Chapter 186: The Second Branch with Ill Intentions
After the meal, Qin Deshu left. He was a busy man, and the fact that he took the time to have a meal with Su Lin and Qin Jiuyue was already quite special.
Qin Jiuyue took Su Lin for a stroll around the Qin residence. Su Lin realized that the Qin family's home was not ordinary; it had not only a front and back yard but also separate courtyards.
The courtyard on the left belonged to Qin Delin, and the one on the right was Qin Desen's.
“The division of the house is quite reasonable. If there was one more child, would you have to build another separate courtyard?”
Qin Jiuyue gave Su Lin a look, “Even my great-grandfather is not spared from your tempting, Su Lin, is that polite?”
“Eh... Hehe~! I was just saying. I've met your grandfather and your third granduncle, but I've never seen this second granduncle.”
Qin Jiuyue stopped and sighed towards a separate courtyard gate, “I'm not sure about the second granduncle; I rarely see him, and he rarely leaves his courtyard.”
Su Lin looked at the gate and smiled, “Then let's not go there, let's check out other places.”
“Okay~!”
They had only walked a few steps when they saw a young man in his late twenties approaching from one side.He looked at Qin Jiuyue with a smile, “Xiaoyue, is this your boyfriend visiting the family? Won't you introduce him to your uncle?”
Qin Jiuyue felt that this man, Qin Mu, had ill intentions with his smiling eyes, but since it was her first time bringing Su Lin to the Qin family, she naturally wanted Su Lin to meet more relatives. So, she pulled Su Lin along, “Su Lin, this is my uncle.”
Su Lin nodded but did not greet him.
Qin Mu's expression remained unchanged, “Su Lin? I’ve heard that the rising star of Donghai, Su Zhenguo’s son, is named Su Lin, is that you?”
Su Lin nodded again without engaging in conversation with Qin Mu.
Qin Mu and Qin Desen were two tragic figures, spending their lives plotting to overthrow Qin Deshu to ascend themselves, yet they failed until their deaths.
Su Lin knew what this guy was up to – probing and then going back to report to Qin Desen, scheming on how to seize power.
To Su Lin, there was nothing much to talk about with such a person who spent his life struggling for one thing without succeeding.
Good at neither being a decent person nor a thorough villain. In a way, both he and Qin Desen were tragic figures.
“Your boyfriend doesn't seem to talk much, does he, Xiaoyue?”
Before Qin Jiuyue could speak to ease the awkwardness, Su Lin said, “Uncle, you misunderstand, I was just a bit nervous upon seeing the uncle and didn't know what to say.”
“Oh? Then, young man Su, you need to interact more with people. Our Qin family is a large clan, with most of our people out and about. If you are still like this during the New Year, it might cause misunderstandings~~.”
Su Lin nodded, “Thank you for the advice, uncle.”
Seeing Su Lin's polite demeanor, Qin Mu was quite pleased with his own sermon, “Alright, then I won't disturb you two lovebirds anymore.”
Watching Qin Mu leave, Qin Jiuyue turned to Su Lin, “What happened just now?”
Su Lin casually said, “Nothing much, just that your uncle seemed a bit peculiar, not like we bumped into him by chance, but more like he was waiting here on purpose.”
“Ah? Waiting on purpose?”
“Correct, look where he came from, there's nothing but flowers and plants. It’s unlikely your uncle came here just to admire the flora in the middle of the day.”
Following Su Lin's gaze, Qin Jiuyue saw indeed the spot was under the strong sun; while it was fine in the corridor, standing in that spot was clearly not for admiring plants, the purpose was evident.
“So that's how it is. I naively thought it was a chance encounter. Who knows what this uncle is up to.”
Su Lin laughed, “They can't stir up any trouble. Your grandfather probably expected this already.”
“Mhm~!”
Listening to Su Lin, Qin Jiuyue appeared still innocent on the surface, but her eyes flickered. She wasn't foolish; having been in the Qin family for so long, she saw through these things clearly. She used to rejoice in Li Ziyu and her grandfather's confrontations.
Now that she was in the Qin family, she felt somewhat uncomfortable. After all, Qin Desen was her second granduncle~!!
“The sun is too hot, let's go take a nap in my room.”
Knowing Qin Jiuyue was no longer in the mood to continue showing him around, Su Lin nodded, “Okay.”
Arriving at Qin Jiuyue's room in the back yard, Su Lin took the time to look around properly for the first time.
“What are you looking at? Looking for something?”
Su Lin laughed, “Just looking around.” Your room is almost like that of an ancient noble lady, is this bed an antique?”
Qin Jiuyue gave Su Lin a look, “Don't think I don't know you have a good eye for antiques. I don’t believe you can’t see that this is just a common pear wood bed.”
Su Lin looked bemused, “A pear wood bed is considered ordinary, I guess only you could say that.”
“Eh... This is the snake I gave you, why is it here?” Su Lin picked up the realistic-looking snake he had given to Qin Jiuyue and flicked it, looking very lifelike.
“Hehe, I just took it out to look at when I miss you,” Qin Jiuyue said with a smile.
She had to admit, ever since the night Su Lin took her flying, he had entered her heart. From that day on, she thought about Su Lin every day, and practically every night, she would play with that realistic snake. Of course, her playing was very serious.
Su Lin hugged Qin Jiuyue and laughed, “I didn't expect Xiaoyue to enact the drama of 'seeing things and thinking of people' every day. If you had told me earlier, I would have flown to see you.”
Qin Jiuyue's face turned slightly rosy as she buried it in Su Lin's chest, “Hmph, how was I supposed to know if you really liked me? Besides, this kind of thing should be initiated by you, not me telling you.”
“Alright, alright, I’ll come knocking in the middle of the night when I’m free, and then you can’t leave me outside.”
“You wish. Do you think the Qin family is so easy to enter? The Qin butler will beat you.”
“He can’t beat me,” Su Lin said confidently.
Qin Jiuyue tilted her head to think for a moment and realized that indeed Qin Gong probably couldn’t beat Su Lin.
“Hmph, you think the Qin family has only one martial arts master in the form of the butler? It’s just that most of the guests are cultivating,” Qin Jiuyue pouted.
Su Lin was surprised, “Xiaoyue, this kind of information is usually only accessible to the head of the family, how do you know?”
“Hehe, I stumbled upon it a few times,” Qin Jiuyue said, squinting her eyes.
Su Lin knew from her smile that it wasn’t a stumble but pure curiosity, so she made it seem like a stumble.
She is the Qin family’s little princess, and those people certainly wouldn’t do anything to her. They would probably even play along with her act.
Su Lin affectionately ruffled Qin Jiuyue’s hair, “Xiaowan, Xiaoyu, none of them are as cheeky as you.”
“I’m not being cheeky. How am I being cheeky?”
Su Lin shrugged, “You know what I mean.”
“I don’t know, don’t know, don’t kno… mmm mmm…” Being silenced by Su Lin, Qin Jiuyue looked towards the door, worried someone might come and disturb them, so she kept pushing Su Lin.
Su Lin let go of Qin Jiuyue and laughed, “ Xiaoyue you afraid?”
“When I cultivate later, my physique will improve. Then see who will be afraid of whom then hmph….”
“Cough cough cough…”
Su Lin stayed in the Qin family until the evening before leaving. Qin Jiuyue wanted Su Lin to stay for dinner, but he didn’t agree.
He remembered the punishment Lin Xiaowan had for him. If he went back after dinner, all three wives would be hungry. So he had no choice but to refuse.
“Su Lin, we’re back.”
“Su Lin…”
Hearing the voices of the three women, Su Lin came out from the kitchen, “Yo, you’re all here?”
Zhao Yanyan smiled with narrowed eyes, “Were you not expecting me to come too?”
Su Lin shook his head, “No, on the contrary, I anticipated it, so I even prepared your portion.”
“Eh~! How did you know Yanyan would come?”
“That’s easy, Yanyan, you and you are both little foodies. Now that you know I cook well, you’ll definitely come over to mooch every day.”
Su Lin looked at Lin Xiaowan in her business attire, somewhat dazzled, “Xiaowan, when did you buy this OL outfit? I’ve never seen you wear it before.”
“Hehe, I bought it in Zhongjiang. How does it look? Good?”
Su Lin nodded earnestly, “It looks good. Don’t change out of this outfit.”
Lin Xiaowan was initially taken aback, then rolled her eyes at Su Lin, “Enough with you. We just got off work.”
“That’s why I said for the evening.”
“Everyone, come to the kitchen to get your meals ready for dinner.”
“Okay~! Time to eat.”
Watching Lin Xiaowan instantly forget about changing clothes, Su Lin was very pleased.