“All right, I’ll be there soon.”
After hanging up, Qiuyun didn’t dawdle. She hurriedly finished her breakfast.
Jiang Chuling asked, “What happened? What’s going on?”
“We got some information on Technician Hu.”
Jiang Chuling exclaimed, “You finally found her! It took a whole month!”
Qiuyun clicked her tongue. “The fact that it took a month means someone covered up her identity.”
“Ugh! Why does today have to be Monday? I want to go to the scene too!” Little Seven put on a pitiful face.
Going to the scene meant getting the first scoop of the gossip, as well as receiving lessons face-to-face from Grandpa, Dad, and Sister Xiaoqiu. It was practically the most fun thing ever!
Jiang Chuling began to wheedle. “Sister Xiaoqiu, why don’t I take the day off and go with you?”
“Not today.” Qiuyun took the schoolbag handed over by Assistant Chen. “Miss, did you forget that you have to give a speech at the flag-raising ceremony today?”
“Ah… I think I did.” Jiang Chuling’s spirits fell.
The Monday speech under the national flag was quite important, after all.
Qiuyun carried the schoolbag and followed Miss to the underground parking garage. “But we can call each other at noon. I’ll tell you about any developments as soon as they happen.”
Hearing that, Jiang Chuling perked up. “Okay!”
She rode in Miss’s car as far as the intersection. Since it wasn’t far, Qiuyun got out and took the subway the rest of the way, taking the opportunity to experience the crowded commuter line in the capital.
When she arrived, a great many people were getting off the train. Almost all of them were employees of the Jiang Group. Qiuyun followed the crowd and arrived at 8:45.
However, because she didn’t have an access card, she could only wait there for Assistant Qian to take her upstairs.
“Assistant Qiu?”
Qiuyun turned around. “Young M—”
“Shh!”
Jiang Lin’an stopped her with a quiet shushing sound. “I’m Lin An now. I work in the logistics department.”
“…”
He actually worked in the logistics department? That was honestly not surprising at all.
Qiuyun’s expression was utterly sincere. “The Eldest Young Master truly hasn’t forgotten his original purpose.”
For some reason, Jiang Lin’an felt there was a hidden meaning in her words, but he couldn’t find any evidence.
“Lin An? What a coincidence.”
A young woman approached from the other side, carrying two cups of coffee. “Here, this is the butter latte I told you about yesterday. It’s really good—the café downstairs from my apartment makes it.”
Jiang Lin’an accepted it and said politely, “Thanks. I’ll bring you coffee from the shop downstairs from my place next time.”
The woman nodded at Qiuyun, then waved her hand. “You’re just an intern, and your salary isn’t exactly high. Don’t worry about it. Just run a couple more errands for me.”
With that, she used her face to unlock the entrance to the complex. “I’m going to work first. Bye.”
“Mm.” Jiang Lin’an waved.
After she had walked some distance away, he stood there holding one of the coffees and looked toward Assistant Qiu, who had turned her head and was enthusiastically admiring the scenery.
“…”
Jiang Lin’an rubbed his forehead. “Do you have to report this to Little Seven too?”
It was downright bizarre. Why was it that every time he ran into Assistant Qiu, some female colleague or female classmate with whom he had a fairly good relationship appeared beside him?
Qiuyun gave him her standard polite smile. “Miss probably won’t have the time to care about your affairs today. If she doesn’t ask, I won’t mention it.”
After all, getting a child to learn good habits was difficult enough. Getting them to learn bad ones was far too easy.
“Goodbye.” Jiang Lin’an used his face to unlock the entrance and went inside.
Qiuyun watched the Eldest Young Master’s back and shook her head.
If nothing unexpected happened, then something unexpected was about to happen.
The Eldest Young Master really seemed deeply devoted to the whole script of secretly dating while hiding his identity. Could it be that rich young men were all afraid their girlfriends loved their money rather than them?
“Hey, girl!” Assistant Qian arrived, explained the situation to the security guard, and escorted her inside.
“Here, coffee.”
“Thanks.” Qiuyun accepted it. “I heard you driving when we spoke on the phone, so I didn’t ask for the details. What did you find out about her identity?”
Assistant Qian felt thoroughly understood. This girl really was thoughtful!
“Assistant Wei found out at the estate that Hu Tingxue was a fake name. Her real name is Hu Yin, and she’s Mr. Jiang’s former lover.”
?
Well, that was something.
Qiuyun asked carefully, “You need an ID card to get hired at the estate, and you have to pay various types of insurance. How did she hide it?”
“It wasn’t exactly a completely fake name. Hu Yin was her former name. She changed it in the ID, bank, and household-registration systems, but the people who knew her before, her archived school records, and her former coworkers all only knew her as Hu Yin. That’s why it was so difficult to investigate.”
“No wonder.”
Qiuyun followed Assistant Qian into the elevator. “Then Mr. Jiang’s efforts to send her to Old Master Jiang’s side are certainly worth examining.”
When they reached the president’s office, Assistant Qian set down the coffee and pulled a document from his briefcase. “Read through this carefully. I’m going to the restroom.”
“Okay.”
Qiuyun opened the folder.
Hu Tingxue—also known as Hu Yin—had been a student at the School of Communications. After graduating, she met Jiang Yifeng while interning at a television station. Under the pursuit of the playboy heir, the two quickly began a relationship.
Unlike other women who took love lightly and left after accepting money, Hu Yin had genuinely fallen in love. Someone who had been through it before even warned her that Young Master Jiang was a shameless womanizer, but she firmly believed she could change her lover—that a prodigal son who returned was worth more than gold.
Qiuyun’s brows drew tightly together when she read this.
What a suffocating combination: the kind of early melodrama with a disgusting man and an infatuated woman.
It was even worse than the television dramas Miss watched.
Hu Yin learned to make soup for him, learned massage, and learned everything an accomplished, virtuous woman was supposed to do. Because she was obedient, sensible, and undemanding, she became the woman who stayed by Young Master Jiang’s side the longest.
This continued for another six months. Assistant Qian couldn’t investigate the private things they had whispered to each other during that time.
But then Hu Yin changed her name, fabricated an identity as the heir to an ancient massage tradition, and entered the estate to become Old Master Jiang’s personal masseuse.
Qiuyun narrowed her eyes.
Now that was what she called painstaking preparation.
By then, Jiang Yihua and Secretary Zhu had also arrived.
When he saw Qiuyun, he said, “You’re here. Come to the office with us.”
“All right.”
Qiuyun waited for Assistant Qian before going in. Jiang Yihua signed several urgent temporary documents, then finally spoke.
“Do you know what happened?”
“I understand the situation.” Qiuyun’s voice was solemn. “This incident clearly shows that Mr. Jiang had been pretending to be weak while biding his time and waiting for the right opportunity.”
Jiang Yihua’s brows furrowed deeply. “I’m just wondering whether we should let Old Master Jiang know.”
Qiuyun analyzed the matter for him. “If this had happened before the New Year, Old Master Jiang might have been furious. But now that Mr. Jiang is paralyzed in both legs, even if Old Master Jiang gets angry, he probably won’t be too harsh on him.”
Jiang Yihua said, “What if we use this woman, Hu Yin, to drive a wedge between him and his son?”
Qiuyun frowned and shook her head. “Old Master Jiang cares too much about his reputation. There’s no way he’d allow a scandal like this to erupt in his later years.”
In society, whether a person’s family was happy and complete directly affected whether others were willing to cooperate with them.
If you were willing to betray even your own husband or wife, then how could business partners—who were connected to you only by profit—not worry that you might stab them in the back one day when an emergency arose?
Even if you secretly had several illegitimate children, you still had to keep it hidden at all costs in public and maintain the appearance of a happy family. No matter what, it would have to wait until you were dead before there was any chance of it being dug up.
