After drinking a bowl of piping hot soup, Shen Qing felt as if she had come back to life.

Su Lan's face, which had been pale, suddenly regained its color.

Children have small appetites and eat slowly, so Shen Qing waited patiently while she went over the information she had just received from Er Hong with Cheng Zhiwen.

"The person who instructed Erhong to steal the raw materials was not Master Zhao. Master Zhao has always only been interested in the Gao family's house, and I have never seen him interested in my business. So I am more inclined to believe that the foreign cloth merchant colluded with the people from the gambling den to set a trap for Erhong's man."

Cheng Zhiwen nodded and pondered, "European fabric exporters have close ties with domestic foreign fabric merchants, so your deduction is very likely."

Shen Qing stood up angrily: "I'll go to that gambling den tomorrow and see for myself!"

Cheng Zhiwen pressed her hand down, glanced around, and lowered his voice: "Leave it to Brother Zhenheng to handle."

Shen Qing thought about it and agreed. Investigating cases was Qi Zhenheng's specialty, so she could focus on doing business.

Right now, the factory is still shut down, and she has to find a way to restart her business, so she really doesn't have time to investigate the case.

After finishing their steaming bowl of noodles, Shen Qing led Su Lan slowly back to the Gao family home.

Cheng Zhiwen followed behind them, occasionally exchanging a few words with her.

"Now that you have a child with you, you need to be more careful in many things and never act impulsively."

Shen Qing knew he was reminding her not to go to the gambling den to investigate the case, so she nodded and said, "I won't go to the gambling den, don't worry."

She thought about her situation again.

He can't even guarantee his own safety, and now he's dragging Su Lan along...

I guess I acted impulsively.

But now that the child has been taken in, there's no reason to give him back. Besides, Su Lan's father is really outrageous!

Shen Qing secretly made up his mind that for his own sake and for Su Lan's sake, he must make a comeback!

The three people walked to the Gao family's door.

Chunju, who couldn't wait for her master to return home, had been waiting there for quite some time.

Seeing Shen Qing and Su Lan approaching from afar, he excitedly ran forward to take Su Lan away.

Shen Qing told her to take Su Lan inside to wash up first.

He stood with Cheng Zhiwen for a while longer.

Thinking back to that evening at Erhong's house, when Erhong stood by her side like a guardian angel, Shen Qing was deeply moved.

That's how she and Cheng Zhiwen were; when they argued, they acted like enemies, each of them delivering barbs and never letting the other win an argument.

But when the other party is in trouble, they can wholeheartedly help and support them.

Shen Qing looked up at him and saw that he was also looking down at her.

Under the moonlight, his eyes were like stars, and her face was reflected in his curved pupils.

"Can we be friends?" she asked dejectedly. "I have no friends here. Although I have Chunju, she is my maid and can't be considered a friend."

Cheng Zhiwen smiled and asked, "What are the benefits of being your friend?"

"..." Shen Qing found this person's way of speaking really annoying.

She threw down the words, "What kind of friends talk about interests?" and angrily turned around, running up the stone steps in front of the Gao family's gate.

Behind her, Cheng Zhiwen shouted, "Hey, what kind of friend do you want to be? Girlfriend?"

Shen Qing's foot, which was about to step across the threshold, suddenly stopped.

Cheng Zhiwen said "girlfriend," but Shen Qing didn't notice whether he paused between the two words.

Although "girlfriend" and "girlfriend" differ by only one pause, they have completely different meanings.

The former refers to a "female friend" with whom there is no romantic relationship, while the latter refers to...

A long-term relationship involving love and sex.

Thinking of this, Shen Qing turned around and made a face at him: "I want to be your female friend!"

Female friends.

After saying that, he quickly told the servant to close the gate.

The servants in the manor had all become familiar with her, and they asked her without any regard for seniority, "Young mistress, who is that man?"

Shen Qing smiled: "My childhood friend from my hometown."

She's not wrong.

Cheng Zhiwen and the original owner of this body have indeed known each other since childhood.

“Young mistress,” the servant managed to utter a word with difficulty, “what is ‘pigeon powder inside’?”

Shen Qing choked: "We're...we're sworn brothers!"

The servants suddenly realized.

Shen Qing didn't want to waste any more time arguing with them and quickly returned to the Central Courtyard.

Passing by the main hall, I saw Gao Liushi sitting inside with her three grandsons, wiping away tears.

She walked in and said expressionlessly, "It's very late, why don't you let the children go to bed? It's not good for children to stay up late."

When the three children saw her come in, they immediately burst into tears, crying, "We want our mother... Mother... We want our mother..."

Shen Qing had a headache and beckoned to the maid: "Hurry up and take them inside to sleep! Don't you even know what time it is!"

The girl was about to lead the crying and making a fuss away, but the eldest and second eldest refused to leave and even threw a tantrum on the ground.

Shen Qing hated this kind of child the most, and immediately her face darkened as she got up to leave.

The eldest son ran up and hugged her leg, crying, "Auntie, please save my mother! My younger brother and sister are still small; they can't be without their mother!"

The second son also ran up and hugged her leg.

With each person holding one leg, Shen Qing could no longer walk, so she had to sit down again, looking at Gao Liushi with resentment.

How could a three- or five-year-old child understand these things? It was clearly taught by Gao Liushi.

Shen Qing said angrily, "Whether or not Gao Yuanxiang is released now is not up to me. Lord Qi has already opened a case!"

Lady Gao wiped away her tears: "You have a good personal relationship with Lord Qi. Go and beg Lord Qi. He will definitely consider your request."

Shen Qing's eyes widened, and her voice rose: "Who said I have a good personal relationship with Lord Qi? I have no personal relationship with Lord Qi!"

Madam Gao whispered, "Someone from the third son's family saw you freely entering and leaving the backyard of the prefectural government office..."

Upon hearing the words "third son," Shen Qing flew into a rage. Ignoring the two children still clinging to her legs, she abruptly stood up and walked over to Gao Liu Shi.

"Look how badly the third wife has ruined our family, and you still believe what they say?"

Gao Liushi stopped talking and just cried.

Shen Qing was already furious, and since she had willingly walked into the line of fire at this critical moment, she didn't hold back and vented her anger on her.

He took out his empty purse and threw it in front of her: "The customers have taken the deposit! The machines have all been smashed! I'm penniless now, and I won't be able to pay the monthly interest anytime soon. Do you still have the mind to listen to the nonsense from the third brother's family?"

Upon hearing this, Gao Liushi was so frightened that she held back her tears and asked in a daze, "The silver notes are all gone?"

"Otherwise what?" Shen Qing roared, "Your factory has been smashed! You can't deliver the goods, and people won't refund your deposits, are they waiting for you to run away?"

Gao Liu then realized the seriousness of the situation.

After a long silence, she started sobbing again: "But we can't just not save Yuanxiang because of this! If we release Yuanxiang, she can go to the shop to help out, and that way we can save some wages..."

Shen Qing knew that this old woman was determined to rescue Gao Yuanxiang.

She knew that if she didn't put on a show for her today, the woman wouldn't let it go, and might come up with some other tricks to torment her.

She's already overwhelmed with work at the factory, so how could she have time to deal with all this?

Shen Qing grew increasingly furious and threw the two children off his lap: "I'm going to the prefectural government office to find Lord Qi right now! You wait here!"