At 3 p.m., the plane touched down at Suhang Airport.
As Ye Qiu and Qian Jinglan stepped out of the terminal, they spotted a man in his thirties holding a sign with Ye Qiu’s name on it.
Ye Qiu walked straight over.
“Hello, I’m Ye Qiu,” he said.
The man glanced at Ye Qiu, then replied respectfully, “Mr. Ye, hello. Mr. Han instructed me to pick you up.”
“What’s your name?” Ye Qiu asked.
“I’m Yuan Lei,” the man grinned. “Mr. Ye, you can call me Old Yuan.”
“Old Yuan, thanks for the trouble.”
“It’s my honour to serve you, Mr. Ye!”
Yuan Lei took Ye Qiu’s luggage and led them to the car park, opening the door of a sedan.
Ye Qiu偷瞟了一眼。
Blimey, a top-spec Maybach, worth millions.
“Mr. Ye, please get in,” Yuan Lei gestured invitingly.
Ye Qiu and Qian Jinglan climbed inside.
After starting the car, Yuan Lei asked, “Mr. Ye, per Mr. Han’s instructions, I’ve booked a hotel for you. Would you like to head there first, or…?”
Before he could finish, Ye Qiu cut him off.
“Straight to the Qian residence!”
On the way.
Ye Qiu opened his phone, skimming the info Han Long had sent about the Qian family’s history and Old Master Qian.
The Qian family of Suhang was a prestigious clan, its members dedicated to education.
In the Ming Dynasty, half the scholars in Jiangnan studied under the Qians, including the famed Four Talents of Jiangnan.
By the late Qing, turmoil saw the family’s decline.
In the Republic era, a remarkable figure emerged—an early Tongmenghui member and a great educator.
Old Master Qian, Qian Siyuan, now 89, was a renowned educator, calligrapher, translator, and master of Chinese classics.
He was also an honorary professor at 32 top domestic universities.
His students were everywhere!
Many now held power or excelled in their fields, the most notable being Old Master Zhang of Beijing’s four great families.
Here, Ye Qiu’s mind turned to another matter.
Zhang Jiuling had rung him earlier, asking him to treat Old Master Qian. Ye Qiu agreed, but he had reservations.
Personally, he didn’t want to.
Though Old Master Qian was his granddad, he’d cast out Ye Qiu’s mum, leaving her to suffer for over twenty years.
But as a doctor, saving lives was his duty. Setting aside his mum’s ordeal, Old Master Qian was a respected educator worth saving.
Ye Qiu was torn.
“Qiu’er…”
Qian Jinglan suddenly spoke, glancing at him, then hesitating.
Ye Qiu smiled, “Mum, you’re my closest kin—say what’s on your mind!”
Qian Jinglan continued, “Qiu’er, back then, getting pregnant out of wedlock did shame your granddad.”
“I don’t blame him for the past anymore.”
“If you can treat your granddad, you must save him!” She finished, watching Ye Qiu nervously, fearing he’d refuse.
“Mum, don’t worry. Even if you hadn’t said it, I’d treat Granddad.”
“I knew you were a good lad,” Qian Jinglan sighed in relief, then added, “Oh, Qiu’er, best not mention the pledge to your uncle.”
“Why not?”
Qian Jinglan explained, “If your uncle finds out, he’ll blame Chunmei and Rong’er, and that’ll stir family trouble.”
“Besides, without that inheritance, haven’t we got by just fine?”
“So, let’s keep it quiet.”
Ye Qiu nodded slightly, “Got it.”
…
Outside the Qian family’s ancestral home.
A crowd of relatives waited.
Cao Chunmei and her daughter had returned from Jiangzhou.
“Mum, Qian Jinglan’s arriving soon—will the pledge stay hidden?” Qian Rong whispered, worried.
“What’s to fear? She’s signed it—Old Master’s inheritance is out of her reach,” Cao Chunmei sneered. “Kicked out twenty-odd years ago, I can’t believe she’s got the cheek to come back.”
“Sister-in-law, what’re you and Rong’er muttering about?” Qian Weidong’s wife, Zhu Xuemiao, asked with a smile.
“Nothing,” Cao Chunmei shot Qian Rong a look to hush her.
“Sister-in-law, you two just got back from Jiangzhou—did you see Jinglan? How’s she doing?” Zhu Xuemiao sighed, “Twenty years gone—I wonder what she’s like now?”
“You might not believe it, but the Qian Jinglan of today—you wouldn’t recognise her if she stood right here.”
Cao Chunmei said, “She’s only in her forties, but her face is full of wrinkles, hair gone white—she looks like a sixty- or seventy-year-old village woman.”
“Sister-in-law, you’re not joking?”
“Do I look like I’m joking? Ask Rong’er if you don’t believe me.”
Qian Rong told Zhu Xuemiao and the gathered relatives, “You lot didn’t see it—Qian Jinglan’s wrinkles are rough as tree bark.”
“She and that bastard son of hers squat in a room less than ten square metres, a right mess—no space to step, like a dog’s den. I nearly gagged opening the door.”
“My mum’s kind-hearted, thinking she’s Dad’s sister after all, and couldn’t bear it. She offered her 50,000 yuan out of pity, but she wouldn’t take it.”
“Ungrateful as she was, guess what that bastard son said?”
Qian Rong glanced around, “He said our Qian family’s money’s dirty, that we’re all like maggots in a sewer—utterly disgusting.”
She meant to stoke their anger.
Sure enough, Zhu Xuemiao and the others erupted, cursing:
“Outrageous!”
“Our Qian family’s a century-old scholarly house—how dare he insult us?”
“Just a bastard, what’s he so cocky about?”
A cold glint flashed in Zhu Xuemiao’s eyes as she asked, “Rong’er, is that bastard coming too?”
Qian Rong replied, “Dad said Qian Jinglan’s bringing him.”
“A bastard dares step into our home—what’s Qian Jinglan playing at?”
“Does she want to kill Old Master with rage or disgrace our century-old scholarly name?”
Zhu Xuemiao snorted, instructing Qian Duoduo behind her, “Duoduo, when that bastard arrives, sort him out for me. Let him know the Qian family’s not a place for the likes of him.”
“No worries, Mum, I’m ace at this,” Qian Duoduo grinned, rubbing his hands eagerly. He’d never thumped a cousin before—what’d that feel like?
Cao Chunmei and Qian Rong shared a smug look.
Just then, a Maybach rolled into view…
