Faint fragrance wafted from the box, a scent she had never come across before.

  What was in the box?

  She picked up a piece of the small wooden plate from the box. That piece of wooden plate felt heavy on her hand. She could tell it wasn’t a piece of ordinary wood.

  The color of the wooden plate was darker too.

  A red string strung on top of the wooden plate. Hanging at the bottom of the piece of wooden plate was a small tassel. This wooden plate seemed to be an ornament meant to be a decoration for hanging around the waist.

  She was dumbfounded when she saw the words Ling Bao carved on the wooden plate.

  Ling Bao was the name Little Munchkin used when she underwent martial art training at Qi Mountain.

  She glimpsed the other similar wooden plate in the box with two words Ling Yan carved on it. Ling Yan was the name Fu Tingyu used when he was up in the mountain.

  She reached into the box and took out the other piece of the wooden plate. Then she placed the wooden plates side-by-side. Ling Yan and Ling Bao?

  Fu Tingyu kept the two wooden plates together all these years. What was the meaning behind this?

  Her hand trembled as she held the two wooden plates in her hands.

  Various scenarios flooded her mind, including those of Han Xiao and Hua Wuyan.

  Both of them commented on the likeness between her and the Little Munchkin. But Fu Tingyu never did.

  He should have noticed the likeness between her and the Little Munchkin when he first met her.

  He probably took her as the substitute for Little Munchkin.

  But he mentioned nothing about that, not even once.

  Qin Shu’s mind was in a total mess. Her face paled a little, and she could feel the headache coming.

  Her knuckles whitened as she tightened her grip around the wooden plates.

  She unconsciously strode out of the study. Her mind was blank when she found herself in her bedroom.

  She placed the two wooden plates into the hidden compartment and returned the carving of the family of three into the drawer as well.

  She now wondered whether the carving of the woman was her.

  Lying on the bed, she stared blankly at the glass lamp as she slowly drifted into the dreamland. She had a long dream.

  “Madam, wake up!”


  Qin Shu frowned after being woken up by the chattering noise that sounded right by her ears. She reluctantly opened her eyes after a while. Probably due to lack of sleep or some other reason, she felt the dryness around her eyes.

  Ning Meng heaved a sigh of relief when she noticed that Qin Shu opened her eyes. “You’re finally awake. I was so worried.”


  Qin Shu looked at her in confusion. “Yea?”


  “You’ve been sleeping since noon. The sky is dark now.”


  Ning Meng noticed the swollen eyes and traces of tears around her eyes. “Have you been crying? Why did you cry?”


  “Did I?” Qin Shu’s hand reached out to touch her eyes. She felt the swell around her eyes and the rigidness of her face. Now, that was the reason her eyes were dry. It was the traces of her dried-up tears.

  “I’ll bring in the food. You may wash up first, Madam.”


  Ning Meng left the room immediately to bring Qin Shu some food, thinking that she should be hungry by now after sleeping for hours.

  Qin Shu sat in a daze on her bed for a moment before she pulled herself up and strolled to the bathroom.

  After brushing her teeth and washing her face, she stepped out of the bathroom.

  Ning Meng had already brought in the food and was waiting for her at the side. She looked worried as her eyes followed Qin Shu out of the bathroom. “Madam, what’s wrong with you?”


  “I’m fine. You can go back to your work. I’ll call for you when I have done eating.”


  Qin Shu sat in front of the table and picked up the chopsticks. She stared at the food in front of her but couldn’t bring herself to eat.

  “Are you feeling unwell? Let me call Sir and let him know.”


  “It’s okay. I’ll call after this.” Qin Shu lowered her head and picked on the food in front of her.

  She ate little for dinner and asked Ning Meng to clear the dishes.

  “Young Madam, why did you eat so little today?” Ning Meng stared at the barely touched food and then at Qin Shu, her eyes filled with worries.

  “I have a poor appetite today. You may clear the dishes.”


  Qin Shu then strode towards the study.

  Ning Meng carried the tray of food out of the room, thinking that it was normal for a pregnant woman to lose her appetite occasionally. She made a mental note that she would request the cook to prepare some new cuisine for Qin Shu the next day.

  Sitting in front of the desk in the study, Qin Shu stared at the phone in her hand hesitantly. But her heart ached when she thought of the wooden plates.

  Her heart was uneasy the entire time after she made the call, waiting for him to answer the call.

  She heard someone answering the call after it rang for a few seconds. The deep, seductive voice of a man entered her ear.

  “Not resting yet, Babe?”


  Qin Shu glanced at the time at the bottom right of the computer. It was twenty minutes to eleven at night.

  “No, have you finished your work?”


  “Yes, I’ve just completed my work today. You should rest early now that you’re pregnant.”


  “Okay.” Qin Shu replied.

  “There’s something I need to ask you.”


  “Sure. I’ll answer any of your questions.” Shutting the lid of his laptop, he sat in front of the table, waiting for her question.

  Qin Shu pursed her lips. “What do you like about me? We knew little of each other. I’m curious.”


  He was caught off-guard with her question and remained silent before he asked, “Did you not ask this question before?”


  “But you never gave me a clear explanation.”


  “Babe, are you overthinking things again?”


  “No, I’m just curious.” Qin Shu tightened her grip on her phone. Sweats formed on her palms.

  “Don’t overthink things. It’s not good for the baby. Rest early.”


  “Then tell, do you and the Little Munchkin hate each other and couldn’t stand the existence of each other?”


  His grip around his phone tightened. “Didn’t Han Shuo tell you before? Nothing of these is important. You don’t need to think about them as well.”


  Qin Shu felt as if her heart was about to stop. She wanted to ask him about the two well-preserved wooden plates. She wanted to know the reason he had been keeping them.

  But the question she so wanted to ask remained unsaid, and her question instead turned to, “But we looked so alike. Have you never had any other thoughts?”


  He frowned. “Did anyone say anything to you?”


  Qin Shu gritted her teeth and shook her head. “Nope. I’m just curious.”


  “Don’t think of nonsensical things. It’s already eleven at night. Sleep early.”


  She was still worried after she hung up. How could she stop thinking?

  He had been keeping the two wooden plates for the past seven years and had never told her a word about it. What had this proved to be?

  Han Shuo and Hua Wuyan had been looking for the Little Munchkin.

  How about him? Probably he was looking for her as well?

  Qin Shu did not sleep the entire night. Multiple scenarios kept replaying in her mind, making her worried and uneasy.

  She was tired and distracted from the lack of sleep the next day and naturally wasn’t paying much attention to the lesson.

  Having noticed that something was amiss with Qin Shu, the teacher giving her lessons texted to check on her.

  She just gave a simple reply that she hadn’t been sleeping well.

  Since she couldn’t concentrate on the lessons, she decided to cancel all the classes scheduled for the day.

  As if understanding the change in its master’s mood, Boss hopped on the desk and rubbed its fluffy head against Qin Shu’s arm, and let out a soft meow.

  Qin Shu lowered her eyes and glanced at Boss. She suddenly recalled the phone number Yan Shuang gave her at the banquet held at North Star before she left.

  Han Xiao mentioned that they were close.

  Perhaps she would know the story between Fu Tingyu and the Little Munchkin.