Chapter 44 Salvation 1 A gunshot rang out, the bullet whizzing past my ear...

Shen Qinghuai was extremely frustrated. This Liang Zhihao was really shameless, asking to borrow 50,000 yuan to buy a mobile phone right off the bat.

He asked a question: "Do I look like an ATM?"

Liang Zhihao shrugged indifferently: "Don't be so stingy! I've heard that you took that country girl to the telecom office and spent a fortune. You don't even acknowledge her, yet you still spend money on her. So, if I call you uncle, can't you even lend me some money? My aunt will be furious when she finds out."

"Don't mention your aunt!" Shen Qinghuai gets a headache just thinking about the trouble Liang Yuting has caused. She's incapable of making money, but she's good at squandering it. It's infuriating.

All those years of careful budgeting, meticulously controlling every penny, and unwilling to let Liang Yuting squander money—and now look what happened, she just handed him a million dollars for nothing! He's furious.

It would be better to give this money to Xiaoman; at least Xiaoman really made him look good!

The young girl, only eighteen years old and from the mountains, immediately won Director Wen's favor. She truly deserves to be Shen Qinghuai's daughter.

It's a pity that Liang Yuting is too troublesome, otherwise Xiaoman should have been recognized by her ancestors by now, and her name should have been changed to Shen Xiaoman, which sounds so nice!

The more Shen Qinghuai thought about it, the more frustrated he felt, unable to vent or relieve his anger. He impatiently picked up his mobile phone and called Lao Liang: "Come over here quickly and take your son away. I just lost over a million yuan and I have no money."

Old Liang had no idea that his good-for-nothing son had gone to the hospital. He rushed over in a panic, but by the time he arrived, Liang Zhihao had already stormed off, and he had come up empty-handed.

Since we were already here, we decided to visit Shen Qinghuai. We asked around and found out that the so-called loss was actually Liang Yuting losing over a million yuan gambling.

All I could do was advise, "Look on the bright side. It's her who's squandering money, not your investment that failed. Cheer up, money lost can be regained!"

Shen Qinghuai sighed; that was all he could think of.

Old Liang asked again, "Is Tingting still in Hong Kong?"

"Hmm." Shen Qinghuai wasn't going to indulge her this time. If she didn't want to come back, so be it. It wasn't like he couldn't afford a nanny to take care of the child.

It's much better now that Liang Yuting is gone, it's peaceful.

As for whether she will continue to borrow money and squander it? No, he has already called Hong Kong and declared that he will not acknowledge the money Liang Yuting borrowed. Let whoever wants to be taken advantage of do so.

Old Liang could only offer some advice: "Take it easy. At least Xiao Man made you look good. In the future, when you're dealing with people, those bosses will have to give you some respect."

"Come on, I didn't even acknowledge her." Shen Qinghuai himself felt embarrassed. He had spent hundreds of thousands of yuan on his daughter, but it was still less than the amount Liang Yuting spent in one night.

He was too ashamed to let Xiaoman know about this. It was better that Xiaoman didn't come to the hospital, so he wouldn't be too embarrassed to face her.

Old Liang didn't say anything more, told him to take a rest, and then left.

Once outside in the hallway, he picked up his cell phone and called Liang Yuting: "You'd better come back yourself. Don't expect him to back down this time."

Liang Yuting retorted, "Why should I? I only lost a little over a million. Maybe I can win it all back right away."

Old Liang laughed in exasperation, his belly jiggling a few times: "Keep dreaming. Old Cheng already calculated it for you; you have no luck with windfall gains. You'd better come back and be a rich lady."

"I just can't swallow this! Why should he spend money on that wild child? He promised me, but he didn't keep his word! Now he's gone back on his word, he has to apologize to me!" Liang Yuting said fiercely, with no intention of backing down.

Old Liang was speechless: "That's where you're wrong. Why can't she acknowledge her daughter? Did Chen Baihui give birth to the child by herself? Be reasonable! Back then, you insisted on marrying her, and your aunt said that she was divorced and had a daughter, but you wouldn't listen. Who's to blame now?"

Liang Yuting was hit where it hurt and immediately burst into tears: "How can you blame me? He didn't tell me he had been married before. I had already developed feelings for him, and I only found out from someone else. Aren't I wronged?"

"Tell me the truth, your Yao Yao was born six months after you got married. You've always said it was premature, but actually you got married because she was pregnant, right?" Old Liang wouldn't believe her nonsense. He'd be more careful about believing half of what this woman said.

Liang Yuting hesitated for a moment, then angrily retorted, "What do you mean? Are you saying I'm immoral? Even if I got married because I was pregnant, was the child conceived by me alone?"

“That’s right, Chen Baihui didn’t get pregnant by one person, so why can’t you let Shen Qinghuai acknowledge his daughter? Isn’t she his child?” Old Liang argued logically, using Liang Yuting’s own words to shut her up.

Liang Yuting slammed down the phone in anger, refusing to say another word!

Old Liang called his mother again: "Auntie, you have to talk to Tingting. Old Shen's eldest daughter has come looking for him. The young lady is quite capable; she got into the criminal investigation team right away. It's only natural for Old Shen to occasionally spend some money on that daughter! You must tell Tingting not to give him the cold shoulder anymore! The more she makes a scene, the more pitiful Old Shen feels for his eldest daughter. Once a man's heart has strayed, it's hard to pull it back. If it really comes to divorce one day, only Tingting will suffer. Old Shen is rich; finding a young and beautiful woman is just a matter of a word for him."

The person on the other end had clearly just learned about Shen Qinghuai's situation as well, and sighed, "I understand. I'll try to persuade Tingting. Have you seen the child? How is he? Is he easy to get along with?"

Old Liang was both amused and exasperated: "Oh, Auntie, you think too highly of me. I need Old Shen's help to open a shopping mall. How could I possibly get involved with the criminal investigation team? I haven't even had a chance to see that kid. But Old Shen, his friend Old Jiang, has a younger brother who is the head of the police station. He's dealt with that kid before, and he said the kid is quite smart."

The person on the other end thought to themselves, "This is bad. Once a girl is associated with intelligence, it's a real challenge to be her stepmother. My Tingting is in a difficult position too."

Old Liang didn't think so, and asked in return, "What's so difficult about it? Aunt, if I were Tingting, I would be an understanding, generous and gentle stepmother, so that the child can't find fault with me. I would also praise the child in front of Old Shen. If Old Shen is happy, wouldn't he spend an extra hundred thousand or two on me?"

The other side fell silent. The logic was sound, but suddenly having a child born to the woman in front would definitely harm the interests of the other four children.

So she didn't blame her daughter for throwing a tantrum; she also felt sorry for the four children.

Seeing that the other side remained silent, Old Liang continued to persuade her, "Auntie, you love Hao Hao the most. You should think of it this way: children grow up quickly, and in the blink of an eye, they'll be in school. Nowadays, kids in school tend to gang up and bully other children. Hao Hao will suddenly have a sister from the criminal investigation team. Isn't that great? Who will dare to bully him when he goes to school? You should persuade Tingting. Her daughter is the legal heir. Even if Old Shen really gives a portion of his property to that child, it's only right and proper. Instead of making a scene, you should try to build a good relationship and think about how to benefit from it."

The person on the other end was persuaded and replied, "Alright then. I'll try to persuade you. Help me think of a way to get the child's birthday and send me a photo of the child. I need to find a fortune teller to do some calculations."

Old Liang agreed, hung up the phone, and immediately cursed, "Idiot."

*

On the way back, Qiu Xiaoman kept talking to the Vietnamese man, but he wouldn't answer any of her questions. She sneered, "Not convinced? Hide better next time, and it might take me five more minutes to find you."

The Vietnamese man rolled his eyes. Their reinforcements were almost here, so he wasn't afraid.

Qiu Xiaoman rolled her eyes. We'll see!

She walked to the front of the line and warned everyone, "Be careful, everyone. This Vietnamese guy seems fearless. Someone will probably come to their rescue."

Tiger felt the same way. He was really impressed with this young instructor. He was only eighteen years old. He was truly a promising young man.

As Qiu Xiaoman was walking, she stopped when she saw Huihui suddenly becoming agitated and sniffing around everywhere.

She crouched down to take a look, and sure enough, there were new footprints. Although she had tried to cover them up with leaves, they couldn't escape her notice.

Meng, a few steps behind, glanced at her back and assumed she was uncomfortable squatting there. He checked the time and, sure enough, it was 3:30 PM. He asked apologetically, "Xiao Qiu, are you hungry? I have some compressed biscuits, want some?"

Qiu Xiaoman wasn't hungry; someone had just arrived.

She suddenly looked up, pushed Meng aside, and a gunshot rang out, the bullet grazing Meng's ear.

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Author's note: Sorry, I've been sick these past few days, I'll make up for the missed update tomorrow.