Chapter 10: Eldest Brother
Lu Shengheng’s Call, Demanding the Lawsuit Be Dropped
After watching Yuan An and Auntie Su leave the ward, Qin Sixing let out a helpless smile and picked up the insulated flask.
Just as he was about to open it and pour out the porridge inside, his peripheral vision suddenly caught Yuan An’s phone lighting up on the bedside table.
Looking closer, he saw an incoming call from a contact saved as “Eldest Brother.”
Qin Sixing stared at those two words, his eyes dark and unreadable.
His index finger unconsciously stroked the lid of the insulated flask as he watched Yuan An’an’s phone vibrate for a while until the screen went dark.
Within the next few minutes, this “Eldest Brother” did not place a second call.
Qin Sixing recalled what Yuan An had said when pleading for his help to sign the forms the afternoon before last.
“I don’t want to notify my family.”
Yuan An was only twenty-two years old now. Why on earth would he be unwilling to tell his family when he was diagnosed with cancer at such a young age?
Qin Sixing certainly did not believe Yuan An was just being rebellious or throwing a tantrum; there had to be another reason.
But since Yuan An hadn’t told him, he couldn’t take it upon himself to investigate without permission.
Realizing that Yuan An and Auntie Su might be returning soon, Qin Sixing withdrew his gaze, opened the insulated flask, and poured out the porridge.
Before long, Yuan An and Auntie Su’s voices appeared outside the ward.
By the time the two walked slowly back into the room, Qin Sixing hadn’t finished his bowl of porridge yet.
Yuan An greeted him and then walked over to sit by the side of the bed.
He casually picked up his phone and saw the missed call on it.
It was from Lu Shengheng. He didn’t know why the man would suddenly call him.
Yuan An stared blankly at the contact name “Eldest Brother” for a short moment.
After leaving the Lu family, he had actually forgotten to change these contact names and block their numbers.
Yuan An’an’s fingers moved. Just as he was about to drag these numbers into his blacklist, Lu Shengheng called again.
He subconsciously glanced at Qin Sixing, who was elegantly eating his porridge bite by bite, seemingly oblivious to what was happening on his end.
After a brief thought, Yuan An didn’t avoid Qin Sixing or Auntie Su and answered the call directly.
The next second, Lu Shengheng’s cold, emotionless voice came through the receiver: “Where are you?”
Yuan An knew he hadn’t called out of genuine concern; asking where he was was likely just a habitual interrogation. Therefore, he didn’t answer the question and merely asked in a flat tone, “Is there something you need?”
Lu Shengheng indeed did not care where Yuan An was. “That thing you wrote—Xiao Chu accidentally transferred it out once before. He didn’t expect it would drag you into this kind of plagiarism controversy.”
Hearing this, Yuan An understood that the police had likely tracked down those IP addresses.
Just as he had suspected, it was Lu Suichu who had taken his files.
After all, he didn’t have any close friends and had always been a loner growing up. The only people who had the opportunity to transfer his records were members of the Lu family.
Only Lu Suichu, who had been very gentle to him back then.
Yuan An fell silent for a moment, then said, “So? What is it you want to say?”
“Either drop the lawsuit, or be blacklisted from this industry. You only have these two choices.”
Yuan An’an’s hand instantly clenched into a fist.
Lu Shengheng was threatening him. If he were blacklisted, none of the scripts he wrote in the future would ever be sold again.
“CEO Lu,” Yuan An felt his throat grow incredibly dry, “you are mistaken. The person I intended to sue initially wasn’t your younger brother. Furthermore, if your brother hadn’t done such a thing in the first place, he wouldn’t be the target of a lawsuit now.”
Frowning, Qin Sixing quickly set down his bowl, walked over to sit on the edge of the bed, and gently placed his large hand over Yuan An’an’s tightly clenched fist.
“An’an.” The deep voice seemed capable of soothing all negative emotions.
Hearing his voice, Yuan An’an’s body stiffened, only then realizing that his body had been trembling uncontrollably after speaking those words.
He took a deep breath, relaxed his fingers, and did his best to calm himself down.
At this time, Lu Shengheng, who had been silent for a moment, spoke up: “I’ve already given you your choices. If you are willing to drop the lawsuit, I can compensate you financially. Isn’t this exactly what you want? Name your price.”
Hearing this, Yuan An couldn’t help but let out a cynical sneer.
He didn’t know where Lu Shengheng got this delusion, but ever since the past, the man had always viewed him as an ignorant, money-grubbing rich second-generation kid.
Even though they were both children of the Lu family.
Yuan An pulled his thoughts back and said half-seriously, half-jokingly, “Ten million yuan. Will CEO Lu give it?”
There was another stretch of silence on Lu Shengheng’s end.
He had already been working at the Lu Corporation for some time, and Lu Chengyue was gradually handing over authority to him, so his current net worth was quite substantial. Although ten million yuan wasn’t a small sum, it was still an amount he could easily afford to give.
He just hadn’t expected Yuan An to make such an outrageous demand.
Originally, seeing that Yuan An hadn’t returned even after running away from home for a few days, he thought the boy had truly changed. He didn’t expect him to still be like this, completely blinded by money.
At this thought, the look in Lu Shengheng’s eyes grew a few degrees colder. He tugged at his tie and said impatiently, “Then it’s a deal—”
However, before he could finish his sentence, a disdainful chuckle from Yuan An seemed to echo through the receiver, followed by the boy’s cold voice: “It was just a joke. Even if CEO Lu is willing to give that money, I won’t accept it. My only purpose is to prove my innocence. Might cannot crush justice; I will never drop the lawsuit. You are more than welcome to blacklist me—I don’t care.”
Subsequently, the dial tone from the disconnected call rang out from the receiver.
Lu Shengheng put down his phone and stared at the darkened screen with a frown, completely unresponsive for a long time.
Yuan An really had changed. He had never dared to speak to him like this before.
Could it be that he had been corrupted by following the owner of that other unfamiliar male voice heard through the receiver just now?
The old Yuan An used to secretly look at him with eyes full of admiration…
Lu Shengheng felt a headache coming on just thinking about this, immediately followed by a wave of irritation.
He propped his forehead up with his hand. When he wanted to call Yuan An again, the receiver only gave a mechanical, repeated response: “The user you are calling is currently in another call…”
Only after completely blacklisting the phone numbers of all three men from the Lu family did Yuan An let out a soft sigh and set his phone aside.
When he turned his head and caught Qin Sixing’s concerned gaze, Yuan An smiled and explained, “It was a call from my eldest brother.”
Immediately following that, he briefly explained to Qin Sixing and Auntie Su how his script had been falsely accused of plagiarism and how he had now found the evidence to sue Liu Fengqing.
Auntie Su said with righteous indignation, “He used underhanded methods to plagiarize someone else’s script, yet he has the nerve to make false accusations in return. Yuan’yuan, don’t drop the lawsuit—we must sue him to the bitter end. In any case, with Mr. Qin here, you can completely set your mind at ease.”
Hearing this, Yuan An couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
Just how immense was his good fortune? Not only had he been reborn, but he had also encountered such a wonderful Mr. Qin and Auntie Su.
However, even though Auntie Su said this, Yuan An wouldn’t actually rely entirely on Qin Sixing.
He said in a seemingly lighthearted manner, “Of course I won’t drop the lawsuit. Besides, after winning the case, the compensation money they pay me should be enough to start a small business in some small county town. I’m not afraid of being blacklisted by them.”
Auntie Su let out a soft sigh, the look in her eyes as she watched Yuan An becoming even more full of pity and affection.
“Before starting a small business, you might still need to work at my company for a period of time,” Qin Sixing also chimed in with a gentle smile.
Yuan An and Auntie Su turned to look at him simultaneously.
“I already looked over your script last night. It’s brilliantly written. Now, I’m officially inviting you to come work at my company once you are fully recovered.”
Auntie Su laughed happily, saying repeatedly, “Yes, exactly! This way, Mr. Qin can also look after you.”
Yuan An smiled softly and nodded.
Seeing that his mood was still a bit low, Qin Sixing tightened his grip on their interwoven hands and said, “Rest assured, I won’t let them blacklist you. After you finish writing the scenario script for the game, you can still write whatever stories you want to tell.”
Yuan An merely smiled and nodded.
With the Lu family’s status, if Lu Chengyue or Lu Shengheng spoke up to have him blacklisted from the film and television circles, it would truly be impossible for him to write scripts ever again. If they were even more ruthless, he might not even be able to find any job at all.
Yet at this moment, Qin Sixing’s comfort was able to give him strength, setting his mind at ease.
Yuan An gently moved his hand, suddenly discovering a slight abnormality.
He lowered his head, his gaze falling upon his own hand, only to realize that while he was on the phone with Lu Shengheng just now, his hand had unconsciously interwoven with Qin Sixing’s.
Yuan An hurriedly released his grip, becoming thoroughly embarrassed as a flush of crimson rushed to the tips of his ears.
Qin Sixing smiled, withdrawing his hand with a calm expression on his face. In a spot hidden from Yuan An’an’s sight, his fingers loosely curled inward, as if wishing to make the residual warmth on his hand linger for just a brief moment longer.
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