QTIMP -Chapter 22 Character Persona – Greedy (Part 22)

Although Li Qingxue saw that she was fine, she still wanted her to stay a couple more days.

“Oh, I’m really fine. Don’t I know my own body? Besides, it’s such a hassle trying to get something tasty to eat here. When I look for a partner in the future, I’m definitely finding someone who can cook. These days, I’m worrying every single day just about what to eat.”

“And whose fault is that? Your mouth is picky to the extreme. You really do need to find someone who can cook—otherwise the two of you will starve to death.”

As Li Qingxue spoke, she pushed the lunchbox toward her, signaling her to eat.

The two of them took turns, one bite each, finishing the meal together. Neither of them noticed the figure that flashed past the doorway.

When Qin Bei rushed out earlier, he hadn’t intended to leave for good. He had planned to wash the lunchbox, take it with him, and come back in the evening to deliver dinner.

But as he stepped out, he suddenly remembered that the thermos probably had no more hot water. He wanted to go ask for some boiled water first.

So he left temporarily. When he returned, he happened to overhear the two girls chatting.

It wasn’t convenient for him to go back inside. Leaning against the wall outside the ward, he lowered his head and muttered to himself, “So she wants to find someone who can cook?”

After finishing their meal and tidying up, Si Qiu went home with Li Qingxue accompanying her. On the way, she also stopped by to ask Aunt Li—Qingxue’s mother—for a few days’ leave.

With a legitimate reason, who couldn’t take a few days off from work?

Of course, as she left, she casually returned the lunchbox to Qin Bei. The boy looked somewhat disappointed—but what did that have to do with Si Qiu?

Meanwhile, the trio split up to investigate the spy matter. Naturally, they also checked into the issue of the medicine at the black market. Wang Kai later returned to report to Xing Huai’en.

“It was indeed bought at the black market. As for who sold it there, the boss said it was a dark, skinny old man—starving and sick, barely hanging on. He traded the medicine for some food and then disappeared.”

There had originally been quite a lot of medicine, but only one little girl bought three portions. The rest, the boss’s subordinates carelessly left out and it got soaked in the rain.

Of course, that had been Si Qiu’s doing on purpose.

“Oh, right. When I was leaving, that man also mentioned that the little girl who bought the medicine had asked him about the old man. As for whether she found him later, I don’t know.”

Although the man did business on the black market, he had once been a retired soldier. That was why he explained everything so readily—and why Wang Kai trusted him so easily.

“Look into the Feng family and this Si Qiu thoroughly. I have a feeling Feng Fan’s two sisters weren’t telling the truth.” Xing Huai’en exhaled a cloud of smoke, his expression obscured behind it.

“That girl from the Feng family is indeed a bit suspicious—she spoke inconsistently, vague and evasive, and kept avoiding eye contact. You can tell she wasn’t being honest. But as for Si Qiu, I didn’t notice anything off. She’s classmates with my sister, has been to my house before, and is now working under my mother. From what my mom says, she’s quite a good girl.”

Wang Kai had a good impression of Si Qiu. In this incident, she had contributed as well, so he couldn’t help saying a few extra words on her behalf.

Xing Huai’en shook his head. He understood what Wang Kai meant, but he didn’t hold any prejudice against Si Qiu. “When I was checking that little girl’s shoulder bag, I found some translated manuscripts. I looked through them—what she translated was quite complex.”

“Oh? I hadn’t heard anyone mention that before. Still, that’s somewhat sensitive. It does need to be looked into. What about Feng Fan?” Wang Kai thought carefully. His sister had never mentioned it either.

“You don’t need to worry about him. I’ve already called back and asked someone to investigate his original unit,” Xing Huai’en said, tossing the cigarette butt to the ground and crushing it under his foot.

“And the ones we caught? And the Ding family’s child?” On the surface, the mission seemed to be progressing smoothly, but in reality there were countless loose ends. Wang Kai was feeling somewhat irritable.

“Out of the three, only the skinny one has talked, but he knows very little. The others will need more intense interrogation. After all, with such a large pack of explosives, there’s no way it was just meant to create the kind of chaos we saw earlier. As for the child, fortunately there are no lasting aftereffects. The Ding family will arrive the day after tomorrow.”

“So that means Si Qiu really did render meritorious service. Fine, I’ll leave things here to you. I’ll go look into the Feng family.” Wang Kai drank half a tankard of water and turned to leave.

Xing Huai’en’s suspicion toward Si Qiu wasn’t that heavy. Instead, he found himself increasingly curious about her.

Soon, most of the matters were thoroughly investigated. Those who should be cleared of suspicion were cleared. Even the affairs of Qin Bei’s family were examined in full detail. Only then did Feng Fan realize just how capable his little sister was—she had even taken on translation work at the library.

Not only that, the library had given her very high praise. Her total pay even exceeded his own. And after asking around, he learned she was currently studying English. The more he thought about it, the more he felt she had been delayed by their third sister.

Otherwise, with her talent, she would surely have entered a good university and enjoyed boundless prospects in the future. It seemed he needed to have a serious talk with their parents.

Si Qiu had only taken one day off. The next day she went back to work as usual and received concerned inquiries from her colleagues. Half-true and half-fake, she complained that in the chaos she had been jostled by the crowd and knocked unconscious.

Everyone sighed over the incident, and the matter gradually passed.

However, since all the offices were located in the same courtyard, Si Qiu inevitably kept running into the three-man investigation team during this period.

Her elder brother always looked at her with an unreadable expression. Wang Kai, on the other hand, was humorous and loyal. Combined with his connection to Li Qingxue, Si Qiu could still chat with him for a few words.

As for the one named Xing Huai’en—judging purely by appearances, he was good-looking, well-built, well-born, and carried himself with a natural air of nobility. Si Qiu didn’t dislike him as a person. What she disliked was the trouble he brought with him.

To cover up her own rebirth secret, Feng Yu had bluntly declared that she liked Xing Huai’en. Now she was openly pursuing him without restraint.

She even treated Si Qiu as an imaginary rival. Especially whenever she saw the two talking together, she would act like a mother hen protecting her chicks, grinding her teeth in warning.

Si Qiu wasn’t afraid of her, but she was truly annoyed by such meaningless female rivalry. So she made a point of avoiding the two of them. Sometimes she wouldn’t leave work until she saw Xing Huai’en walk out of the courtyard.

If it weren’t for the fact that things were tense right now due to the spy investigation, Si Qiu would have thrown another sack over Feng Yu’s head and beaten her up.

Still, even if she couldn’t sack her, she could at least irritate her a little. After all, Feng Yu wasn’t particularly high in IQ or EQ. The only thing propping her up was a bellyful of bad intentions.

That also showed how petty she was. A few words were enough to anger her to the point she looked ready to keel over. And if anyone dared to speak up on her behalf, Si Qiu would mercilessly snap back at them as well.

Not a single member of the Old Feng family was worth a proper glance from her—especially Feng Yu, who was bound to cause major trouble sooner or later.

What she didn’t know was that without her presence, Feng Yu truly would have caused one disaster after another, each worse than the last and involving many people.

But unfortunately for Feng Yu—

Si Qiu had arrived.