The air was freezing, and the brain was entering a state of oxygen deficiency.
Jian Yan blinked and her mouth moved.
Before she could speak, Qin Shu waved awkwardly, "I was just teasing you." He didn't want to push her too hard, lest they lose even their friendship. "I should go."
"Your clothes..." Aren't you hot?
Qin Shu quickly hugged her tightly. Would they take back the gift he had given her just because she had said something careless?
"Take it off and take it with you." Jian Yan couldn't help but chuckle.
Qin Shu realized he was being foolish, but pretended to be nonchalant, saying, "I just wanted to wear it. Autumn is here, the weather is getting cooler, and it's time to change into a coat."
After he left, Jian Yan leisurely returned to her room. Being with Qin Shu was stress-free; she didn't need to guess or think. He seemed like the perfect match!
*
Around noon the next day, Huo Yunchao took Xue Qiandai to a coffee shop.
An autumn rain fell in the capital.
Li Shen had been waiting for her for a long time.
Looking at Jian Yan in the workroom, Li Shen's eyes flickered, and Xue Qiandai understood.
"Jane, my friend wants to discuss some important matters with me."
"Okay, sure." Jian Yan took her laptop and went to the booth.
Li Shen then took out a CD and placed it on her desk. "We've caught a big fish, a restricted-rated movie, or R-rated if we have to define it."
He said that Xue Qiandai wanted to connect to the computer, but Li Shen stopped her. "You can watch it after I leave. I couldn't sleep all night after watching it."
Xue Qiandai: "..."
Okay, okay, I won't watch it then.
"Yesterday, you stared at Madam Zhao for a long time. Was there a problem?" Xue Qiandai asked again.
Li Shen pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and took out an old photograph. The photograph showed Xue Jingnian, Ji Jiaying, and Li Shen's father. "This is a photograph from more than 20 years ago. I always felt that the lady from yesterday looked somewhat familiar to your mother."
Judging from the photos alone, they look familiar, but not quite alike. Ji Jiaying has a small beauty mark under her right eye, which Madam Zhao does not; Ji Jiaying's cheekbones are also slightly higher than Madam Zhao's; the corners of their eyes are also different, Ji Jiaying's eyes droop slightly, while Madam Zhao's are upturned.
Xue Qiandai was silent for a while. "Madam Zhao told me to call her aunt, but she couldn't say what my relationship with my mother was. Was she a blood relative, a close friend, or a friend? My father once said that my mother passed away not long after I was born."
Li Shen didn't know much about Xue Qiandai's mother either. "I only heard my father say that your mother came from a prominent family in the capital and was very well-educated and cultured."
"Since they are a prominent family, shouldn't my maternal grandparents' family have verifiable records?" This was also what Xue Qiandai couldn't understand.
Could it be that because of her mother's death, her maternal grandfather and the others severed ties with the Xue family? In Xue Qiandai's memory, they had never visited her even once.
Li Shen was unaware of this.
"Li Shen, could you help me investigate Madam Zhao again? She used to stay in a sanatorium and see a psychologist. Perhaps we can find out something from these sources." She had a vague expectation in her heart, hoping to learn more about her mother.
Li Shen hesitated, after all, she was Zhao Sheng's wife from Tiansheng Capital, and besides, Xue's mother had passed away many years ago, so they had no connection whatsoever.
After Li Shen left, Xue Qiandai opened the disc. It showed two familiar people, yet they were entangled together naked, making them seem so unfamiliar.
Jian Yan had somehow ended up standing behind Xue Qiandai, her eyes bloodshot. The taste of betrayal was unbearable.
Xue Qiandai quickly closed her notebook and called out, "Jian."
"I saw it all!" Jian Yan tilted her head back at a 30-degree angle, trying not to let her tears fall. "Who doesn't encounter one or two scumbags in their life? Thank you for helping me see his true colors. I'm fine, and I'll only get better from now on."
Despite saying that, Jian Yan couldn't help but hug Xue Qiandai and burst into tears, her tears soaking Qiandai's shoulder.
*
In the afternoon, Xue Qiandai visited Feng Zhong in prison.
This was facilitated by Huo Meiren.
“Captain Zheng, yes…” Xue Qiandai pointed to the camera above, “Our conversation won’t last long, please do me this favor.”
Zheng Fang raised his hand and lowered it, giving Xue Qiandai space.
"Manager Feng, do you still recognize me?"
Feng Zhong raised his head, his hair disheveled, his eyes like stagnant water, his hands shackled. He glanced sideways, blinked, as if to admit it.
Xue Qiandai took out her phone and played the recording.
"Mom, when is Dad coming back?"
It was a child's voice, tender and clear.
Next came the woman's sobs.
"Old Feng, come back soon. No matter what you've done, I need my husband, and my children need their father."
After playing for a while, Xue Qiandai turned off her phone. "The person you trusted didn't treat your wife and children well. They are living a miserable life, but your wife is strong and patient and hasn't told you."
Through the glass, Feng Zhong leaned forward, his face fierce and menacing. "What did you do to them? What do you want?"
"I want the truth, I want to clear my father's name, and I want to send the culprit to where he belongs." Xue Qiandai pointed downwards, like a judge.
Feng Zhong closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Your father is not innocent."
“But you don’t deserve this much punishment, do you?” She looked directly into his eyes, her gaze sharp and piercing. “You think you’re a lone hero, taking everything on your shoulders. But what about your wife and children? They’re living pitiful lives. As a subordinate, you may be loyal, but as a husband and father, you’ve failed miserably. More importantly, the person you’re loyal to doesn’t even treat you like a human being.”
The man buried his head in his hands and cried like a child.
The drizzle was still falling as Xue Qiandai left the prison, holding an umbrella.
Perhaps she will be able to visit her father soon.
*
Despite the rain, Huotuan's riders continued to brave the downpour, delivering every meal and gesture of goodwill to customers.
A woman dressed in a red torchbearer uniform was crossing a T-junction when an old man suddenly rushed out towards her. The female rider braked sharply, and due to inertia, she narrowly missed the old man.
The old man then fell down.
The female rider rushed to help the old man, but the old man suddenly cried out, "My leg, my leg!"
Despite having an urgent order, the female rider made a brief phone call to the platform and still chose to take the old man to the nearest hospital.
The old man was not seriously injured, but his remarks put the female rider in the spotlight.
“She didn’t follow traffic rules, drove recklessly across the road, hit someone and tried to run away. Luckily, I shouted and stopped her. People like that are a threat to public health and safety when they are riding as delivery riders.”
As luck would have it, a media person at the hospital witnessed everything and immediately posted about it on Weibo and Baidu Tieba.
The customer did not receive the food delivery on time and complained about the platform and the delivery rider.
The two incidents, coupled with the previous allegations that Huotuan staff received kickbacks from merchants, have once again placed Huotuan under public scrutiny.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com