Perhaps He Was Really a Good Uncle

Because of that one-million-yuan check, Song Qingcheng was distracted the entire day.

During self-study, as she flipped through the history textbook, she coincidentally came to the pages between in which the envelope was slipped.

Song Qingcheng stared at the unlabeled yellow envelope in a daze. She recalled what Yu Tingchuan had said in the car last night.

He said that there were some games that she could not afford to play.

Games…

This was Yu Tingchuan's definition of her actions.

From the moment Ge Wenjuan started to interfere with her life, or even earlier, it had already deviated from its original trajectory. When she stood at the fork in the road, she had chosen a shortcut that she thought she could achieve twice the result with half the effort—to get close to a classmate who had a good family background, to seduce the classmate's uncle who was in charge of the company.

Yu Tingchuan had long understood her hint, but he chose not to respond.

She remembered what Shen Che said at the epidemic control center. Yu Tingchuan was a scheming person. How could he be easily tricked by her?

Song Qingcheng held the envelope, her fingers curling slightly around it. He had given her a million yuan, but she didn't think it meant that he was going to keep her. It was more like he wanted to use this money to persuade her to not keep going down this road.

At that moment, thousands of thoughts and emotions rushed at her.

She had a vague feeling that her clarification last night might have led to the current situation, where she could neither advance nor retreat.

That night, Song Qingcheng lay awake on her single bed in the dormitory.

The check was under her pillow.

Staring at the fan on the ceiling, she recalled all the things that had happened since she met Yu Tingchuan. Her deepest impression of him was his care for his niece, Yu Jing. Also, on the night of the Gu family's birthday banquet, he held her head that was tilted back as she tried to stop her nosebleed and then left his suit jacket behind for her. His words and actions were steady and considerate, completely appropriate of a senior's status.

Perhaps, he was really a good uncle…

Song Qingcheng thought absent-mindedly as she recalled yesterday's scene of her with her arms around his waist.

However, some things could never be undone.

…

The next afternoon, Song Qingcheng ran into Yu Jing at the entrance of the canteen. The latter had just returned to school.

Yu Jing carried her heavy school bag on her back. It was so hot that she stuck out her tongue. She pulled Song Qingcheng back into the air-conditioned cafeteria and found an empty seat. She lowered her head and started to pick things out of her bag. "I was going to carry them back to the classroom for you, but since we've run into each other. Mom has asked me to bring these to you. She said she wanted to thank you for helping me with my homework."

As she spoke, she placed a bag on the dining table.

Inside the bag were mandarins, Buddha fruit, and two huge ivory mangoes.

Song Qingcheng had seen these tropical fruits in the Lu family before and knew that they were not cheap.

"There are too many fruit baskets in my great-grandfather's ward." Yu Jing wiped the thin film of perspiration off her face.

Song Qingcheng reached out and handed her a tissue. "How's your great-grandfather?"

"He's fine now. Almost everyone in the family was there with him yesterday. I went home in the evening. It was Second Uncle and Fourth Uncle who stayed overnight in the hospital." Yu Jing's eyes darted around. She leaned over and said in a lowered voice, "I even suspect that my great-grandfather was just trying to use his illness to force Second Uncle to get married."

Hearing this, Song Qingcheng's gaze returned to Yu Jing.

Yu Jing told her everything that happened last night. "Do you still remember Gu Jiazhi? When I arrived at the hospital yesterday, she was already there. She behaved even more like a granddaughter-in-law than my mother, the real granddaughter-in-law. To the extent that the attending doctor thought she was my second uncle's wife. Later, after my great-grandfather woke up, he called my second uncle and Gu Jiazhi into the ward."

"What did they say?" Song Qingcheng asked.

Yu Jing shook her head. "I don't know. At that time, I was standing outside and could only see through the glass. However, my fifth auntie said that Jiazhi is 29 this year. The Gu family definitely won't be willing to wait around like this."

With that, she raised her head and asked Song Qingcheng, "Don't you think this means that Gu Jiazhi will marry my second uncle?"

Song Qingcheng's lips twitched. She did not comment on this question.

…

Back in the classroom…

Song Qingcheng leaned back in her chair and looked at the bag of fruits on the table. After a moment, she turned her head to look at the gloomy skies outside the window. Thunder rumbled as if it would start storming any moment.

In the afternoon, after the fifth or sixth class ended, Song Qingcheng went to the office to ask for leave from the form teacher, using vaccination as an excuse.

The form teacher was aware that she had been bitten by a dog and easily gave her a leave slip.

Holding the note, Song Qingcheng first returned to the dormitory.

She changed out of her school uniform and put on a simple T-shirt with jeans. She bent over to put on her sneakers and took out the suit jacket from her closet, folded it neatly, and slipped it into a paper bag. Before she left, she took the cash check from under her pillow.

…

The subway arrived at Yuanfeng Station where Hengyuan Group was located.

Song Qingcheng walked out through the subway entrance. Within a few minutes, the magnificent building on the opposite side of the road came into view. The square in front of the building was filled with greenery; there were also a fountain and all kinds of flags flapping in the wind.

As she walked into the building, she looked at the security turnstiles that required identity verification to access. At once, she understood why the security guards did not stop her at the entrance.

Song Qingcheng walked straight to the front desk where two young female employees sat. Upon hearing that she was looking for the CEO's assistant, Xu Dong, the two exchanged a look. Song Qingcheng noticed their hesitation and took out Xu Dong's name card from her bag. She gently pushed it towards them, saying, "This is from Assistant Xu."

As they spoke, the two receptionists suddenly stood up and looked behind Song Qingcheng respectfully.

Song Qingcheng turned around to see a man coming out of the elevator. The tall and well-built man wore a business shirt and suit trousers. He had one hand in his trouser pocket while the other was holding a folder by his side. In both his appearance and aura, he was dignified and awe-inspiring.