Ming Qin crossed his arms across his chest and walked around, talking about the past with a smile on his face.
Xia Wennan and Ming Luchuan could only follow behind him, quietly listening to him speak.
Ming Qin was evidently in high-spirits. He recalled his earlier days on the job, as well as his initial attempts to create his first perfume, not forgetting to mention his excitement and shock when he earned the international award for the first time. Despite Xia Wennan and Ming Luchuan’s lack of response, he had no intention of slowing down, as if he simply wanted to communicate everything in his mind.
It was then that Xia Wennan smelled the alcohol emanating from Ming Qin’s body.
Later on, Ming Qin came to a halt and sat on Xia Wennan’s lab countertop, reading Xia Wennan’s illegible notes.
“Dad, drink some water,” said Xia Wennan as he handed Ming Qin a glass of water.
Ming Qin took it from his hands and said, “Thank you.” He looked at Xia Wennan with a tilt of his head. “Wennan, in the future, Ming Yan’s fate resides on your and Ming Luchuan’s shoulders.”
Xia Wennan smiled but said nothing. He took half a step back until Ming Luchuan stood in front of him so that he could go and deal with Ming Qin.
Ming Luchuan appeared to have zero interest in this topic. He merely said, “Dad, you’re drunk. Why don’t we take you home?”
Ming Qin said, “It’s still pretty early though.”
Ming Luchuan said, “It’s getting late. Let’s head back so you can get some rest.”
Ming Qin lifted the glass and drank slowly. A while later, he set the glass down and got to his feet, saying, “Let’s go then.”
When Xia Wennan heard these words, he felt a wave of relief wash over him. He wasn’t intending on working overtime tonight, and as long as he could send Ming Qin away now, he would have an easier time.
Ming Luchuan didn’t call the driver and drove Xia Wennan and Ming Qin back home himself.
Xia Wennan sat in the front passenger seat, while Ming Qin had the back seat to himself.
From the moment he got into the car, Ming Qin abruptly fell silent and made no further sound.
Xia Wennan took a look at Ming Luchuan. He found the atmosphere somewhat awkward, but when he tried to come up with something to talk about, Ming Qin remained unresponsive. Xia Wennan stopped trying altogether after his first failed attempt.
Three people sat inside the car in silence.
In brightly lit stretches of the road, Xia Wennan snuck a peek at Ming Qin over his shoulder, only to find that he was staring out the window with a blank expression. As a result, he turned his gaze to Ming Luchuan, who felt his eyes on him and reached out to grasp his hand. He then released his hold and continued driving quietly.
The silence was unexpectedly broken by an accident.
On a relatively deserted roadway, Ming Luchuan’s car was rear-ended by another vehicle. Although the impact wasn’t severe, the thump of the crash caused Xia Wennan’s heart to skip a beat.
For a split second, Xia Wennan thought that the unlicensed car from the previous night had reappeared.
Ming Luchuan was very cautious. He first pulled over, then addressed Xia Wennan and Ming Qin in a quiet voice, “Don’t get out of the car. I’ll go and check it out.”
After opening the door and getting out of the car, he locked the doors from outside.
Despite his concern for Ming Luchuan, Xia Wennan could only roll down the car window halfway and stick his head out to look behind them.
Ming Qin’s curiosity was aroused at this point, and he inquired, “What’s the matter?”
Xia Wennan didn’t respond.
They were already in the suburbs and no longer on a main road; the two-way street was flanked with private neighbourhoods, and there were no merchants or pedestrians in sight, only the occasional passing car.
Craning his neck, Xia Wennan saw that the vehicle that had rear-ended them was a sports car, and despite the dim street lights, he could tell that it was a high-end luxury car. At the very least, it wasn’t an unlicensed car of unknown origins, which Xia Wennan couldn’t be more glad about.
When Ming Luchuan arrived at the driver’s side of the sports car, the driver opened the door and stepped out.
Despite the fact that the winter sky had long since darkened, the sports car driver was wearing sunglasses. He was dressed in a loose, long down jacket and had the physique of a slender omega—as Xia Wennan stared at him, he couldn’t help but notice that this person looked a bit familiar.
After saying a few words to Ming Luchuan, the omega suddenly took off his sunglasses. Unfortunately, Ming Luchuan blocked Xia Wennan’s line of sight, and the omega had already put his sunglasses back on before Xia Wennan could get a good look at his face.
Xia Wennan’s curiosity was quickly piqued. Assuming there was no danger, he opened his door and exited the car, making his way to the car at the back.
As Xia Wennan approached, the omega driver also spotted him. “Wennan!” he exclaimed, mouth curled up into a grin.
Hearing his voice, Xia Wennan finally figured out who the person was. “Li Xin?” he said. “Why is it you?”
Li Xin said, “Yeah, I’m really sorry about this. I wasn’t paying attention just now.” He bent his head and looked at the spot where Ming Luchuan’s car had been hit. “I never thought that I’d rear-end President Ming’s car by chance.”
When he looked up again, Li Xin said, “I’m really sorry. I’ll accept full responsibility for all the damages. Once President Ming’s repair bills come out, I’ll immediately arrange someone to take care of it.”
Xia Wennan realised that Li Xin intended to settle this privately, rather than through an insurance company. Curiosity piqued, he subconsciously cast a glance into Li Xin’s car and, as expected, he saw an alpha sitting in the passenger seat.
The alpha donned sunglasses and a cap that fully obscured the upper half of his face. Regardless, Xia Wennan recognised Lu Wenxing at a glance.
Lu Wenxing seemed to have no intention of leaving the car for even a second; he didn’t even look in their direction.
Xia Wennan couldn’t resist glancing at Ming Luchuan. He had no idea whether Ming Luchuan had noticed that Lu Wenxing was inside, but whatever the case, Ming Luchuan’s tone and demeanour remained neutral. After listening to Li Xin’s statement, he took Xia Wennan’s hand in his, planning to return to their car.
“Hold on.” Someone behind Xia Wennan spoke up before he could turn around.
When he looked back, he saw that Ming Qin had gotten out of the car at some point and was now standing behind them.
Ming Qin took two steps forward, standing right in front of Li Xin’s car, and stared at it for a moment before manoeuvring around the car and stopping by the door of the passenger seat, whereupon he knocked on its window.
“Dad,” Ming Luchuan said in a low voice, sounding like he was trying to stop Ming Qin.
Yet Ming Qin didn’t stop at all; he even laughed, and as he pounded on the window, he said, “Big-shot film emperor, won’t you step out of the car and reminisce about the past with this old pal of yours?”
A hint of panic was visible on Li Xin’s face as he turned to Ming Luchuan and Xia Wennan with a helpless look on his face.
Xia Wennan hesitated inwardly as he cast a peek in Ming Luchuan’s direction, but when he saw that Ming Luchuan was glued to the spot with only a faint frown on his brow, he decided against interjecting.
Lu Wenxing didn’t roll down his window.
Ming Qin’s knocking became more ferocious, resulting in a loud noise. At the same time, he yelled, “What are you hiding from, Lu Wenxing?!”
Li Xin was tense. “President Ming, could you please stop your… father?” he said to Ming Luchuan. Just now, Li Xin had heard Ming Luchuan call this man ‘dad’, yet his question sounded a little unsure.
Before Ming Luchuan could speak, Lu Wenxing rolled down his window and looked up at Ming Qin. “What can I do for you?” he asked coldly.
Ming Qin burst out laughing. He raised a hand and tucked his slightly long hair behind his ear before throwing Li Xin a look, and asked, “Who’s this, huh? Why don’t you introduce him to me so that the next time I burn paper offerings for my brother, I can tell him all about him?”
Lu Wenxing’s face was stony. “How is that any of your business?”
Ming Qin’s tone was nonchalant as he said, “Is he none of my business? Or are you none of my business? Or is my brother none of my business?”
Ming Qin crossed his arms across his chest and walked around, talking about the past with a smile on his face.
Xia Wennan and Ming Luchuan could only follow behind him, quietly listening to him speak.
Ming Qin was evidently in high-spirits. He recalled his earlier days on the job, as well as his initial attempts to create his first perfume, not forgetting to mention his excitement and shock when he earned the international award for the first time. Despite Xia Wennan and Ming Luchuan’s lack of response, he had no intention of slowing down, as if he simply wanted to communicate everything in his mind.
It was then that Xia Wennan smelled the alcohol emanating from Ming Qin’s body.
Later on, Ming Qin came to a halt and sat on Xia Wennan’s lab countertop, reading Xia Wennan’s illegible notes.
“Dad, drink some water,” said Xia Wennan as he handed Ming Qin a glass of water.
Ming Qin took it from his hands and said, “Thank you.” He looked at Xia Wennan with a tilt of his head. “Wennan, in the future, Ming Yan’s fate resides on your and Ming Luchuan’s shoulders.”
Xia Wennan smiled but said nothing. He took half a step back until Ming Luchuan stood in front of him so that he could go and deal with Ming Qin.
Ming Luchuan appeared to have zero interest in this topic. He merely said, “Dad, you’re drunk. Why don’t we take you home?”
Ming Qin said, “It’s still pretty early though.”
Ming Luchuan said, “It’s getting late. Let’s head back so you can get some rest.”
Ming Qin lifted the glass and drank slowly. A while later, he set the glass down and got to his feet, saying, “Let’s go then.”
When Xia Wennan heard these words, he felt a wave of relief wash over him. He wasn’t intending on working overtime tonight, and as long as he could send Ming Qin away now, he would have an easier time.
Ming Luchuan didn’t call the driver and drove Xia Wennan and Ming Qin back home himself.
Xia Wennan sat in the front passenger seat, while Ming Qin had the back seat to himself.
From the moment he got into the car, Ming Qin abruptly fell silent and made no further sound.
Xia Wennan took a look at Ming Luchuan. He found the atmosphere somewhat awkward, but when he tried to come up with something to talk about, Ming Qin remained unresponsive. Xia Wennan stopped trying altogether after his first failed attempt.
Three people sat inside the car in silence.
In brightly lit stretches of the road, Xia Wennan snuck a peek at Ming Qin over his shoulder, only to find that he was staring out the window with a blank expression. As a result, he turned his gaze to Ming Luchuan, who felt his eyes on him and reached out to grasp his hand. He then released his hold and continued driving quietly.
The silence was unexpectedly broken by an accident.
On a relatively deserted roadway, Ming Luchuan’s car was rear-ended by another vehicle. Although the impact wasn’t severe, the thump of the crash caused Xia Wennan’s heart to skip a beat.
For a split second, Xia Wennan thought that the unlicensed car from the previous night had reappeared.
Ming Luchuan was very cautious. He first pulled over, then addressed Xia Wennan and Ming Qin in a quiet voice, “Don’t get out of the car. I’ll go and check it out.”
After opening the door and getting out of the car, he locked the doors from outside.
Despite his concern for Ming Luchuan, Xia Wennan could only roll down the car window halfway and stick his head out to look behind them.
Ming Qin’s curiosity was aroused at this point, and he inquired, “What’s the matter?”
Xia Wennan didn’t respond.
They were already in the suburbs and no longer on a main road; the two-way street was flanked with private neighbourhoods, and there were no merchants or pedestrians in sight, only the occasional passing car.
Craning his neck, Xia Wennan saw that the vehicle that had rear-ended them was a sports car, and despite the dim street lights, he could tell that it was a high-end luxury car. At the very least, it wasn’t an unlicensed car of unknown origins, which Xia Wennan couldn’t be more glad about.
When Ming Luchuan arrived at the driver’s side of the sports car, the driver opened the door and stepped out.
Despite the fact that the winter sky had long since darkened, the sports car driver was wearing sunglasses. He was dressed in a loose, long down jacket and had the physique of a slender omega—as Xia Wennan stared at him, he couldn’t help but notice that this person looked a bit familiar.
After saying a few words to Ming Luchuan, the omega suddenly took off his sunglasses. Unfortunately, Ming Luchuan blocked Xia Wennan’s line of sight, and the omega had already put his sunglasses back on before Xia Wennan could get a good look at his face.
Xia Wennan’s curiosity was quickly piqued. Assuming there was no danger, he opened his door and exited the car, making his way to the car at the back.
As Xia Wennan approached, the omega driver also spotted him. “Wennan!” he exclaimed, mouth curled up into a grin.
Hearing his voice, Xia Wennan finally figured out who the person was. “Li Xin?” he said. “Why is it you?”
Li Xin said, “Yeah, I’m really sorry about this. I wasn’t paying attention just now.” He bent his head and looked at the spot where Ming Luchuan’s car had been hit. “I never thought that I’d rear-end President Ming’s car by chance.”
When he looked up again, Li Xin said, “I’m really sorry. I’ll accept full responsibility for all the damages. Once President Ming’s repair bills come out, I’ll immediately arrange someone to take care of it.”
Xia Wennan realised that Li Xin intended to settle this privately, rather than through an insurance company. Curiosity piqued, he subconsciously cast a glance into Li Xin’s car and, as expected, he saw an alpha sitting in the passenger seat.
The alpha donned sunglasses and a cap that fully obscured the upper half of his face. Regardless, Xia Wennan recognised Lu Wenxing at a glance.
Lu Wenxing seemed to have no intention of leaving the car for even a second; he didn’t even look in their direction.
Xia Wennan couldn’t resist glancing at Ming Luchuan. He had no idea whether Ming Luchuan had noticed that Lu Wenxing was inside, but whatever the case, Ming Luchuan’s tone and demeanour remained neutral. After listening to Li Xin’s statement, he took Xia Wennan’s hand in his, planning to return to their car.
“Hold on.” Someone behind Xia Wennan spoke up before he could turn around.
When he looked back, he saw that Ming Qin had gotten out of the car at some point and was now standing behind them.
Ming Qin took two steps forward, standing right in front of Li Xin’s car, and stared at it for a moment before manoeuvring around the car and stopping by the door of the passenger seat, whereupon he knocked on its window.
“Dad,” Ming Luchuan said in a low voice, sounding like he was trying to stop Ming Qin.
Yet Ming Qin didn’t stop at all; he even laughed, and as he pounded on the window, he said, “Big-shot film emperor, won’t you step out of the car and reminisce about the past with this old pal of yours?”
A hint of panic was visible on Li Xin’s face as he turned to Ming Luchuan and Xia Wennan with a helpless look on his face.
Xia Wennan hesitated inwardly as he cast a peek in Ming Luchuan’s direction, but when he saw that Ming Luchuan was glued to the spot with only a faint frown on his brow, he decided against interjecting.
Lu Wenxing didn’t roll down his window.
Ming Qin’s knocking became more ferocious, resulting in a loud noise. At the same time, he yelled, “What are you hiding from, Lu Wenxing?!”
Li Xin was tense. “President Ming, could you please stop your… father?” he said to Ming Luchuan. Just now, Li Xin had heard Ming Luchuan call this man ‘dad’, yet his question sounded a little unsure.
Before Ming Luchuan could speak, Lu Wenxing rolled down his window and looked up at Ming Qin. “What can I do for you?” he asked coldly.
Ming Qin burst out laughing. He raised a hand and tucked his slightly long hair behind his ear before throwing Li Xin a look, and asked, “Who’s this, huh? Why don’t you introduce him to me so that the next time I burn paper offerings for my brother, I can tell him all about him?”
Lu Wenxing’s face was stony. “How is that any of your business?”
Ming Qin’s tone was nonchalant as he said, “Is he none of my business? Or are you none of my business? Or is my brother none of my business?”
