Seeing Shu Qingqing frown, Li Dagang couldn't help but feel a surge of smugness.
He knew it. How could Shu Qingqing truly not be afraid of him exposing the things she had done for him to Lu Bochuan?
Li Dagang put on an earnest and profound expression. "Qingqing, you don't know this, but during the months Lu Bochuan was missing, he was actually hiding out to deal with the people who wanted to harm him. He probably realized I had ulterior motives around that time too, which is why he's been looking into the company's accounts lately."
"We're in the same boat. Once he exposes me, he'll definitely drag you down too. So you need to hurry up and help me find out exactly what he's discovered, and then help me destroy the evidence."
Shu Qingqing burst into laughter. "Li Dagang, are you playing Mission: Impossible? I advise you to hurry up and confess your mistakes to Lu Bochuan on your own initiative, and return the money you shouldn't have taken. That way, your final charges might be a bit lighter."
Li Dagang didn't expect her to be so stubborn, even turning around to advise him to plead guilty. He grew even more furious. "Shu Qingqing, you don't actually think Lu Bochuan has truly fallen in love with you just because he took you on a trip to Haishi, do you? Don't forget, you were the one who leaked the quote for the Repulse Bay project to me, and I gave it to the rival company. That's why Lu Bochuan lost that project. Furthermore, this might just be his trap, waiting for you to fall helplessly in love with him so he can lure you into confessing what you did, expose me in the process, and finally catch us all in one fell swoop."
"You need to wake up. I single-handedly sponsored you, how could I possibly harm you?"
Shu Qingqing sneered. "It's true that you sponsored me, but you couldn't possibly harm me? Li Dagang, when Lu Bochuan went missing, you took the opportunity to trick me into selling my shares at such a low price. Was that not harming me? Do you really think I'm a fool?"
Seeing that nothing he said could sway her, Li Dagang started cursing. "Shu Qingqing, you're truly an ungrateful wretch. Just you wait, Lu Bochuan will divorce you sooner or later."
Before Shu Qingqing could speak, a familiar voice came from behind her. "What divorce?"
Seeing that it was Lu Bochuan, Li Dagang immediately put away his arrogant expression. "Haha, Bochuan, you're back."
Lu Bochuan, however, asked, "Why is Director Li here?"
Li Dagang gritted his teeth inwardly.
He was thirteen years older than Lu Bochuan and was one of the people who founded the Lu Group alongside his father. Yet, every time Lu Bochuan saw him, he never even once called him Uncle.
But no matter how annoyed he was inside, he didn't show it on his face. "Haha, I just pressed the wrong elevator button and was about to leave. I didn't expect to see Qingqing, so I chatted with her for a bit."
"Alright then, I'll be going now."
Shu Qingqing waited until the man had left before asking, "Why did you come out?"
Lu Bochuan took her hand. "I was afraid you'd get lost."
Shu Qingqing smiled at this excuse. "How could a grown woman like me get lost? Have you finished handling your business?"
Lu Bochuan pulled her toward the office. "Not yet."
Shu Qingqing immediately tried to pull away. "Then I won't go in, I'll just disrupt your work."
"You disrupt my work even if you don't go in." Seeing that she hadn't returned for a while, he couldn't help but guess what she was doing, getting distracted several times.
Shu Qingqing was confused. "How do I disrupt you if I don't go in?"
Lu Bochuan didn't explain, only saying, "I had Zhou Zheng arrange for the remaining people to come back later. Let's rest for a while first."
Shu Qingqing figured that made sense; using one's brain too much was quite tiring. "Alright, you rest first then."
After entering the door, she walked toward the sofa, but to her surprise, Lu Bochuan suddenly pressed her against the wall and kissed her.
It was a long time before she was released to catch her breath.
Shu Qingqing couldn't help but lightly thump his chest. "Didn't you say you wanted to rest?"
Lu Bochuan chuckled softly, pulling her to the sofa to sit down.
Seeing him take off his glasses, Shu Qingqing thought he was truly going to rest this time. She was just about to help him put his glasses away when he clasped the back of her neck and kissed her again.
"Mmph... Lu Bochuan, you... mmph... aren't you tired?"
"This is my way of resting."
Shu Qingqing stayed with Lu Bochuan until eight o'clock before heading back.
As soon as she entered the house, Lu Xun plunged into her arms like a little lion. "Mommy, Mommy, I missed you so much."
"Mommy missed you very much too, and I even brought presents for you and your brother."
Lu Xun lingered in Shu Qingqing's arms for a good while before getting down to see the gifts.
"This is your brother's, and this is yours." Shu Qingqing took them out of the suitcase one by one, and then accompanied Lu Xun as he opened his present first.
Just as they were opening it, her phone pinged with a notification.
Shu Qingqing picked it up and saw it was a text message from an unknown number—
[Shu Qingqing, I heard that Lu Bochuan has already tracked down the orphanage you used to stay at. I'm guessing it won't be long before he finds out I sponsored you back then. So I advise you to help me find the evidence he has as soon as possible. Otherwise, if something happens to me, I will definitely sell you out first.]
One look and it was obvious it was from Li Dagang.
Shu Qingqing didn't reply and simply blocked the number.
Over the next few days, she received text messages from unknown numbers every day, all filled with similar threats. Shu Qingqing blocked every single one of them.
She had originally thought Li Dagang would keep sending them, but to her surprise, after just a week, she stopped receiving such messages.
Shu Qingqing didn't pay it much mind either.
One morning, Shu Qingqing had woken up and was eating brunch when Nanny Li suddenly led Zhou Zheng inside.
Zhou Zheng nodded to her in greeting. "Madam, I'm here to fetch a document for Mr. Lu."
Shu Qingqing nodded. "Oh, alright, go ahead then."
She had expected Zhou Zheng to find it quickly, but to her surprise, she finished her meal and he still hadn't come downstairs.
When Shu Qingqing passed by the study on her way back to her room, she couldn't help but peek inside. "Assistant Zhou, haven't you found it yet?"
"I'm sorry, Madam, I haven't found it yet." Lu Bochuan had only told him it was in the study, and since he was in a meeting right now and couldn't answer his phone, Zhou Zheng had no choice but to search cabinet by cabinet.
"Oh, it's fine, keep looking." Seeing that he was a bit anxious, Shu Qingqing also started helping him search. "Assistant Zhou, what exactly are we looking for?"
Zhou Zheng replied, "It's a contract. Mr. Lu said it's in a file folder."
"Alright. I'll check the cabinets over here."
Shu Qingqing opened the cabinet behind the desk and found many file folders. She opened them one by one to look, but none of them were contracts.
Just as she was about to put them back, she unexpectedly saw a photo of herself from when she was little.
Why would Lu Bochuan have childhood photos of her in his study?
Puzzled, Shu Qingqing flipped it open and found the photo attached to a personal file.
Looking closer, the file was clearly the record of her time at the orphanage.
No, strictly speaking, it should be the original owner's record at the orphanage.
Aside from that, there were also many photos of the original owner's life in the orphanage.
Why would Lu Bochuan have these files?
Shu Qingqing suddenly thought of the text messages Li Dagang had sent her.
