The next morning, when Weiwei and Qi sat down for a late breakfast, Weiwei asked him the same question she had first brought up in the car on the way home from Grandpa Feng: "Isn't it such an unbelievable coincidence that I had met your grandpa in the park?"
There was a long pause before Qi replied thoughtfully: "Unbelievable is a very good word to describe it."
Weiwei felt he was holding back. "What do you mean?" she asked.
Qi sighed and shook his head. "Tell me more, what happened that day? Before you had run into him."
"I told you already, I was having lunch with Director Zhang…"
Wait, I was having lunch with Director Zhang, out of all people!
"And he walked me out," she continued, "and then said that he had to take a call and disappeared…"
Wheels were turning in Weiwei's mind. She stared at Qi. "Are you saying?"
He nodded slowly. "Yes, it wasn't an accident, after all. It was my grandfather's design. He admitted to it last night when I asked him directly one-on-one."
Grandfather's design! So he wanted to meet me that day. Now I understand. He just wanted to test me.
"Why didn't you tell me right away!" she exclaimed.
"To be honest, I was too ashamed," Qi said, gazing at her with warmth. "I didn't know how to bring it up so as not to hurt your feelings."
Weiwei sat there, digesting the news.
I guess he meant no real harm. He misled me, that's true. He knew who I was and pretended he didn't. Should I count it as a white lie? I suppose he wanted to see what I was really like. To confirm that I wasn't just chasing after his grandson's money.
She sighed quietly.
I guess that's "the way of the world". If you're rich, you'd better not trust anyone. Quite sad, but not surprising. Rich people aren't nice, and they suspect that everyone else is as horrible as they are. Heaven, thanks so much for letting me grow up in a poor family!
Weiwei caught Qi's worried glance. "Say something," he said.
"Did he fake his illness?" she asked.
"I didn't ask him that. He did set the meeting up with the help of Director Zhang, though."
Weiwei wondered. "But Director Zhang was fired by TTT. Why would he agree to help him?"
"Grandpa promised him reinstatement," said Qi.
Of course. There was something in it for him, too. Oh well…
Weiwei took Qi's hand.
"I guess I'd better admit to everything, too. As it turned out, I was in fact at fault for the Lántiān Group scandal, because one of my coworkers happened to be a son of their major shareholder. Only I didn't know about it until after I got fired," she shrugged. "That coworker was the one who showed me the email from their CFO I sent you when he wanted to make amends."
There, I don't think I have anything else to confess to.
"I just wish there would be no secrets like this between him and us in the future," she said. "No going behind my back—or yours."
"I know," Qi said warmly. "I took his word, that's the best I could do. But I can promise you this: I will be honest with you going forward, and always tell you everything openly like it is."
Weiwei felt better.
Then she processed the last words.
Going forward. Going forward? That means there is something he hasn't told me about!
Qi must've seen her raise her eyebrows.
"Yes," he lowered his head. "I must admit to two things. One is that Ms. Wu tried to contact me several times when I was abroad. I never got back to her. But I should've told you and I didn't. I didn't want to upset you. I'm sorry."
Weiwei nodded. "That's okay, thanks for telling me."
Qi sighed. "And the second is that I hired Lawyer Li to get your coins back."
Now that all makes sense! I was wondering why they were found so suddenly!
"And my uncle agreed to give them up?"
Qi smiled. "Lawyer Li can be very persuasive. He contacted a lawyer in your hometown regarding your grandmother's will, and it turned out the coins were clearly mentioned in it. Your uncle didn't want to be dragged through the courts by such a well-known litigator like Lawyer Li. He could've lost everything he had. So he had to give them up."
Okay, he kept it a secret. But it was an honorable one. He just wanted me to get my cherished memories back. And didn't want for me to feel thankful to him for it.
Weiwei wrapped her arms around Qi's neck. "So you're the one who made me rich, Mr. Feng."
He looked at her intensely. "I didn't know they were this valuable. I probably would've thought twice, if I knew."
"What a bad boyfriend!" Weiwei exclaimed, lightly pushing him away.
"I would've been worried," he murmured.
"Worried about what?" Weiwei said. "You know perfectly well that I would choose you even if we both were poor!"
Qi's triumphant smile made Weiwei soften.
"I had learned that when we thought we both lost everything," he said. "That's when I knew we were meant to be together."
"That's why you were worried? You thought you might not be able to boss me around?"
Qi smiled playfully. "Now, that's an idea."
His grip around her waist tightened.
"Let go," Weiwei pouted.
"Why? I really want to boss you around. Just a little?" he kissed her neck, and Weiwei felt the familiar warmth starting to buzz all over her body.
"Bad, bad, selfish boyfriend," she muttered, turning her face away in quickly subsiding pretend anger.
"A little selfish, yes," he whispered. "When it comes to having you all to myself, I get selfish."
And he carried her to the bedroom, despite her half-hearted protests.