Chapter 161

Chapter 161: Sincerity for Sincerity

As soon as Du De Sheng said that, Du An Rao’s expression turned a bit strange.

“Granduncle, you can’t be planning to…”

Her look was way too obvious. The smile on Du De Sheng’s face almost slipped. He tried to hold it in, but in the end he could not. He raised his hand and knocked her lightly on the head: “You little girl, stop thinking about all that nonsense. Your Grandmother and I are as solid as gold. There is no way anything shady would ever happen.”

“Oh…” Du An Rao covered her head, pouted, and sounded a bit unconvinced: “Then why are you acting all mysterious? You even said it would be inconvenient if Grandmother came along. How am I supposed not to misunderstand?”

“You…” Du De Sheng was angry and amused, but in the end he did not scold her further.

There was even helpless indulgence in his voice, which made the trusted aides who had come with him glance at each other in surprise. They now understood even more how important this young miss was.

“So, Grandfather, what exactly do you want my help with?”

“We will talk about that in a bit. Get in the car first.”

Du An Rao thought it over. This busy place really was not good for talking, so she followed Du De Sheng and slipped into the back seat of the car.

She had barely sat down when she saw her third brother climb in from the other side.

“Third Brother, didn’t you just say you were going straight to school and not coming with us?”

Without changing his expression, Du Yi Han explained: “I thought about it. At this time, the teacher in charge of the group has probably gone home. To be safe, I should go back with you and stay the night. Granduncle should not mind me inviting myself, right?”

Du De Sheng glanced at Du Yi Han, more or less guessing what he was thinking. He raised his brows and said with meaning: “Of course. You are An An’s third brother and also a junior in my extended family. It is rare for you to come to City B. How could I, as an elder, shut a junior out?”

That was what he said, but both of them knew very well that he had many younger relatives, and very few were ever invited to stay at his house.

The reason he stressed that he was An An’s third brother was to tell him plainly that he was staying only for his sister’s sake.

Du An Rao had no interest in their roundabout sparring. She thought for a moment, then brought up the earlier topic again: “We’re already in the car now. Can you tell me yet? Or is it also inconvenient for my Third Brother to hear, and we have to wait until we get home?”

Du De Sheng chuckled: “No need for that. The one asking for your help is not me, but someone else.”

“Who?”

“It is an old friend of mine from many years ago. We are friends, not related by blood, but we have stood under fire together, chewed on grass roots, drunk from the same canteen, eaten the same steamed bun, and trusted each other with our backs. We are not family by blood, but closer than family.”

When he said this, Du An Rao already had a rough idea in her heart.

“Then what does he want me to help with?”

“My old brother has worked hard all his life. He only had one wish, for his family to be peaceful, united, and safe and healthy. Sadly, life did not go his way. Years ago, when the times were chaotic, he sent his wife and child to a remote place to hide for their safety. He brought them back only after things truly settled down.”

“They thought the hard days were over, and that as a reunited family, everything would get better. But because he offended some people back then, they hated him. They couldn’t touch him or his son, so they set their sights on his only grandson.”

“They… killed his grandson?”

Du De Sheng’s face changed slightly: “That is not certain yet.”

“Not certain?”

“Yes. Those enemies bribed a human trafficker to take the child away. When we investigated afterward and caught those people, they all said the same thing. They claimed they didn’t know the trafficker and had no idea where he took the child.”

A light flashed in Du An Rao’s eyes. She roughly guessed what Granduncle’s old brother wanted: “So they came to me because they want…”

“The Jiangyu Plaza incident before caused a big stir. Even though the police kept things under wraps, some people who don’t follow rules can still get information from other channels. On top of that, he has known me for a long time. He knows very well how many years I have spent looking for your Grandma Qin. This time I went to see you once and found her right away. Of course he can’t help thinking more.”

“So he wants me to help him find his grandson? But… but we found Grandma Qin completely by accident.”

Du De Sheng glanced at her and smiled without saying anything. She felt as if he had already seen through her.

Thinking it over, she had to admit it. How could things in this world be that coincidental? More importantly, she had set up a fortune-teller persona for herself.

Putting anything else aside, that persona was getting more and more solid now. Even if it really had been a coincidence, people would still overthink it, not to mention that it had never been a coincidence from the start.

“Don’t worry. I told him the same thing. Even if you help, whether it works out or not is their family’s fate. In the end it depends on you. If you are willing, I will take you to see them. If you are not, we will go straight home.”

That was what he said, but anyone who could be called “brother” by Du De Sheng and who had gone through those turbulent years with him was very likely, like him, someone with deep accumulated merit, an elder who had contributed to the country.

People like that clearly had good character. They should not have to face such a tragic ending, with their family broken and a bleak old age.

His words from before had still worked somewhat. At least, because of that family’s suffering, Du An Rao’s heart was moved. Agreeing to help became the natural choice.

“Then… are we going to see them now?”

Without showing it on his face, Du De Sheng quietly let out a breath of relief: “It is getting late. I will take you to eat at the restaurant their family runs. Let me tell you, my old brother’s wife comes from a line of Imperial Chefs. Their secret family dishes are famous all over City B. Ordinary people may not even get a chance to eat them.”

“Really? Then I have to taste them properly later and see if that title of Imperial Chef really lives up to its name!” Light flashed in Du An Rao’s eyes, full of expectation.

Du De Sheng laughed loudly: “Don’t worry. I will call my old brother right now and make sure they bring out all their best dishes. You will walk in on your own and be holding the wall when you walk out.”

Du Yi Han had been silent the whole time. Now, seeing his sister acting like a greedy little cat, he twitched the corner of his mouth and could not help sighing in his heart.

At the birthday banquet before, she had scheme after scheme against that Zhang fellow and was full of tricks. But in front of this old man, she believed every word he said. If someone sold her, she would probably help count the money. He really did not know whether to call her smart or stupid.

But when he thought about it carefully, maybe it was exactly because of this that people with even more schemes than her, such as the man sitting in the car now, would accept her so quickly, and even subconsciously entrust her with their true feelings before they realized it.

In the end, it was just sincerity in exchange for sincerity.