Chapter 225: Didn't expose her duplicity
When the car arrived outside a piano store in Dongcheng, he glanced at Chen Qing, signaled the driver not to turn off the engine, and got out of the car alone to answer the phone.
"Just after you left, the district bureau came to conduct a routine inspection. I followed them and only checked the private room on the second floor."
Yan Baiqing turned the lighter back and forth, "How long have you been there?"
"The queue was closed in less than an hour. The one Miss Chen entered was the one she stayed in the longest."
He laughed, and the man in the box who tried to bully Chen Qing was probably in trouble.
"Did Jingyan really have an appointment with the Chamber of Commerce tonight?"
"Indeed, when the Chamber of Commerce arrived, they just said they had a distinguished guest. They sat there for an hour without announcing their name, and the people at the club couldn't guess who it was."
"Yeah." Yan Baiqing originally suspected that Jiang Jingyan had placed bodyguards around Chen Qing. The last car accident, plus this time, were both times when Chen Qing was on the verge of encountering unexpected events, and people who shouldn't have appeared appeared.
Tonight, maybe it was just a coincidence.
About ten minutes later, Chen Qing jumped up and got out of the car, "Why didn't you call me?"
Yan Baiqing put away his phone and smiled, "I want you to sleep a little longer."
She looked around. "Is this where he's talking about?"
Yan Baiqing carried his suit jacket and draped it over her shoulders. "Li Xiangli said he once sold the Chen family an erhu and gave it to this music store."
"What else?"
"Get the piano first."
Li Xiangli is very smart. In order to ensure his own survival, he is unwilling to tell everything. He only gives one clue and will tell the second one when they meet next time.
Yan Baiqing originally wanted to verify the truth alone, but Chen Qing suddenly appeared in the club. He had no choice but to take her with him in order to make up for it.
The piano store is quite old, but it has a large area. It seems that it was built by combining three storefronts. At this time, the owner is preparing to close the store.
"Boss." Yan Baiqing looked around. There were many musical instruments hanging on the wall. "I'm here to find a erhu."
The boss took in his attire and demeanor, and knew he was a wealthy man. He then courteously ushered him into the inner room and asked, "What kind do you want? Some of the expensive items have been put into the warehouse today. These are the basics."
Chen Qing looked at them one by one and shook his head at Yan Baiqing.
After the Chen family's misfortune, all their assets were confiscated, their furniture was emptied out, and Chen Qing was sent to the orphanage with only the clothes she wore. If, as Li Xiangli claimed, the erhu sold was the Chen family's, it was likely the one her father had custom-made for her. She'd recognize it even if it were crumbled to dust.
Yan Baiqing tilted his head, "A customer came to pawn an erhu and deposited a fixed amount of money into the store's account every year. We want that one."
The boss looked suspicious and denied it. "There's no such thing as you said. We're a piano store, not a pawnshop. Who would come to pawn something like that?"
"Please think about it carefully." He took out his cell phone and dialed a number.
Chen Qing glanced at it and saw a seven-digit number.
The boss waved his hand impatiently, "No, no, if you want to buy a piano, I can still accommodate you, but if not, please don't delay me from getting off work."
Yan Baiqing pressed another digit.
The boss hesitated for a long while. He glanced at the door and lowered his voice, "Well, you go back first. I'll pack it up and send it to you tomorrow. It's definitely not in the store."
Yan Baiqing thought for a moment and left a phone number.
Chen Qing followed him out and subconsciously looked at the innermost glass room with a sign saying "Practice Room". There was a jinghu hanging in the corner.
She suddenly looked away. It was the practice piano of Li Xiangli's daughter.
Chen Qing started learning erhu at the age of seven, so Li Xiangli and his wife let their daughter focus on jinghu, and they both took lessons from Wan Lihong.
She calmed herself down, remained still, and returned to the car.
Yan Baiqing kept receiving phone calls, and he received two or three calls on the way back. It seemed that something had happened.
The driver seized the opportunity and lowered both windows, and the sound of the wind covered up the voice on the other end of the phone.
Yan Baiqing rested his elbow on the window and rubbed his brow with his other hand.
Hua Mei drove back to Zhounan overnight. "Ji Mingyin has escaped, but there's been no unusual activity at the bank lately. The only person who managed to keep a low profile is Jiang Jingyan. If it's really him, they've definitely made arrangements. If Ji Mingyin were to venture out of the province or the country, that would be perfect for them. Elder Meng asked you to personally pursue him."
His face darkened, "Why me?"
"Mr. Meng has been fighting against Jiang Zhongyi in the province recently, and many of his colleagues have defected. He's been too busy to handle both. Mr. Yan..." Hua Mei said in a serious and cautious tone, "Chen Qing is in our hands. You must keep her. As long as she's here, Jiang Jingyan will be more restrained."
No matter how much she hated Chen Qing, she knew the seriousness of the matter at this moment. With such a talisman, there was no reason to give it up.
Yan Baiqing rubbed harder, but Hua Mei's words reminded him.
Jiang Jingyan knew how much he cared about Chen Qing's safety, so he would never make such a big fuss. Otherwise, Chen Qing would be both a talisman and a bargaining chip.
"Go to Li Xiangli immediately." Yan Baiqing's eyes were dark as he gave orders, "Meng Hongwen directed and acted this out himself, go!"
He hung up, holding the phone to his lips.
Meng Hongwen could no longer sit still. He should have thought that such a cunning person would not allow others to hold his fatal handle.
Chen Qing could only hear the whistling sound of the wind in his ears and could not hear anything. He only saw that he stopped answering the phone and moved closer.
"Is the evidence in Li Xiangli's hands enough—" she stuttered, "enough to indict Mr. Jiang?"
Yan Baiqing opened his eyes and rolled up the window on his side of the car. "Are you going to accuse Mr. Jiang?"
"If he was the cause of my parents' unjust deaths, shouldn't he be charged?"
"What about Jingyan?" His eyes were gentle, but clearly tinged with fire. "You know that if Mr. Jiang falls and the Jiang family falls into ruin, Jingyan will not be able to escape."
Chen Qing clenched his fists, resting them on his knees and shaking. "He didn't know about it, and he wasn't involved. He's retired to Huasheng, responsible for Huasheng and loyal to the province. He's made contributions to the provincial economy, so it won't affect him in any way."
"Who taught you this, Jingyan?"
She froze, "I guessed."
The wind blew up Chen Qing's long hair, and Yan Baiqing caught it and smoothed it out. The back of his hand lightly brushed against her shoulders, neck, and back.
He remained calm and did not expose her duplicity.
Chen Qingming knew who was behind the Chen family case, but he still tried to find out by hinting at it, urging him to hurry up. He even broke into the club and forced him to find evidence. He stood against Meng Hongwen and never considered his situation.
For a moment, he didn't want to act with her anymore.
"Qing'er decided to look for evidence because she knew it wouldn't implicate him. If it would implicate him, would you still be willing to do it?"
Chen Qing's breathing was unsteady and he clutched the edge of the leather seat.
The man's voice gradually took on the chill of the night. "If you weren't willing to leave, you wouldn't have come to find me. Qing'er, I'm wondering under what circumstances you would be willing to follow me."
"Mr. Yan..."
"It's 'Bai Qing'." Yan Baiqing spoke each word with great intensity, "You never fulfilled this promise. You promised me, have you forgotten?"
Jiang Jingyan and Chen Qing did not implicate each other and cared about each other's safety. This tacit understanding formed grains of sand that crushed his heart, causing an lingering and unignorable pain.
He finally understood why Yan Weilan hated Mrs. Jiang so much.
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