Nighttime, the Qin family's old residence.

With a creak, Qin Chu pushed open the study door and entered.

Upon hearing the voice, Master Qin looked up at the newcomer, his sharp eyes fixed on him, his face expressionless.

"I'm back."

Qin Chu frowned imperceptibly, walked to sit opposite Old Master Qin, and asked in a slightly cool voice, "What do you want?"

"Yolo has agreed to cooperate with the Qin family, but he contacted us directly, bypassing your people."

Old Master Qin's voice was quite calm, but it carried an invisible pressure.

"What did you say?" Qin Chu's pupils suddenly contracted, his eyes filled with astonishment.

After Yolo and Lingmeng stopped all cooperation, Yolo immediately started cooperating with the Qin family. What exactly happened?

His temples throbbed uncontrollably, and his mind was in complete disarray.

"Our deal ends here. If I find out that Qin Chu's death is related to you, the Qin family will not let you off the hook," Old Master Qin continued.

Upon hearing this, Qin Chu quickly calmed down, a glint in his eyes, and a mocking smile appeared on his lips. "Go ahead and investigate."

......

When Qin Chu came out of the study, a cold glint appeared in his eyes, and a low-pressure atmosphere surrounded him.

When he walked into the living room, he saw Qin Mingyue sitting on the sofa with her back to him, looking at her phone screen.

The melodious singing poured out of the phone, filling the entire living room.

As Qin Chu passed by her from behind, he glanced at her phone out of the corner of his eye, and the girl on the screen seemed somewhat familiar.

He stopped and asked, "What are you looking at?"

"Ah!" Qin Mingyue was startled by Qin Chu suddenly appearing behind her.

She frowned and said, "Han Yan's new song MV."

"show me."

Qin Mingyue was completely confused by him, so she nodded and handed him her phone.

Qin Chu picked up the phone that was still playing, his eyebrows gradually furrowing into a knot. He felt that the girl in the music video looked a bit like Shi Miao.

Qin Mingyue noticed that the man's expression seemed a little off, and asked softly, "What's wrong, Uncle?"

Qin Chu handed the phone back to her, his eyes gleaming with a slightly cold light, and said in a calm voice, "It's nothing, I'm leaving."

......

After leaving the Qin family, Qin Chu sat in the car, rubbing his temples with a slight headache, and took out his phone to call Song Ran.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"I learned from Grandpa Qin that Yolo bypassed our people and cooperated directly with the Qin family."

"What did you say? How could this happen?"

Qin Chu wearily pinched the bridge of his nose, concealing the coldness in his eyes, and said in a deep voice, "I haven't figured it out yet."

"Then your situation in the Qin family is also very dangerous now. Why don't you go back to M Continent?"

"How's your investigation going?"

"Yolo is keeping a tight rein on things; we can't get any information out of them at all."

"I'll be back in a couple of days." Qin Chu's brows were furrowed with gloom and frost, and a storm was brewing in his eyes.

"OK."

*

The next day, at Gu Qingshan's residence.

"Master, Gu Yanxin is outside. She says she wants to see you." The maid came in and looked up at Old Master Gu sitting on the sofa.

Gu Qingshan slowly picked up his teacup, skimmed off the foam, and asked in a calm tone, "Did she say what she came here for?"

"She said it was about Miss Wanqing's pregnancy back then."

Gu Qingshan paused, his eyes filled with deep surprise, and said in a deep voice, "Let her in."

"yes."

A moment later, the maid led Gu Yanxin in.

Gu Yanxin lowered her eyes, concealing the darkness within them, put her hands in her pockets, and slowly walked to Gu Qingshan's side, saying softly, "Grandpa."

Gu Qingshan snorted coldly, his sharp gaze sweeping over her, and said in a low voice, "I'm not your grandfather. Tell me everything you know."

Gu Yanxin raised her head slightly, her bloodshot eyes filled with hatred. Taking advantage of Gu Qingshan's unpreparedness, she quickly pulled out a fruit knife hidden in her sleeve and held it to his neck.

Gu Qingshan's pupils suddenly contracted, his face tightened, and he said in a deep voice, "What are you going to do!"

A maid nearby reacted and shrieked, "Ah! Let go of the master! Someone, come quick!"

Gu Yanxin gripped the fruit knife tightly, her eyes filled with madness and distortion, and she said sharply, "Shut up!"

The maid was startled by her gaze and immediately fell silent.

Gu Yanxin slightly raised her chin towards the maid and said coldly, "Call Shi Miao back right now. I want to see Shi Miao!"

Gu Qingshan frowned deeply. "Are you crazy! What exactly do you want to do?"

Gu Yanxin pressed down hard on the fruit knife in her hand, cutting a bloody gash on Gu Qingshan's neck, and threatened, "Hurry up, do you hear me!"

"Yes, yes, yes." The maid quickly picked up the phone from the coffee table.

......

H City No.1 Middle School

Shi Miao was leaning back in her chair, her eyelids lowered, operating the game character on her phone.

"Sister Miao, a new restaurant has opened outside the school. Do you want to go for lunch?" Ji Sinian put down his pen, rubbed his sore wrist, and looked up at the female lead beside him.

Upon hearing this, Shi Miao lazily raised her half-closed eyes, her gaze clear and bright, and said languidly, "Yes, that's fine."

Ji Sinian turned to look at Lu Hansheng, who was reading a book, and asked, "What about you? Want to come along?"

Lu Hansheng paused in his flipping through the book, and gave a faint "hmm".

Just then, the phone rang.

Shi Miao glanced at the caller ID, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes. Why would her grandfather call her at this time?

"Miss, no...it's terrible! Gu Yanxin has taken the master hostage! Come quick!" The maid's excited, trembling voice came from the other end of the phone.

Shi Miao tightened her grip on her phone, her eyes instantly turning icy, and she said in a deep voice, "I'll be back now."

She pursed her lips into a straight line, put away her phone, stood up, and strode out of the classroom.

Just as she stepped out of the classroom, she bumped into Ji Yanchen.

His expression darkened slightly, and he said in a low voice, "Gu Yanxin has taken Grandpa hostage."

"Yes, they called me." Shi Miao nodded, a hint of malice lurking in his dark eyes.

"Come on, I'll drive." Ji Yanchen took his hand.

......

"Call Shi Miao again and ask her where she is!" Gu Yanxin urged the maid with bloodshot eyes.

The maid glanced at the bloodstains on Gu Qingshan's neck, swallowed hard, and whispered, "Don't get agitated! I'll hit him right now!"

"Stop hitting me, I'm here." Shi Miao's cold voice came from the doorway.

Gu Qingshan, who had been keeping his eyes closed, suddenly opened them, his eyes filled with worry, "Miaomiao."

"Tell me, what will it take for you to release them?" Shi Miao's dark eyes stared at her, carrying a chilling sense of oppression as he slowly walked towards her.

Gu Yanxin immediately felt a chill creep up her spine to the top of her head.

She bit her lip, her hand gripping the knife trembling. Her bloodshot eyes glared at her fiercely as she shrieked, "Don't come any closer! Back off!"