"Thud."
As He Junming finished speaking, Lu Song once again collapsed to the ground. He himself couldn't rember how many tis he had instinctively fallen here today.
The seemingly harmless and bright smile on He Junming's face appeared to him like the sinister grin of a demon from the depths of an abyss.
Without leaving a word, Lu Song and Gu Chao firmly rembered the na and address they saw on that identity card as they left the wedding banquet hall.
Lu Song could no longer walk on his own. His legs were so weak that they couldn't support his body at all. It was Gu Chao who helped him up and supported him as they headed towards the door of the wedding banquet hall.
It's not that they didn't want to say so customary words before leaving, it's just that the pressure in their hearts was overwhelmingly imnse, like an invisible giant hand squeezing their hearts, causing them to want to leave imdiately, not staying a second longer.
"Bro, let's talk later, I'm heading back to the room now."
Lu Song and Gu Chao left, leaving He Junming with a final remark as he returned to the room with Da Shan.
The entire wedding banquet hall was silent. Chu Ge turned his head and smiled at the two hosts whose expressions were quite spectacular, "Let's continue."
Binbin's psychological resilience was evidently better than Yanyan's. Even though his heart was in turmoil, shocked and overwheld by what had just happened, when he heard Chu Ge say this, he even shuddered a bit. But at least he snapped back to reality imdiately, managed to squeeze out a smile, gathered his emotions, and continued hosting the wedding.
As Binbin's partner, after Binbin said a few words, Yanyan gradually regained her composure, trying her best to guide and adjust the atmosphere at the scene, completing the ceremony hosting duties.
Regarding what the hosts were saying, most of the guests present were actually distracted, with almost everyone feeling conflicted about whether to leave now or stay to see if any new waves might be stirred in the wedding that followed.
In the midst of similar hesitation, a small number of people, fearing collateral damage, quietly left without a sound. But the vast majority chose to stay, wanting to see if any new twists would erge in this already eventful wedding.
In a certain sense, Chu Ge, Qin Ruojing, and Qin Ruoying might even owe thanks to the unexpected event brought about by Lu Song and Gu Chao. After the ceremony, Qin Ruoying changed into a fiery red cheongsam, replaced her sister in appearing beside Chu Ge, and smoothly carried out the toast to the guests. During this process, no one had the slightest suspicion about the bride being replaced.
As ti ticked away, most people were both relieved and sowhat disappointed that until the wedding banquet ended, Lu Song and Gu Chao never returned, nor did anyone else respond to the incident that had occurred.
This wedding, which was unforgettable to everyone involved, ca to a close. Chu Ge and Qin Ruojing bought return tickets for those friends who traveled from afar to their respective cities, sent off several groups of people, and later had dinner with friends who weren't in a rush to leave or who were originally from Beijing.
Chu Ge hesitated several tis about whether to have a private conversation with the siblings He Qing and He Junming but ultimately gave up on this idea.
After all, even if his speculation was correct, so what? So things don't need to be spelled out too clearly.
That night, when Chu Ge and Qin Ruojing returned ho, it was already past nine o'clock. Upon entering, they saw Qin Yan sitting on the couch in the living room, evidently waiting specifically for their return.
"Xiao Chu, want to go for a walk with Dad?" Just as Qin Ruojing was about to change her shoes, Qin Yan stood up from the couch. His expression was generally calm, but his eyes were sowhat complex.
Chu Ge wasn't surprised that Qin Yan would say this and nodded with a smile, patted Qin Ruojing on the shoulder, and then turned to head out the door.
Just like the first ti Chu Ge went for a walk with Qin Yan, the two walked the sa path. Qin Yan hadn't said much along the way, smoking one cigarette after another. When they reached the remote section where they'd once sparred a bit, Qin Yan tossed away his cigarette butt, stopped, looked back at Chu Ge for a few seconds, and said, "Xiao Chu, how about a little sparring with Dad?"
His tone was still the sa as it was then, the only change being in how he addressed Chu Ge—from "Uncle" to "Dad."
Chu Ge chuckled, scratched his head, "Dad, let's skip it."
Qin Yan was slightly taken aback, seemingly not expecting Chu Ge to decline so straightforwardly, but soon he smiled in understanding, "What's the matter? You agreed so readily when you weren't yet my son-in-law?"
Chu Ge sat down on the roadside curb, looked up at the cloudy and unclear sky, and laughed, "Dad, it was warm then, but now it's a bit cold. If we work up a sweat, catching a cold wouldn't be worth it. Why not just chat like this, isn't that nice?"
Qin Yan also looked up in the direction where Chu Ge's gaze landed, "You kid... You can't pretend to spar anymore and then let win. Just say you're sparing my dignity; you sure know how to co up with excuses, didn't realize you also dabble in such hollow things."
Chu Ge chuckled awkwardly, not endorsing nor denying it. Since Qin Yan said so, what else could he say?
"You rascal, how many more things do I not see in you?" Qin Yan sat down next to Chu Ge, looked at his profile, and after a few seconds, laughed self-deprecatingly, "I always thought my eyes were quite sharp, but it seems... well, no matter what, I'm getting on in years; so occasional poor vision seems normal."
Feeling the lancholy and self-deprecation in Qin Yan's expression and tone, Chu Ge felt a little guilty inside, "Dad, are you upset with ?"
Qin Yan shook his head, "My son-in-law is more capable than I imagined; as a father-in-law, shouldn't I be happy? Why would I bla you? I just wanted to talk so things over clearly with you."
"Dad, go ahead."
"Why I rose from an ordinary cop to beco a detective captain, you helped with that, didn't you?"
Chu Ge hesitated slightly, then smiled, "Dad, you give too much credit. I don't have that kind of influence. With your ability, experience, and accomplishnts, isn't it right you got the position?"
Qin Yan stared at Chu Ge for a few seconds, "Alright, let ask another question. Do you think... after today's wedding commotion, I can still stay in this position?"
"I think you can, like you said yourself. Your uprightness wards off gossip and justice prevails. Since you're clean throughout your life, no matter how soone investigates, they won't find anything wrong."
"Sounds nice," Qin Yan's mouth curled into a sarcastic smile, "From ancient tis, there've been accusations like 'purely fictitious'. If soone intends to cause trouble, finding a stone in an egg wouldn't be surprising. Aren't there plenty of things made out of nothing?"
Chu Ge smiled helplessly, not responding to Qin Yan's remark.
"Besides, even if they can't find financial issues with , they can find fault with my thoughts, attitudes. My temper, ha... I can't even count how many people I've offended."
At this point, Qin Yan humd.
"If I soday face a mishap or simply die, so people might attend the morial in the morning, mourn, shed tears, thoughtfully commorating, but then secretly buy fireworks and celebrate in the afternoon."
Hearing this, Chu Ge strongly resisted smiling. His father-in-law's self-assessnt was quite frank and he was aware of how disliked his bad temper was.
"Laugh if you want, isn't it tiring to hold it in?" Qin Yan glanced at Chu Ge again, lit a cigarette, and took a deep drag.
"Actually, don't make fun of , your temper might even be worse. At the wedding, I saw how you'd likely throw those two troublemakers out if your brother hadn't intervened. By the way, when your brother took out his ID, I glanced at it. If I saw correctly, his surna is... He?"
Chu Ge nodded, "Yes, it's He."
Having Chu Ge's confirmation, Qin Yan took a deep drag of his cigarette, flicked the butt far away, watching the glowing end draw an arc in the night, fall to the ground with a barely audible "click," and then stood up from the curb.
"Since you say I can still stay peacefully in this position, I'll trust you for now. Even if I step down, I wouldn't mind. After working most of my life, I'm really tired, especially since becoming captain; too many hassles daily, being a regular cop was more carefree. Co on, let's go ho, it's getting chilly."
Chu Ge stood up too, walked back the way they ca with Qin Yan. Qin Yan's questions were fewer than he expected; perhaps, in his heart, a lot isn't that important.
The elder and younger walked on for a while and soon returned downstairs. Qin Yan glanced at Chu Ge, pausing for a few seconds without taking another step.
Qin Yan stopped, so Chu Ge naturally stopped too. They exchanged glances for a few seconds, then Chu Ge smiled and said, "Dad, if there's anything else you want to say, go ahead. I'm listening."
Qin Yan looked at Chu Ge solemnly and said, "Okay, since you put it that way, let chat a bit more. Chu Ge, I might not care about who you were before, but I hope you can clearly tell who you are now."
Chu Ge thought for a mont, then smiled, "Who am I now... I'm a family man, your son-in-law who can be considered half your son, your daughter's husband, and the father of your future grandson or granddaughter."
Qin Yan smiled, a satisfied, kind, and comforted smile.
Reviews
All reviews (0)