That was when Qin Guan became involved with Qi Min.
This woman was submissive to him, adored him, understood him—the way she looked at him was pure, passionate, full of stars, like Xu Ruyi had been when they were in love. Her emotional expression was like Xu Ruyi's, yet more direct, more intense.
"You are the most charming and intelligent man I've ever met," she praised him lavishly. "I think you will definitely soar to the heavens."
Qin Guan didn't reject her advances.
Nor did he reject her confession or her throwing herself into his arms.
They quickly became steady lovers.
Deep down, Qin Guan believed that reaching this point, ending up with Qi Min, was also the responsibility of his father-in-law and Xu Ruyi – like a torrential flood, if the water doesn't flow, how can the fallen leaves drift everywhere?
If the father and daughter pair had truly given him enough trust, respect, understanding, and support, why would he have sought these things in Qi Min?
Ultimately, they hadn't done enough.
It was them, guarding against him.
Changing jobs to strike out alone, collaborating with industry experts and resource-rich, well-connected capital, establishing his own firm – this venture, no matter who looked at it or heard about it, was a great opportunity.
But Father-in-law opposed it. Firmly opposed it.
The day after his birthday, Father-in-law wore a cold expression, ignoring Qin Guan. Qin Guan tried to make conversation, offering friendly overtures, but Father-in-law just turned his head away, treating him like air.
This aloof, dismissive attitude deepened Qin Guan's disappointment.
That evening at dinner, Father-in-law actually reiterated his stance.
His excuses sounded lofty and righteous, but they couldn't fool Qin Guan – it was all the same old tune: how he had pulled strings for Qin Guan to get an opportunity, how Qin Guan couldn't fly now that his wings were strong, how one must know gratitude and loyalty, and not focus only on immediate gains.
Furthermore, Father-in-law said he had asked around about that Jin fellow. He admitted Jin had ability, resources, and connections, but his reputation was quite poor. He had allegedly orchestrated schemes to harvest many innocent stock investors; he was a purely profit-driven businessman.
"That man's nickname is 'The Vulture'! Do you understand the meaning of that word?" Father-in-law was vehemently opposed to Jin.
"You are a lawyer, a legal professional. Forget lofty talk about punishing evil, promoting good, or upholding justice. At the very least, you must have basic professional ethics, a sense of righteousness, and social responsibility. If you become his partner—sounds nice, 'partner'—but in reality, you'd just be a soldier under his command! As his soldier, wherever he points, you must strike. What if the path he points you down is crooked? Or even evil?"
Father-in-law was deadly serious, offering no opening. "I will not agree to this. We must be people who know gratitude and loyalty. We cannot focus only on trivial immediate gains! In our actions, we must be worthy of our own conscience, worthy of society, worthy of the nation's cultivation!"
Qin Guan sat at the table, his belly full of fire.
It was all excuses!
All empty talk! Rubbish!
Jin had a bad reputation? Harvested investors? In this day and age, survival of the fittest is the rule! Wouldn't aligning with a vulture be better than aligning with a foolish piece of chaff? A useless worm? Or like him, muddling along for a lifetime, not knowing how to make money even when the opportunity was there?
Constantly harping on gratitude and loyalty! The firm had taken a chance on him back then, but had the firm suffered any loss? He started as an assistant! His salary was the same as others; the firm hadn't given him an extra penny! What gratitude? Besides, in the past few years, he had generated significant revenue for the firm, more than offsetting that tiny bit of favor from hiring him!
And what "immediate gains"? What "trivial profits"? Isn't the point of working hard precisely for gain? If not for gain, then what? Charity? Sentiment? Shouldn't one consider their own interests when doing something, rather than the employer's? What kind of hypocritical logic was that?
Not to mention professional ethics, righteousness, social responsibility, or the nation's cultivation – Qin Guan sneered inwardly at these terms. These hollow, pretentious preachings belonged in textbooks and propaganda pamphlets! Bringing them seriously to the family dinner table? Outdated, laughable, stupid, pedantic! Could these things be eaten or worn?
Qin Guan was grinding his back teeth nearly to dust, but he remained silent. He sat quietly at the table, "listening attentively," not contradicting Father-in-law once.
But in his heart, it was crystal clear – all Father-in-law's blather boiled down to one key word: money.
Striking out alone, co-founding a firm with others, required a large sum of capital. Father-in-law knew perfectly well that he would have to fork out that money.
He simply didn't want to pay.
So Qin Guan couldn't understand or accept it – Father-in-law was so wealthy! His savings sat in the bank; he had commercial properties and relocation compensation properties. Any one of them could be easily liquidated. He clearly had the financial means to support him, yet he found all sorts of excuses to refuse!
The reason was the same as with Mother-in-law – guarding against him, the outsider.
Yes, an outsider.
Deep down, Father-in-law also considered him an outsider. Otherwise, why, after marrying Xu Ruyi and having a child together, had Father-in-law still refused to transfer the title of those two commercial properties into Xu Ruyi's name?
Why refuse to sell the two relocation properties?
So much family wealth, all held tightly in Father-in-law's hands.
His words sounded sweeter than songs: "Qin Guan, we raised you. Even if you hadn't married my daughter, in my heart, you'd still be like half a son to me."
Hah! Half a son? He was this "half a son" plus a son-in-law now! He was thirty years old! Forget properties and shops, Father-in-law wouldn't even cough up this bit of startup capital!