Chapter 183: The Solution

At first, Qin Miaoyu was not used to it either, but in order to achieve her goal, she forced herself to adapt and finally managed to pull through step by step.

However, Qin Lianzhu was different from her; she lacked even the courage to break away from the Qin family, let alone stand on her own two feet.

Qin Miaoyu shrugged. "Then there is nothing I can do. See for yourself if there is any room for maneuver. I have said all I can, so think it over carefully."

Qin Miaoyu cleanly hung up the phone and stared blankly at the bookshelf.

Those days back then had truly been hard.

To become self-reliant, she had started taking on odd jobs. Her very first part-time job almost ended in a scam, but fortunately, she reacted quickly and fled immediately.

Later, realizing that one job could not earn her enough money, she spent the rest of her spare time working a second job while picking up freelance illustration commissions.

At the same time, to ensure her academic record remained impressive, she had to juggle her studies diligently.

Her life was completely crammed with studying and working, leaving her barely able to catch her breath, but fortunately, she managed to pull through it all in the end.

Qin Miaoyu was grateful that she had persevered back then, which gave her the courage to walk away without hesitation when the time came.

She would not end up like Qin Lianzhu now—clearly unable to accept her parents' arrangements, yet completely constrained by external dependencies.

What she had not expected, however, was that this Second Young Master Wang would surface once again, and this time, Qin Shengyi wanted to force Qin Lianzhu into marrying him.

On second thought, in Qin Shengyi's eyes, Qin Lianzhu and herself were actually no different at all. When push came to shove, they were merely tools he could use to barter for benefits, even though Qin Lianzhu had always been his favorite!

Thinking of the wretched-looking Second Young Master Wang, Qin Miaoyu decided to contact her second brother.

Liang Siyuan answered Qin Miaoyu's call immediately.

"Miaoyu, what's wrong?"

"Second Brother, help me look into someone."

Liang Siyuan did not know why Qin Miaoyu suddenly wanted to investigate someone, but he replied anyway, "Alright, tell me who."

"The second young master of the Wang family!"

***

Liang Siyuan knew this person!

When he was familiarizing himself with Qin Miaoyu's past experiences back then, he had learned that the Qin family had once tried to marry Qin Miaoyu off to Second Young Master Wang in exchange for favors.

Upon learning of this, Liang Siyuan had been furious.

However, that was two years ago; why was his younger sister suddenly digging into this matter again?

"Is the Qin family starting to pull some tricks again?" Liang Siyuan asked.

Shortly after, he heard Qin Miaoyu explain that the Qin family had reconnected with Second Young Master Wang, and this time they wanted to marry Qin Lianzhu off to him.

Liang Siyuan's already poor opinion of the Qin family plummeted even further. He knew that the Qin family's youngest daughter was adored by both parents, yet he had not expected them to treat their favorite daughter the same way.

"Fine, I'll look into this Second Young Master Wang. Is there anything else you need me to do regarding the Qin family?"

Liang Siyuan knew that since his younger sister had spoken up, she certainly didn't just want him to casually run a background check.

Qin Miaoyu pondered for a moment before instructing Liang Siyuan to first leak the details he uncovered about Second Young Master Wang to Qin Father and Qin Lianzhu.

They would decide their next move based on how Qin Father and Qin Lianzhu reacted.

If Qin Father remained obstinate and Qin Lianzhu failed to see the light, clinging stubbornly to the belief that her well-being depended entirely on the Qin family, then she would just let them reap what they sowed!

However, after Liang Siyuan passed the findings to Qin Father and Qin Lianzhu, there was no reaction from their side at all.

Qin Father clearly already knew what kind of person Second Young Master Wang was, so he cared not a whit about the disgraceful things the man had done, even when exposed by outsiders.

As for Qin Lianzhu, rumor had it that she went to make a scene with Liang Sixuan.

Qin Miaoyu had not initially known about Qin Lianzhu's reaction, but the commotion she kicked up had grown so large that by now, many people in Nancheng knew that the petty Qin family was trying to sell their daughter for glory, while Liang Sixuan, as a biological daughter of the Qin family, refused to extend a helping hand.

Even Liang Siyuan caught wind of it at a social gathering and relayed the story to Qin Miaoyu.

Yet, even with things stirred up to this extent, it had not the slightest impact on Qin Shengyi.

Qin Miaoyu was not surprised at all. Face-conscious though Qin Shengyi might be, when it came to the Qin family business, he was the kind of person who could throw his dignity onto the ground and stomp on it a few times over!

***

Furthermore, according to the intelligence her second brother had gathered, Second Young Master Wang was willing to inject a massive sum of money into the Qin family enterprise. Therefore, despite the raging gossip across the city, Qin Shengyi had no intention of abandoning his plan to marry Qin Lianzhu off to Second Young Master Wang.

What caught Qin Miaoyu off guard, however, was that Su Yaqing, who had always valued the Qin family's career far above anything else, actually came to her for help regarding Qin Lianzhu.

Qin Miaoyu was curious. "You don't care about the Qin family company anymore?"

"What does the Qin family company have to do with me? Your father isn't going to leave it to Lianzhu anyway. Once he eventually hands the family business over to that illegitimate son of his, neither Lianzhu nor I will have any foothold left in the Qin family!"

Why had Su Yaqing cared so much about the Qin family company in the past? Because she assumed Qin Shengyi only had the two daughters born to her, so no matter what happened in the future, the family business would inevitably fall into their hands. Thus, she wanted the company to thrive so she could enjoy the fruits of labor later in life.

But now, Qin Shengyi had an illegitimate son, and the woman from outside had actually moved into the household, brazenly displaying affection with Qin Shengyi right before her eyes.

To dare do such a thing meant she undoubtedly had Qin Shengyi's backing!

Now that she had lost both her dignity and her pride, what did the Qin family company matter to her anymore? It wouldn't even be passed down to her daughters in the end anyway!

"Don't you still hold a portion of the shares? The company isn't his to give away to whoever he pleases!"

Su Yaqing scoffed. "Holding these few shares is useless. With the Qin family in this state, if no one infuses capital, there is no future. As for Qin Shengyi wanting to rely on Lianzhu to save the company—in his dreams! At worst, the company goes bankrupt, and nobody gets to have a good time!"

Hearing this, Qin Miaoyu felt a twinge of heartache. Back when they wanted to force her into marriage with Second Young Master Wang, they certainly hadn't spoken like this...

She comforted herself by thinking that perhaps, since they lacked blood ties, Su Yaqing naturally lacked that innate, maternal tenderness toward her that she had for Qin Lianzhu.

Still, for Su Yaqing to think this way meant she at least possessed a shred of conscience.

Qin Miaoyu suggested, "Since you don't care about those shares in your hands, why not transfer them to someone else who wants them? The Qin family company still has several major shareholders holding substantial stakes. Who knows, maybe they might have some ideas?"

Upon hearing this, Su Yaqing fell into deep thought. This indeed sounded like a viable option!

Then she heard Qin Miaoyu continue, "If you want to make a thorough break with Qin Shengyi, the best course of action is to find a way to get a divorce and take Qin Lianzhu away. That way, Qin Shengyi won't be able to force Qin Lianzhu into marriage anymore. Of course, if you feel that leaving would let Qin Shengyi and Xu Xinrong off too easily, then pretend I said nothing."

Qin Miaoyu remembered a similar case involving another socialite whose husband's mistress had moved in with an illegitimate son. When sipping afternoon tea at the Qin residence, she had asked the other wives for their opinions, but Su Yaqing had insisted that if that wife walked away with her children, she would simply be letting the mistress and the illegitimate child off the hook.