Lin Wan stayed at Wang Leqinâs house until noon, and it was Yang Wei who cooked for them when he came back from training. Honestly, finding the right person is the most important thing in a lifetime, but life is full of collisions and surprisesâthere are not that many perfect matches in the vast world.
After eating at Wang Leqinâs, Lin Wan went straight back to Momâs place, where Saozi was doing laundry.
"Perfect timing, we can go over later, have you eaten?"
"Yes, I ate at Leqinâs house. Saozi, is the design over there ready? Are they about to start development?"
"Yes, thatâs what I think, to develop it quickly and get it open, catching the early wave."
"Thatâs true, if this project gets completed, it will be a major entertainment venue for us. It will surely attract a lot of people." A hot spring resort hotel will stimulate quite a bit of consumer spending.
"Second Uncle said that once this project is developed, it will boost the economy of Z City. Currently, our Z City is actively attracting investments, with several big real estate developers coming to develop residential and commercial properties this year. Workersâ wages have also increased significantly. Z City will surely develop better in the future."
"Hmm." This incident she certainly knew of; she had already experienced it in her past life.
In the afternoon, Lin Wan and Saozi went over to Ying Han to take a look at the plans. There wasnât much to critique; only a few minor changes were made, and it was finalized right away.
After leaving Ying Han, Lin Wan went home directly, as the kids were about to be released from school; she needed to rush back.
However, that night, something happened at the family house.
Saozi separated from her after work was almost over and it was pretty close to her brotherâs workplace, so she drove over to pick him up, wanting to give him a surprise. She waited for ten minutes; just as work was about to end, Saozi was about to get out of the car to fetch him, and unexpectedly saw a woman and her brother entangled at the entrance.
Saozi thought it was a fight, quickly went up and asked, "Whatâs going on?"
The woman replied, "Whatâs it to you? Weâre having a coupleâs argument." Her hand still holding onto Lin Yinghuiâs arm.
That sentence lit a fire in Saozi; she went up and slapped the woman without even looking at her brother, turned her head, and walked away.
The woman was stunned by the slap, standing there dazed for quite a while. Brother was also confused by Saoziâs sudden action, watching his wife drive away. By the time he came to his senses and tried to chase after her, it was too late.
Brother rushed home but didnât see Saozi anywhere, didnât know where she had gone, checked several places and couldnât find her, Saozi never returned home that night.
When Mom and Dad came home, saw the situation, and knew the couple had quarreled but didnât know the reason. They asked Brother, but he didnât say. Mu Qing didnât return for the night, and didnât go back to her family; no one was at the hotel either, no clue where she went. Brother realized the seriousness, quickly called Lin Wan.
Lin Wan only found out by noon and quickly rushed to the family home.
"Brother, did you really..."
"Xiao Wan, I truly didnât, but honestly, I canât explain this to Saozi. That time the company had a gathering outside for two days; we had a bit too much that night, and I was completely dazed, couldnât remember how I got back to the room. I woke up the next day to find her asleep next to me... But I didnât do anything with her; Iâm sure of that. That woman clearly wants to stick to me. I was afraid Saozi would get angry finding out, so I kept quiet. Yet that woman stuck to me after the event, demanded responsibility, used the event to extort money from me, constantly asking for money ever since."
Lin Wan frowned, "Brother, is this true? You really didnât do anything?"
"Free, absolutely free; I even pressed her hard once, and she admitted nothing happened, but later changed her tune. Sheâs now stubbornly claiming we had relations."
"Regardless of whether it happened, you shouldnât have hidden it when it happened. Did you give her money?"
"Yes, gave her once, gave her a thousand."
Lin Wan was frustrated, wanted to hit him; how could he compromise in such a matter? A first time would lead to a second time; this woman clearly wanted to extort him, no amount would satisfy her.
"Brother, how could you make such a simple mistake."
"If I had known her ill intentions, I wouldnât have given her money in the first place." Lin Yinghui was also very worried; he was facing such a situation for the first time and just wanted to keep the peace, didnât anticipate Qingqing finding out after all.
"Now donât panic; we need to find Saozi first. Brother, youâve lived together for so many years, donât you know where Saozi might go?"
"She doesnât usually go out much, rarely visits her family, usually just goes from work to home. She has few friends." Lin Yinghui realized how routine Mu Qingâs life wasâshe had a straightforward lifestyle, and apart from the two good friends she got acquainted with while in the army in Z City, she stayed in touch with no one; he went to check with them this morning, but Mu Qing wasnât there.
He had no idea where Mu Qing could be; they never experienced anything like this before, and Mu Qing had never stayed out overnight. Lin Yinghui grew increasingly worried.
"Brother, check the nearby inns and hotels, Iâll look around the places Saozi often visits. We must find Saozi as soon as possible. When sheâs back, explain things to her properly."
"Alright."
The siblings drove around the city, Lin Wan checked several places but couldnât think of where Saozi might be, eventually decided to try their luck at the development site.
As soon as they arrived, they saw Saoziâs car parked by the roadside; Lin Wan quickly got out to check, finding Saozi slumped over the steering wheel in a daze, eyes redâobviously sheâd been crying.
Lin Wan sighed, got into the passenger seat, sat with Mu Qing for a while, then finally spoke, "Saozi, Brother is almost frantic looking for you at home, very worried."
"Is he planning to divorce me?" Mu Qing sat up, staring ahead and questioning.
"Saozi, my brother cares about you so much, he wouldnât dream of divorcing you. Besides, you two have Tuantuan. I asked about it; Brother said he truly has nothing with that woman."
"Xiao Wan, donât lie to me. I saw it with my own eyes yesterday, your brother and that woman were tangled up closelyâwho knows what would happen if I hadnât shown up." Mu Qing muttered to herself, mocking with a chuckle.
"Saozi, it was probably the woman pulling my brother along."
"...."
Lin Wan saw Saozi not speaking, knowing she was right, quickly said, "My brother explained to me today, he said there was a company trip that night, and he drank too much, completely lost his senses."
"So, he indulged in drunken behavior and engaged with her?" Mu Qing scornfully chuckled, "These are all excuses, probably welcomed her intentions... I pondered the whole night yesterday; theyâve been married almost ten years, Tuantuan is eight now. Friends say men get tired of seeing the same woman for a long time. I snorted at those claims, didnât believe them, often praised how good your brother is to me in front of them. But now, itâs all a joke." Tears brimmed Mu Qingâs eyes; she was scared to lose him, trembling to face the reality alone. "Xiao Wan, weâve relied on each other since college; I canât bear to lose him. So Iâm tip-toeing around at home cautiously, yet it still ended up like this. Iâm terrified of facing this, afraid to hear what I donât want to hear, becoming alone, unsure of what to do."
"Saozi, youâre overthinking. You know my brother well, heâs cherished you all these years; whenever youâre around, his eyes are glued to you. Heâs truly unconnected to that woman; when the woman saw him drunk, she had twisted intentions, climbed into his bed while he was unconscious. My brother said nothing happened that night; he was like a dead pig from all the drinking, incapable of anything... And my brother genuinely has no relations with her. Please trust him; initially, the woman wanted him to divorce you and marry her, but Brother didnât agree. Under his pressing questions, she confessed nothing happened between them, but changed her tune later, threatening my brother for money."
"How can it be? With a woman lying beside him, how could he have no reaction?" Mu Qing was indeed swayed but feared it might be false.
"Really, my brother said he can sense whether anything happenedâtruly nothing, but the woman continually clings to him, demanding money. Brother foolishly didnât want complications, fearing misunderstandings if you knew, thus kept quietâbut it couldnât stay hidden. Brother eventually agreed to appease things, gave the woman a thousand."
"Is he an idiot? Clearly, she wants to take advantage, trap him as a sucker." Mu Qing was furious at hearing Lin Yinghui paid the woman; she gritted her teeth.
"Exactly, I almost beat Brother when I found out. You say heâs usually sharp yet muddled in this; the first time would invite a second. That woman obviously has an ulterior motive." Lin Wan spotted Saozi leaning toward her brother, quickly urged.
"Such a woman, sneaking into someoneâs bed at night, canât be up to any good. Heâs foolish for not addressing it immediatelyânow stuck following some womanâs lead around, none as dumb as him. Such pigheadedness."