It was late at night, and after drinking for a long time, the two brothers finally had to say goodbye.
Before Zhou Yan left, he still didn't give up and asked again:
"Brother, you really aren't going back?"
The two drank a lot of wine, and there were many empty bottles scattered on the ground. Both brothers looked drunk.
But Zhou Qinyao was still sober. After hearing his question, he smiled coldly.
Half a while—
"What should I go back for? My mother and Zhou Cun are gone."
Zhou Yan: “…”
This is a topic that no one dared to raise with Zhou Qinyao over the years.
Three years ago, Yao Yue, a 42-year-old mother, became pregnant with her second child at an advanced age, and an ultrasound scan showed it was a boy.
Zhou Qinyao was still in Italy at that time. Although he was almost twenty years old and it seemed strange to outsiders that he suddenly had a younger brother, he was not unhappy at all. On the contrary, Zhou Qinyao was particularly looking forward to it and named his unborn brother Zhou Cun early on.
Yao Yue married Zhou Zelin at the age of eighteen and accompanied him from having nothing to becoming rich and prosperous. Logically, it was time for her to enjoy her life, but just one month before giving birth, Yao Yue had a car accident and died along with her unborn child.
Zhou Qinyao was devastated and rushed back to Haicheng from Italy overnight. Unexpectedly, less than a month after Yao Yue's funeral, another woman named Wu Meng came to him with a bulging belly.
Zhou Qinyao completely exploded.
He knew that Zhou Zelin was having affairs outside, and the media often broke the news, so the relationship between father and son was not very good.
But no matter whether you are sincere in your actions or not, you can't just bring her home openly when Yao Yue has just left.
The mistress cried, made a scene, and even tried to hang herself. Zhou Qinyao, in the grief of losing two relatives in a row, lost his mind and wanted to hit the woman, but Zhou Zelin stopped him:
"I have already lost one son, I cannot lose another..."
Zhou Qinyao's three views were shattered.
Whether it was for his mother or for his unborn brother, he was extremely heartbroken at that time.
He severed his father-son relationship with Zhou Zelin on the spot.
"Then you should take good care of your remaining son."
That year, the Zhou family was in chaos, but the family kept it a secret from the outside world. No one knew what had happened until Wu Meng gave birth to a son a few months later, and then the birth of Zhou Rui, the second young master of the Zhou family, was announced to the public.
For a time, the Zhou family dominated the headlines. Zhou Yan still remembered that the most gossipy magazine at that time had a very ironic headline:
Zhou Zelin attended the event with his new wife and son, the whole family was together!
Zhou Qinyao had already left Haicheng by then, and no one knew where he had gone.
Being young and frivolous, I left without taking a penny.
Everyone would feel sad when recalling these.
"Do you regret it?" Zhou Yan asked.
Zhou Qinyao looked at the night sky for a long time, smiled faintly, and said nothing.
Actually, I don’t regret it.
In the past two years since he came out, he has seen all kinds of human nature, and his heart has become much more mature, which is a good thing.
Zhou Yan understood him and sighed, "What about Miss Tang? You can't just rely on the little income from the sports car shop and go to Mr. Fang and tell him that I want to marry your daughter. Not to mention Mr. Fang, even if it was my daughter, I wouldn't agree."
Zhou Qinyao took a puff of cigarette: "I know."
After a moment of silence, he pressed the lighter in his hand, and the flame flickered: "Actually..."
But when the words came to his lips, Zhou Qinyao hesitated and didn't say anything else. He just comforted Zhou Yan: "Don't worry, there will always be a way."
Since he didn't say it clearly, Zhou Yan didn't want to force it.
Anyway, what he knew was that his cousin had been better than others in every way since he was a child, and no difficulty could stump him. Now, after two years of hard work outside, his character has become more mature and experienced.
As long as he wants, he has the ability to return to the top at any time.
Zhou Yan finally picked up a bottle of wine and clinked it with him:
"Brother, I wish you a happy life."
Zhou Qinyao raised his glass: "You too."
The next morning, Zhou Yan took an early flight and left City C.
Fang Lai and Zhou Yan left on the same flight.
In the morning at home, she had breakfast with Tang You. It had been a long time since the mother and daughter had sat down to have such a warm meal and talked.
During the few days they stayed in City C, perhaps because of Zhou Qinyao, or because of the care that the mother and daughter subconsciously showed for each other on the night of the jewelry show, the relationship between Fang Lai and Tang You eased a lot.
At the dinner table, she said to Tang You: "You and Xie Cheng should study hard. After the art exam in March, mom will not care about you anymore."
Fang Lai's words actually hinted very clearly.
Tang You lowered her head while eating breakfast, wanting to reveal Zhou Qinyao's true identity, but she didn't dare to.
It's not easy for them to interact with each other as freely as they do now.
Although Fang Lai now seemed to have given them a pass, Tang You didn't know whether she actually liked Xie Cheng's identity or was moved by Zhou Qinyao's selfless dedication to her that night.
After a pause, she asked tentatively:
"Mom, do you like Xie Cheng as a person, or his family's status?"
Fang Lai wiped his mouth with a napkin and said with a smile: "Silly girl, of course I like them all. He's rich and he treats you well, isn't this the best of both worlds?"
—I like them all.
Tang You sighed inwardly.
In other words, Zhou Qinyao at least accounts for half of this liking.
I really don’t know whether to be happy or sad.
Seeing her daughter was silent, Fang Lai comforted her meaningfully: "Anyway, mom supports you two. Do you understand what mom means?"
I'm just short of saying out loud that I agree with you two being in a relationship.
Tang You nodded sadly and helplessly: "... I understand."
Fang Lai and Zhou Yan left, and the jewelry show came to an end. Life returned to normal, but Tang You gained more freedom than before.
Fang Lai also specifically told Aunt Rong that as long as Xie Cheng came to see Tang You, they would be allowed to go out.
From this, we can see how important Zhou Qinyao's performance this time has established in Fang Lai's heart.
Tang You was both happy and nervous.
The greater the force, the greater the rebound effect will be.
The national art exam and the separate exam for the Anlisa Conservatory of Music are both next month. Professional courses, cultural courses, small classes... Tang You's daily schedule is very tight, so she has no time to think about how to explain Zhou Qinyao to Fang Lai.
The only thing I can do now is to hide for one day at a time and wait until I finish the exam to deal with everything else.
Time passed slowly, and Moon's new models were successfully launched in the market not long after. They were even featured in major fashion jewelry magazines, and with the help of a wave of celebrities, they achieved unprecedented success.
Although Wu Meng is young and has her own understanding of the market, just as He Chengnan said, she is good at taking the wrong path and being superficial.
Zhou Qinyao later found out when he talked to Zhou Yan on the phone that the crazy fans on the night of the jewelry show were actually people Wu Meng deliberately arranged to perform a show on the spot.
The purpose is to create hype, get on the hot search list, and increase the topic.
Zhou Qinyao doesn't like her marketing method very much.
Low level.
Just like the person she is, not presentable enough.
Later, Zhou Qinyao also went to the counter to confirm that the necklace with problems at the beginning should have been repaired. The one now on the market not only meets the clarity standards of the main stone, but the circle of moissanite inlaid around it has also been replaced with real diamonds.
As a result, the cost increased by at least dozens of times.
According to Zhou Yan, because of this incident, Wu Meng was scolded by Zhou Zelin, and many of his rights were taken away from him, which made him very angry.
It was a Sunday near the end of February, which happened to be Song Xiaoyang’s birthday.
Xiaoyang was clumsy and always slow to react, so he didn’t have many friends in the alley. Kids his age were not willing to play with him, so every year on his birthday Zhou Qinyao, Cheng Xuan and others would help buy a cake in the yard to liven up the party.
But this year, there is one more person, Tang You, participating, and Song Xiaoyang is particularly happy.
Tang You bought Song Xiaoyang a new remote-controlled airplane as a birthday present, and the little guy always said that he wanted to hear her play the cello. Tang You secretly took out her cello and played a birthday song for him when she blew out the candles during dinner that night.
The little guy heard the sound of the cello for the first time. He was fresh and curious. He couldn't express himself. He just touched the body and strings of the cello and smiled foolishly:
"Sister, that sounds really nice."
Zhou Qinyao was lying on the back of a chair, looking at the girl who was playing the violin seriously with a smile in his eyes, and asked Song Xiaoyang:
"Is my sister pretty?"
Song Xiaoyang narrowed his eyes and showed his teeth: "Beautiful, sister is a princess."
Tang You felt a little embarrassed by the praise, her cheeks flushed, and she lightly hit Zhou Qinyao with her bow.
Zhou Qinyao just reached out and grabbed her bow, and took the little girl's hand, interlocked their fingers and asked Song Xiaoyang:
"Then are sister and brother a good match?"
Tang You: “…”
Song Xiaoyang tilted his head and thought for a while: "Not worthy."
Zhou Qinyao: “?”
"My sister is a princess."
As Xiaoyang spoke, he opened his hands and jumped on the spot in a very formal manner: "Quack-quack-"
"But my brother is a frog."
Zhou Qinyao: “…”
He immediately stood up and wanted to beat the little bastard: "I told you so many stories, but in the end I became a frog, didn't I?"
Song Xiaoyang was so scared that he hid behind Tang You: "Help, Sister You, Brother Yao wants to hit me."
In fact, Tang You knew that Zhou Qinyao was just pretending.
She could see the smile on his face, which showed a kind of love and care that was rarely seen.
He really loves Song Xiaoyang.
Tang You stood up and pulled Song Xiaoyang away: "Xiaoyang, sister will accompany you to play with airplanes outside, okay?"
"good!!"
The child immediately forgot about Zhou Qinyao’s existence, picked up the new plane, happily took Tang You’s hand and went out.
Wu Zhiyu, who had been standing nearby, was delighted when she saw this scene. She pushed Zhou Qinyao and said, "Why don't you follow me?"
Zhou Qinyao looked at the two figures walking in front of him and was dazed for a moment.
He once imagined how he would love his younger brother after Zhou Cun was born, but later on, he never had that opportunity again.
The appearance of Song Xiaoyang filled all the regrets in his heart during his most devastated and darkest days.
Zhou Qinyao thought about it, his lips slightly raised, and he quickened his pace to catch up with them.
Just then, the cell phone in my pocket rang suddenly.
He picked it up and found it was an unfamiliar number from Liancheng, a small third-tier city by the sea.
As far as he could remember, he didn't seem to have any friends in Liancheng. Zhou Qinyao didn't want to answer the call, but for some reason, he pressed the answer button.
"Hello."
No one responded.
Zhou Qinyao asked again: "Who?"
However, the call was connected for five or six seconds without the other party saying a word.
After more than ten seconds, the call was hung up.
The entire call lasted eighteen seconds and the other party did not say a word. Zhou Qinyao did not know whether the caller was a man or a woman, and he did not even hear a single breathing sound.
He frowned.
Was it a prank, or did someone accidentally dial his number without knowing it
Recalling that Liancheng had arrested many online fraudsters some time ago, Zhou Qinyao guessed that it might be some new way of fraud
He put his phone away and didn't pay much attention to it.
Over there, Tang You and Song Xiaoyang had already run to the widest open space in Huaishu Hutong and started playing with airplanes.
It was a little after seven in the evening. The old people in the alley had just finished square dancing. There were many sparkling little light strips hanging on the old locust tree, flashing beautifully.
There were still some small vendors around, some selling balloons and some selling cotton candy.
The alley seems to be isolated from all kinds of troubles in the outside world, and one can feel safe and warm as soon as he steps in.
Song Xiaoyang was playing with the remote-controlled plane that Tang You had just bought for him. He was very happy. When the neighbor at the balloon stand saw him, he waved at him kindly: "Xiaoyang, come here. I'll give you two balloons."
Song Xiaoyang ran over happily, said thank you, and took it.
Because he had too many things in his hand, he had to give one of the balloons to Zhou Qinyao: "Brother Yao, help me hold it."
Then he handed the plane to Tang You: "Sister Youyou, show me how to play with it."
Zhou Qinyao is 1.87 meters tall and looks a bit funny holding a cartoon balloon in his hand.
Tang You secretly smiled, turned around and pretended to play with the plane, "Xiao Yang, look, press this button, the direction is controlled here..."
She was talking and practicing when suddenly, something tapped her head gently.
It's the texture of the balloon.
Tang You immediately turned her head and saw Song Xiaoyang and Zhou Qinyao standing next to her.
Song Xiaoyang winked and pointed at Zhou Qinyao and whispered, "Sister, it's him."
A few strange figures flashed at the entrance of the alley just now, and then quickly disappeared.
Zhou Qinyao felt it was strange and looked at it a few more times, so he didn't know what happened. Now seeing Tang You staring at him with almond eyes, he was a little puzzled:
"…What's wrong?"
Tang You snorted at him, ignored it, and turned around to continue playing with the plane.
But after a while, the balloon hit her head again.
Tang You immediately turned around, took the balloon from Song Xiaoyang, and tried to hit Zhou Qinyao: "You are so annoying, why did you hit me secretly."
Zhou Qinyao: “???”
Behind him, Song Xiaoyang smiled foolishly and made faces at him. Only then did Zhou Qinyao realize that he had been framed by a child.
"I didn't, it wasn't me." He tried to explain, "It was that brat."
"You still blame Xiaoyang!"
How could Tang You possibly believe that the always well-behaved Song Xiaoyang would do such a thing? Only this man would always do bad things when she wasn't paying attention.
Zhou Qinyao: “…”
There is no point in making excuses.
The girl in front of him tried very hard to hit the balloon at his head, but because she was too tall and the balloon string was difficult to control, she even jumped up and still couldn't hit her own head.
Zhou Qinyao stood motionless with his eyes lowered as he looked at the girl who was trying hard to hit him on the head, and suddenly he smiled.
"Alright, alright."
He bent down slightly and squatted down, "I'll give it to you."
Tang You was stunned for a moment, but quickly hit him on the head, "Humph."
After the fight, Zhou Qinyao stood up with a smile on his face: "Are you satisfied?"
Tang You pouted: "You hit me twice, I will hit you twice too."
In other words, there is still a little more to come.
Zhou Qinyao smiled gently, "Okay."
Tang You originally thought that he was going to squat down again and let her knock on his head, but she didn't expect the man to suddenly pick her up -
Their eyes were instantly level.
She was held by him and saw the doting in his eyes:
"Is this enough?"
"… "
Tang You, who had just pretended to be angry, suddenly couldn't hold back her anger anymore. She pursed her lips and smiled, then tapped him lightly on the top of his head and said softly, "I've got it."
The girl lowered her head shyly, creating just the right atmosphere. Zhou Qinyao slowly approached her, thinking of giving her a peck on the face, when the neglected Song Xiaoyang suddenly appeared and pulled at his shirt hem:
"Brother Yao, I want to eat cotton candy."
Tang You seemed to wake up from a dream, and immediately jumped out of Zhou Qinyao's arms embarrassedly and straightened her clothes.
Awkward three seconds:
"… Then, go buy him some candy, and I'll continue teaching him how to play with airplanes."
Zhou Qinyao glanced at Song Xiaoyang. The kid had no idea what had just happened or what he had destroyed with his own hands.
Zhou Qinyao: “…”
So angry.
But no matter how angry I am, I still have to buy candy.
When I walked to the stall, the boss asked, "How many do you want?"
Zhou Qinyao turned around and looked at Song Xiaoyang and Tang You who were playing with airplanes under a tree behind him.
One is ignorant and naive, the other is simple and cute.
Time will eventually heal everything. Now that I have them, perhaps this is another way of making up to me from God.
The man looked at it for a while, then turned back with his eyes slightly bent:
"two."
"Okay."
The boss stepped on two oversized marshmallows very hard and said, "Take it. It's time to close the stall. I won't raise the price if you increase the quantity."
Zhou Qinyao came back holding two huge, fluffy marshmallows.
A white one was handed to Song Xiaoyang, and the child took a big bite, smacked his lips, and smiled with crescent eyes: "So sweet!"
He gave the other pink one to Tang You.
Tang You refused at first:
"I'm not a child, why buy this for me..."
However, when Song Xiaoyang reached out to take it and said that he could eat two, Tang You calmly snatched the pink marshmallow back.
Zhou Qinyao: “…”
The little girl held the candy in her hand, looked around at it admiringly, and then took a bite.
She pursed her lips and smiled contentedly: "It's really sweet."
A little bit of sugar thread got on the corner of her mouth, but she was totally unaware and continued to eat seriously.
Zhou Qinyao looked at her motionlessly.
The light strips on the locust tree flickered, and the beautiful light shone on Tang You's face, creating many bright and charming shadows. Every time she bit down and smiled with satisfaction, two dimples would appear at the corners of her lips.
The man's heart was melted.
Zhou Qinyao swallowed his dry throat quietly and said, "Can I have a bite too?"
Song Xiaoyang heard this and handed over his marshmallow obediently: "Brother Yao, here you go."
Zhou Qinyao's gaze stayed on Tang You's face, without even moving away, and he directly pushed away the marshmallow that Song Xiaoyang had given him.
Song Xiaoyang's face was covered with cotton candy: "Oh, bad brother!"
Zhou Qinyao didn't look at him, but stared at Tang You closely, laughing in a low and hoarse voice:
"Can you let me have a bite?"
The marshmallow is so big that Tang You can’t finish it by himself.
Although she didn't know why Zhou Qinyao insisted on eating the candy in her hand, she paused and generously handed the candy to him.
Zhou Qinyao smiled slightly.
He leaned over, seemingly going to bite the candy in her hand, but when his lips were about to touch the marshmallow, he suddenly turned unexpectedly.
He lazily reached out to cover Song Xiaoyang's eyes, and the next second, his lips gently and domineeringly covered Tang You's lips.
The tip of his tongue licked away the white sugar filaments remaining at the corners of her mouth.
His teeth, scented with sugar, then bit lightly on her soft lips.
The hot air entered the girl's mouth:
"Good boy, you're still sweeter."
The author has something to say: (Hehehe) The author let out a lewd auntie laugh... _(:3∠)_
Although I write more chapters every day, I still can't satisfy you. So, if the comments reach 6,000 or the collection (column collection) reaches 6,000, I will try my best to write more chapters!
I'm rubbing my hands together and looking forward to you guys letting me update more soon!
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◎ Archduke Joseph Diamond, one of the most famous diamonds in the world. It was produced in the Golconda mine in India. The diamond is about 1.27 cm thick and weighs 76.02 carats. It is the size of a pigeon egg, with pure texture, clear color and no flaws. It was once a collection of Archduke Joseph of Austria and has a history of more than 400 years.
This super-giant diamond is named after its original owner, Archduke Joseph August. Archduke Joseph August was the highest-ranking official of the Kingdom of Hungary in the 19th century. He passed the diamond to his son Archduke Joseph Francis in 1933. Records show that the latter had stored it in the basement of a Hungarian bank, so that it escaped the search of the German Nazis. It was not until 1961 that the giant diamond appeared at a London auction.
The diamond was exhibited in New York in 2012 and later auctioned at Christie's in Geneva, Switzerland. The original estimated selling price was about $15 million, but fierce bidding from all parties pushed the auction price up, and it was finally sold for $21 million.