Strongest Counterattack

“You already know what happened and the result. Let’s talk about it. How should we tell others about this? What was wrong with our plan?” Hu Lan, who had directed the plan, started the talk. He had reported the situation to the Second Master of the Yan family, and as he expected, he was scolded, but not very seriously considering that Qin Sheng was a nobody to Second Master Yan.

Feng He was quite direct and said, “I think someone might have told Qin Sheng about our plan before, or he wouldn’t have escaped so easily.”

“Then, who?” Li Qingfeng said, showing interest in Feng He’s view, as he took a glance at Luo Changgong, who was most probably the one who had leaked the message. Besides, he was willing to see Luo Changgong get into trouble for any reason.

Feng He never suspected others irrationally and just answered, “I have no idea.”

Luo Changgong got their implication, but he didn’t care. He had mentioned this to Yang Deng, but he didn’t participate in the later things. He never meant to help Qin Sheng. But that man was lucky enough to escape from all of these. Luo Changgong giggled and said, “I know what you guys mean. Seriously, I did nothing. You can investigate into me. If I really did anything, you can do anything you want to me. But...”

Luo Changgong pointed at Gu Xiaobo, the betrayer, then said, “Hmph! This man used to be Qin Sheng’s underling. You’ve made him betray Qin, but too easily. Don’t you think it’s weird?”

Gu Xiaobo was too much of a coward to argue for himself in front of these big shots. Feng He, however, was still with Gu Xiaobo. He said in a low voice, “Without Gu Xiaobo, we wouldn’t have been able to make this trap for Qin Sheng. I’m sure he is clean. We still have two questions. First, why did Qin Sheng leave Hangzhou earlier than planned? Second, in the forest, since Chang Baji was seriously hurt by Mr. Chu, and Gu Qingyang was killed by our people, who killed our people to let Qin Sheng escape? We all know Qin Sheng, he couldn’t have escaped so fast. By the way, Mr. Chu checked our people’s corpses and said that our enemy was much more powerful.”

Luo Changgong knocked on the table strongly and stood up. He shouted, “Then you’re suspecting me, right? I even had no idea that you got this f*cking betrayer to help. And I didn’t use my phone for a second. How could I leak the message to others?”

Li Qingfeng sneered and said, “We have no idea exactly. But you’re a capable person. Maybe you had your own way.”

“Li Qingfeng! No more pretending! If you want to say something, just do it. I’m always ready to start a fight with you!” Luo Changgong was totally irritated and cared about nothing at that moment.

Li Qingfeng sneered and said, “I’m not afraid.”

Hu Lan didn’t think they could get anything out of today’s meeting. All the people present were big shots in the circle. It didn’t make any sense to argue with and scold each other. Even though the three families broke with each other, the fact that Qin Sheng escaped couldn’t be denied. So it would be better to stop quarreling and just see what the other big shots were going to do.

“OK, let’s stop here. Qin Sheng’s just a small potato. He won’t be lucky every time. We’ll follow him and will finally find him somewhere. That’s all we can do now.” Hu Lan drew a conclusion for this talk.

The meeting ended with no results, but much argument. Hu Lan and Feng He were leaving for Shanghai tomorrow since they didn’t need to stay in Hangzhou any longer. Gu Xiaobo and his girlfriend were leaving as well. But they didn’t dare to go to Shanghai, for Gu Xiaobo knew and worried about the fact that Chu Sikong had released Chang Baji.

Luo Changgong left from the mansion in Xixi. He got in the car and said with a sneer, “Those people suck. How could they let Qin Sheng go? Qin Sheng was either incredibly lucky or supported by somebody. I made the right choice.”

On his way home, Luo Changgong reported on the meeting to Third Master Wu and was told that he didn’t need to participate in this anymore. Luo Changgong was content with this arrangement since Qin Sheng was not his enemy and he didn’t care that much about his cooperation with the Yan family. He just wanted things to take their course.

Luo Changgong went back to his mansion and asked his underlings to release Yang Deng. It had been some time since Yang Deng was trapped here because Third Master Wu was afraid that Yang Deng might help Qin Sheng, which would cause an unexpected result.

When meeting with Yang Deng, Luo Changgong said straightly, “Yang Deng, the matter with Qin Sheng is finished. Old Master is setting you free now.”

“Is he dead?” Yang Deng asked, stopping and sighing. He had expected this since it was impossible for Qin Sheng to survive with three big powers trying to kill him. He had no way to help and could only accept it with regret.

He had been feeling terrible over the past few days. Qin Sheng was his bro, while Third Master Wu was his Foster Father. His Foster Father was killing his bro for money and trapped him here so that he could not help Qin Sheng. He was not in the mood. Of course he understood why the Old Master did this. In Third Master Wu’s mind, brotherhood was nothing compared to money. If he was given enough money, he would betray anybody.

Luo Changgong laughed out loud.

Yang Deng didn’t understand why Luo Changgong was laughing and stared at Luo Changgong confusedly. Luo Changgong explained, “We all thought he must die. There was no doubt that nobody could survive that situation. But a miracle just happened. Qin Sheng should escape in front of all of us! He was really lucky. We still haven’t found him. It’s quite weird.”

Yang Deng was astonished by Luo Changgong’s words. This ending was incredible. How could Qin Sheng do it?

After that, Luo Changgong described every detail of the plan to Yang Deng, who listened with his eyes almost popping out, for he didn’t expect so many stories. Gu Xiaobo betrayed. Gu Qingyang was killed. Chang Baji was seriously hurt. Qin Sheng had paid so much for survival. After all, he was lucky indeed.

“For all of these, Qin Sheng should thank you for his survival. Without your help, he would have died in Hangzhou,” Yang Deng said and seemed to think about something.

There were only two of them in the sitting room, as Luo Changgong had asked the others to go out. So this was a totally private conversation. Luo Changgong said, “I’m not eager to develop my business in Shanghai. I’m content with my present life in Hangzhou. I don’t want to worry about much. I don’t care whether Qin Sheng is dead or not. Now that we’re Qin Sheng’s friend and he’s quite a good young man, of course I hope he survives and becomes somebody one day. So I don’t want him to die. He should thank you for spreading the message to others, or he would have died.”

Yang Deng smiled with relief and said, “Brother Luo, I’m sure that Qin Sheng will come back to Hangzhou sooner or later. He’ll absolutely get revenge for this.”

Luo Changgong sighed and said, “Yang Deng, please stop here. I wish him to be alive, not to take revenge, let alone taking revenge is not easy. Think about his enemy. He’s just a young man. Even striving for a whole life can’t make one succeed. To be alive is the most important.”

Yang Deng said nothing, for Brother Luo’s words made sense. He believed that Qin Sheng would be back, but he was not sure when.

“Brother Luo, do you have any idea who was helping Qin Sheng from behind?” Yang Deng asked and frowned, thinking about the questions raised by Luo Changgong. “Xue Qingyan? Cao Da? Or somebody else?”

“Who knows,” Luo Changgong said and shook his head.

In the Purple Garden mansion in Sheshan, Shanghai, Yan Chaozong was asked by his Old Master to have lunch. His Old Master preferred quietness and being alone. His children rarely came to disturb him without a purpose, and even his old friends called to make an appointment before visiting. His Old Master was satisfied with his present life—cleaning his antique cameras, sitting on the lawn, enjoying the sunshine in the winter, and napping.

Lunch was simple, with several vegetable dishes and only one meat dish. Yan Chaozong took his seat beside his grandfather, where it was convenient to get food for his Old Master.

“You know about that, don’t you?” Old Master Yan asked in a casual voice, chewing on vegetables.

Yan Chaozong nodded.

Old Master Yan then asked, “How do you feel?”

“You wouldn’t believe me even I told you that I’ve already let it go,” Yan Chaozong said with a bitter smile. He had no enemies in the long run aside from Qin Sheng. Their conflict started with pursuing Lin Su. But now, he didn’t care about Lin Su, only Qin Sheng. He would never feel relieved if Qin Sheng was still alive.

Old Master Yan sighed and said, “You’re very like your father, and neither of you are like me. Just let this thing go. Don’t think too much about it. Mind your own business. I’ll ask your Second Uncle to follow this case. If Qin Sheng is wise enough to live longer, than he should conceal his real identity for all of his later life. But if he is as stubborn as you, then it’ll be easy for our Yan family to find him and get rid of him.”

“I agree with you, Grandpa,” Yan Chaozong answered with anxiety. It was clear to him that although his grandfather talked about this in an easy manner, he felt his grandfather’s dissatisfaction with him. If he stuck to it, he might not be the successor of the Yan family then.

Old Master Yan nodded, saying nothing further about Qin Sheng. He changed the topic and said, “Go to Beijing at the end of this month. My brother’s going to introduce you to a girlfriend. That young lady was born in a family very similar to our Yan family. If you like her, you can think about a relationship. If not, just tell him. It all depends on you.”

“Fine. I got it.” Yan Chaozong didn’t refuse him. He understood what his grandfather meant. Since that young lady was introduced by his grandfather’s brother, her family had to be powerful and rich. This marriage would definitely be beneficial to the Yan family. But he was not sure about other things. He had better build up a serious relationship with that lady for the benefit of the Yan family.

Yan Chaozong was unwilling to accept these arrangements before. But things were different now since his affair with Lin Su had totally changed his values on romantic relationships. He made girlfriends casually one after another quickly. He didn’t care who he would marry as long as the woman could bring benefits to the Yan family.

Qin Sheng’s survival made some people happy, but some worried. But all those were none of Qin Sheng’s business. At this moment, he was enjoying the sunshine in Tsingtao, wandering on the beach with his ex-girlfriend, Song Zhiqiu. But his mind was wandering somewhere else.