Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

  “Thank you.” Qiao Nan heaved a sigh of relief.

  “Too polite of you.” Shi Qing lifted her chest. “Right, today, my auntie acted pitiful in front of me. I found out about a situation and felt that something was amiss. Help me analyze it and see if I’ve been paranoid.”

  “What’s the situation?”

  “My auntie noticed that my uncle-in-law hasn’t been going home very often lately. He seems so busy and doesn’t even come home to sleep on some days. She told me that she doesn’t have anyone to discuss with whenever she encounters any difficulties. The life that she leads in the Qiu family is not as good as what my dad and I imagined. Hence, she can only rely on Qiu Chenxi and hope that Qiu Chenxi will be successful in the future, that Qiu Chenxi will marry into a good family. This is so that she won’t need to be at the disposal of the Qiu family anymore.”

  Qiao Nan touched her chin. “Do you want me to help you analyze the main points in the first or second half of the conversation?”

  “Right, I know that you’ll definitely be able to tell!” Shi Qing gave a pat on Qiao Nan’s shoulder. Qiao Nan grimaced in agony. “Big sister, what kind of strength is that? You beat and won against Zhu Baoguo, didn’t you? Do you want to beat me down as well?”

  “Sorry, I’ll help you rub and massage. I was momentarily too excited and didn’t control my strength too well.” Shi Qing looked apologetic as she helped Qiao Nan massage her shoulders conscientiously. “Qiao Nan, do you also think that my uncle-in-law’s behavior is a little odd? There’s something amiss, right?”

  “There’s definitely something wrong. Qiu Chenxi’s father also works in the government sector. It’s not as if they have taken on any major projects. There isn’t any natural disaster or man-made misfortune happening either. How could there be so many matters to busy himself with? Even if that’s so, it will, at most, be for intermittent periods. I’ve not heard of situations that will continue for such a long time. You all are in this field. How busy your uncle-in-law is, won’t your dad know once he investigates it?”

  The jobs in the government sectors were considered cradle-to-grave jobs. The job was stable, the salary was not low, and the benefits were comprehensive.

  It was obvious that there was something amiss about the situation of Qiu Chenxi’s father who often stayed overnight outside and did not go home.

  \r \r \r

  Typically, if a man did not even go home and was not truly tied up with work, most probably, they had a mistress outside.

  “That’s right. I’ll find out after I get my dad to investigate. I will do that then.”

  “You’re so concerned about the relationship between Qi Minlan and her husband?” Qiao Nan was quite surprised. Wouldn’t Shi Qing be happier if Qi Minlan’s life worsened?

  “I really don’t care about their relationship. But given the situations of our two families, our interests and benefits are closely connected. I’m not worried about others, but once there’s a problem with their marriage, the situation in the Qiu family will impact the Shi family negatively. I’ll definitely have to preempt my dad so that he will be prepared.”

  Shi Qing did not wish to tell Qiao Nan how disgusting the Qiu family was after they became in-laws with the Shi family. Nevertheless, the Shi family had to guard against such situations.

  “Alright, I’ll tidy up these bolts of fabric. You call your dad quickly.” Qiao Nan stood up and tidied up the fabric. In actual fact, the owner of the textile shop had packed them properly, and when Zhai Sheng brought them into the house, he also did not mess them up. They had thus greatly lessened what Qiao Nan needed to do. “Have you finished making the call?”

  “My dad is aware of it now.” Shi Qing’s face looked grave. Obviously, this matter was more serious than what Qiao Nan thought.

  Qiao Nan sighed. Why was it so troublesome to get married? “Alright, don’t think about it anymore. This matter is not within your control. It’s already four o’clock. We’ll be late if we don’t make our way to school.” If not for the fact that her house was located near the school, they would have been late.

  “Okay.” Shi Qing knew that sitting and worrying about the problem would not help solve it. Hence, she listened to Qiao Nan and obediently took her schoolbag.

  After Shi Peng picked up Shi Qing’s call, his attitude was very serious. He was extremely cautious too. First, he made a phone call to confirm Qiu Qin’s work situation.

  When he found out that Qiu Qin recently did not receive any major projects, and neither was he arranged for any overseas or outbound work trips, Shi Peng could not help but take the situation reflected by Shi Qing seriously.

  Qiu Qin did not keep his secrets well. Without much effort, Shi Peng already found out the identity of that woman who was with Qiu Qin.

  The woman was younger than Qiu Qin by about seven or eight years old. She was just slightly over thirty in age. In terms of looks, she was not prettier than Qi Minlan.

  Qiu Qin bought a suite property outside under the name of this woman. However, the property was not huge. It was not lavishly renovated either. From the information that Shi Peng gathered, that house was not as well-renovated as the house of the Qiu family. Nevertheless, it seemed quite cozy and nice.

  In a photo, Qiu Qin was smiling very happily. When he was having dinner with that woman, the dishes on the table were also simple, dishes that an ordinary couple took during meals.

  The more ordinary the woman was, the older she was, and the simpler their life was, the more Shi Peng would worry.

  Qiu Qin married Qi Minlan because of the benefit that he could gain. It had almost nothing to do with love.

  Given that the family status of the Shi family was higher than that of the Qiu family, and she also had Zhai Yaohui, this childhood friend, Qi Minlan had been adopting a very arrogant attitude toward the Qiu family for more than twenty years.

  As a man, Shi Peng had never felt that Qiu Qin, who did not have feelings for the young and beautiful Qi Minlan in the past, had developed any feelings for her after seeing such an arrogant and domineering Qi Minlan after marriage.

  As such, the matter was really grave.

  Shi Peng, who was having a headache, could only investigate the situation of this woman further. Although this woman did not ask for much when she was together with Qiu Qin and also looked ordinary, it did not change the fact that she was breaking up someone else’s family.

  A woman that broke up someone else’s family and became the third party was definitely not a good woman.

  The past two weeks had been a very hard time for Qiao Nan. It was now Shi Qing’s turn for these two weeks.

  Even Zhu Baoguo was suspicious and asked Shi Qing a few times. “Hey, did your ‘relatives’ come?”

  “Do you need to be so exaggerating? When the ‘relatives’ come for ladies, won’t it last for a week at most? Yours is almost ten days now, isn’t it?”

  “Oh dear, if your ‘relatives’ came for half a month, why didn’t you lose so much blood that you had to be hospitalized?”

  Of course, in exchange for Zhu Baoguo’s additional ‘concern’ was Shi Qing’s punch. “You’re a grown-up man. You’re so chatty and naggy. Whether my ‘relatives’ are here or not has got nothing to do with you. Even if my ‘relatives’ love to come 365 days a year, you don’t need to bother too!”

  Nevertheless, after punching Zhu Baoguo once, Shi Qing felt more relaxed.

  “Hahaha.” Zhu Baoguo sneered. “A gentleman does not fight with a lady. If there’s a next time, don’t blame me for being impolite!” He had not had a chance to show off the skills that he had picked up over the summer vacation in front of Shi Qing.

  “Cut your crap. I’m in a bad mood.” Shi Qing turned her head, looking sullen. She could not see eye to eye with Zhu Baoguo, and vice versa. The unlucky thing was that, from this semester onward, Teacher Liu actually arranged her to be deskmates with Zhu Baoguo. He let her take Qiao Nan’s previous seat!!!