The next morning.
Yu He, uncharacteristically, got up early without Qin Beiting having to urge her.
Qin Beiting was somewhat surprised. Yu He walked over, wrapped her arms around his neck, stood on tiptoe, and kissed his cheek. "Let me drive you to work. I can drop by the Ye family's place on the way."
"..."
Today, Qin Beiting was going to Xing Que, not Sheng Da Venture Capital, and it wasn't on the way.
But he had already decided to keep his identity from Yu He, and he would maintain the charade.
"Okay," he agreed.
So, after breakfast, Chen Dong drove them from the capital to Beishi. He first dropped Yu He off at the Ye family's residence, and then headed to Xing Que.
Yu He walked into the Ye family's courtyard. After a couple of steps, she turned back to see the car driving away, then turned around and left.
Ye Zizheng, carrying his schoolbag and yawning, came out of the house. He happened to see Yu He getting into the car at the courtyard gate, and his sleepiness vanished instantly.
"Sis..." he hurried over.
But Yu He didn't hear him and drove away.
"Zhengzheng, where are you going?" Cheng Lizhu came out and asked.
"I just saw my sister come back," Ye Zizheng said loudly.
Upon hearing this, Cheng Lizhu looked joyfully towards the gate. Ye Qichen and Ye Jianming, who were about to leave, also quickened their steps. Even Old Mrs. Ye quickly got up, with Cui Yi helping her to go out.
The entire family craned their necks in unison, looking towards the main gate.
However, there was no one at the gate.
"..."
"But she left again," Ye Zizheng explained.
"It's been over a month since April Fool's Day. Still playing these 'boy who cried wolf' games? How childish," Ye Qichen rolled his eyes at him.
"No! She really came back just now! If you don't believe me, I'll call her right now to prove it!"
As Ye Zizheng spoke, he took out his phone and called Yu He.
He dialed three times, but none of the calls went through.
Ye Zizheng: "..."
"If you're lying, I'm deducting your allowance! Break it up, break it up, everyone go back to what you were doing." Ye Qichen waved his hand, clearly not believing him.
Ye Zizheng was speechless, "No, I didn't! I'm telling the truth!"
But no one believed him. Veins pulsed on his forehead, "I will definitely prove I wasn't lying!"
—
Coffee shop.
Yu He had arranged to meet Chen Hao. She told him the clues provided by Qin Xinhong yesterday and showed him the recorded video.
"Qin Yonghao?" Chen Hao frowned. "He's currently the CEO of Qin Corporation's headquarters. Without concrete evidence, we can't directly summon him for questioning. We need to continue investigating and find irrefutable proof."
Yu He agreed, "Qin Xinhong seems to care a lot about her child, so she probably wouldn't lie. However, we can't be 100% sure of her words. We can only say that she understands the case better than we initially thought."
"Yes. You've alerted them now. From now on, don't act rashly. Leave any matters to me," Chen Hao said.
"Okay." Yu He nodded. "Have you made any progress on your end during this time?"
Chen Hao shook his head, "Not yet. They're quite cautious. Since Qin Meimei was silenced, there's been no activity.
"However, the clue you just provided is quite useful. If they're not making a move, we can create some commotion to lure the snake out of its hole."
Yu He had the same intention. She looked at him, and they shared a smile.
After leaving the coffee shop, Yu He finally saw the barrage of messages from Ye Zizheng.
Ye Zizheng: 【Did you come home? I saw you!】
【Where are you? Why aren't you answering my calls!】
【Answer the phone!】
【Are you going to die if you answer the phone?】
【If you don't reply, I'm breaking off our friendship!】
【We're really breaking up!】
【Goodbye!】
Yu He: ???
Yu He: 【I was busy just now and didn't see. Mm, I'm back.】
Kaiwei Academy, First Year, Class One.
The homeroom teacher was giving a lecture. Ye Zizheng, sitting in the middle row, heard his phone vibrate. He took it out and suddenly stood up, interrupting the teacher.
"Ye Zizheng, what are you doing?!" the teacher asked sternly.
"Teacher, I don't feel well. I need to take leave and go home." Ye Zizheng finished speaking and, without waiting for the teacher's reply, grabbed his phone and ran out of the classroom.
Then, he slipped past the security guard and ran out of the school like the wind, taking a car home.
On the way, he screenshotted Yu He's reply and sent it to the family group chat.
Ye Zizheng: 【/Image. Look, look, I wasn't lying!】
Five minutes passed, and no one replied.
He tagged everyone.
The taxi reached the Ye family's house, and still, no one replied.
Ye Zizheng: "..."
It wasn't until he stepped into the house and saw everyone clustered around Yu He that he understood: Oh, they were too busy to bother with him.
"Aren't you supposed to be in class? Why are you back?" Yu He was the first to notice Ye Zizheng at the door.
"I can come back whenever I want! What's it to you! Didn't Dad and my brothers skip work to come back too!" Ye Zizheng said displeased.
Yu He found his stubborn pride somewhat endearing. She beckoned him over, "Come here."
"Like I'm some dog being walked!" Ye Zizheng grumbled, but he still shuffled over.
Yu He took a gift bag from behind him. "I brought you a present."
Ye Zizheng's eyes lit up. He took it immediately; it was quite heavy.
This was the first time his sister had brought him a proper gift. His anger from earlier instantly vanished.
"For the sake of the gift, I won't break off our friendship for now."
He said this and happily opened the gift bag. Inside were four books: Java, C++, Perl, and Lisp, all programming language books for hacking.
Ye Zizheng: "..."
What was this for?
He hadn't even finished the last one yet!
...
Yu He had other things to attend to in the afternoon. The family happily had breakfast together.
At half-past eleven, Yu He packed some food in a lunchbox and took a taxi to Sheng Da Venture Capital.
Liu Wei was just coming out of the president's elevator when he saw Yu He walking in. His eyes widened, and he immediately pulled out his phone and made a call.
"Seventh Master, Miss Yu is here at the company!"
Qin Beiting was handling official business at Xing Que. Upon hearing the phone call, he immediately got up. "Tell her I've gone out on an emergency and I'm not sure when I'll be back. Tell her to call me."
"Yes." Liu Wei hung up the phone and turned to see the receptionist already approaching Yu He.
"Miss Yu, are you here to see Seventh Master? Seventh Master he..."
"Miss Yu, what a coincidence, Seventh Master has gone out on an emergency," Liu Wei leaped forward to interrupt the receptionist, startling her.
"Mr. Liu."
Yu He looked at the person who had arrived in surprise. Recognizing him, she said, "It's fine, I'll wait for him upstairs."
She then said to the receptionist, "Could you please swipe an elevator card for me?"
Liu Wei immediately blocked their path and said tactfully, "Seventh Master might not be back today. Why don't you call him and ask?"
Yu He's brow furrowed slightly. She nodded, "Okay. I'll go up first."
Liu Wei feared that the more he stopped her, the more obvious it would be. He opened the way, and after Yu He entered the elevator, he immediately sent another message to Qin Beiting.
Yu He went up to Qin Beiting's office and sat at his desk, then called him.
"Ting Ge, I brought you lunch at the company. They said you went out. When will you be back?"
Qin Beiting glanced at the work schedule handed to him by Bei Ming. He had a meeting with the Ten Great Elders at two in the afternoon and couldn't get away at all.
"I won't be back at the company this afternoon. I'm sorry to have made you come all this way for nothing. I'll come to find you tonight."
Hearing that he wasn't coming back, Yu He reached for the power switch on his computer...