My Youth Began With Him

Watching the twins leave, Zhang Manlin took out her phone and dialed a number.

“Hello? Big Brother Qian?”

“Linlin, go ahead.”

“Big Brother Qian, I just saw the twins.”

“Oh? Where?”

“In a small town on my way back to the village…”

“That big of a coincidence?” Huo Siqian put down his cigar, surprised. He knew that the twins were kidnapped by Shen Jiani and her accomplice but he never imagined that Zhang Manlin would run into them. It really was a huge coincidence.

“Yea! I was stunned! I don’t know what I should do now… One of the girls, not sure if the older or the younger, is very smart. She found a way to talk to me in the washroom and told me to phone her dad for help. She promised me a large reward. I just wanted to ask for your opinion, Big Brother Qian.”

“Linlin, what do you think?” Huo Siqian smiled.

“I think… that Qin Chu’s probably worried sick right now. If I give him tips on his daughters, maybe his impression of me will improve and when that happens, I can get closer to him. That’s good for you too, right?” Zhang Manlin was still caught up in her love for Qin Chu.

She couldn’t see Huo Siqian’s face of contempt over the phone.

“Big Brother Qian, what do you think? If I tell him, he’ll definitely be grateful towards me, right?” Zhang Manlin’s voice was laced with excitement.

“Linlin… you’re still too young.” Huo Siqian seemed to be implying something.

“Big Brother Qian, what do you mean by that? I… don’t really understand.” Zhang Manlin couldn’t decipher what Huo Siqian was thinking and was too afraid of him to guess.

“What I mean is… Linlin, Qin Chu’s probably never going to trust you. So, he won’t appreciate anything you do for him. Even if you save his twins, he’s probably still going to treat you poorly. He won’t give you anything other than money… but, you don’t need money. I can give you money, right?”

“You’re right… so what should I do? Should I just ignore the twins?”

“No, you should definitely do something, but maybe do it another way?” Huo Siqian began to drop hints.

“What way? Big Brother Qian, could you be clearer?”

Huo Siqian raised his right hand and rubbed his temples with his long fingers, sighing.

“Linlin… my plan is near completion. If Qin Chu gets distracted at this point… it’ll give me the perfect opportunity…”

“Big Brother Qian… you’re saying…” Zhang Manlin got the hint.

“Yes, go ahead and don’t worry about anything. Stir the pot any way you want to.”

“Alright, I understand. Thank you, Brother Qian.”

“Oh, right. Before I forget, I have to remind you of something.”

“Go ahead, Big Brother Qian.” Zhang Manlin was polite as could be, afraid to offend Huo Siqian to even the slightest degree.

“The twins are incredibly intelligent. If you don’t help them, you need to find a way to escape. Otherwise, once they get out of trouble, they won’t forgive you.”

“Alright, I understand.”

After the phone call, Zhang Manlin gritted her teeth in silence.

At the other end, Ah-Cheng looked at his boss with fear in his eyes. “Boss, what did you mean by that?”

“You don’t understand, do you?”

“Boss, you’ve always cherished Miss Huo… why did you…?” Ah-Cheng didn’t finish his sentence out loud but his question was clear to Huo Siqian.

During his phone call with Zhang Manlin, not only did he tell her not to save the twins, he told her to stall for time.