A Sand Sculpture in the Red Dust - Chapter 24

Chapter 24 – “Take Me With You.”

　　Li Shasha’s tone is not much different from that of the evil villains on TV, and his expressionless face is so weird that it is beyond imagination.

　　Without responding to this sentence, Li Xiangfu glanced at the robot standing on the table, thinking that with a new toy, the child’s interest should soon shift away from recharging his home fighting skills.

　　The room fell silent again.

　　Li Shasha turned the pen and stared at the other person’s creation. The lines were delicate and smooth, and were basically the same as the outlines drawn when painting.

　　After determining the basic form, Li Shasha’s eyes flickered: “Lion rolling the ball?”

　　Li Xiangfu didn’t move his neck, his eyes were focused on the needle and thread, and he said “hmm” casually.

　　”Avoid disaster and usher in good fortune. Good things will come from heaven. It has a very auspicious meaning.” Seeing the messy threads being neatly arranged under his hands, Li Shasha’s mind wandered. Suddenly, he thought of something and said, “The thing you asked me to help find before you came back last time…”

　　The fingers holding the needle tightened slightly, and the flying bird in the background did not take shape because of his pause. It was like a dragon without eyes, one step away from truly taking off.

　　”What did you find?”

　　Li Shasha: “I searched the utility room, your room, and the attic, and even went to the basement under the pretext of playing a treasure hunt, but I didn’t find anything related to Qin Jiayu.”

　　Because Li Xiangfu went to study abroad temporarily, he didn’t even have a graduation photo.

　　Li Xiangfu frowned when he heard this, and more than once doubted whether his relationship with Qin Jiayu was as close as the outside world said.

　　Li Shasha reminded: “If the old phone I used before is still there, I can find a way to recover some data.”

　　Li Xiangfu shook his finger to indicate that he had no phone. “Your phone was not with you when you were rescued, otherwise help would have arrived earlier.”

　　Li Shasha: “Chat account…”

　　Li Xiangfu shook his head.

　　His contact log book includes his family and old friends, but no strangers. He could barely explain why he didn’t have any photographs with this close friend, but it’s harder to make up for the fact that they never even added each other as friends.

　　Li Shasha raised an eyebrow: “A friend in other people’s eyes, a friend you have no impression of at all…” He suddenly jumped off the chair: “There was an old movie. Everyone around the protagonist said he was a murderer, but it was actually a setup…”

　　”If you use your skills too much, the disadvantage is that they are overused,” Li Xiangfu was not affected by this remark at all, and continued with the work at hand calmly: “Someone took my old phone and deleted the chat history and friend list.”

　　After he finished speaking, he raised his head and said, “This is the only possibility. Do you understand?”

　　Li Shasha sat back down and resumed his usual stern expression: “That’s reasonable.”

　　The screen of the mobile phone on the table lit up, indicating that charging was complete. He helped turn off the switch, picked up the phone and started recording a video.

　　During this time, Li Xiangfu did not even raise his head: “Stop making trouble.”

　　They were halfway through recording when a phone call came in.

　　Li Shasha saw the caller ID: “It’s Qin Jin.”

　　Li Xiangfu was embroidering the key part and couldn’t free his hands: “Help me take it.”

　　”Hello.”

　　There was a brief silence on the other end. It seemed that the person recognized Li Shasha’s identity and said in his usual cold voice: “Please transfer the call to the owner of the phone.”

　　”Dad is embroidering, so it’s inconvenient for him to answer.” Li Shasha said slowly, “I can pass on your message, but please speak quickly. I still need to record a face slapping video.”

　　Li Xiangfu standing by sighed helplessly, knowing that this naughty boy was going to start laying hidden clues again.

　　For some reason, Qin Jin really took the bait and asked, “Whose face are you planning on hitting?”

　　Li Shasha said without hesitation: “Some of the birthday party guests including Luo An.”

　　Then he prepared to pull the lead closer to the other party step by step to get the desired result.

　　Unfortunately, Qin Jin had already pointed out the problem and said, “Post it on a Moments page that only certain friends can see. When everyone doubts the originality of the embroidery, you can use someone else to verify it. That person should preferably be me.”

　　His thoughts were seen through. Li Shasha tilted his head and pursed his lips almost into a straight line, reflecting on his own shortcomings.

　　Li Xiangfu had already stood up and pulled the phone out of the motionless Li Shasha’s hand: “It’s me, what’s the matter?”

　　”I was going to share an interesting piece of news, but it seems to be of little use now.”

　　Li Xiangfu had a hunch that it was related to Luo An. Just as he was about to ask more questions, a faint saying “Please protect your eyesight” came from the other end and the call ended.

　　Li Xiangfu shook his head silently and was about to throw his phone aside when he suddenly received a new message from a few seconds ago.

　　[Qin Jin: I can serve as a witness.]

　　Li Xiangfu moved his eyes away from the screen and fell on Li Shasha.

　　The latter sat quietly on the chair to show his innocence in this matter. After a pause, Li Shasha said seriously: “I didn’t expect him to really go to the birthday party. I just tried it casually.”

　　Qin Jin and Li Anqing are similar, but the latter is as cold as a flower on a high mountain that cannot be climbed or plucked, while Qin Jin is more like a hidden channel under the glacier, as if it could bring disaster at any time.

　　For people with this kind of personality, it is common practice to ask someone to bring a gift to the birthday party to express their gratitude.

　　”He will go.”

　　Li Xiangfu didn’t know much about business, but he knew that Qin Jin and the Bian family had a lot of cooperation. Bian Shiqin’s father once invested in an unpopular project proposed by Qin Jin against all odds, which later became a great success.

　　There are many introductions about this incident on the Internet, and people once praised Mr. Bian for his ability to recognize a hero.

　　Thinking of this, he paused for a moment and said, “Attending the birthday party is secondary. The main purpose should be to visit Mr. Bian.”

　　The old man had a sudden heart attack last month and had just returned from the hospital. It is only right and proper to visit him.

　　He didn’t hear Li Shasha’s response. He turned his head and saw that he was walking around the embroidery, carefully taking close-up photos.

　　Li Xiangfu couldn’t help but look up and gently pat his forehead. Since going to school, the system seemed to have become a different person.

　　”The little ones are too immature to speak,” Li Shasha analyzed the problem himself: “I want to scheme with adults to prevent my intelligence from decreasing, but I get frustrated again and again.”

　　Li Xiangfu sat down helplessly and picked up the embroidery needle: “Which grade do you want to skip?”

　　Li Shasha immediately replied: “Just don’t do addition and subtraction within ten.”

　　”……good.”

　　•|•

　　On the day of the birthday party, Li Xiangfu went there in Li Xichun’s car.

　　Thinking of the box about one meter long in the trunk, Li Xichun was very curious: “What are you giving?”

　　Li Xiangfu: “Handicrafts.”

　　Li Xichun’s first reaction was to think of action figures and models, and she said frankly that Bian Shiqin didn’t like those things very much. Perhaps she also understood her brother’s character and that he didn’t understand girls’ minds very well, so she didn’t say much on this issue and played some soothing music.

　　When they reached a traffic light, Li Xichun suddenly said, “The Painting Association is investigating Fang Yuanjian.”

　　Li Xiangfu was so busy embroidering in the past few days that he almost forgot about Judge Fang.

　　”He implicated a large number of people and seemed to have some shady dealings on his hands. He actually turned himself in because he was worried about being silenced.”

　　There are people who hype up paintings to sky-high prices to launder money, and Fang Yuanjian is obviously cooperating with them.

　　Li Xiangfu: “You will suffer the consequences if you do evil.”

　　Li Xichun: “Recently, all activities he participated in have been re-examined. Your winning work has been noticed by more people and received high praise.”

　　Li Xiangfu’s heart moved, and he raised his eyes and met the other person’s gaze through the rearview mirror.

　　”You seem to have learned a lot abroad.” Li Xichun finally got to the point.

　　She was not too impressed by the short videos of Li Xiangfu painting. But the winning work showed a very mature painting technique, which could not be simply described as talent.

　　”I do have a wide range of interests,” Li Xiangfu lowered his eyes, with no slight change in his expression, “but compared to the anime you like, it’s nothing.”

　　The topic suddenly jumped, and Li Xichun didn’t react for a moment: “Huh?”

　　”The main character who learned to fly planes, shoot guns, and race speed boats in Hawaii.”

　　Li Xichun raised his chin: “That’s a cartoon, you are a real person.”

　　How can they be the same?

　　Li Xiangfu turned his head to look out the window. When the song was almost finished, he slowly spoke: “Ever since I got my head injured, I’ve learned things very quickly. I could remember everything I saw in the first two years.”

　　Li Xichun opened his mouth slightly in surprise, and after a long while he said, “Why haven’t I heard you say that?”

　　”There are many bizarre things in the world. Some people’s academic performance improved dramatically after having their appendix removed, and some people can speak a foreign language fluently after having their heart transplanted.” Li Xiangfu said calmly, “No one would believe it if I told them. If they did, I would be watched like monkeys.”

　　Finally he asked, “Why do you need to tell me specifically?”

　　“……” The logic is impeccable.

　　•|•

　　The birthday party was supposed to be held in a villa that the Bian family used specifically for vacation. Before arriving, one could see rows of luxury cars parked at the door, all of which were there to attend the party.

　　There were countless handsome men and beautiful women getting out of the cars. One of them looked at the luxurious villa and said with a smile: “It’s worthy of the little princess’ birthday. What a grand ceremony.”

　　Li Xiangfu is often referred to as the young master in the circle, which is full of jokes. However, Bian Shiqin is a real and recognized little princess. She is beautiful, kind-hearted and well-educated. Even without the family background to set off her, she is a goddess-level figure.

　　After getting out of the car, Li Xiangfu took a quick look and found that many of the people were unfamiliar faces he had never seen before. He did not see Qin Jin among the crowd, but he found Luo An, who was following a young man with a flattering smile.

　　”What are you looking at?” Li Xichun asked.

　　Li Xiangfu shook his head to indicate that it was nothing, and walked in with her.

　　In order to suit the vacation theme, the interior decoration style of the mansion is closer to that of a hotel rather than a home.

　　There is a specially prepared area in the corner for storing gifts of different sizes. Guests were to put greeting cards in the gift boxes, so there is no situation where one can’t tell the sender.

　　When Li Xiangfu put down the things, the young man standing next to Luo An noticed this and raised his eyebrows: “Didn’t you say he was being some handicraft? Why does it look so big?”

　　Luo An: “Maybe he added something else.” He paused and said: “Whether it can make him lose face is a small matter, the most important thing is to let him stand out.”

　　”That’s right.” The man stopped looking at Li Xiangfu. When he saw Bian Shiqin in a red dress in front of him, he suppressed the obsession in his eyes.

　　Bian Shiqin has always been the center of attention. Regardless of whether they knew each other before or not, he would greet each other one by one, giving the other person a feeling of being respected.

　　Li Xichun did not join in the excitement immediately. The fabric of her dress was a little thick, and she sweated a little, so she went to the bathroom to touch up her makeup. Li Xiangfu went to the buffet area alone to choose food. Unexpectedly, Qin Jin called suddenly and asked if the birthday party had started.

　　”We are still in the process of receiving guests.” He stopped picking up the cake and asked, “What’s wrong?”

　　Qin Jin: “There’s a bit of a traffic jam, I may not be able to catch up.”

　　Li Xiangfu was about to get another glass of juice when he overheard someone talking about his gossip.

　　”Did you see that? Li Xichun brought his brother here today.”

　　”She’s not planning to introduce her to the little princess of the Bian family and bring them together. That’s really audacious.”

　　”I’m more curious about the relationship between Qin Jin and Li Xiangfu. I heard that the two of them posted a photo together earlier.”

　　”It must be a deliberate attempt to intimidate the Li family. Think about it, everyone knows about the bad things that happened back then. Forcing Li Xiangfu to post the group photo himself is a disguised form of pressure.”

　　There was music playing at the banquet hall, and since Li Xiangfu was in a blind spot before, their conversation was inevitably a little loud.

　　Qin Jin on the other end of the phone seemed to have heard a few words, and said calmly: “It seems that everyone is very interested in our relationship.”

　　One of the gossipers happened to look up and saw Li Xiangfu coming from the corner. The smile on his face froze and his eyes were filled with embarrassment.

　　Li Xiangfu only glanced at the other person and then looked away, bending down to take out the cup to receive the juice: “It’s human nature.”

　　”Really?” Qin Jin’s tone was emotionless, and he said without warning, “I’d like to take this opportunity to clarify.”

　　The juice spilled out without him noticing, and Li Xiangfu released the button and asked while looking for napkins, “Clarification?”

　　At the same time, under the bridge.

　　There was a long line of cars ahead, and countless cars behind were honking their horns. Many drivers got out of their cars to check the situation, and the assistant did the same. When he came back, he said, “There was a serious traffic accident at the intersection ahead, and the scene is still being cleaned up.”

　　Seeing Qin Jin making a gesture, the assistant immediately stopped talking.

　　Qin Jin continued, “Treat someone in his own way, isn’t that your principle?”

　　Li Xiangfu laughed: “It’s quite embarrassing right now, I can’t just go back embarrassed.”

　　The wide bridge above covered half of Qin Jin’s face in shadow. He half-jokingly asked, “Why not?”

　　He pressed the hang-up button and switched to a video call. After the call was connected, Li Xiangfu’s face with a confused look appeared on the screen.

　　It wasn’t just Li Xiangfu who was confused, but also the people in front of him. They were caught talking bad about someone behind their backs, and they felt embarrassed and wanted to leave quickly. There was a blind spot in front of them, so they could only pull the corners of their mouths reluctantly, preparing to quickly pass by Li Xiangfu and get out of the current atmosphere.

　　At this moment, Qin Jin’s face and voice suddenly popped up on the screen, and several people were stunned.

　　Qin Jin’s voice was slightly distorted throughout the video, but it was still very charming. His unfathomable eyes looked directly at the people standing there stupidly: “Let me clarify, Mr. Li and I have a good personal relationship.”

　　It was the first time that Li Xiangfu was addressed as “Mr.” and he felt a little uncomfortable.

　　”…” These few people realized it later and nodded stiffly.

　　Li Xiangfu couldn’t help but say to Qin Jin: “Actually, there’s no need to call it so special…”

　　Qin Jin interrupted him: “At your nine o’clock, isn’t that Mr. Bian?”

　　Li Xiangfu saw a dignified old man, but he couldn’t see his whole appearance because of the crowd: “It should be.”

　　”Give him my regards.”

　　Li Xiangfu: “I will definitely convey it.”

　　Qin Jin: “Yes, take me.”

　　”Um?”

　　”Take me with you.”

　　Li Xiangfu’s eyebrows jumped. Could it be that it was what he imagined?

　　Unfortunately, Qin Jin quickly gave a positive answer.

　　•|•

　　Half a minute later, he slowly walked up to Mr. Bian, who was chatting with a person in charge of the Qian Group. He was slightly startled when he saw Li Xiangfu coming towards him.

　　He had seen him from a distance at the last wedding banquet, and even he had to admit that the boy from the Li family was indeed ridiculous in the past, but he was actually very handsome.

　　”Hello.” Li Xiangfu nodded to show respect.

　　Mr. Bian showed no emotion, he just smiled and said, “It’s just like what your father said, you’re getting more energetic.”

　　Li Xiangfu pursed his lips and said, “Mr. Qin also says hello to you.”

　　”Mr. Qin?”

　　Li Xiangfu turned the phone around, and Qin Jin’s face suddenly appeared: “You look much better.”

　　Mr. Bian was surprised: “Qin Jin?”

　　Qin Jin nodded: “There’s a traffic jam, it might be very late if we rush there.”

　　Mr. Bian reacted quickly and said with a smile: “No matter how late it is, I will prepare a pot of good tea for you.”

　　The two sides exchanged a few pleasantries, and when they were almost finished, Qin Jin said to Li Xiangfu, “The representative of the Zhao Group is behind you. Let’s go and say hello together.”

　　Li Xiangfu shook his head: “I’m not familiar with him.”

　　Greeting Mr. Bian is an indispensable courtesy, and he didn’t have to go through this formality with others. Besides, the Zhao Group is not a big company, and there is no need to take the initiative to make friends.

　　Qin Jin said calmly: “Why not? Wasn’t the young master of the Zhao Group plotting against you before?”

　　“…”

　　Half a minute later, Li Xiangfu once again looked like a model displaying mobile phones in a shop window, pointed the screen at the ‘target customer’, and coughed lightly.

　　When Mr. Zhao heard the sound and turned around, he was shocked when he saw this strange scene and took two steps back.

　　”Mr. Zhao, I’ve long heard of your name.” Qin Jin’s cold voice came out.

　　Mr. Zhao’s expression quickly turned around and he swallowed his saliva: “M-Mr. Qin, hello.”

　　The author has something to say:

Qin Jin: If he embarrasses you, you embarrass him.

　　Li Xiangfu: …

　　Mr. Bian: It is better to be alive. You will see more if you live longer.