Rose Manor: Tycoon's Relentless Chase
Chapter 27 - 24: Brewing Sobering Soup

Chapter 27: Chapter 24: Brewing Sobering Soup

The atmosphere in the Qin Family villa’s dining room was not very harmonious.

Qin Zhongtian, who had been busy all day, had just returned. He took off his black suit and casually tossed it to the following maid, washed his hands, and sat down by the dining table.

The most honorable Old Mrs. Qin sat in the main seat. Her usually kind face was rather stern today. Opposite her was Qin Sang, a freshman at a local university in Yicheng, who would return home to keep the old lady company when not in class.

There was a person missing at the table.

Qin Zhongtian looked at Qin Sang, who was serving soup to the old lady, and said, "Where’s your brother, out gallivanting again?" He had a deep understanding of Qin Fan’s nature.

Qin Sang put down the bowl and instinctively glanced at her grandmother, "Brother came back at noon and heard that grandma had arranged a marriage for him. He threw a huge fit, locked himself in his room, and hasn’t come out since, playing games."

"Go ask young master to come down," Qin Zhongtian turned and said to a nearby servant.

The servant placed a dish on the table, wiped her hands, and turned to go upstairs, knowing well that it was unlikely to persuade the young master, given his notorious temper.

Qin Zhongtian took a bite of the food and started addressing important matters: "Mom, I’ve already had those messy online rumors deleted. Society develops quickly nowadays, with new things happening every day, too many to keep up with. As time passes, no one will remember this incident. You decided to have Qin Fan marry the Yin Family’s daughter just because of this; it’s a bit hasty. It’s normal for kids their age to stir some scandals."

Old Mrs. Qin snorted lightly, "As they say, when the upper beam is not straight, the lower ones become crooked. You think this is normal? Your son slept with an innocent girl, and photos got posted online for everyone to see. Shouldn’t he take responsibility? The Yin Family isn’t some insignificant family. Wouldn’t you feel disgraced meeting them in other circumstances later?"

Qin Zhongtian’s facial muscles twitched slightly, wanting to argue, but the words swallowed back down.

The person before him was the mother who raised him; some things are better left unsaid. Arguing would only upset her, and her health was not worth risking over this.

Outside Qin Fan’s room upstairs, the servant knocked on the door and leaned an ear against it to listen for any sounds, but it was deathly silent inside, as if no one was there. Yet she knew the young master hadn’t left after returning, most likely choosing to ignore everyone.

Clearing her throat, the servant raised her voice, "Young master, sir is back and wants you downstairs."

The door in front suddenly flung open, and the servant, standing close, almost tumbled in. Steadying herself, she smiled, "Sir invites you down for dinner."

Qin Fan ruffled his hair irritably, stormed past the servant, and went downstairs to the dining room. The first thing he said was, "Dad, I can’t marry Yin Shuyao. Please talk to grandma and have her drop the idea."

Qin Zhongtian: "Then what do you suggest?"

"I’ve explained the same to grandma," Qin Fan said, "Last night was just an accident. We are not involved; we just drank too much and slept together. I can offer other compensations if needed, but marriage is impossible."

Qin Fan dared not mention that the person he truly wanted to date was Shen Jianian. It was just a mistake that led to the current situation.

Old Mrs. Qin slammed her chopsticks onto the table with a resounding "bang," silencing the entire dining room.

"Listen to what you’re saying, is there even an ounce of reason?" The old lady was exasperatedly disappointed, "I raised you myself, how can you be so senseless?"

Qin Fan’s handsome face paled, teeth clenched, he stared directly at his father.

Qin Zhongtian served a dish to the old lady with communal chopsticks without looking up, "There’s no need to discuss this further, listen to your grandmother."

He had tried pleading for his son, but Old Mrs. Qin’s words left him speechless. He was usually occupied with work, focusing on the company, leaving household affairs to the old lady. Her word was tantamount to the ancient empress dowager’s decree, and the younger generation had no choice but to comply.

Even he dared not easily go against the old lady’s wishes.

"Dad! Have you lost your mind?!" Qin Fan shouted incredulously, anger rising to his eyes.

Qin Zhongtian, unwilling to say more, pointed to an empty chair, "Sit down for dinner. What’s with yelling and shouting at home? Learn from your sister, act with caution in the future, and stop being reckless. Settle down after marrying."

With no one in the family siding with him, Qin Fan was nearly infuriated; he had no mood for eating, stormed off in a huff.

*

In the deep night, leaving the glamorous venue of toasts and feasts, the neon lights and weaving traffic outside seemed less noisy.

In the backseat of a black Maybach, Fu Jichen unbuttoned the suffocating suit he wore all evening, leaned his head against the headrest, and dozed off. His breathing was slightly heavy, a light furrow between his brows suggested he was somewhat unwell.

Sitting in the front passenger seat, Zhu Yilan glanced at him through the rearview mirror with some concern, wanting to help alleviate his discomfort but unable to think of a good way.

The people they met tonight were indeed troublesome and were all of Fu Jichen’s father’s generation, courtesy necessary, or else losing a business opportunity was a minor concern, but being deemed disrespectful was worse. If word got back to the people in Beicheng, Fu Jichen would inevitably face criticism.

Zhu Yilan, feeling heavy-hearted, lightly touched Qu Mo’s arm, giving him a look.

Qu Mo understood and eased the car speed, making the drive all the more steady and stable.

Zhu Yilan’s gaze returned to the rear-view mirror, gradually filled with infatuation.

Scenes from the private room ebbed through her mind like running water. She helped Fu Jichen block the alcohol, and seeing how freely she drank, those people became enthusiastic and began to play tricks, setting up a ’liquor tower’ and asking her how many levels she could handle.

The so-called ’liquor tower’ is a pyramid of glasses, with the most at the bottom and decreasing layer by layer, resembling a tower.

Fu Jichen had always been a gentleman, unrelated to anything else; it was in his bones. He was cold and unfeeling, always distant in dealing with people, yet he never used his status to trample on and humiliate others recklessly.

He was entirely different from them.

Not bearing to see a woman troubled by a group of men at the liquor table, Fu Jichen stood up, drank the bottom few layers, and left the private room, nearly stumbling on the steps.

"Mr. Chen, it looks like there’s a car following us."

Qu Mo interrupted Zhu Yilan’s deepening thoughts with his voice.

He didn’t want to disturb his boss’s rest. Just now, he unintentionally glanced at the rear-view mirror and noticed a black Mercedes following them, making the same turns as their car. It roused his suspicion, so he frequently checked the mirror, and every time he looked, the car maintained a consistent speed, following them from afar.

Currently, their speed wasn’t fast, and near the villa, there wasn’t much traffic, making it easy for the other car to overtake if it wanted to, yet it just followed, its purpose unclear.

This was definitely not a coincidence, Qu Mo felt he should report to the boss.

Unexpectedly, Fu Jichen, assumed to be too drunk to know anything, slowly opened his eyes when he heard Qu Mo’s words, his eyes, once hazy, turned clear and then profound after a moment.

"Ignore it." Fu Jichen’s tone was steady, slightly hoarse, "If they want to follow, let them follow."

Besides people from Beicheng, who else would be so interested in his affairs, he couldn’t think of anyone for the moment.

*

Nearly eleven o’clock, two beams of car lights shone into the front yard of the Rose Manor.

Shen Jianian, sleeping in the guest room on the third floor, woke up. Since the family mishap, she had been a light sleeper, easily startled awake by the slightest sound.

Tonight the blackout curtains weren’t drawn, a thin layer of white gauze curtain covered the window glass, and lights flickered past, as if from car lights.

Fu Jichen was only now coming back?

Shen Jianian turned over, closed her eyes trying to fall asleep again, but found it wasn’t that easy.

In the downstairs living room, the resident housekeeper Zhou Rongzhen, wearing a robe, came out slowly from her room, opened the door, with Qu Mo and Zhu Yilan supporting Fu Jichen one from each side.

Zhou Rongzhen stepped back and made way, "What happened here?"

Fu Jichen’s drinking didn’t show on his face; he looked as usual, flawless like top-quality jade, so Zhou Rongzhen couldn’t tell what was wrong with him.

"Aunt Zhen, could you please prepare some sobering soup, Mr. Chen drank a lot tonight, his stomach may feel uncomfortable."

Before heading out, Zhu Yilan had a delicate makeup, but by this point, she showed slight disarray, with fine sweat on her nose and cheeks, and slightly messy hair at her temples.

Zhou Rongzhen woke a waiter, lead Qu Mo and Zhu Yilan to the third floor to Fu Jichen’s bedroom, then she went to the kitchen to make the soup.

The footsteps echoing back and forth in the hallway were disorderly, even though the room had good soundproofing, Shen Jianian could still hear faint noises, making it harder for her to sleep, as she tossed in bed, feeling a little thirsty.

As Zhou Rongzhen, carrying the freshly made sobering soup, was about to go upstairs, she ran into Shen Jianian, paused her steps, "Does Miss Shen need anything?"

"No, I just came down for some water." Shen Jianian didn’t usually drink water at night; this was the first time.

Zhou Rongzhen nodded, watching Shen Jianian’s figure, thought for a moment and said, "Could I trouble you to take the sobering soup to Sir on your way? I won’t go up." _{f.re(e) w.e(b)nov el.c.om}

"Sure, give it to me."

Shen Jianian drank half a cup of water, her lips moistened to a rosy dewiness, she took the white porcelain bowl of sobering soup from Aunt Zhen’s hands and stepped upstairs.