Chapter 16

The elevator opened. Gu He'an and Lin Yan walked out first, followed by Qin Yan.

Lu Qianchuan said politely to Lin Yan, "Miss Lin, looking forward to our next meeting."

"Okay, see you next time."

Lin Yan smiled appropriately. Although she restrained herself, this man was too outstanding, dignified, elegant, and had an extraordinary temperament; he was like a bright moon, making it hard for people to look away.

It wasn't until he got into the car and she noticed Gu He'an's cold, gloomy gaze that she withdrew her eyes.

"Is he good-looking?" Gu He'an's eyes were bloodshot as he questioned her coldly.

"I was just thinking, why would this Mr. Lu show favor to me? Could it be that he wants to steal our company's secrets from me?" Lin Yan explained with a straight face.

"Then you must be even more cautious and stay away from him!" Gu He'an warned in a low voice.

"Okay." Lin Yan nodded with a smile, but she had other thoughts in her heart.

Although Gu He'an is outstanding and treats her well, she looked at Qin Yan on the side.

Although she had received a marriage certificate with him, she had to watch him be with other women, and any intimacy between them had to be done secretly. How could he compare to the open and aboveboard Lu Qianchuan?

Qin Yan, who walked out of the elevator, couldn't care about them. She clenched her fists, feeling the hard object in her palm.

In the elevator, Lu Qianchuan had suddenly grabbed her hand and stuffed something into it.

She opened her palm; it was a ring.

A plain, pure gold circular band with two leaves intertwined, carrying the meaning of "endless life and long-lasting good fortune."

It was the ring from the picture she had chosen.

She stuffed the ring into her pocket before looking at Gu He'an.

"He'an, let's take Miss Lin home, and you come with me to the Qin family for dinner."

"I suddenly have work and need to go to the company. I'll drop you off at the Qin family, but I won't go." Gu He'an refused coldly.

Qin Yan frowned, "Didn't we agree on this before?"

"I suddenly have work, there's nothing I can do." Gu He'an's face was ugly. He lectured her coldly, "Qin Yan, you know better than anyone what kind of people your parents are. They don't treat you like a human being at all; they just want to sell you for a good price!"

Hearing his words, Lin Yan on the side looked at Qin Yan with a strange expression.

"..." Qin Yan squeezed her fists in sadness.

He clearly knew that she had a bad relationship with her parents and that they didn't value her, yet he said such things to hurt her.

He was taking his anger out on her because of Lin Yan, deliberately humiliating her!

She took a deep breath, "If you don't want to go, then forget it."

But what right did he have to humiliate her?

It was because he was certain in his heart that she wouldn't leave him.

It was because he looked down on her that he dared to say such hurtful things without restraint!

Because of the Lin Yan incident, Gu He'an had a surge of anger blocked in his heart. By the time he reacted, he realized what he had said was a bit harsh.

He said apologetically, "I'll go with you next time, okay?"

Qin Yan laughed in anger; there wouldn't be a next time.

"It's fine, go do your work."

Qin Yan turned and left, first taking a taxi to the one-bedroom apartment she had rented earlier.

She didn't know how long her marriage with Lu Qianchuan could last, so she hadn't given up the lease.

After putting down the jewelry, she went to the Qin family.

There were some things she wanted to say to her grandparents.

Arriving at the Qin family, she walked into the living room and saw the whole Qin family was there.

She was just about to greet them, but her mother only looked behind her. Not seeing Gu He'an, her face sank instantly.

"Gu He'an didn't come with you? Qin Yan, didn't I tell you to bring Gu He'an to have dinner together?"

"He agreed to come, but something suddenly came up, and he couldn't make it." Qin Yan was expressionless. She couldn't even be bothered to offer a greeting and walked past her straight to the side hall.

She took three sticks of incense, lit them, and looked at her grandparents in the black-and-white photo.

She had been sent to her grandparents in the countryside when she was three months old, so in her heart, her grandparents were her true parents.

She said to her grandparents in her heart, "I've gotten married and received my certificate. Don't worry, I will definitely live my life well. If you can hear me, remember to come into my dreams. I miss you so much."

She bowed respectfully three times, placed the incense, and stared longingly at the photo, her eyes moist.

After a long while, she composed herself, wiped away her tears, and turned back to the living room.

Looking at the dining table, it was filled with eighteen dishes, clearly prepared because Gu He'an was coming.

"If you didn't bring Gu He'an, then why did you come back?" Her second younger sister, Qin Shasha, who was sitting on the other side, looked her up and down with disdain, her eyes full of contempt.

"Dressed in trash. You're already married to Gu He'an, and he won't even buy you a few new clothes to wear? Then what's the point of this marriage?"

Her younger brother, Qin Sheng, who was playing games opposite, also let out a mocking laugh, "I don't know what kind of taste Young Master Gu has to actually fancy a woman like her, who is ugly, old, and has a bad temper."

The Qin siblings had looked down on their older sister since they were young and took pleasure in belittling her whenever they met.

But Qin Yan wouldn't take their trash talk to heart.

She smiled and said, "Are you envious of me? After all, I'm good at studying, I'm pretty, and my merits are too numerous to count."

Qin Shasha made a vomiting gesture and said to her mother, "Mom, you must have heard wrong. Qin Yan didn't climb up to Gu He'an to be his wife, but to be his mistress, right? Otherwise, why wouldn't Gu He'an come to meet the family?"

"That shouldn't be it." Qin Mother didn't scold the two children for speaking ill of their sister, but instead rebuked Qin Yan, "Qin Yan, such a big thing as getting a marriage certificate, and you didn't even notify the family. It shows you have no upbringing at all. Is this how your grandparents raised you?"

Hearing her sarcasm, Qin Yan felt that if she didn't do something, it would make it seem like she had too much upbringing!

She walked to the dining table, grabbed the tablecloth, and swept all the food on the table onto the floor.

Crash, bang—plates shattered, and the floor was a mess.

"Ah!"

Qin Shasha screamed in fright, and Qin Sheng also stood up and dodged.

"You stinking thing, are you crazy!"

"Stinking thing" was the nickname the Qin siblings had given her, and they would call her that in private.

Qin Yan pointed at them, "How my grandparents raised me is none of your business, and who I marry has nothing to do with you!"

"Qin Yan, I just said one thing, and you flip the table? Do you think that just because you've become the Young Mistress Gu, you've ascended to heaven and can act so arrogantly in my Qin family!" Qin Mother scolded angrily.

Qin Yan sneered, "Your Qin family. That's right, it's not mine."

When she was a child, her parents only kept her younger brother and sister by their side and ignored her. She thought it was because she wasn't good enough that her parents didn't like her, so she was obedient in everything. Even when her brother and sister made mistakes and made her take the blame, she didn't resist.

She studied hard and got first place to show them, but all she got was a lecture from her parents, saying she was arrogant, selfish, and didn't look like a big sister at all.

What should a big sister look like? She never understood.

Now she didn't want to understand anymore.

Every time she returned to this house, her stomach felt like it had been stabbed a few times, nauseatingly sick.

That's why she was so desperate to marry Gu He'an, looking forward to building a warm new home with him. She would give him all the good she had, but what she suffered was betrayal!

Why bully her?

Just because they are her family?

Just because they rely on her loving him?

Slap!

Qin Father's expression was fierce as he raised his hand and slapped her across the face.

"Qin Yan, don't think that just because you've grown up, your wings have hardened. Getting a marriage certificate with Gu He'an without telling the family is just you being cheap and lowly! And you dare to ruin a table of food your mother worked so hard to prepare. You really are a beast that needs to be disciplined and has no upbringing!"