Qi Yan lived well in the Cen’s house. He was either playing chess and drinking tea with Cen Qiusheng, or playing with the children. He was especially popular among the children, and he became the boss of the Cen’s children’s team. He enjoyed bathing in their adoring eyes.
“Uncle Qi,” Tuan Tuan, in a beautiful dress, stood outside the study door and asked with her head stretched out, “Can I come in?”
“Please come in, your beautiful majesty.” Qi Yan put down the book in his hand, walked in front of Tuan Tuan, bent down and looked at her, “Have you come back from kindergarten so early today?”
“Well,” Tuan Tuan’s recent hobby was to act like a queen, so when she heard Qi Yan calling her “Your Majesty,” she showed a bright smile and took out two small cookies from behind her back, “The teacher said that good things should be shared, I kept it for you.”
“Are these the biscuits that the teacher gave you?” Qi Yan took two and gave one to her, “We each have one?”
“Yeah!” Tuan Tuan nodded, lowered her head and bit the biscuit in half. It seemed that she really enjoyed them
Qi Yan finished eating the biscuit in two mouthfuls, and wiped the crumbs from Tuan Tuan’s mouth with a handkerchief, “Thank you, Your Majesty, for the biscuit, they are delicious.”
“You’re welcome, you’re my knight, and it’s right to give you half of the good things.” Tuan Tuan patted Qi Yan’s shoulder like a small adult, lying on Qi Yan’s shoulder and said, “When I went to the kitchen just now to get carrots, I found Aunt Zhang crying secretly.”
Aunt Zhang was a maid in the Cen family. She was always diligent and clean. She was also very patient with the children. She had been a maid in the Cen family for several years, so the children cared about her.
“What does Her Majesty Queen Tuan Tuan want to do?” Qi Yan asked as he smoothed out the stray hair on the top of her head, wanting to let her think independently, “I can be your helper.”
“Give her my Barbie doll?”
Children are naive. They think that toys that make them happy will also make adults happy. Qi Yan didn’t want to ruin Tuan Tuan’s innocence, and he also wanted to know what happened to Aunt Zhang. He really liked the waffles that she made. No one could make it better than she did.
“Okay, I’ll go with you.”
“Master Qi, Tuan Tuan?” Aunt Zhang was picking vegetables when she saw Qi Yan leading First Master Cen’s youngest daughter over. She stood up and wiped her hands on the apron, “It smells of oily smoke here, why are you here?”
Seeing that Aunt Zhang still had signs of crying on her face, Qi Yan smiled and said, “Tuan Tuan said you were in a bad mood, so she wanted to give you her toys, hoping you would be happier.”
“Thank you Tuan Tuan, this is too precious, I, I…” Aunt Zhang looked at the beautifully made Barbie doll, rubbing her hands on the apron, and looked at Qi Yan with a pair of bewildered eyes, not knowing what to do. But when she saw the gentle smile in Qi Yan’s eyes, her mood calmed down a little, she bent down to take the doll in Tuan Tuan’s hands, and said in a choked voice, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Tuan Tuan blinked with big eyes, “Are you happy now?”
“Yes,” Aunt Zhang cried and laughed, “Yes.”
Qi Yan touched Tuan Tuan’s head, “Tuan Tuan, why don’t you go out and I’ll talk to Aunt Zhang, okay?”
“Okay.” Tuan Tuan nodded and ran out in small steps.
“Are you okay?” Qi Yan took out a clean tissue and handed it to Aunt Zhang, “Did something happen at home?”
Aunt Zhang knew that she shouldn’t bother Master Qi with her personal affairs, but his smile was so gentle and his eyes so kind that she felt like telling him.
“Eight years ago, I divorced my ex-husband. I didn’t have a house or a regular job then, so I didn’t win custody of my son,” Aunt Zhang wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. “I have been sending him stuff and money for years, but his father never let me see him. A few years ago, I almost went to court with my ex-husband for this matter, but his grandmother came to me and said that doing this will only embarrass him at school. Later I figured that as long as he treats him well, it doesn’t matter if I see him or not.”
Speaking of this past, Aunt Zhang cried very sadly. She said in a choked voice, “But I didn’t expect that he would believe his grandmother’s words, thinking that I left him because of another man.”
Hearing this, Qi Yan sighed, similar situations like this happened too much, she obviously suffered all the hardships, but in the end she somehow became the biggest sinner.
“Since he is an adult now, you can choose to tell him the truth,” Qi Yan said, “Even if he couldn’t understand it immediately, he is now old enough to think for himself. But if you don’t say it, he may never understand your love for him.”
“But he is missing,” Aunt Zhang said, and finally broke down and cried, “I only found out a few days ago that he came to work in the capital last year, and he never went back. He hasn’t contacted his father for a long time. He even suspected that I hid him.”
“Have you called the police?”
Aunt Zhang nodded and cried hoarsely, “But the police haven’t found him either. The capital is so big, I don’t even know where to look for him.”
No wonder he hadn’t seen Aunt Zhang for the past two days. It turned out that she went out to look for her son, but this was equivalent to looking for a needle in a haystack. How is it possible to find him like this?
Seeing her like this, Qi Yan comforted her, “Don’t worry, go rest first, and I will help you think of a solution.”
“Thank you, Mr. Qi, thank you very much.” Aunt Zhang thanked him profusely. At this moment, Qi Yan was a glimmer of hope. If it wasn’t for Qi Yan pulling her up, she would have knelt on the ground and kowtowed to Qi Yan.
Her master was kind enough to take her in as a servant, so that she could live in peace and stability. However, she was just an ordinary person with no connections or financial resources. It was really difficult to find her child on her own. There were rules in the Cen family. The servants were not allowed to disturb them. Mr. Qi’s offer was a great kindness to her.
“Qian Qian?” Cen Baihe returned home, saw Qi Yan sitting on the sofa in the living room in a daze, so he walked over and sat down beside him, “What’s the matter?”
“I’m thinking about a very serious issue.”
“What issue?” Cen Baihe handed his briefcase and coat to the servant, “What’s for dinner tonight?”
“Am I such a lazy person?” Qi Yan bumped Cen Baihe with his elbow, “I was thinking, if someone wanted to do something bad to your family, would they start with your housemaid?”
Cen Baihe’s expression became serious, “Something happened at home?”
“It’s nothing, I’m just thinking” Qi Yan glanced at the clock on the wall, “By the way, your dad said he’s going out with his old friends tonight, and he won’t eat with us.” What he didn’t tell Cen Baihe was that Old Master Cen had been looking at him strangely in the past two days.
He even wondered if he found him annoying since he had lived in the Cen’s house for too long. But his attitude towards him didn’t seem like it, instead he became more enthusiastic, so he was a little confused.
“Fifth Master, Miss Yuan is here.”
“Which Miss Yuan?” Cen Baihe remembered that Yuan Chongan had several sons, daughters and granddaughters. There were quite a few people in the capital who were called Miss Yuan.
“Miss Yuan Xiaoxi.” Seeing that Fifth Master Cen had no impression of this person, the butler reminded him in a low voice, “Yuan Hengyu’s only daughter, she wanted to talk to Master Qi about something.”
Cen Baihe frowned and turned to look at Qi Yan, “Qian Qian, Yuan Hengyu’s daughter wants to see us, do you want to?”
“As a man, how can I keep a girl out of the house? I should at least see her once,” Qi Yan raised his eyebrows, “Otherwise, how would we know what she wanted to say.”
“You are so gracious.” Cen Baihe lowered his head and flipped through the newspaper on the table twice, “You like her?”
“It’s better to make things clear,” Qi Yan didn’t pay attention to Cen Baihe’s expression, and put his hand on his shoulder, “Don’t worry, even if I do, my brother is more important.”
Cen Baihe smiled noncommittally, and pulled down Qi Yan’s hand on his shoulder, “Then let’s listen to what she has to say.”
Qi Yan squinted at Cen Baihe. Why did he sense something wrong?
Yuan Xiaoxi was prepared for Qi Yan to reject her visit. However, someone came to bring her in after waiting outside for a while.
The Cen family’s villa was very large. She was anxious to see Qi Yan, and she felt that the road to the villa was extremely long, so much so that she started to panic.
“Miss Yuan, please come in.” On the steps of the door to the house, a middle-aged man in a neat suit stood. He gave Yuan Xiaoxi a proper smile, “Please.”
“Thank you.” Yuan Xiaoxi squeezed the bag in her hand, took a deep breath, and stepped into the door.
“Cen, Fifth Master Cen…” Yuan Xiaoxi took a few steps. After seeing Cen Baihe, most of her courage disappeared. At this time, why was Fifth Master Cen at home? She specifically came at a time when she thought he would be having an important meeting at work.
“Miss Yuan, please take a seat,” Qi Yan seemed to have not noticed Yuan Xiaoxi’s flustered look, and raised his hand to signal her to sit down, “What would you like to drink?”
“Juice is fine, thank you.” Yuan Xiaoxi picked a seat a little farther from Cen Baihe and sat down. She squeezed the bag in her hand even tighter. Cen Baihe was so good-looking, so women should like approaching him. However, in reality, none of them dared to get close to nor talk to him.
Cen Baihe leaned back with the newspaper, his slender legs were put together, and he looked lazy. He also implied with his actions that he would sit here and listen quietly to their conversation.
Qi Yan didn’t think there was anything wrong with this, but Yuan Xiaoxi found it hard to accept. Did Fifth Master Cen not know that she came to see Master Qi?
Otherwise it would be rude of him.
