C25 Miraculous Induction

Li Zezhe nodded, looking mysterious. He was about to explain the situation to Su Qian when Gao Ming suddenly appeared outside the door.

They looked at each other and saw that the quilt had been put on. Li Zezhe took the quilt and went out.

"Old house, the room hasn't been used for a long time. I don't know if you can get used to it." Gao Ming put one hand in his pocket and looked around the room. He walked in and opened the window.

Su Qian looked at his back and smiled, "It's okay."

He turned around and looked at Su Qian, "Zhuang Zhou didn't tell me you were coming."

Su Qian lowered her eyes and focused on the two hands in front of her. "Brother Ze Zhe was just worried. Besides, I don't have anything important to do these days."

"Hmm." He just answered blandly and then fell into silence.

Su Qian could only find a topic to talk about, "About Grandpa Gao, my condolences."

Hearing this, he smiled as if it didn't concern him, "There's no need to be so formal. I was brought to the White City when I was young and I don't have any special feelings towards anyone or anything here."

Su Qian couldn't quite understand the relationship between them. Gao Ming was not only ruthless to Uncle Gao and the dead Grandpa Gao, he was also indifferent to everyone. Su Qian thought that this might be his personality.

"Xiao Qian, Auntie just made two dishes, you..."

At this moment, Shen Qiuyin came in with a tray of food. When she looked up and saw that Gao Ming was also in the room, her pretty face froze for a moment, but she quickly regained her gentle smile, "Xiao Ming is also here."

Gao Ming only glanced at her once, but the fleeting disgust in the corner of his eyes was caught by Su Qian. Without responding, Gao Ming walked out of the room.

Shen Qiuyin, who was leaning against the door, looked a little embarrassed, but she was very calm. She turned around and put all the dishes on the table with a smile.

"Xiao Qian, eat while it's hot," she called.

"Thank you, Auntie." Su Qian replied with a polite smile. When she walked forward, she saw a meat dish and a vegetable dish. Together with the hot white rice, the fragrance assailed her nostrils.

"Then you can eat first. They called me for something else. Auntie will take care of the bowls and chopsticks later." After she spoke, she went out of the room under Su Qian's gaze.

After running around all afternoon, she was indeed a little hungry.

Su Qian sat down to eat. She found that Auntie Gao's cooking was quite good.

A faint white light suddenly came from between her fingers. She looked in surprise and found that it came from the ring on her middle finger.

"Hmm?"

She immediately put down the bowl and chopsticks in her hand. She opened the back of her hand and looked at it carefully. The white light was very weak, like a light bulb that was out of battery.

This was the ring that Uncle Su Yan had given her before he left.

She asked herself in her heart, but the white light only lasted for a while before it went out. She couldn't figure it out, so she didn't think about it anymore...

The next morning, at 6 am sharp, Su Qian was woken up by a noise outside her room.

The morning in the northern countryside was a little chilly. When she came out with her coat on, she found that her family and friends had come to pay their respects to the deceased.

As far as she knew, the whole structure of the Gaos' house was in the shape of a 'T'. The entrance was a large hall, where the memorial tablets were placed, and in the middle of the hall, in front of and behind each room, were Su Qian, Gao Ming, and Li Zezhe. Beyond that was a slightly smaller central hall, which served as a dining hall. There were three other rooms in the central hall, one for the shower and bathroom, one for the kitchen, and one for the house, where Uncle Gao and the others slept.

As for the second-year uncle, Li Zezhe said that he had built a new house in the village, so he didn't live in the old house.

Breakfast was served at seven o'clock. Aunt Gao prepared enough for twelve people, but when Su Qian was invited to the table, she found that Gao Ming was not among the unfamiliar faces.

"Brother Gao Ming, are you still sleeping?" she asked Li Zezhe in a low voice.

No one paid any attention to them.

Li Zezhe pointed to the yard with his chopsticks and shrugged helplessly.

Su Qian thought that she probably understood why Gao Ming didn't want to eat at the table...

"Uncle Liang came all the way here to pay his respects to my father. As a junior, I am very pleased. I believe that my father's spirit in heaven will be very happy to see Uncle Liang here today." At the table, Uncle Gao greeted the guests who had just arrived this morning.

He was an elderly man of about sixty, dressed in a clean, simple black Zhongshan suit, with a goatee and graying sideburns. His skin was dark, and age had etched wrinkles at the corners of his eyes.

"Wei Hua and I have known each other for decades, but I didn't expect him to grow old, suffer from apoplexy, be bedridden, and leave in such a hurry," Uncle Liang said.

The other man, who was a little younger than he was, added, "Yes, but the most important thing is that once the news of Brother Gao's death gets out, who knows what will happen? Zhenhui, what are you going to do about it?"

"Uncle Ge, please don't say this in front of the children." Uncle Gao's worried gaze scanned over Su Qian and the other boy.

The boy was around ten years old and had a face similar to Aunty Qiu's. He should be the child that Uncle Gao and his wife gave birth to.

The elder who was called Uncle Ge saw this and sighed. He seemed to be thinking about something.

Soon, Uncle Gao changed the topic and asked them to continue eating.

Su Qian guessed that they might be talking about the fight for the second-year uncle's property. After all, this was someone else's family matter, and she didn't want to and didn't have the right to interfere. So, after hurriedly eating a bowl of porridge, she excused herself and walked to the gate of the courtyard, where she found Gao Ming staring blankly at the old locust tree.

"This is a big acacia," she murmured, stepping forward to examine the old tree with a curious expression on her face. She had not paid much attention to it in the dark the day before, but today she saw that the trunk was so thick that it would take at least three people to wrap their arms around it.

"This tree has been here for as long as I can remember."

"Did you live here when you were young?" Su Qian asked.

"Before I was seven years old, after my mother died, I went back to White City with Gao Zhenhui," he answered expressionlessly.

Su Qian looked at the vast fields and forests in the distance. It should be a cloudy day today.

"I don't know why, but after I came back this time, I feel that there is something different about this place," Gao Ming said after a while.

Su Qian didn't think so, "The development of the village is fast. You haven't been back for so many years, so it's normal for you to feel strange."

He thought for a while and shook his head. "I'm not strange. Everything here is the same as when I was young, but it feels strange."

Su Qian saw that his eyes were filled with doubt. His gaze stayed on the distant forest for a long time and slowly sank into a hollow.

"Maybe people and things have changed." Su Qian could only comfort him like this. After all, he had his mother and grandfather when he was young. Now that his mother and grandfather had passed away, he felt uncomfortable returning to his hometown.

He retracted the light in his eyes and looked at the ground with worry, "Maybe."

"Brother..."

A young voice suddenly sounded from behind him.

Su Qian and Gao Ming turned around and saw the little boy at the table. He was holding a bowl of noodles and standing at the door.

"Mom said you haven't had breakfast yet," he said in a low voice. His eyes were full of respect as he looked into Gao Ming's eyes.

However, as soon as Gao Ming looked at him, he took back his cold eyes. His thin lips opened and closed, and he said something stiff and emotionless, "No need."

Hearing this, the boy lowered his head in disappointment and turned around to return to the courtyard.

Su Qian was surprised by Gao Ming's cold attitude. He was just a ten-year-old child who had not experienced the world.

"Brother Gao Ming, actually he..." Su Qian wanted to say a few words for the child, but just as she was about to say it, she was shocked by Gao Ming's sharp gaze and swallowed it back down.

"But you can't just not eat, can you?" Su Qian could only go over the sensitive area and asked carefully.

"I am not hungry." He said coldly and then started to walk forward. He went down to the field from the small pit beside the old locust tree. He slowly walked away alone.

Su Qianyun looked after him as he disappeared into the mist, lonely and cold, but in the face of what was called home he was like a spiky hedgehog, neither accommodating nor allowing anyone to approach him.

"Don't worry, Boss Li. This is definitely a treasure worth collecting!"

At the bottom of the stone steps, three or five men suddenly appeared. The man in the lead was slightly overweight, with a square face and a buzz cut. He was wearing a short beige jacket and black suit pants.

The group was heading toward the Gao Family's old house.

"You brat, you better not talk big. Otherwise, if you don't pay me back the bet, I will cut off your hands and feet and feed them to the dogs."

"Hehe, I don't dare, I don't dare..."

As they spoke, they had already passed by Su Qian and entered the inner courtyard of the Gaos.

Su Qian looked inside and saw that they were talking to Uncle Gao in the room. However, they didn't talk for long before the sound of glasses breaking could be heard, accompanied by an intense argument.

"I will tell you one last time. You can't sell the old house, and you can't sell the ruler!"

"We are both sons of the Gaos. Why do you have the final say? I have the right to use half of the inheritance. I said I would sell it!"

"You!"

Seeing that something was wrong, she hurried forward to check. Through a gap in the crowded door, she saw that the tables and chairs in the room had fallen to the floor. Uncle Gao was livid with anger.