Chapter 10 - 1#

When Jin Yan found Jiang Qin, he was leaning against the window sill in the smoking area, smoking a cigarette, with a boundless sea of brilliant lights behind him.

Jin Yan glanced at the Marlboro in his hand, silently took out a pack of Yunyan from his pocket, lit one in his mouth, and handed it over.

“You actually carry this.” Jiang Qin exchanged cigarettes with him, slowly exhaled a puff of white smoke, raised his chin towards the hall, and asked, “—How much did it cost to sign her?”

“Two million signing bonus, ninety thousand per episode.”

“I’ll give you two million, can you fire her?”

Jin Yan looked at him deeply and asked, “I’ll give you two million, and fire her too, can we not mention the divorce?”

Jiang Qin fell silent.

Jin Yan couldn’t help asking, “What did she say to you just now?”

“…Nothing. She told me not to blame you for what happened at the beginning of the year. Although the act itself was stupid, she spoke quite beautifully, which surprised me a bit.”

Jin Yan sneered, “You just haven’t seen enough. This woman is shrewd. I still don’t know if I really drank too much or fell into her trap back then. She even texted you saying she was pregnant. I don’t believe it’s that easy for a woman to get pregnant. How much effort did it take to have Li Meng through IVF back then?”

Jiang Qin flicked the ash and said casually, “Human hearts are like this, nothing to be surprised about.”

He paused, then suddenly asked, “She rose to fame so quickly, even Wei Hong couldn’t catch up back then. She must have a backer in the circle, right?”

Jin Yan didn’t speak for a moment, just lowered his head to smoke. After a long while, he said in a deep voice, “You probably won’t be able to react if I tell you.”

“Oh?”

“You know I have a row of brothers above me. They were too ruthless in their early years, and as a result, none of them could have children. Only my sister had an only son, raised like a treasure until he was over twenty. He idles around all day doing nothing proper. Being such a grown man, he still can’t leave the gentle embrace of women. My eldest and second brothers don’t dare to hand over things to their own nephew to manage, fearing that one day he might accidentally ruin the family business.”

“Then starting last year, this kid became crazily obsessed with Xu Xiaoxuan, chanting about her all day like he was possessed. He spent a lot of money to promote her and came crying to beg me to give her roles. At that time, my sister was furious and gave that kid a good beating… Just as she wanted to go find Xu Xiaoxuan, my good nephew threatened suicide at home.”

Jin Yan never told Jiang Qin about those underworld matters. Outside, he wouldn’t bat an eyelid watching people get their hands chopped off or tendons pulled out, but at home in front of Jiang Qin, he would feel distressed for a long time if a potted flower died. Later, Jiang Qin instructed Li Meng to secretly buy the same flower to replace it, fearing that Jin Yan would be too sad.

In fact, at that time, Jin Yan’s sister didn’t just “want to go find Xu Xiaoxuan,” but took a few bodyguards out to take that woman’s life. Several brothers shared the same hatred, contributing money and effort. Jin Yan even personally pointed out a geomantic treasure land, only short of going to Taobao to buy an urn.

However, before they could act, the nephew played hanging with a rope at home. After being sent to the hospital, he cried and made a scene, acting crazy.

The whole family was scared. No matter how disappointing the nephew was, he was still their own nephew. Back then, the siblings fought among themselves and committed too many sins. Now, only two seedlings were left in the third generation. They couldn’t sacrifice their own nephew because of a woman.

So Xu Xiaoxuan escaped with her life—not only did she escape, but she also lived quite well. No one dared to touch her easily, otherwise the nephew would really jump off a building for them to see.

Jiang Qin asked with interest, “Does your nephew know she had an affair with his own uncle?”

Jin Yan smiled bitterly and whispered, “Please spare me.”

The smoking area was silent. Several small actors saw them chatting and smoking by the window from a distance and wanted to come over to get close, but they shrank back and didn’t dare to act rashly.

Jiang Qin finished the Yunyan in a few puffs and casually stubbed it out on the window sill. “I’m going back to eat something. Help yourself.”

“Wait,” Jin Yan grabbed his hand. “—Go home together tonight?”

“…”

“Let’s go back. Your son definitely isn’t sleeping and is waiting for you.”

“…If I say no, what do you plan to do?”

Jin Yan asked back, “What else can I do? Do I have any other way with you?”

Jiang Qin narrowed his amber eyes behind the lenses. After a long while, he said, “I don’t know, Jin Yan… I don’t even know which of your words are true and which are false.”

Jin Yan was shaken. Jiang Qin pulled his hand out of his palm, turned around, and walked towards the banquet hall.

From this corridor to the banquet hall, one actually had to pass through an open-air garden. Behind the fountain was the main door facing the hotel’s private rooms. Jiang Qin walked through the flowers and was about to step up the stairs when suddenly several guests walked out of the private room door. One of them glanced over inadvertently and was instantly stunned.

“Jiang… Qin?”

Jiang Qin didn’t notice at first. The man called a few more times before he looked up abruptly.

“You…” He took a breath and exclaimed, “Fang Yuan!”

The man crossed the garden in three steps and two, shouting loudly, “Is it Jiang Qin? Is it really Jiang Qin? I didn’t expect such a coincidence in this world! Do you still recognize me?”

Jiang Qin didn’t know how to react for a moment, and then he was hugged by the man.

“We all miss you very much! No contact for so many years, everyone didn’t know if you were still alive. Uncle and Aunt never mentioned it… You haven’t changed at all! I recognized you as soon as I saw you!”

Jiang Qin’s lips trembled slightly. After a long while, he whispered, “Cousin…”

Fang Yuan turned around excitedly and waved to the other people. “Hey, come over, let me introduce you! Jiang Qin, they are my colleagues from the station. We just came for a casual meal—didn’t expect to see you! Today was really not in vain!”

Those colleagues, both men and women, came over to greet with smiles. Jiang Qin also smiled and shook hands with them one by one.

“My uncle and aunt’s only son. We haven’t seen each other for many years. We used to learn piano together when we were young, right—” Fang Yuan turned his head and grabbed Jiang Qin’s hand enthusiastically, asking, “How have you been all these years? You look good. Where are you working?”

“Just a small accountant. How about you?”

Fang Yuan seemed very regretful, sighing, “You were the smartest back then, and played the piano well. If not for… sigh, let’s not mention it. I’m just a small policeman, just transferred to this city.”

Hearing the word “police,” Jiang Qin immediately understood that those colleagues were also police officers, and his expression changed slightly.

However, before he could say anything, Fang Yuan grabbed him and asked, “Are you with friends too? How about we order another table and have a good chat? Haven’t seen each other for so many years, you probably don’t know about Uncle and Aunt’s situation. I just visited them before coming here…”

Jiang Qin’s heart moved. Before he could speak, he felt his shoulder tighten.

Jin Yan smiled and patted his shoulder. “—What are you chatting about so lively? Is this Cousin Fang Yuan?”

“You are…”

“Sorry, my surname is Jin.”

Fang Yuan immediately gave a silent “Ah—”.

The incident of Jiang Qin being kicked out of the house back then was a big deal. Relatives and friends all knew about it and had heard of Jin Yan’s name for a long time. Now seeing them standing together and hearing Jin Yan call him cousin, those who didn’t understand before understood now.

Jiang Qin didn’t have time to stop Jin Yan from introducing himself, so he had to remain silent and watched Fang Yuan reluctantly shake hands with Jin Yan.

“It’s rare to see Cousin. We should have a good gathering. Unfortunately, I really can’t get away from the company annual meeting today. How about you leave a phone number, Cousin, and I’ll host a banquet to welcome you another day?”

Fang Yuan looked in Jiang Qin’s direction. Jin Yan smiled slightly and put his arm around his shoulder calmly.

“Alright, then I’ll wait for your call.” Fang Yuan helplessly exchanged phone numbers with Jiang Qin and instructed worriedly, “You must call me. Haven’t seen each other for so many years, we must have a good drink!”

Jiang Qin smiled and agreed. Fang Yuan then left reluctantly with his colleagues.

“Your cousin is a policeman?” As soon as those people disappeared, Jin Yan asked immediately.

Jiang Qin was silent for a long while and said, “Don’t be paranoid.”

“Oh, I know, just asking casually. My sister also wanted to send her son to be a policeman. Eating public rice, you know. The marked price is 140,000 to get it done, monthly salary 6,000, and meals at restaurants near the police station are all free.”