Chapter 57#
World 2: I Want to Be a Fish in Your Pond#
The next day, D City Airport.
Qin Qing stood in the waiting hall and said to Ye Rongzheng, who was slowly walking towards the security check area: “Be careful when you get there.”
“Okay.” Ye Rongzheng nodded reluctantly.
“When will you be back?” Qin Qing asked again.
“I don’t know, maybe one or two years, maybe three or four years. If I don’t make something of myself, I won’t have the face to come back and see you.” Ye Rongzheng said bitterly.
When he realized how childish, clumsy, and even unbearable he was in front of Qin Qing, he suddenly felt that he should change. If he wasn’t covered in starlight, how could he let Qin Qing see him?
Qin Qing didn’t ask him to stay.
“Did you know, I once wanted to change you,” Qin Qing smiled helplessly and sighed: “I wanted you to stop racing, stop boxing, stop adventuring everywhere. But that night, when Jin He sent me the video of you crying while boxing, watching the wild light radiating from your eyes, I suddenly realized that I was wrong.”
He took a few steps back, behind him was a huge floor-to-ceiling window.
The crowd surged around him, sunlight sprinkled over his head, and he smiled gently amidst this hustle and brilliance.
He waved his hand, with reluctance, but also with more encouragement: “I realized that if you are a lion, what I should give you is not an iron cage, but a vast grassland. Go, do what you want to do.”
He waved his hand again, his smile radiating warmth like sunlight.
Ye Rongzheng dropped his suitcase, almost ran up, and hugged Qin Qing fiercely.
Why did he meet Qin Qing at this time? At the most immature age, most prone to impulsive recklessness, and most prone to making mistakes. If he had appeared in his best form from the beginning, if there were no misunderstandings, if he had a little more patience to explore the truth, if…
But there are no ifs in the world.
“Qin Qing, I’m sorry!” Ye Rongzheng whispered chokingly, his hoarse voice full of sadness and regret.
“Can you,” he carefully weighed his words, feeling he shouldn’t say such things, but still begged with extreme longing: “Can you wait for me. Wait for me to grow into a towering tree to shelter you from the wind and rain. Before that, please don’t fall in love with anyone, okay?”
He hugged Qin Qing tightly, shaking the other’s body slightly, as if this could shake Qin Qing’s heart.
Qin Qing raised his hand and gently patted Ye Rongzheng’s broad back: “Okay, I’ll wait for you.”
Besides this answer, what else could he say? Didn’t he travel through countless times and spaces, countless worlds, precisely for the person in front of him?
Ye Rongzheng’s anxious heart settled down at this moment. Before growing into a towering tree, he had already found the soil he needed to take root in. Qin Qing was this soil.
The broadcast of flight information sounded in the hall, and Jin He was also waving from the other end of the security check area. The time for departure was getting closer.
Ye Rongzheng had to let go of Qin Qing, but his hands still firmly held Qin Qing’s thin shoulders. His slightly red eyes gazed at Qin Qing’s face with attachment and reluctance.
If he had met Qin Qing earlier, when no misunderstandings had occurred. If he had met Qin Qing later, when he had achieved success and possessed the ability to distinguish right from wrong…
But it happened neither early nor late, just at this time…
Even Ye Rongzheng, who could be relieved after being harmed by his mother like that, could never be relieved about this matter. He thought he would regret this mistake for the rest of his life.
“I’m leaving.” This was a sentence that had to be said.
“Be careful on the road.” Qin Qing patted Ye Rongzheng’s shoulder.
Ye Rongzheng then completely let go of Qin Qing and walked backwards slowly. He wanted to look at Qin Qing more, just one more look.
Qin Qing stepped forward a few steps at this time and spread his palm: “Where is that glass marble?”
Ye Rongzheng was stunned, immediately took out the glass marble from his pants pocket, and placed it on Qin Qing’s palm. The black bead formed a sharp contrast with the tender white skin.
Seeing the dark gray light projected by the bead, Ye Rongzheng felt a little uncomfortable.
“Throw it away, it’s not a good thing.” He reached out to take the bead back.
It was this thing that condensed sin and tortured him for more than ten years. Qin Qing’s hand shouldn’t be dirtied by it.
However, Qin Qing turned sideways, avoiding Ye Rongzheng’s hand.
“At first it was evidence of a crime, and also a shackle. Keeping it well could make you obediently bear those sins that shouldn’t be borne by you. But now we all know, it’s just an ordinary glass marble.”
Qin Qing raised his palm, placed this glass marble by his slightly red lips, and whispered with a smile: “Your grandfather gave it an evil definition, let me rewrite this definition today, okay?”
“How to rewrite?” Ye Rongzheng involuntarily looked at Qin Qing’s bewitching face, and the slightly opened lips that were exhaling strong fragrance.
Really don’t understand, how could he bear to leave such a Qin Qing?
“You give it to me, then its definition at this moment is a gift.” Qin Qing curved his bright eyes gentle and affectionate like peach blossoms.
“I give it back to you, then its definition is a lucky charm.”
Qin Qing slightly pursed his red lips and blew gently on the glass marble with dark light flowing. This airflow wrapped in extremely strong and sweet fragrance condensed into tiny water droplets on the smooth surface of the sphere.
“Now, it is lucky.” Qin Qing extended his hand and handed this glass marble, which stored his body temperature and wrapped in his fragrance, to Ye Rongzheng’s eyes.
Ye Rongzheng stared blankly at this glass marble. Lying on Qin Qing’s snow-white and tender palm, it looked so abominable before, even the light it emitted was gloomy, eerie, evil and weird. However, at this moment, it became so round and cute, making him happy.
Ye Rongzheng picked up this bead, a thin layer of tears welling up in his pitch-black eyes.
“No, the lucky one is not it, it’s me!”
Ye Rongzheng hugged Qin Qing into his arms again, tighter and more reluctant than before. He was wrong! Meeting Qin Qing neither early nor late at this time… was not a mistake, but luck. Such luck might not happen again in a lifetime!
“Wait for me to come back. I will definitely grow into a big tree and hold up the sky for you.” Ye Rongzheng buried his face in Qin Qing’s warm neck hollow and said like an oath.
“Not for me, for yourself.” Qin Qing touched this person’s head and whispered with a smile.
For myself? If I hadn’t met you, just me alone, what does it matter if I’m stuck in the mud? Ye Rongzheng thought fortunately, but didn’t say such self-abandoning words.
He wanted to hug Qin Qing again, smell Qin Qing’s fragrance, and look at the other’s eyebrows and eyes carefully. But the time was up.
Jin He shouted over at the security check area: “Ye Rongzheng, you’re going to miss the flight!”
Gathering enough strength, Ye Rongzheng gritted his teeth and let go of Qin Qing, striding towards the other end of the airport.
He dared not look back, because as long as he looked back once more, he would lose the courage to leave. Holding that glass marble tightly in his palm, he no longer felt guilty, only warm.
Qin Qing stood in place waving constantly, even though that person never looked back to say goodbye.
“Back?” Qin Qing walked into the house carrying a bag of beer, slowly changing into slippers.
996 lay on the coffee table on the balcony, sticking out its big belly, crossing its legs, decadently smoking a cigarette.
“Yun Siyu stayed at the Ye family.” It said reluctantly.
“Oh, expected.” Qin Qing smiled nonchalantly.
“Ye Rongzheng left?” 996 felt very surprised. It thought that kid would die under Qin Qing’s suit pants.
“Left, went to South Africa to mine.” Qin Qing wasn’t joking at all, that’s what Ye Rongzheng said.
“Pfft!” 996 blew out a smoke ring, almost choking and coughing, “Good guy, really a good guy, meeting you, the future CEO actually ran to Africa to be a miner! Speaking of ruining people tirelessly, it has to be you Qin Qing!”
996 mocked in every way, angry and anxious.
“He will be fine. You should worry about Yun Siyu.” Qin Qing diverted 996’s attention with one sentence.
996 scrambled up, its little fat paw flicked the ash neatly, and asked in confusion: “How do you think the Heavenly Dao chooses the destined person? Is there any special standard?”
“I don’t know either, maybe because their fate charts are connected.” Qin Qing opened a can of beer and placed it in front of 996: “Drink?”
996, full of five poisons, immediately picked up the can and drank several mouthfuls.
“Since their fate charts are connected, how did you snatch the protagonist gong?” 996 drank and smoked, the whole cat was decadent.
“Because…”
Qin Qing pulled out a chair and sat down, looking at the brilliant begonias blooming on the balcony, laughing low: “Because I can steal the red dust, so I can also easily steal other people’s hearts.”
“Pah! I listen to you bragging!” 996 rolled its eyes disdainfully: “You are so powerful, why couldn’t you handle that scumbag in the original world?”
Mentioning the unbearable past, Qin Qing actually appeared very calm. The wounds on his body, heart, and soul were all healing.
“Before me, someone had already stolen his heart. A person without a heart, where is the heart for you to steal?” Qin Qing said like a tongue twister, then narrowed his hazy peach blossom eyes and took a lazy sip of wine.
“Who is so awesome, actually able to snatch someone from your hands?” 996’s curiosity was aroused.
“That person, he is the snow on the mountain peak, the flower on the high ridge, the moon in the clouds, the star in the night. No one doesn’t love him, except the demon born lacking intelligence.” Qin Qing recounted while smiling casually, clearly speaking words of praise, but his eyes were full of cold ridicule.
“Why does this sound sour, are you jealous of him?” 996 glanced sideways at Qin Qing.
“I never get jealous.” Qin Qing shook his head, then asked: “Staying at the Ye family, guess what will happen to Yun Siyu?”
996’s face immediately collapsed, saying hopefully: “He is the destined person, nothing should happen, right?”
“But Ye Rongzheng is also a son of destiny.”
Qin Qing’s one sentence made the little fat cat’s fur explode.
The gears of fate changed tracks, starting to make creaking ominous roars.
With the support of the Ye family’s huge financial resources, Yun Siyu opened an art exhibition in the most luxurious gallery in D City. As his godmother, Ye Pei attended the opening ceremony in full dress. Having lost her own son, she actually recovered her past glory in just a few days.
Her cheeks were a bit fatter, her skin became whiter, and wearing a luxurious dress, she was actually very charming. When accepting interviews from reporters, Ye Father always stood by her side, holding her hand firmly.
Ye Father feared his wife would go crazy in front of many cameras, but she didn’t.
Ye Pei behaved very decently. Having been crazy for more than ten years, she didn’t forget the etiquette education she received in her girlhood at all. How to answer reporters’ questions, how to praise Yun Siyu’s talent, how to appreciate an oil painting, how to highlight her discerning eye…
She talked eloquently under the spotlight, completely a star. She conquered everyone with her nobility and elegance.
She performed so well that Ye Father realized sadly again—his wife was indeed pretending to be crazy. To torture their child, she actually pretended to be crazy for more than ten years.
Killing her youngest son with her own hands and framing her eldest son, she felt no pain at all, let alone guilt. On the contrary, she enjoyed it! Watching her eldest son struggle in despair, watching her husband anxious every day, she enjoyed it extremely.
Ye Father suddenly exerted force, pinching Ye Pei’s arm tightly.
Ye Pei seemed not to feel the pain, just glanced at her husband lightly with slightly red, morbid eyes flashing with excitement.
She enjoyed the feeling of standing in front of the camera for interviews. She wanted everyone in the world to revolve around her.
Yun Siyu stood beside her, originally smiling happily, but finally his face slowly darkened.
Qin Qing, watching this interview video, pointed at the two people on the TV screen and said with interest: “Are the protagonist and supporting role reversed? This is Yun Siyu’s art exhibition, right? Why is it always Ye Rongzheng’s mother accepting interviews?”
996 snorted and didn’t speak, but was extremely worried in its heart.
The situation on the scene was obviously wrong. Ye Pei kept talking about Yun Siyu’s miserable childhood, and then mentioned the embarrassing thing that Yun Siyu only sold two oil paintings before knowing her.
Reporters were all praising Ye Pei for being beautiful and kind, with a unique vision, and gradually forgot the real protagonist Yun Siyu.
Yun Siyu’s expression became more and more awkward.
Seeing this scene through the TV, Qin Qing propped his forehead and said lazily: “Ye Rongzheng’s mother is using Yun Siyu’s unbearableness to highlight her image as a savior. She wants to make Yun Siyu famous, but the purpose is not to help Yun Siyu, but to make more people pay attention to herself. But she forgot that this sense of ownership is not only possessed by her, but also by Yun Siyu. Their extremely selfish characters are actually on par. When Yun Siyu can no longer tolerate such exploitation and wants to snatch the protagonist’s halo, the struggle between them begins. Ye Rongzheng’s mother is a lunatic, she doesn’t hesitate to use any means.”
996 was so scared that its heart trembled, and asked in a low voice: “How do you think Ye Rongzheng’s mother will deal with Yun Siyu? Yun Siyu should be very smart, he can guard against—”
The last sentence gradually faded away in Qin Qing’s half-smiling mocking gaze.
Is Yun Siyu smart? If he were smart, he wouldn’t have chosen to stay with Ye Mother after learning such a terrifying truth. If he were smart, he should have run as far as possible.
“This is not our business, after all, we are just small supporting roles.” Qin Qing chuckled and murmured while picking up his phone to send a text message.
996 stretched its neck to look, couldn’t help rolling its eyes, “Damn it, this is the first time I’ve seen a supporting role forcing the protagonist into a corner. Your task is to be a stepping stone for the protagonist, not to use the protagonist as a stepping stone!”
However, the text message had already been sent, a very simple sentence: [After becoming famous, you must maintain your reputation well, don’t you think? The reputation of not paying debts is not pleasant to hear.]
A few minutes later, millions were transferred into Qin Qing’s account.
He looked at the arrival message, considered for a moment, and sent another text message: [How many paintings were sold in this art exhibition? Are you willing to donate the money to charity? I really hope you are still as kind as before.]
Watching the text message being sent, Qin Qing stroked his thin lips with his slender fingertips and smiled lightly.
996: “…When the plot is about to collapse, there must be a monster!”
“To what extent do you think it will collapse?” Qin Qing raised his eyebrows and asked with interest.
A few days later, one person and one cat knew the answer.
Yun Siyu might really have a bit of luck as a destined person. After the art exhibition, he quickly gained a place in the art circle. At the age of early twenties, wherever he went, people respectfully called him Master. An oil painting sold from the initial few hundred yuan to hundreds of thousands or even millions now.
At this time, Yun Siyu keenly realized that even without the support of the Ye family, he would not lose anything anymore. He had a shrewd and capable agent, and also a large number of supporters. More capital gathered around him to help him hype and operate.
He no longer needed Ye Mother, while Ye Mother claimed to be a talent scout all day long, and accepted interviews everywhere to publicize his miserable situation in childhood.
This gradually pushed Yun Siyu’s endurance to the limit.
He moved out of the Ye family, alienated Ye Mother, and notified major media to interview him directly, not Ye Mother.
Facing a reckless lunatic, the stupidest way to deal with it is to anger the other party. But Yun Siyu had no scheming at all and adopted such a method.
“What a pity, the unfortunate thing happened.” Qin Qing turned on his phone, looked at the fresh social news, and sighed with regret.
“What’s the situation?” 996 immediately ran out of the kitchen, with some cake crumbs still stuck to its whiskers.
“Yun Siyu rolled down from the third floor of the Ye family villa, broke his right hand, comminuted fracture, it seems he won’t be able to pick up a paintbrush in the future.” Qin Qing handed the phone to 996, then walked into the kitchen and took out a can of oxygen from the cabinet.
When he returned to the living room, 996 was already pinching its philtrum, rolling its big eyes, and falling down tremblingly.
Qin Qing skillfully buckled the oxygen mask on 996’s big fat face and comforted gently: “Close your eyes and take a deep breath, take it slow, don’t think nonsense.”
“I’m not thinking nonsense.” 996 hummed weakly a few times, then suddenly waved away the oxygen mask and shouted crazily: “How can I not think nonsense damn it? The plot of this world collapsed again! Collapsed so much that even its mother wouldn’t recognize it! The protagonist shou is a great artist in the future! His achievements approach Gorky!”
Qin Qing pursed his thin lips that wanted to rise, correcting: “I guess the person you want to say is Van Gogh.”
The air suddenly became quiet.
996: “…No, this is not important. The important thing is that the plot of this world collapsed again! You know my performance is linked to the plot completion rate, right? At the year-end settlement, if you collapse the plot every time, I won’t get my salary, I will starve to death damn it!”
“No, you won’t. With your fat content, you won’t starve to death even if you don’t get paid for hundreds of years, you’ll just get a little thinner at most.” Qin Qing finally curved his red lips and laughed out loud.
996’s paws hardened. It glared at Qin Qing fiercely, then ran out of the house quickly.
Tens of minutes later, it came to Yun Siyu’s ward. Ye Father was sitting by the hospital bed, talking pleasantly with Yun Siyu, with four tall and strong black-suited bodyguards standing behind him.
This posture didn’t look like visiting a patient, but rather like looking for trouble.
996 approached quietly and jumped onto the bedside table aside.
Yun Siyu tried hard to widen his red and swollen eyes, threatening: “I will expose your family’s secrets to the media! Ye Pei is a perverted murderer! She even killed her own son! I didn’t fall down the stairs myself, I was pushed down by her! I will call the police to arrest you!”
“There is no surveillance at home, do you have evidence?” Ye Father smiled gently, not caring about this childish threat.
“Whether there is evidence or not, as long as I expose it, reporters will always dig out the truth. The public’s curiosity and desire to explore will definitely make Ye Pei’s sins have nowhere to hide! You are finished!” Yun Siyu choked up as he spoke.
“But before that, you will be doomed eternally.”
Ye Father leaned forward slightly and said calmly: “Before opening the art exhibition, you said your works were not enough. Didn’t your agent find a few ghostwriters for you and painted a dozen paintings to make up the number? Those ghostwriters all hold evidence of your plagiarism, ready to sue you at any time. As long as I make a phone call to them, there will naturally be a lawyer team to help them fight the lawsuit. Those people who spent hundreds of thousands or millions to buy paintings from you will also claim compensation from you. By the way, when signing the contract, what was the compensation amount you drafted?”
Ye Father narrowed his eyes slightly, as if thinking.
A bodyguard stepped forward to report: “If the painting is suspected of plagiarism, the compensation amount is ten times the purchase price.”
Yun Siyu’s face turned white.
996 held its big fat head, its fat body swaying along, almost fainting.
Ye Father lowered his eyes to calculate, shook his head and sighed: “You seem to have sold 12 fake paintings, the average price is around 800,000, the total compensation amount is more than 90 million, tsk—”
This tsk sound was exactly like that mad dog Ye Rongzheng. It turned out that the gentle and refined Ye Father was also crazy in his bones.
Yun Siyu looked at Ye Father with red eyes. He originally thought he could turn the tables, but at this moment he felt the despair of falling into hell. More than 90 million, how could he afford to pay!
“Compensation is a small matter. The prestige and reputation you worked so hard to accumulate will also be destroyed, right? Speaking of which, it’s really sad. A total of 16 paintings were sold at that art exhibition, 12 of which were made by ghostwriters, and only 4 of your own paintings were sold. How much talent do you, a great painter, have? I think you know very well in your heart, right? I am very curious, what kind of confidence made you have the illusion that you can establish yourself in the art circle after leaving the Ye family?”
Ye Father looked at the wretched Yun Siyu with pity, as if looking at a retard.
Yun Siyu lost, completely. He thought he could get a lot of benefits from the Ye family unscathed, but now, he got nothing, but lost himself instead.
He opened his eyes covered with red blood streaks, looking at Ye Father with extreme fear.
Ye Father stood up slowly, walked towards the door, his tone devoid of any warmth: “That will was identified by the doctor as being made when my wife was unconscious, it has absolutely no legal effect. Everything in my Ye family is naturally reserved for my son to inherit when he comes back. What are you. Want to leave the Ye family? Okay, I’ll fulfill your wish, go back where you came from. The Ye family will bear your medical expenses, no more. If you talk nonsense, I can destroy you in minutes.”
The door slammed shut, leaving only Yun Siyu alone in the ward.
He then slowly came back to his senses, turned on his phone, and looked at the balance in the bank card with regret and fear.
Perhaps to prove to Qin Qing that he was a person of pure and kind nature, on the day of the art exhibition, he not only paid back millions of debts to Qin Qing, but also donated eight million. This matter made headlines and added a heavy stroke to his good reputation.
At that time, he felt money came easily. He didn’t even have to paint himself. As long as he signed the big name “Yun Siyu” and hyped it up a little, money would come continuously. So when donating, he was very generous, even a little excited.
However, at this moment, looking at the bank card balance of only a few thousand yuan, his hands began to tremble.
He finally understood what kind of despair Qin Qing felt when his total assets were less than four hundred yuan. Losing the right hand for painting, losing sponsorship, being held by the handle with no hope of getting ahead, every day living in the world became torture for him!
Yun Siyu threw the phone aside, covered his face and cried bitterly.
996 jumped onto the hospital bed, clenched its cat fists, punched a few times in the air at Yun Siyu’s face, and scolded hating iron for not becoming steel: “What’s the use of crying now! I told you to go, you didn’t go! You even found ghostwriters to sell fake paintings! If the Heavenly Dao didn’t forbid me to hurt you, I really wanted to give you a big slap!”