Chapter 56

“Really! Why are you so smart? It’s so hard to surprise you,” Yu Xiaoxuan muttered.

Shen Qinglan laughed and said, “It’s my fault. To make up for it and also to celebrate, I treat you to dinner this evening. Order anything you want to eat, it’s my treat.”

Yu Xiaoxuan’s eyes lit up and she said, “Really?”

Shen Qinglan gave her a look of certainty.

“In that case, I’m going to have a great meal. I want a fancy dinner.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll choose the place.”

“Sure.”

“Hooray, then let’s go.”

After a while, Yu Xiaoxuan began to tell Shen Qinglan about her nervousness during her performance, “Qinglan, I’m telling you, there were five teachers on the judging panel. The moment I went in, they all looked at me straight, which made me really nervous. I could hardly speak clearly. I only calmed down in time when I thought of what you told me at the critical moment. Otherwise, I was so afraid that I couldn’t even get through the first round.”

“It’s good that you got through now. Did they say when the next round is?” Shen Qinglan asked.

“It will be on next Saturday. I am still being asked to perform a segment this time. Qinglan, what do you think I should perform this time? Sing a song? Dance? Recite some lines?”

The two people discussed while they walked. Yu Xiaoxuan spoke for the most part. But whenever Yu Xiaoxuan asked Shen Qinglan, she would give her own opinion.

Although Yu Xiaoxuan had said that she wanted a feast, they ended up eating at an open-air food stall. In Yu Xiaoxuan’s words, it was still too early now to have a celebration. She wanted to wait until she was really chosen. It would still not be too late to have a feast. At that time, she would certainly not stand on ceremony with Shen Qinglan.

In the following week, Yu Xiaoxuan was busy preparing her program. This time she chose to sing a song. Shen Qinglan completely had no knowledge about singing, so she naturally would not give advice at will.

During this week, Shen Qinglan herself also had things to do. She received a phone call from Daniel a few days ago, asking her when she was going to send over the two paintings she had to agreed to give the owner of the charity auction. Shen Qinglan only then remembered the matter she had forgotten.

Although she came back from Hangcheng this time and brought back a few paintings, she did not intend to sell these few paintings. Instead, she chose to paint two more pieces.

She had already finished one of them. As for the other one, Shen Qinglan decided to paint the sunrise.

There were no mountains in the Capital, so a sunrise out of a high mountain was naturally out of the question. But the western suburbs of the city had a continuous range of mountains. Despite the fact that the highest elevation was no more than 300 meters, it was also enough to watch a sunrise.

The mountain range was some distance away from Jiangxinya Court. In order not to miss the sunrise, Shen Qinglan decided to set off that night, and then camp at the top of the mountain.

After she finished packing the things she needed, Shen Qinglan drove and set off. This time, she did not drive the Shen family’s sports car, but Fu Hengyi’s off-road vehicle. He had parked it in the garage. Shen Qinglan directly took the car keys from the study.

Once she drove the car out of the city, the surroundings quieted down. Although it was still the Capital, the area, west of the city belonged to the border between the countryside and the town. There was a large swathe of farmland here. It was incredibly quiet come at night, unlike the city, where there was still flamboyant nightlife.

Suddenly, a loud noise came from the front. Shen Qinglan was shocked and hit the brakes. Though it was only a sound, Shen Qinglan was positive that the sound just now was absolutely produced by a shot from a firearm. Shen Qinglan was absolutely certain that she did not hear that familiar sound wrongly, having once personally experienced its ice-cold temperature.

What had happened in front? Why would such a thing happened here? Should she continue forward? Shen Qinglan hesitated. She was not afraid of trouble, but she did not want to look for trouble.

Just when Shen Qinglan was hesitating whether to turn back, a beam of light hit Shen Qinglan’s face. She knew it was too late. The other party had discovered her.

“Who’s there in front? Get out of the car.” A man shouted from up ahead. He was still brandishing the beam of light in his hand at Shen Qinglan’s face.

Shen Qinglan used the light to look over and found that there were a lot of people present, about 20 to 30 people. Was there still enough time to run now? The performance of Fu Hengyi’s car was good. She could definitely escape if she drove with full horsepower. But was this car bulletproof?

Over on this side, while Shen Qinglan was boldly contemplating, her face did not show the slightest fear and tension.

Over there, the man who shouted, was also reporting to a man in his thirties, “Boss, the person in that car seemed to have seen us fire the gun just now. What should we do?”

The man known as the boss had a faint scar on his forehead. Apparently, it looked like a recent addition. If Shen Qinglan were here, she would surely recognize that this man was Shi Feng whom she had saved.

Shi Feng slowly wiped the knife in his hand. A man laid on the ground, covered in blood. He was motionless and it was not known whether he was dead or alive. “Are you sure that the other party has seen it? If that person did not see, it’s best not to rashly cause trouble, resulting in someone’s death. It’s better to see if you can use money to make the problem go away. If not, then….”

Shi Feng paused. Even though he did not finish speaking, the man who shouted, named Ah Nan already understood. A fierce glint flashed across his eyes.