Chapter 150: Taking the Bait

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By the time the birthday banquet was nearing its end, it was already quite late. Xia Yun simply said, “Why don’t we go straight to the old residence and stay the night? Miaoyu, the place where you live must be rather far away, right?”

Qin Miaoyu had no desire to go to the Lu family’s old residence, so she found an excuse. “No, Mom. I still have something to do tomorrow.”

Hearing this, Xia Yun did not press her. She had already expected that Qin Miaoyu would refuse when she asked.

“Qi’an, then you take Miaoyu home. I’ll have the family driver come and pick me up.”

It would naturally be inconvenient for Qin Miaoyu to return by herself. The place was indeed far from where she lived, and it was not somewhere one could easily hail a taxi. Lu Qi’an taking her home was the best solution.

When she heard that Mrs. Lu was waiting for the family driver, she did not hurry to leave.

“Mom, we’ll wait with you until the driver arrives.”

The group waited outside the villa when, unexpectedly, Mrs. Gao came over.

“Mrs. Lu, it’s been a long time,” Mrs. Gao greeted her.

Qin Miaoyu noticed that Mrs. Lu’s expression changed visibly at the sight of Mrs. Gao. It was plain that she had little desire to speak with her; she merely gave a slight nod.

Mrs. Gao did not seem offended. “Mrs. Lu, it’s rare for us to meet. I wanted to speak with you about Qingqing. Qingqing went abroad in December that year, and by this December it will have been exactly five years. She can come back now, can’t she?”

Mrs. Lu replied expressionlessly, “The time has come. If you want her back, then bring her back. We haven’t tied her up and kept her from returning.”

“With your word, I can feel at ease bringing Qingqing home. I only hope that Qi’an won’t continue dwelling on what happened in the past.”

As she spoke, Mrs. Gao’s eyes turned toward Lu Qi’an, who was discussing something with someone else nearby.

Xia Yun’s expression darkened at once.

“Whether Qi’an forgives her or not is his business. We elders have no right to interfere. Once Gao Qingqing comes back, your Gao family had better continue educating her properly. She treated human life as nothing and even used someone else’s name to commit evil. Don’t let the day come when her own life is treated as worthless by someone else!”

Mrs. Gao’s face shifted between blue and white. Gritting her teeth, she said, “After the lesson she received five years ago, we will certainly keep her under proper control!”

“Very well. I hope you’ll keep your word, Mrs. Gao.”

Xia Yun stared at Mrs. Gao, her expression showing no sign of softening.

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She had no idea what sins her son had committed in a past life to end up saddled with a monster like Gao Qingqing. Not only had she used Qi’an’s name to harm others, she had even framed him and tried to send him to prison simply because the Lu family had refused to marry into the Gao family!

If she could not have something, she had to destroy it. If that was not madness, then what was?

Had the old master not suppressed the matter back then, unwilling to let things become too ugly, Gao Qingqing would never have been allowed to return after merely spending five years abroad!

“Of course we can,” Mrs. Gao said. “Mrs. Lu, I have something to attend to. I’ll see you next time!”

With that, Mrs. Gao hurried away.

Watching her retreating figure, Qin Miaoyu recalled what Mrs. Lu had just said. Her instincts told her that there was more to the matter. After all, when Lu Qi’an had mentioned it before, he had also seemed reluctant to speak. But since everyone was so guarded about the subject, she had no intention of probing any further.

“Miaoyu, the next time you run into Mrs. Gao, don’t pay any attention to whatever she says. If anyone from the Gao family seeks you out, ignore them as well. Tell Qi’an, and let him handle it.”

Qin Miaoyu nodded. “All right.”

Xia Yun did not say anything more about the Gao family before the Lu family driver arrived.

After watching Xia Yun leave in the Lu family car, Qin Miaoyu got into Lu Qi’an’s vehicle as well.

After driving Qin Miaoyu home, Lu Qi’an did not start the car immediately. Instead, he called Gu Feng and asked him to have someone investigate Gao Qingqing’s current situation.

When he had forced Gao Qingqing to go abroad all those years ago, Lu Qi’an certainly had not intended to give her a change of scenery and let her enjoy herself.

He had demanded that the Gao family provide Gao Qingqing with no financial assistance, forcing her to “support herself” in a foreign land.

Of course, the phrase “support herself” could only be a joke when applied to Gao Qingqing. That was precisely Lu Qi’an’s intention. For that reason, he had even arranged for someone to keep watch over Gao Qingqing for nearly two years. Once he confirmed that the Gao family had offered her no financial support, he stopped paying attention to what was happening there.

As a result, he had no idea what state Gao Qingqing was in now.

But judging from Mrs. Gao’s attitude today, she was clearly eager to bring Gao Qingqing home. Still, December would be the point at which the five years were truly complete.

December was not far away, however, so he had to make preparations in advance. At the very least, if Gao Qingqing tried to do anything else, he had to crush it before it could get out of hand.

On Monday morning, Qin Miaoyu received some news from Xu Xiaoqi: the fish had taken the bait.

“It was the same account as last time. I remembered the matter yesterday and went to check it, but I never expected to see that the other party had uploaded a new video. The wedding venue shown in it was arranged exactly like the design rendering we had previously produced!”

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“Can you confirm that it was leaked to Chen Xuanyu through Deng Huanhuan?”

“It’s confirmed. Following the account, we can also establish that the people behind it are connected to Chen Xuanyu. As long as we obtain conclusive evidence, the matter will be settled once and for all!”

Qin Miaoyu nodded. “Handle it as you see fit. Once you have the evidence, dismiss him immediately. Then hold an all-staff meeting to explain the matter and see how Deng Huanhuan responds. If she refuses to cooperate, let the two of them leave together.”

Three days later, the all-staff meeting Qin Miaoyu had mentioned was held in the studio’s largest conference room.

People arrived one after another, gathering in groups of three or five and exchanging whispers, all curious as to why such a sudden meeting had been called.

The moment the meeting began, Deng Huanhuan raised an objection and interrupted Xu Xiaoqi.

“Isn’t this supposed to be an all-staff meeting? Chen and the others aren’t here yet. Shouldn’t we wait until everyone has arrived?”

Xu Xiaoqi immediately turned to her and enunciated each word. “Everyone is here except the personnel manager, who is still out handling a matter.”

Deng Huanhuan curled her lips. “But Chen Xuanyu still hasn’t arrived. How can you say everyone is here? At least wait until everyone arrives before starting the meeting.”

“Don’t be in such a hurry. This meeting concerns Chen Xuanyu.”

At those words, Deng Huanhuan fell silent. For some reason, she had a very bad feeling.

As it turned out, her intuition was remarkably accurate. She simply had not understood what she was hearing.

What did they mean, Chen Xuanyu had leaked the company’s confidential information?

She murmured, “How could that be?”

Xu Xiaoqi, speaking from the front of the room, could not hear her. Amid the murmurs below, he continued explaining what Chen Xuanyu had done.

It was only by following the trail of the account that Xu Xiaoqi discovered Chen Xuanyu’s actions had extended far beyond this one incident.

The matter involving the wedding company earlier had actually been orchestrated by Chen Xuanyu himself. In the end, his uninformed superior had even sent him to make contact on-site. Under such circumstances, how could the truth possibly have been uncovered at the time?

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