bestfiction Chapter 261 Qinqin, shall I take you there?
Chapter 261 Qinqin, shall I take you there?
Each private room here has its own unique style, with different interior design styles including Western, Chinese, modern, antique, and European.
In addition, if you want a different style, you can add a certain amount of money when booking a private room and make your own remarks, entrusting the restaurant to decorate it.
When the door to VIP room 203 was pushed open, it was Tian Tian who spoke first.
"Wow~!"
The private room was originally a modern-style room, like a cozy home. As soon as the door opened, the sweet aroma of pink lychee roses, which had been flown in beforehand, filled the room.
A huge bouquet of roses was topped with wrapped gifts and greeting cards, and the walls were decorated with brightly colored balloons.
The projected screen was still playing photos, including photos of Tian Tian with Jiang Qin when she was very young, photos of her with Jiang Qin and him when she was a little older, and most of the photos that Jiang Qin took of Tian Tian.
Because Jiang Qin herself, like him, doesn't really like taking photos.
And beneath each of these photos, text scrolls across the page—
A warm welcome back to Beijing for my beloved daughter and granddaughter.
Jiang Qin, who came in later, heard her daughter's exclamation beforehand, but didn't think much of it, assuming that the dishes had been served and that there were many of Tian Tian's favorite foods, which was why Tian Tian was so happy and amazed.
When they reached the door and saw what was inside, they immediately stopped in their tracks.
She really didn't expect Li Zhiyuan to arrange all this, because she always thought that Li Zhiyuan should be a rather reserved person.
But it turns out that Jiang Qin still lacks a proper understanding of her real father.
Because these were indeed arranged at Li Zhiyuan's behest.
Furthermore, in his youth, Li Zhiyuan was actually a very romantic person who was good at expressing love and dared to pursue it. This is why Jiang Qin's real mother, Su Lizhu, chose to marry Li Zhiyuan.
However, despite this, Li Zhiyuan has indeed not expressed his love to anyone for many years since his beloved wife passed away.
But this time, it was a rare opportunity to meet, and I was also thinking about how I should be turning fifty this year.
At fifty years old, even if we consider a lifespan of one hundred years, that's half the journey of life.
At this point, what's the point of being awkward or hesitant?
Moreover, after his wife passed away, he had been searching for his daughter and always thought that once he found her, he would treat her very well and make it up to her. Now that he had finally found her, Li Zhiyuan felt that he should be even braver.
After all, if shadows exist, the best way is to minimize them.
It means to keep the sun forever high overhead.
In this way, the shadow is minimized, or even completely eliminated.
Undoubtedly, the shadow in Jiang Qin's heart is that, to her, her father is equivalent to a devil.
But that's a misconception, and to correct it, one has to go to extremes.
He is no longer the person who could express his love so passionately, but now he wants to return to that person and let the sun of love shine on Jiang Qin forever.
He would tell her that he loves her very much, that she deserves this love, and that she can enjoy his love without any burden, because this is what she is entitled to.
Overall, I was quite satisfied with the meal.
Although Li Zhiyuan's actions did make Jiang Qin's eyes well up with tears, she was no longer the little girl she used to be.
Now, Jiang Qin is better able to regulate her emotions, so she doesn't eat any less food.
When they came out, Tian Tian was still snuggling in her arms, praising which dish was especially delicious.
"Mommy, Sweetie wants to come here to eat again."
As Tian Tian said this, she was actually a little sleepy. They were walking towards the elevator, about to go downstairs and go back.
Jiang Qin responded gently to Tian Tian, "Okay, if Tian Tian likes it, we'll do it again."
Sweetie lay on Jiang Qin's body, her long eyelashes fluttering, her little head tilted slightly.
It's time to go to sleep.
It was already completely dark outside, and for some reason, the elevator had been going up and down for ages without coming down.
Song Xinye was carrying large and small gift bags, which were gifts that Li Zhiyuan had carefully prepared for Jiang Qin and Tian Tian.
Li Zhiyuan looked at his daughter holding the baby, his eyes filled with the loving affection of a father.
Just then, the door of booth number 201 behind them opened, and someone came out.
Li Zhiyuan glanced at the person who came in and smiled, "Mr. Huo, are you finished eating?"
"Yes, it's getting late, time to head home," Horstley replied quickly.
But everyone present, except for Sweetie, undoubtedly heard another layer of meaning in those words.
Song Xinye was inexplicably amused.
It was all too obvious that Horstley was saying this to show them that he was very clean-living.
I will go home obediently at night and will not go to nightclubs.
Jiang Qin understood, but her daughter was fussy and she didn't have time to pay attention to her.
I was only concerned about why the elevator hadn't come down to the second floor yet.
Everyone was thinking of just taking the stairs, since it's only the second floor, but then they remembered that the stairwell here isn't open to the public for certain reasons, so that idea quickly faded away.
Fortunately, the elevator finally reached the third floor and opened in front of them soon.
Just then, another person walked up from behind. It was Wen Chen, whom Jiang Qin and the others had met earlier.
Huo Sili stood behind Jiang Qin, and taking advantage of his height, he could easily see his daughter sleeping soundly in his wife's arms.
I heard footsteps coming from the direction of VIP room 201.
She glanced at Wen Chen and said softly, "Mr. Wen, are you also getting ready to go back?"
"Hmm." Wen Chen noticed at a glance that Tian Tian was being carried by Jiang Qin. As someone who has children, he quickly guessed that Tian Tian must have fallen asleep because she was tired, and he immediately slowed his pace.
The elevator doors slowly opened at that moment.
Song Xinye pressed the button to go downstairs, stood aside with the gift bag in hand, ready to let Jiang Qin, who was holding Tiantian, and Li Zhiyuan go in first.
Hearing that the elevator had arrived, Huo Sili turned around, ready to follow his wife into the elevator.
To my surprise, as soon as the door opened, I was met with a somewhat familiar face.
Jiang Qin, who was about to carry Tian Tian inside, stopped when she saw one of the people standing in the elevator car.
It's Li Xueqian.
Li Xueqian looks very similar to her, but perhaps because she hasn't had a good time in the past three years, she is no longer the "popular young actress" or "sweet girl" she was three years ago.
At this moment, Li Xueqian's face was filled with shame, indignation, and fear, and she had lost all of the arrogance she had three years ago.
Upon seeing who was among this group of people, Li Xueqian was clearly startled.
She quickly walked behind the other men and women in the elevator car, slightly hunching over, trying to hide herself.
But the people outside the elevator all had good eyesight, and since she wasn't wearing a mask, it would be strange if she wasn't recognized.
At the same time, a strong, almost pungent, perfume wafted from several young men and women in the elevator.
Upon smelling it, Jiang Qin immediately hugged Tian Tian and pushed her back. Huo Sili undoubtedly smelled the scent as well.
Then, as if remembering something, he moved closer to Jiang Qin.
Three years have passed, but his scent remains unchanged, still a light woody fragrance mixed with mint.
Amidst a sea of pungent aromas, this scent is nothing short of salvation.
Jiang Qin's initial urge to hold her breath vanished, and she regained her ability to breathe.
Looking down at her daughter, Tian Tian, she noticed that Tian Tian was just like her, very sensitive to smells.
However, they must have left quickly to avoid any impact.
Song Xinye, who was holding the elevator button, let go of the button.
Hiding behind the man and woman, Li Xueqian's heart was pounding when she saw the elevator doors close, and she gasped for breath.
"What's wrong? Do you have an old flame outside? Or... a sugar daddy?"
Everyone in the elevator saw Li Xueqian's reaction just now.
Everyone in their line of work has a story, but for so long, they really didn't know Li Xueqian's story.
Therefore, they even suspected that what Li Xueqian said when she first joined the company was a lie—that she was not Li Xueqian.
If it's not Li Xueqian, why doesn't she run a legitimate business instead of working as a hostess?
Of course, there are some things that are not easy to talk about normally, but now that they have happened to come across them, everyone wants to chat about them.
"Weiwei, hey, I'm asking you a question. Did Aina really guess right? Was one of those guys you had an old flame with?"
"No, don't make wild guesses, I just ran into an old classmate," Li Xueqian lied, but her face beneath the makeup had already turned pale.
Not only did they run into Huo Sili, but they also ran into Li Zhiyuan.
Did Li Zhiyuan recognize her just now? If he did, what should she do?
But thinking about this made Li Xueqian even more annoyed and resentful.
After all, how can you blame her?
Even though it wasn't her who cheated, but that man, she still lost her job and was completely rejected by Li Zhiyuan. She used to receive a monthly allowance from the Li family.
But since she was blacklisted by the entertainment industry, she has had no living expenses.
Li Zhiyuan told her to be self-reliant and that the Li family would never support a mistress.
But she's used to a life of luxury, and given her education, what good job could she possibly find in China?
Then I thought of the woman I had just seen. Was she Jiang Qin?
Wasn't she dead? She heard it from a client two years ago; they said she was dead and that Horstley had gone mad.
He Xu ordered that no one in the Huo family was allowed to mention the name "Secretary Jiang," and even the name "Jiang" along with other words with the sound "jiang" were forbidden from reaching Huo Sili's ears.
She felt it was karma, but also felt lucky.
Look, the woman who became Horsley died so tragically.
If she had known this, she would have preferred not to be Horstley's woman.
But what did she just see?
Jiang Qin was holding a little girl in her arms—no, it couldn't be.
The young man showed her the photos; the car was burned like that, he must be dead.
So, yes, it must be a stand-in; Jiang Qin died a long time ago.
As for why Li Zhiyuan was with Huo Sili, there was another man she didn't know.
They are most likely Horstley's business partners.
"Qinqin, shall I take you there?"
After waiting for the elevator to go downstairs again, Huo Sili saw Jiang Qin carrying Tian Tian and walking straight to the car on the other side. Huo Sili gently pulled on Jiang Qin's clothes.
Jiang Qin lowered her eyes and glanced at Huo Sili's outstretched hand.