"So what?" Liang Shi looked at her, his eyes filled with ruthlessness. "What do you want to do? Lock me in a dark room? Have your daughter force me to speak? Or are you going to whip me with a rattan cane again? Mrs. Qi, I've grown up."
For a moment, Mrs. Qi was also frightened by her gaze.
But she quickly composed herself, saying, "How could that be? No wonder your mother said you're smart; you still remember what happened when you were so young. Our Jiaojiao has probably already forgotten."
“It’s none of my business.” Liang Shi grew increasingly cold, her walls of strength becoming ever more solid. “If you’ve come to me just to spout this nonsense, then I’m not going to entertain you.”
"Little one, you're still the same as when you were a child," Mrs. Qi chuckled. "So eager, can't you just listen to an adult?"
"I'm sorry," Liang Shi said, "I'm the adult now."
Mrs. Qi's expression changed slightly.
Liang Shi continued, "You're not an adult anymore. Twenty years have passed; you're an old man now. Don't try to threaten me like that again. If I ever find audio or video evidence, I'll put you in jail. Even if more than twenty years pass and the law doesn't convict you of child abuse, I'll still ruin your reputation."
"So where's your audio and video evidence?" Mrs. Qi sneered. "Liang Shi, you're getting more and more naive."
"What if one day God sees how many evils you've committed and sends all that evidence to me?" Liang Shi said, "Do you believe that good and evil will ultimately be rewarded?"
Upon hearing this, Mrs. Qi's eyes flashed with uncontrollable ferocity. She frowned and retorted fiercely, "Then why didn't the evildoers die?"
"It will happen sooner or later," Liang Shi said. "Heaven is watching what people do."
Mrs. Qi sneered, "Naive."
However, after a short while, she returned to her previous appearance.
She looked at Liang Shi with a nostalgic expression. "You've grown up quite well, and you've come to believe in fairness and justice, and you've even gotten married. By the way, is your wife pregnant?"
Liang Shi frowned. "What's it to you?"
Mrs. Qi said, "It was just a casual question."
She stared intently at Liang Shi, as if looking through him at someone else. Her tone was full of longing and affection. "If my Jiaojiao could see you like this now, she would be very happy."
Liang Shi: '?'
Didn't Qi Jiao see it?
She didn't understand what Mrs. Qi meant.
Clearly, Mrs. Qi didn't intend for her to understand; she was just venting her emotions.
After venting her anger, Mrs. Qi became cold again. "Liang Shi, I don't care what you want to do, but don't bother Qi Jiao anymore. What my daughter does is none of your business."
She said, enunciating each word clearly, "Mind your own business."
Looking at her like this, Liang Shi seemed to have found her vulnerability.
Her assertiveness was nothing but a facade.
So Liang Shi overcame his fear and confronted her firmly, asking, "What if I refuse?"
Mrs. Qi closed her eyes briefly, then opened them again with a sharp glint in her eyes. "If you make me lose this daughter again, I will kill you."
//
Mrs. Qi was like a gust of wind, coming and going quickly.
After she left, Liang Shi went to have dinner with Zhao Ying.
I was supposed to make an appointment with Zhao Xuning, but he was too busy at the hospital to come.
Zhao Ying didn't ask her about her relationship with Mrs. Qi, but she did provide her with some information.
While they were talking in the lounge, Zhao Ying called her dear mother and managed to glean some information about Mrs. Qi.
Mrs. Qi's name is Yang Jianni. She was originally a wealthy and famous person in Haizhou City, but the Yang family was directly investigated and punished because they were involved in a bribery case. Yang Jianni, whose family fell into decline, married her high school classmate Qi Xiangui, who is now the president of Qida Company, and became Mrs. Qi.
Although Qi Xiangui always presented himself as a doting husband and loving woman in public, he was not good to his family.
Qi Xiangui has a problem: he loves to drink, and when he drinks too much, he throws things.
Zhao Ying's mother had previously gone to the Qi family's house to play cards and had seen Qi Xiangui drunk. He kept nagging and later even overturned their mahjong table.
Yang Jianni originally studied opera, which she loved since childhood. However, after marrying Qi Xiangui, who disliked her being in the public eye, she gave up her career.
However, she always wore cheongsams, regardless of the occasion.
She wore the cheongsam with great elegance.
Over time, people will start to avoid her and not wear the same clothes as her.
"And what about her daughter?" Liang Shi asked.
Zhao Ying said, "She's incredibly good to her daughter. My mom says that compared to her, I feel like I was taken in."
According to Zhao Yulin, Yang Jianni dotes on her daughter the most, giving her whatever she wants, and even kneeling down to wipe and put on her daughter's shoes, showing her deep affection.
Liang Shi frowned upon hearing this.
She kept thinking about Yang Jiani's last words, feeling that something was amiss.
When they met Xu Qingzhu that evening, the two started chatting. Xu Qingzhu frowned and said, "Repeat what she said again."
Liang Shi, relying on his excellent memory, repeated: "If you make me lose this daughter again, I will kill you."
Xu Qingzhu's eyes widened, and she and Liang Shi asked at the same time, "Again?"
Yes, again.
As is widely known, Qi Xiangui and Yang Jiani have only one daughter, Qi Jiao.
But Qi Jiao is still alive.
So, who was the daughter who died?
Chapter 53
The evening after the rain had just cleared was still a bit chilly. Although the wind wasn't blowing as recklessly as it had during the rain, it still swirled up the fragile leaves and sent them flying away.
In the distance, orange-red clouds spread across the horizon, tinging the cold sun with red, as if foreshadowing good weather tomorrow.
Qi Jiao was wearing a blue fitted long dress with a black coat that didn't suit her style at all. The sleeves were so long that they covered her hands. She sat in the passenger seat and said softly, "Stop at the next intersection. I'll walk back myself."
"How can that be?" The driver held the steering wheel with one hand and took her hand with the other, pulling it up to his lips and kissing it. Then he smiled and said, "I can't bear to let my darling go such a long way."
"Cheng Ran." Qi Jiao frowned slightly, "At that intersection."
“Drive a little further ahead,” Cheng Ran said, easily crossing the intersection.
Qi Jiao was anxious, her coquettish tone tinged with urgency, "Cheng Ran~!"
Cheng Ran chuckled lightly, "What is my darling worried about? Is it that I'm ashamed to face people?"
"No." Qi Jiao lowered her eyes, pulled her hand out of her palm, and protested silently.
Cheng Ran glanced at her, her empty hand losing some of its warmth.
The blue sports car suddenly braked after speeding along, its tires screeching across the ground, and came to a stop on the side of the road.
Qi Jiao took off the coat that didn't belong to her, folded it neatly, and placed it on her lap. Her voice was gentle but slightly cold: "I'm leaving now. Drive carefully on your way home."
He reached for the car door, but Cheng Ran grabbed his wrist. "Just like that?"
Qi Jiao slightly raised her eyes, her doe-like eyes staring at Cheng Ran with a hint of grievance, as if condemning her for her disobedience earlier.
"I have to go home." Qi Jiao knew what she wanted, but she was in a bad mood and didn't want to cooperate.
Cheng Ran curled her lips into a cold smile, "Are you angry?"
Qi Jiao replied, "No."
"Then why do you have that expression?" Cheng Ran scoffed. "You're clearly still angry."
"Really, no." Qi Jiao pried open the hand that was gripping her wrist and said coldly, "I have to go home."
After saying that, he opened the car door and got out.
The wind lifted her long dress, and the temperature was so low that her exposed skin broke out in a fine layer of goosebumps.
Before I had even left the car, the driver's side door opened.
Cheng Ran got out of the car, walked a few steps quickly, and draped her coat over her shoulders.
Qi Jiao turned around in surprise, wanting to take it off and refuse, but what if her mother saw her wearing someone else's coat...
The consequences would be unimaginable.
Cheng Ran pressed down on her shoulder, "Just say it's a friend's, or I won't let you go."
Qi Jiao pursed her lips, but she was still afraid.
Cheng Ran moved closer to her and easily pinned her against the car.
Qi Jiao's body leaned against the front of the car, the cold mechanical body penetrating her back skin, chilling her to the bone.
She couldn't help but shiver.
Cheng Ran pressed her body against Qi Jiao's, wrapping one arm around Qi Jiao's waist and lingering the other hand on her thigh.
Even through her skirt, she could still easily arouse Qi Jiao's most sensitive spots.
Cheng Ran's lips approached her ear, "Jiaojiao, what do you still owe me?"
Qi Jiao felt half of her body go numb, but she still retained some rationality. She put one hand on her shoulder and said, "Don't...be outside."
Cheng Ran chuckled, "My dear Jiaojiao, tell me, what do you still owe me?"
Qi Jiao pursed her lips, moistened them with her tongue, and then placed a wet kiss on Cheng Ran's cheek.
Cheng Ran chuckled softly, her voice slightly hoarse, as if deliberately teasing her. She pinched her waist lightly, with a hint of punishment, "That's it?"
Qi Jiao pushed her, "I really have to go home."
"What should I do? I've already started missing you even before you've left." Cheng Ran pressed her body closer, making Qi Jiao feel warm. In the cold wind, she had become the only source of warmth.
But Qi Jiao did not forget her promise to be home on time at seven o'clock.
If you miss even a minute...
Qi Jiao didn't dare to think about the consequences.
She nudged Cheng Ran and pleaded in a low voice, "Cheng Ran, not today."