Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

“I knew it.” Minister Yu laughed. “I’ve already been to her dormitory thrice to invite her to join the Student Union. She hasn’t replied to me at all. How is it possible that she’s looking for me now.”

Zhang Xiangge became even more puzzled. “You invited her thrice? Just because she’s pretty?”

It was a given that the Foreign Relations Minister had to be pretty, and Qin Ran was pretty. Hence, Zhang Xiangge could understand.

“Please, it’s not about looks. If qualifying for the Student Union is so easy, would it still be known as the Beijing University’s Student Union?” Minister Yu scoffed. “Don’t you know? Qin Ran is Beijing University’s top scorer for this year. She was the valedictorian of the college entrance examination as well. Our principal took a lot of effort to get her. She’s backed by Dean Jiang from the Physics department. Do you think she will join any random club?”

Students of her caliber didn’t need to rely on connections to gain entrance into the laboratories.

All they had to do was to focus on research, and the Dean and the school would settle everything else.

Minister Yu looked for her twice previously. However, after receiving a call from Dean Jiang, he had to give up.

“Director Zhang, if there isn’t anything else, I will be going off now,” Minister Yu said.

Zhang Xiangge stayed silent for a moment before saying, “Sorry to trouble you.”

He was still holding his cup of alcohol. As he ended the call, he downed it in one shot.

“How is it?” The remaining three in the room asked after seeing his expression. “Things aren’t going well?”

Zhang Xiangge shook his head and slammed the cup on the table. “You guys are aware that Miss Qin is Beijing University’s student, right?”

“I know. Word on the street is that Master Juan paid a hefty price for it,” said someone.

This rumor began circulating out of nowhere since the beginning of June. It said that Old Master Cheng was involved as well.

“It’s just a rumor,” Zhang Xiangge said as he looked at the three of them. “She’s the valedictorian of the college entrance examination this year.”

**

In Yunjin District.

Qin Ling was on break today and was playing games in his room. When he received Qin Ran’s confirmation, his eyes sparkled.

He exited the room and saw that Qin Hanqiu was still at the table. Uncle Qiu was sitting opposite him.

“Not done with it?” Uncle Qiu asked while holding up a set of data from the table.

Qin Hanqiu lowered his head and said, “Not yet, Uncle Qiu.”

“Where’s your computer?” Uncle Qiu asked as he held onto his head.

Qin Hanqiu immediately went back into his room and brought his laptop out.

Uncle Qiu looked at the middle-aged man behind him. He took out a thumb drive and copied a piece of software into the laptop. Uncle Qiu said, “Use the three days from the mid-autumn period to take a look at the documents. Then, settle the code for me.”

Qin Hanqiu felt pressured from the workload, but he nodded and replied, “Yes, Uncle Qiu.”

After delegating the assignment, Uncle Qiu left with the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged-man pressed for the lift and said, “Butler Qin, Second Master has never gone through proper education. It’s a great improvement that he can read documents in half a month.”

Over the past half a month, Uncle Qiu had found several private tutors for him, and he essentially forced education upon Qin Hanqiu.

Even though he was honest to a fault, Qin Hanqiu was quite clever.

“I know, but it’s not enough.” Uncle Qiu frowned. “It’s such a big business. Forth Master and the Ouyang Family are just waiting to see him fail. He cannot afford to fail.”

The Qin Family was but a former shadow of itself. The families that once relied on it had defected to the Ouyang Family.

As they reached the ground floor, the chauffeur was already awaiting them.

They opened the door for the backseats and got in.

After settling in, Uncle Qiu felt that something was poking his hand. He commanded the chauffeur to switch on the backseats lights and saw a thumb drive.

“Erm…” Uncle Qiu was shocked.

The middle-aged man heard the commotion, turned back, and asked, “Isn’t that the thumb drive for Second Master?”

“It’s the semi-finished products from the technical department. I have confused it with the thumb drive meant for him,” said Uncle Qiu as he pressed on his temple.

The middle-aged man froze for a while and then asked, “Should we turn back?”

The car had already left Yunjin Community and was heading to the highway. After thinking about it, he shook his head and said, “It’s ok. He can’t understand the information. Let’s allow him to relax this mid-autumn. We can pass him the assignment next time.”

The middle-aged-man nodded after hearing that.

The car left.

…

Room 801.

After they left, Qin Ling emerged from the room.

Qin Hanqiu was frowning as he looked through the documents. Noticing him, he asked, “Xiao Ling, why are you up? Are you hungry?”

“No,” Qin Ling replied, shaking his head. He was holding onto his phone as he looked at Qin Hanqiu with an empty expression. Then, he said with sparkling eyes, “Older Sister will be coming over for a meal tomorrow afternoon.”

The only person he would refer to as Older Sister was Qin Ran.

Upon hearing this, Qin Hanqiu’s eyes lit up, and he said, “Really? I’ll get up early to buy some groceries tomorrow, then.”

He was a great cook when he was together with Ning Qing. He was the one cooking most of the time.

His skills weren’t bad. As he was living in Yunjin Community, Uncle Qiu always reminded him that he didn’t have to cook anymore. However, he still enjoyed cooking.

“Is Xiao Cheng coming as well?” Qin Hanqiu asked.

Qin Ling didn’t inquire about this, but after thinking about it, he replied, “Big Brother Cheng will definitely be coming.”

“Alright.” A smile appeared on Qin Hanqiu’s face, and he took out a memo to start writing down the dishes for tomorrow. His laptop was left on the table.

**

The next day.

Qin Ran woke up quite late. By the time she went down, Cheng Juan was already done with his morning run, shower, and breakfast.

Cheng Wenru sat up straight with arms crossed on the stool, emitting a strong aura.

Upon seeing Qin Ran, she dropped her cold expression and asked, “Ran Ran, it’s the mid-autumn festival today. Do you have anything planned? Let Older Sister bring you out for a meal later tonight.”

Qin Ran walked to the table and sat down. As she picked up her chopsticks, she apologized. “Sorry. I’m going to see my brother today.”

“Your brother?” Cheng Wenru was puzzled. Qin Ran had never mentioned her family before.

The only thing she heard from Lu Zhaoying was that her grandma had died.

Hence, she had never brought up family matters in front of Qin Ran before. Now, even though she knew Qin Ran had a brother, she didn’t ask further. She pretended that everything was fine and said, “It’s alright. Go have fun with your brother.”

Then, she lowered her head and sent a message to Old Master Cheng.

After thinking about it, she asked about Qin Ling’s age and interests and asked Secretary Li to prepare a gift.

A limited-edition premium gaming console.

Cheng Wenru was already aware of it. As they finished the meal, they continued chatting for an hour before heading to Yunjin Community.

Yunjin Community wasn’t near the school, but it was in a good location. Due to the festival, there was a lot of foot traffic in the area. Hence, it took more than an hour to get there.

At the back of the car were three bags of gifts. One was from Cheng Wenru to Qin Ling, and the other two were prepared by Cheng Jin under Cheng Juan’s instructions.

Qin Ran took a quick look but couldn’t decipher what was inside. She thought they were just supplements.

Cheng Juan handed the keys to Qin Ran and went into the elevator holding the three bags.

When they reached room 801, Qin Hanqiu opened the door while holding a spatula.

He carried a different image now wearing branded goods. He had an excellent figure, even though he was already over forty. As he didn’t work, he looked less weathered.

“Have a seat, I’m still preparing two more dishes.” He then asked Qin Ling to prepare tea for them before heading back into the kitchen to finish preparing the food.

After putting down the bags, Cheng Juan took off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves.

Looking at Qin Ran and Qin Ling sitting at the table, Cheng Juan went to the kitchen to help.

“Writing programs?” Qin Ran asked as she took a chair next to Qin Ling. He was playing around with a half-written program. “Seems impressive.”

Qin Ling had just started to gain exposure to such things. He hadn’t finished reading the list from Qin Ran, so he only knew how to do basic scripting before getting stuck.

Hearing her praise, Qin Ling scratched his head and replied, “This mission is from Uncle Qiu. Dad needs to finish it during this period.”

“Him?” Qin Ran asked, crossing her legs. “Are you sure?”

Are the people in the Qin Family mad? Not even Qin Ling can settle it, and they want Qin Hanqiu to do it?

Is this a sign of desperation?

Qin Ran supported her chin with her hand as she thought through it.

It wasn’t impossible. Since they were able to find Qin Hanqiu from Ninghai Town. It was something hard to comprehend, anyway.

“That’s right,” Qin Ling replied, nodding.

“Come,” Qin Ran nonchalantly said, taking over the laptop. “Let me do it.”

Qin Ling’s eyes lit up. He got off the stool and stood next to her.

Qin Ran clicked on the program and gained access to the source code.

It was a half-finished program. It still required a connection to an engine.

She immediately started the editor and began typing a complicated bunch of codes.

Qin Ling couldn’t keep his eyes off of it.

“What are you guys doing?” Qin Hanqiu asked as he came out after twenty minutes, holding a dish. He could only see Qin Ran and Qin Ling staring at the laptop and hear the soft sound of keys being pressed.

It seemed like they were gaming.