Chapter 57 Leaving
The couple met with Qi Lang's mother Angelia at the Century Hotel and had a meal in a harmonious atmosphere. Angelia thanked the couple for taking care of Qi Lang over the years. She even got red-eyed when she spoke. She also wanted to compensate them financially, but Bai Xincheng and Tang Xin refused. They said that they had always treated Qi Lang as their own son, and taking money would change their relationship.
Angelia didn't force them, but told the couple to come to her if they had any problems, and she would definitely help them.
Later, the couple took Angelia to visit the Forest Park, a tourist attraction in Nanxiang City. Knowing that Angelia wanted to chat with Qi Lang, the group went in groups of three or four.
Although Bai Xincheng and Tang Xin live in Nanxiang City, they have been busy with business in recent years and rarely have the time or mood to travel. Bai Xincheng used his mobile phone to take photos and videos of Tang Xin from various angles.
Yan Yi and Bai He walked at the back. Bai He took pictures of Yan Yi with her camera. Yan Yi obediently posed in various handsome poses she wanted and served as a model for her to practice without any complaints.
From time to time, they would also have some intimate actions, for example, when climbing a narrow and steep ladder, Yan Yi would subconsciously reach out to hold her hand, or directly carry her up. The interaction between the two of them...some small details could not be hidden at all.
"Wife, do you think that Yan Yi and Bai He are...weird?" Bai Xincheng asked Tang Xin.
"I discovered it a long time ago."
Bai Xincheng's imagination exploded: "Is Yan Yi in love with his sister?"
Tang Xin shrugged: "I don't know, what do you think?"
"I don't understand either. That kid... is very cunning." Bai Xincheng asked, "What should we do if it's true?"
"How should I know what to do? I only know that Xiao Baihe has liked Qi Lang for many years. If she breaks up with Xiao Lang for this reason, I can't agree."
"But Yan Yi's dad..."
"His father saved our little Lily's life, but how can we force him to marry her just for this?" Tang Xin said stubbornly, "I only want one son-in-law, and that's the one little Lily truly loves."
…
Angelia looked at the silent boy beside her. He was rarely so depressed.
Most of the time, this guy has countless tricks to amuse her, but he doesn't want to talk because he is really unhappy.
"Xiao Qi, what's wrong?"
"No, Mom, do you want some water? I'll go get you some."
Qi Lang quickened his pace and headed towards the store. Angelia noticed his evasion and called out to him, "Xiao Qi."
Qi Lang turned around, Angelia hugged him and patted his back: "It's okay, it's okay..."
Originally, Qi Lang was fine, he just felt a little depressed, but his mother's behavior made him feel a little upset.
"What are you doing? I'm really fine." Qi Lang didn't want to get embarrassed by his red nose, so he deliberately said, "Don't be so emotional here, really."
"I'm your mommy, can't you tell?" Angelia said, "You were so happy to tell me on the phone before that you and Bai He were together. What's going on now? Why haven't I heard his parents mention this?"
"I'm sorry, Mom. We're not together. I just like her one-sidedly."
Angelia looked at Qi Lang: "Does she know that you like her?"
"You know, I wrote her a suggestive confession poem when we graduated."
"Then what?"
"I've read it but didn't reply. I understand her. She did this because she only wants to be friends with me."
"Are you sure?" Angelia frowned and said, "Maybe she didn't understand. Why are you writing a confession poem? Ask her in person!"
"I tried, but it's still a little late." Qi Lang lowered his eyes, "Forget it, don't ask, I won't compete with Yan Yi for it."
From childhood to adulthood, he and Bai He cherished and protected the young man who lost everything like a brother and sister. Instead of letting him openly compete with Yan Yi for things, it would be better to kill him.
He had nothing…only her.
Angelia stroked Qi Lang's sharp face with heartache.
She knew that her son had always been such a kind-hearted, affectionate and loyal young man.
"If you've made your decision, stop dwelling on it and look toward the future," Angelia said earnestly. "For years, Mom has been trying to keep you out of the chaos. I hope you can live like an ordinary person, with your own little joys and small pleasures. But I never asked you if this is the life you want... If you feel unwilling, put that resentment in the future. Your father hopes that you will return to Hong Kong City as an exchange student in your junior year to fight for your future. He's willing to give you a chance."
"Going back?"
"Mom knows you're great, give it a try and use your abilities to compete."
Qi Lang turned around and looked at the two people taking pictures in the crowd. His heart was like a knife, and his head was throbbing with pain...
Yes, he had many regrets. Whether it was grades or competitions, he always wanted to be first, always wanted to prove his excellence.
Every day he spent with them, every joyful minute and second, Qi Lang felt how kind fate was to him, allowing him to have such a small happiness.
Be an ordinary person and go back to give it a try.
Qi Lang hasn't thought it through.
"Actually, I'm also starting my own business." Qi Lang replied to Angelia, "I'll think about it."
"Qi Lang, all good things must come to an end. You have to learn to grow up."
Growing up is like being alone in a wilderness. Only if you are strong and brave can you walk with your head held high.
…
Throughout his freshman and sophomore years, Qi Lang continued to pursue his entrepreneurial venture. The short video e-commerce business he partnered with several business school colleagues continued to generate profits, earning him his first pot of gold, a near-seven-figure sum. However, for Qi Lang, who came from a well-off family, this amount wasn't even enough to cover his parents' pocket money.
It wasn't that he didn't have enough money to spend. He knew very well that for an ordinary college student, a million was already a very impressive start. However, for Qi Lang, his ambitions went far beyond that.
During the summer vacation of sophomore year, something happened at Bai He's parents' food stall. A mean customer threw a lighter into the boiling hot pot soup after eating hot pot.
Later, when a waitress came to clean the table, an explosion occurred. The boiling hot pot oil splashed half a meter high and burned the waitress's arm. The burn was very serious.
Bai Xincheng immediately called the police and found the person, but there was no surveillance in the store. The guy was a rich second-generation and refused to admit it. He said that they would go to court and see who was afraid of whom. He was not afraid anyway.
Bai Xincheng is not afraid of going to court, mainly because the high medical expenses for his aunt's arm burns and the family's pensions are important.
The couple took out all their savings, and Yan Yi also took out all his savings to use for his aunt's follow-up treatment.
The couple should not have been fully responsible for this money. There was clearly a culprit, but this rich second-generation had a strong background in Nanxiang City, was bad and arrogant, and refused to pay a penny. He even sued the couple for false accusations. His father even hired the top legal team to defend him.
What’s even worse is that even food stalls can’t be opened.
Because this family had offended the rich second generation, the landlord was afraid of causing trouble, so he took back the food stall and stopped renting it to them. After doing business for so many years and accumulating so many repeat customers, how could Bai Xincheng be willing to let everything go to waste?
Throughout the summer, he went back and forth between the law firm and relevant departments...trying to get an explanation for this matter. He even contacted the news media to report the incident, but he didn't expect that the media was also bribed by the rich second generation. The report was written in a way that turned black into white, misleading people into thinking that there was a safety accident in the hotel, and ended up biting the guests.
Bai Xincheng seemed to have aged ten years in one summer. Tang Xin was also overwhelmed every day. She and Bai He took care of the injured aunt in the hospital. Yan Yi worked part-time, trying hard to earn money to fill the deficit at home, and at the same time helped Bai Xincheng find another store in a prime location for business.
The family worked together to overcome the difficulties. Qi Lang went to Morocco with his father to discuss business, and when he came back, he learned about this and was furious.
He flew back to Hong Kong the next day and, in a very willful manner, asked his father to come out of the company's conference room in front of a group of senior executives. He talked to him for two hours and explained the whole story clearly.
Qi Lang's father, Qi Fengyu, was a fifty-year-old man with half-gray hair and a very stable aura. He was initially a little angry, but then he thought about his son's nearly twenty years of life, and how he had never been so impulsive and willful towards him.
For once, he didn't want to get angry with him, so he patiently listened to him finish everything.
He was not interested in what he said, he was only interested in the emotions of the boy in front of him.
"Are their affairs important to you?"
"Very important." Qi Lang nodded, "They are my best friends."
"This is a small matter. I can help you with it." Qi Fengyu lit a cigar and said calmly, "But Xiaoqi, if I happen to not be your father, who would you turn to for help? Or would you go up and fight to the death yourself?"
Qi Lang listened without saying a word.
"It's time to grow up. Come back and prove yourself to me. Get what belongs to you." Qi Fengyu tapped his pipe, stood up and walked out. He gently touched the boy's strong and broad shoulders and said four words -
“Only the strong survive.”
…
Qi Fengyu didn't need to do anything himself in this matter. He sent one of his men over to meet the rich second-generation's father. In a few words, he asked him to personally send his son to the police station, and he admitted to the crime of losing the lighter.
The rich second-generation family not only covered the full medical expenses, pensions and subsequent treatment costs, but also went to the victim's home in person, bowed and apologized to the victim, and also apologized to Bai Xincheng.
At the same time, they invited the media to re-report the incident and clear Xincheng Food Stall's name. Even more satisfying, the media outlet that had been bribed by the rich second generation closed down.
At the end of the summer vacation, Xincheng Food Stall reopened in its original store because the couple had the courage to take responsibility after the aunt got into trouble and almost spent all their money to help the scalded aunt. After the incident was reported by the media, more customers came to the stall and the business became more and more prosperous.
In this matter, Bai He and Yan Yi owed Qi Lang a huge favor... but they had no way to repay it, and they couldn't afford to do so. Qi Lang didn't want any material return from them.
So the two of them could only invite Qi Lang to dinner every now and then. Apart from that, they couldn't think of any other way to repay him.
As friends for so many years, Qi Lang doesn't want anything in return.
At his cousin's Northeastern dumpling restaurant, Qi Lang poked at the corn kernels in the dumpling wrappers and asked, "Did you guys eat at Estro before you came here?"
Bai He: "Yeah."
"So you two are going to a Michelin restaurant for dinner, and you're treating me, so we're just going to have dumplings?"
My eldest cousin brought a dish of condiments and said, "If you don't like it, don't eat it!"
Qi Lang said cheerfully: "Just kidding, don't be angry, brother."
Yan Yi looked at Bai He, and Bai He whispered weakly, "I couldn't help but post a message on WeChat Moments, and I didn't block him."
"If you want to eat Estro, I can treat you." Yan Yi said to Qi Lang.
Bai He quickly added: "Consumption cannot exceed 100! We are very poor now!"
"I don't particularly want to eat it." Qi Lang said indifferently, "What's so good about Michelin? I'd rather eat hot pot."
"Don't mention hot pot!" Bai He shuddered. "When I see hot pot now, all I can think of is the oil splattering out of it."
She covered the scar on her neck in fear and said, "I'll never eat hot pot again in my life."
"That hotpot is so unfair." Qi Lang said, "But is Estro delicious?"
"It's so expensive, of course it's delicious. How about you treat me to another meal?"
"It's because I'm with the right person that everything I eat tastes delicious." He lowered his head and poked at the dumplings in the bowl, "I'm not the right person."
Yan Yi asked sensitively, "What are you jealous of?"
"No." Qi Lang said, "Let's go camping before summer ends."
Bai He held a dumpling in his mouth and looked up coldly: "Huh?"
"Remember when we went to the mountains to look for fireflies in junior high? I almost lost you two that time." Qi Lang was still looking at his plate, trying hard to control his voice and not let it tremble. "I want to go see fireflies with you again."
"Why do you suddenly want to camp?" Yan Yi asked, as if he had noticed something.
Qi Lang knew he couldn't hide it from him, so he simply admitted it openly: "I'm leaving, going back to Hong Kong City."
After these words came out, the air was frozen for a few seconds. Bai He raised her eyes and asked him, "Are you... going back to visit your relatives? When will you be back? Otherwise, how about we go camping after you come back..."
"It's not a visit." Qi Lang tried to make his tone sound like a joke, "I'm going back to inherit the family business. Apart from the graduation ceremony, I'll probably stay in Gangcheng the rest of the time. If I want to visit relatives in the future, it will probably be in Beili or Nanxiang City. I'll come back to see you two."
In the end, it will all end.
Yan Yi didn't say anything. He ordered two cans of beer from his cousin, clinked glasses with him, and drank in silence.
Yan Yi lowered his head and ate the small corn kernels on the plate. His chopsticks pierced the dumpling skins, and he said nothing.
"Did your father ask you to go back?" Yan Yi asked for her. "Is he forcing you to go back because you helped us?"
"He didn't force me," Qi Lang said. "I wanted to leave on my own."
Bai He's hand gripping the chopsticks was so tight that the flesh and bones turned white. "You want to leave? Why?"
"I think..."
Qi Lang found himself unable to answer Bai He's words. He didn't even have the courage to look at her. His eyes turned to Yan Yi, as if to say to him, "There's no reason. It's time for me to leave. I've lived in Nanxiang City for so many years. It was my mother's wish. She wanted me to stay away from disputes, but I still want to go back and fight for it."
"Really?" Yan Yi's dark eyes looked at him, as if he wanted to see through his heart, "Is that the only reason?"
"Can you two stop interrogating me like I'm a criminal?" Qi Lang couldn't stand the pressure. "Forget it, let's not talk about this topic. Let's talk about camping. I've already found a place. I won't get you lost this time. Fireflies are hard to find this season. It's best for us to spend the night in the mountains, so we have to prepare a tent..."
"Let's talk later. I'm going to the bathroom." Bai He said to him, got up and left.
After he left, Yan Yi said, "You are lying."
Qi Lang paused for a moment before saying, "When we were little, we played hide-and-seek with other kids from different ages. We were in the same closet, and if we hid you guys, there wouldn't be room for me."
Three people is too crowded after all.
"But didn't you come in at the end?" Yan Yi reminded, "and squeezed in with us."
"Why," he said jokingly, "you still agree to let me squeeze in now?"
Translation is no longer a matter of words.
"I don't want to compete with you." Qi Lang said.
"You can't snatch it from me either." Yan Yi fought back, not wanting to be outdone, "Don't act like you're asking me to do it. I don't need it!"
"In that case." Qi Lang raised the corner of his lips and stretched out his tone, "Why are you so excited?"
…
Bai He staggered against the wall outside the bathroom, trying hard to hold back her tears. She stood by the water table and scooped up some water to splash on her face.
"No, no, don't cry..."
She tried her best to hold back the tears that were pouring out, but it was so difficult. However, her eyes became infected when they got wet, and she couldn't stop crying.
She leaned against the wall, sobbing, covering her mouth, and biting her wrist hard...
When her cousin came out of the men's restroom, she quickly turned sideways and covered her eyes with her arms.
"What are you doing?"
"without…"
The words that came out of her mouth turned into a hoarse cry, and Bai He quickly ran into the women's bathroom and hid herself.
The eldest cousin was very tactful and did not disturb her. He quietly retreated and came to their seats.
"Bai He is crying like a pig being slaughtered in there. Who did this?"
Yan Yi drank in silence.
Qi Lang immediately got up and went to the bathroom.
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