Rebirth: A Cinderella's Counterattack

Chapter 371: Chapter 353: Countdown

The concert was over in just two hours, with everyone busily wrapping things up. Yet, the expressions on their faces couldn’t relax because the end of the concert meant that the countdown to that incident had begun.

”Luo Yanran, go and ask which flights those two are taking to leave. Don’t let them stay here,” with a night sky full of stars, the Milky Way was clearly visible. Qin Nuan sat in the tent, wiping her own hair. She had just finished washing up and checking out of the hotel, and they had come straight here without even time to dry their hair.

”No need to ask, they’ve already followed us here and won’t be leaving.” Luo Yanran pouted and pointed to two other tents: ”Since they returned to help, it doesn’t make sense to leave halfway. ’Send Buddha to the west’—that’s what the two said.”

Qin Nuan held her forehead and nodded a moment later: ”Secure your valuables, keep your batteries charged, and stay in contact with Qianqian at all times.” The valuables Qin Nuan mentioned were of course the satellite phones.

Qin Wen entered the tent with a towel to help his sister dry her hair, slightly frowning: ”Big brother has dispersed the nearby villages, forcibly. The authorities don’t know; I’m afraid he might be punished.”

”There won’t be any punishment. As long as everything is over by tomorrow, I’m afraid big brother will even be commended,” Qin Nuan enjoyed her second brother’s care: ”How are things online?”

”Qianqian’s side is quite frightening. Businesspeople from far places that could, took their families away in the last two days, but there are still too many left in and around the city. We’ve persuaded and sent away a large number of lonely old people, but there’s nothing we can do about the rest,” Qin Wen sighed, his hands not stopping their motion, continuing to dry Qin Nuan’s semi-wet hair.

Luo Yanran looked at Qin Nuan’s long hair and thought of Luo Qianqian’s long hair from before, feeling a tinge of regret. That head of black, silky hair, she cut it all off herself. It pained him to think about it. Was it necessary—to avoid the Luo and Han families? The moment he thought of the Han family looking for Luo Qianqian, his eyes grew deeper.

”Luo Yanran, did you hear me? Luo Yanran???” Qin Nuan threw a water bottle at Luo Yanran, who came back to his senses as if waking from a dream.

”What’s up?”

”I’ve been calling you for ages, have the schools in the city been accounted for?” Qin Nuan frowned tightly, an impatient look on her face: ”What are you thinking about? Can you afford to be absent-minded right now?”

”The report is right in front of you, isn’t it?” said Luo Yanran, annoyed, but after a moment he asked worriedly, ”Qianqian’s side... there won’t be any trouble, right?”

”With the Luo family there and her at the base, what could happen? You’re overthinking it,” Qin Nuan was initially dissatisfied, but hearing that he was concerned about her sister, her friend, she did not comment any further, her own brother being by her side.

”It’s not just that simple. If, and I mean if, disaster strikes tomorrow, Qianqian’s side... won’t people come knocking?” Luo Yanran, the youngest of the four brothers, was more thoughtful than the others who dealt with the army on a regular basis. He questioned things more, being from the entertainment industry: ”Like, the seismological bureau, the academy of sciences—would they believe Qianqian’s excuse of having a dream?”

Qin Nuan’s face changed slightly; she had overlooked this issue. Perhaps leaving Qianqian behind was a mistake.

Qin Wen pursed her lips: ”Those things online can’t trace back to her. Hasn’t she learned all this time how to protect herself? The key issue is those of us who know the specifics, those aware of Qianqian and Nuannuan’s dream excuse, we are the ones who could put the two of them in danger.”

”There aren’t many such people, are there? My family, Qianqian’s family,” Qin Nuan frowned, as if she realized something suddenly, and stood up saying, ”And Xu Tianyi!”

But Luo Yanran frowned: ”Grandfather.”

”What?” Qin Nuan seemed not to have heard clearly.

”My grandfather. He’s likely to call Qianqian home for questioning and might just hand her over. He’s very stubborn and utterly loyal to the country.” Luo Yanran gave a bitter smile: ”At a time like this, I’m not sure whether that’s a strength or a weakness.”

”Call Qianqian,” Qin Nuan decisively took the towel from Qin Wen’s hand: ”You guys warn your families separately; I’ll talk to Qianqian.”

Luo Yanran and Qin Wen immediately picked up the phone after responding.

”Nuannuan? What’s wrong?” Luo Qianqian was still watching the number of people online in the city, feeling quite anxious.

”Qianqian, have you ever thought about what might happen to us after the event tomorrow?” Qin Nuan’s voice carried an urgent tone.

Luo Qianqian laughed, ”What does it have to do with us?” She touched her nose, ”Don’t forget, what I said online was ’Ye observes the stars,’ and I claimed it was a feng shui master who watched the stars at night, so at most, there will just be more superstitious people afterwards, how is that related to us?”

”??? ’Ye observes the stars’? Feng shui master?” Qin Nuan looked confusedly at Qin Wen, who seemed to be recalling, and after a moment, nodded.

Qin Nuan was speechless, the corner of her mouth twitching, ”What about your family, then? Your brother said your grandfather is quite the stubborn old man...”

”When did I say that???” Luo Yanran had just hung up the phone when he heard Qin Nuan’s nonsense to his sister, and in his irritation, he jumped up and shouted.

Qin Nuan dug at her ear and walked a bit farther away from Luo Yanran.

”It’s fine, he’s my grandfather, and besides, all I have to do is deny it. My brother has already gone missing; the Luo Family won’t put me in danger,” Luo Qianqian said confidently, raising an eyebrow and curving her lips in a smile.

”That’s true,” Qin Nuan nodded, her gaze toward Luo Yanran was a bit irritable, blaming him for spouting nonsense and making her worry, ”Why haven’t you gone to sleep yet?”

”Don’t even start, I just hacked all the internet cafes in your city, but after three minutes of control, they all reconnected,” Luo Qianqian said bitterly, ”To still be in the mood to go online now, I don’t even know what to say.”

”Well, do your best. You should rest early, tomorrow, ah no, it should be today, there’s a tough fight ahead,” Qin Nuan said wryly, ”Let me tell you, I’ve been bitten all over by mosquitoes.”

”It’s been hard, I’ll treat you to a spa when you get back,” Luo Qianqian said with a smile, shutting down her computer, ”I’m off to sleep then, don’t be too nervous, everything will be fine, you should sleep early too.”

”Mm, goodnight Qianqian.”

”Goodnight.”

After hanging up the phone, Qin Nuan glared fiercely at Luo Yanran, ”Right now, I have the urge to beat you to death, but seeing as your face is the banner for tomorrow, I’ll let it go, but I’ll remember this.”

Luo Yanran scratched his head, was it his fault? He was just concerned about his sister.

As the tension made each day feel like an eternity, time still ticked away, and before they knew it, the rising sun was visible.

Qin Nuan sat up from her sleeping bag, stepped out of the tent, and seeing a person standing in front of each tent, she smiled, ”Our battle has begun, let’s do this!”

With Hu Si’s help, Luo Qianqian removed the equipment from her body, looking at the ringing alarm clock with a profound gaze, her slightly hoarse voice rang out, ”Let’s do this!”