I thought that I was an orphan for quite a long time until I was found. It turns out that I have so many people who love and care about me.”

“Well, enough sentimental talk. The past is past, and as you’re back, we’ll make it up to you later on. You were taken away as a small boy and come back as a big young fellow. But some things will never change with time, like you have your mom’s eyes and your dad’s nose,” Zhu Changshun said, with a little smile touching his face. He reckoned that the ladies in the house might have cried at the reunion and it was better not to get too sentimental at the moment when happiness was supposed to be in control.

Thinking that it was almost time, Zhu Qingwen called a stop to it and suggested with a smile, “It’s really cold out here, let’s go inside and then talk. The old lady might have been waiting for too long.”

The others shared a laugh and then walked into the room one after another.

Catching sight of Zhu Changshun, Nao Nao greeted him obediently as her mom told her. Zhu Changshun then held the little girl in his arm, playing with her for a while. Actually, he was very fond of children and liked hanging out with them when time permitted.

After that, he said to the old lady with a gentle smile, “Mom, I haven’t seen you smiled like this in a long time. You’ve waited so long to meet your beloved grandson.”

The old lady replied with joy that was all over her face, “I’m happy to have my grandson back, aren’t you?”

Zhu Changshun found this little joke both annoying and funny, then he turned to the rest and spoke. “Now that Qin Sheng is back, you guys all fall like stale bread. Go kiss up to your grandma from now on.”

People in the room burst into laughter, and the old lady too couldn’t help giggling.

Dinner had long been prepared and was ready to begin now that Zhu Changshun and his wife had arrived. Anyway, he had only a short while before he would need to leave for work. The round table in the living room was big enough to seat all these guests and provide more collective hilarity than dividing people in half.

The old lady just couldn’t let her grandson out of her sight and kept him sitting beside her, nipping those delicacies into his bowl. Qin Sheng’s bowl was then full of those tasty dishes served constantly to him by her grandma, sister, and Aunt Zhu, and he would be stuffed once he ate all those up. It was such a special treatment reserved only for Qin Sheng that was envied by all the others, which, however, he felt a bit too much to afford.

It was quite an occasion so people would obviously like to have a little drink. Zhu Changshun substituted tea for wine, leaving his son Zhu Jiayou to entertain the guests. During the feast, it was natural for Zhu Changshun to ask things about Qin Sheng, who on the other hand, felt too tired to repeat those details once again, but he was lucky enough to be saved by his warmhearted insiders.

Zhu Changshun took his leave after dinner. The rest came back for the company with the old lady after sending him away, and that pleased her a lot. When the night came, Zhu Qingwen began to make arrangements for the guests. Both Qin siblings were to stay the night here with their grandma, therefore, the others were going to head back to their own houses, while the Zhu Qingyuan couple were to spend the night at Qin Ran’s apartment in Shanghai. Everybody had their own place to rest.

It was already 11 o’clock in the evening and high time for the old lady to go to bed. Qin Sheng had a little chat with his grandma and then helped her to the room upstairs, which was already made up.

Then came the nanny with hot water for the old lady to wash her feet. It was one of those everyday routines, and Qin Sheng took the basin in both hands and said, “I’ll do it.”

The nanny found herself in a difficult position to say yes or no and turned to her master for a final decision. The old lady as well found it inappropriate to have her grandson do this inferior task, and said, “Sheng’er, let them do their work, you just go have a rest.”

However, Qin Sheng insisted on doing so. “Look, Grandma, I was not around in the past, but now I’m back, and I feel it my obligation to help you wash your feet. Anyway, you bathed me countless times when I was a child.”

His tender stubbornness almost got her crying, therefore, the old lady gave in and let Qin Sheng do it for her.

Knees on the floor, Qin Sheng tested the temperature, added water if necessary and talked to her every now and then, looking quite skilled, and that delighted the old lady much to her content. Qin Sheng was also touched by the moment, for he thought of his grandpa, whom he would never get a second chance to look after.

“Grandpa, are you all right up there?”

Qin Ran was moved by the bonding moment while she came downstairs, but she chose to leave it to themselves and left with a smile.

After helping his grandma get in bed, Qin Sheng went back to the living room, where Qin Ran was watching TV. She then asked her brother, “So, about our uncle-in-law, did you figure out his official ranking?”

Qin Sheng thought for a second then asked, “Municipal level?”

“You need to be more specific.” Qin Ran seemed cryptical.

Qin Sheng gave up guessing, and said bitterly, “How am I supposed to know that? Unless I walk through them one by one.”

At this point, Qin Ran pointed out the TV news to Qin Sheng and said, “You don’t need to guess anymore. See? That’s your uncle-in-law, isn’t it?”

Qin Sheng was confused, yet when he turned to the news in which his uncle-in-law showed up, he suddenly lost his tongue.

The man was really something…