A beep sounded in Xia Qingtian's mind.
"The Chosen One System has been activated.
Choose a: Single-handedly prevent the accident and save the Xia family's reputation, rewarding information on the Xia family's traitor and Xia family shares.
Choose b: Seek help from Mr. Gu, using external forces to prevent the accident, rewarding a secret truth."
Seek help from Mr. Gu?
Xia Qingtian felt she wasn't that familiar with Mr. Gu. Rather than asking for his help, she'd rather ask for Mobius's assistance.
Moreover, this matter might involve the Xia family's business secrets. Approaching someone from another company for help could introduce another layer of danger.
Xia Qingtian resolutely chose a.
The dismissal bell rang. Li Xiaoxiao leaned in and said, "Qingtian, want to go see a movie tomorrow? We finally have a whole day without classes, let's go have some fun~"
"No, I have some things to attend to," Xia Qingtian smiled and shook her head. "You go ahead and watch it. Remember to tell me if it's good after you're done."
She had to go to the Xia family this weekend.
"Alright," Li Xiaoxiao propped her chin and said, "I was thinking of introducing you to my younger brother tomorrow. He has a competition tomorrow morning and will be resting in the afternoon."
"You have a brother?" Xia Qingtian hadn't known this.
"He just started high school this year, but he's a bit too mature for his age and has these dead fish eyes. His grades are quite good though. Whether it's school rankings or city rankings, in all sorts of competitions, he always comes in second. Pretty amazing, right?" Li Xiaoxiao laughed heartily. "He's also the second child in my family, always second place, hahahaha! I think his name wasn't chosen well. Li Xiaozhong, doesn't that sound like 'Second Child Li'!"
"It's quite impressive to always come in second," Xia Qingtian said. Then, she suddenly remembered something and grabbed Li Xiaoxiao's arm, asking, "What's your brother's name! Li Xiaozhong!"
"Yes," Li Xiaoxiao was startled by Xia Qingtian's action.
"Prodigy of the Century! Li Xiaozhong!" Xia Qingtian asked.
"What Prodigy of the Century? He's the eternally second-place Li Xiaozhong!" Li Xiaoxiao corrected her.
"The Chosen One System has been activated.
Choose a: Prevent Li Xiaoxiao's kidnapping and change her fatal outcome, rewarding the prodigy Li Xiaozhong.
Choose b: Stand by and watch Li Xiaoxiao get kidnapped, rewarding an olive branch from a mysterious organization."
According to the system's options, Li Xiaoxiao's brother should be the prodigy who was once incredibly famous in her past life. But... why was Li Xiaoxiao referring to her brother as the 'eternally second-place' now?
Wait a minute... she remembered that when news of Li Xiaozhong winning various international awards was everywhere... Li Xiaoxiao had already passed away!
This meant that before Li Xiaoxiao's death, Li Xiaozhong had been hiding his true abilities by consistently achieving second place!
Why would he do that? And why would he reveal his true talent only after Li Xiaoxiao's death?
The kidnapping Li Xiaoxiao was destined to suffer in the future must hold another secret!
Also, what was that mysterious organization in option b?
In an instant, Xia Qingtian immediately recalled her own kidnapping experience in City C.
Following that, the image of the button she found at the Lei family's residence flashed in Xia Qingtian's mind...
The inexplicable and confusing events of her past life seemed to connect at this very moment in Xia Qingtian's mind!
She had always wondered how Song Junhan, the live-in son-in-law, had so smoothly seized power and driven her to ruin step by step.
It turned out there were others behind it!
That button should be related to that so-called mysterious organization, and the Lei family was also infiltrated by people from that organization, which was why a fake had been mixed into the auction.
So, what was the identity of this organization? Why were they targeting the Xia family? And when did they collude with Song Junhan...
Xia Qingtian increasingly felt that things were far more complicated and dangerous than she had initially imagined.
The next morning, Xia Qingtian deliberately cooked a few simple dishes following online tutorials and also prepared rice. She packed them in a nice insulated lunchbox and took them to the Xia family.
Xia Father had just finished his morning work and was about to ask his secretary to prepare lunch when Xia Qingtian arrived with her homemade meal. "Dad, I'm here to treat you! Come and taste my cooking."
"You made it yourself!" Xia Father's eyes lit up, and he looked at Xia Qingtian with full admiration. Then, he immediately said, "Then I must taste it properly."
Xia Qingtian smiled and placed the lunchbox in front of Xia Father. She then claimed she hadn't visited in a while and went to greet some colleagues she knew, leaving Xia Father's office.
After leaving Xia Father's office, Xia Qingtian ran into some colleagues she had interacted with before. While chatting casually, Xia Qingtian steered the conversation towards Song Junhan. "How is he doing now? I'm not very familiar with him and haven't been in touch much."
"He's all better now," a colleague replied. "You are his savior, is there any reason you're asking?"
"Qingtian is a well-bred lady from a prominent family. It's normal for her to be reserved, unlike some people who are so eager before anything is even settled," another female colleague said with a dismissive curl of her lip.
Before Xia Qingtian could ask, someone recounted to her in detail how Su Wan had been diligently trying to get close to Song Junhan during this period.
Xia Qingtian just chuckled upon hearing this and didn't say much, but she couldn't help but recall how these people had spoken about her to Su Wan when Su Wan was popular.
Comparing the situations, Xia Qingtian felt a sense of melancholy. She perfunctorily said, "As long as he doesn't mess around at work."
"You don't know, the new guy in the IT department today, it's rumored that Song Junhan recommended him. The HR department, out of consideration for Su Wan, even skipped the interview and hired him directly," that person whispered.
"Is that so..." Xia Qingtian's gaze shifted, and she started to formulate a plan.
"We're just hearing rumors, Qingtian. We're going to lunch now." Seeing that her companion was being loose-lipped, the female colleague next to her immediately nudged the informant with her elbow.
At this point, the informant realized her mistake and sheepishly left with her colleagues.
After parting ways with them, Xia Qingtian went straight to the HR department, claiming she was relaying a message from Xia Father, and asked for the list of all recent personnel changes and new hires.
As soon as she received the list, Xia Qingtian found the information of the person hired today.
"Liang Shidong," muttering the name, Xia Qingtian took a photo of this information and saved it to her phone.
Around the corner, Song Junhan saw Xia Qingtian's back and felt an unsettling twitch in his eyelid. He immediately changed direction and headed for the HR department.
It wasn't that he was being overly suspicious, but the incident where he was hit by a car last time... was too bizarre.
When Song Junhan inquired about the purpose of Xia Qingtian's visit to the HR department, he broke out in a cold sweat and immediately chased after her. He hid by the door of Xia Father's office, listening carefully.