Xu Zifan turned the corner, and with lightning speed, grabbed Xiao Qing's wrist and pressed it down, spraying pepper spray all over his trouser leg.
He accused me with great distress, "You really want to criticize me? I've given you so many bonuses, you're so heartless!"
Xiao Qing's heart was pounding. She pulled down her mask and forced herself to calm down, saying, "I'm just protecting my own safety. I'm not sure if the person following me is you, young master." She paused, then added, "I think I'm no longer suitable to work for the Xu family. I'm resigning. You don't need to pay me this month's salary. I'll go back and pack my things tomorrow."
Xu Zifan released her, crossed his arms, and leisurely sized her up, chuckling, "Then I'll send someone to bring Wang Yalin back to the Xu family tomorrow, and send a few bodyguards to protect her. What do you think?"
Xiao Qing's expression visibly changed. She looked at Xu Zifan but didn't know what to say. Xu Zifan used to dote on Wang Yalin. After all, they had been like siblings for seventeen years. How could he just stand by and watch her deal with Wang Yalin? She was too careless!
Xiao Qing pursed her lips tightly, her eyes darting around, clearly trying to come up with a solution.
Xu Zifan gestured with his chin, indicating a direction to her. "My car is over there. How about we go somewhere else and talk slowly? Otherwise, when the Qi family comes out later, if they search the person who sent them the video, they might find you."
Xiao Qing tensed up, her eyes filled with disbelief. He actually knew about her posting the video. How did he know?
Going with Xu Zifan was better than being discovered by the Qi family. After hesitating for three seconds, Xiao Qing made her decision and took the lead in walking towards the direction where Xu Zifan had parked his car.
Xu Zifan whistled, put his hands in his pockets, and followed slowly behind her, laughing and teasing her about her outfit, "You look like a paparazzi. Is this your new cosplay after the maid and the robot?"
Xiao Qing didn't answer, but he wasn't bothered. He continued, "What grudge do you have against Wang Yalin? It's really strange that my dad found out Wang Yalin isn't his biological daughter. Could it be that you did it?"
He saw Xiao Qing's back tense up and knew he had guessed right. He became even more curious. "Wang Yalin bullied you at school before? Hmm... it must be an even bigger grudge. The way you caught them cheating today, you're not only breaking up the couple, but also cutting off Wang Yalin's escape route. Xiang Heng is her loyal dog, but this loyal dog is not yet able to break free from his parents' control."
Xiao Qing found Xu Zifan's car and gritted her teeth as she asked, "Young Master, can we go now?"
"Let's go, we can talk slowly on the way. We can also go see the stars and the moon, and if you like, we can even watch the sunrise." Xu Zifan bent down to look at her face. Actually, he hadn't intended to say so much, but he found that Xiao Qing, who always smiled mechanically, actually had so many expressions, and it was quite fun to tease her.
He pressed the key, Xiao Qing took a deep breath and got into the car. The two drove away quietly in the night and soon turned onto the main road and merged into the traffic.
On the way, Xu Zifan brought up the matter of picking up Wang Yalin and sending bodyguards to protect her. Xiao Qing struggled with her thoughts and analyzed the situation several times, feeling that Xu Zifan probably wouldn't help Wang Yalin. Finally, she revealed the truth.
"I have an older brother. Four years ago, he came to Beijing to study at university and worked as a waiter in a bar to ease the burden on his family. Wang Yalin and her friends went to the bar to celebrate her birthday. During a game of Truth or Dare, Wang Yalin danced around my brother for a while."
My brother blushed and left in a hurry. The girls found it amusing and jokingly made a bet: that Wang Yalin could make my brother devoted to her and obey her every word.
Later, Wang Yalin frequently bumped into my brother, even going to the coffee shop where he worked. She would devise a "hero saves the damsel in distress" scenario, pretending to be weak, innocent, and adoring. In short, my brother fell in love with her, showering her with all his passion. He even ate only steamed buns and pickled vegetables every day, using all the money he saved to buy her gifts.
Xiao Qing's eyes welled up with tears. After a moment of silence, she continued, "Wang Yalin got tired of playing around. To prove that my brother was obedient to her, she deliberately ignored him. Then, when she went to a bar with her friends, she threw a tantrum and made my brother drink. My brother thought that he could appease her and make her calm down. He was also happy that she had finally introduced him to her friends, so he drank three glasses of wine."
Who knew that those three glasses of wine were specially mixed by the bartender? My brother got so drunk after drinking them that he was dizzy. The group of women praised Wang Yalin for her abilities, saying that my brother was just a dog she had trained. They insulted and despised him, trampling on his feelings and making them worthless.
My brother grabbed Wang Yalin to ask her what was going on, but he was beaten up and forced to drink alcohol as punishment.
My brother… he had alcohol poisoning. Wang Yalin was the first to notice something was wrong with him, but she lied to the others, saying he was drunk and passed out, and told everyone to leave. Then, when she found my brother was dead, she immediately spent a lot of money to hire a classmate to take the blame.
Xu Zifan searched through his memories, then frowned. "I don't recall this incident."
Xiao Qing sneered, "Of course you don't know, Wang Yalin acts like a good girl in the Xu family, but she's very skilled at doing this kind of thing outside. You just asked me if I was bullied by her? I didn't, but someone must have suffered like that. She dared to dress maturely and go to bars when she was only fourteen, isn't that because she was confident she could fool you?"
Xu Zifan glanced at her. "So you joined the Xu family to seek revenge?"
Xiaoqing's fingers tightened around her bag as she turned to look out the window. "Yes, my brother is dead. Someone confessed, but the police refused to investigate further, saying there were no suspicious points. My parents couldn't accept this terrible news and got into a car accident in a daze. Now I'm all alone at home."
I knew my brother was in a relationship, and I knew his girlfriend's name, so I sold my house, dropped out of school, and came to Beijing. After investigating for more than half a year, I finally found out the truth. Unfortunately, I had no evidence and couldn't sue them. I didn't want to alert them, so I decided to take revenge myself.
I wanted to kill Wang Yalin, but no matter how I planned, I couldn't be absolutely sure. Wang Yalin's friends were all murderers, and I wanted to keep them alive to take revenge on them one by one. Getting into the Xu family was lucky, but getting close to those people wouldn't be easy. I tentatively suggested that Wang Yalin's maid suggest that she and her friends go out together, so that I could gather them together and catch them all in one fell swoop.
But Wang Yalin was very sensitive about that matter and gradually distanced herself from those friends. I had no choice but to desperately learn things about high society, believing that one day I would find an opportunity. But then I discovered that Wang Yalin wasn't a member of the Xu family!
Xu Zifan drove the car to the riverbank, opened the window to let the night breeze blow in, dispelling some of his sadness, and asked, "How did you find out?"
Xiao Qing logged into her email and showed him a photo from many years ago, saying, "This is my brother."
Xu Zifan was instantly drawn to the pendant around the sunny boy's neck. "Is this... Yao Yao's jade gourd?"
"That's right! Ten years ago, my dad came across someone selling this pendant. He knows a little about pendants and could tell it was of good quality. When he heard it was only 100,000 yuan, he bought it and gave it to my brother when he went to university, hoping he would be safe and sound while he was away." Xiao Qing looked directly at him and said, word by word, "Wang Yalin did it on purpose!"
Xu Zifan sorted through the information, his expression remaining largely unchanged. He was going to deal with Wang Yalin sooner or later, and these events had no impact on his plans. However, he hadn't expected such a dramatic turn of events, which even implicated innocent lives.
Regardless of how Wang Yalin found out about her background, it was incredibly cruel of her to deliberately kill Xiao Qing's brother in order to cover up the truth. She was only fourteen years old that year! If the Wang family hadn't been so far from Yanjing, making it easy for them to expose their actions, would she have gone to harm Yao Yao and the Wang family?
Seeing his silence, Xiao Qing tentatively asked, "You're not going to help her anymore, are you? She's deliberately taking over your sister's identity. My brother loves me very much, so I can tell you really love your sister."
Xu Zifan pondered for a moment, then said earnestly to her, "Don't take any more risks. I'll help you with this. It's not worth ruining your life for a few scumbags. Since your brother cares about you, he definitely doesn't want you to do something so risky."
You were just lucky today. If I were a member of the Qi family, I would have deployed people inside and outside the Imperial Garden to catch the person who posted the video. They were afraid Xiang Heng was in danger and were so anxious that they overlooked things, but you won't always escape unscathed.
"I know Wang Yalin was kicked out of the house. I was so happy that I was a little impatient. I won't do it again."
"I'll help you."
Xiao Qing looked at him for a moment, then nodded slightly. "Thank you."
Xu Zifan started the car and drove back to the Xu family home. She watched his profile from the side, a slight stirring in her heart. He was going to help her? For three years, she had cautiously sought opportunities, long since giving up on asking anyone for help.
She knew she was just an ordinary person, so she had to be extra careful. Today, confessing to Xu Zifan was the most impulsive thing she had done in recent years.
Perhaps she secretly trusted Xu Zifan? He doted on his sister so much, how could he possibly forgive Wang Yalin? Many of his words and actions over the past few months have been aimed at Wang Yalin, gradually destroying the Xu family's goodwill towards her and driving her out of the house.
She didn't think that Xu Zifan, this young master, would do anything for her, but the fact that he said that made his position clear, and she was still grateful.
Xiao Qing was no longer tense and defensive, and the atmosphere between the two became much more relaxed.
Back home, Xu Zifan looked at her retreating figure again, no longer finding it amusing, but rather seeing her thin and lonely. Perhaps he had truly put his heart into being a brother this time, which is why he empathized with her pain. If her brother could see all this, he wondered how heartbroken he would be.
Once upon a time, wasn't she just a beloved younger sister?
Neither Xu Zifan nor Xiao Qing slept much that night, because the matter they had discussed was very heavy. Xiao Qing only trusted herself, and she carefully adjusted her plan. Although every step of the plan was difficult, she still planned it diligently. A gentleman takes revenge even after ten years; she believed that one day she would succeed in her revenge.
Xu Zifan was also adjusting his plans. Some grudges only have meaning if they are avenged personally. He decided to include Xiao Qing in his plans. It wouldn't take much effort, but it would allow a good girl to end her hatred and start a new life. Why not?
Wang Yalin was able to harm people so easily by taking advantage of the Xu family's power and money; now it's time to get everything back.
Xu Zifan called out to Shaohua, "[How's the thing I asked you to do? Did you get the footage?]"
[Shaohua: I got the footage. The Qi family brought ten people. I hacked into all their electronic devices and the electronic devices in Wang Yalin's room, and pieced together the situation from all the camera footage. Host, would you like to see it now?]
[Xu Zifan: Okay, play it.]