Chapter 172: The True Identity Revealed

"Right, so you do know this Qin Miaoyu?" Julia asked, though deep down she was already certain that Lu Qi'an definitely knew her!

Lu Qi'an did not answer. Instead, he asked, "Let's talk about this Qiong first. She's from Jingsheng, and her Chinese name is Qiong?"

Julia waved her hand. "Qiong is her English name. As for her Chinese name, I have no idea."

"She isn't your friend? She never told you her real name?"

"Real name? She might have mentioned it, but people speak the same language in Country Y and Country W, and we never use Chinese names there. Even if she told me, I've forgotten."

"Country Y?"

Gao Qingqing was in Country Y!

"Let me see a picture of your friend!"

Hearing the severity in Lu Qi'an's tone, Julia suddenly had a bad feeling. She took out her phone and flipped through it until she found a photo of Qiong.

Lu Qi'an took the phone from Julia and looked at it. The other woman in the picture wore heavy, thick smokey-eye makeup, making her rather hard to recognize, but in one of the photos where she wore barely any makeup, the face was unmistakably that of Gao Qingqing!

Lu Qi'an called in Gu Feng and told him to investigate recent activities involving the Gao family.

"Lu Qi'an, what on earth is going on?"

Lu Qi'an glanced at Julia. "Julia, use your brain sometimes. Before you do anything, at least make sure other people aren't lying to you!"

Julia instantly understood what Lu Qi'an meant. "You're saying Qiong lied to me? Impossible, how would she dare lie to me?"

"Why wouldn't she dare? She's got plenty of nerve! Do you know who she is?"

"Who?"

"Gao Qingqing."

Julia's pupils constricted slightly. "It's actually her!"

Julia knew the name Gao Qingqing because Lu Qi'an had once used her as an excuse to turn her down, claiming he had been spooked by someone's extreme behavior and didn't want to date anyone for a short while.

She hadn't believed it at first, and only relented after Lu Qi'an explained the details to her.

Qiong turned out to be Gao Qingqing? Then all these years they had known each other...

"So, the boyfriend she kept talking about who treated her so well—was it you?"

Lu Qi'an's face darkened. "That was just her delusion! I've never dated her!"

Julia asked again, "Then that Qin Miaoyu—is she your wife?"

Julia had only recently learned about Lu Qi'an's marriage when her brother mentioned the news to her.

Initially, she had wanted to ask her brother for details or have someone look into it herself, but upon hearing her brother speak so highly of the woman, she gave up. After all, whether Lu Qi'an was taken or not had nothing to do with her anymore.

Lu Qi'an nodded with a smile. "Yes!"

Thinking of Qin Miaoyu, Julia realized she was a completely different sort of person compared to herself...

Lu Qi'an didn't tell Julia all this just to inform her about the situation.

"Julia, think about it yourself. Gao Qingqing fabricated a story to deceive you because she wanted to use you to achieve her own goals! Don't be so foolish in the future!"

Julia leaned back weakly against the chair. No wonder earlier, when Qiong heard she was coming to the Lu Corporation, she hurriedly said she wouldn't come—she must have been afraid Lu Qi'an would recognize her. After all, according to the schedule, she shouldn't have been able to return yet!

The more Julia thought about it, the angrier she became!

No wonder Qiong had kept pushing her to take a private jet over—she just wanted to use her to evade something! And she had lied, making a fool of herself to fight battles for someone else, only to find out the reality was completely different from what she had been told!

At noon, Qin Miaoyu received an unexpected phone call.

It was from the Qin family, and it was placed by Qin Shengyi himself.

Qin Miaoyu hadn't intended to answer, but she accidentally brushed the accept button.

As soon as the call connected, Qin Shengyi's voice immediately came through.

"Miaoyu, it's me. It's Dad."

Qin Miaoyu sneered. "Don't. I wouldn't dare claim that relation. What do you want?"

Qin Shengyi coaxed from the other end, "Why wouldn't you dare? Over twenty years of father-daughter affection—how could you not dare?"

Qin Miaoyu was losing her patience. Qin Shengyi hadn't called her in ages, and suddenly calling out of the blue meant he definitely had an agenda.

"State your business if you have any. Don't waste my time, or I'm hanging up!"

"No, no, no. Dad's saying—Dad heard that your husband is Lu Qi'an from the Jingsheng Lu family?"

Hearing him call himself "Dad" over and over again felt utterly bizarre to Qin Miaoyu. Ever since she could remember, she had always addressed Qin Shengyi as "Father" and had never once called him "Dad." He was probably asking a favor, which explained why he had adopted such an uncharacteristically strange and ingratiating term of address.

And Qin Shengyi—did he really think that softening his tone would make her let bygones be bygones?

"What on earth do you want to say?"

"Well, it's just that the Qin family's company has run into a bit of trouble recently. Dad was thinking, since Lu Qi'an is the Qin family's son-in-law, helping out is just a minor matter, isn't it? It would be no more than a flick of the wrist for them. So, could you maybe speak to your husband about this?"

Qin Miaoyu actually laughed out loud. "Speak to him about what? Tell him the Qin family's company is in trouble and ask him to see if he wants to buy it out?"

"You—" Qin Shengyi swallowed the second half of his sentence, remembering Qin Miaoyu's current status, and continued, "Miaoyu, the Qin family raised and provided for you for over twenty years, didn't they? Can't you even help out with this?"

Qin Miaoyu asked, "Liang Sixuan is your biological daughter. Why aren't you going to her instead of me?"

Mentioning this topic made Qin Shengyi furious!

"As expected, children you don't raise yourself have no affection at all! When I talk to her about things like this, she completely ignores me. What's more, the Liang family is on the verge of collapse, her husband is in prison, and when your mother went to see her last time, she cursed your mother right out of the house!"

Hearing this, Qin Miaoyu found it thoroughly gratifying. "Didn't you guys use to grovel all over Liang Sixuan? She's your biological daughter after all, don't be so harsh on her!"

Qin Shengyi said with anger in his voice, "We aren't being harsh! It's just that she turns a blind eye to the Qin family's troubles, which is utterly infuriating! She never thinks about how, if the Qin family does well, she'll have something to lean on too!"

Qin Miaoyu offered a suggestion. "How about this? Actually, it's very simple if you want Liang Sixuan to help. Just tell her straight out that the Qin family will have a share for her in the future, and she'll undoubtedly put her heart and soul into it!"

Qin Shengyi's sudden silence came entirely within Qin Miaoyu's expectations.

Back when his illegitimate son was still very young, he had never considered letting her or Qin Lianzhu inherit the business. Now that the illegitimate son was around ten years old, it was even less likely he would ever give anything belonging to the Qin family to someone he regarded as 'damaged goods.'

After a long while, Qin Shengyi's voice finally came through the phone.

"Miaoyu, consider it Dad begging you. Please help out. The Qin family raised you for so long, after all—this isn't too much to ask, is it?"

Qin Miaoyu still laughed. "Is it too much? Have you forgotten? I was long ago removed from the Qin family's household registry. Back then, when you only acknowledged Liang Sixuan, you found me an eyesore. Now that you need a favor, you suddenly remember I exist?"