Qin Jiujiu could be quite certain that Xie Jing had visited the Li family quite a few times in the past few days. Not only could he accurately find the side door, but he could also go directly to Li Zheng's study.
The study was where Li Zheng handled official business. Qin Jiujiu had always felt that Li Zheng didn't look like someone who had studied, yet he managed to become the village chief at such a young age, while Su Yuqing was only a deputy village chief. This was very strange, so she had always thought that this Li family village was unusual.
However, when she entered Li Zheng's study, she was still slightly taken aback.
She suddenly felt that the saying "you can't judge a book by its cover" was very true!
Although she had never seen what a real scholar's study looked like, when she saw Li Zheng's study, she felt that Li Zheng might not be a person of profound knowledge, but he was definitely someone who loved to read.
The study was not large, but it was tidily kept. The bookshelves were filled with a dazzling array of books, and it was evident that they had all been read. Having many books at home didn't mean anything. Only books that looked like they had all been read could show that the owner of this study was definitely a book lover!
Qin Jiujiu was still not entirely convinced. She walked to the desk and picked up the calligraphy on the desk. The signature was Li Zheng. She had only learned calligraphy for a while and didn't have much appreciation for it. Even so, she felt that the calligraphy was superb.
In an instant, she felt that the saying "the calligraphy reflects the person" was no longer appealing!
Li Zheng looked like a rough man. She had thought that someone with Su Yuqing's temperament would be able to write such calligraphy, but today she was thoroughly convinced of a principle: indeed, one should not easily draw conclusions based on outward appearances.
When she saw Li Zheng's calligraphy, she couldn't help but let out a sigh. It wasn't loud, but she could feel Xie Jing's gaze fall upon her.
She was about to tell Xie Jing about this, but upon seeing him look at her with the gaze of someone looking at an idiot, she decided to keep quiet.
He didn't seem surprised. Although his face was always cold, she could still tell that he had seen this study and the calligraphy on the desk early on, which was why he could find his way here so accurately.
But this did not fit Xie Jing's persona. His role was not significant before his exposure, and the author had buried his storyline very deeply. It was impossible to tell that he would become a major villain. It was precisely because of this that she had thought Xie Jing was just a cold and distant young man.
Not only her, but many readers thought the same way. Therefore, the shock that Xie Jing would bring to the readers later would be the greatest.
Xie Jing had not directly participated in these missions in the early stages. It could be said that the earlier part was solely for the male and female protagonists. As for Xie Jing, as long as it didn't affect him and Xie Yun and Bai Qianluo were not in mortal danger, he wouldn't easily get involved.
However, here, he was acting so solicitous!
"System, is there anything special about this storyline? There was no such storyline in the original text. Could it be because of me that a butterfly effect has occurred?"
Originally, Qin Jiujiu had not paid much attention to this added storyline, but Xie Jing's unusual behavior made her a little uneasy. After all, once Xie Jing got involved, it was highly possible that he would blacken earlier, and many unpredictable things could happen. Qin Jiujiu felt that this storyline was not that simple.
"Host, after my detection, this storyline was added by the author later, seemingly to make the original text more complete, and the host did not see it. However, regardless of anything, these storylines in the original text did not involve the character Qin Jiujiu, so there was no arrangement for the host's role. From now on, I will remind the host of the plot development when necessary. You need to pay attention. Unless there is a major change, the protagonists are temporarily not in mortal danger. But host, everything about you is unknown, please be sure to pay attention to your safety!"
So that's how it was. Qin Jiujiu finally understood. It was probably that the author realized that the lines he had buried for the villain were too deep. When she was reading it at the time, some parts related to Xie Jing were indeed confusing. The author realized this later and made revisions.
"Someone is coming," Xie Jing reminded.
Qin Jiujiu was in a hurry and grabbed Xie Jing's hand, wanting to find a place to hide. But it had to be said that there was nowhere to hide in this study.
The footsteps gradually faded away. It seemed like someone was just passing by.
Qin Jiujiu breathed a sigh of relief and felt an unignorable gaze on her head. Qin Jiujiu looked up, and Xie Jing was looking at her with disgust. She seemed to have just held Xie Jing's hand, and Xie Jing, he seemed to be a germaphobe!
She didn't realize that this was not the first time she had held his hand.
Seeing his displeased expression, Qin Jiujiu silently withdrew her hand, her speed of withdrawal directly proportional to her survival instinct. Xie Jing ignored her and walked directly out of the room. Qin Jiujiu had no choice but to follow immediately.
Qin Jiujiu was not wrong in her guess; she was pulled out again. This time, Xie Jing's movements were even more rough. Before she even landed, someone threw her out.
So her buttocks, fulfilling their mission, landed first.
Xie Jing walked away as if he had completed a task, without even looking at her.
Qin Jiujiu was genuinely angry, but she couldn't overpower him. Fortunately, she was broad-minded and consoled herself after a few words, and she managed to pacify the part of her that wanted to curse.
It wouldn't be good to follow Xie Jing now. Qin Jiujiu decided to think of other ways to complete the mission. She was not clear about Xie Jing's intentions now, so she could only take it one step at a time to discover Xie Jing's purpose for getting involved.
These days, she actually had another question in her heart, and that was the woman who seemed a bit mentally unstable that she had accidentally seen at the Su family banquet that day.
After she returned that day, she asked Li Cuiya. Li Cuiya thought for a moment before remembering that she was referring to Su Yuqing's only daughter, Su Guqiu. Su Guqiu was originally an intelligent and gentle woman, but for some reason, she had a sudden illness half a year ago, and her mind became unstable. She then stayed indoors and never went out, and no one had seen her for the past half year.
Qin Jiujiu also learned a lot about Su Yuqing's past from Li Cuiya, and she became even more interested in the Su family.
It was said that Su Guqiu was Su Yuqing's only daughter, but her mother had a difficult childbirth when she gave birth to her. She labored for a day and a night. Although the birth was successful in the end, Madam Su, Li Muqing, had her vital energy damaged from then on, and her health became very weak. She finally couldn't hold on and passed away when Su Guqiu was eight years old.
Since then, Su Yuqing had never remarried, focusing solely on raising his only daughter.
The Su residence was originally the Li residence. Su Yuqing was a poor scholar. He later married into the Li family. As Li Muqing was the only daughter of the Li family, the family business naturally fell to Su Yuqing. After Li Muqing died, the Li family was renamed the Su family.
Su Guqiu had been raised in seclusion since childhood. Unlike Li Cuiya and the others, Su Guqiu was literate and educated. Not only did her appearance strongly resemble her mother's, but her personality was also very similar. She was gentle, knowledgeable, and very likable.
But half a year ago, Su Guqiu suddenly went mad.
Qin Jiujiu remembered the figure she had vaguely seen that day. She was indeed very curious about this woman, always feeling that something was not right.
Curiosity killed the cat. Qin Jiujiu was bored, so she decided to go directly to the Su family to check the situation.
This time, she chose to enter through the main gate. Qin Jiujiu did not expect that even the servants of the Su family were very polite and courteous. Qin Jiujiu's impression of the Su family improved. Indeed, the servants were like their masters.
Although Su Yuqing was not present, the people at the Su family still invited her in. They arranged for her to sit in the hall and prepared tea and snacks for her.
Qin Jiujiu soon had a flash of inspiration. She pretended to have a stomachache and lied that she needed to go to the toilet.
"I know where the privy is, I can go by myself..."
Before the servant could escort her to the privy, Qin Jiujiu stood up and headed straight out of the hall.
Fortunately, although the system did not have powerful golden fingers, it was capable of giving directions. Soon, she made her way through many twists and turns to her destination.