Source Of Calamity - Ch 18
NOVEMBER 26, 2022 NYXBIRD LEAVE A COMMENT
The city was brightly lit at night. Looking down from the building, one could see the bustling people below. The shopping malls were particularly lively, and young couples could be seen laughing and eating snacks.
Mama Zhang poured Qin Xing a cup of black tea.
Qin Xing sat on the sofa and looked at the apartment that Shen Zhen had just moved into.
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It did not look lived-in nor did it appear full of life.
Just like Shen Zhen.
Qin Xing’s sitting posture was very casual, as if this was his home. Shen Zhen also suddenly found that he had never seen Qin Xing’s nervous or restrained appearance. He was always like this, as if everything was in his control.
“Uncle.” Shen Zhen sat obediently to the side, he had never been so obedient and docile before.
Qin Xing’s fingers twitched, but he still didn’t extend his hand. He just looked at Shen Zhen with a smile, knowing that the time was not yet right: “Why didn’t Xiao Zhen buy a villa?”
Shen Zhen explained it very seriously: “It’s too far from the company, and it’s just me and Mama Zhang, so I don’t need too big of a house.”
The villa areas were generally in the suburbs, and he had lived in the Qin manor for so many years, but he had not felt much benefits in living in a big house. Rather, he felt that a big house was too empty and quiet. The sound insulation of the windows was very good so once the windows were closed, it seemed that he was the only person in the whole world.
“Ah Yue wants to come back.” Qin Xing suddenly changed the subject, he looked at Shen Zhen, his eyes were slightly curved in a half-smile.
Shen Zhen paused, he had not thought of Qin Yue for several days.
“Really?” Shen Zhen’s movements and expressions were very natural, “Uncle let him go to T City so that he can have some training, and T City is also a new first-tier city, and Eldest Brother should become familiar with the business there.”
Qin Xing seemed very satisfied with this answer, and the corners of his mouth curled upwards slightly: “Does Xiao Zhen want to go to T City?”
“I don’t want to go.” Shen Zhen blurted out almost in the next second, without thinking at all. He also noticed this, and explained, “Eldest Brother and I can’t do things together, we have a bit of conflict.”
Qin Xing didn’t ask any further. It was not good to ask too much about the matters among juniors. He picked up the teacup and took a sip.
“Xiao Zhen, do you want to study at Uncle’s side?”
Shen Zhen couldn’t deny that he was excited for a moment. With Qin Xing as a teacher, this was a benefit that many people couldn’t ask for.
But he still shook his head and said, “Uncle, do you know something?”
Qin Xing suddenly reached out and ruffled Shen Zhen’s hair, with deep, undisguised indulgence in his tone: “Uncle always cares about Xiao Zhen’s affairs the most. Since you are unhappy working at the lower levels, then come to Uncle’s side.”
“At Uncle’s side, Xiao Zhen can do whatever you want.”
Shen Zhen swallowed his saliva, his heart pounding in his chest. He looked into Qin Xing’s eyes; Qin Xing’s eyes were full of smiles and doting, but no joking intentions at all.
“I also want to study by Uncle’s side, but…..if I run to Uncle just because I encounter a little difficulty, what will I do in the future? It’s not like Uncle can…..” take care of him for the rest of his life.
One day, the Qin family would be Qin Yue’s Qin family, then it would be too late if he wanted to stand up again.
And he still didn’t know why Qin Xing treated him differently. After all, in the original book, Qin Xing was just a mysterious symbol, and he was more like a background character.
In the book, after his death, he went abroad and left all domestic business to Qin Yue.
If there was something in him that made Qin Xing treat him differently, why didn’t he have it in his previous life? The book hadn’t written this?
Shen Zhen felt that there must be something he didn’t know.
Maybe he missed it, maybe he forgot, but something must have happened.
Qin Xing suddenly said, “It’s not like what?”
Shen Zhen pursed his lips and suddenly changed the subject: “Uncle, it’s ten o’clock now.”
It was ten o’clock at night.
In Shen Zhen’s memory, Qin Xing’s work and rest time was very fixed. He woke up at six o’clock in the morning and went to bed at eleven o’clock in the evening. It couldn’t be a second earlier or a second later. Now it was ten o’clock, and if Qin Xing went back by car now, plus the time it took to wash up, he would definitely not be in time to sleep at eleven o’clock.
However, Qin Xing had a habit of cleanliness. Even if he went out to stay in a hotel, an assistant would go there ahead of time to disinfect all the appliances——even if the hotel had already done so.
So Shen Zhen wouldn’t say anything about letting Qin Xing stay overnight.
Anyway, Qin Xing would not agree.
Sure enough, Qin Xing stood up.
“I’m going back.” Qin Xing pinched Shen Zhen’s face and reminded, “Eat more even while outside, you have lost weight.”
“Xiao Zhen, no matter what you wanted to say before, the answer will always be negative. So long as Uncle wants to, there is nothing Uncle can’t do.”
After Qin Xing left, Shen Zhen walked to the mirror and tilted his head to look at several angles, but he didn’t notice that he was getting thinner.
“Mama Zhang, have I lost weight?” Shen Zhen asked Mama Zhang.
Mama Zhang also stepped forward to look at him, and said firmly: “You have not lost weight at all, you just don’t have much flesh on your face.”
Mama Zhang asked nervously, “What’s the matter? Have you lost your appetite these days?”
Shen Zhen quickly explained: “No, it’s Uncle who thinks I’ve lost weight.”
Mama Zhang understood and said with a smile, “All elders are like this. They feel that the child has become thin after not seeing them for a few days. This is doting on you!”
Shen Zhen thought about it and felt that this might be the case.
Mama Zhang was getting older, and her sleep time was getting shorter and shorter. When there was nothing to do in the evening she would just turn on the TV and knit wool. She couldn’t remain idle and had been busy for most of her life. Even if Shen Zhen asked her to take a good rest now, she couldn’t do it.
When Shen Zhen was about to go to the bathroom to take a shower, the video intercom at the door rang. It was a video invitation from the security room.
Shen Zhen wore a bathrobe and walked over to accept it.
The security guard was in uniform and had a good attitude. He said respectfully, “Mr. Shen, a Mr. Su said he wanted to see you.”
In Shen Zhen’s memory, the only person with the surname Su who was related to him was Su Shiqing, so Shen Zhen responded: “No.”
Security guard: “Mr. Su said he has something important to tell you.”
Shen Zhen: “I said no.”
Security: “But Mr. Su…..”
Shen Zhen closed the video intercom.
Su Shiqing had this ability. No matter where he was or who he met, the other party would sympathize with him, pity him, and then help him.
This was probably an innate talent that ordinary people could not imitate even if they tried.
However, now Shen Zhen had lost interest in Su Shiqing.
He made a different choice from his previous life at an important turning point in his life, and following events would no longer go according to what was written in the book.
His future was now in his own hands.
Qin Yue was worth spending his energy, but Su Shiqing had lost his original value.
Without Qin Yue to protect him, without Qin Xin’s fondness, and even without having taken the surname of the Shen family, he was sent back to the Su family by the Qin family. Su Shiqing was worthless now.
Shen Zhen yawned, went to the bathroom to take a shower, and then went to sleep.
He didn’t think about anything. He had drank a glass of red wine before going to bed so he had no dreams all night, and slept very soundly.
The next morning, it was still dark when Shen Zhen got up from the warm bed. Mama Zhang was already up, and breakfast was placed on the table. The breakfast was not rich and plentiful, but very healthy: a bowl of white porridge, a plate of side dishes, a bun and an egg.
Shen Zhen had no objection to such a breakfast. On the contrary, he felt that this was the taste that a family should have.
In the Qin family manor, breakfast was as rich as a banquet, but he had always just taken a few quick bites, not having the mood to taste it carefully.
But now, sitting at the dining table, he felt that a simple boiled egg with a little salt was delicious.
“Mama Zhang, is your son coming over?” Shen Zhen asked.
Mama Zhang paused: “I…..I haven’t asked him yet.”
She didn’t know how to face her own son. She loved him, but compared to her love for Shen Zhen, it seemed too shallow. She could only keep sending money to her son. After working for so many years, in addition to the Qin family’s salary being very high, she had earned a lot of money. Since she came to the Qin family, her husband had quit his job, in the name of taking care of their child full-time.
As a result, she found out later that her son was living like a savage while her husband was fooling around with her money, lying that he was a small boss and even kept a mistress on the side.
She could only send her son to her parents and let him live with his grandparents, while she continued to work outside to earn money and work hard to support the family. The father didn’t care about the child, and asked her for money every now and then, and she was not there as a mother either. Towards this son, guilt and love were mixed together.
She was afraid to see him.
Shen Zhen comforted: “Mama Zhang, don’t be afraid.”
Mama Zhang nodded and pinched the bridge of her nose: “I know, I’m not afraid, you go to work quickly, don’t be late.”
Shen Zhen put on his suit jacket and overcoat, and stepped out of the door. There was central air conditioning in the corridor, and the cold temperature was not felt in the building.
It was not until the door of the building was opened that Shen Zhen’s fingers trembled.
However, before he reached the intersection, his eyelids jumped, and he saw a familiar figure squatting in the corner beside the gate.
A man in a security uniform was handing a cup of soy milk to the person.
It seemed that Su Shiqing had squatted here all night.
Shen Zhen knew that he couldn’t pretend he didn’t see anything at this time.
“Su Shiqing?” Shen Zhen came to a distance of one meter from Su Shiqing and stopped.
Su Shiqing raised his head. He had been here all night, last night he was in the security booth and there was a heater, but in order to wait for Shen Zhen and pretend to be miserable in the morning, he purposely squatted at the door. He was only blown by the cold wind for an hour but the tip of his nose became red and he started to cough. It was estimated that after today, he would have a cold and fever, and he would not be able to go outside for a while.
Su Shiqing’s tone was tearful: “Ah Zhen, why didn’t you let me go up last night?”
The security guard took care of Su Shiqing all night, and the look he gave Shen Zhen was wrong. Sure enough, rich people were like this. When friends were rich, they were good brothers. When they have no money, they pretend not to know each other. Pei, looking decent on the surface but having no conscience behind the scenes.
Shen Zhen asked, “What are you doing here? Was it not obvious enough what I said before?”
Su Shiqing wiped his tears: “Eldest Brother went to T City, he told me to wait for him to come back, but Auntie sent me back to the Su family. Ah Zhen, Uncle treats you well, can you go and tell Uncle to let me go back to the Qin family? The Su family treats me badly.”
When he lived in the Qin family manor, no matter which relative saw him, they were all very nice to him.
But when he was sent back to the Su family, everyone’s expressions changed, and his status was not even as good as when he hadn’t gone to live in the Qin family manor before.
Su Shiqing knew that he could no longer stay in the Su family.
He had to go back to the Qin family. Only when he went back to the Qin family could he stay by Qin Yue’s side all the time and live a good life being respected and loved by others.
The security guard said without a bit of tack at all, “Mr. Shen, you are Mr. Su’s friend. When a friend is in trouble, you should reach out to help. I don’t think Mr. Su is an ungrateful person.”
Shen Zhen laughed: “I’m neither his father nor his mother, why should I care about him? This big brother, if you are so kind, then why don’t you help him? If you help him, he will definitely not be ungrateful.”
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Su Shiqing cried out: “Ah Zhen, you can’t not care about me!”
Shen Zhen looked at him: “Su Shiqing, I’m tired of seeing your pitiful act, why not change to a new face.”
“After all, Qin Yue is the only one who falls for it.”