Wearing handcuffs, Chen Ran noticed Li Xiangfu and reflexively attempted to stand up. However, the chair was specially designed, forcing her to reluctantly sit back.
“So, Shasha didn’t show up, huh?” Chen Ran remarked, adopting an intimate tone with a completely negative attitude. “Is he at home crying? Is your entire family busy contacting a psychiatrist?”
Seconds passed with no response.
Chen Ran raised her chin and, aside from the initial glance, finally looked squarely at Li Xiangfu.
To her surprise, there was no expected anger. The person standing opposite her wore a kind expression, devoid of the slightest irritation. Even stray hair seemed to convey a message of forgiveness.
“…”
In the silent confrontation, Chen Ran bit her lip, her eyes on the verge of turning red. Suddenly, she slammed her hand heavily on the table: “Speak! Are you mute?”
Li Xiangfu raised his hand, signaling for calm, and began to recite Sanskrit calmly.
The effectiveness of the Buddha’s light varied from person to person. Unless one was in a meditative state, it wouldn’t work well and might even be counterproductive.
Observing Chen Ran growing increasingly irritable, Li Xiangfu showed no intention of stopping.
The ethereal Sanskrit sounds and low murmurs intertwined. The former wasn’t very loud, but it seemed to contain the force of effortlessly moving a heavy load, creating an indescribable impact.
The two police officers standing on the side were inexplicably affected. Under the influence of the mesmerizing sound, it felt as if they were being interrogated to confess without reason.
After a standoff for about ten minutes, the female police officer couldn’t endure it any longer. She took a deep breath, intending to speak, but unexpectedly, Chen Ran conceded first. She pursed her cracked lips and said word by word:
“Speak in human language.”
Li Xiangfu refused to comply. Rarely encountering a target devoid of responsibility, he found conversing interesting.
“I received an email two weeks ago,” Chen Ran suddenly said.
Looking at Li Xiangfu, who was still chanting, she raised her eyes to the policewoman: “First, get this person out!”
Surprisingly talkative, the policewoman politely asked Li Xiangfu to leave.
Honestly, she also felt a headache listening to it.
Outside the interrogation room, Li Xiangfu didn’t leave but sat and waited for the results. Soon, the policewoman opened the door and half-poked her body out: “The case is challenging to conclude for now. We still need to investigate further. Why don’t you go back first?”
Li Xiangfu cooperated and stood up: “Alright.”
The policewoman stared at his back until he left, swallowing the words of persuasion she had intended to say. She wondered if she was becoming this adept at talking nowadays.
—
Unexpectedly, there was one thing that Chen Ran did not anticipate.
Li Shasha exhibited no psychological distress whatsoever. Faced with the Li family’s excessive concern, he explained the situation matter-of-factly:
“I know Mrs. Chen isn’t a good person.”
“Firstly, she has a perm.”
“Secondly, I don’t have a mom.”
Facing Li Xichun’s sympathetic gaze, Li Shasha shuddered and added, “And lastly, I’m not a loveless child.”
Afterward, he sat uncomfortably on the sofa, seeking an excuse to briefly escape the crowd.
Suddenly, there was movement at the entrance.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Cr lo tf xcfk ktja tf kjr rfjgmtlcu obg, Ol Lejlmtfc rjlv, “Gjv’r cba offilcu kfii, rb tf abbx tlr wfvlmjalbc ja cbbc jcv kfca eqrajlgr ab gfra.” Vajcvlcu eq jcv ugjyylcu tlr pjmxfa, tf mbcalcefv, “Ccdlcu abiv sbe ab kjla ja tbwf; atfgf wluta yf rbwfatlcu ab vlrmerr.”
As he was about to leave, he suddenly inquired, “By the way, regarding the police situation…”
“Still under investigation.”
Li Huaichen nodded. “Notify me as soon as the results come out.”
On the other side, Li Xichun was about to speak, but as the words reached her lips, she received a phone call. Whatever was said on the call left her face gradually complicated.
“I have to go to the hospital.”
Even though the other party didn’t explicitly mention it, Li Xiangfu guessed it was related to the brain-dead student. Once she left, only a father and son remained in the living room.
After sitting quietly for a moment, Li Xiangfu touched Li Shasha’s head. “Are you okay?”
Li Shasha nodded without hesitation. “It’s just a minor issue.”
“If you put on an annoyed expression, you can legitimately take a few days off at home.”
Li Shasha was struck by lightning.
“Empty talk about fighting at home, not knowing how to handle it.”
“…”
Until Li Anqing returned, Li Shasha still hadn’t fully recovered from the shock. It was only when he regained his senses that he realized he was the only one left.
In the courtyard.
Auntie Zhang had cleaned the small fountain, and the tiles on the inner wall displayed a sense of transparency in the rippling water.
Li Anqing got straight to the point: “Dad’s side may have some suspicions that the Qin family is involved in the whole thing.”
No longer fixated on the fountain, Li Xiangfu looked up in surprise.
“I sent my men to inspect the Tianxi ancient village, and they ended up encountering Dad’s men there.”
Qin Jiayu’s situation resembled navigating through a foggy scenario. Considering physical reasons, the truth was elusive, and everyone subconsciously avoided discussing matters with Mr. Li.
“Old Fox…” Li Xiangfu recalled the nickname of his father from his youth and said after a moment of silence, “He might be restricting my contact with the Qin Family lately.”
The fact that it was the Qin family, not Qin Jin or Qin Jiayu, suggested doubts about both of them.
Li Anqing added, “In Dad’s eyes, we can’t rule out the possibility that Qin Jin is orchestrating things.”
Li Xiangfu couldn’t discern any change in expression on his face and inquired, “What about you? What is your opinion?”
“The foreign teacher is Qin Jin’s person. If I can figure it out, Dad can as well. Everything seems too coincidental.” Li Anqing calmly stated, “In my opinion, he may not be the mastermind, but he certainly knows something.”
As for the extent of his knowledge, only Qin Jin understood it in his heart.
Li Xiangfu was right; in the next two days, he was directly restricted from traveling. If he wanted to go out, he had to report it, and the bodyguard of Old Master Li himself would serve as the driver to transport him.
In essence, all possibilities of meeting with Qin Jin were cut off.
Li Shasha finally had a two-day break as he wished, spending half the day lying in the courtyard, listening to music.
“Dad, your guqin skills have reached a state of perfection.”
Li Xiangfu responded, “More or less.”
Li Shasha didn’t wait for the other party to delve into the philosophy of life; he simply opened her eyes and asked, “Is this about Qin Jin that’s bothering you?”
Li Xiangfu didn’t deny it, saying, “I was planning to thank him in person.”
However, circumstances prevented him from leaving the house.
Li Shasha waved a hand dismissively, saying, “For someone like him, formalities are just unnecessary bureaucracy.”
He then glanced at his phone, where a morning message from Qin Jin appeared: [I remember you sent someone to convey gratitude in person.]
Sliding down the screen, Li Xiangfu’s response read: [I asked my father, but he didn’t agree.]
“…”
Li Shasha had nothing more to say.
On the same day, as some people enjoyed the wind and played the guqin, others were engrossed in their work.
Qin Jin, reading a proposal at the company, noticed his secretary across the office seeming a bit nervous. Half a minute earlier, he had witnessed a chat conversation, and the boss had caught a glimpse of it.
The more composed Qin Jin appeared, the more uneasy his secretary felt.
However, the secretary soon realized the boss wasn’t bothered by the incident and continued with his tasks.
A phone call interrupted the office’s silence.
Seeing an unfamiliar number, Qin Jin rejected the call. The phone vibrated again, and this time he answered while walking to the break room to make coffee. A voice, almost a distant memory, came from the other end.
“It’s been a while, brother.”
Qin Jin stirred his coffee for a moment before returning to his usual demeanor.
“It seems Li Xiangfu hasn’t visited you lately.” The voice on the phone pondered for a moment and said, “What do you think the Li family would advise him if I cause trouble when you meet him and then calm down when you don’t?”
“…They’d probably tell him to cherish his life and stay away from Qin Jin.”
Qin Jin remained silent until the other side was almost done speaking. Then, he took a sip of coffee, leaned against the counter, and calmly remarked, “You’re really… stupid.”
With that, he hung up.
Staring at the bubbles in his cup, Qin Jin shook his head. Qin Jiayu’s foolishness lay in using conventional measures to gauge Li Xiangfu, always ready to take a treacherous path despite past setbacks.
Setting down the cup and folding his arms, he narrowed his eyes after a moment, wondering if his ‘good brother’ was still alive.
Exiting the restroom, Qin Jin instructed the busy secretary, “Reschedule the party that got canceled the day before yesterday.”
The secretary paused, then mentioned, “I’ve looked into it privately. The investor likes sensational news, likely sent by a competitor to create controversy.”
Qin Jin waved his hand, indicating he had a plan in mind.
Night fell, and at nine o’clock, Qin Jin entered the hotel punctually. The secretary whispered, “Reporters are arranged; Gao Xun is handling it, and the spiked wine has been discreetly replaced.”
Qin Jin nodded and opened the private room door.
The supposed business dinner turned out to involve only ten hours of project discussion, with the rest spent on the investor bragging about women and his so-called wealth history.
The investor, aware of the potential consequences of a sex scandal, waited until Qin Jin appeared intoxicated. He then signaled to the woman beside him.
Everything went according to plan. The waiter helped the seemingly drunk Qin Jin back to his room, with the woman following closely. She stayed in the guest room, thinking everything was proceeding smoothly.
But the smile on her face froze after three seconds.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Qin Jin appeared completely sober. He checked the time, ruffled his hair, and messed up his shirt.
The woman hesitated, speechless.
Shouldn’t that be your next course of action?
There was a commotion at the door as if an argument was taking place, and then the doorbell rang.
“Hello, please open the door,” came the voice of the lobby manager from outside.
The woman was so bewildered that she didn’t respond immediately.
With no reply, the door was pushed open from the outside.
The bed directly faced the door, and upon entering, he could see Qin Jin sitting on the corner of the bed, his clothes disheveled. Li Xiangfu quickly walked to his side, asking, “Are you alright?”
Just twenty minutes earlier, while the family was watching TV, Li Xiangfu had received a message from Qin Jin. In addition to the location, there was a sentence: “I seem to have been drugged.”
Mr. Li didn’t deter him from going out at that moment. Instead, he followed along, analyzing the situation expressionlessly. “Qin Jin is trying to use this to turn the other side against him, and sending you a message is also to prove that he is being targeted.”
Finally, he concluded, “Once the matter becomes significant, the one who set up the scheme will be the one to face the consequences, and he will also garner public sympathy.”
Li Xiangfu remained silent throughout the entire process. Now, witnessing the scene, his eyes revealed a sense of regret. “Didn’t I say that boys must protect themselves well outside…?”
“The first thing you need to do is get a good lawyer to handle the situation.”
Qin Jin heard only silence.
Early in the Tianxi ancient village, he noticed that Li Xiangfu paid extra attention to his safety. The birthday banquet was no different; he was surrounded by a group of girls, deliberately keeping a distance throughout the event, his body tense.
It seemed that, in Li Xiangfu’s eyes, a man’s ‘innocence’ was always at risk.
The woman who had been hired was originally delicate and colorful-looking, but now she stood in place with a blank expression, unsure of what was happening.
At the doorway, Mr. Li casually glanced at her, noticing that not a single hair was out of place. He sneered at Li Xiangfu, saying, “Don’t you see, he…?”
Before he could finish his sentence, Qin Jin lowered his eyebrows, closed his eyes, and slowly uttered three words:
“I am dirty.”
Earlier, in the small elevator space, when the woman approached him, he accidentally touched her hand. So, according to Li Xiangfu’s standards, rounding it up, it was considered dirty.
Li Xiangfu’s eyes trembled upon hearing this, and he said with a remorseful expression, “It’s all my fault. I arrived late.”
“…”
Author’s note:
Woman: I’d like to smack this man’s dog head!
Mr. Li: …I’m standing with you this time.
The mL has studied our MC well.. now he gives off smell of green tea
Lmaoo
So accurate