The first was a series of photos of Qin Man at the airport in the capital and inside the plane’s cabin:
—Taken on her way back from a business trip to South Korea. This woman was brought back by the Jiang family after they caught her in Korea. I found out that she resigned more than two months ago and fled to South Korea afterward. If you’re telling me no one was pulling the strings behind this, I wouldn’t believe it for a second.
Comments below:
—Stop with the conspiracy theories. Who would use something so easy to expose to frame someone? Do you think the surveillance cameras are just for show?
—To the person above me: The fact that there are surveillance cameras is exactly what makes it suspicious! Otherwise, why did this come out after precisely three months—right when the footage was about to be overwritten? If President Jiang can’t restore it, wouldn’t that prove the whole thing?
The second was a covert photograph taken from above. The surrounding area had been blurred out, leaving only a young woman in a traditional Chinese dress with a fitted front.
—According to reliable sources, this woman is a new member of President Jiang’s think tank. She’s insanely capable! She practically led the entire counterattack! Beautiful, gentle, and brilliant too. I’m in love!
Comments below:
—Seriously? Someone that pretty is smart too? Sounds like hype to me.
—It’s legit. Believe me, I’m verified. Everyone inside our company is talking about her.
—Can confirm. I work for one of the group’s subsidiaries. See that powder-blue bracelet on her wrist? Everyone in our office is buying the same one!
From there, the discussion completely veered off course, with everyone debating what kind of energy the bracelet was supposed to contain.
But with the arrival of the National Day holiday, a new wave of online hot topics assaulted netizens’ eyes, and the incident gradually faded from public attention, remaining a subject of discussion only in small circles.
Every now and then, people would come across it again and click their tongues over the twists and turns of a wealthy family before returning to their ordinary lives.
—
The National Day holiday.
Qiuyun had accompanied the young lady to three days of tutoring and training classes. She finally had some time to take a break herself.
Not that she could really relax. Ever since the holiday began, Pei Cizhou had called her twice a day, urging her to come to the company. He sounded particularly anxious.
There was nothing she could do. Who told her she was the birth mother of the child in the ancient-world scenario? To ensure that the child would be presentable when he was born, she had no choice but to take advantage of the holiday and go check on the company.
Who could have guessed that the entire company would be on holiday when she arrived, with Pei Cizhou being the only person there?
Qiuyun’s large eyes filled with large question marks.
What, was she really the only one in the entire company who had come in to work overtime?
“You’re here. Come over and see how this should be handled.” Pei Cizhou sat behind his desk and waved her over.
When she saw that there really was a problem that needed solving, Qiuyun suppressed her irritation and went to stand behind him.
Ten minutes later, after they had gone through the entire plot and adjusted the finer details, Pei Cizhou stretched and leaned back in his chair. Tilting his head up, he asked, “Do you have any plans later?”
Qiuyun replied expressionlessly, “Yes.”
Pei Cizhou smiled. “Liar. You clearly don’t.”
“Young Master Pei, you guessed wrong this time.” Qiuyun put on her standard smile. “I’m going to see my little brother later.”
That little brat from her parents’ patriarchal family.
Pei Cizhou shut down the computer and stood up. “I’ll go with you.”
“No need.”
“As repayment, how about accompanying me to a dinner party tonight?”
“…”
Qiuyun rubbed her forehead, suddenly remembering that two separate groups of people had already told her that he liked her.
The office was empty and silent during the holiday. When the person across from him did not respond for a long time, Pei Cizhou was just about to say something to save face when he heard her speak in an utterly calm voice.
“If you want to spend so much time with me, President Pei, don’t tell me you like me?”
!!??
The question left Pei Cizhou’s face bright red, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
“W-What are you talking about? Who said I like you? Don’t get the wrong idea! I just have work to discuss with you, understand? Work! I often ask Daniel to help me with things too! Does that mean I like him? Don’t go making wild assumptions about things that don’t exist. No! I don’t! I absolutely don’t!”
Even if—just if—he did have the tiniest, most minuscule bit of fondness for her, the moment she asked him in that unruffled expression and that calm, quiet voice, how could he not understand what she meant?
She obviously didn’t feel the same way. Was he supposed to throw himself at her anyway?
He wasn’t that pathetic!
Absolutely not!
“That’s good.” Seeing how embarrassed and angry he was, Qiuyun felt considerably more at ease. She turned around and picked up her bag from the floor. “President Pei, don’t forget to pay me for the overtime. Half a day’s worth will do.”
Pei Cizhou gritted his teeth. “I know!”
“I’m leaving. Bye-bye.”
Qiuyun took the elevator downstairs.
As she watched the numbers change, she realized that she actually didn’t have any plans for the day. But since she had mentioned going to see her little brother, she thought about it and decided that it really had been quite a while since she had seen Qiu Ze.
It was the perfect opportunity to check up on him during the holiday.
After calling to ask where he was, Qiuyun took a taxi to MR Entertainment and made her way to the practice room with ease.
“Why are you training all by yourself?” Qiuyun asked from the doorway.
When he saw his sister, Qiu Ze paused the dance video he had been following.
“My instructor said I joined the company late, so my foundation isn’t strong. I’ll be at a disadvantage when I make my appearance at the company’s annual celebration later.”
“How’s your practice going?”
Qiu Ze scratched his head. “How am I supposed to explain that? I’ll just dance a bit for you.”
“Sure.”
The music began. It was bright and youthful, and the dance moves were crisp and energetic. It was completely different from the dances Qiuyun had seen the famous performers do before.
How should she put it? There was a very powerful sense of vitality to it.
“You’re very engaging, and you have a great sense of rhythm. Learning this well in just three months is impressive.” Qiuyun wasn’t a professional, so she only praised him without criticizing anything.
Tsk. It seemed that students who weren’t very good at their studies were often pretty good at sports.
Dancing counted as a sport too, right?
“Hehe, my instructor praised me too. He said I have talent and wants to move me up to the debut class.”
“Debut class?”
Qiu Ze explained, “It’s the class for the debut assessment. Once you pass the assessment, you can officially debut.”
That fast?
Qiuyun knew very little about the idol industry, and she had never been one to say much about fields she wasn’t familiar with.
“It’s almost lunchtime. Come out and eat with me. You can come back and practice this afternoon.”
“Sure. Sis, I’m going to take a shower. I’ll be quick.”
The siblings left the company and went to a nearby shopping mall, where they found a barbecue restaurant.
As they ate, Qiuyun asked, “Have Mom and Dad come looking for you recently?”
Qiu Ze shook his head. “They called me, but I hung up as soon as I heard their voices.”
“Oh.”
Come to think of it, Qiuyun found it rather strange.
In modern society, with its advanced transportation and communications networks, if that couple wanted to find their son or daughter, all they had to do was report it to the police. The officers would have found them for sure.
Yet so much time had passed, and not only had Qiuyun been unable to find them at the Jiang family estate, even Qiu Ze—who was half a public figure—hadn’t been found.
Qiuyun couldn’t help wondering why they still hadn’t come looking after all this time.
If they truly didn’t know where their children were, then when they borrowed strangers’ phones to harass her with calls, surely those strangers would have told them.
Unless…
They were afraid to call the police.
She glanced at Qiu Ze’s face. It was clear that the siblings really were the biological children of that couple.
