0046 046 I succumb to darkness
"Is that his biological child?"
"Probably, otherwise how could that be... But I'm not sure either. It could also be a secret affair disguised as a daughter, this..."
"Do you know how old she is?"
"I don't know. When I met Yao Mu, she was with him. What happened? Did she say anything to you?"
"No, but I saw marks on her neck, they were really scary."
Jiang Yu remained silent. Qi Shuyao glanced around several times before finally unable to resist asking her.
"Don't you think Yao Mu's daughter and the police chief's daughter look remarkably alike?"
After hearing her words, Jiang Yu finally looked at the two girls' faces carefully. Qi Shuyao stared at her, noticing that her face had turned even paler.
This older sister is strange; she seems indifferent to everything around her.
After the men finished discussing the present, they started digging back to the past decade and found someone Qi Shuyao knew.
"What good end comes from risking your life? Do you know how Xu Binlai died, whether he risked his life or not?"
"He's a policeman, it wouldn't be surprising if he died any way."
"He was Pei Yuzhou's mentor. They investigated the kidnapping at the seaside together back then. He died, and Pei Yuzhou was rewarded and promoted."
"Did the Pei family gang do it?"
"Come on, Pei family gang, that thing is just a smokescreen."
Xu Binlai was the father of Xu Chaoyi and his sister Xu Du. He was killed by the remnants of the human trafficking case a long time ago in retaliation. After that, his family was supported by his uncle Xu Jingchuan. But none of that matters now. She finally realized why these girls made her feel a little scared.
She found Pei Yuzhou's photos online, then found Pei Youwen's photos, and then put together three photos of An Yuan before her plastic surgery. She could find similarities from various angles.
There's something even more important: they're all twenty-two years old this year, just like Pei Youwen.
Pei Yuzhou has been dead for almost a year, but he still hangs over Jingyang like an elusive ghost, appearing in all sorts of things in a mysterious way. Even his lingering influence still permeates all levels of society and is still trapped in other people's shells.
Qi Shuyao opened an encrypted folder on her phone, which detailed everything she knew about Pei Yuzhou and other things related to him. Ever since the Yang family and Pei Yuzhou were connected online, she felt increasingly strange. The renovation of the entire cultural center was also full of eeriness. The renovation of the cultural center began two years ago, and the news of Pei Yuzhou's poor health also came out two years ago. After that, he started taking leave frequently, spending more time in the hospital than at home. The year before, he was still going around the world inviting experts to Jingyang. But about half a year before his death, he suddenly lay down and only received conservative treatment. Although the news reported that he had suffered from many internal and external injuries from years of work, as well as cancer and complications, no outsider knew exactly what fatal disease he had. Even the death notice only stated "multiple organ failure".
She was nestled on the sofa, brainstorming, when she suddenly heard her own name. She looked up and found that the group's conversation had shifted to family. They were talking about this family's newlywed daughter-in-law, that CEO's mistress, asking Qi Yu why he wasn't remarrying, and when Zhu Jiangxu would marry Jiang Yu.
The last question was met with a commotion from everyone. Zhu Jiangxu, sitting in the main seat, raised one corner of his mouth and looked at Jiang Yu. Jiang Yu sat calmly in the back without saying a word. Qi Shuyao saw Qi Yu sitting next to Zhu Jiangxu drinking without looking up, so she also stayed put and didn't say anything. Only the police chief hurriedly pushed his daughter forward.
For these people, marriage is a business, and alliances are an art. They connect two families and two camps. In Jingyang, there have been so many power struggles over the years, yet no family has ever had a disagreement. If Zhu Jiangxu really marries Jiang Yu, he will lose at least half of his support.
Looking at the girl being treated like a commodity, Qi Shuyao still didn't know what her relationship with the Pei family was, but their mass production already said a lot. Someone must have specially trained this group of people, probably for marriage alliances, to divide factions. Today, this group of people gathered together, and each of them had a connection with the robot girl.
So Qi Yu has already chosen his side? Does this count as betraying Lao He?
Qi Shuyao thought she would be shocked and confused, but after she really understood the idea, she didn't think about anything at all. At this moment, she finally recognized herself. She didn't care about betrayal or morality. She didn't have any faith. She only believed in Qi Yu. Nothing else mattered.
She took a glass of wine, tilted her head back, and downed it in one gulp.
After leaving the Zhu family, Qi Yu was clearly also intoxicated. Qi Shuyao finally managed to squeeze him into the back seat of the car, but before she could get in herself, he grabbed her waist and dragged her up. The driver raised the partition and drove home, while she used her hands and feet to control her drunk father in the back.
It's strange that she's never seen Qi Yu drunk in all these years. Just how capable is Zhu Jiangxu? First, he got the mayor drunk to the point of hospitalization, and now he's gotten him drunk too. There are even more people staggering around in the yard, talking nonsense.
Qi Yu was quiet for a while, then suddenly became excited. He lay on Qi Shuyao's lap and kept nuzzling her belly with his face. His hot breath sprayed onto her skin, making her so uncomfortable that she hit him while enduring it without pushing him off.
"What exactly do you want? Are you drunk and looking for your mother? Too bad I don't know my grandma."
Qi Yu's face was flushed, his soft hair draped over his forehead, and his eyes sparkled. He excitedly grabbed Qi Shuyao's hand and shook it back and forth, asking excitedly,
Where should we go for fun this weekend?
Qi Shuyao was taken aback by his tone, which sounded so much like her when she was a child. Back then, when they had just arrived in Jingyang, he could only rest for half a day on weekends. His only friend, Song Yusheng, was also dragged away by her parents to learn various things on weekends. She was extremely bored at home alone, and she could only rush over to him and ask if he could take her out to play when Qi Yu dragged his tired body back on weekend mornings.
Where do I want to go this weekend? Where do I want to go when I grow up? Where do I want to go ten years from now, a hundred years from now? Will you keep asking me these questions? Will you still be by my side?
Receiving no reply, Qi Yu shook her hand unhappily. Qi Shuyao lowered her head, nestled against his chest, and looked at him.
"We're not going anywhere, we'll stay home, I'll stay with you."
"Stay with me, then call my name..."
She seemed to have never called him by his full name before, so she brought her nose close to his and gently uttered those two words.
Qi Yu.
Qi Yu looked up at her strangely and pushed her away.
"That's not my name."
Qi Shuyao sat up straight immediately.
"What?"
“My name is not Qi Yu, my surname is not Qi, no.”
"Huh? What's your name?"
"have no idea."
How many opportunities do adults have to confide in each other? Qi Shuyao didn't know. She just suddenly realized that her all-powerful father could also act spoiled. He must also miss his mother and father. Where were his family members? Why had they never appeared?
The car quietly left the suburbs and entered the bustling city center. As she passed through the central area, she saw that the office building belonging to the Cheng Group had been renovated and now bore the logo of Shi Heyu's company.
"Uncle Shi acquired Cheng's Group?"
"Yes, it happened at the beginning of the year."
Qi Yu interrupted her mutterings. Qi Shuyao turned around and saw that the man's eyes had regained their clarity. He unbuttoned the top button of his collar, but did not get off her lap.
"Why would you want to acquire them?"
"Cheng Jie's wife brought her company to seek refuge with him. Her husband and son were arrested and sentenced to more than ten years in prison. There must have been other people involved who instigated this. He has made too many enemies in Jingyang over the years."
"They can even manipulate sentencing; it's truly dark."
"This is nothing compared to what's far darker than this."
So if you can't avoid being invaded by darkness, do you have to climb to the highest point and control it?
During the May holiday, on an evening when she was told not to wait for Qi Yu to come home, Qi Shuyao lay in a hammock in the yard. The wind passed by her, gently fanning the short hair on her forehead. The hammock swayed slowly. She propped up her legs, assuming the most comfortable position, and chatted with Bei Huaisi.
He was quiet for a while, then ran up to her and started showing off his skills. Bei's Technology's branch business is now vigorously developing the film industry, and as the president of the branch, he seems to have learned the mannerisms of those celebrities.
"Xiao Shu, let me take you to the film set this weekend. They're filming a period drama, it's so interesting! It's full of big stars, like Wang Yan and Luo Xinze."
"Who are these people? I don't know them, I'm not going."
"No way, this is really fun! I'll have the staff put you on a wire and let you fly around a few times."
"You're so boring"
While chatting with him, she searched for the projects their company had recently invested in. It seemed that Lao Bei had made a lot of money this year, managing to launch six large film crews, each with veteran actors and popular stars, and the publicity was overwhelming.
Anyway, they're all bad movies, and I don't know what these people are doing all this time. She rolled over in the hammock, sent Bei Huaiyi away, and looked up to count the stars.
Unfortunately, even in Yangcheng, the sun is almost invisible now.
Qi Yu rushed to the restaurant after finishing his work. It was already dark. The waiter opened the door to the private room and Shi Heyu was leaning back in his chair, smoking. He raised his chin when he saw Qi Yu.
Qi Yu looked to the other side and saw Song Jian stand up neatly and bow to him.
"Chairman Song, this is..."
"Secretary Qi, you're joking. The company went bankrupt a long time ago. I'm just a truck driver now."
"I hope Miss Song is doing well abroad."
"Very good, everything went smoothly."
"I should spend time with my daughter when I have time. It's dangerous in a foreign country."
“Secretary Qi, I can’t worry about that now. I found a driving job in Guan’s. A while ago, their boss, Guan Xiang, transferred me to be his private driver. We only traveled on one road. The day before yesterday, he got drunk and his female companion couldn’t lift him. She asked me to help. When I went in, I saw that they were running a casino.”
"This doesn't seem to be a secret."
"ah?"
Song Jian's pent-up emotions were suddenly punctured. He felt like a joke, having spent so much time in Eryang and Yang without getting involved in any core business.
"However, with Mr. Song's talent, it would be a waste for him to only be a driver, wouldn't it?"
Qi Yu poured him a glass of water and pushed it in front of Song Jian.
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