11. Cooperation

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“Oh? Why don’t you tell me?” Old Master Qin asked, a trace of amusement in his eyes.

Si Yun could not understand it. The things she and Qin Yin had done today were very likely to bring trouble upon the Qin family, yet why was Old Master Qin still so composed? Could it be that he truly did not care?

“The Si family found their biological daughter and feared that I would take everything away from her. They wanted to make amends as much as possible and reclaim what originally belonged to Si Mianmian. That is only human nature, and understandable. Besides…” Si Yun lifted her eyes. “Si Mianmian is an ambitious and enterprising girl. She wants to reclaim everything that belongs to her and drive me out of the Qin family. That is perfectly normal. There is no question of right or wrong. From everyone’s perspective, nothing that happened today was unreasonable.”

“And what about Liang Bo’an? I hear that you and that boy from the Liang family have been in love for nearly ten years. You gave him up just like that?” Old Master Qin continued.

That was an excellent question.

“Grandfather Qin, if someone is truly destined for me, if he is my beloved, then no one can take him away. No one forced Liang Bo’an to become engaged to Si Mianmian. Even if he claims he had no choice, or that it was merely a strategy, those are not excuses. It can only mean that he was not the right man for me.” Si Yun answered rationally.

Old Master Qin was somewhat pleasantly surprised. In the past, he had not failed to hear his granddaughter speak of the matter, and had assumed that she was the kind of girl who would lose her head over love. That was why he had hesitated to place his bet on her.

“What about the Ning family, then? You offended them today. Did you ever consider the consequences? Everything that young woman from the Ning family said might be true. Do you really act without a single concern? If so, how will you protect the estate your grandmother left you in the future?” Old Master Qin posed yet another difficult question.

Si Yun looked at the elder. She knew that Old Master Qin had been close friends with her grandparents when he was young. Was he deliberately warning her?

“No one can take Grandmother’s embroidery house away from me. Not even Si Mianmian. The Si family owns many businesses, but the embroidery house alone belongs to me.” Si Yun spoke with absolute firmness.

Old Master Qin smiled.

“Is that so? You sound very certain.”

Si Yun naturally had her own story, but she could not tell a single outsider about it.

“Yes.”

“Very well!” Old Master Qin suddenly declared with great force.

Si Yun was bewildered.

Old Master Qin took a contract from the car’s storage compartment.

Si Yun accepted it and was utterly astonished.

“Does the Qin family want to return to the textile industry?”

“Of course. The Qin family originally rose to prominence through embroidery. It has merely declined over the years and lost its former influence.” Old Master Qin gazed into the distance with a sigh before turning his eyes back to Si Yun.

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“If you can secure the embroidery house, my Qin family will fully support your embroidery exhibition. We will publicize it widely and use every connection at our disposal to help you.” Old Master Qin’s words left everyone in the car stunned.

“Grandfather, are you serious?” Qin Yin snatched the partnership contract from Si Yun’s hands. It really was about the embroidery exhibition. Her grandfather, at his age, wanted to innovate? Did he intend to stand against the Ning family?

“You know this means opposing the Ning family, don’t you? A weak arm cannot prevail against a powerful thigh. If everything rests on me and I fail, the Qin family’s century-old foundation will be ruined by my hands. I truly cannot bear that responsibility.” Si Yun’s voice grew heavy.

Old Master Qin furrowed his brow.

“Do you know your destiny chart?”

That again. Her destiny chart.

Si Yun was truly at a loss.

“You believe in that too?”

“Your birth pillars are Wu-Chen, Ren-Xu, Ding-Chou, and Ding-Wei. Do you think there are many people in this world with such a destiny? As far as I know, there has only been one—the Ming emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang. Your destiny is that of someone destined for wealth and nobility. Anyone who joins forces with you can only rise to glory and prosperity.” Old Master Qin spoke without hesitation.

Si Yun froze for a moment. It was the first time anyone had explained her birth pillars in such detail. She had only known that the date and time of her birth were considered auspicious; she had never imagined that she possessed an emperor’s destiny.

Si Yun laughed. Was she really destined to become an emperor?

“I witnessed your entry into the Si family. If your grandparents had been even a step slower back then, my Qin family would have wanted to adopt you as well.” Old Master Qin spoke seriously, leaving Si Yun speechless.

No wonder. No wonder Ning Muhe had later taken the initiative to approach her and become her friend. She, too, must have believed in the matter of her destiny.

Indeed, once things reached a certain level, everything seemed to come down to mysticism.

“So all of you want to treat me like a lucky charm.”

“No. After your grandparents passed away, the Si family was destined to amount to nothing.” Old Master Qin scoffed contemptuously.

“There is nothing wrong with finding their biological daughter. But to recklessly cast you out for the sake of a daughter they had only just found, after a century of prosperity for the family—that was simply too shortsighted.” Old Master Qin smiled.

“But not everyone thinks the way you do. The Liang family doesn’t believe in any of this.” Liang Bo’an’s parents had always believed that she was not the Si family’s true daughter, and had therefore disapproved of her relationship with Liang Bo’an throughout the years. That was also why, when Liang Bo’an decided to marry Si Mianmian, they had been so eager to arrange an engagement ceremony for the two of them.

“They care about matching family status.”

“Heh, little Si Yun, do you think everyone knew about your destiny back then? When that late master divined your fortune, only your grandparents and I were present. Later, someone else sought out that master and had your fortune calculated again. You should know who it was, shouldn’t you? Who has been drawing close to you all these years?” Old Master Qin pointedly revealed.

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Qin Yin scratched her head, then suddenly exclaimed, “Was it Ning Muhe? Yun Yun asked Ning Muhe the same thing just now.”

Old Master Qin nodded.

“The Ning family has achieved its present wealth and scale because it truly has been fortunate. You have always been close to the Ning family’s heiress, so you have already discovered it: no matter who welcomes you into their lives, or which family they belong to, their fortunes will turn for the better.”

“You make it sound far too mystical. How could I possibly possess such power by myself?” Si Yun could hardly believe it and felt embarrassed by the idea.

“Then shall I make a wager with you?” Old Master Qin said with a smile.

Si Yun raised an eyebrow.

“What kind of wager?”

“We’ll wager on whether the Ning family dares to cause you trouble.” Old Master Qin smiled.

“What?” Qin Yin was aghast.

“Grandfather, why would you say that?”

Old Master Qin stroked his granddaughter’s head. “Because the old master of the Ning family was the one who instructed their youngest daughter to approach Si Yun back then. Ning Muhe arrogantly believed that Si Yun was her accessory and would never leave her side. But now that this girl from the Ning family has made such a serious blunder, do you think the old master won’t be angry? His anger is the lesser matter. He will simply order Ning Muhe to come back and seek you out.”

“That can’t be possible, can it?” Qin Yin thought of the expression on Ning Muhe’s face earlier and began to feel afraid in retrospect.

“She is such a proud person. How could she possibly apologize to Si Yun?”

“But she is also a merchant who places profit above all else.” Old Master Qin pointed out the crucial fact.

That made the matter rather intriguing.