Chapter 574: 281 Huai Qing (Third Night Shift)_3
“A silver lock.”
“What? It’s just a silver lock. I have a drawer full of them.” She had received one from each of her numerous aunts and other relatives during her childhood birthdays, to the point where her drawer was almost overflowing.
Ming Jing smiled: “A silver lock with engraved words.”
“In the shade, spring mist falls; On cold rocks, summer snow lingers, At the sunny pass, autumn dawns rise, As winter sends its cold rain.” The girl’s gentle voice dissipated the cold wind that brushed against their faces.
Liu Muxue touched her chin: “These are the inscription lines for the Four Seasons Landscape paintings by the Song Dynasty artist Wu Dai. Why did you suddenly think of this?”
Ming Jing leisurely walked along the side of the road; her skirt brushing against the night, bringing warmth to the winter evening.
“The craftsmanship of that silver lock is exquisite, unlike the common styles found on the market. I seem to have seen it somewhere before.” Her tone was questioning, yet certain.
Where had she seen it? Ming Jing raised her head to look at the distant horizon beneath the neon lights.
The bright moon remained the same, but the world had long since changed.
——
The banquet ended, and everyone left the scene.
Huai Qing informed Bai Ziyu that Qin Qiuxi had already left, and Bai Ziyu’s face darkened before he strode away.
Bai Ziyan patted Song Yinzhang’s shoulder: “My sister-in-law is truly good at stirring up trouble. So, when do you and Ming Jing plan to return to Jiangzhou?”
Song Yinzhang replied, “Tomorrow’s noon flight.”
“Alright, I’ll see you two off tomorrow.”
Xu Shuhua walked past the two, hearing the conversation, and raised her eyebrows.
Ji Rou’en pulled Ye Qingxing aside, “You can’t rush eating hot tofu; we’ll go about it slowly. Granny Bo is always on guard. If she finds out, I won’t be able to handle it.”
Ye Qingxing bit her lip: “Cousin, I heard that my second brother has someone he likes. Is it true?”
Bo Yujiang’s lips twisted into an eerie smile as she whispered, “She’s thirty now, right? Why hasn’t she married?”
“Who knows? Maybe she wants to stay with Granny Bo for the rest of her life.” A thought crossed Ji Rou’en’s mind, and she glanced around slyly before lowering her voice: “The year you came back, Madam Zhang’s son pursued her relentlessly. He wasn’t bad, but Huai Qing refused his advances, and the matter eventually faded away. She would be more suited to becoming a nun.”
Bo Yujiang discarded the broken plum branch and put her bleeding finger in her mouth.
An idea suddenly struck her, and she froze. Huai Qing was steady and never made mistakes—how could she have spilled water on Qin Qiuxi? She couldn’t have made such a basic error.
There was also that scene she saw at the door of the room—Huai Qing kneeling on the ground, trembling. Huai Qing was not a common servant, as Granny Bo was from a scholarly family and had personally raised her. No matter how one looked at it, she had the air of a well-bred young lady. How could she behave like that?
Qin Qiuxi’s reaction at the time was also quite intriguing. Everything about this event seemed rather extraordinary.
What kind of a game were they playing?
——
“Sis, you finally picked up the phone.” Qin Qiuxi stepped out of the car.
The taxi driver yelled out, “You haven’t paid yet!”
Qin Qiuxi threw him an earring irritably, “It’s a gemstone one. It’s worth a year’s worth of taxi fares.”
Without looking back, she walked into the residential area.
“I was in a meeting just now. What do you need?” A gentle and tranquil voice came from the phone.
“It’s an emergency, and yet you still have the nerve to hold a meeting?”
“Did you cause trouble again?”
“Sis, in your eyes, do I always cause trouble? Let me tell you, this time it’s a real emergency.”
Qin Qiuxi held the silver lock up to the moonlight and let it glimmer.
“I found that bitch’s silver lock in Bo Yuxun’s room. Does she know the truth?”
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.