Nightfall arrived, and Ouyang Yan and Ou Beiyao reached an agreement with Mr. Jiu. Once their ship docked, the two of them would leave.
Ou Beiyao looked at Ou Beichen with a trace of melancholy in his expression:
"Xiao Chen, I’ll come pick you up later, alright? You’ll miss your brother, won’t you?"
Ou Beichen, uncharacteristically, glanced up at him before waving him away.
Ou Beiyao’s fragile heart... shattered into pieces. Holding back his frustration, he gritted his teeth and snapped at Qin Miaomiao:
"Woman, take care of my little brother."
"Alright, but don’t forget about the child support fees."
Ou Beiyao: ... He had never met anyone so obsessed with money!
Ou Beichen: "Brother, don’t try to skip out on paying."
Ou Beiyao suddenly felt the urge to claw at the nearest wall! His adorable Xiao Chen had been completely led astray. Does their family’s money mean nothing to him?
Once the two of them left, only Mr. Jiu, Lu Qing, and Ou Beichen remained. Three men, standing in a subtle triangular balance of power.
Mr. Jiu glanced at Lu Qing before beckoning to Qin Miaomiao:
"Little Jin’er, are you heading home, or back to Liyuan?"
Lu Qing’s gaze turned cold as he glanced over at her, his tone indifferent:
"Wife, are you going home, or back to Liyuan?"
Ou Beichen looked between Mr. Jiu and Lu Qing before decisively stating:
"Sister, wherever you go, I’ll go."
It seemed she had dug herself a massive hole, or perhaps even two. So, which pit should she jump into to avoid dying too miserably?
Looking at these three impossibly handsome faces, Qin Miaomiao didn’t feel the least bit captivated. Instead, her heart felt like it was being roasted over an open flame!
Go home? That would mean disrespecting Ninth Uncle. If she wanted to run away from home again in the future, he likely wouldn’t take her in.
Go to Liyuan? Knowing how petty Lu Qing was, there was no telling what kind of revenge he’d take afterward.
Her nerves were stretched to the brink! Swallowing hard, she finally made a difficult decision:
"Ninth Uncle, I’ll go to Liyuan with you."
Lu Qing’s eyes narrowed dangerously. Oh, how splendidly his wife had performed!
He would settle this score with her slowly, oh so very slowly, later on!
When she received a call from Fang Li, Qin Miaomiao had already been staying at Liyuan for three days. Lu Qing... was also staying there for three days.
During these few days, things on Fang Li’s side were unusually quiet, as if they didn’t even acknowledge Qin Miaomiao’s existence. To her, this was actually perfect—out of sight, out of mind.
But this time, Fang Li directly called her phone.
"Tell Lu Qing to come home."
"If I may ask, what’s the matter?"
Fang Li’s voice trembled slightly, as if suppressing an enormous emotional fluctuation. She spoke softly:
"Tell him... his father is back."
With that, she hung up the phone.
When Qin Miaomiao relayed the news to Lu Qing, his expression shifted slightly. A faint smirk of derision appeared on his lips:
Seeing the look on his face, Qin Miaomiao felt a bit unnerved. She asked cautiously: "So, will you go back?"
"Alright, let’s pack up and head over, then."
At the Lu Family home, Fang Li’s face was pale with anger. She leaned against Lu Lu for support, her expression complex as she looked at the middle-aged man before her.
The man’s features bore some resemblance to Lu Qing’s, though his expression carried traces of weariness. The lines at the corners of his eyes were deeper, and there was a nostalgic air about him. He looked like a deeply emotional husband as he said:
"Fang Li, I’ve finally made it back. Can’t your attitude be a little better?"
"Xiao Lu, have you missed your father? I didn’t expect you to have grown so big already."
Lu Lu’s expression was conflicted as she turned her head away. Faced with the sudden reappearance of her father after so many years, she didn’t feel excitement. Instead, there was a strange sense of fear.
Fang Li cried out, "Lu Xingfeng! Why have you come back? Didn’t you elope with your mistress? After so many years of ignoring the three of us, has your conscience been eaten by a dog?!"
Lu Xingfeng’s eyes flashed briefly with impatience. However, he suppressed the emotion and forced a smile onto his face:
"Xiao Li, I’m back now, aren’t I? I just wanted to see all of you."