It was already late into the night when Zhou Qin woke up from a nightmare, her body drenched in cold sweat. She sat up abruptly.
Turning her head, she found that the space beside her was empty.
She felt that this was more like a nightmare.
She put on a coat and began searching for him. She saw the light spilling through the crack under the door of the study, and the person was still there…
She suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.
This time, she didn’t approach nor was she curious about whose photos Ling Qingzhou was looking at inside. She turned and went back to the bedroom.
Inside the study, Ling Qingzhou wasn’t looking at photos at all.
What was the point of photos now that the person had returned?
He was flipping through the company’s financial report for the last quarter. Like Yi Hansheng, he wanted to quickly get this 150 million yuan.
Not to mention revenge on Fang Ye, he was happy to see it happen. Just the fact that Jiang Fuyue had personally requested it meant he couldn’t refuse.
Moreover, if everything went according to plan, this would yield a much higher return than a normal investment!
There was no need for any guarantee. Lou Mingyue herself was the biggest guarantee.
That night, Ling Qingzhou stayed up all night.
As dawn broke, he finally shut down the computer.
Standing by the floor-to-ceiling window, watching the red sun break free from the clouds and rise higher, he felt an inexplicable excitement and ambition stir inside him.
In the past twenty years, this kind of emotion had only appeared when the company went public on the Nasdaq, signaling the moment the bell rang.
Then, there was yesterday…
When he stood outside the tea room and heard Jiang Fuyue admit that she was Lou Mingyue, his heart seemed to stop, and his breath slowed down.
She was still alive!
This realization nearly brought tears of joy to the big man.
Ling Qingzhou accepted it faster than Yi Hansheng, even though he had already noticed the “strangeness” of the situation, such as Jiang Fuyue’s current age, appearance, origin, and background all having been entirely replaced with someone else’s.
But he didn’t ask. He didn’t even bring it up.
Because—none of these anomalies mattered in the face of life and death. The fact that she was alive was the best thing, no matter what form, method, or will it took.
As long as she was alive!
Ling Qingzhou laid down in the bedroom and soon fell into a deep sleep.
As soon as the man pushed the door open, Zhou Qin woke up.
Or rather, she hadn’t really slept at all.
But she still mustered the energy, got up, and made breakfast for her son.
Originally, these things were handled by the maid, but since she couldn’t fall back asleep, she figured it was better to find something to do instead of lying around.
Anything to avoid overthinking.
Ling Xuan: “Mom, did you sleep well?”
Zhou Qin was taken aback but nodded, “The wind was too strong last night, and the branches were rattling. I woke up a few times.”
“Have the butler send someone to trim the trees. After removing the extra branches, it will be much quieter.”
“Alright. Hurry up and eat, or we’ll be late.”
“Where’s Dad?”
Zhou Qin: “He’s still asleep.”
Ling Xuan was surprised: “Doesn’t he need to go to the company today?”
“He shouldn’t need to, no.”
“Oh.” Ling Xuan seemed to ponder for a moment.
For 365 days a year, except for the few days during the New Year, Ling Qingzhou always goes to the company without fail.
Today was unusual!
But he didn’t dwell on it. After finishing breakfast, he got into the car.
The driver drove them to school.
On the way—
“Uncle Liu, what time did my dad get home last night?”
Uncle Liu responded with a slight surprise: “It was almost midnight.”
“Midnight?”
Uncle Liu’s gaze flickered as he hesitantly added: “Yeah, it was pretty late…”
How could he dare mention that the boss had come out of the teahouse with a young woman? Though Yi Hansheng from the Yi Group was there too, the closeness between the two seemed more than ordinary in his eyes.
After all, he had been driving for Ling Qingzhou for over a decade, so he somewhat understood his temperament.
If it had been just some insignificant woman, the boss’s attention wouldn’t have lingered on her for even a second.
But the truth was, just before leaving last night, the boss had looked outside the window more than once and asked him to wait before driving away.
It wasn’t just a “second” of attention—it had been a full minute!
However, Old Liu couldn’t say a word.
The reason Mr. Ling had chosen him as his driver was partly because he was known to keep his mouth shut.
If he said anything, he’d lose his job, so he decided not to stir the pot.
It was common for wealthy men to have affairs; the rich families were all the same.
He, a salaried worker, should mind his own business.
……
A similar scene occurred in another car.
But this time, the driver brought it up: “Young master, you seem to be in a good mood today?”
Yici smirked: “I’m fine. What’s up?”
“Oh. President Yi came back quite late last night. I thought it would disturb your rest, so I almost booked him a hotel room.”
“Oh, I wasn’t asleep then. I was still in the living room.”
“I see… Did President Yi say where he went?”
“Yeah.”
Old Huang’s eyelids twitched.
The next second—
Yici: “He said he went to handle some business. I didn’t ask for the details because I couldn’t be bothered. Even if I did ask, it wouldn’t change anything, so why waste my breath?”
Old Huang looked at him in exasperation: Young master, you should really start paying attention! If you keep ignoring this, you might end up with a new stepmother soon!
At that moment, Yici suddenly looked up: “Old Huang, do you know where my dad went?”
“Uh…”
“Where did he go?”
“Uh…”
Seeing Old Huang’s hesitant look, Yici became intrigued: “He didn’t tell you to keep it from me, did he?”
“…Not exactly.”
“Well, then hurry up and tell me. Don’t mention the usual stuff.”
The “usual stuff” referred to things like attending a banquet, having a meeting, or playing mahjong.
Old Huang’s eye twitched: “This time it really isn’t the usual. President Yi had me pick up a girl from No. 1 High School…”
