Three years after our breakup, my ex-boyfriend dragged me to get our marriage certificate.

"The benefits you mentioned earlier."

He Zhixu became serious.

"It's a deal." Lin Qingyi nodded repeatedly. "Six months from now, the twenty million will be paid in full."

She should be able to earn it if she starts earning now.

She felt it was a good deal to spend the money to buy shelter.

"Besides this, I need you to do something for me."

He Zhixu carefully chose his words, "I need you to help me investigate Qiao Suining."

Upon hearing the sound, Lin Qingyi felt a familiar sense of oppression rush to the top of her head.

"I'm not a detective..." Lin Qingyi tried to deflect the question.

"You two are so close." He Zhixu's gaze was deep, and he didn't seem to be joking. "I just want evidence of her cheating on me. Don't worry, I won't tell you."

This damn tension and excitement was exactly the same as when Qiao Suining asked her to investigate He Zhixu's mistress.

"Huh?" Lin Qingyi bit her lower lip. "She hates your mistress so much, I don't think she would go that far..."

"Do you know what it means to cry 'stop thief' when the thief is actually crying 'stop thief'?"

He Zhixu feigned profundity.

"Your use of the idiom isn't quite right," Lin Qingyi said, her throat tightening. "Shouldn't we be thieves?"

"That's the analogy," He Zhixu waved his hand, speaking very directly, "She must have someone else outside, otherwise she wouldn't have made those three rules with me."

Both families wanted them to move in together.

Qiao Suining immediately listed several things to consider when living together with him.

He knew very well that Qiao Suining wasn't playing hard to get.

She really wanted to cut ties with him.

After much thought, He Zhixu concluded that Qiao Suining must be having an affair.

"If that's the case, she'll think we're relatives and won't give herself away in front of me."

Lin Qingyi's mind raced.

"If you can help me find evidence, then twenty million..."

"Yes," Lin Qingyi quickly raised her hand. "I can definitely help you find evidence."

"What I mean is, if you can help me find the evidence, you only need to give me fifteen million of the twenty million."

"..." Lin Qingyi felt as if her brain had been twisted.

She stared at He Zhixu for a long time before finally managing to utter two words: "So stingy."

"Five million, huh?" He Zhixu felt humiliated. "Even if I hired a detective, it wouldn't cost that much."

He just felt sorry for Lin Qingyi and thought that if he gave her a sum of money directly, she would be too embarrassed to accept it.

He gave her a quarter of the money he earned, and she actually called him stingy?

"The leader is right."

Lin Qingyi forced a smile, "I will do my best to investigate. Wait for my news."

Let her think about how to handle this situation...

The next morning, Lin Qingyi packed a few simple bags and boarded the high-speed train to Beicheng.

I don't have any other friends here in Tianjin.

It wasn't just in Tianjin; she didn't have many friends in the northern part of the city either.

After graduating from junior high school, he went abroad. When he returned to China, the Lin family had gone bankrupt.

Everyone avoided her like the plague.

Later, she made many friends, all of whom were mutual friends with Ji Yuhuai.

Lin Qingyi did not believe that her short-term friendship with the other party over the past year or two could compare to her lifelong friendship with Ji Yuhuai.

So, after arriving in Beicheng, she went to see the landlord and signed the contract.

After that, she was the one who ran around getting daily necessities and food.

She ran around all day and finally got settled.

I thought I'd be able to sleep in.

Who knew I'd wake up so early?

It wasn't because of jet lag, nor was it because I was unfamiliar with the bed.

The curtains were too thin, and the morning light shone directly on her face.

She couldn't sleep.

I opened my eyes and looked at the ceiling. I lay there for a while, then rolled over and got out of bed.

She put on makeup and wore new clothes.

When you go to see your father, you need to look your best...

The cemetery is very quiet; there are hardly any people there on weekdays.

She sat down on the grass in front of the tombstone.

"Dad, I'm here."

Lin Qingyi looked at the photo on the tombstone with a proud expression. "You probably didn't expect this, did you? I found a job in the design team of the Urban Investment Department."

"This is a department that neither you nor Mom could get into back then."

A gust of wind blew by, and a strand of her hair fell loose, obscuring her eyes.

"Qingyao is doing well abroad. He'll definitely come to see you as soon as he gets back."

Her tone changed, and her voice became deep.

"Mom... I don't believe she would abandon me and Qingyao."

Lin Qingyi's voice trembled slightly, "She was taken away by someone."

This was the first time she had said those words to her father.

"I'm almost there, and I'll definitely bring her home."

She repeated those words to herself countless times.

She stood up and touched the top of the tombstone, just like when she was a child and her father would squat in front of her and she would touch the top of his head.

"Very quickly, in six months."

Lin Qingyi was both making a promise to her father and giving herself an order: "I will definitely bring my mother back in six months at most."

*

The news of Lin Qingyi's return to Beicheng somehow got out.

At Pei Heng's birthday party, everyone was discussing whether or not to invite Lin Qingyi over for a get-together.

But the last time Lin Qingyi came back, during their dinner together, Ji Yuhuai and she had such a bad argument.

They were somewhat intimidated.

Ji Yuhuai arrived with Jiang Wenxi. Everyone was relieved that they hadn't contacted Lin Qingyi earlier, otherwise it would have been another chaotic scene.

"Happy birthday." Jiang Wenxi held Ji Yuhuai's hand tightly and mustered up her courage to wish Pei Heng a happy birthday.

"Thank you, sister-in-law," Pei Heng said warmly as he stood up to greet her.

This wasn't their first time seeing Jiang Wenxi, so they weren't particularly impressed when she appeared.

Actually, I wasn't particularly impressed when I first met Jiang Wenxi.

They simply couldn't understand how Lin Qingyi, that bright and beautiful school beauty and talented girl from Tsinghua University, could lose to Jiang Wenxi, a poor student from the mountains.

However, because Ji Yuhuai liked her, they all had to obediently call her "sister-in-law" and politely offer her a toast.

"Get out of here." Ji Yuhuai frowned. "Xixi doesn't drink. Are your memories that bad?"

"If your sister-in-law isn't drinking, then you should."

Everyone was joking with Ji Yuhuai.

Ji Yuhuai clinked glasses with each of them.

Before long, everyone was tipsy.

Pei Heng was quite drunk, but he spoke up, "Brother Yu Huai, I'd like to invite someone."

Why are you asking me who you want to invite to your party?

Ji Yuhuai frowned.

"Sister Qingyi is back, I'd like to invite..."

Before Pei Heng could finish speaking, he saw Ji Yuhuai's face turn cold.

"What I mean is, I'd like to invite Sister Qingyi to dinner another day."

"It's your business, you decide for yourself." Ji Yuhuai looked at him calmly.

"Then I want to pursue Sister Qingyi?"

Pei Heng was not joking.

He has liked Lin Qingyi for a very long time.

In his senior year of high school, he and Ji Yuhuai got into a fight, and the other party threatened to expose their two companies.

They dared not take any further action, fearing that it would affect the company and they would be devoured alive by their families.

But the other person's mouth was really foul; they kept provoking us.

Lin Qingyi stood in front of them, her fair arms protecting them behind her, and without saying a word, she kicked the other person far away.