Qiao Nan was rather happy that she was able to purchase the keyboard at the supermarket. She had indeed picked a good location. Otherwise, she would have wasted another day.

  Unexpectedly, Qiao Nan bumped right into Sun Guohong while heading back with her newly-purchased keyboard. Sun Guohong had come to see Qiao Nan and had spotted her from a distance away. He had made his own evaluations and judgment of Qiao Nan. She was a woman of almost forty years old but looked no less fresh and tender than a young lady in her twenties. She was beautiful and had a good figure as well.

  Sun Guohong could not deny that he was superficial and had a preference for slim and thin women. Someone who had gone through so many trials and tribulations like Qiao Nan would never be able to grow fat. Not to mention how Qiao Nan was naturally the kind of person who would never gain weight no matter how much she ate.

  Based on her appearance from the back, Sun Guohong had already rated Qiao Nan an eighty-five out of a hundred.

  When Sun Guohong finally returned from his trance and wanted to take a look at Qiao Nan’s face, what he saw was Qiao Nan’s surprised expression and her open mouth. Sun Guohong raised his eyebrow in confusion and looked around him. There was no one. Apart from him, only Qiao Nan was on the same walkway as him.

  So who was Qiao Nan’s expression of familiarity meant for?

  Sun Guohong did not know Qiao Nan. If not for Zhai Sheng, he might not even know that there were other people in the same boat as him who probably led even more miserable lives than him. Since he, a private detective, did not know Qiao Nan, how could Qiao Nan, who had not even graduated from junior high school and had never left Ping Cheng, know him?

  Qiao Nan took in Sun Guohong’s reaction and quickly closed her gaping mouth, acting as though her earlier expression had not been because of Sun Guohong. Then, she simply walked off toward her rented apartment with her keyboard in hand.

  \r \r \r

  Yes, in this lifetime, not only had she never interacted with Brother Zhai, but neither did she ever have the chance to know Sun Guohong. If she were to call Sun Guohong at this time, she might very well scare him to death. But there was indeed such a person with such a face! Was his name really Sun Guohong? Did he know Zhai Sheng?

  It had clearly been a dream that she had constructed in her mind, but people that she could never have known in real life were now starting to appear in front of her one by one. Qiao Nan frowned and her heart fell into disarray yet again.

  “Wait a minute.” Qiao Nan rushed to leave, wanting to clear her thoughts, but Sun Guohong immediately stopped her. Qiao Nan stopped in her tracks and looked at Sun Guohong in a frenzy. “Is-is there anything wrong?”

  “Don’t worry. I’m not a bad guy and neither do I have any ill intentions. I’m just here to look for someone and wanted to ask for directions. Oh right, I’m looking for Xiao Xu.” Thinking about how Qiao Nan was staying in Xiao Xu’s family’s house, he quickly mentioned Xiao Xu so that Qiao Nan would not have any misunderstandings toward him.

  “Xiao Xu?” Qiao Nan rubbed her temple as the uneasiness in her heart grew. “Oh, they don’t live here. They live on the next street. The house with red roof tiles is the Xu family’s house.”

  Xiao Xu was the soldier that took care of Zhai Sheng. Since Sun Guohong knew Xiao Xu, would he not know Zhai Sheng?

  If it had not been inappropriate, Qiao Nan would have asked for the other party’s name. But she felt that doing so would be too out of the blue, so she could only leave with her keyboard after pointing out the directions to Sun Guohong.

  “She’s quite pretty and her voice is nice too. Her only weakness is that she’s a little timid like a bunny.” Sun Guohong touched his face. He was not exceptionally handsome, but neither did he look very fierce. Why had Qiao Nan been in such a hurry to get away from him as though she had encountered a ghost?

  Thinking about how Zhai Sheng was infamous for being stern and unsmiling, there was not a single new soldier who would not be scared by Zhai Sheng, let alone women. The suspicion that had just arisen in Sun Guohong’s mind thus quickly dissipated.

  He did not feel that anything would happen between Qiao Nan and Zhai Sheng. Qiao Nan’s background was truly a sight to behold. Besides, with Qiao Nan’s mouse-like courage and Zhai Sheng’s fierce appearance, the two of them did not seem to match each other at all. If Qiao Nan were really to get together with that fierce man, Qiao Nan might get scared to death in just a few years’ time.

  But what Sun Guohong did not know was that Qiao Nan was not actually timid. She had only been frightened by his sudden appearance. If the person who had appeared in front of her had been Zhai Sheng, Qiao Nan would not have been frightened. She would have been extraordinarily bold instead.

  After returning to her rented apartment, Qiao Nan had almost lost all her mood to open her newly-purchased keyboard. If not for the sight of the mountain of undone work on her computer screen, Qiao Nan might just have wasted another day because of Sun Guohong’s appearance even after purchasing a new keyboard.

  The frustrated Qiao Nan stood up and splashed her face with cold water in the middle of winter. The shock caused goose bumps to rise up all over her body. But that was the only way to chase all those random thoughts and suspicions out of her mind and sober up.

  Qiao Nan spent a good three days, working for more than twelve hours a day, before she was finally able to finish her work. With her high efficiency and with this mountain of workload, it was only natural that Qiao Nan forgot all about Zhai Sheng and Sun Guohong.

  Just then, there was a series of knocks on the door.

  Qiao Nan, who had just finished her work, stretched lazily before heading to the door breezily. “Who’s that? Is anything the matter?” Qiao Nan was in no rush to open the door and instead waited for a reply. She then tiptoed and looked through the peephole to scan the situation outside.

  As a single lady who had spent more than a decade renting an apartment alone, Qiao Nan was already used to being this vigilant and alert.

  “Sister Qiao, it’s me. Xiao Xu.” Xiao Xu’s face was flushed and he looked embarrassed.

  Only after confirming that it was Xiao Xu did Qiao Nan open the door. “Oh, it’s you. What’s the matter? Shouldn’t your mom be the one looking for me?” Xiao Xu had his job and had to stay by Zhai Sheng’s side to take care of him. If there was anything wrong with the house, there was no reason for her landlord to bother her son.

  “Yes, something’s wrong……” But how should he phrase it?

  Qiao Nan bit on her lip. “Does it have to do with the house?” There was probably no other probability than the house, right?

  “No, no. There are no changes to what we initially agreed on. Sister Qiao, would you like to have two years of free rent?” Xiao Xu was too embarrassed to even ask, but he felt that tempting her with something like that would make it easier for him to bring up his request.