Bai Xiuyan said with certainty, "That car accident was not an accident; it was orchestrated by Qiao Guangyuan."

"When did you find out?" Qi Jincheng asked hastily.

Thinking of Qiao Guangyuan, Bai Xiuyan clenched his fist again and said in a low voice, "I have been investigating Qiao Guangyuan all these years. Does he know that Qiao Xi is not his daughter?"

"And the result?" Qi Jincheng asked hurriedly.

Bai Xiuyan suddenly gave a bitter laugh. "He knows, and his marriage to my sister was just a transaction, a transaction to help him rise to power."

“He took advantage of the fact that his sister had another man’s child and humiliated her endlessly behind her back. But his sister silently endured it all because she didn’t want her family to know that the child was not Qiao Guangyuan’s.”

“That beast, she kept humiliating my sister, and she was out there living a life of debauchery, and even…” Bai Xiuyan choked up uncontrollably, clutching his chest in self-reproach, “I hate that I didn’t know sooner. If I had known sooner, I wouldn’t have given that beast the chance to do it!”

Qi Jincheng had also investigated Qiao Guangyuan and knew about the 'good deeds' he had done over the years, as well as his chaotic private life outside, including the woman he married, neither of them were clean.

And then there's his 'good intentions' towards Qiao Xi, but unfortunately, his silly Xi'er always foolishly believed in him.

Hints at the obvious would only upset her and create conflict between them, so he chose to remain silent.

Now that Bai Xiuyan knew about those things, it wouldn't be in his style to sit idly by. Qi Jincheng subconsciously asked, "Why not kill him?"

Bai Xiuyan chuckled self-deprecatingly, took a long, deep breath, and said helplessly, "That silly girl, I dare not make a move until she sees through that beast's true colors."

I see, their reasons are the same.

A glint of light suddenly flashed in Bai Xiuyan's eyes. "I'm waiting for an opportunity, waiting for that silly girl to avenge her mother with her own hands!"

Qi Jincheng disagreed, saying, "Doing this will only dirty Xi'er's hands."

"The Qiao family is doomed." Bai Xiuyan said with unusual confidence, "They'll be reduced to ashes in the blink of an eye."

Qi Jincheng also knew about this. Qiao Guangyuan had called him for help more than once, but... Xi'er had repeatedly advised him not to lend a hand.

So his Xi'er may have known something without him realizing it, otherwise she wouldn't have made such a change.

Bai Xiuyan suddenly asked, "Will you tell her?"

"I'm not entirely convinced yet," Qi Jincheng admitted frankly.

Although he had basically accepted the truth in his heart, there were still some things he needed to verify himself.

Qi Jincheng returned to Fuyuan late at night. He deliberately tiptoed into the house so as not to disturb his Xi'er's rest.

Back in the room, he gently closed the door and, using the faint light filtering through the curtains, tiptoed to the bedside. He slowly sat down, leaned over, and carefully stroked her cheek.

Qiao Xi's eyelashes suddenly trembled slightly. Slowly, she opened her eyes and knew who it was just by feeling. "Ah Jin, you're back."

"Did I wake you up?" Qi Jincheng asked guiltily.

Qiao Xi turned on the bedside lamp, sat up, and looked at him with eyes full of love, saying, "No, I can't sleep soundly if you don't come back."

"Go to sleep, I'm back." Qi Jincheng affectionately hooked her nose, wanting her to fall asleep.

Qiao Xi yawned and waved to him, saying, "Go take a shower, I'll wait for you."

"Silly girl." Qi Jincheng's loving eyes clearly showed a hint of heartache and apology as he urged her, "Go to sleep."

Qiao Xi immediately noticed that something was wrong with him and quickly asked, "What's wrong? Did something happen at the company?"

"No," Qi Jincheng answered decisively.

Qiao Xi cupped his face and said to him solemnly, "If anything bad happens, don't keep it to yourself. You must tell me."

Qi Jincheng said casually, "My silly Xi'er, don't overthink it."

Qiao Xi thought she was overthinking it, and urged him instead, "Then hurry up and wash up and go to bed, or it will be dawn soon."

"Okay." Qi Jincheng responded and helped Qiao Xi lie down, then covered her with a blanket and went to the bathroom.

Qiao Xi had been forcing herself to stay awake until Qi Jincheng returned, and now that he was back, she could finally relax.

But perhaps because he wasn't sleeping next to her, she opened her eyes again in a daze, only to find that the pillow next to her was empty, but there seemed to be someone standing on the balcony.

Qiao Xi checked the time; it was already one in the morning. She groped her way to the balcony, where it became much brighter, with moonlight and streetlights.

Qi Jincheng stood on the balcony, looking at the sky, seemingly gazing at something.

Qiao Xi took a few steps toward him, reached out and hugged him from behind, and whispered, "Honey, if we don't go to sleep soon it will be dawn."

The moment Qiao Xi hugged him from behind, Qi Jincheng knew who it was. He then grabbed her hand and slowly turned around to hold her in his arms.

He wanted to act as if nothing had happened, but he was hiding things related to Xi'er in his heart. At least for now, he was somewhat unable to control his emotions. If it were anything else, even something related to himself, he could hide it very well.

But in this matter, especially when facing Xi'er, it becomes even more difficult to control.

"Can't you really tell me?" Qiao Xi was convinced that he was hiding something from her.

Qi Jincheng didn't want to deny it, so he changed the subject and said, "I received an invitation to your school's welcome party."

Upon hearing this, Qiao Xi blinked a few times unconsciously and asked, "In our department?"

Qi Jincheng didn't quite understand what she was saying, "Not from your school?"

Qiao Xi shook her head vigorously and said, "No, the art department is the art department. I don't know about the other departments, but our department's welcome party is this Saturday."

Qi Jincheng was somewhat suspicious that He Fan might have given him the wrong time. "The invitation I received also said Saturday morning at 9:30."

Qiao Xi was also a little confused. Had she misheard?

No way, she heard it very clearly that day, it was Saturday afternoon at four o'clock, the class monitor told her personally.

Not only the class monitor, but also the time displayed on the bulletin board is this time.

Or perhaps the invitation Qi Jincheng received wasn't from their department?

She didn't know when the other departments' welcome parties were, nor did she ask, but she was sure it wasn't their department's. "Then it shouldn't be our department's, right? Our department's welcome party doesn't start until 4 PM."

"Isn't that right?" Qi Jincheng wanted to take out his phone to confirm with He Fan.

After Qiao Xi realized what was going on, she quickly said, "I'll ask again tomorrow."