The next day was Friday.
Qiuyun drove back to the estate early in the morning.
As she entered through the west gate, she happened to pass four black sedans heading out.
She stepped on the brakes and stopped, then asked the security guard at the entrance with a bright smile, “Hey, could you tell me which guest those cars belong to? Was there some kind of banquet yesterday? Why are they only leaving now?”
In the morning light, the beautiful woman’s smile was gentle and refined. The young guard blushed slightly. “Uh, they came out from the central parking lot. I don’t know what they were here for.”
Only the guests of the main residence were allowed to park in the central lot. Qiuyun smiled at him. “Thanks. I’ll treat you guys in the security office to milk tea next time.”
“There’s no need to be so formal.”
“It’s nothing.”
Qiuyun shifted gears and drove away.
After parking the car, she thought for a moment, then went to the auxiliary building on the lower first floor to find Sun Assistant Manager.
“Oh, Assistant Qiu, have you had breakfast? Would you like to join me?” Sun Assistant Manager asked courteously, his face covered in a flattering smile.
“Sure.” Qiuyun took him up on the offer and sat down. “Perfect. We can talk while we eat.”
?
Sun Assistant Manager’s expression turned awkward. Just then, one of the staff brought over his breakfast.
“Sun Assistant Manager, the bird’s nest and golden silk rolls are ready.”
“Hehe, Madam doesn’t like these because they’re almost past their expiration date. Assistant Qiu arrived at just the right time—we can share them,” Sun Assistant Manager hastily explained, conveniently inviting her to join him.
Qiuyun smiled and sat down as he suggested. She neither agreed nor disagreed with his explanation and had no intention of exposing him.
There was no one in a great family who wasn’t greedy. As long as the amount they took remained within what the head family could tolerate, and they were capable of getting things done and taking responsibility when necessary, none of it mattered. It was an unspoken rule everyone had followed for years.
Sun Assistant Manager served her a bowl and asked ingratiatingly, “What brings you here so early, Assistant Qiu? Is there anything you need me to do?”
“Do you know what happened in the study of the main residence yesterday?”
“Uh…” Sun Assistant Manager carefully considered his wording. “I know a little. In any case, the first branch has fallen out with the second and fourth branches.”
Qiuyun smiled. “Don’t be so tense, Sun Assistant Manager. We had some minor friction before, but now that we’re sitting at the same table having breakfast, isn’t that enough to put the past behind us? I reflected on it afterward, too. Everyone was simply standing on a different side at the time, but I’ve always respected your professionalism. In fact, after thinking it over, I decided that this matter is something only you can handle. I came here specifically to find you. Honestly, I can’t think of anyone else who could get it done smoothly on the gentleman’s behalf.”
Flattered by her praise, Sun Assistant Manager asked, “Ahem… What is it?”
“If possible, we should plant more informants in the main residence,” Qiuyun said in a low voice.
“What? No, absolutely not.” Sun Assistant Manager shook his head. “The Old Master Jiang hates people spying on him in secret. The rules in the main residence are extremely strict. How dare you extend your reach into the first branch’s territory?”
Qiuyun raised an eyebrow. “That little nurse who helped us before would make an excellent person to recruit. It’s simply a matter of turning a short-term transaction into a long-term investment. If you promise that she’ll still be able to work in the main residence two years from now, wouldn’t everything fall neatly into place?”
Sun Assistant Manager frowned, apparently deep in thought.
Qiuyun picked up a bite of spicy dried radish with her chopsticks and placed it on top of a golden silk roll. “Some time ago, Miss’s photographer captured Mr. Jiang Yijie meeting Mrs. Ge in secret.”
“Pfft—cough, cough, cough!” Sun Assistant Manager immediately glanced around repeatedly. Only after confirming that no one was nearby did he turn back to her. “You—you—you!”
“However…” Qiuyun furrowed her brow slightly. “Yesterday, I brought the matter to Old Master Jiang’s attention. Although Jiang Yijie reacted, he didn’t seem particularly guilty.”
Sun Assistant Manager sucked in another sharp breath and stammered, “You—you told Old Master Jiang? He knows!?”
“Of course I didn’t put it so bluntly.” Qiuyun took a sip of bird’s nest to soothe her throat, carefully recalling and analyzing the situation. “He reacted, but he wasn’t nervous. That means there really is something to it, but he isn’t afraid of an investigation. Tsk. Then it was probably something that happened many years ago. I wonder whether Old Master Jiang will be able to find anything within the next month or two.”
“W-What do you mean?” Sun Assistant Manager’s face was full of horror.
Qiuyun sighed. “You don’t need to know the exact details. You only need to understand that you must find someone to keep an eye on the main residence for the gentleman. Report anything you learn immediately, and don’t miss any key information. If this is handled well, you’ll receive all the credit. I’ll also put in a good word for you with the gentleman.”
Cold sweat had already broken out on Sun Assistant Manager’s forehead.
She hadn’t said it outright, but there was practically no difference between that and saying it plainly.
Could it be that Old Master Jiang was actually dying?
Qiuyun reassured him, “Don’t worry. If something happens and the people from the main residence catch us, I’ll take responsibility. At worst, I’ll be fired. I saved Old Master Jiang’s life, after all. They wouldn’t go so far as to make me pay some other price.”
In the end, Sun Assistant Manager agreed.
Not for any other reason than this: if the gentleman became the master of the estate in the future, Sun Assistant Manager could be promoted to manager.
“One more thing.” After finishing her meal, Qiuyun set down her chopsticks. “There were four Mercedes cars at the main residence today. Go find out where they came from.”
Sun Assistant Manager agreed automatically. “All right.”
Before leaving, Qiuyun glanced at his bowl. “Huh? This breakfast is pretty good. Why aren’t you eating, Sun Assistant Manager?”
Heh.
Sun Assistant Manager forced a weak smile. “I’m a little bloated. I’ll eat after it settles down.”
“Take your time, then. I need to go to the Brightmoon Residence.”
Sun Assistant Manager hurriedly escorted her out. “Take care, Assistant Qiu.”
Before long, the first day of the seventh lunar month arrived.
The weather had grown increasingly hot.
The revived weekend dinners lasted only one more week before being canceled again.
The main residence kept its affairs tightly sealed, so everyone assumed the dinners had merely been resumed to welcome the second-branch couple home. But the first branch, having bribed a nurse in the main residence, knew the truth: Old Master Jiang’s health had deteriorated further. By then, he was being kept alive each day with nutritional injections and stem-cell treatments.
At 4:55 p.m., Qiuyun logged into Pei Cizhou’s university application system. Just as expected, she saw that his choices did not reflect what he himself wanted. Without hesitation, she changed them back.
At 4:59:55 p.m., she submitted the changes.
Application successfully submitted.
Tsk, tsk. One could already imagine what a world war would break out in his family when the admission letter arrived.
After watching an online class for a while, Qiuyun received an internal call from Jiang Chuling.
“Sister Xiaoqiu, Mom and Dad asked me to call you over for dinner.”
Qiuyun glanced at the time and stood up to shut off the online class. “All right, I’ll be right down.”
The two of them held hands as they climbed into a golf cart. The estate was filled with greenery, sprawling over a vast area with very few people around. The evening breeze felt even more comfortable than the air-conditioning indoors.
Seeing that Miss was quiet, Qiuyun asked, “What’s wrong? Why do you look so unhappy?”
A trace of worry lingered between Jiang Chuling’s brows. “Cao Xiuxiu has a younger brother who’s addicted to gambling. Assistant Qian used a few tricks to make him rack up another huge debt.”
“Someone with a gambling addiction will relapse sooner or later, even if Assistant Qian hadn’t encouraged him or gotten involved.”
Jiang Chuling sighed. “But Cao Xiuxiu’s mother was so distressed by it that she ended up back in the ICU.”
