Chapter 156: I Am Not Afraid

In the middle of the night, Qiao Jiu got out of bed barefoot and walked out of the room.

When closing the door, she glanced at the bed; Lu Fengzhou was sleeping soundly.

She turned and went to the study. The documents the assistant had brought over earlier were still resting on the desk, and Lu Fengzhou had hardly read through a few pages of them.

Without turning on the light, she used her phone's flashlight to guide her way over and briefly flipped through the papers.

She certainly wouldn't have understood these materials in the past, but now, just scanning through them roughly, she grasped what the contents were truly about.

There was a plot of land in the suburbs recently, which seemed to be up for zoning planning. Lu Fengzhou must have received inside information and was considering acquiring it.

The plot wasn't particularly large, but buying it out would indeed yield a handsome profit.

Qiao Jiu read through the contents once and used her phone to send out a text message.

Afterward, she flipped through the other documents on the desk. She hadn't had time to examine them closely before, but now she was in no particular hurry.

The remaining documents were of no immediate use to her, yet they still revealed that Lu Fengzhou ran a quite substantial business.

Building upon the foundation previously laid by Qiao Sman, Lu Fengzhou had also poured a great deal of effort into it, expanding the company to a larger scale than when Qiao Sman was at the helm.

Qiao Jiu roughly reviewed all the documents, put everything back in its original place, and stepped out of the study.

She returned to the room, where Lu Fengzhou maintained his previous posture, sleeping soundly.

Unable to fall asleep, Qiao Jiu went to stand by the window.

She had only stood there for a short while when Lu Fengzhou apparently rolled over, failed to feel her beside him, and woke up in a haze. "Qiao Jiu?"

Qiao Jiu returned to the bed and instinctively curled up in his arms.

Lu Fengzhou asked her, "Why did you get up?"

Qiao Jiu replied, "I had a nightmare. I dreamed of my dad."

She found a comfortable spot in Lu Fengzhou's embrace. "Tell me, how did my dad spend his final days?"

Lu Fengzhou gently stroked her back, his tone quite calm. "I hired a top-tier medical team for him. Although he couldn't be saved, he didn't suffer too much."

Qiao Jiu looked up at Lu Fengzhou. The curtains were half-drawn, letting the moonlight filter in, allowing her to catch the expression on Lu Fengzhou's face. "Why didn't you let me go to the hospital back then?"

She asked with a calm composure, devoid of any grievance.

Lu Fengzhou lowered his head. After the two locked eyes for a moment, he said, "Your father and I had some matters to deal with. It wasn't suitable for you to be around."

Reflexively, Qiao Jiu asked, "Related to the company?"

Lu Fengzhou answered, "No."

With that, he leaned down and kissed the corner of Qiao Jiu's mouth. "Other matters, but you don't need to know."

Other matters?

What else could there be? Back then, the entanglement between Lu Fengzhou and Qiao Sman was merely about the ownership of the company.

Unwilling to say more, Lu Fengzhou pulled her a little tighter into his arms. "It's all in the past."

...

Liu Changyong's call came in around noon while Lu Fengzhou was in the study processing documents.

Qiao Jiu stood on the living room balcony and answered the call.

Liu Changyong's voice remained as genial as before, full of laughter. "Xiao Jiu, you're off today. Why don't you come out for lunch?"

Lowering her gaze with a blank expression, Qiao Jiu nevertheless spoke with a smile in her voice. "Alright."

They didn't exchange many superfluous words; after agreeing on a location, the call was disconnected.

Qiao Jiu put down her phone, turned around, and sat on the sofa, raising her eyes toward the direction of the study.

Reviewing the entanglement between Liu Changyong and Lu Fengzhou yesterday, combined with the information she had gathered recently, she had formed some guesses of her own.

Lu Fengzhou was likely among the original residents who initially disagreed with the relocation. Liu Changyong might have used some violent means to force them to sign the consent forms.

Although the matter had been suppressed, the fallout was still rather severe, and Liu Changyong harbored some fear. Therefore, once the land acquisition case concluded, he intended to leave Yuncheng.

What came to Qiao Jiu's mind was the incident where two households were beaten to the point of being admitted to the intensive care unit. Even though Wu Zhigang claimed it was settled with money at the time, the hidden intricacies behind the scenes remained uncertain.

Having made such a massive profit back then, Liu Changyong abandoned the foundation he had built here and fled to Shencheng, a move she could only interpret as escaping to avoid disaster.

Later, upon learning that Lu Fengzhou had married her, Liu Changyong felt uneasy and consequently wanted to have Lu Fengzhou investigated.

Qiao Jiu then thought of her old man. Perhaps her father had been involved in that affair years ago, which explained why Lu Fengzhou harbored resentment toward their family and struck them down ruthlessly at every turn.

Yet, based on Qiao Jiu's understanding of Qiao Sman, even if the situation had escalated quite seriously back then, her father likely wouldn't have been deeply entangled in it.

Qiao Sman was a very timid person without such a grand appetite; otherwise, he wouldn't have achieved success so late in life.

Whatever he did, he was always fearful of wolves ahead and tigers behind.

While all of this was mere speculation—bold and somewhat absurd—only such a hypothesis could string the events together.

And now, Liu Changyong frequently contacted her, asking all sorts of rambling questions, most likely wanting to know if Qiao Sman had leaked the matter or left any leverage behind for them.

After waiting for a while, Qiao Jiu went to knock on the study door and opened it directly. "I'm going out to have lunch with Uncle Liu this noon. You stay home by yourself."

Lu Fengzhou looked somewhat surprised. "Liu Changyong is looking for you again?"

Qiao Jiu let out an "ah" sound. "He probably sees that I'm alone now, and since he had a decent relationship with my dad, he wants to look after me a bit more."

Lu Fengzhou's expression wasn't particularly pleasant, though he didn't say anything else. "Alright, I'll have someone drive you over."

Without refusing, Qiao Jiu closed the study door, turned, and went back to her room to change her clothes.

Then, she sat on the sofa and chatted with Jiang Qingchen on her phone for a while.

Jiang Qingchen's life was proceeding smoothly, and the elderly housekeeper was of great importance to him.

Jiang Qingchen thanked him, but really, what was there to thank? It was merely a mutual exchange of needs.

When the time was right, Lu Fengzhou's driver arrived, and Qiao Jiu went downstairs.

Recognizing Qiao Jiu, the driver smiled upon seeing her. "After all this turning around, it's still Miss Qiao."

The corners of Qiao Jiu's lips curved upward. Only after getting into the car did she speak. "You've been by Lu Fengzhou's side for quite a few years now, haven't you?"

The driver replied that he had, then added after a moment of thought, "Mr. Lu just looks cold, but he actually has a very good personality. I was promoted by him single-handedly."

The car drove all the way to the appointed restaurant. Liu Changyong had already arrived. The private dining room door was left slightly ajar, and just as Qiao Jiu placed her hand on the wooden panel, she heard voices from inside.

Liu Changyong's tone was far from pleasant, carrying a hint of impatience. "Calling every single day, can't you be steadier? With your level of cowardice, no wonder you haven't been able to accomplish anything all these years."

Qiao Jiu immediately halted her movements. Liu Changyong didn't notice any disturbance on her side; after a two-second pause, he continued, "A-Dong, to be a man, sometimes you have to be ruthless and bold enough."

A-Dong?

Qi Dong?

Qiao Jiu lowered her hand again, listening to the movement inside. After a moment, Liu Changyong spoke once more, "So what if he's capable? Taking a step back, even if he manages to dig up the affairs of the past, so what? Is there any evidence? Empty words, do you really think anyone would believe him?"

With that, he let out a cold laugh. "I truly am not afraid. Even if he were standing right in front of me today, sorting out the past events from beginning to end, let me tell you, I'm not afraid."