Yu He wanted to hang up, but then she remembered what Fei Luoyide had said about his condition and felt a pang of sympathy.
Besides, she actually missed him a little.
But the moment she thought about how he had altered her memories without her consent to stop her from investigating her adoptive father, Yu He's resolve hardened.
"Is there something you need?" she asked, her tone cool.
Hearing her voice, Qin Beiting's heart ached with longing, but her indifferent tone pained him.
"I miss you..."
"If there's nothing else, I'm hanging up," Yu He interrupted him coldly.
She didn't want to hear his sweet words anymore; she had been deceived twice!
"Did you ask Li Sichen to investigate the photo?" Qin Beiting asked hurriedly.
Yu He was not surprised by his well-informed nature. "So?"
"Actually, you..."
Yu He guessed what he was going to say and cut him off. "You want me to ask you for help, don't you?"
Qin Beiting faltered. Yu He had asked him for help before, and he had done it, but out of personal motives, he hadn't mentioned it.
"I'm sorry..."
"Hanging up."
Qin Beiting quickly said, "Wait, darling. Wait until I get back to the country, and I'll take you to visit Sixth Brother, okay?"
"..."
That scoundrel, going abroad and still trying to control her!
"Get well soon. I'm going to sleep," Yu He said, and hung up the phone.
She fell onto the bed, burying her face deeply into the pillow. The little piggy seemed to sense her distress and jumped onto the bed, nudging her face with its snout.
The towel wrapped around her hair came undone, and her damp, long hair fell around her, sticking uncomfortably to her skin.
Her hair was thick and long, and it took a long time to dry, so Yu He didn't like blow-drying it. She would just wrap it in a towel after washing and let it air dry.
Later, after she got together with Qin Beiting, he worried that doing this for too long would give her headaches. Every time she washed her hair, he would patiently help her blow-dry it.
Realizing she had inadvertently thought of Qin Beiting again, Yu He quickly shook the thought away, got up, blow-dried her hair, and then went to sleep with the little piggy.
Meanwhile.
Seeing that Yu He hadn't agreed to his request but hadn't refused either, Qin Beiting felt a glimmer of hope.
The thought of seeing the young lady again once he returned to the country cheered him up considerably.
He returned to the house from the courtyard and handed the phone back to Chen Dong, his gaze still fixed on the device.
Chen Dong felt as if he were holding a hot potato. What was going on with his boss?
For the past two days, his boss had been trying to contact Yu He through various means but hadn't succeeded. It was only now, by chance, that his phone had connected to Yu He's.
Given the boss's obsessive possessiveness, could he possibly think that he and Yu He had something going on?
Otherwise, why would his boss be staring at his phone like that?!
The thought made Chen Dong hurriedly explain, "Brother Ting, Sister-in-law and I are innocent!"
Qin Beiting:?
"Besides necessary work-related contact, I have no other contact with Sister-in-law," Chen Dong added.
Qin Beiting: "..."
Qin Beiting: "Take a look in the mirror when you have time, and you'll understand why you're still single."
Chen Dong: "..."
He wasn't very smart, but he could tell that his boss was looking down on him for being ugly!
How was he ugly?!
He just couldn't compare to his boss's unbelievably handsome face, but he wasn't ugly!
Plenty of girls chased after him!
If it weren't for his busy work schedule, would he still be single?
Never mind, as long as his boss didn't bizarrely add him to the list of rivals and treat him like a devil, he could say whatever he wanted.
"Then why did Sister-in-law only answer Chen Dong's call?" Qi Nan, who was standing nearby, asked in confusion.
Chen Dong felt Qin Beiting's icy gaze shift from the phone to him and his hair stood on end. He quickly explained, "Maybe she accidentally tapped it? Sister-in-law and I are really innocent..."
Before he could finish speaking, Qin Beiting took the phone from his hand again.
Thinking he was going to check his phone records, Chen Dong quickly said, "You can look at all our chat records."
Qin Beiting: "..."
Who had that much free time to check his chat records.
Qin Beiting: "This phone is being requisitioned. Get a new one, and I'll reimburse you for the cost."
This was the only way he could currently contact Yu He.
Seeing that it was only a requisition, Chen Dong breathed a sigh of relief. As long as his boss didn't misunderstand, he wouldn't mind getting a new SIM card, let alone ten!
---
In the blink of an eye, it was the day of the Huang family's grand celebration for their fiftieth birthday.
Early that morning, Yu He received a call from Yang Lin: "Miss Yu, we start our operation today. We'll meet at ten o'clock at the Emperor One Hotel banquet venue. Follow instructions then."
He only stated the meeting location and time, but not the matter of the invitation.
Anyone with a modicum of intelligence would know that the Emperor One Hotel was not open to the public today, and ordinary people without an invitation couldn't get in. The Huang family had also cleverly withheld an invitation from her.
They wanted to make her look foolish in front of everyone.
Yu He's lips curled into a cold smile. "Okay."
She was eager to see what tricks the Huang family had prepared for her.
After hanging up, Yu He found a treasured photo in her phone album: a group picture taken with her adoptive parents when she was a child.
Looking at her adoptive mother's face in the photo, she took a deep breath and murmured, "Today, I will bring the killer who caused your death to justice."
Then, she took a specially prepared evening gown from her wardrobe, put it on, and took out her lucky pearl bracelet from the drawer.
As soon as she put it on, she realized it wasn't a gift from her adoptive mother but from Qin Beiting.
She hesitated for a moment, but ultimately decided not to take it off and wore it out.
Meanwhile.
The Huang family woke up early and had professional stylists do her hair and makeup. She also specifically chose a golden, modified phoenix robe and wore expensive jewelry and golden hairpins, giving the impression of a queen's coronation ceremony on the red carpet at the Emperor One Hotel.
"Fourth Madam, may your longevity be as boundless as the southern mountains. Wishing you many happy returns of this day, year after year."
"Fourth Madam, happy birthday. You are truly beautiful."
"This phoenix robe makes you look so prosperous and noble, with an air of regal dignity."
"As expected of the mistress of the Qin family, so grand."
...
The guests showered the Huang family with praise, which made her heart swell with satisfaction, especially the title of "mistress of the Qin family," which made her feel ecstatic.
What she had always desired was to be the matriarch of the Qin family.
Seeing their misunderstanding, the Huang family did not explain, and responded with a beaming smile, "Thank you, thank you."
"Mom, Fourth Aunt is being too disrespectful to you and Second Madam," Qin Xinhong said indignantly as she stepped out of the car, linking arms with Song Shi. Seeing the Huang family dressed to the nines and greeting guests at the entrance, she was furious.
Although the Qin family was wealthy, their family tradition had always been frugal and not wasteful. The elders and the mistress of the house had set an example, and in previous years, their birthdays were celebrated with more discretion, not with the ostentatious display of the Huang family.
Song Shi knew exactly what the Huang family was scheming: to pass off as the true mistress of the Qin family, making the prominent families of the country mistakenly believe she held that position.
But the false would never become real.