Chapter 1197: Even If You Turn to Ash, I Can Still Recognize It's You

Liu Quan waved his hand, telling his subordinates to get out.

Out of sight, out of mind.

If not for the fact that these people were still somewhat loyal, he would have long since sent these few pieces of trash to guard the border.

Useless.

Useless things; every time he thought about how he let Qi Heng slip away right under his nose, his heart felt unbearably stifled.

Manic and restless.

Was it easy to have spent so much effort to get to where he was step by step?

It was all to wipe out the Qi Family in one fell swoop, leaving them no chance to take root.

But now, more than one person had escaped; both Qi Heng and his younger sister had gotten away—wild grass cannot be burned out completely, for the spring breeze brings it back to life!

……

Abandoned Castle.

"Brother, Brother, I don't want to be cooped up here every day. It's not interesting at all. I want to go out and play." The younger sister made a new request again; it wasn't unreasonable, but her brother didn't agree.

"No, if you go out, you'll be caught by bad people, and then they'll lock you in a dark little room and not let you out." Qi Heng scared his younger sister.

The little girl pouted, dissatisfied: "Isn't that the same as now? It's no freedom either way, Brother is a bad person..."

Qi Heng ignored her.

He didn't have much patience for coaxing children to begin with, and there were still many things he needed to do.

He had to use secret contact methods here to reach his father's old subordinates and those who were truly loyal to him, preparing for a comeback.

Children are never able to sit still, and the younger sister took advantage of her brother not noticing her to sneak outside by herself.

Not long after she got outside, she was caught by Liu Quan's men.

Qi Heng discovered his younger sister was missing and hurriedly prepared to go out to find her, but the moment he took a step, he stopped, making a very difficult decision!

Liu Quan's men followed the clues to find the secret room, but their feelings were mixed.

What they were happy about was that there were many guns and ammunition here, but what they were worried about was that Qi Heng had escaped!

He had also taken away a large amount of gold bars and jewelry.

When they asked the little girl where her brother would go and if they had any other hiding places, the little girl couldn't say.

……

Liu Quan announced to the public that he had captured the eldest young lady of the Qi Family and discovered the secret passage, declaring to everyone—Qi Heng was cold-blooded, cowardly, and selfish.

This news reached Jiangzhou; Shi Ran just smiled when she heard it and said nothing.

Shi Youxuan exhorted her daughter: "People, oh! You really can know a person's face but not their heart. He could even abandon his own sister; you were right to break up with him. Otherwise, even if there were no problems now, there would be sooner or later."

"If he comes begging to you, you cannot help him, do you understand?"

Shi Ran didn't answer her mother directly, but asked: "Mom, back then when my godmother and aunt treated you like that, why did you still forgive them?"

Shi Youxuan: ……

That was so long ago; if her daughter hadn't asked, she would have almost forgotten about it.

But now that her daughter asked, she had to answer.

She glared at Shi Ran: "They are different from Qi Heng. What was between us was a personal grievance that didn't involve others, but if a person like Qi Heng were in a high position, he would harm even more people. Therefore, he cannot be forgiven, and even less can he be helped. Helping him is called aiding a tyrant in his oppression..."

"Alright, I know, don't nag. Nagging makes people old!"

Shi Ran chased her mother out of her room, not paying much attention to it at the time.

Based on her understanding of Qi Heng, even if that person were in the most bitter and difficult straits, he wouldn't come begging to her.

But she was wrong.

In the middle of the night, the QQ notification sound rang; someone had sent a friend request.

She had already set her QQ to hidden mode; people who weren't particularly familiar with her couldn't find her number at all.

It wasn't like a few years ago; there were many ways to contact people now, and the frequency of using QQ wasn't very high. Who would add her?

Shi Ran's heart suddenly skipped a beat.

She thought of that person and, as if guided by a spirit, clicked accept.

The other party sent a sentence: "Staying up late again? Me too."

Shi Ran's eyes felt a bit moist; she tried hard to look up to keep the tears from falling.

That's right, it was him.

Qi Heng always used this as an opening, because he especially liked sending her messages in the middle of the night and knew she usually didn't sleep at night.

She was silent for a while, then typed a line: "I was asleep."

"Goodnight, sweet dreams."

"Sweet dreams."

The avatar on the other side went dark; he went offline without saying anything else.

Shi Ran didn't speak either, but instead typed a string of code on her computer to locate the other party's position.

The other party's location was shown to be in Jiangzhou.

Not far from the Sheng Family.

Shi Ran: ……

Damn it, he was nearby?

He came to Jiangzhou but didn't look for her, instead playing tricks online.

She was a little angry and wanted to ignore him.

But lying in bed, she couldn't sleep no matter what, her mind full of Qi Heng's image.

His situation right now must be very bad.

He needs her help.

But he will not take the initiative to say it; this is his pride.

But should she take the initiative to help him?

To shamelessly take the initiative to contact that person?

No.

Shi Ran is also a proud person, and she has her own persistence.

……

The next day.

Early morning.

When eating breakfast, the way everyone looked at her was strange.

Mom and Dad were not at home; these past two days, her parents have been leaving early and returning late, mysterious and busy with who knows what, but they haven't told the children in the house.

Grandpa and Grandma were also not at home.

They went on vacation; with their son and daughter-in-law back this time, the old couple suddenly had a change of heart.

They said the children are all grown up and don't need them to take care of them, so they want to travel around and see the world while they still can.

Therefore, only the children of the Sheng Family were eating breakfast, so it was even more casual.

"Why are you all looking at me like that?" Shi Ran asked.

Sheng Zichen: "Sister, did you not sleep all night last night? Is it because of Brother Qi Heng?"

She sank her face: "Nonsense, don't mention him in front of me again."

Having her secret poked by her younger brother, she felt a bit panicked.

To cover up the panic in her eyes, she casually ladled a bowl of soup and buried her head to drink it.

Sheng Zichen, however, was relentless: "Still saying I'm talking nonsense? It must be that I guessed right; you're drinking free-range chicken soup early in the morning, don't you find it greasy?"

Only then did Shi Ran realize that what she had ladled was a bowl of free-range chicken and cordyceps soup.

Several of her younger brothers were about to have their final exams, and this soup was stewed to nourish their brains; Shi Ran never had much of an appetite in the morning and would never drink this early in the day.

She hadn't paid attention just now, but now that she was reminded by her brother, she realized it was too greasy to swallow.

Shi Ran put down the bowl and lectured her brother with a straight face: "Your high school entrance exam is coming up, how is your preparation going? How much confidence do you have in getting into a key high school? Have you considered the consequences if you don't get into a key school?"

Sheng Zichen: "Sister, I'm full, I'm going to school now."

After saying that, he wiped his mouth and ran, running faster than a rabbit.

Sheng Litian was very perceptive and followed him as he ran.

The academic performance of these two older ones was sometimes good and sometimes bad, so they really weren't very confident about getting into a key high school.

The two younger ones were not afraid of their sister's threats, as their academic performance was good.

Sheng Zihan: "Sister, Big Brother was right, right? So you were embarrassed into anger; actually, I think Brother Qi Tian is better than that Qi Heng, the whole family thinks so, right Zirui?"

Zirui nodded: "Right, Brother Qi Tian might not have Qi Heng's ambition, but he is kind-hearted and is a very good match for you, Sister."