His wife's pregnancy bump disappeared, and Mr. Huo was going crazy missing her.

As I was deep in thought, a new WeChat message popped up on my phone screen.

It was sent by Qiao Mian.

Let's meet and talk on Saturday.

He was surprised when he saw this WeChat message.

Today, I didn't have a very pleasant conversation with Qiao Mian.

He thought she would be angry, or even avoid him.

Unexpectedly, she wanted to meet him in private.

Huo Yanbei felt that something was off.

After thinking it over, I replied to a WeChat message: "Where should we meet?"

After waiting for a long time, the other party replied: "[The burger joint near my house.]"

I've never seen anyone arrange to meet someone at a hamburger joint to discuss something.

Huo Yanbei couldn't help but laugh.

However, he had been to the urban village before, and the surrounding environment was like a large market, with no decent cafes or tea rooms.

We arranged to meet at a hamburger joint, which was a relatively quiet place.

Although he couldn't figure out why Qiao Mian was so strangely asking him to meet, he didn't ask any further questions and replied, "Okay."

……

Rental housing.

The three children felt a great sense of accomplishment when they received Uncle Huo's WeChat message agreeing to meet.

I'm also a little excited.

It seems like they've done something incredibly important.

"Brother, we secretly met with Uncle Huo, are we really not going to tell Mom?"

Qiao Muye asked.

Qiao Mucheng: [Since this is about finding a future husband for Mom and choosing a good father for us, we should naturally first see if Uncle Huo is a good person.]

Qiao Muxin agreed, "I really want to meet Uncle Huo in person soon, so I can surprise Mom."

"You three, come and eat!"

When Qiao Mian came out of the kitchen with the food, she saw the three little ones sitting together, whispering and plotting something.

Recently, the three children have been playing on their phones as soon as they get home, acting all mysterious.

Qiao Mucheng made a shushing gesture to his younger siblings and went to sit down in the restaurant.

Qiao Mucheng looked at the lavish meal on the table, bewildered. "Mom, did you strike it rich?"

Qiao Muyue: "Wow, there are even prawns! Mom's been cooking us fancy meals lately, did she get a raise?"

Qiao Muxin stared longingly at the fragrant food and muttered, "Mom must have won the lottery."

Listening to the three children chatting away, all focused on the word "money," Qiao Mian felt quite distressed.

Over the years, it's because she hasn't provided her children with a good enough living environment that they've developed a habit of worrying about money.

Qiao Mian composed herself and peeled a large shrimp for each of the three children. "Mom is about to get a new job, and the salary will be much higher than what I have now."

Qiao Mucheng asked, "New job... is it still as a lawyer?"

Qiao Mian rubbed his little head: "Of course."

Qiao Muyue: "Mom, is my new workplace far from home?"

"It's closer to where I work now."

Qiao Muxin mumbled, her mouth full, "Mommy, does that mean I can have lots of pretty princess dresses in the future?"

"Qiao Muxin, all you do is show off."

Qiao Mucheng gave her a scare scare.

Qiao Muyue chimed in, "Mom works very hard, so we need to save the money."

Qiao Muxin muttered softly, "Anyway, we're going to have a new dad soon, and we'll definitely have lots and lots of money then..."

"What new dad?"

Qiao Mian was stunned for a moment after hearing this.

Just as Qiao Muxin was about to say something, she received glances from Qiao Mucheng and Qiao Muye, and immediately shook her head, saying, "Anyway, we'll know once Mom finds us a new dad."

When Qiao Mian heard her daughter mention her new father again, she couldn't help but think of Huo Yanbei...

I felt even worse.

The children longed for their fathers, but their fathers were already other people's fathers...

Moreover, once she leaves the Huo family and severs ties with Huo Yanbei, she may never have any further involvement with him in this lifetime.

As for finding a new father for the children...

She had never really thought about it...

While I was lost in thought, someone knocked on the door.

She went over and opened the door, and there was Ruan Wei.

She came in carrying a bag of snacks, gave them to the children, and then pulled her to the balcony.

"Mianmian, Jiang Yun's news caused such a big stir, yet it was taken down. Was it Huo Yanbei who did it?"

Qiao Mian nodded. "It's him."

Upon hearing this, Ruan Wei hurriedly asked, "Won't Huo Yanbei suspect you about this?"

She only realized later that her momentary act of venting her anger might have caused Qiao Mian a lot of trouble.

To comfort Ruan Wei, Qiao Mian didn't tell her about being harassed by Huo Yanbei's wife, Song Man, at the Huo family's place that day.

"No, that's all in the past."

She said.

Ruan Wei finally breathed a sigh of relief. "You scared me to death! I was afraid Huo Yanbei would suspect you and make things difficult for you."

"No……"

Qiao Mian didn't want to talk about him anymore, so she changed the subject.

He told Ruan Wei about his upcoming resignation and joining Tongchen Law Firm.

Upon hearing this, Ruan Wei looked surprised. "Mianmian, such a good thing, there can't be a trap, right?"

Qiao Mian shook her head, "No, I've already checked. Tongchen Law Firm is registered with the Bar Association and is a legitimate law firm."

"That's good."

Ruan Wei sighed, "This is a great opportunity for you to leave Huo Yanbei, you must seize it."

"Yes, don't worry, I've already discussed the specific terms with Tong Chen."

As she spoke, Qiao Mian looked out the window at the scattered snowflakes, "I wish I could leave the Huo family right now."

Ruan Wei seemed thoughtful. "What if Huo Yanbei continues to harass you after you leave the Huo family?"

Qiao Mian frowned. "Then I'll take the children back to Shanghai, or to some unfamiliar city where he'll never find them again..."

……

The next day.

Qiao Mian did not ask Huo Yanbei for leave.

Using the excuse of reporting back to my former workplace, I went back to Ronghua Law Firm.

I went directly to Director Han Dongping's office.

"Xiao Qiao, you sent me a WeChat message saying you wanted to talk to me about something?"

Han Dongping put his hand on her shoulder. "You've been away for so long, have you been missing your master?"

Qiao Mian stepped aside to avoid his groping hand and went straight to the point: "Director Han, I came back to the office today to talk to you about my resignation."

As he spoke, he took a resignation letter out of his bag and placed it on his desk.

After a few seconds of stunned silence, Han Dongping picked up the resignation letter, read it, and frowned, saying, "Xiao Qiao, as I've already said before, your employment contract hasn't expired yet. If you want to leave, you'll have to pay a penalty for breach of contract."

Qiao Mian said calmly, "I will pay the penalty for breach of contract."

"That's 600,000."

Han Dongping looked at her in surprise.

The emphasis is on the amount of money.

He knew Qiao Mian's financial situation and knew that she was short of money and usually did part-time jobs to make a living. How could she possibly come up with 600,000?

"Xiao Qiao, you're not kidding me, are you?"