Song Shu and Qin Lou were halfway through their breakfast when they heard the doorbell ring in the entrance hall. A few seconds later, probably when the door of the villa opened, faint sounds of conversation came from the direction of the living room.
Song Shu stopped moving and said, "Maybe there are guests at home."
"Happy New Year?" Qin Lou asked.
"Probably," Song Shu thought of something, a faint smile appeared in his eyes, "My parents have nothing to do since they came back, and basically spend all their time on entertainment activities. Their network of contacts in China may be more extensive than mine."
Qin Lou nodded.
About half a minute later, the door of the restaurant was opened from the outside and Mei Jinghan walked in.
"Nannan, your dad has gone to visit your uncles. Someone is coming to wish you a happy new year. After breakfast, come out and say hello."
Just as Mei Jinghan finished speaking, a loud cry came from outside the open door, followed by a loud crying sound.
Song Shu was stunned for a moment, "What's outside...?"
Mei Jinghan waved her hand nonchalantly, "The one who came is Aunt Qu whom you met yesterday. Her daughter gave birth to a grandson last year and she just brought him back for the New Year. She is here too."
Song Shu hesitated, "But wasn't she eager to arrange a blind date for her daughter yesterday?"
"Hey? That's her youngest daughter, and the one taking care of the grandchild is her eldest daughter."
Song Shu was silent for two seconds, and smiled with difficulty, "Okay, Mom, we'll be out soon."
"Um."
"… "
After watching Mei Jinghan leave, Song Shu turned around and met Qin Lou's sad eyes.
Song Shu smiled, "I know you hate this kind of thing the most. Let's go say hello and I'll accompany you upstairs?"
Qin Lou's expression finally eased a little.
When the two left the restaurant, the living room was bustling with activity.
Mei Jinghan was the first to hear the noise coming from the direction of the restaurant. She turned around and quickly stood up to greet them: "Nannan, Xiaoqin, come over here. This is Aunt Qu and her two daughters—Aunt Qu you met yesterday."
"Happy New Year, Auntie." Song Shu stopped and greeted the guest sitting on the sofa.
"Hey, we are friends." The auntie who I met on the side of the path yesterday nodded and agreed with a smile. At the same time, she reached out and patted the young woman who was hugging a boy next to her, "Why don't you say hello to Auntie Mei's sister?"
The young woman was busy coaxing her son in her arms. She frowned when she heard this and looked up reluctantly in Song Shu's direction: "Happy New Year, Miss Qin."
"Happy New Year." Song Shu smiled faintly at the other party.
"And you, call me sister." Aunt Qu pushed her little daughter on the other side again. The little daughter had not moved since Song Shu and Qin Lou came out. At this time, she was staring at the man next to Song Shu with his eyes drooping lazily in a daze.
The little girl finally reacted after being photographed. She blushed and quickly looked away, "Sister... Happy New Year, sister."
Song Shu's eyes flickered slightly, and then he smiled, "Well, Happy New Year."
Aunt Qu glanced at her little daughter in a reproachful manner before looking away. She turned to Mei Jinghan with a smile and asked, "Did your daughter and her boyfriend stay at home last night?"
Mei Jinghan nodded, "Yeah."
"That's great. I envy you so much." Aunt Qu shook her head. "You haven't even gotten married yet, but your future son-in-law can come to celebrate the New Year at home. Haven't you seen my family? My daughter argued for several days about whose house to celebrate the New Year. In the end, my son-in-law went back to his home, and my daughter was so angry that she came back with my grandson. I'm afraid my daughter won't be much better after she gets married."
Mei Jinghan looked embarrassed for a moment, and subconsciously turned her head to look at Song Shu and Qin Lou, "... Nannan, Xiaoqin, don't just stand there, sit down for a while."
Song Shu looked at Qin Lou inquiringly. Qin Lou was silent for two seconds, but followed Mei Jinghan's instructions and took Song Shu to sit on the sofa next to him.
However, the topic that Mei Jinghan had deliberately skipped did not stop. When Aunt Qu saw Qin Lou and Song Shu sitting down, she looked at Qin Lou curiously, "Your last name is Qin too, right?"
Qin Lou glanced at him without any emotion, and then responded listlessly, "Yeah."
Aunt Qu didn't mind, she just asked curiously: "How did you convince your parents to come to your girlfriend's place to celebrate the New Year?"
"… "
Qin Lou seemed to remember something, and the corner of his mouth curled up slightly. He glanced sideways at Song Shu who was sitting next to him.
Song Shu also frowned at Aunt Qu's question. He raised his eyes to say something, but was interrupted by Qin Lou's words -
"My parents are both dead, so there's no need for that."
The man spoke in a casual tone, and there was even a hint of nonchalance on his handsome face - except for Song Shu, no one expected that he would say such words with such a demeanor.
The Qu family's mother, daughter and three were stunned.
Mei Jinghan came back to her senses and frowned slightly, looking helplessly at Song Shu who was sitting opposite her on the sofa.
Song Shu lowered his eyes and said nothing.
—Qin Lou has always been willful. And when it comes to things that do no harm to him, Song Shu always indulges his willfulness.
Perhaps he knew this, so this man was particularly unscrupulous when she was around.
During this period of silence, the first person to speak among the three of the Qu family was the most silent one—the youngest daughter sitting next to Aunt Qu. She looked at Qin Lou hesitantly and sympathetically: "Did Uncle and Aunt pass away accidentally?"
"… "
Qin Lou didn't expect that after he said such a thing, someone would want to ask more questions. The impatience in his eyes became even stronger, but considering Mei Jinghan was there, Qin Lou slowly suppressed the anger in his heart.
He raised his eyes to look at the little girl who asked the question. She blushed slightly and looked at him expectantly and sympathetically, obviously still waiting for his answer.
Qin Lou snorted and looked away, "I don't know. I was an orphan when I was three or four years old."
"… "
As soon as he said this, the little girl across from him looked at him with even more sympathy, almost crying.
Aunt Qu finally came to her senses at this point. She sighed and said regretfully, "No wonder you came here to celebrate the New Year. It's pitiful that you're so young and have no one to rely on."
"'No wonder'?" Qin Lou's eyes were filled with anger, and he slightly raised his eyebrows. "My coming here to celebrate the New Year has nothing to do with anything else. I will be wherever my little clam is, and it doesn't matter who is here or not."
"… "
None of the Qu family's mother, daughter and two other children had expected that this seemingly lazy and harmless young man would suddenly become so rebellious and sharp, and they were embarrassed for a moment.
Song Shu still looked indulgent. Mei Jinghan was the first to react. She looked at the two helplessly, stood up and pointed at the back door of the villa. "Old Qu, didn't you say yesterday that you wanted to ask what kinds of flowers there were in my backyard? Come on, I'll take you to have a look. Let these kids chat on their own."
"Oh, okay." Aunt Qu stood up awkwardly, and turned back to instruct her two daughters, "Well, have a good chat... Pay attention to your manners. It's New Year's Day, don't upset the host."
Although the last sentence was obviously spoken in a low voice, Qin Lou and Song Shu were both very sharp-eyed and sharp-eared, so they could hear it clearly. However, even though they heard it, they did not react.
As soon as Mei Jinghan and Aunt Qu left, the little daughter of the Qu family couldn't help but look up at Qin Lou again, "What do Mr. Qin... and Miss Qin do for a living?"
Song Shu didn't say anything - she knew Qin Lou's crazy temper very well. He couldn't help but act like a demon at a time like this, so she simply left the entire "stage" for him to perform.
Sure enough, the next second, Qin Lou laughed softly and put his hand around her waist, "My little clam is an investor."
The Qu family's little daughter's eyes flickered, and she stared at Qin Lou uncomfortably, "Then, where is Mr. Qin?"
"Me?" Qin Lou laughed dumbly, "I work for her."
Song Shu: “.”
This time, even the eldest daughter of the Qu family, who had been keeping her head down and concentrating on coaxing the child, looked up at the two of them, her eyes full of curiosity and exploration about "the things that female bosses and male subordinates have to say."
The little daughter of the Qu family laughed even more uncomfortably, "Ah, so Miss Qin is so powerful."
The eldest daughter of the Qu family stared at Qin Lou and Song Shu for a moment, her eyes filled with growing doubt. Suddenly, she took the initiative to ask, "… Is your last name Qin?"
"Sister?" Even the younger daughter was a little curious as to why her elder sister, who had been uncooperative about being dragged out for the New Year's greetings, suddenly took the initiative to ask questions.
The eldest daughter came back to her senses and introduced herself, "I'm also in the financial industry. I just suddenly felt that... you two look familiar. Especially, Mr. Qin."
The younger daughter whispered, "Then maybe you have worked together before, so there's no need to ask now, right?"
The eldest daughter ignored her and just looked at Qin Lou and Song Shu. "Excuse me, do you two work at VIO Capital?"
"…Vio Capital, is it the super awesome investment company you mentioned?" The little daughter was stunned.
"Yes, I mentioned it to you," the eldest daughter turned around and looked at her younger sister, as if she had something meaningful in mind. "I also told you that the chairman and general manager of Vio is a very legendary young man, only one year older than you - coincidentally, his last name is also Qin."
The younger daughter's face changed. She had heard from her sister that vio was a giant in the capital world. If the person in front of her was...
"Ha, sister, are you kidding me?" The little daughter turned her head and smiled awkwardly, "Mr. Qin clearly said that he worked for Miss Qin, so how could he be the chairman of Vio you mentioned?"
The eldest daughter has turned back. "I just think Mr. Qin does look familiar. Mr. Qin from Vio is quite mysterious, and there are few photos of him that can be circulated to the public. I was only lucky enough to see a blurry photo - so I think he looks a bit like Mr. Qin. If I'm wrong, I'm sorry."
"… "
The living room fell silent.
The meaning behind this silence made the Qu family's youngest daughter look even uglier. She looked at Qin Lou with a little disbelief.
Qin Lou frowned and turned to look at Song Shu, "What should I do, little clam? I've been exposed."
Song Shu glanced at him without any emotion, "Just chill."
Qin Lou saw that pretending to be pitiful had no effect, so he had to turn back obediently.
The two sisters knew the answer. After choking for several seconds and digesting the news with great difficulty, the younger daughter smiled with a complicated expression: "Mr. Qin really likes to joke... You manage such a large company and assets, how can you say that you work for Miss Qin?"
"Because I work for her." Qin Lou said without hesitation, "Everything I have belongs to her, including Vio and myself."
"… "
The little daughter of the Qu family could no longer fail to understand the meaning of Qin Lou's words. The smile on her face faded, and she looked at Song Shu with complicated eyes, and joked stiffly:
"Then Miss Qin is probably the person who saved the universe in her previous life as rumored. How enviable..."
"What are you envious of?" Qin Lou's eyes turned cold. "This is what she deserves."
Song Shu clearly sensed a dramatic change in Qin Lou's emotions. She frowned slightly and turned around, "Qin Lou."
However, once a madman starts going crazy, it is often difficult to stop. He looked at the little daughter of the Qu family with cold eyes, "I hate to hear people describe her like this - as if being with me is her luck. But you are not us, you don't even have the qualifications to speak after watching our lives - what qualifications do you have to say that she is lucky? How do you know that she is the luckiest person for us to be together and not me?!"
"… "
The two daughters of the Qu family seemed to be frightened by Qin Lou's sudden emotional outburst.
The two were stunned for a few seconds, and the child in the eldest daughter's arms was frightened by Qin Lou's voice and started crying.
The two of them came to their senses.
Seeing that the atmosphere was getting too tense to stay, the eldest daughter coaxed the child while apologizing to Qin Lou and Song Shu with an awkward expression, and pulled her younger sister away immediately.
The living room returned to silence.
Song Shu held his forehead with some helplessness and headache.
"My mother will be back later. Don't say anything. I will explain."
Qin Lou also came back to his senses and looked at Song Shu with a wronged look: "Did I make a mistake the first time I went to my future mother-in-law's house to celebrate the New Year?"
Song Shu glanced at him, his eyes clearly meaning "you know that too".
Qin Lou looked even more aggrieved.
—The switch from the scary madman just now to the pitiful look now was completed in less than five seconds.
Song Shu was both angry and amused: "Every time I indulge you, it always leads to some bad consequences, but I seem to have a hard time remembering it."
Qin Lou's eyes lit up.
Song Shu sighed again: "Perhaps even if I remember, I can't bear to see the little crazy boy suffer any injustice."
Qin Lou was slightly stunned, then he laughed, "If you stand with a madman, you will be hated, little clam."
"Then let me be hated," Song Shuwei bent his eyes, "Even if the whole world hates me, I will always stand with my lunatic."
Qin Lou's eyes flickered slightly.
After a moment, he leaned over and tried to kiss the girl's lips, but was dodged.
"But there is still a problem that I need to reflect on." Song Shu's expression was slightly serious. "It's okay to get angry at adults, but there was a child there just now. Such a small child is different from an adult. If he gets scared and something happens, how will you be responsible?"
"… "
After a while, Song Shu heard Qin Lou's low voice beside him: "So there is another reason for not having children... I hate children the most."
Song Shu thought of the past and couldn't help but curl up the corners of his lips, "Yes, I feel it. Song Shuai and Song Ruyu were bullied by you when they were young."
Qin Lou turned sideways and looked at the girl who had already stood up, "Except you."
Song Shu was startled, then chuckled, "When I first went to the Qin family, you were obviously hostile to me."
"Have I ever bullied you?"
Song Shu thought about it and shook his head, "No. You were very strange at that time. You threatened me before entering the main building, but you changed in the blink of an eye."
"… "
Qin Lou curled the corner of his mouth, raised the hand hanging at his side, and hooked Song Shu's right hand in the process. He gently held her fingertips and lifted her hand in front of him, then lowered his head to kiss the diamond ring on her ring finger.
As they kissed, Qin Lou laughed softly.
"Because I saw you on the second floor that day, and I found that you were a..." Qin Lou paused and smiled again. In that kissing posture, he lifted his eyelids, and his peach blossom eyes were full of emotions. "The most interesting toy I have ever seen."
Song Shu also smiled slightly, letting Qin Lou kiss her fingertips. She tilted her head slightly and asked, "What toy? A doll?"
"Yeah. A doll that doesn't seem to care about anything, doesn't talk, and has no expression." Qin Lou narrowed his eyes slightly, as if recalling something. "From the very beginning, you were different from everyone else."
Song Shu: “Hmm?”
Qin Lou said: "I hate other people, especially those who can see through their thoughts at a glance, and their meanness that cannot be concealed... It's the same for adults and children. They all have things they want, and even if they try their best to hide it, those desires will reach out from their eyes."
"… "
Song Shu thought for a moment before speaking, "But aren't all people's desires so negative towards you?"
"For example."
"For example, the little girl from the Qu family just now, she sympathized with you and wanted to help you at first."
Qin Lou snorted and laughed. "She has desires as well. She is like many people I have met. Her sympathy and desire to help are clearly marked with a price. If you tell her like you just now that I am yours and she can't have me no matter how she behaves, she will back off. In the name of love, it's the same for everyone else."
"… "
Song Shu fell silent.
She had to admit that Qin Lou was right. There were many other girls who would sympathize and love someone like Qin Lou, just like that girl just now, but they all wanted something.
Behind all the efforts, many of them were made just to get him.
Maybe Qin Lou sensed Song Shu’s silence, but he stopped and raised his eyes, his pupils were deep and dark.
"But you are different from them."
Song Shu came back to his senses and smiled faintly, "Really? I never said that."
"I said, I am most sensitive to these things. So from the beginning I knew that you are different from them. You have no desire."
Song Shu was helpless, "It would be abnormal if there wasn't one."
"That's right." Qin Lou laughed hoarsely, "So you and I, we are the same - we are not normal."
"… "
"After I found out that you and I are the same kind of people, I became curious about you and couldn't help wanting to tease you out of more words or emotions." Qin Lou laughed maliciously, "I even thought that when you become like other people in my hands, I will throw you away - just like I treat those toys that I broke before."
Song Shu lowered his eyes and smiled: "Then should I thank you for not losing it?"
Qin Lou's smile slowly faded.
"No," he whispered, "it was you who first made me want to be like them."
Song Shu was slightly stunned.
Qin Lou slowly tightened his grip on her hand, his dark eyes filled with deep emotion.
"You are all I desire, Song Shu."
The author has something to say: Happy New Year!