Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The closing ceremony for this event was on the 25th of February in Continent M.

Lots of reporters were on standby.

Qin Ran’s team came in first and was the youngest group in history. They were surely the stars of the show.

After the closing ceremony in Continent M, there was going to be another round of interviews locally.

Qin Ran couldn’t be bothered with these and got Brother Ye to attend to them instead.

She was busy analyzing the data from Matthew in the room.

The data was regarding the happenings of the Underground Alliance in Continent F many years back.

Qin Ran sat before the laptop and flipped through all the data. She then got up calmly and went to get a lighter to burn them all up.

She took a look at the time on her cell phone.

At 9:30 am.

Qin Ran kept her laptop, picked up her bag, and left.

When she got to the elevator, her cell phone rang.

Qin Ran glanced at the number. It was Matthew.

She held the elevator button with one hand and stuffed her earpiece into her ear with the other, then pressed the voice-changer button. “What is it?”

“Why are you helping me?” Matthew thought for a few days after Cheng Juan spoke to him about it. He finally decided to contact Qin Ran.

Q had appeared in the international field before and was always a symbol of justice.

So, Matthew couldn’t figure out why Q was helping him all of a sudden. Unless… Q was a justice warrior who had no connections with other authorities and groups.

But now…

Cheng Juan said that Qin Ran was Q…

Matthew was getting even more confused.

He had spoken to Qin Ran before. Firstly, she was too young. Secondly, she was someone familiar with Continent F.

Qin Ran raised a brow when she heard the question. “Why do you ask this all of a sudden?”

They had worked together for over two years.

Matthew had never checked out on her.

“Nothing much.” Matthew was in his seat and looking out of the window. “Mr. Cheng told me you were the one I held hostage last time. I wanted to verify this.”

Matthew didn’t want to beat about the bush. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to outdo Cheng Juan if they were going to play tricks.

He still hadn’t figured out why Cheng Juan was no longer against him.

Matthew had always been a direct person who wasn’t fond of speculation.

“Ding—”

The elevator doors opened.

But Qin Ran did not exit it.

She thought she might’ve heard him wrongly and said, “Can you repeat that.”

Her tone was a little off. Matthew took a while before he repeated it.

Qin Ran did not respond. She simply looked out of the elevator and ended the call. Then, she pulled her earpiece out.

Most people were attending the closing ceremony, so not many people were around outside.

Cheng Juan’s car was parked by the roadside with the windows opened.

He got off the car when he saw her.

Cheng Juan knew Qin Ran very well and could tell that something was amiss when he looked at her expression. Her eyes were oddly cold and clear. Cheng Juan reflected on himself first, and when he felt that he hadn’t done anything wrong, he asked apprehensively, “Something went wrong at the competition? But I heard that you guys did very well.”

He looked up at the five flags hanging off the building. “Just look at it.”

“What did you say to Matthew?” Qin Ran folded her arms and asked with a strange expression.

Cheng Juan narrowed his eyes.

He thought hard about his conversation with Matthew.

“You didn’t come clean with Matthew about helping him behind his back?” Cheng Juan furrowed his brows. “Then, how would he let you off so easily?”

After all, even Matthew’s savior, Gu Xichi, had not managed to persuade him.

Cheng Juan felt that only Q could convince Matthew.

No one else.

His judgment had never been wrong. That was why he decided to lay out the cards before him.

Now Qin Ran was saying that she hadn’t actually made it clear to him?

Qin Ran felt that this was getting increasingly confusing. “You can deal with him. I’m going to look for my uncle.”

They were returning tomorrow afternoon.

There were still lots of interviews and the handover ceremony in March to prepare for.

Cheng Juan could guess that Qin Ran had a lot on her mind.

“I’ll send you there right now.” He didn’t dare say anything more.

He quietly drove to Qin Xiuchen’s filming base.

Qin Xiuchen was in a major film with several scenes of the lead characters. He usually had a huge part in the shows, and this was the only day he even had some time to spare.

Qin Hanqiu was returning with Qin Ran the next day, so he was here today to see Qin Xiuchen as well.

When she arrived, Qin Hanqiu and Qin Ling had just gotten there.

They were waiting for her by the road.

Not many people in Continent M knew Qin Xiuchen and Qin Ran.

They didn’t have anything to hide.

“Xiao Cheng is here too?” Qin Hanqiu said a casual hello to Cheng Juan first.

Qin Ling greeted him “Big Brother Cheng” too.

Only Qin Xiuchen and Butler Qin weren’t acting or feeling so natural.

Cheng Juan, on the other hand, politely greeted Qin Hanqiu as Uncle and then addressed Qin Xiuchen as Uncle Qin.

Qin Xiuchen looked at Cheng Juan quietly.

He and Cheng Juan were considered to be of the same generation. After he found out that the Xiao Cheng Qin Hanqiu had been referring to was actually Cheng Juan, he wasn’t too optimistic about it… After all, he was known to be some sort of a playboy.

Especially because… the Ouyang family were in touch with Fourth Master Qin, so Qin Xiuchen knew about Ouyang Wei’s feelings towards Cheng Juan.

Ouyang Wei was part of the 129 too.

Although Cheng Juan seemed rather calm and a little expressionless as he addressed him, he did seem quite sincere.

Qin Xiuchen was a little stunned. Someone who could make Cheng Juan seem so sincere…

It didn’t seem like things between them were child’s play.

Qin Xiuchen felt much better.

He nodded towards Cheng Juan in acknowledgment and then asked Qin Ran, “Ran Ran, how’s the competition?”

They weren’t involved in the Physics field in Continent M and so did not know about the huge news that rocked the Research Institute.

Qin Ran wasn’t in the mood for this, so caught up in Matthew’s business. She simply said, “It was alright.”

“That’s good.” Qin Xiuchen took them around the place and got Qin Ran to take a few more photos. He knew that Qin Ran always had a thing for ancient architecture. He turned to Qin Hanqiu and asked, “Xiao Ling and Grand Uncle aren’t here today?”

“No, they have something on. They’ll take a while.” Qin Hanqiu took a look at the time.

Qin Ran handed her cell phone to Cheng Juan and got him to take the photos instead.

She put on the hood of the windbreaker and followed behind him.

Cheng Juan took photos of every spot around the place. When he was done, he bade his farewell to Qin Hanqiu and the rest so he could return to settling Matthew’s matters.

“Xiao Cheng isn’t joining us for food?” Qin Hanqiu was a little surprised to see Cheng Juan’s car was driving out.

Qin Ran saw the post Dean Jiang made about their achievement. She reposted it on her Weibo.

There were over 10 “likes” in a few moments. She logged out of her account and said, “He’s not hungry.”

“Is it?” Qin Hanqiu did not quite believe her.

They entered a private room in a restaurant. Once they were seated, Butler Qin turned to Qin Ling. “Young Master, you were too rash that day.”

“What is it?” Qin Ran looked up.

Butler Qin hurriedly explained, “Old Master Tang found that Young Master was rather gifted and wanted to keep him around. He could also take the chance to interact with Miss Tang. But the Young Master rejected him right away.”

The rejection wasn’t too bad, since Butler Qin wasn’t keen on them keeping in contact. But Qin Ling had been too harsh towards Miss Tang.

He was as impulsive as Qin Ran.

Butler Qin was worried about Qin Ling’s interpersonal skills.

“But I heard that Miss Tang is a hacker…” Butler Qin furrowed his brows and turned to Qin Hanqiu, then trailed off.

Qin Xiuchen looked at Qin Hanqiu as he tapped his fingers against the table. “Second Bro, it’s best if we have less interaction with the Tang family in the future. We’ll just be respectful towards Great Uncle, leave the rest out.”

Qin Hanqiu nodded. “Alright.” Besides Uncle, he didn’t like anyone else, anyway.

…

The Tang family.

Eldest Master Tang was on the first floor as Elder Li hurried in. “Eldest Master, you’re not joining Old Master and Second Master Qin for dinner? Almost everyone in the Tang family is present.”

He asked politely.

“It’s fine.” Eldest Master Tang looked at his watch and then shook his head. “Second Bro is coming back today, I’ll wait for him.”

He was referring to Lu Zhixin.

Lu Zhixin usually only came back during the Chinese New Year. In fact, he didn’t even make it a point to come back every year.

Each time he was back, everyone in the Tang family got busy.

Elder Li understood Eldest Master and nodded. Meanwhile, the other managers were rather keen on seeing Lu Zhixin.

As for Tang Qing, she had never revealed her face all this while. She’d always been proud, and the only person she bothered about was Lu Zhixin.