A Sand Sculpture in the Red Dust - Chapter 6

Chapter 6 – Mr. Qin’s Hot Business Card

　　”This child looks really like his father when he was a child.” A trace of nostalgia flashed in Mr. Li’s eyes.

　　Li Xiangfu was extremely smart when he was young. While others were playing in the mud, he would clamor to look at the astronomical telescope. In the first grade, he wrote an essay titled “To Be or Not to Be”, which directly caused the teacher to panic and ask his parents to go to the school.

　　At that time, Mr. Li almost thought that their family was going to produce a true genius. Unfortunately, Li Xiangfu’s talents were not developed to help him excel in his studies, but were instead used to skip classes and take risks.

　　Changing the subject: “Even if he is a little more motivated…”

　　Li Huaichen frowned, but finally said, “Let the past pass as soon as possible.”

　　Thinking of all those stupid things that happened in the past, Mr. Li’s lips trembled with anger: “It’s easy for you to say that. He…”

　　”Dad.” Li Huaichen’s tone was a little heavy, and he interrupted his next words with one word.

　　Mr. Li’s chest trembled violently for a few times, and after calming down, he said, “You should be more careful. Qin Jin is even more cruel than I was in my young days, and he is very evil. If he really puts the blame for his brother on that brat, there will be trouble in the future.”

　　Li Huaichen: “Don’t worry, I will take care of it.”

　　At this time, Li Xiangfu came in carrying the guqin and greeted him, “Good morning.”

　　Mr. Li nodded calmly. When his eyes swept over Li Shasha, his brows furrowed: “Did you buy these clothes for him?”

　　Li Xiangfu nodded.

　　”Why wear shirts and trousers in the hot summer? Don’t let the child get hurt.” Mr. Li is used to having the final say: “Buy new clothes.”

　　The extremely distorted life under female dominance made Li Xiangfu develop obsessive-compulsive disorder. Sometimes when he saw others wearing short sleeves, he even wanted to stitch longer sleeves to their clothes. During this period, he tried his best to adjust his state, but still could not get rid of the feeling of suffocation.

　　The failure of changing clothes this morning made him realize that some changes can only be made gradually.

　　Suppressing his helplessness and self-loathing, Li Xiangfu found an excuse: “Formal clothes are more appropriate for a wedding.”

　　”Is he going to get married?” Mr. Li refuted without leaving any room for negotiation.

　　”Actually, I have a problem. When I see something is empty, I want to fill it up.”

　　Mr. Li said coldly: “The last person to do this was Jingwei.”

　　“…”

　　The persuasion failed, and in the afternoon, Li Xiangfu took Li Shasha back to the clothing store yesterday.

　　The fake father and son were both afraid of trouble and had no intention of customizing anything. Li Shasha picked out a few less fancy clothes to try on.

　　The shopping guide at the side said compliments, and they were not all polite. This father and son were the best-looking people she had ever seen, but there was something indescribably strange about them.

　　Li Xiangfu seemed to be patiently helping the child tidy up his clothes, but his eyes kept glancing towards the other side, where the short-sleeved shirts and shorts for men were kept.

　　Li Shasha: “Dad, do you want to try it?”

　　Recalling the experience of changing into a short-sleeved shirt in the morning, Li Xiangfu felt that his fate was strangled by the throat and shook his head: “Not interested.”

　　Li Shasha pointed to two of the sets and indicated that he had made his choice.

　　At this time, the shopping guide finally figured out what was strange. She had seen couples who were physically harmonious but spiritually estranged, but this was the first time she had seen a father and son who were physically harmonious but spiritually estranged.

　　Children of this age speaking in a baby voice should be the cutest, but every time he called hisdad, there was no emotion in his words, a bit like the expressionless robot in the movies.

　　However, seeing Li Xiangfu swipe the card quickly and efficiently, the shopping guide’s favorability increased again, and today’s performance was considered completed.

　　It was a rare opportunity to go out, so Li Xiangfu took the system to go shopping in the mall for a while.

　　Li Shasha raised his little face and said, “Do I really have to attend the wedding party?”

　　Li Xiangfu nodded.

　　Li Shasha: “Will they not make fun of me in the future?”

　　Li Xiangfu suddenly stopped and looked at him, and began to consider other aspects. Having a child can effectively help avoid being urged to get married in the future. He now has no desire for love.

　　”Then you can become my biological child.”

　　For the system, it is just a matter of changing a string of sequence data in the body.

　　Li Shasha: “Bloodline confusion?”

　　”There is no heir to the throne tradition in our family. Even if it is really an adopted child, the child will have the right of inheritance after being registered,” Li Xiangfu sighed, “In the future, my share will be given to you.”

　　Li Shasha: “But I only have 60 years left to live. If you live to be 100, you will be there to see me off.”

　　“…”

　　The two were about to start a debate on the topic of life and death when Li Xiangfu saw an area where they could rest and walked over and sat down.

　　He found that everyone around him was looking down at their phones, and he tried to blend into the environment, but found no joy in it.

　　Li Shasha followed him and looked down, almost saying he was bored.

　　After scrolling for a while, Li Xiangfu raised his eyebrows. It is popular to use a clip with text nowadays in short videos. Many of them start like this: Qin Jin once said so and so.

　　As soon as the bgm comes out, it instantly creates an inspiring and motivating feeling.

　　Li Shasha: “Who is this person? Why is he talking so much nonsense?”

　　Li Xiangfu laughed: “I guess the person involved doesn’t even know he said this.”

　　As he spoke, his smile faded a lot, and the scene of Liu Yu’s somewhat unnatural tone when he mentioned the Qin family emerged in his mind.

　　‘Could it be that I have provoked the other party before?’

　　On second thought, it is impossible for the two sides to have any common ground.

　　There were many people trying to get a taxi outside the mall. After suffering the sultry weather for nearly a quarter of an hour, both an adult and a child breathed a sigh of relief after getting in the taxi.

　　Li Shasha: “Dad, I want you to buy a car.”

　　Eliminating the people who were unlikely to pay, Li Xiangfu pursed his lips and said, “Wait a while until my second brother is done with his work…”

　　He shook his head before he finished speaking: “Second brother is even harder to talk to.”

　　Different from Li Huaichen’s old-fashioned and rigorous personality, his second brother, Li Anqing, has an extremely cold personality. To put it bluntly, if you stand in front of him, he will look at you the same way as he looks at the dust next to him.

　　As for his only sister… thinking of her hot temper, Li Xiangfu couldn’t help but sit straighter.

　　The driver listened to the conversation and glanced in the rearview mirror. He found that even the curvature of the man’s hair was weirdly beautiful. He couldn’t help but blurt out: “If you become a model, you will definitely be snatched up by big companies.”

　　Li Shasha agreed and suggested, “Showing up more in public is good for mental health.”

　　The driver was amused by the child’s words, thinking that he was so young and could use idioms, but the words he chose were a bit strange.

　　As the center of topic, Li Xiangfu rubbed his temples, but found that it did not relieve the headache. He leaned his head against the car window and closed his eyes to rest.

　　He was still in a drowsy state until he got off the car.

　　There was no one at home. Aunt Zhang told them that Mr. Li had made an appointment with someone to go fishing. Li Xiangfu went straight back to his room and lay on the bed to rest, humming from time to time.

　　Li Shasha noticed that he was not feeling well: “Do you want to go to the hospital?”

　　Li Xiangfu shook his head.

　　The injury left sequelae, and he would have headaches from time to time. Speaking of which, his condition was very strange. It was not a fragmentary memory loss, but more like a certain detail in his memory was removed. For example, he remembered the time when he and Luo An were still friends, but he couldn’t remember where he had gone on adventures in the same period of time.

　　Because of the headaches, Li Xiangfu has been avoiding thinking about things in the long run. However, since returning to China, it is like opening a Pandora’s box. From time to time, he would have some strange dreams, and after waking up, he couldn’t help but fall into memories.

　　Li Shasha suggested: “There are many things that can be used to divert attention, such as embroidery, cooking and playing chess.”

　　Li Xiangfu nodded perfunctorily, meaning that he could put it on the agenda after giving himself two days of rest.

　　Before the weekend, the atmosphere at home was quite harmonious, which relieved Aunt Zhang, who was worried that there would be chaos. This was due to the fact that Li Huaichen and Mr. Li were often not at home. Although Mr. Li was retired, he was busy looking for someone to negotiate the children’s schooling.

　　Li Shasha himself is unaware of all this.

　　Time flies and it is Saturday. It is a rare good day and the high temperature seems to be giving way to the wedding.

　　The wedding banquet was held at the city’s famous LUX Hotel. The parking lot was almost full, so Mr. Li asked the driver to drive around first and return to pick them up at the appointed time.

　　There are two majestic carved stone pillars outside the hotel. The eyes of the painted dragons on it are sparkling. There are special people to guide people at the door, so one didn’t have to worry about entering the wrong place.

　　The interior was decorated according to the traditional Chinese wedding style, with an antique feel. Even the ordinary lighting lamps were replaced with small exquisitely crafted lanterns.

　　Li Xiangfu couldn’t help but take a few more glances. This place gave him a brief sense of familiarity, as if he could see the past years through these little things.

　　Li Shasha tugged at his sleeve, and Li Xiangfu returned to his senses and continued walking forward following the waiter’s footsteps.

　　”You just came back, and there are people with all kinds of thoughts,” Mr. Li said as they got on the elevator. “If someone comes over to chat with you later, just say a few words. No need to say more.”

　　Li Xiangfu nodded, feeling that his father’s explanation was a bit redundant and seemed to have other purposes.

　　They didn’t arrive too early. Just as they arrived at the entrance of the banquet hall, someone came to greet Mr. Li. After a few polite words, other people came over. The distance was not far, but it took them several minutes to reach their destination.

　　Li Xiangfu’s appearance undoubtedly became a focus, and many tables were whispering.

　　”I almost didn’t recognize him. He looks so good after not seeing him for a few years.”

　　As one lady spoke, she couldn’t help but secretly take a photo, preparing to share it with her friends.

　　”He has great potential, but it’s a pity that I didn’t discover him when he was in school!”

　　”Is the one next to him the child he adopted as mentioned in the rumours?”

　　The word “adopt” was pronounced with a slightly heavier tone, obviously indicating that there was some unspeakable secret involved.

　　No sound of discussion came over, and Li Xiangfu caught a glimpse of some white ash on the side of Li Shasha’s clothes.

　　He bent down and patted the corners of his clothes. A strand of hair fell from his forehead. He simply re-wrapped the hairband around it casually. His flexible and slender fingers caused a slightly rapid breathing sound.

　　As long as you have hand control, you can’t take your eyes off here for a while.

　　Most people focus on his appearance, while a small number focus on Li Shasha, and Luo An is one of them.

　　The people sitting at the same table with him were all acquaintances. A few minutes ago, they were still discussing Li Xiangfu’s jokes and mocking the fact that the child’s identity was not recognized. Who would have thought that they would be slapped in the face so quickly?

　　Luo An stood up, and the chair was pushed away with a harsh sound: “I’m going to the bathroom.”

　　Everyone looked at each other and no one spoke.

　　When he reached the door, Luo An called the department head and as soon as the call was connected, he shouted in a low voice: “Didn’t you say that the matter was settled?”

　　The man was confused after being scolded.

　　Luo An: “At today’s banquet, the old man not only brought Li Xiangfu, but also brought his grandson.”

　　The second half of the sentence can be described as gnashing of teeth.

　　The supervisor opened his mouth and finally said after a long while: “How is this possible? The person in charge…”

　　Luo An interrupted, “Don’t sign the project you agreed with that idiot yet. Find a few professionals to tamper with the contract.”

　　Just as he was about to scold his supervisor, the elevator door in front opened and Qin Jin and the bodyguards beside him walked out one after another.

　　Luo An quickly swallowed his anger, hung up the phone in a hurry, and went to the bathroom pretending that nothing had happened.

　　He and Qin Jin had no formal business dealings or encounters, so there was no need to say greet the other party. He didn’t know if it was his illusion, but the moment they passed by, he felt like he was being locked by a poisonous snake.

　　After Qin Jin arrived, fewer and fewer people talked to Mr. Li. Everyone tried not to offend either side and began to sit back in their seats.

　　The lights gradually dimmed, and the projection in front played the newly-wed couple’s past photographs and carefully edited videos.

　　The waiter served the dishes very quickly. Li Xiangfu picked up a piece of braised meat for Li Shasha with chopsticks. Li Shasha took a bite along the edge, wiped the corner of his mouth and commented: “It lacks chewiness, too salty, and the ingredients are also average.”

　　He sounded so serious that he made the other people at the table laugh, and even the usually stern Mr. Li couldn’t help but curl his lips slightly.

　　Li Shasha began to miss Li Xiangfu’s cooking skills deeply, and wondered how to persuade him to cook.

　　Not knowing that he was being thought of, Li Xiangfu’s attention was not on the food, and his eyes were glancing at another table.

　　The first few rows were mostly powerful people, and they were not too far away from Qin Jin. He had only heard of him before, and this was the first time he saw him in person.

　　The lanterns were shining, and it was not difficult to see a face clearly. Compared to normal people, Qin Jin’s eyes were too light, and he did not have the heroic aura of a general boss. On the contrary, he was surrounded by a haze that wouldn’t dispersed, as if the light was avoiding him.

　　His overly gloomy aura often makes people ignore his good looks.

　　Qin Jin suddenly tilted his head and moved his lips, and the bodyguard who came with him then walked over here.

　　The people at nearby tables had different expressions and their eyes followed the movement involuntarily.

　　The bodyguard wanted to get in front of Li Xiangfu, but Mr. Li blocked him and rubbed his cup with his rough fingertips without making a sound: “What’s the matter?”

　　Unexpectedly, the bodyguard only handed over a business card: “My boss asked me to pass it on.”

　　While speaking, he looked at Li Xiangfu, and it was obvious to whom he was passing it on to.

　　Feeling that it would be better not to accept this business card, Li Xiangfu glanced at Li Shasha.

　　Li Shasha put on a stern face and pretended to be a naughty child, clamoring to eat fish.

　　Li Xiangfu helped him remove the fish bones and acted like a good father.

　　It was naturally inconvenient to take the business card with greasy hands. Mr. Li didn’t move again. The bodyguard looked at them deeply, put the business card on the table and left.

　　It was almost like getting a “rejection”. Thinking of the boss’s fickle temper, the bodyguard subconsciously slowed down his pace when he went back.

　　“He didn’t answer.”

　　”I saw it.” Qin Jin smiled slightly, and it was hard to figure out what he was thinking: “It would be strange if he answered it.”

　　The slight curve of his lips did not dispel the gloom. People at other tables were talking and laughing, but the atmosphere at this table was always dull because of his presence.

　　The bride entered the inner venue, the color of the lights changed, and flower petals were blown in from both sides of the long stage. The bride truly demonstrated what it meant to be more beautiful than flowers, and even her powdered face could not hide a hint of blush.

　　A band was invited to perform on the spot, and every song was heartfelt.

　　Li Xiangfu wiped his fingers one by one with a wet wipe, guessing that everyone was looking at the bride, so he turned his head slightly to look to the other side.

　　When he raised his eyes, he was unexpectedly met with a pair of light-colored pupils. Li Xiangfu’s heart moved, as if he had stepped into a hunter’s trap.

　　After a moment, his eyes fell on the business card lying alone next to the plate, and he narrowed his eyes.

　　From the moment Qin Jin handed over his business card, the guests around him secretly observed their reactions.

　　Li Shasha picked up a piece of fish and put it in his mouth. After swallowing it, he said in a very soft voice, “Dad, that guy just glanced at you three times out of the corner of his eye. He sat stiffly and tapped the table with his fingers. It showed that he was not as calm as he appeared… Tsk, another little fool who has a crush on you.”

　　When he passed through time to the matriarchial era, Li Xiangfu was courted by many and even some men showed their affection after he showed his wild ways. The system could often catch those who secretly spy on him at the first time, and he had long grown accustomed to it.

　　Just as the emcee finished his speech, the scene suddenly became much more lively. The bride went to change her clothes and the groom toasted at the table.

　　There were many people walking around, and Qin Jin also stood up. When they saw the direction he was going, many people held their breath, sensing that a big drama was about to begin.

　　At the same time, the wrinkles between Mr. Li’s brows furrowed, and his eyes were fixed on Qin Jin.

　　As if he hadn’t received the warning, Qin Jin approached and looked at Li Xiangfu, speaking a little slower than usual: “It seems that this business card is very hot.”

　　At the same time, Li Shasha turned his head and cast a questioning look at Li Xiangfu, but the latter shrugged, indicating that he was not very interested.

　　Knowing that he had a negative attitude towards relationships, Li Shasha jumped off his chair, stood in front of Qin Jin holding the business card with both hands, and looked very sorry for him: “No, sorry, uncle, dad doesn’t date.”

　　The author has something to say:

　　Li Xiangfu: Being in love will only affect the speed at which I play the guqin.

　　Li Shasha: It’s impossible, just give up.

　　Qin Jin: …