Under the pear tree, the leaves are curled up. Only by picking one and examining it closely can you see the serrated edges.

The pears are small, round balls, speckled with spots. Like the setting sun, they are breathtakingly beautiful from afar, but upon closer inspection, one realizes that the deep spots within the yellowish-brown are dangerous sunspots.

I walked and stopped frequently throughout the day, without really getting a rest.

Jiao Yuyin sat down in the soil beside the tree roots, toying with his glasses that had been taken off. His tie was slightly loose, and his navy blue suit was wrinkled and covered in dirt, yet it didn't look out of place. He didn't look like a down-on-his-luck man, but rather like an elf prince blending into nature.

Lu Yu stood to one side, leaning against the tree trunk.

Who does my dad like?

"About your mother..."

They spoke at the same time and fell silent at the same time.

Jiao Yuyin's tone was impatient: "Why are you bringing up my mother again?"

Lu Yu inhaled the fragrance of pears. "The fruit smells so good."

He said nothing, yet it seemed he said everything. The man who had sat against the pear tree for an hour fell silent. After a long pause, Jiao Yuyin finally spoke: "Does my father have someone in mind right now?"

Lu Yu put her hands behind her back, stroking the tree trunk, and said, "No, but your dad thinks your older brother isn't motivated. That's the only thought that's ever crossed his mind."

"What about the others?"

"He didn't think much about who would be in charge of the Jiao family in the future, but for a moment he did think about your second sister, I don't know why."

"Jiao Huachang?"

“…..Hmm.” Lu Yu thought for a moment about the Jiao family genealogy before she finally recognized the name.

“Her death was indeed suspicious. When did my father start thinking about my second sister?” Jiao Yuyin said, as if he had expected it.

"When your sister-in-law inexplicably mentioned the eldest grandson." Lu Yu coughed dryly, his throat tight with embarrassment.

“My second sister was clearly on my eldest sister's and eldest brother's side before. That’s why I suspected my second brother. I rarely go to the old house and rarely attend the monthly family gatherings, so I never got to the bottom of this. Now it seems there might be more to this than meets the eye. My dad probably knows something, and it might really be related to the title of the eldest grandson,” Jiao Yuyin analyzed.

Lu Yu recalled the strange name "Jiao Qi Xian" and asked, "Tell me more about your family's genealogy. I can tell the characters 'xing' directly; 'Yu Hua' and 'Qi Jia' are very obvious. You brothers are named according to the time of birth, and you sisters according to the order of time. But what about the third generation? How come there's a character 'Xian' in it?"

Jiao Yuyin had never paid close attention to the pattern in the names before, but now that he looked at them, they matched up. As he thought about it, he said, "My eldest brother's eldest daughter, Jiao Jiaqing, is ten years old. His second daughter, Jiao Jiali, is five years old. My second brother's daughter, Jiao Jiaci, is seven years old. Oh... I understand."

"Stop just muttering about it," Lu Yu urged.

"The character for 'woman' is taken from 'clear and beautiful words,' and the character for 'man' is taken from 'few have an end.' 'Everything has a beginning, but few have an end.' Have you heard of that? The old man still wants the Jiao family to last for thousands of generations. How wishful he is."

Lu Yu chuckled, then reminded him, "Mi Yang has secretly sided with your second brother."

“That makes sense.” Jiao Yuyin breathed a sigh of relief. “I just didn’t expect her to be in such a hurry.”

Lu Yu glanced at Jiao Yuyin and asked, "So what are your plans now?"

Jiao Yuyin just laughed self-deprecatingly, "I don't have any plans, I'll just wait. Until my dad makes a decision. Those who take sides too early never end up well, my second sister is a prime example."

Lu Yu pondered the fragmented thoughts on the table for a long time before finally speaking: "If... I mean if, your mother's passing might have had other reasons..."

Before Lu Yu could finish speaking, her wrist was suddenly tightened. She was already leaning against the tree trunk, and the sudden force on her wrist caused her to lose her balance and she was about to fall.

My wrist absolutely cannot get injured; I need to get back to the team tomorrow! That was the only thought in Lu Yu's mind.

Lu Yu moved swiftly, hooking her arm around the man's neck before she fell.

The familiar patchouli scent is stronger than the pear scent.

Lu Yu felt as if she had been pulled into Jiao Yuyin's embrace. His broad arm and chest created a small space, and her upper body sank into it.

They could hear each other breathing.

Lu Yu was stunned. Jiao Yuyin reacted first, without pushing or moving, but just moved his lips and asked, "What did you hear? About my mother."

The simple question triggered Lu Yu's panic. Lu Yu leaned on the other person's shoulder to get up, and without answering the question, loudly complained, "Don't grab my wrist like that next time, it's easy to get hurt. This is the hand I use to shoot three-pointers!"

Jiao Yuyin, as if he couldn't hear anything else, asked again, "What did you hear?"

Lu Yu stood not far from Jiao Yuyin and resignedly said, "When you mentioned Yang Shulin, many thoughts came through, one of which was, 'Won't they find out something?' I only had my suspicions; I didn't hear any key clues."

Whose voice is this?

Lu Yu felt somewhat ashamed. "I couldn't tell. When you mentioned Yang Shulin, there were so many voices all at once that I couldn't tell it was a male voice."

Jiao Yuyin gazed at the garden full of pear trees, his expression unreadable, and it was unclear who he was referring to: "Jiao Yushen, or Jiao Yuchen, or Jiao Cheng."

Lu Yu hesitated for a long time before asking, "What do you mean by saying that your mother's suicide was related to everyone in the Jiao family? I need to know what happened so that I can accurately know which of her thoughts are related to this matter in the future."

“After the Wen family’s incident, everyone accused her of dragging the Jiao family down with her. On the day she committed suicide, everyone cursed her. I was young and couldn’t fight them. I always thought that the Jiao family members were just perpetrators of verbal violence, not murderers. But now it seems…” Jiao Yuyin’s voice grew more and more somber as he spoke.

Lu Yu sighed, "And then what happens after we find out who it is?"

Jiao Yuyin uttered only four words: "To burn together, jade and stone."

After a long pause, Jiao Yuyin buried his head in his arms, and his voice came through intermittently: "Lu Yu, don't be afraid. No matter what... I won't let my partner... fall into danger... Within a year, help me understand this matter."

Lu Yu knew that her little radar had a more important task. "Then find an opportunity to bring up related matters later to lure the snake out of its hole. I'll be watching."

Jiao Yuyin simply grunted in agreement, then added, "Lixiang Villa is close to the Qingbei Training Base, so let's stay at Lixiang Villa for a while."

"Okay, I'll be back with the team for training tomorrow. Let me know when you need to go to the old house."

Jiao Yuyin gave detailed instructions: "Then I'll send you a driver. Right now you're in the eye of the storm, it's not safe if no one picks you up."

Lu Yu should go down.

Currently, the media is only reporting on the events leading up to the couple's return to the Pear Fragrance Villa, yet over a dozen trending topics have already emerged in just one day. Their marriage will inevitably be reported sooner or later, and who knows what kind of storm will rage on them then.

As Lu Yu walked into the villa, she glanced at the trending topics on her phone.

-The third son of the wealthy Jiao family meets a mysterious woman at night-

-Lu Yu turns out to be Jiao family's third young master's date-

What did Jiao Yuyin take a liking to?

When did the black and red star player Lu Yu get involved with the wealthy Jiao family?

-Even "ribbonfish" dream of marrying into a wealthy family-

The name "ribbonfish" has indeed resurfaced; she knew it...