His father-in-law was an extremely cultivated man. He didn't say anything at the time, nor a single word afterward.
At the birthday banquet that day, he appeared completely normal. Back at the pool, he still played with Little Pear, took photos, sang the birthday song. In the buffet restaurant, he thoughtfully instructed the waiters again and again to refill the children's food and drinks, and repeatedly teased Little Pear.
All was joyous laughter and harmonious happiness.
However, after returning home that day, Qin Guan still keenly detected a change in his father-in-law – the look in his father-in-law's eyes when gazing at him had changed.
That gaze no longer held the affection and warmth of before; it was replaced by doubt, scrutiny, wariness, and a trace of cold hostility.
The relationship between the father-in-law and Qin Guan seemed to have returned to the stalemate following the incident when Qin Guan tried to strike out on his own. No, actually, it was worse than that time.
The father-in-law stopped speaking to Qin Guan. During meals, he would choose the seat farthest from Qin Guan. Soup personally handed to him by Qin Guan would sit untouched until he left the table.
He no longer showed Qin Guan his calligraphy works.
He even visited Guanlan Court less frequently – he said his old friends and neighbors were all in Jiayuan Community, and he was more accustomed to life there.
Using this as a reason, he moved the vast majority of his clothes away.
He stopped coming to Guanlan Court, but that didn't mean he stopped seeing Xu Ruyi. He called Xu Ruyi almost daily, and Xu Ruyi, with the child, went to Jiayuan Community to play almost every day.
Qin Guan was genuinely starting to panic.
Because, at this very moment, he had just encountered a second opportunity in his career.
This was a truly great opportunity.
The person spearheading it was named He Zheng. He was a relative of a client in one of Qin Guan's cases. Actually, to be precise, Qin Guan knew him through Shi Jie.
Although he was Shi Jie's friend, He Zheng was much more reliable in both character and actions – He Zheng's relative was a construction contractor. During an argument with one of his workers, it turned physical. The other guy hit him first; he threw one punch back, knocked the guy down, and the next day after being sent to the hospital, the man was dead.
This should have been an exceedingly simple criminal case; the haggling would only be over the amount of compensation and the length of the sentence. However, when Qin Guan went to the hospital, the moment he saw the deceased's sickly wife, exuding an air of poverty, and the child with a sallow face who was apparently a good student, he keenly sensed something was wrong.
At his suggestion, He Zheng had someone conduct a thorough, all-round investigation into the deceased, uncovering the truth.
The deceased had a terminal illness. Knowing he couldn't afford treatment, and wanting to fund his child's university education while leaving some money for his wife who had little means to support herself, he chose to swing his fist at that hot-tempered, foul-mouthed, obese contractor who drove a three-million-yuan luxury car.
To put it bluntly, this was a fraudulent scheme, extortion.
Once the truth was uncovered, Qin Guan naturally won that case.
The contractor was acquitted and, "magnanimously" and "generously," donated twenty thousand yuan to the mother and son. Photos of this, orchestrated by He Zheng, even made the headlines of local news, earning the contractor a huge wave of positive publicity.
It was precisely this incident that made He Zheng and Qin Guan good friends, buddies.
Not long after, He Zheng approached Qin Guan, wanting to pull him out to start their own firm.
With He Zheng taking the lead, Qin Guan was immediately tempted.
Although they hadn't known each other long, Qin Guan was always accurate in judging people. He Zheng, on the surface, was just the owner of an investment company, but in reality, he had considerable influence and connections in this city – he could help people transfer jobs, manipulate bids for relatives to win. Once, during a meal with Qin Guan, Qin Guan worried that a crucial flaw in a case he was handling was that his client might have been caught on surveillance from a nearby office building and a road camera across the street striking first. He Zheng just laughed upon hearing it, "Surveillance? They haven't gotten to that point in the investigation yet, right? Fine, leave it to me!"
Qin Guan initially thought he was joking, but on the third day, He Zheng told him that the surveillance footage had been erased.
How it was done, who did it – He Zheng absolutely refused to say.
Of course, Qin Guan later found out that He Zheng's uncle served as a secretary in the city government.
Regardless of whether He Zheng was using his uncle's name to pull strings behind the scenes, one couldn't deny his own methods and capabilities – partnering with someone like this meant they absolutely wouldn't lose; they would only make a fortune.
Besides, the partners weren't just him and He Zheng; there were two others, both decent people, both lawyers in the industry, both older than Qin Guan.
"We're just partnering up to work for ourselves. I'm not going to use my uncle to do anything illegal, harming the innocent or operating under the table. We'll work just like we did before, only now we're working for ourselves. Work more, earn more; work less, earn less,"
He Zheng said pragmatically. "It's starting our own business. Men, especially capable, driven ones like all of you, need to strive for themselves at least once in their lives."
Qin Guan was completely convinced. He also believed that this time, his father-in-law would find no excuse to object – the partners had no bad reputation, the law firm wasn't in a critical period of being short-staffed anymore, and moreover, the father-in-law's friend, Director Qi, one of the firm's owners, had just been diagnosed with a serious illness and flown to the US for recuperation. The "benefactor" was no longer at the company, so there was no issue of owing favors or failing to repay kindness.
In short, this partnership was stable, secure. At most, they would bear some entrepreneurial risk, and even that risk was shared by four people; he only bore a quarter.
Of course, Qi Min always thought it was five people, including her – all the miscellaneous tasks related to the partnership were handled by Qi Min during that period.
Regarding the startup capital, Qi Min, following Qin Guan's instructions, had also tactfully hinted from the side in front of the father-in-law several times: "Lawyer Qin is an outstanding talent. Everyone at our firm feels someone of his caliber won't stay here forever; he'll surely set up his own practice sooner or later." "A man still needs to start a business; starting a business is actually about creating a better life for the family, for the wife and children."
...
The father-in-law had listened to these words; he had clearly given them thought.
But now, before Qin Guan had even explicitly discussed it with his father-in-law, the father-in-law had moved out of Guanlan Court – he wasn't coming, and he was deliberately avoiding Qin Guan like this. How was Qin Guan supposed to get the startup capital?
Qin Guan had clearly tried to remedy the situation – on the third day after the father-in-law witnessed Qi Min drinking from his cup, Qin Guan deliberately had Qi Min come to Guanlan Court. Qi Min chatted with Xu Ruyi, "unintentionally" sharing an anecdote about colleagues at their firm "grabbing drinks" in front of the father and daughter.
Clever as Qi Min was, she told the story very skillfully – using that anecdote, she naturally informed the father-in-law and Xu Ruyi that at their firm, it was common for male and female colleagues to share the same cup.
Further implying to the father-in-law that her relationship with Qin Guan was purely that of colleagues, good colleagues.
Xu Ruyi laughed heartily upon hearing it.
Qin Guan pretended to be busy in the study, observing everything outside – Xu Ruyi's relaxation indicated she was still unaware, meaning the father-in-law hadn't told her about the scene at the birthday party.
But the father-in-law, after hearing Qi Min's story and laughter, remained largely unchanged.
Did he believe it or not?
If he believed it, he shouldn't be treating him this way. If he didn't believe it, why hadn't he told Xu Ruyi?
Qin Guan couldn't figure him out.
A few days later, the father-in-law still insisted on leaving Guanlan Court and moving to Jiayuan Community.
His attitude was clear.
Qin Guan was anxious and confused. He wished his father-in-law would confront him directly, just like his mother-in-law had back then – he had already prepared his answer.
But the father-in-law didn't come, and he didn't ask.
If the father-in-law didn't ask, didn't bring it up, how could this problem be resolved?
Without resolving it, how could Qin Guan get the startup capital for the partnership? Over a million yuan – he couldn't possibly use his private savings.
The days turned over one by one. Qin Guan grew increasingly desperate. He urgently needed an opportunity to resolve this issue face-to-face with his father-in-law.
Fortunately, not long after, the opportunity came.