[vvvv] usually never disturbed his beloved comrade at these late hours. However, he was in the middle of writing a super awesome security code when a bug appeared. After using many methods, he failed to fix the bug and had no choice but to ask for [Q] ‘s help.
Before [vvvv] had a chance to really voice call Su Bei, his own phone rang. Seeing the caller ID: [My Trenchmate Baby Q], his eyes lit up: Oh, his brother Q is too good, he took the initiative to call him first.
[vvvv] excitedly answered the call, and before he had time to utter a single ‘hello’, a voice came from the other side.
Qin Shao: “Who are you?”
Holding the phone, [vvvv] was taken aback, very surprised.
[vvvv]: Nani?
How is it different from what he expected?
In [vvvv] ‘s mind, he always thought that [Q] was a die-hard otaku boy with social anxiety, but never expected that the voice from the phone would be like this: low, steady and magnetic. Although he didn’t want to admit, the other party’s voice was indeed much more attractive than his voice. But it was a bit cold—even across the phone, [vvvv] could feel his back gradually freezing: How scary, I’m afraid.
“I’m v, ah.” Did [Q] not save his number?
“Ah, right. I messaged you tonight, is because I need you so much. I can’t do it without you.”
“Hello? Hello? Darling, are you listening?”
“Are you angry? Honey, don’t be, ah. Can you say something? Darling? Baby? Big bro? Daddy?…”
[vvvv] ‘s voice kept clamoring endlessly from the receiver.
But on this side, Mr. Qin held the phone with a face so black that it was almost dripping ink. If there was another person here, they could easily read the word ‘anger’ from his face. Moreover, if it was someone who knew Mr. Qin well or had been working with him before, they must also know that his current state was the stillness before a deadly storm.
Looking at Su Bei’s sleeping face, Mr. Qin said with a dark tone to the man on the other end of the phone, “I am her father.”
[vvvv]: !!!
Brother 4v was surprised. Before he had time to say “Hello, uncle”, Mr. Qin had continued: “I don’t care for what reason or purpose you approached my daughter. If I ever found on her phone any call or message from you again, I don’t mind making you regret to ever be born in this world.”
Mr. Qin’s words were not threat nor warning, they were ultimatum.
After finishing talking, he hung up the call and turned off Su Bei’s mobile phone.
On the other side, at Xu family’s villa, in the middle of the night, [vvvv] was so scared by the call that he couldn’t sleep.
—
The next morning, Su Bei woke up on her own big bed in her bedroom. She opened her eyes, still a little bit dazed. She tried to recall: last night, she was so hungry that she ran down to get some food and was caught by Qin Shao. Later, they had some midnight supper together, and then, she seemed to fall asleep.
Right, ah! She forgot Su Xiaobao!
On their way from the villa to the school, Su Bei kept glancing at Su Xiaobao with a ‘little pitiful’ look. She grabbed his arm and said, “I’m sorry, did you wait until late yesterday?”
Su Xiaobao: “Not too late. I fall asleep waiting.”
There was a small episode that Su Xiaobao omitted: He waited for Su Bei yesterday and got worried because she didn’t come back. When he went downstairs to check, he met Qin Shao, who ordered him to go back to sleep with a stern face. The man’s expression was so dark as if he was going to kill someone.
—
Su Bei and Su Xiaobao got out of the car and walked into the school, chatting about yesterday’s events. Suddenly, a small and cute girl with glasses ran to Su Xiaobao.
“You-young master Su, please accept this,” the girl bowed her head and handing something out with flushed cheeks. She did not forget to add a sentence: “You must read it, please.”
After that, the girl ran away and disappeared into the crowd, leaving a bunch of passerby watching.
“A girl confessed to young master Su again.”
“But young master Su seemed to never give any reply, hehe.”
“Even when he looks awkward, young master Su still so handsome!”
Some girls would occasionally come to confess to Xiaobao, so Su Bei didn’t find it strange anymore.
What did he get this time? Su Bei looked at the thing stuffed into Su Xiaobao’s hand and thought: It doesn’t look like a gift, nor is it a breakfast or snack. Is it a love letter?
After they arrived in the classroom, Su Xiaobao didn’t want to pay attention to this anymore, but Su Bei was curious.
Su Bei: “That girl said that you have to read it, then just read.”
Seeing Su Bei’s curious face, Su Xiaobao helplessly tore off the enclosed envelope. Inside was a thick stack of paper with densely packed words.
“What did she write?” Su Bei leaned over. Before Su Xiaobao had a chance to crumple the papers in his hand, she already saw the contents.
A fanfic with Su Xiaobao as the protagonist? And also illustrated with a cute drawing!
Su Bei burst out into laughter: “So this is it, haha, that girl is too talented!”
Looking at a certain someone who was laughing loudly without any burden, Su Xiaobao was speechless. His face instantly darkened: I don’t know at all! What filled these girls’ brains, they actually write this kind of story!
Su Xiaobao coldly glanced at the corner of the classroom, at Xie Minxuan’s direction, and successfully made himself shuddered in chill and disgust.
Xie Minxuan, the other protagonist of the story, apparently also received the same ‘confession letter’.
As a result, in the afternoon P.E. class, the two people who initially had planned to team up and play a match against another class, very ‘tacitly’ refused to play together.
Xie Minxuan: “Go far away from me.”
Su Xiaobao: “Do you think I want to see you? Ask you to temporarily not appear in front of me.”
At the same time, the Qin Group’s office.
Mr. Qin summoned Qin Group’s most powerful team and gave [vvvv] ‘s account from last night to them: “Find out about this person as quickly as possible.”
“Yes.” They responded.
Mr. Qin’s subordinates thought: judging from Mr. Qin’s attitude, this person must be very dangerous. Like Chen De, after other people left, the assistant asked Qin Shao with a grave expression, “Sir, is it a spy?”
Qin Shao: “No, just a little brat who courted death.”
Chen De: “……”
Mr. Qin obviously didn’t want to say more, so he also didn’t dare to ask more.
After a while, Mr. Qin ordered Chen De to reply to the Lin’s invitation, stating that he would go to the 80th birthday banquet for old master Lin. Then he called back to Jingyuan villa and gave some orders to Uncle Fu, let him call some stylist to the house, and also ordered banquet clothes for Su Bei and Su Xiaobao.
“Sir, are you planning to take Xiaobei and Xiaobao to the Lin banquet?” Chen De asked from the side.
Mr. Qin nodded: “Take them out for some experience.”
Chen De secretly smiled inward: Mr. Qin said that he was taking his children out to gain experience, but wasn’t he actually simply want to show them off?
Chen De didn’t guess wrong. However, when Mr. Qin decided to bring Su Bei and Su Xiaobao to attend the banquet, he also had another reason: for Su Bei’s sake. Regarding his suspicion towards his daughter’s ‘early love’, Qin Shao thought that the biggest reason was because the girl was still too young. She still had too little knowledge and never saw much about the world.
Old master Lin always had a good reputation. Even if the Lin family had been regressed in the past few years, they would never casually invite random cats and dogs. Such banquet would be perfect to bring Su Bei over, so she could have more contact with various people and learn more about the world.
A girl with a high vision would never commit a mistake. At least she would not easily be fooled by a some random kid with crooked intention.
Moreover, Mr. Qin also had another hidden motive. Young little girls who were still not matured generally thought that boys like the second child of Xie family to be handsome and cool. However, in the eyes of Mr. Qin, Xie Minxuan was a simply a hairless little brat whose fur has not grown up yet. His ability was not a real ability, his power was not a real power. Still immature, unstable, and ignorant.
In this regard, the child from Lin family was pretty good. Mr. Qin wanted to take Su Bei and let her see what a truly outstanding, mature, responsible, and trustworthy man should look like, and save her from the same fate as the other girls in her school, who idolized Xie Minxuan blindly.
Su Bei didn’t know Mr. Qin’s ‘good intentions’. Hearing that he wanted to take her and Xiaobao out, she was so happy, like when Grandma Wang was going to took them to the county seat when they were a child.
—
The next day was Saturday, and Lin’s banquet was held that night.
Jingyuan villa.
Uncle Fu originally had invited a special teacher to teach Su Bei and Su Xiaobao basic etiquette and precautions for the banquet. As a result, Mr. Qin became impatient with those cumbersome things and told Uncle Fu to send away the etiquette teacher.
“When Qin family’s children go out, others will only flatter. No one will dare to make them unhappy or stupid enough to pick up faults with them.”
When Mr. Qin said this, Uncle Fu was stunned. However, when he thought about it, the reasoning was indeed not wrong. Moreover, the children’s behaviors were already excellent, and there was no need to specifically let them learn etiquette.
But Mr. Qin only said to Su Bei and Su Xiaobao: “When you go outside, you will learn to distinguish between good and bad, and know how to judge before making any decisions.”
Su Bei nodded.
In the afternoon, the stylist team arrived. Su Bei and Su Xiaobao went to change for the evening banquet. When she saw Su Xiaobao in a suit, Su Bei’s eyes lit up and blinked. She looked at Su Xiaobao, and then at Qin Shao, who was reading some documents on the sofa. She then looked back and forth between the two people several times.
——Really similar.
Su Bei couldn’t hold her laughter.
Mr. Qin was distracted by the girl’s bell-like laughter. He put down the documents in his hand and looked up at the two children. When he saw Su Xiaobao, a smile appeared in Mr. Qin’s eyes. Seeing a young boy whose appearance was like being copied from his own…indeed made his heart felt a subtle, somewhat inexplicable, pride.
Then Mr. Qin moved his eyes to his daughter. Tonight, Su Bei’s hair was tied up and shaped cutely on the back of her head. The rest of the hair was naturally scattered on the shoulder, with the tips slightly curled. This hairstyle was very suitable for her age: pretty and lively but still elegant.
Su Bei’s evening dress was white, which resembled the one designed by Dong Wenqi’s mother for her ‘opening performance’ last time. However, under Mr. Qin’s strict supervision, this dress was much ‘warmer’ than the previous one. The skirt length was below the knee, the collar was only a little bit down the collarbone, and her upper body was also specially covered with an exquisite short coat.
Mr. Qin was obviously very satisfied with this design——This was how a girl should be dressed.
Qin Shao seldom attended a banquet, so when people heard that Qin Group’s chairman was going to attend the Lin family’s banquet, everyone was surprised. They secretly mused: How big was Lin family’s face, that they could move even this big Buddha? Moreover, they also heard that Mr. Qin was going to brought his pair of children that never appeared in public eyes before.
Although tonight was the birthday banquet of the old master Lin, Qin Shao’s appearance has become the center of everyone’s attention. Qin Shao took Su Bei and Su Xiaobao and was invited into the guest area on the second floor of Lin family’s villa. People with insufficient status couldn’t go to the second floor. Still, many were seeking the opportunity to have a conversation with Mr. Qin.
Among these people, Qin Shao would pick up some important people to be introduced to Su Bei and Su Xiaobao who were standing next to him. For example, at this moment, Mr. Qin was pointing to the person who came to greet them and said, “This is the chairman of Yuanhang Group.”
Mr. Qin paused his words and glanced at the other party.
The chairman of the Yuanhang Group immediately said, “My surname Zhou, Zhou Bi.”
Mr. Qin nodded and said to the twins, “Chairman Zhou.”
Su Xiaobao raised his eyes and looked up at this Chairman Zhou, giving him just a glance. Meanwhile, Su Bei was nodding politely.
Chairman Zhou looked at Qin family’s two children and was shocked. There had been a rumor in their circle before: Mr. Qin never been close to women, and most likely to have a problem in that aspect. Who would ever guess that Mr. Qin actually had two children, and they were already this big? This man was truly hiding too deep. When the father was a tiger, his children wouldn’t be a dog. As the proverb said, the two children from Qin family really deserved their father’s reputation. Their each and every movement was indeed outstanding.
Even in his surprise, Chairman Zhou didn’t forget his purpose. He quickly seized the opportunity to discuss business matters with Mr. Qin and pitched some of the Yuanhang Group’s projects. Chairman Zhou then left a sentence “I hope these projects can get into your eyes, Mr. Qin”, and politely took his leave.
After that, Mr. Qin glanced down at the absent-minded girl next to him.
Qin Shao: “Bored?”
Su Bei nodded then shook her head-she was actually thinking about the ‘Red Hacker Challenge’.
Mr. Qin said: “If you are bored, you can go to the garden downstairs to play for a while.”
Su Bei’s eyes jumped: “Really?”
Looking at the girl who was so eager to go out, a touch of helplessness flashed inside Mr. Qin’s eyes. He said: “You can go, but remember two things: don’t run too far and don’t touch alcohol.”
Su Bei smiled sweetly at Mr. Qin “Okay, Dad.”
“I’ll go too.” Su Xiaobao stood. He got up and prepared to follow Su Bei, but was stopped by Qin Shao.
“You stay with me here.” Mr. Qin glanced at Su Xiaobao and said: “When you get something, you also have to learn to endure something else. This is a man’s responsibility, understand?”
Qin Shao: “This is an opportunity to learn, cherish it.”
Su Xiaobao: “…”
—
Su Bei went to the garden and found a wicker chair to sit down. She took out her mobile phone and was ready to message [vvvv] to discuss the second round of the competition that was going to began at the day after tomorrow. Su Bei clicked [vvvv]’s avatar, but a message popped up: [This account has been frozen]. She tried with [vvvv]’s other account, and got the same result.
In the end, Su Bei could only logged into the chat window in ‘Red Hacker Challenge’ and finally connected with [vvvv].
[Q]: What happen to your penguin(1)?
[vvvv]: I was blocked because TOC violation.
Not only his Penguin, but when he woke up early in the morning, he found that all his social accounts that were registered with the same information also being blocked. When [vvvv] applied for unblocking, he was told to wait until his account was completely ruled out of abnormal risk before it could be unblocked.
[vvvv]: Wait, who are you?
[Q]: Q.
[vvvv]: The real great god?
[Q]: Who else?
[vvvv]: No, let’s confirm our secret code first.
[vvvv] sent a bunch of codes.
Looking at a string of numbers, Su Bei was stunned : “Isn’t this ‘the moonlight in front of the bed'(2)?”
Su Bei quickly replied to [vvvv].
[vvvv]: Great, you are the real great god. Scared this baby to death.
[Q]: What’s wrong with you?
[vvvv]: I almost thought I was going to die without a burial place, you know?
When he saw his accounts being blocked, [vvvv] immediately remembered the event from the night before yesterday, especially the threat he received from [Q]’s father. When he recalled the man voice that was cold enough to freeze him to death via the phone, [vvvv] was still feeling afraid even now.
[vvvv]: Are you okay?
[Q]: I’m fine, what can happen to me?
[vvvv]: Your Dad didn’t find you to talk about life?
Looking at [vvvv]’s message, Su Bei was puzzled: My dad? What about my dad? What happened?
[vvvv]: You really don’t know? Fuck!
[vvvv]: It’s like this…
Brother [4v] was going to call her the night before yesterday, but was caught by Mr. Qin. He also briefly told Su Bei about her father’s terrifying threat.
Su Bei: !!!
The phone almost flew out of her hand.
Suddenly, a waitress walked to Su Bei, making her jumped in surprise. The waitress saw the empty glass on the table nearby and asked, “Miss, do you want another glass?”
“Yes,” Su Bei nodded and said, “Thank you”. Her whole attention was still on the ‘horror story’ told by [vvvv]. Su Bei took the phone and continued to ask: What did you say on the phone?
[vvvv]: Not much, just how I usually speak to you.
It seemed that not only did he called her ‘little baby’ and ‘darling’, he also used the words like ‘Daddy’?
Su Bei:!!!
Thinking of brother [4v]’s usual flirting style, Su Bei’s body instantly shuddered: No need to guess. She could already imagine how ugly Mr. Qin’s face was at the time.
No, she have to drink to lessen the pressure.
Su Bei took the glass and drank it in one big gulp—Why did it taste a bit strange? Somewhat sweet, but it didn’t seem to have the same taste of apple juice she drank before. Su Bei was slightly surprised, but didn’t care too much. Her finger quickly moved on the phone keyboard and continued to send messages to [vvvv].
[Q]: My dad hasn’t mistaken you as a pervert or stalker, right?
[vvvv]: No, I think uncle suspecting that I’m chasing you….
This sentence made Su Bei felt even worse.
Another message popped in.
[vvvv]: Are you really a girl?!
[Q]: Yeah.
[vvvv]: F*ck, f*ck, f*ck.
[Q]: Isn’t it written on my penguin profile?
[vvvv]: I thought it was fake.
…
The two chatted for a while, then [vvvv] invited Su Bei to play a simulation match.
[Q]: No time, I’m at the banquet and don’t have a computer here.
[vvvv]: WTF, you can still chat with me for so long at the banquet? Hey, I seem to be very important to little baby.
Two seconds after he sent this message, [vvvv] immediately deleted it. He was used to chatting with [Big Baby Q] in this tone, but after father Q’s scary warning, he didn’t dare anymore.
[vvvv]: Holding a mobile phone at the banquet, are you not afraid of being thought as an internet addict?
Su Bei subconsciously looked around and replied: “No one is here.”
But she didn’t notice. At the moment, from the corridor at the other corner of the garden, someone was looking at her direction.
Lin Shaochi had just finished dealing with some minor issues in the company and was walking back to participate in his grandfather’s birthday banquet. When he passed the corridor, he noticed someone was sitting in the garden. It was a teenage girl with a pretty and delicate face, wearing a white dress and sitting on a wicker chair.
Lin Shaochi’s first impression of Su Bei was indeed ‘a girl addicted to internet’, just like many children who couldn’t let go of their phones. But he quickly noticed a glass of champagne at the girl’s hand, then saw her lifting up the glass very calmly and drinking all the content in just one gulp.
Lin Shaochi frowned, his eyes slightly darkened.
——This girl doesn’t look old enough. At most, only fourteen or fifteen years old. But she actually a veteran drinker?
Families with good reputation were very strict in their children’s education. They would never let their daughters to casually drink outside. He didn’t remember having invited some unscrupulous family for tonight’s banquet, so where did this girl come from? Was she a celebrity who deliberately dressed up as a young girl to mix inside? Lin Shaochi guessed unhappily.
Lin Shaochi saw the girl stumbled up from the wicker chair, and then staggered towards his direction. But before reaching the corridor, she changed direction again, and circling the square garden three times.
—
Su Bei was originally chatting with [vvvv]. They were discussing about taking some time to do simulated match tomorrow. But suddenly, her head felt dizzy and she forgot what to say. Su Bei shook his head instinctively, but it made her even more dizzy. She barely had enough soberness to write a message to [vvvv]: “I seem to drink something wrong.”
Her limbs gradually softened a little. Su Bei felt that she couldn’t hold the phone anymore and put it back into her bag.
Su Bei silently guessed: She probably drank alcohol accidentally.
Su Bei rubbed her head again, then stood up by holding into the wicker chair’s armrest. Her feet were limp and unstable, as if stepping on a trampoline. Glancing at the brightly lit building, Su Bei walked over there—she had to go back quickly to Su Xiaobao and Mr. Qin’s side.
Su Bei remembered that when she came, the garden was not far from the banquet hall, but now she seemed to be lost. Su Bei flipped out the phone from her bag. She wanted to call Su Xiaobao, but her fingers were soaked in sweat and she couldn’t unlock the fingerprint lock.
“1, 2, 3…” Su Bei stared at the unlocking numeric keys on her phone display, seeing seven or eight layered images overlapping. Her fingers prodded the screen several times, but she didn’t succeed even once.
…
The girl lowered her head to look at her mobile phone with a dazed and anxious face. Her action made people want to laugh, but at the same time, also couldn’t help but want to help her.
Lin Shaochi indeed did so. The young man walked towards Su Bei. Seeing the girl’s flushed and dumbfounded face, he raised his eyebrows: If she didn’t pretend, she must be really drunk.
Lin Shaochi was a little surprised. When he first saw the girl drinking, she looked very natural and experienced. That’s why he suspected that she must drink often, and had a good tolerance of alcohol. But he didn’t expect that a single glass of champagne would make her drunk like this.
When Su Bei was panicked, a voice suddenly came from nearby: “Do you need help?”
Su Bei raised her head. Through her dazed eyes, she saw a young man in a suit. She thought the other party was a waiter at the banquet and nodded: “Can you take me to Qin Shao?”
Qin Shao, the Qin Group’s Chairman?
Lin Shaochi was stunned. He carefully looked at the girl: When he received Qin family’s reply, it was said that Mr. Qin was going attend with his two children. Was she Mr. Qin’s daughter?
After asking a waiter, young master Lin led Su Bei into the banquet hall from the private passage nearby. Seeing Su Bei walking crookedly, Lin Shaochi subconsciously wanted to help. Thinking that it was inappropriate for him to directly help Su Bei, he asked, “Should I find a waitress to help you walk?”
Su Bei’s brain was filled with ‘buzz’, and she couldn’t hear what Lin Shaochi was saying. She instinctively shook her head, and kept supporting herself on the wall, moving forward slowly.
—
After throwing his son on the ‘battlefield’ to be surrounded by a bunch of businessmen, Mr. Qin was leasurely sitting inside old master Lin’s private reception room, having a light conversation with the host.
Old master Lin: “I didn’t expect that Mr. Qin will give me face by attending today’s birthday banquet.”
Qin Shao: “Old master is too exaggerating. You were able to grow Lin Group to be so big in the past, and I truly admire you.”
Old master Lin smiled, shook his head, and said with some emotion: “I’m at this age, my bone already old, and everything that happen to the Lin Group is a thing of the past. After Shitang and his wife gone, our family greatly declined. The current Lin Group cannot afford to be admired by you.”
Speaking of this, the old man also quite touched: From all the people who attended his birthday banquet today, probably only half really came to give himself and Lin Group a face. The rest, most probably came only after knowing in advance that the chairman of Qin Group was also going to attend.
Qin Shao did not comment, but said objectively: “Lin family also have an excellent young chairman.”
Old master Lin’s eyes flashed with relief when hearing Qin Shao’s words.
“Shaochi is not bad, but still a little too young.” Old master Lin looked at Qin Shao and said: “I should thank Mr. Qin for giving him the opportunity.”
Qin Shao shook his head: “I am a businessman, I invested money into Lin Group’s project only because I saw an opportunity to make a profit, nothing else.”
Actually, he still had another reason to invest in ‘The Dream Park’ project.
—
Lin Shaochi finally managed to bring Su Bei into his grandfather’s reception room.
The moment Su Bei saw Qin Shao, her eyes lit up.
“Qin Shao! Qin Shao!”
Su Bei excitedly rushed towards Qin Shao, but the way she wobbled while running made other people nervous. Fortunately, before Su Bei could fell or tripped over something, Qin Shao had caught her firmly.
“Qin Shao!”
Qin Shao: …
“Why you aren’t calling ‘Dad’?”
Su Bei shook her head-she was so dizzy now, and most of her consciousness seemed to be floating in the sky. However, after seeing Qin Shao, Su Bei knew that she was safe, and the panic in her heart instantly dissipated.
Both of Su Bei’s hands clasped tightly on Qin Shao’s arm, unwilling to let go. Seeing the girl’s stickiness and dependence at this moment, Mr. Qin was surprised. But at the same time, he also felt as if his heart was being struck by a feather: it was itchy, and brought some indescribable satisfaction.
However, there were other people in this room, so Su Bei’s action was a bit ridiculous. Qin Shao took Su Bei away from his arm, and was going to help her stand properly. But he finally found that something was wrong. At this moment, Su Bei’s face was flushed. Her eyes were teary, somewhat reddish, and with a dazed gaze.
Mr. Qin’s face suddenly became cold. He looked at young master Lin, who brought Su Bei over, with a dark gaze: “What happened?”
“Did you let her drink?” Mr. Qin asked in a dark voice.
His daughter, Qin Shao still understood-although Su Bei occasionally gave him a headache, she wouldn’t be so unrestrained outside, let alone doing something excessive.
Facing Mr. Qin’s anger, Lin Shaochi was stunned, and apparently realized that things might not be as simple as he had thought before. He quickly found several waiters who were on duty near the garden at the time, and also pulled out the recording of the surveillance camera around the time before he saw Su Bei.
In the recording, Su Bei came out to the garden and found a place to sit down. After that, she did not leave, and nothing strange was happen in the middle. One of the waitress noticed that there was a guest in the garden, and the glass was empty, so she took the initiative to refill Su Bei’s glass.
However, because the lights in the garden were relatively dim at that time, the waitress did not notice that Su Bei had apple juice in her glass before, so she filled it with champagne that had similar color.
Afterwards, it was exactly what Lin Shaochi had seen: Su Bei drank the glass of champagne with a great gusto.
Lin Shaochi lowered his head and apologized to Qin Shao. His face was slightly tense: “Mr. Qin, I’m sorry, this incident is indeed Lin family’s mistake.”
The young man’s apology didn’t ease the expression on Mr. Qin’s face. After glancing coldly at Lin Shaochi, he said: “It should be said to be your fault, Young Chairman Lin.”
Out of respect for the host, Qin Shao did not let their usual bodyguards to follow Su Bei. Except for two people, who were protecting her from a relatively far distance. The two special bodyguards only watched from afar, and unless Su Bei was in real danger, they would not show up easily.
The birthday banquet of the Lin family’s old master was personally arranged by Lin Shaochi, so when any accident happened to the guests, he should bear the responsibilities.
Originally, Mr. Qin had enough appreciation towards this young chairman. But now, when he looked at Lin Shaochi again, Qin Shao suddenly felt dissatisfied. Although he wanted to thank the young man for bringing his daughter here, when he thought how Su Bei was brought here by Lin Shaochi just now, Mr. Qin saw the other party unpleasant.
—
While waiting for the sobering soup to be cooked and sent from the kitchen, Su Bei sat quietly beside Mr. Qin. Her hand tightly grabbed her father’s sleeve, and her mouth tightly shut.
Very cute.
Lin Shaochi secretly glanced at Su Bei. The girl’s face was still flushed, and her lively eyes were also as red as a rabbit. She was sitting with her back straight. Her eyes widened and she was staring at a point ahead. She was obviously drunk, but forcefully kept her eyes wide open and pretended to be sober, like how a person who had not slept for two days pretended to be very energetic. This action made people want to laugh.
However, Lin Shaochi didn’t dare to laugh now, as he still didn’t know how Mr. Qin would find himself accountable for this matter.
—
Su Xiaobao finally rushed in after being called by Lin family’s servant.
Hearing his voice, Su Bei, who had been performing ‘blank stare’ on the sofa, finally moved. After Su Xiaobao sat down, she did not hesitate to remove her hold on Mr. Qin’s sleeve and moved to her brother’s side.
Qin Shao: “…”
Su Xiaobao quickly noticed Su Bei’s abnormality, and asked Qin Shao: “Did she drank? What’s happen?” The tension and sternness on his face were exactly the same as Mr. Qin just now.
“Accidentally drank champagne.” Qin Shao said. As for the other details, he did not explain much. He glanced at the old Master Lin, then looked at Su Xiaobao and said, “Greet him.”
Su Xiaobao was taken aback: Who should he greet?
Seeing the doubts on the young boy’s face, old master Lin smiled kindly and said: “Just call me Grandpa Lin.” He then pointed at Lin Shaochi: “This is my grandson, Lin Shaochi. He is seven years older than you and Qin Yue, you can call him brother.”
Listening to old master Lin’s words, Mr. Qin frowned slightly: Although old master Lin didn’t say anything wrong, but he somehow feel dissatisfied. But even so, then what? Should he let his children call Lin Shaochi, ‘uncle’? Won’t that make the other party his peers?
This is even worse!
Qin Shao’s face darkened. But he kept silent.
—
After waiting until Su Bei drank the sobering soup and her condition improved a bit, Qin Shao and his two children left Lin family’s house.
In the car, Qin Shao suddenly asked Su Xiaobao: “Have you ever drank alcohol?”
Su Xiaobao was taken aback by Qin Shao’s question. After hesitating, he whispered: “I have.”
That was when he still working at the logistics park. One day, they worked late. The foreman invited everyone to have a dinner and gave Su Xiaobao a cup of drink. Su Xiaobao only realized that it was liquor after the cup was in his hand. But since he already accepted the cup, he couldn’t return it back to the foreman. Besides, there were other people around, so he couldn’t make a fuss. Su Xiaobao could only bite the bullet and drink the cup empty. They boy still remembered the bitter and spicy taste on his throat, and the floating sensation afterward.
Hearing the answer, Qin Shao looked at Su Xiaobao. His gaze solemnly stayed on the boy’s face for a few seconds before he said: “How much can you drink?”
Xiaobei obviously only drank a small glass of champagne. But looking at her appearance, she seemed to be pretty weak and had a slight allergy towards alcohol. Su Xiaobao and Su Bei were twins, so they might or might not be similar in this aspect.
Su Xiaobao shook his head: “I don’t know.”
Mr. Qin originally wanted to say, “Try it.” However, he immediately remembered that this kid was only fourteen years old and hasn’t reached the age to drink.
But the next second, Qin Shao heard Su Xiaobao pointing at Su Bei and muttered: “Anyway, there is no way I’m as weak as her.”
Mr. Qin: “…” His hands suddenly became a little itchy and want to hit this brat.
“You compare yourself with her?” Mr. Qin coldly looked at Su Xiaobao. After that, he moved his eyes to Su Bei, and sighed: “Later, when you are outside, properly watch her and don’t let her touch alcohol.”
“Still need you to say?” Su Xiaobao impolitely glared back at Qin Shao. If not for this man who didn’t let him follow Su Bei today, would she ended up being drunk?
Because Su Bei fell asleep shortly after getting in the car, she didn’t know about the consensus reached between the father and son.
After they arrived at Jingyuan villa, Mr. Qin wanted to carry Su Bei back to her room, but was stopped by Su Xiaobao: “I don’t need you, I can carry her.”
“It’s inappropriate.” Mr. Qin said coldly to Su Xiaobao.
Su Xiaobao: “Which part is inappropriate?”
Qin Shao: “How old are you?”
Su Xiaobao: “Fourteen, so what?”
Qin Shao: “Fourteen is not young anymore. Boys and girls are different, even if you are a sibling, you should keep an appropiate distancee.”
Regarding this topic, Mr. Qin felt that it was so troublesome having to explain it to this kid everytime. Should he suggest their school to started a related course?
Su Xiaobao’s face was darkened upon Qin Shao’s words. His eyes fell directly on the older man’s face: “If me doing it is inappropriate, do you think you are appropriate?”
Su Xiaobao’s words seemed to be a fish thorn that successfully stuck in Mr. Qin’s throat. Indeed, none of them was appropriate. But the only woman in the house right now was Madam Yang Guizhi, and at this hour she was probably either putting a mask or doing other beauty care in her room.
…
Finally, Su Xiaobao carried Su Bei back into the house.
“Don’t fall,” Qin Shao reminded.
Su Xiaobao: “Impossible.”
He was used to carry Su Bei on his back!
However, Su Bei seemed to be heavier than before. When they were still in the countryside, the girl was so thin and light, as if a slightest wind could blow her off. But now, she was much healthier. After having this thought, Su Xiaobao lowered his gaze. A smile flashed across his eyes.
Inside the house, Madam Yang came out after hearing the movement outside. Looking at Su Xiaobao carrying Su Bei upstairs, and listening to Qin Shao’s instructions to Uncle Fu, her expression became very ugly.
“A girl from good family. It’s one thing to go out and show her face. But she didn’t know how to behave properly? Still this young and already made herself drunk. What will people say? Really has no shame.” Madam Yang’s words were full disgust and contempt.
Not noticing Qin Shao’s increasingly dark and cold face, Madam Yang continued to complain: “I don’t know what kind of crooked things this child learned in the countryside. If she cannot change, don’t let her go outside again. She will only make Qin family to lose face…”
Qin Shao suddenly snorted coldly, interrupting Madam Yang’s prattle. The anger that suddenly erupted momentarily surprised the old madam.
Qin Shao: “Enough talking?”
Madam Yang subconsciously lowered her voice and said unwillingly: “I am her grandmother. What is wrong with me talking about it? Isn’t my words also for her own good?”
Qin Shao replied with a sneer: “How to teach my child is my own business. So I won’t bother you.”
“Or, Madam Yang, do you think you are qualified to talk to me about being a parent?”
“You…” Madam Yang couldn’t understand, why was Qin Shao who usually ignored her suddenly let her to shut up.
Without waiting for Madam Yang to find any rebuttal or compromise, Qin Shao said: “I have ordered people to clean up the Nanshan villa. They will come to help you pack your luggage and move over there tomorrow.”
“You!” Mrs. Yang suddenly widened her eyes: “Qin Shao, are you going to drive me away? I’m your mother!”
Qin Shao smiled. “I just let you move to a better place. Nanshan villa has a good environment and a good air. It has enough servants and convenient to live. More suitable for your holiday residence.”
“And,” after a pause, Qin Shao said: “I’ve also made arrangements to let Yang Zhiyuan to move in. If old madam isn’t willing to go, it’s okay. To save the expenses of that villa, I’ll let him find a more suitable place.”
After saying that, Qin Shao turned around and left. Yang Guizhi leaned against the wall. Her face was pale and her mouth repeatedly saying, “White-eyed wolf.”
This white-eyed wolf is threatening her, threatening her with the safety of her son!
—
At night, in his room, Su Xiaobao was playing online game with his usual group. As the result, however, they were completely defeated by the opponents.
Then, the WeChat group exploded:
[Liu Kai]: Damn, I lost! But the opponent’s lineup didn’t seem to be that luxurious?
[Chen Zian]: No, obviously it was a rubbish! We actually lost to a rubbish lineup. I cannot accept this fact.
[Du Yiming]: I say, brother Bao seems to be not in the mood today. He was captured as soon as he came out.
Classmate Du Yiming found the main issue.
[Liu Kai]: That’s right! What were you doing, brother Bao?
[Liu Kai]: Could it be that my brother Bao was hacked! His performance today didn’t even hit the toe of normal brother Bao!
[Su Xiaobao]: No hacking, something happened.
It has always been like this: whenever Su Bei was uncomfortable, he would also feel uneasy. So, when he played the game just now, Su Xiaobao’s thought was filled with Su Bei. Has she wake up? Did she have a headache? Was she hungry? Did she want to vomit?
Su Xiaobao replied into the WeChat group: I’m quitting for today.
After that, he dropped the phone and went to Su Bei’s room next door.
When Su Xiaobao walked in, Su Bei really has woke up. She was staring straight at the ceiling with both eyes opened.
Su Xiaobao: “Do you want to vomit?”
Su Bei shook her head.
Su Xiaobao: “Are you still drunk?”
Su Bei shook her head again: “I’m not drunk.”
Su Xiaobao: “…., are you hungry? Do you want to eat something?”
This time, Su Bei nodded.
Su Xiaobao: “What do you want to eat?” He should went down to see if there was something in the kitchen.
“Pearl milk tea.” Su Bei continued: “Add one hundred oreos, one hundred cream cheese, one hundred red beans.”
Hearing her request, Su Xiaobao’s mouth twitched twice: Asking for 100 toppings, dared to say that she wasn’t drunk?
Finally, Su Xiaobao went downstairs and made a cup of soymilk for Su Bei. After being rejected, he threw two white rabbits creamy candy into it. After that, he stayed at Su Bei’s bed, narrating ‘SpongeBob SquarePants’ all night.
—
The next day, when Su Bei awake, her throat did not hurt, nor did her head feel dizzy. Regarding yesterday’s event, Su Bei only remembered that she seemed to mistakenly drink a glass of champagne in the garden and got drunk. After that, her mind was blank.
In a trance, she seemed to have found Qin Shao and Su Xiaobao. As for what happened afterwards, Su Bei couldn’t remember. Naturally, she also didn’t know any of her strange requests after returning home last night.
After rubbing her dry eyes, Su Bei pulled out her mobile phone from the bag next to her.
What instantly catched her attention was a deluge of message prompts. Su Bei was taken aback by the phone display: more than one hundred and sixty unread messages, all were from [vvvv]!
[vvvv]: What? What did you drink wrong?
[vvvv]: Baby, what happened to you?
[vvvv]: Please don’t hang up!
[vvvv]: Did you see my message? Reply ASAP if you see it!
[vvvv]: Are you still there?
[vvvv]:F*ck! Don’t scare me!
[vvvv]: Quickly reply!
…
[vvvv]: Are you there?
[vvvv]: Please reply!
……
On Su Bei’s phone, except for two celebrity gossip sent by Dong Wenqi via WeChat, the remaining 160 messages were sent by [vvvv]. From the last message Su Bei sent him last night until a few minutes ago, [vvvv] had sent her a message almost every few minutes.
Su Bei quickly sent a message to [vvvv] using her ‘Red Hacker Challenge’ account.
[Q]: I’m here, I’m fine.
Su Bei had just sent the message, and the other party immediately replied after only several seconds: [vvvv: F*ck! You finally reply! You f*cking scared me to death.]
Even throughout the screen, Su Bei could feel [vvvv]’s intense worry and couldn’t help but feel a little moved.
[vvvv]: How are you? Are you okay? What happened?
[Q]: I’m fine. The phone was accidentally muted by me last night, so I didn’t see the message. Sorry for making you worry.
[vvvv]: Nothing, as long as you are alright.
In the middle of the conversation, [vvvv] ‘lost contact’ with the person he was chatting with. At that time, he was genuinely terrified about Su Bei’s safety.
——It was night, at a banquet, there were no people around, and she drank something wrong…
Connecting the information provided by Su Bei, [vvvv] ‘s brain directly filled the missing parts with a very dark imagination: “At a certain banquet, a weak young girl mistakenly drank some spiked drink, and was rendered unconscious. A wretched man tried to xxxx….”
The more he thought, the more worried he was. [vvvv] almost going to hack some government’s website, then use the Skyeye to find Su Bei. Fortunately, nothing happened. Otherwise, he might already sit to have some tea in the police station now.
[vvvv]: Tell me, what happened to you yesterday?
[Q]: Yesterday, when I was chatting with you, the waitress there refilled my glass and mistakenly gave me a glass of champagne. I accidentally drank that.
[vvvv]: Were you drunk?
[Q]: Must be so.
Su Bei had no impression of what happened afterward. Among the drinkers, this phenomenon was commonly called: blackout drunk.
[vvvv]:…
[vvvv]: Hahahaha, just by one glass of champagne? Are you sure you drank champagne, not sorghum liquor?
Su Bei was mercilessly mocked by brother [4v]. After making sure that she was fine, this big brother seemed to revert to his ‘normal’ style.
[vvvv]: Okay, okay, baby. It’s okay as long you are alright~
[vvvv]: I stayed up all night worrying about you. No good, I have to get some sleep now.
[vvvv]: Good night, baby, don’t miss me too much.
Su Bei: “…”
—
After closing the chat interface, Su Bei glanced at the clock: [10:26], no wonder she felt a little hungry.
After washing her face, Su Bei first checked on Su Xiaobao. She wanted to ask him how she did find them yesterday, and whether she did anything strange after she got drunk. She walked into Su Xiaobao’s room. The curtains were closed, and there was a big lump on the bed. No need to guess, the boy was still sleeping.
Su Bei was surprised: Although today was a weekend, Su Xiaobao usually has gotten up long ago, went for a 3 kilometers run, had breakfast, and then either studying or playing games. Why was this person still asleep today?
Su Bei carefully climbed onto the bed. She reached out her hand, touched Su Xiaobao’s forehead, and then compared it with her own temperature. It wasn’t hot. Since there was no fever, he didn’t seem to be sick.
Su Bei’s movement woke Su Xiaobao up. The boy looked so sleepy. He barely opened his eyes to look at Su Bei, “What are you doing?”
Su Bei: “Checking if you have a fever.”
Su Xiaobao: “I’m not.”
After that, he muttered “sleepy”, turned over, and continued to sleep.
Seeing this, Su Bei’s eyes twitched, and she couldn’t help asking: “What did you do last night?”
Playing games or chatting? Already this hour and yet still so sleepy.
Su Xiaobao: “I took care of you all night.” And while he was at it, Su Xiaobao also pulled over Liu Kai and those night owls to take back the rank that had fallen before.
Su Bei: “…”
“Then you go to sleep, I will call you again at lunch.” After that, Su Bei walked out of Su Xiaobao’s room very quietly.
—
When Su Bei came down from the upstairs, she saw Uncle Fu.
Seeing Su Bei coming down, the housekeeper asked with a look of concern: “Xiaobei, are you alright?”
Su Bei blushed at this question. Although yesterday was an accident, getting drunk obviously wasn’t something to be proud of. She smiled embarrassedly and said: “I’m alright. Thank you, Uncle Fu.”
“It’s good if you’re alright,” Uncle Fu smiled and said: “You haven’t had breakfast yet, you should be hungry now, eh? Mr. Qin ordered the kitchen to prepare porridge and some small snacks. You should eat something to pad your stomach first.”
Su Bei was taken aback when she heard Uncle Fu’s words.
“Is Dad at home?” Even on weekends, Mr. Qin spent most of his time working in the company or attending some important events, and rarely at home.
“Yes, Sir is in the study now.” Mr. Qin also went a few times to check whether the children had woke up or not.
Uncle Fu thought: Mr. Qin deliberately did not go out today, probably because he was worried about Xiaobei and Xiaobao.
Su Bei’s eyes twitched. She was initially a little surprised hearing that Qin Shao was home. But she gradually became terrified when remembering yesterday’s event.
“Has dad eaten his breakfast?” Su Bei asked.
“No.” Mr. Qin never had the habit of eating breakfast, except when Xiaobei personally cooked and let him take it to the company.
“However, at this hour, Sir usually likes to drink a cup of coffee.”
—
In the study, after hearing very light footsteps came closer, Mr. Qin quickly dealt with the document in his hand and put down the pen. Right when he raised his head, Mr. Qin saw Su Bei standing at the entrance of the study, carrying a dining tray with both hands. There was a cup of coffee and two plates of snacks on it.
After getting used to sending Qin Shao hot milk a few times, whenever Su Bei came to the study to look for him, she would knock on the door and directly come in, no longer being as restrained as she was at the beginning. Today, however, the girl was standing stiffly at the door, bowing her head, and looked hesitant.
Mr. Qin couldn’t help but want to laugh.
“What are you doing standing stupidly like that?”
Mr. Qin’s voice pulled Su Bei’s attention back.
“Come in.”
“Ah.”
“Dad, your coffee.”
Su Bei walked towards Qin Shao’s desk. She stopped one meter away and standing straightly, holding the dining tray. After some deliberation, she began to spoke about yesterday’s event: “Last night, I didn’t notice that the glass in my hand was alcohol, and then…”
“Then, you accidentally drank it?”
“Uh-huh, yes.” Su Bei nodded and added, “I really didn’t drink it on purpose.” She looked like a child who had done something wrong and was caught by her parents, pitifully begging for ‘a lighter beating.’
Looking at Su Bei’s sincere and pitiful attitude admitting her mistakes, Mr. Qin softened: A string of harsh rhetoric that was initially prepared to scold and educate Su Bei suddenly was swallowed back.
“You don’t even aware that you drink alcohol?” Mr. Qin rubbed his eyebrows with some headaches.
Su Bei: Well…
At that time, her attention was focused on the conversation with [vvvv]. After she gulped the glass of champagne, it was too late to notice that something was off.
Looking at Su Bei, a helplessness typical for an old father flashed in Mr. Qin’s eyes: “Alright, but this is the last time. Next time you go out, don’t forget to bring your brain.”
Su Bei: “…” She felt being looked down.
Mr. Qin stood up, took the dining tray that Su Bei almost unable to hold anymore, and placed it on the side table. Then he raised his palm and gently rubbed her head.
“Do you have a headache? Or any other discomfort?”
Hearing Mr. Qin’s tone loosened, Su Bei’s eyes brightened. She smiled at Qin Shao: “I don’t have a headache and feel alright, Dad. Don’t worry.”
Qin Shao: “…”
Su Bei remembered the conversation she had with [vvvv] last night: “Right, Dad. There is another thing.”
Qin Shao: “Say. ”
“You see.” Su Bei opened the chat record with [vvvv] on her phone and took it to Qin Shao. “I’m participating in a competition. This person is actually a teammate I met there. He usually speaks in this joking tone, but in fact, we are simply discussing the competition.” Su Bei explained.
Qin Shao glanced at the chat records on Su Bei’s phone, then took a deep look at his daughter: “Do you know him?”
Su Bei shook her head, “I don’t know him very well. We just participated in an online competition together. In fact, we have never met.”
“He is actually very good, not bad people.” Su Bei once again defended brother [4v].
Mr. Qin did not comment. His subordinates in Qin Group have found out the identity of this [vvvv], and he was indeed not a bad person. He also never met with Su Bei before and has not done anything out of the ordinary. But in the eyes of Mr. Qin, this brat was still not pleasing.
Su Bei: “Dad…”
“Mm?”
Lowering her eyes, Su Bei whispered: “I’m not dating, don’t have a crush and also not befriending any messy people…”
Mr. Qin’s gaze stayed on Su Bei’s face for a long time, before he finally sighed softly: “Always be careful when selecting a friend, and don’t let yourself suffer.”
“Yeah, Dad. I will.” Su Bei nodded obediently.
—
Soon after Su Bei left, Madam Yang came to Qin Shao’s study. After one night of psychological struggle, she finally figured it out: It wasn’t a problem to move out. Wherever she lived wouldn’t change the fact that she was Qin Shao’s mother. She couldn’t make her relationship with Qin Shao sour just because of a living place. After all, her brother’s company and many projects that she invested were dependent on Qin Group. Besides, Qin Shao threatened her with the safety of her precious son.
Moreover, she could see it now: Qin Shao loved the two children. If she made them uncomfortable, he would make her unhappy.
“I can move away to the Nanshan villa you mentioned. However, I am not used to living in a place that isn’t my own. You have to transfer the villa to my name. Whenever I return to China later, it will be convenient to live there.” Madam Yang made her demands.
“Alright.” Mr. Qin agreed. It was just a villa.
“Also, I don’t like having outsiders obstructing my eyes inside my own home. After I live there, I’ll employ my own people to work there. You may pay their wage, but you should withdraw all your people.”
“Alright.” Qin Shao coldly glanced at the old lady: “If you have any other demands, just say it at once.”
Madam Yang was choked by Qin Shao’s words. She didn’t expect that their talk this time would be so smooth—when did he ever be so generous? It seemed that Qin Shao was willing to make concessions to let the two children living comfortably in this house.
Yang Guizhi snorted lightly: “Hum, I know you think that I’m just here to cause you trouble.”
“I really gave birth to you in vain.”
“Let me ask, what is your plan for this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival? ”
Qin Shao: “The same with the past, no change.”
Madam Yang’s face turned dark: “You have no place inside that house. Why are you still going there?”
The ‘that house’ Yang Guizhi said was her ex-husband’s new family that he formed after remarriage. In the past, she was abroad and didn’t care about her ex-husband or son. But now, she was hoping that Qin Shao would stand on her side and stay away from her ex-husband.
Qin Shao smiled: “If I’m not going there, do you expect me to spend time with you, Yang Guishan, and Yang Zhiyuan?”
“You! Huh, what did I say wrong? Is it bad for you to spend a holiday with your own mother? Are you going to go to them? All good things are taken by Chen Xueyan’s son. What do you get? And Chen Xueyan’s son is always fighting against you everywhere, isn’t he? Don’t you feel nauseous sitting on the same table for dinner?”
“Let me tell you, they just treat you as…” The coldness in Qin Shao’s eyes suddenly scared Madam Yang to shut her mouth.
“Enough talking?”
“……”
“If you have enough talk, you can go to pack up.”
—
In the afternoon, Su Bei saw the old madam moved out from the villa with a large amount of luggage.
Uncle Fu was afraid that Su Bei and Su Xiaobao might misunderstand, so he specifically explaining to them: “Nanshan villa has a good location. The environment and air are very clean, and there are many servants there. It is more suitable for the old madam to live in.”
Su Bei did not care. After reading the novel, she had a bad impression of Yang Guizhi. So when the old madam left, Su Bei was happy because the home was no longer so suffocating.
Su Xiaobao, who only got up at noon, also didn’t show any particular reaction. He simply said: “It’s good.”
Watching the two children became ‘lively’ again, Fu Bo secretly smiled. Even he, the housekeeper, also felt a lot more relaxed after the old madam left.
***
Seeing Su Bei trotting upstairs, Uncle Fu asked: “Are you going to practice piano, Xiaobei?” Because Madam Yang’s complain about the noise, Su Bei stopped practicing piano during her stay.
Su Bei: “No, I’m going back to my room.” The second round of the ‘Red Hacker Challenge’ would officially begin tomorrow. To get in touch early, she, Xu Yangyang, and brother [4v] made an appointment for a simulation match in the afternoon.
However, Su Bei’s plan didn’t go well. Right after she turned on the computer, Uncle Fu came up to call her, saying that Young Chairman Lin was coming to visit.
Lin Shaochi visited the Qin family today to apologize to Mr. Qin and Su Bei about what happened at the banquet yesterday.
In the living room, Su Bei sat on Mr. Qin’s right. Looking at the person sitting in front of him, she was puzzled: she inexplicably felt that this person was a bit familiar.
At this time, Mr. Qin introduced the guest to her: “He is the young Chairman of Lin Group, Lin Shaochi.”
Su Xiaobao and Lin Shaochi had met yesterday, so at this moment, the boy simply nodded at the other party and said, “Hello.”
It was Su Bei who was slightly taken aback when she heard the guest’s identity.
——Is this the same Lin Group that she worked with?
Following the advice given by [vvvv], Su Bei sent another email to Lin Group, stating that she could not work for them, but was willing to provide remote technical support as a consultant for this project. Lin Group agreed. Su Bei initially only asked for 30% of the original pay offer. However, Lin Group was very generous: they would still pay her the full amount they had offered.
Speaking of which, this young Chairman Lin sitting before her was half her boss.
Su Bei couldn’t help but took a few more look at the young man. Although they had never met, Su Bei, as [Q], has communicated with Lin Shaochi several times via the internet. They talked about the network security project and its technological issues. From their communication, Lin Shaochi gave Su Bei the feeling of a rigorous and serious young man due to his responsibility for starting a new business venture.
Su Bei didn’t expect to see that Lin Shaochi himself was actually like this: his every word and movement showed him to be steady, calm, and knowledgable, totally befitting the image of a successful entrepreneur with a firm hold of his trade. These traits were somewhat similar to the description of Mr. Qin in the novel.
Noticing Su Bei’s gaze, Lin Shaochi also looked at her.
A very beautiful girl—Lin Shaochi also had this impression when he first saw Su Bei yesterday. However, different from her stunned look after being drunk, at this moment, the girl’s beautiful face was full of witty charm, and she also smiled slightly, giving a good feeling to the spectator.
Lin Shaochi turned his head to Qin Shao and spoke sincerely: “Mr. Qin, what happened yesterday was my fault. Since the situation wasn’t convenient yesterday, I come to visit today to apologize.” He looked at Su Bei again. “Miss Qin, I’m sorry for our mistake, making you drank wine accidentally yesterday.”
“Also, this is a little sincerity from our Lin family, I hope you like it.” Lin Shaochi took out a gift box and put it on the table in front of Su Bei.
Inside the box was a very exquisite blue diamond bracelet with a simple yet unique design. Excluding the gifts he prepared beforehand for this visit, Lin Shaochi brought this especially for Su Bei. This bracelet was not something that he bought hastily, but an item in Lin family’s vault. It was one of the collections previously owned by Madam Lin, who was Lin Shaochi’s mother.
When she was alive, Lin Shaochi’s mother liked to collect all kinds of jewelry. Most of the jewelry she collected after getting married had a more mature and luxurious design, but this one was bought before she got married. The style was simple and immaculate, but also exquisite, very suitable for a young girl. When he remembered the girl’s appearance in the garden last night, Lin Shaochi immediately thought of this bracelet.
Seeing the neatly placed bracelet in the box, Su Bei’s gaze slightly wavered: it was very beautiful, but must be very expensive.
Su Bei subconsciously looked at Qin Shao.
Qin Shao: “If you like, just accept it.”
After that, Mr. Qin glanced at Lin Shaochi. This young man handled last night’s matter properly, and both his attitude and sincerity when apologizing were also appropriate, so Mr. Qin didn’t want to pursue this matter too much. At the same time, he also secretly sighed: after Lin Group’s previous chairman and wife passed in an accident, old Master Lin’s temper was very fierce, unwilling to file for bankruptcy. In the end, he pushed Lin Shaochi out early. Now, it appeared that this decision wasn’t entirely a bad thing.
Young people with real experience were very different from those prodigal children. They had a broader view, knew how to advance and retreat, was mature, and smart. Not bad.
Mr. Qin glanced at his son. This kid was smart, but compared to Lin Shaochi, he was less calm and more impetuous. Mr. Qin inwardly sighed and thought: It doesn’t matter, this kid is still young anyway, and he won’t grow up to be a waste.
Seeing Mr. Qin’s attitude, Su Bei understood that the bracelet sent by Lin Shaochi was just a courtesy gift with no other meaning, so she took it without any burden. “Thank you, this bracelet is so lovely. Also, last night it was me being careless. I hope I didn’t cause any trouble for you.” Su Bei smiled at Lin Shaochi and spoke calmly.
Lin Shaochi’s face might look perpetually serious. However, Su Bei had a preconceived impression of him because of their several conversations before. Therefore, when she was now facing Lin Shaochi directly, she didn’t feel intimidated and acted naturally.
The girl’s frank attitude made people felt comfortable. The corner of Lin Shaochi’s mouth unconsciously raised, and he said to Su Bei: “It’s good that you like it.”
On the side, Mr. Qin suddenly frowned and felt that Lin Shaochi was no longer that pleasing to his eyes.
—
Su Xiaobao went for his combat class, and Su Bei took the opportunity to play a mock game with Xu Yangyang and [vvvv].
Mr. Qin took Lin Shaochi to the study.
When Su Bei came out to drink water and passed by the study, the two people inside happened to talk about the ‘new network security project.’ As the general technical consultant for Lin Group’s Network Security Department, probably no one else knew this project better than Su Bei. She stopped at the door of the study. At this moment, Mr. Qin raised his head and saw Su Bei, who was sticking her head at the door with bright eyes.
Seeing Su Bei, Qin Shao’s eyes softened a bit: “What’s wrong? Do you need anything?”
Su Bei: “Nothing…” Just want to listen to your conversation.
Mr. Qin retracted his gaze and was going to continue his business talk with Lin Shaochi. After some time, he raised his gaze again and found that Su Bei was still by the door, only perfunctorily hiding her body behind it.
Mr. Qin said helplessly: “Come in.”
Su Bei: “No, I can just listen here.”
Mr. Qin:…
“Come in.”
“Come in.”
Mr. Qin had just finished speaking, and the girl already ran in. Skipping lightly in two or three steps, she soon arrived by Mr. Qin’s side and sat down.
Seeing the interaction between the father and daughter, Lin Shaochi was surprised. Mr. Qin, who was so frightening outside, unexpectedly was like this when he was with his daughter. But when Lin Shaochi thought about it once again, it was making sense: facing such a cute and charming girl, no matter how cold someone was, they would instantly melt.
After sitting down, Su Bei secretly glanced at the documents on the desk. This was the updated proposal that adding some of her suggestions. The day before yesterday, Lin Shaochi told [Q] that with Lin Group’s current strength, it would be hard for them to fully start this project alone, so he wanted to find a partner or investor.
So, Lin Shaochi was going to ask Qin Group?
Su Bei raised her eyebrows. Her eyes lit up, and she turned her head towards Qin Shao. “Dad, is this a new project that you are going to do?”
“Not yet.” Mr. Qin glanced at Lin Shaochi. He had told this young man to come up with something that could convince him. After all, he was a businessman, not a philanthropist. From this project, Mr. Qin did see a business opportunity, but from the information Lin Shaochi presented so far, he couldn’t see a high probability of success.
Lin Shaochi fell silent for a few seconds, ready to come up with a few more reasons for Qin Group’s investment.
But Su Bei spoke first.
“This project seems pretty good, Dad. Just invest a little bit. How about 20%, okay?” Su Bei looked at Mr. Qin with glowing eyes. She stretched out two fingers eagerly to Mr. Qin. But after a moment, added another finger: “I think 30% is better…”
“50%.” Su Bei finally stretched out five fingers.
Regardless of the fact that network security was not considered a promising industry now, in a few years, if nothing unexpected happened, this project would become the hottest industry. If Qin Group invested in it now, they would definitely make a lot of money!
Moreover, Su Bei also had another intention: in the novel, Mr. Qin was going to be bankrupted by the male lead in the end. This was Su Bei’s greatest fear now. If Qin Shao invested in Lin Group’s project, even if Qin Group really collapse in the future, they still had 30% shares of this project and wouldn’t be too miserable, right?
Hearing this, Qin Shao raised his eyebrows and looked at Su Bei.
Is this girl now starting to splurge family’s wealth? Mr. Qin secretly thought.
However, this wasn’t bad. Qin Shao had read a quote on the internet: sons should be raised poor, and daughters should be raised rich. Mr. Qin felt this to be somewhat reasonable.
Qin Shao looked at Lin Shaochi and said: “Qin Group will invest in this project, but I will take 51% shares. Regarding the operation and decision-making, you can take control, and Qin Group will not interfere. But you should give me the report regarding the progress and profitability at any moment’s notice.”
Mr. Qin’s meaning was very clear. In this project, his Qin Group was simply the moneybag behind the scenes, and only responsible for giving investment and collecting the profit. This was a bit like the Wall Street gang, but compared to that, they gave Lin Group more autonomy, and could be regarded as Mr. Qin’s trust towards this young chairman.
Su Bei: “!”
51%! Isn’t it a bit too much?
Su Bei glanced at Lin Shaochi silently.
The young man was also stunned: Mr. Qin unexpectedly decided to invest because of a word from his daughter.
Lin Shaochi didn’t think that ‘good’ in Su Bei’s mouth was that she really understood the value of this project, and believed that Su Bei might just say it because she thought it was fun. But in any case, it was a good thing that the Qin Group agreed to invest.
Lin Shaochi remembered the little girl’s grace.
—
Because Su Bei’s ‘meddling,’ the talk about the joint project between the two companies Qin and Lin went smoothly. Since half of this project was now owned by her family, Su Bei became even more motivated.
Before the people from Lin Group’s Network Security Department made another contact, Su Bei once again formulated the detail of the previous plan. Later, Su Bei received a message from Lin Shaoshi via her phone.
Lin Shaochi told Su Bei that they had gotten a partner. Between the lines of his message, Su Bei could see his joy.
[Q]: Lin Group only had 49% shares, would it be bad for you?
[Lin Shaochi]: No, our interests are aligned with the other party…
Lin Shaochi gave Su Bei a brief business knowledge about a ‘win-win’ partnership, and also about the issue of decision-making power.
Su Bei: “…”
She didn’t understand. She should ask for Mr. Qin’s guidance if she had time.
[Lin Shaochi]: Presently, we have another problem.
[Q]: What?
[Lin Shaochi]: I want to make this project bigger, but the current situation is that most of the company’s senior management and technical staff do not agree. After all, it is a new project, and also a new field for Lin Group. Other people in the company want to test the water first and move slowly.
[Lin Shaochi]: I want to hear your opinion.
Lin Shaochi didn’t even know the real name and identity of [Q], and simply found her from the ‘Red Hacker Challenge.’ But for some reason, he had trust in her. Therefore, when encountering some decision-making problems beyond technical issues, Lin Shaochi occasionally discussed it with [Q].
[Q]: Of course, you should do it bigger.
Bigger means more money.
[Q]: We don’t lack money now, right?
At Lin Group’s office, Lin Shaochi read this sentence on his mobile phone and suddenly smiled: it makes sense.
[Q]: One more, if the conditions are right, I think we should set up an independent company for this project…
Su Bei remembered what Qin Shao said before, about the difference between a branch and a subsidiary.
[Lin Shaochi]: Subsidiary?
[Q]: Yes! Subsidiary.