Whatever Mu Mianmian couldn’t figure out for herself, Qianmo had connected the dots together for her.
Nobody would look for trouble for no rhyme or reason. It didn’t matter that they were hooligans messing around or criminals committing a crime. There was always a motive behind everything they did. The first aunt’s purpose was money, obviously. She naively believed she could control Chen Baichuan after she chased Mu Mianmian away.
“I can’t believe you would fall for such a juvenile trick. I don’t know what you have inside your brain.”
Qianmo had just finished her words when Black knocked on the door. She acknowledged and opened the door. He said in a low voice, “We got the person who took the picture secretly.”
They were rather efficient in their work. But, there was also something else he was trying to hint at. Qianmo understood immediately when she saw that expression. “My relative?”
She was indeed smart. In this case, there was no need for him to conceal anything.
It was First Aunt’s son-in-law who was capturing their photos. Phoenix had followed Black’s instructions to wait and apprehend the culprit, and just as told, he did see a man who was wearing a fake Nike shirt. He went over to investigate and confirmed he was the one who brought the camera.
This guy still screamed and shouted about his innocence even when he was caught red-handed. He insisted he only snapped pictures of his own family members and nobody else. Hence, there was no reason to arrest him.
He was so self-righteous and shameless, with exactly the same unreasonable robber logic—”I only take advantage of my family members and not others”—as First Aunt.
Phoenix had kept the man locked in the car as he waited for Black’s further instructions.
Yu Changmo looked at her, feeling slightly worried. And then, he saw an icy glaze in Qianmo’s black eyes as she repeated, “Good, good, good…” A total of three “Good’s”!
Her first aunt had set a new record for how shameless a human could be.
The first aunt and her family borrowed money from them and used their garage as lodging without paying rent at all. Now, she tried to take secret pictures when she failed to get another 5000 from Father.
What happened was scary when one thought deeper.
Were the bad guys her little aunt encountered in the pub planted by someone on purpose, or did the son-in-law get the pictures accidentally when he happened to pass by?
The first was unforgivable, and the latter was not worthy of forgiveness, either. His first reaction when he saw her little aunt in danger was to watch from a safe distance, instead of calling the police for help. He even took pictures when Black’s friends came to save her. What was he planning to do?
Develop the pictures, show them to Chen Baichuan, and threaten him using fights and conflicts as an excuse?
It was disheartening, no matter what reason it was.
“Black, do you have ‘supreme-grade’ relatives at home?” She turned and asked the man next to her.
Yu Changmo shook his head. His paternal grandfather did have a huge family clan. However, his mother had gotten rid of those who were especially “outstanding”. Those who were not so “outstanding” and tried to get benefits out of them were stared away by his father’s icy glare.
“Come, follow me. I’ll show you what are shameless ‘supreme-grade’ relatives.”
Qianmo got Little Aunt to tag along. They went downstairs and saw Phoenix, who was standing guard outside the car. He had already tied up the paparazzo inside.
“Please go back first. I’m sorry we have something to do and cannot send you out.” Qianmo said to Phoenix. He looked at his boss and only said his farewell after seeing him nod. He then reached out his arm to stop a cab.
“Black will take the back seat and watch that shameless prick. Little Aunt will sit in the front with me.” Qianmo was preparing to get in the car after she announced the sitting arrangement.
Little Aunt looked at Yu Changmo warily, tugged on Qianmo’s arm, and said, “Is it suitable… for him to follow?”
“He’s not an outsider.”
Qianmo knew what Little Aunt was concerned about. A huge familial fight was pending, and it would be a scandal if an outsider witnessed the proceedings. Besides, Chen Baichuan was such a proud person. He definitely wouldn’t want an outsider to be there after he had calmed down.
If it was a day or two ago, she would also want to maintain a distance from Black and not let him be present. However, after they had been through so much together, she felt it would be better not to hide certain things from Yu Changmo.
Although the two women had spoken in hushed tones, Black clearly heard what they said. He could swear he wasn’t eavesdropping, but his hearing happened to be rather good. The part where she said he was not an outsider just floated into his ears, along with the scent of barbequed mutton in the evening air. It not only highlighted her trust in him but also made the man feel a gentle spring breeze all over.
It might be all mushy outside the car, but that gentle spring breeze became a raging tornado the moment he stepped inside. Someone actually dared to touch his woman; they definitely deserved to be punished.
Therefore, First Aunt’s son-in-law, who was all bundled up, felt an eerie cold air when Black opened the car door. He raised his head and saw a man that emanated a deadly aura all over. The son-in-law was so frightened that his eyes actually rolled back, and he fainted on the spot.
They didn’t speak for the entire journey as Qianmo drove the car back to her home. She gestured Black to keep an eye on the fainted son-in-law and then led her little aunt into their house.
Chen Baichuan was still in a drunken stupor. He was leaning on the sofa with his eyes closed, surrounded by dozens of empty liquor bottles. Little Aunt, who was always virtuous, began to bend over to pick up the bottles and the shattered glass. Qianmo stopped her immediately and pushed her into the house.
“Remember what I said along the way?”
“Yes, I remember…” Mu Mianmian said as she looked at the broken pieces of glass on the floor. Qianmo could bet that she must be secretly thinking about how to clean up the mess.
Sigh. The big sister in the previous life had not gone through the trial by fire yet, so she was still a virtuous little wife. Everything depended on Qianmo now. If she failed to support them, this family would be in peril.
Chen Qianmo looked at her wasted father, rubbed her hands to build up the energy, and then took a deep breath.
She said in her heart silently. Dad, this is not her being hard-hearted. If she didn’t do something drastic, he would continue to drink after he became sober.
“Bam!” She aimed at her father’s shoulder and gave it a tight slap. It landed on the flesh that wasn’t covered by the singlet, and the collision between the palm and shoulder gave out a loud sound.
Still, the slap was too soft, so he didn’t wake up.
One more slap! Chen Baichuan woke up in a startle this time. “Who hit me?”
He then saw his daughter’s worried face right in front of him. “Are you having a nightmare, my dear Daddy?”
Mu Mianmian was peeping in the house through the gap in the door. She was feeling rather dreadful at first, then she felt like laughing when she saw Qianmo messing around with her father. She was trying so hard to stop herself from bursting out that her fleshy body began to shake in agony.
Chen Baichuan couldn’t focus his vision, so it took him a long while before he could react.
“Oh, you came back…”
“Why did you drink so much liquor?”
“This is not a big deal. You kid should stay out of this.” Chen Baichuan still attempted to reach for a bottle. However, Qianmo snatched it over to have a closer look. It was Erguotou and not Wuliangye. Good.
She just tossed the bottle away. It smashed into pieces and finally woke Chen Baichuan up from his stupor.
“What are you doing!”
“What are you doing!” Qianmo’s voice was just as loud as his. Did one become righteous just because one was louder?
“Do you think I really don’t know anything? Let me tell you, as you’re drinking your problems away, my little aunt, my little aunt…”
Chen Baichuan felt as if someone had grabbed his heart and tightly clenched it. “What happened to her!?”
“She tried to drown her sorrows in a bar, but she encountered some bad guys who were sent by the first aunt. She was drugged, and then…” Qianmo buried her face in her hands as she stopped speaking, while Chen Baichuan’s face turned pale immediately. He stumbled a few steps back and almost tripped and fainted on the spot.
Ah! His chubby wife!
“I need to find Mianmian!” He started to dash out after he dropped the words in haste.
“Thank goodness that Black and I arrived in time to rescue her, and nothing happened.” Qianmo removed her hands from her face. There wasn’t a single tear to be seen.
Chen Baichuan crashed into the door. He was definitely going to have a bump on his head tomorrow.