The sound of rain pitter-pattered outside.
The ancient castle in the rain gave a lonely and desolate feeling of being detached from the world.
Qiao Ying on the sofa had her eyes closed, legs crossed, listening to the sound of raindrops hitting the window pane. She pulled her light-colored knitted shawl around herself a little tighter and hugged her arms.
The sofa sunk down next to her as the man's aggressive aura enveloped her, his cold cologne oddly matched the weather today, and Qiao Ying couldn't help but tug the corners of her lips into a faint smile.
The barely discernible smile went unnoticed by him.
Qin Hanyue looked at her and asked gently, "May I ask?"
She responded swiftly, "Mm."
He could ask, meaning it wasn't a serious issue. Qiao Ying had brought Diamond J away from the palace with her last night, and only came back this morning.
Qin Hanyue had returned to the ancient castle from the palace in the middle of the night and waited for her here until morning.
She was extremely tired when she came back and didn't say anything. There was blood on her clothes as she went into the bathroom, took a shower and then went straight to bed to sleep. After making sure she was unharmed, Qin Hanyue also went to sleep, unable to ask anything.
She slept through the morning and after getting up, she ate something, took her laptop and sat here typing. After finishing typing, she just sat there quietly.
Qin Hanyue looked at the darkened laptop screen, reached out to tuck the hair beside her ear back and asked, "What about Diamond J?"
Qiao Ying said, "Killed him."
It was good that Diamond J was killed. The matter with Dark Shadow could finally be completely ended.
Qin Hanyue asked, "Then what about your parents? Where are they?"
Qiao Ying was silent for a short while before opening her eyes. She looked at him with a hint of a smile, "For someone as clever as Mr. Qin, care to take a guess?"
She was still in the mood to tease him. Qin Hanyue felt relieved. A smile also surfaced on his face as he said, "Since you've just found out yourself, how can I guess?" Although he claimed to have no clue and couldn't guess, he was still able to offer a reply, "Is it related to Lin Guli?"
That meaningful glance Diamond J gave Lin Guli last night had not escaped Qin Hanyue's attention. What Diamond J said back then was also thought-provoking. Clearly, there were a lot of underlying stories.
It probably wasn't a coincidence that Qiao Ying ended up in Dark Shadow and became an assassin. And her mother that Diamond J claimed to be a legendary figure.
Seeing the appreciative smile in Qiao Ying's eyes, Qin Hanyue knew he had guessed correctly.
Qiao Ying wrapped herself up in the shawl and lightly tilted her chin towards the laptop on the desk, signaling Qin Hanyue. Qin Hanyue woke up the sleeping laptop and entered the password. As soon as it turned on, two sets of DNA showed up.
Qiao Ying said calmly, "Lin Guli is my biological father."
From that meaningful glance Diamond J gave Lin Guli last night, Qiao Ying had already guessed this would be the outcome.
Two sets of DNA.
One set belonged to Qiao Ying, or rather, to Xue Ying.
The other set belonged to Lin Guli's daughter. Some time ago, Lin Cheng had come to them with this set of DNA, asking them to help find the person.
Qin Hanyue didn't expect they were looking for Lin Guli's daughter.
Nor did he know that Lin Guli had lost a daughter.
Prior to this, Qin Hanyue didn't even know Lin Guli had a daughter, let alone anything else. Although he had guessed Qiao Ying's background would be related to Lin Guli, he didn't expect that Lin Guli was her father.
What a fateful connection...
Qin Hanyue scrolled down further to a paternity test report and looked at it without speaking for some time.
Qiao Ying asked him, "Why so silent? Are you glad you didn't behave rudely to him out of jealousy before? Oh right, there's also Lin Cheng."
Qiao Ying added, "No need for that. Even if you punched Ye Si a couple of times, I may not even say anything to you, much less them." She dismissed them in one short sentence.
Qin Hanyue laughed and looked at her, feeling somewhat overwhelmed: "Then what if I punched Cheng Jinyan a couple of times?"
Qiao Ying said, "There's a 99 percent chance that Ye Si was asking for it with his loud mouth. As for Cheng Jinyan... realistically and theoretically, it would be difficult for that kind of situation to occur between the two of you."
Qin Hanyue said, "You're so rational."
He didn't mean it as praise.
Qin Hanyue then said, "I'm not feeling down, just thinking that it was worthwhile to have blocked that knife for Lin Guli yesterday. I had thought..."
Qiao Ying looked at him right away, "You're injured?"
Her gaze searched his body for injuries.
Qin Hanyue touched his left posterior shoulder, "It's not a deep wound, nothing serious. I've had it dressed. Want to take a look?"
Qiao Ying said, "If it's been dressed properly, don't mess with it."
Qin Hanyue said, "Then you can see it tonight."
Qiao Ying retorted, "Others try to hide even a small illness or injury from those close to them because they don't want them to worry, yet you seem almost eager to shout out in pain."
Qin Hanyue smiled and admitted frankly, "I just want you to show some concern for me. And you're Seely after all, so skilled in Chinese medicine that a small injury like this definitely won't make you worry."
Qiao Ying gave him a look and said, "It's true there's no need to worry, but you're one of us after all, so I still feel distressed somewhat."
Qin Hanyue couldn't restrain the upward tug at the corners of his lips, the smile in his eyes threatening to spill out. He reached out to pull her onto his lap by the waist, hugging her tightly. He kissed her hair, "It's cold out. Let's huddle together for some warmth."
Qiao Ying said, "You're injured."
"It doesn't get in the way," he said, sliding his hand under her shawl to rest it on her slender waist, caressing her waistline. He asked, "So where's your mother?"
"She..."
Qiao Ying thought back to what Diamond J said last night about her mother.
"She's a bounty hunter. A very capable one. A born gifted recruit who leaves everyone in the dust with unmatched speed. I've heard many legendary tales about her before this, never expecting her to be my mother."
She commented, "A free-spirited and unfettered person. Able to evenly divide the autumn colors with me. Don't know what she saw in Lin Guli." With that one short sentence, she had praised two people and put down one.
Qin Hanyue blinked, struggling not to laugh.
He thought to himself: How can she be so adorable?
Just a while ago, she had said Lin Guli was slightly better than him. And now she was outright saying he wasn't good enough for her mother, which meant the not-as-good-as-Lin Guli Qin Hanyue himself was even more undeserving.
Teasing her, Qin Hanyue said, "Looks like Miss Qiao not only inherited her mother's talents and intelligence, but her poor taste in men as well."
Qiao Ying slanted him a look, "And what do you mean by that?"
Qin Hanyue quickly said, "Nothing."
Qiao Ying continued recounting, "In the past, Dark Shadow had wanted to recruit her into their ranks, but she's too much of a free spirit and wouldn't demean herself by joining them, hence she rejected."
"It was her genes that Dark Shadow was after. That's why they went to such lengths to steal me away shortly after I was born."
Qin Hanyue asked, "So where is she now?"
Qiao Ying said, "She is..."
The sound of rain pitter-pattered outside.
The ancient castle in the rain gave a lonely and desolate feeling of being detached from the world.
Qiao Ying on the sofa had her eyes closed, legs crossed, listening to the sound of raindrops hitting the window pane. She pulled her light-colored knitted shawl around herself a little tighter and hugged her arms.
The sofa sunk down next to her as the man's aggressive aura enveloped her, his cold cologne oddly matched the weather today, and Qiao Ying couldn't help but tug the corners of her lips into a faint smile.
The barely discernible smile went unnoticed by him.
Qin Hanyue looked at her and asked gently, "May I ask?"
She responded swiftly, "Mm."
He could ask, meaning it wasn't a serious issue. Qiao Ying had brought Diamond J away from the palace with her last night, and only came back this morning.
Qin Hanyue had returned to the ancient castle from the palace in the middle of the night and waited for her here until morning.
She was extremely tired when she came back and didn't say anything. There was blood on her clothes as she went into the bathroom, took a shower and then went straight to bed to sleep. After making sure she was unharmed, Qin Hanyue also went to sleep, unable to ask anything.
She slept through the morning and after getting up, she ate something, took her laptop and sat here typing. After finishing typing, she just sat there quietly.
Qin Hanyue looked at the darkened laptop screen, reached out to tuck the hair beside her ear back and asked, "What about Diamond J?"
Qiao Ying said, "Killed him."
It was good that Diamond J was killed. The matter with Dark Shadow could finally be completely ended.
Qin Hanyue asked, "Then what about your parents? Where are they?"
Qiao Ying was silent for a short while before opening her eyes. She looked at him with a hint of a smile, "For someone as clever as Mr. Qin, care to take a guess?"
She was still in the mood to tease him. Qin Hanyue felt relieved. A smile also surfaced on his face as he said, "Since you've just found out yourself, how can I guess?" Although he claimed to have no clue and couldn't guess, he was still able to offer a reply, "Is it related to Lin Guli?"
That meaningful glance Diamond J gave Lin Guli last night had not escaped Qin Hanyue's attention. What Diamond J said back then was also thought-provoking. Clearly, there were a lot of underlying stories.
It probably wasn't a coincidence that Qiao Ying ended up in Dark Shadow and became an assassin. And her mother that Diamond J claimed to be a legendary figure.
Seeing the appreciative smile in Qiao Ying's eyes, Qin Hanyue knew he had guessed correctly.
Qiao Ying wrapped herself up in the shawl and lightly tilted her chin towards the laptop on the desk, signaling Qin Hanyue. Qin Hanyue woke up the sleeping laptop and entered the password. As soon as it turned on, two sets of DNA showed up.
Qiao Ying said calmly, "Lin Guli is my biological father."
From that meaningful glance Diamond J gave Lin Guli last night, Qiao Ying had already guessed this would be the outcome.
Two sets of DNA.
One set belonged to Qiao Ying, or rather, to Xue Ying.
The other set belonged to Lin Guli's daughter. Some time ago, Lin Cheng had come to them with this set of DNA, asking them to help find the person.
Qin Hanyue didn't expect they were looking for Lin Guli's daughter.
Nor did he know that Lin Guli had lost a daughter.
Prior to this, Qin Hanyue didn't even know Lin Guli had a daughter, let alone anything else. Although he had guessed Qiao Ying's background would be related to Lin Guli, he didn't expect that Lin Guli was her father.
What a fateful connection...
Qin Hanyue scrolled down further to a paternity test report and looked at it without speaking for some time.
Qiao Ying asked him, "Why so silent? Are you glad you didn't behave rudely to him out of jealousy before? Oh right, there's also Lin Cheng."
Qiao Ying added, "No need for that. Even if you punched Ye Si a couple of times, I may not even say anything to you, much less them." She dismissed them in one short sentence.
Qin Hanyue laughed and looked at her, feeling somewhat overwhelmed: "Then what if I punched Cheng Jinyan a couple of times?"
Qiao Ying said, "There's a 99 percent chance that Ye Si was asking for it with his loud mouth. As for Cheng Jinyan... realistically and theoretically, it would be difficult for that kind of situation to occur between the two of you."
Qin Hanyue said, "You're so rational."
He didn't mean it as praise.
Qin Hanyue then said, "I'm not feeling down, just thinking that it was worthwhile to have blocked that knife for Lin Guli yesterday. I had thought..."
Qiao Ying looked at him right away, "You're injured?"
Her gaze searched his body for injuries.
Qin Hanyue touched his left posterior shoulder, "It's not a deep wound, nothing serious. I've had it dressed. Want to take a look?"
Qiao Ying said, "If it's been dressed properly, don't mess with it."
Qin Hanyue said, "Then you can see it tonight."
Qiao Ying retorted, "Others try to hide even a small illness or injury from those close to them because they don't want them to worry, yet you seem almost eager to shout out in pain."
Qin Hanyue smiled and admitted frankly, "I just want you to show some concern for me. And you're Seely after all, so skilled in Chinese medicine that a small injury like this definitely won't make you worry."
Qiao Ying gave him a look and said, "It's true there's no need to worry, but you're one of us after all, so I still feel distressed somewhat."
Qin Hanyue couldn't restrain the upward tug at the corners of his lips, the smile in his eyes threatening to spill out. He reached out to pull her onto his lap by the waist, hugging her tightly. He kissed her hair, "It's cold out. Let's huddle together for some warmth."
Qiao Ying said, "You're injured."
"It doesn't get in the way," he said, sliding his hand under her shawl to rest it on her slender waist, caressing her waistline. He asked, "So where's your mother?"
"She..."
Qiao Ying thought back to what Diamond J said last night about her mother.
"She's a bounty hunter. A very capable one. A born gifted recruit who leaves everyone in the dust with unmatched speed. I've heard many legendary tales about her before this, never expecting her to be my mother."
She commented, "A free-spirited and unfettered person. Able to evenly divide the autumn colors with me. Don't know what she saw in Lin Guli." With that one short sentence, she had praised two people and put down one.
Qin Hanyue blinked, struggling not to laugh.
He thought to himself: How can she be so adorable?
Just a while ago, she had said Lin Guli was slightly better than him. And now she was outright saying he wasn't good enough for her mother, which meant the not-as-good-as-Lin Guli Qin Hanyue himself was even more undeserving.
Teasing her, Qin Hanyue said, "Looks like Miss Qiao not only inherited her mother's talents and intelligence, but her poor taste in men as well."
Qiao Ying slanted him a look, "And what do you mean by that?"
Qin Hanyue quickly said, "Nothing."
Qiao Ying continued recounting, "In the past, Dark Shadow had wanted to recruit her into their ranks, but she's too much of a free spirit and wouldn't demean herself by joining them, hence she rejected."
"It was her genes that Dark Shadow was after. That's why they went to such lengths to steal me away shortly after I was born."
Qin Hanyue asked, "So where is she now?"
Qiao Ying said, "She is..."
