Chapter 152 - I Am Your Uncle

"Miss Shi,your uncle is here to see you." After a polite thank you,Shi Ai turned from her table in the dorm and shot a message to her Ah Hai,"He is here." Shi Ai had moved back into the dorms to allow this man the opportunity to be with her and he had not wasted any time in taking the bait. Leisurely leaving her room,Shi Ai walked towards the visitors room. 

A puzzled expression crossing her face,Shi Ai greeted the man and asked,"I am sorry,but are you mistaken?I do not have any uncle."

Spying her,Shi Qinglan immediately got up,"Miss Shi! No I am actually here for you. I wonder if you swould have time to share a meal. Here this is my card,so you can feel safe."

Shi Ai took the card and glancing at it,a smile crossed her face,"Oh!Mr Shi Qinglan. I thought that you looked familiar. Me and my husband also came for the charity auction your company organized and my husband's company is also going to have a collaboration with you all soon. But what is this talk about you being my uncle.."

Shi Qinglan looked at the girl in front of him and wondered if there really were such innocent girls left in this world. But from what his person had found out about her in the last week,it seemed thatshe really was an innocent little lamb.

Giving a kindly smile( he thought it was kindly,Shi Ai on the other hand felt that it was creepy) he explained," It's a long story Miss Shi, hence I am asking you out for a meal."

Nodding at him trustingly,Shi Ai said,"Very well. Please give me a few minutes to change and we can go for lunch." Bowing to him,Shi Ai rushed back up the stairs and updated Ah Hai about their meeting.

A moment later,as Shi Ai changed into formal clothes as her phone dinged,"Where are you going? Which restaurant?"

In answer,Shi Ai sent a live location tracker on her phone to Ah Hai. Since she had decided to come across as a naive and trusting fool,she had naturally not asked that man anything.  But she would really be foolish to trust her dear uncle. 

A little while later,Shi Ai stared at her surroundings with interest. Shi Qinglan had chosen a good place. It was not too full nor to empty. Just enough to make someone comfortable. Once the two people were seated, Shi Ai looked at the man questioningly.  Shi Qinglan,she thought,should be awarded an oscar for acting as the man took a hesitant breath and started,"Child,I heard at the auction that you are an orphan. If you do not mind me asking, can you tell me the details of how you came to be an orphan? I know you might feel uncomfortable sharing the details of your painful past but please understand that I have my own reasons. And I will give you an explanation for this."

Shi Ai really had the urge to give this man's acting a standing ovation. His voice sounded as of he was in severe emotional pain. 

Shrugging her shoulders,Shi Ai smiled and answered," Oh please don't worry. Talking about the past does not really pain me. You see,I do not have any memory of my days before the orphanage so I don't even remember what it is I am missing.. my memories start from when I was eight years old at "Hope Orphanage" in country C. I spent my early years there and after that the orphanage received a huge scholarship fund so I was able to come here to study further.That is it. The story of my life. I lived in a hostel as a ward of the Government of C country and now I am going to be working with the government too. So, tell me now Mr Qinglan,what do you want to talk about.

Shi Qinglan had already found out these details but pretended to not know them and asked further,"Then how did you meet Long Ah Hai and get married to him?"

A small blush forming on her face,like a young teenager in the first throws of her cruse,she explained,"uhh,the company that sponsored my education belongs to my husband's brother. We met at a conference they organized and I fell for him so I pestered him until he agreed to marry me. But before he could be convinced,I wanted to find out more about my birth mother. But when I went to country C,I was kidnapped by some human traffickers and that was when I saw him in a different light and tried to hold onto him to keep me safe. I was scared and in shock so he promised to marry me.

With concern,horror and shock over his face,Shi Qinglan asked,"You were kidnapped? Oh you poor child. I am so sorry for having failed to protect you. You see..you are my beloved cousin's daughter. If..if I had known that you were alive,I would have turned the skies upside down to find you. I can see you are shocked and find this unbelievable but I have proof. See,my cousin died in a fire accident at her home many years ago. Since we could not find any remains, we though that both her daughters had also perished with her. Shi AI,that bracelet belonged to my sister. It was part of her dowry. And seeing that brought back all the joyful memories we had shared. I even used to visit you when you were a child.My cousin was more important and like a real younger sister to me. But she was very stubborn and wilfully. Being motherless,she was pampered by the two of us. You have heard of the powerful Shi name and naturally she was expected to marry a rich heir and make the family more powerful. But she fell in love with a poor man. It was my fault for introducing them. Their love caused her to have a fallout with her father and you know how old people are,"He threw the family heirloom set at her as her dowry and asked her to never come back. And she was so hurt by her father's move that she never really did come back.  Elder Shi had ordered every one to never take her name in the family again. I had no power during those days so all I could do was secretly visit your parents occassionally. They were very happy and so I never tried to interfere or reconcile the father and daughter. I thought that time would bring them closer.It is why I never knew that your father recurred sudden losses in business and that your parents had become impoverished. And by the time I came to know about it,your mother was already lost in that fire. We thought that you too had died in that fire. Do you remember that you had an elder sister? Do you remember her?"

Tears flowing from her eyes,Shi Ai shook her head and in a trembling voice asked,"How..how did you know that I am your sister's daughter? And did my sister survive that fire. What about my father? Do you know where he is now?"

Shi Qinglan also had a few tears flowing on hsi cheeks as he said,"That bracelet was part of my sister's dowry set. And I believed until now that both her daughters were dead but you are alive so maybe fate has blessed us and your elder sister may have survived. I have already hired a few investigators to look into it. And yes your father is alive. He lived alone all these years missing his family. Next time I will take you to meet him. Will you like that?"

Shi Ai gave the man an emotional nod and tearfully nodded. She then tried to excuse herself,"Mister Shi. If you do not mind,can I take a train check for today's meal. I have just learnt so much that I need some time to absorb this. Please excuse me."

Shi Qinglan also nodded understanding but said,"I will let you go but on one condition. I am your uncle. So discard the formalities and call me Uncle Shi. Alright?"

Shi AI rolled her eyes internally and decided that acting was a really difficult job. And the man was too over the top. But,maintaining her composure,she smiled tearfully and said," Uncle Shi. Thank you."

After she made her escape and walking a safe distance,Shi Ai wiped her eyes and looked down at her hand which was slightly red from having to punch herself to bring out tears. This Shi Qinglan was really too much. He could even bring out tears on command. If she had not known his real face,she would have totally fallen for his act hook,line and sinker. Yuck. Thank God she escaped the meal or she would have suffered severe indigestion.