The garden was lit with warm-colored decorative lights in the dark, but Qiao Yiming still felt it was deserted.
She pushed open the door, walked around to another wall and leaned against it, took out a pack of cigarettes from her pocket. She hadn't smoked in a long time, but her movements were still very practiced.
The metal lighter clicked.
As the smoke rose, slender fingers removed the cigarette from his lips, startling Qiao Yiming into taking a large step back.
The man in front of me had a dark expression. He put the cigarette to his lips and took a puff. It was a menthol-flavored women's cigarette, and it wasn't harsh at all.
But he only took one puff before stubbing it out against the wall.
A grayish-black mark was burned out.
He pinned Qiao Yiming against the cold wall, looking directly into her eyes. "You've even learned to smoke?"
"...Mind your own business," she said, feeling inexplicably flustered by their close proximity, but she forced herself to remain calm and pressed against his chest.
Bai Xiujin knew she was faking it, but he wasn't in a hurry to expose her.
Realizing he couldn't escape, he quickly gave in, "...So what? Mr. Bai came to my place so late just to catch me smoking? I didn't know you had this kind of habit."
She had no idea that Bai Xiujin was just passing by on his way home and happened to see her smoking.
It's just that ever since that incident happened between the two of them abroad, this man has become a persistent ghost.
It was that day again. If she hadn't been ambushed by Chai Yu outside that day, she would still be the dazzling Queen Qiao now.
A wave of grievance and bitterness welled up inside Bai Xiujin, and before he could even open his mouth to explain, the woman's fist landed on him.
Qiao Yiming had nowhere to vent her anger, it was her own fault, but this man came to her door, so her emotions that had been suppressed for so long suddenly exploded.
She threw herself into his arms and cried, just like she had after being harassed by a fanatical fan that day.
Bai Xiujin couldn't hear what she was muttering. Her crying was so loud that he was at a loss for what to do.
All I could do was hold her in my arms and gently pat her back.
Silence fell over the surroundings, broken only by her sobs.
Bai Xiujin just stood there and let her vent her grievances.
Tears streamed down his face like a torrent, burning hot as they soaked through his clothes, stinging his skin. How could this be?
Qiao Yiyang and her mother stood at a distance and witnessed this scene.
Neither of them spoke. In the lunchbox in Qiao's mother's hand were Qiao Yiming's favorite Chinese food—dumplings.
But she still pulled Qiao Yiyang away, saying, "Let's go."
"Mom? Aren't you going up to check?"
Qiao Yiyang was puzzled. Her mother had prepared dumplings all night and delivered them to the door, but suddenly she wanted to go back?
Mrs. Qiao smiled and looked in that direction. "She wouldn't want us to see her like this."
Her voice was calm. I had never seen Qiao Yiming cry like this before. Even that day at the police station, when she was so scared, she didn't cry out loud, but just trembled in my arms.
But now she can show all her vulnerability to another person.
Perhaps her daughter still doesn't realize that this is dependency.
Qiao's mother was in poor health, and Qiao's father handed over the company to his son early on so that he could take her around to see the world, but in doing so, he neglected to spend time with his daughter.
She glanced at Qiao Yiyang beside her. Fortunately, her son was doing a good job raising Qiao Yiming.
Qiao Yiyang didn't know why her mother was suddenly looking at her with such a gratified expression.
But when his parents went out, he and Qiao Yiming lived with their grandfather. He knew the reason and naturally understood his parents' actions better than Qiao Yiming, who was younger at the time.
So when Qiao Yiming asked himself if he harbored any resentment, of course he didn't. For a child in a family like theirs, becoming the head of the family was the ultimate goal; he just happened to be in that position a little faster.
After Qiao Yiming finished crying, she realized how she always embarrassed herself in front of this man...
She immediately broke free from Bai Xiujin's embrace.
"...You, you're not allowed to tell anyone, do you hear me?!" Her voice was hoarse from crying for so long.
The seemingly threatening tone had no effect whatsoever.
Bai Xiujin felt that she was like an embarrassed and angry rabbit, pretending to be fierce but about to bite her hand the next second. However, her red eyes from crying made her look completely harmless.
He didn't argue with her, his tone both indulgent and serious, "I know, I've quit smoking, it's no good."
While Qiao Yiming wasn't paying attention, he casually took the cigarettes and lighter from her pocket.
After he had walked away, he blurted out, "He's so nosy."
But the smile on his face, which he himself barely noticed, betrayed the words he spoke.
At the orphanage, Song Xingyao didn't tell Director Yang that the child she had personally sent away was taken to a nightclub to work as a hostess just two days later.
However, she still adjusted the project plan and arranged to meet with Dean Yang to discuss restarting the project.
She noticed that Liu Shanshan's expression changed when she heard that they would be divided into groups to push the project forward, but Dean Yang trusted Song Xingyao almost completely and agreed without giving her a chance to interrupt.
To prevent Liu Shanshan from causing trouble in secret again, Shi Yu brought his students from the research institute over that same day.
Song Xingyao arranged interviews with younger children this time, and finally heard some useful information.
The child told Song Xingyao that sometimes the older girls would be called to Teacher Liu's office in the middle of the night and wouldn't return until the next day. After returning, they didn't have to attend classes. She also wanted to skip classes, but Teacher Liu never called her.
This alerted Song Xingyao. Since Liu Shanshan hadn't returned all night, where had she taken the children?
Because Liu Shanshan was present, Shi Yu didn't get any useful information.
On Lolo's side, things are progressing well. It seems that during her first two visits, Lolo became close with the group of children and thus keenly noticed something unusual about one of them.
After the interview, Liu Shanshan inquired about the children's situation, but Song Xingyao brushed her off with a prepared excuse.
As Song Xingyao and Shi Yu sat in the studio, they indeed noticed some details that were easy to overlook.
Perhaps because Liu Shanshan was focusing more on Shi Yu, one of the children in Luo Luo's report mentioned some news about Xiao Wen before she was adopted some time ago.
The child told Lolo that the couple said Xiaowen was the most beautiful child in her age group, no wonder they were in such a hurry to take her out.
That child had always been very self-conscious. She was one of the few children in the orphanage who hadn't been adopted by the time she reached that age, simply because she had a large pink birthmark on her right eye.
Although her mother treated her very well, she still wanted a home, and she wanted her parents.
But no one wanted to adopt him.
She thought it must be because she was not good-looking that no one would adopt her.
Xiaowen's situation left her feeling down for a long time.
Song Xingyao opened the child's file. The child had been abandoned at the gate of the orphanage and was then found by Director Yang.
Xiaowen's information card stated that she was a lost child whom Dean Yang encountered on the street when he was out.
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