‘Even though one was poor, one still has to have lofty ideals.’ That was her father’s maxim.
Many had told him to get some reward from the Ye family, in recognition of his effort of raising Ye Qiao, but he refused to. For the past six years, he would rather endure hardship than getting help. This time, as usual, he showed a dogged determination not to accept the money from the Ye family. It took Ye Qiao some time to convince him that the money was merely borrowed, not given, which he finally accepted.
The peanut business would continue to boom for the next two years, so an investment now would be extremely profitable. By the time he began to make a profit, she would decide again if they should return the money. She recalled venturing into real estate under the influence of Li Yun and Shen Xichuan. With surreptitious plans, the duo managed to make a lot of money because of her relationship with the Lu and Ye families.
One day, while they were trying to develop a new housing area, Li Yun and Shen Xichuan decided to go ahead and demolish the buildings without any safety measures, which resulted in a death-causing accident. They gave the same account by arrangement and made Ye Qiao appear guilty of the wrongdoing.
She became the victim of the false charge and was sentenced to seven years of imprisonment. Had her grandfather not interfered with the judiciary, her sentence would have been much more severe. All his life, her grandfather had been open and aboveboard. For the first time in his life, he had to break the law in order to save her. He died from grief because of the misconduct.
The train to N City took five hours, and Ye Qiao took the time to recollect her painful past.
The seat that she was assigned to had an assigned bunk so that she could rest. Before the train arrived at their destination, Xiao Dong and Zhou Peng came and helped her to pack. Ye Qiao finally got up from her bunk and began tying her messy hair into a neat ponytail.
From Zhou Peng’s observations, Ye Qiao was not a lady who was fussy about her needs at all. She had a sweet look, but the aura that she had demonstrated was nothing like an 18-year-old teenager.
Meanwhile, Xiao Dong offered to carry the bags before they disembarked from the train. Her father wanted to come along, but Ye Qiao disagreed, for his leg was still recovering. She did not ask the rest of the family to come with her as they would not be of any help, anyway.
The N Terminal was a main stop, and also the final destination of their ride. Coincidentally, the very first station of their train came from J City. The hustle and bustle of large crowds filled the platform in a flurry. Packed and unruly, they had to fight their way through the crowds into the station.
By chance, Ye Qiao caught the sight of a group of military personnel walking up the stairs on her right, each having a bag of their own. The green color of their uniform stood out from the crowds, which was the prettiest color that she had seen in a while.
What followed was a heart-warming act of kindness as one of the officers helped an elderly lady carry her bag. Swiftly, he put the weight over his shoulder and carried it up the stairs.
The more she looked at him, the more he reminded her of Lu Beixiao. However, she quickly dismissed the thought as it was impossible for him to be here.
Soon, the group of military personnel was gone, but Ye Qiao could not help but wonder – could it be him? He told her that he was going to a foreign land, a place where there was no connection.
In a way, by taking J City as the point of origin, everywhere else was considered a foreign land. However, he would have told her over the phone that he was coming when she talked to him about it. Therefore, she concluded that he couldn’t be here.
N City was a provincial capital. Although it was not as prosperous and bustling as J City, it was not at all behind the times. It was a place with a profound cultural background and an extensive history, for it had been an ancient capital for many dynasties. The only downside about the city was its weather, which was blistering hot. Indeed it was one of the hottest places to be in the country.
Ye Qiao had a map in her hand, which she could barely read. She tried fanning herself with it, but even the air that came blowing in her face was hot.
Cell phones were an invention that had yet to be introduced. There was nothing like a smartphone or a map navigator to get her through a city of such a size. Even pointing out the direction was too difficult, to begin with.
Xiao Dong took the map and started reading it while waiting for the taxi to come, which was a rare sight. In order to save her companion the hassle of decoding the map, she decided to call the number that was given by Lu Beixiao.
15 minutes after she hung up, a striking Cadillac showed up at the pick-up point. It was over five meters long and was stylishly fashionable. What a local tycoon!