41. I dare not
◎“Don’t use the same tactics you use on others on me.”◎
Song Chiyu peered out from behind the door and breathed a sigh of relief when she realized that he didn't seem to have any intention of confronting anyone directly.
Zhou Yue didn't waste any words and handed the items over directly.
"Take a look." Brother Wen tossed the item to another person, who nodded. Brother Wen then tossed the 100,000 yuan and left. As he left, he warned Zhou Yue, "You're a good friend who understands and follows the rules. If you dare to go against this principle today, I'll make sure you don't leave this house."
Zhou Yue stared at the kneeling youth without rebuttal.
After they left, Zhou Yue pulled up the young man kneeling on the ground and asked, "Tell me, what happened?"
"Well..." The young man dared not hide anything and began with difficulty, "I lost some money gambling, so I wanted to borrow some to win it back. They happened to ask me if I was selling any goods. I thought they were talking about items from the shop, so I agreed first and told you later. But then I realized what they were saying wasn't what I expected, so I quickly tried to return the remaining money to them. But they refused, insisting on explaining the rules. I had no choice... Brother Yue, I'm sorry, I was wrong, I—"
Zhou Yue knew from the beginning that it was a setup. It's not like you're just about to go to sleep and someone happens to hand you a pillow. He yanked his collar away and said, "Alright, that's enough."
The young man was completely at a loss. "Boss, what do we do now?"
"You stay here," Zhou Yue said irritably.
Zhou Yue wasn't worried about the contents, but since Qi Yanzhou had spoken, even if the contents were saved, he still felt embarrassed to have been tricked like this. "Master Qi."
"Hmm." Qi Yanzhou's reaction was indifferent; he didn't take the matter to heart and then walked into the courtyard again. Zhou Yue didn't know what he was doing inside. When he went in and saw Song Chiyu there, he tactfully called out "Sister-in-law" and then retreated.
Song Chiyu felt sorry for him, but since it was ultimately a matter between him and Qi Yanzhou, she couldn't say anything. However, the more she thought about it, the more uneasy she felt. She suddenly turned around and said, "Can't we really call the police? Isn't this blatant bullying? They just took the things like that, how is Zhou Yue supposed to explain this?"
"Why call the police? I can handle this," Qi Yanzhou replied.
"How are you going to handle this? Did you send someone to get the things back? That would have turned a reasonable argument into a unreasonable one." Song Chiyu frowned. "If you ask me, we should still call the police."
Qi Yanzhou chuckled and ruffled her hair from behind. "Alright, stop worrying about him. Go find your things."
When Zhou Yue heard Song Chiyu speaking up for him, his eyes welled up with tears, and he almost cried.
Seeing that his expression had softened, the young man quietly approached and said, "Boss, consider this money as something I owe you. I'll definitely pay you back once I've earned enough."
"when?"
"You can deduct it from my monthly salary first."
"You're still working for me?" Zhou Yue was stunned and kicked him in the leg: "I'm not telling you to get out now because this matter isn't resolved yet. I'll settle things with you after it's resolved."
Song Chiyu took out a stack of ancient books from the cabinet.
Upon entering the store, she saw Zhou Yue sitting on the sofa, lost in thought, and coughed lightly. Zhou Yue immediately snapped out of his reverie, stood up abruptly, and said, "You found the things? Sister-in-law."
"Okay, you can calculate the price. I'll pay you the market price." Song Chiyu looked him over sincerely.
Zhou Yue realized that his sister-in-law was truly a good person; she didn't try to take advantage of him at a time like this, but instead wanted to help him make up for his losses. He gradually swallowed his anger: "You can have it. I had no use for it anyway."
“I also took a few pieces of porcelain. I saw them at the stalls outside before. Each one should cost more than a hundred. I'll give you two thousand.”
"Who would inflate their own price? I really have no use for these things, you can take them."
Song Chiyu immediately felt even more sorry for him, "Then let me treat you to a meal."
“Really, there’s no need.” Zhou Yue certainly couldn’t take advantage of her like that: “I still need to talk to my buyer about this later.”
"How much do you have to compensate him?" Qi Yanzhou asked.
Upon hearing his voice, Zhou Yue's previously reasonable tone immediately turned aggrieved: "I received a deposit of 200,000 from him, and now I have to pay double that."
"Does that mean you didn't earn a single penny, but you still have to apologize to them?"
Zhou Yue nodded his head even more vigorously, looking pitiful.
Qi Yanzhou said thoughtfully, "Alright, stop looking for it. Let's buy some groceries and cook."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yue knew that the matter could be resolved before dinner today.
Their eyes lit up immediately.
But Song Chiyu couldn't understand.
She just felt it was utterly inhumane for him to send someone to buy groceries at a time like this. She asked incredulously, "Does he look like he's in the mood to buy groceries?"
He didn't offer much explanation, replying gently, "But people need to eat to live."
Thinking about it that way, it seemed to make sense. Just as Song Chiyu was about to say that she would go, Zhou Yue excitedly walked towards the door: "Master Qi is right, I'll go buy groceries now."
As soon as he left, the young man kneeling on the ground immediately stood up. "Brother Qi, I thought you were something special when you came out, but I didn't expect..."
Hearing him comment on Qi Yanzhou, Song Chiyu was immediately furious: "How dare you blame others?"
"No, I..."
"If he hadn't been here, who knows what might have happened with your boss's entourage? And you're still commenting on it?"
The young man was scolded by her and obediently shut his mouth.
Zhou Yue didn't return for quite a while.
The market was nearly empty by the afternoon, so they bought a bunch of groceries at the supermarket to make a soup pot. Song Chiyu wanted to help, but Zhou Yue stopped her: "Sister-in-law, I can do it! Please sit down!"
The young man walked over, and Zhou Yue kicked him away, saying, "Get lost!"
Song Chiyu thought Zhou Yue was still angry, so she quietly pulled Qi Yanzhou aside and said, "Find some time later to make up for the money you spent on groceries. I was supposed to treat them to dinner."
Qi Yanzhou's gaze unconsciously fell on her chest, which was pressed against his, and he naturally wrapped his arms around her waist: "Mmm."
Song Chiyu was completely unaware that neither of the two people were really focused on the matter; they were still thinking about how to comfort Zhou Yue. Unexpectedly, the group returned shortly after the pot boiled, their demeanor unlike their arrogant afternoon air; now they were all beaming with smiles.
The leader, Brother Wen, was even more obsequious, as if he had become a completely different person. "Brother Qi, Brother Yue, isn't this like a case of the flood washing away the Dragon King's temple, like our own people not recognizing each other? Look at the mess this has made."
Qi Yanzhou wasn't surprised: "You're back so soon?"
Brother Wen let out two awkward laughs and quickly presented the things he had taken that afternoon with both hands: "Master Qi, I've returned your things to you."
"It's not mine." Qi Yanzhou didn't even raise his hand.
“Brother Yue!” Brother Wen immediately changed direction. “I was tricked by someone else, which is why I plotted against you. We were really in the wrong.”
“The item is not right.” Zhou Yue naturally did not accept it.
Brother Wen placed the things in his hand in front of him, and immediately gestured to the others to hand over the boxes they were holding: "This is my compensation to you and Master Qi. Please forgive me for my rudeness."
Zhou Yue seemed lost in thought, licking his lips without answering.
Qi Yanzhou asked, "What about the two hundred thousand?"
"Why would you ask for money back after you've already given it?" Brother Wen breathed a sigh of relief: "You and Brother Yue can keep it."
"Take it back." Qi Yanzhou was clearly not the type to take advantage of such a small thing. "I don't need this 200,000."
That means even 200,000 yuan can't solve the problem.
Brother Wen almost cried when he heard this.
The buyer they had initially agreed to sell to, somehow got wind of the deal, and refused to accept the deposit, preferring to forfeit it. They then approached several antique shops they knew, but none of them dared to take the item. It wasn't until they received a call from their superiors that they realized who they had cheated. No wonder the other party was so generous; they knew from the beginning that they couldn't sell it. With the item stuck in their hands, there was no point in keeping it, so they hurriedly came to apologize.
"How much would it take to resolve this?"
Qi Yanzhou looked at Zhou Yue. Zhou Yue had made a scene, and everyone in the industry should know about it now; he was even more embarrassed. "Get out—"
Brother Wen looked completely bewildered.
Qi Yanzhou held up five fingers.
Wen Ge's face turned pale: "Where would we get that much money?"
"Think of a way," Qi Yanzhou said with a half-smile, "You're Lao San's men, right? We can have Lao San call and have a chat."
"We'll figure it out ourselves," Brother Wen quickly replied. "Don't worry, Brother Yue, I'll definitely give you an explanation."
After leaving the antique shop, Brother Wen and his men headed straight for the shop where they had watched Zhou Yue find a bargain last time.
Just by looking in the direction they left the store, Qi Yanzhou knew what was going on: "Solved."
"Master Qi—" Zhou Yue was almost in tears, "Does everyone already know that I've been set up?"
"kindness."
“They said they didn’t.” Zhou Yue looked utterly desperate.
"Hmm," Qi Yanzhou said, seemingly saying nothing, yet also seemingly saying something, "Don't answer the phone lately, I'm afraid their laughter will disturb you."
Zhou Yue was silent for two seconds, then stood up dejectedly: "Master Qi, I'm going to rest for a while. You and your wife eat first."
The young man who had been hiding under the table outside the shop, startled, slowly crawled out: "Little, Brother Qi, who are you?"
"Nothing special," Qi Yanzhou replied. "Go have a good talk with your boss."
Only then did Song Chiyu realize that he and Zhou Yue had been prepared all along. They knew the items had been taken, but would be returned later. Zhou Yue wasn't upset about being robbed; he was utterly humiliated that everyone knew he'd been set up on his own turf.
"You really are the person in charge in the Northwest?" Song Chiyu was a little embarrassed, obviously not expecting him to have such a great influence in this industry.
"Hmm." He seemed somewhat surprised: "Didn't you already know?"
"I thought there might be some exaggeration in it." She was even more embarrassed.
"No, our family has some influence in the antique business." He picked up a piece of cooked beef and put it in her bowl: "This is fine."
Song Chiyu grabbed his sleeve: "So you're saying that eating here is just to wait for them to come back on their own?"
"Yes." He didn't hide it from her.
"So what exactly does your family do?" Song Chiyu hesitated, "Every time I think the other person is a bad guy, they turn out to be one of our own."
It's hard not to suspect his background.
Qi Yanzhou guessed what she wanted to say and smiled helplessly, "There's nothing we can do. The Qi family's roots in this industry are too deep. No matter how you try to get involved, you'll always end up with someone from the Qi family. Some people know about it, and some don't. Like what happened today, the third brother definitely doesn't know about it."
It's embarrassing to make such a big fuss over something so trivial.
Song Chiyu realized that she had underestimated him.
"Did you really help track down national-level cultural relics before?"
"Yes." Qi Yanzhou nodded.
"I need to re-evaluate you, Master Qi," Song Chiyu said seriously.
"How so?" He unconsciously put his arm around her waist.
“I may have underestimated you before,” she said, glaring at him with displeasure as she realized something. “You were just doing it on purpose.”
What a dramatic turn of events!
Qi Yanzhou couldn't help but laugh, "I thought you were going to re-evaluate my character."
"Your character is evident to all, but your bedroom manners..." She clearly had a deep opinion on this: "I disagree."
The smile in his eyes deepened, and he lowered his head to rest his head on her shoulder. "I'm sorry."
"Is simply apologizing enough?"
"I'll definitely do it next time."
Song Chiyu thought he would definitely stop next time, so she held up her little finger and said, "You said it."
He hooked his fingers around hers and said, "Mmm."
After hooking their fingers together, Song Chiyu stared at him and fell into a brief silence.
Qi Yanzhou realized that she wanted to say more than just that, so he moved closer to her. Just as he was about to ask her what she was thinking, she suddenly straddled his lap.
A gentle evening breeze blew through the courtyard.
He leaned back in his chair, put his legs down from his knees, and asked, "What's wrong?"
Song Chiyu knew that this person was definitely not as gentle and easy to talk to as she thought, but given his status, it was unrealistic to expect him to be as he appeared to be.
"Don't use the same tactics you use on those other people to deal with me." That was her only request of him.
Qi Yanzhou then realized what she was worried about and became serious: "No, and I wouldn't dare."
Song Chiyu was skeptical: "You're always just saying that to comfort me—"
“No,” he slowly straightened up and wrapped his arms around her waist, “I just can’t do this kind of principled thing.”
Only then did she believe him. By the dim light overhead, she cupped his face and teased, "Is there anything your Master Qi wouldn't dare to do?"
“Yes,” he gazed at her directly and tenderly, “I wouldn’t dare.”
Song Chiyu felt a little embarrassed by his gaze, but she was also moved by his embrace. "Close your eyes."
He obediently closed his eyes.
Song Chiyu stared at his thick, long eyelashes, slowly moving closer to his lips. Just as she was about to press them together, the sound of a door opening came from the side. Startled, Song Chiyu immediately pushed him away and stood up.
Qi Yanzhou was still in the same position as when he had just embraced her.
His handsome face was full of confusion.
Zhou Yue kicked the young man out of the room, completely oblivious to anything unusual outside: "You still tell me it was an accident? You were lucky to run into me and Master Qi today. Anyone else would have had to clean up this mess. You'd be getting your hands dirty—"
"Zhou Yue—" Qi Yanzhou realized what he was about to say and immediately stopped him.
Zhou Yue glanced at Song Chiyu standing to the side, then instantly changed his tone: "Get out of here right now!"
"I'm sorry, Brother Yue."
"You should thank Master Qi!"
The young man bowed repeatedly and scrambled out of the courtyard.
"You still have the nerve to cry!" Zhou Yue stormed back to his seat and sat down. Seeing Song Chiyu standing under the eaves with her back to him, he asked curiously, "Sister-in-law, sit down! What are you standing for?"
[Author's Note]
[Heart emoji][Heart emoji][Heart emoji]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
