Chapter 280: A Distinct Threat to Qian Meng

Who would do something like this to her car? 

The scene of her smashing Bai Yu Qing's car flashed in her mind and she wondered if he had asked someone to take revenge on her. How would he do that from jail? 

Her mind went blank. 

"Mo Qingchen…" she called over to him as the thought struck her. "Did someone have my key?"

"What?" he asked distractedly, looking over at her. 

"The car is playing music. That means it's on. Did you leave the key in the car?" she asked. 

"No!" he barked. He walked over to the car and pulled the driver side door open, but then stopped and just stood there, staring into the car blankly.

"What is it?" she asked, getting worried. 

He didn't answer her, so she went over to him to see for herself. She walked up beside him and gasped. Inside the car, completely covering the floorboard was read.

"Apparently, someone is trying to send us a message," Qian Meng observed.

"Apparently," Mo Qingchen agreed. He was calmer than Qian Meng had anticipated. 

"The key is in the cup holder," she pointed out once she noticed it.

How did it get in there?

"The man… the man who bumped into me. It was him," Mo Qingchen said unexpectedly. 

"You think someone who you bumped into did it?" she asked. 

"People don't bump into me, Qian Meng. I thought it was strange but I wasn't… I wasn't alert." He looked angry. "If not for the screeching tires, we would have never known the timeline for when this happened."

"But why would they take the risk of bumping into you?" Qian Meng wondered. 

"Because they needed the key," he answered as he quickly made his way back to the restaurant.

"This wasn't targeted at you, considering that they trashed my car. But they must have been watching us closely to know you were driving and where you kept the key, right?" she asked.

There was a look of pure rage in his eyes and he stood up taller. "Someone was following you around. Did you not notice?" he asked. 

"I was in the office for so many days… I just came home in a cab last night. Of course, I didn't notice," she defended. "Your house has security, shouldn't they be seeing if people are lingering around?" she retorted. 

"I am sure it was someone professional. Pickpocketing and following us without being noticed…" he trailed off. 

"Is it Bai Ye Qing? This… this looks like someone with a personal vendetta."

Mo Qingchen shook his head. "He's an awful person but he is in jail without any communication with the outside world. He didn't do this." 

"How can you be sure?" she asked curiously. Her heart still thudded in her chest.

"I am sure," he said confidently but didn't explain the meaning behind it.

"Well then. Who the hell did it, Mo Qingchen? Because I can't think of anyone who hates me enough to trash my car and pour… blood all over the floor of it. This is personal. Someone has a very distinct message that they want to send."

His expression changed. His frustration with her luckily seemed to go as quickly as it had come. Instead, he looked troubled. 

"Yeah. It was a really distinct message."

Qian Meng couldn't see how his fists clenched and his eyes flashed to the CCTV cameras placed on the street.

"I'll call the cops," Mo Qingchen broke the silence.

"We have to talk to the cops an awful lot, don't we?" Qian Meng sighed. "It all started after I met you. Are you a jinx or am I finding out more about my enemies since we got together?" The universe worked in various ways. 

"I think the higher powers want to tell you that you should pay your lawyer more," Mo Qingchen said offhandedly as he pulled the phone to his ear. "Don't blame me for it."

Qian Meng tried her best to smile but she knew Mo Qingchen wasn't in a mood to joke around. 

He spoke quickly into the phone and then took a step back. 

"Let's go sit inside the restaurant. I'll ask the staff to give us a window seat so that we can keep an eye on the car," Qian Meng said once he hung up. 

"You want to keep looking at it?" Mo Qingchen responded with the raise of his brow. 

"I just want to make sure no one tampers with the evidence!" she shrugged.

"I didn't know that you had the time to watch crime shows these days," he teased but his voice was tense. Qian Meng appreciated that he was playing along with her futile attempt at easing the atmosphere. She could clearly see the storm brewing in his eyes and she didn't know what to do to make him talk.

Unable to hold herself back any longer, she spoke up as she took a sip of water. "I'm sorry. This just pushed back our schedule," she said quietly. 

Shock flashed across his feature and then he looked dumbfounded. "Do you think that is important right now?" he asked, his voice rough. 

"Are you mad?" she asked. 

"No. You were the one who was upset with me. And now you are not. Why are you apologizing to me when it was me who lost the keys? Someone took the keys off me… And I boasted about being a trained fighter and whatnot." He dragged his hand through his hair. "I should apologize to you. I should have noticed that we were being followed and that someone took the keys from my pocket."

Qian Meng blinked. "Pickpocketing is an art. It has nothing to do with you being able to fight." She pushed the stray strand of hair behind her ear. "I learned all about it in college, remember?" She blinked innocently. 

"Don't remind me," he groaned. "I feel worse." He huffed as the food came. 

The police didn't seem to prioritize the matter. So, it was almost halfway through their meal when the cops arrived. The sirens blared, telling everyone that something had happened.