“Oh child, why didn’t you mention this earlier?” Mother Qian’s heart pressure increased. “I was wondering why Chunhao cares so much for Qian Lan. So the truth is...he’s bullying my daughter!”
“Mom...” Qian Hui cried as she pounced into her mother’s arms. “Mom, you need to help me.”
“Wait until he comes home, let’s see what I do to him!” Mother Qian hugged Qian Hui with an angry expression.
...
At this time...
Xu Chunhao’s car had just arrived at Qian Lan’s school. He immediately went inside and found Mo Zichen.
After confirming that Mo Zichen was in the office preparing for a class, he asked someone to call him out.
Mo Zichen lifted his head and saw Xu Chunhao standing outside the office with a slightly complex expression. Mo Zichen got up from his desk, walked over to Xu Chunhao and called out his name, “May I ask why you’re looking for me, Mr, Xu?”
“Stop bothering Qian Lan,” Xu Chunhao said straightforwardly. “The two of you don’t match at all. Have you looked at yourself? Which part of you matches Qian Lan? She’s the daughter of the mayor; not some average teacher. Did you think you could use her as a stepping stone?”
After hearing Xu Chunhao’s evaluation of him, Mo Zichen let out a laugh, “If this is what you came here to talk about, I think it’s best that you turn back now.”
“Give us a condition. What can we do for you to let Qian Lan go? Is $1 million enough?” Xu Chunhao asked as he pulled out a cheque and started writing. “Or is that not enough? I can add another $1 million if you’d like...”
“Qian Lan is precious to the Qian Family, she isn’t someone that a person like you can casually get close to.”
“If you don’t leave now, I’m going to call security,” Mo Zichen couldn’t be bothered talking to the man. So, he turned around to return to his desk. But, to everyone’s surprise, Xu Chunhao suddenly grabbed onto Mo Zichen’s arm and threw a punch towards him.
However, Mo Zichen quickly grabbed onto Xu Chunhao’s wrist and stopped him.
“You will pay for what you’ve done today!”
“I’ll be waiting,” Mo Zichen replied coldly as he threw Xu Chunhao’s arm aside.
Unable to do anything about Mo Zichen, Xu Chunhao left without a choice.
But, it didn’t take long before Qian Lan heard about their incident. So, she quickly went to look for Mo Zichen.
However, Mo Zichen was already in the middle of a class and couldn’t talk to her.
So, Qian Lan returned to the teacher’s office. But, halfway there, she was stopped by Xu Chunhao, “Qian Lan...”
Seeing that everyone in her family was trying to interfere with her private life, Qian Lan let out a bitter laugh, “Why can’t you let me go?”
“Qian Lan, everyone’s simply worried about you,” Xu Chunhao acted like he was morally correct.
“Xu Chunhao, you should mind your own business.” After speaking, Qian Lan walked around Xu Chunhao and left.
She didn’t want everyone to use love as an excuse to ‘care’ and ‘protect’ her. It made her feel like she was trapped and unable to breathe.
Qian Lan knew that Xu Chunhao had already spoken to Mo Zichen.
Over the past few days, the Qian Family had already caused quite a commotion at the school. Everyone now knew that she was the second daughter of the mayor and that she was dating a poor guy.
She felt like she had completely lost her freedom. Even when she breathed, she had to be careful.
Qian Lan struggled with this. For some reason, she suddenly felt exhausted. It was bad enough that the Qian Family were trying to control her, they even went to harass Mo Zichen. What right did they have to do that?
Before meeting her, Mo Zichen lived a simple and ordinary life. Qian Lan was aware that he liked living peacefully like that. But, the Qian Family made it impossible for him to get any peace.
How much longer did she have to endure?
...
Soon, Xu Chunhao returned home from visiting the school. But, waiting for him, was the stern-looking Mother Qian.
“Mom...”
“Chunhao, let me ask you, before you married Qian Hui, who else did you have a close relationship with?”
After hearing Mother Qian’s question, Xu Chunhao could guess what was going on: Qian Hui must have revealed the truth.
“Mom, why are you suddenly asking this?”
“Don’t act dumb. Back when you married Qian Hui, you already knew that she was the older sister of Qian Lan. So, why didn’t you mention anything? What’s your motive for keeping this a secret? Don’t tell me that you want both my daughters to cling to you?”
“Mom, you’ve misunderstood. I already told Qian Hui about this from the start. Besides, Qian Hui knows that Qian Lan and I are like brother and sister,” Xu Chunhao explained. “Look at how I’ve never crossed the line all these years.”
He was right.
After listening to Xu Chunhao’s explanation, Mother Qian warmed up.
“But, due to the nature of this relationship, I still think it’s best for you and Qian Hui to move out so she stops feeling paranoid,” Mother Qian instructed.
“Mom, mine and Qian Lan’s conscience is clear.”
“Since you’ve explained everything, I’m not going to pursue this matter, but you and Qian Lan better keep your distance. It’s already tough enough that she’s involved with that poor fellow,” Mother Qian warned.
It was at this very moment that Father Qian returned home. As soon as he walked in and heard Mother Qian calling Mo Zichen a poor fellow, he quickly said, “Housewives are indeed short-sighted!”
“Old man, what are you talking about?” Mother Qian immediately asked.
“Don’t you know yet? The ‘poor fellow’ is actually the son of Mo Ting and Tangning,” Father Qian humphed.
“That...that can’t be possible.”
“I’ve already asked someone to confirm it. It’s 100% true. The Mo Family and Tang Family are both rich and powerful; Qian Lan sure has good taste,” Father Qian said in an exaggerated manner.
“Does that mean the rascal is actually from a socialite background? If Qian Lan marries him and we have this extra layer of connection, our influence in Beijing will grow even bigger, right?”
“You could say that,” Father Qian replied.
It wasn’t long ago that the two of them were looking down on Mo Zichen. Now that they knew he was the son of Mo Ting, their attitude immediately changed.
At this time, Qian Lan was hiding behind a divider listening to her parents’ conversation. Earlier that day, Father Qian made things sound so good, as though he truly cared about his daughter’s happiness. But, what was the truth?
He simply had his eyes on the Mo Family’s influence in Beijing...
With this thought, Qian Lan revealed an extremely disappointed expression. Perhaps, being with Mo Zichen, was a bad thing for him.
Sometimes, a person simply couldn’t escape their fate. This was a reality that she had to accept.
Therefore, Qian Lan gave Mo Zichen a phone call and arranged to meet with him.
Mo Zichen thought Qian Lan was being bullied again, so he immediately rushed over to their meeting location. But, after they saw each other, Qian Lan said, “Zichen, I think we should just forget about the relationship between us.”
“It hasn’t even been that long and I’ve already caused so much trouble for you. I think a relationship that involves family is very tiring.”
“I don’t want my family to use you. You deserve better.”
“Qian Lan...” Mo Zichen wanted to cut in.
“I’m sorry!” Qian Lan apologized as she held back her tears. “I need to be free from my family first. Otherwise, all the pressures I receive from them, will be transferred onto your shoulders.”