When A Miao woke up, she found herself lying in an unfamiliar room. Her first reaction was to lift open the quilt. She saw that she was now wearing pajamas and they were not even hers.
In a moment of panic, she jumped off from the bed but a sudden stabbing pain in her head caused her to sit back down on the bed. She then felt herself all over.
“Phew! Looks like nothing happened.”
“What do you think could have happened?” The voice came from the door. A Miao turned her head to look. “Why is it you?”
Dissatisfaction crossed Shen Xinglan’s pupils. “Is this woman trying to abandon her benefactor after being rescued?”
“Who did you hope it would be?” He slowly walked in. “Xia Fan?”
A Miao’s expression fell drastically as her memories returned to her.
“You got a doctor to examine me?” She felt the eye of the needle embedded in her hand. “Thank you.”
No matter what, this man had been her savior every time she was in danger even if he would be a real annoyance and bully her afterward. A Miao touched her nose, suddenly feeling something in her heart.
She felt as if Shen Xinglan would never truly harm her no matter what she did.
“You’re welcome.” Shen Xinglan smirked. “Yesterday you said you want compensation from me for causing you to fall ill. Tell me, how do you plan on doing that?”
A Miao scratched her face. “Didn’t you get me a doctor? Forget it. I won’t blame you anymore!”
“Oh.” Shen Xinglan settled down on the sofa in a bold manner. “Then it’s my turn to seek compensation from you.”
“What?” A Miao’s mouth fell open. She watched as the man turned on his phone and placed it on the table.
“Take a look.”
He was showing her a video of two lumps of snow-white flesh hugging each other. A Miao took only one glance of it before turning her head away.
“Why are you showing me this?”
Shen Xinglan retrieved his phone. “The man in this video is Xia Fan. The woman…” He stared attentively at A Miao. Without makeup, her eyes caused his heart to jump a little.
“What does it have to do with me?” A Miao glared hatefully at him.
“Of course it has something to do with you. That’s because this woman is you.”
At the same time, chaos gripped the Xia family.
“How did you manage to lose a living person?”
Xia Yongqiang sat in the living room with a straight face. A Miao had gone missing from the banquet last night and to make things worse. Bai Youran actually concealed this from them and only told them earlier.
“You didn’t even know that she didn’t come back?” Xia Yongqiang asked Xia Wan unhappily.
Xia Wan was full of grievances as she replied, “I… I thought she returned home long ago.” She herself was full of anger as well! Shen Xinglan did not say much to her last night and even disappeared shortly after.
“Grandfather, don’t be so quick to panic. I think A Miao probably went back to her old home.” Xia Wan glanced at Bai Youran. “I’ll go take a look with Youran.”
Xia Haixin also tried to persuade Xia Yongqiang. “That’s right, Dad. She won’t dare to run around.”
Just as they were speaking, Bai Youran’s phone rang. He had received a video file.
“What is it?” After clicking open the video, his expression changed.
Xia Wan immediately went up to take a look after seeing the shock on his face but Bai Youran immediately clicked away from the video.
“It’s nothing important, nothing at all. Don’t look.”
“What is it?” Xia Yongqiang knew something was wrong the moment he saw this exchange. He pointed at Bai Youran and said, “Bring it to me.”
Bai Youran hemmed and hawed for some time before handing Xia Yongqiang his phone. “Grandfather Xia, you better not look.”
“Open it.” Xia Yongqiang was firm.
“Okay. It’s just a vulgar video.” Bai Youran turned on his phone.
Xia Wan did not dare to go up to them anymore after hearing the words “vulgar”. She saw Xia Haixin also lowering his head and frantically asking, “Dad, what exactly is it?”
“Preposterous!” Xia Yongqiang suddenly slammed his hand on the table. “Where’s Xia Fan? Tell him to come home this instant!”
Xia Haixin shook his head at Xia Wan and took out his phone to call Xia Fan.
“Why is it so noisy here?” Over at the entrance, Xia Fan pushed the door open and entered.
“You still dare to come back!” Xia Yongqiang lifted his crutch. “Come over now.”
Xia Fan’s gaze swept his surroundings. He finally grinned and said, “Grandfather, what’s wrong? I don’t think I did anything that can make you this mad!”
“Then what is this?” Xia Yongqiang threw the phone in front of Xia Fan. “Don’t tell me that the man in the video isn’t you!”
“Video?” Xia Fan’s face swiftly changed and he frantically picked up the phone. His face immediately paled after watching several seconds of the video. “Grand… Grandfather, listen to me. I didn’t do this on purpose.”
His face was full of panic. “Someone entrapped me. I didn’t know that woman was A Miao at all.”
“What did you say?!”
Several of them spoke at the same time and among them, Xia Wan was the one most worried. She walked toward Xia Fan and looked at him with a face full of disbelief. “Who did you say the woman in the video is?”
“It’s… It’s A Miao!” Xia Fan gritted his teeth and spoke in a manner of throwing all caution to the wind. “I didn’t know what happened either. I drank a little too much and was sent to a room by a waiter. Shortly after, I found a woman hugging me.”
Xia Fan looked a little dazed. “I was really drunk. Afterward… Afterward, I found A Miao lying next to me when I woke up the next morning.”
“You animal!” Xia Yongqiang swatted him with his crutch. “That’s your cousin! You’re related by blood! How… How can you… I… I’m going to beat you to death today!”
“Grandfather, I didn’t know either!” Xia Fan panicked and ran to another side of the room. “I was really drunk. I didn’t have any impression at all.”
Xia Haixin held the old man back. “Dad, don’t hit him first. We can’t put the blame solely on Xiaofan. Please calm down.”
“You really didn’t do it on purpose?” Xia Wan was equally as flustered and exasperated. “You usually have a pretty high tolerance for alcohol. How could you get that drunk?”
Xia Fan ran to the back of the sofa, keeping a distance from Xia Yongqiang, before answering, “Didn’t I say I’ve been entrapped? There was definitely something wrong with the alcohol I drank last night!”
“Do you know who did it?” Xia Haixin helped Xia Yongqiang sit back down. “Or have you offended anyone recently?”
“How would I know?” Xia Fan appeared frustrated. “Just thinking how I actually slept with that woman… with my cousin, I feel sick all over.”
He looked at Bai Youran. “Brother Youran, even though it’s not my fault, I still want to apologize to you.”
“There’s no need.” Bai Youran was probably the happiest one of them all. He could not even hide the joy in his eyes. “She can only blame herself for being unlucky.”
Xia Fan snorted. “I’m the unlucky one… This can’t do. I need to go up and take a shower!” Once he was done speaking, he immediately ran up the stairs.
“Go and find A Miao. No matter where it is, you need to bring her back.” Xia Yongqiang had finally regained his calm. He gave Bai Youran a meaningful look. “I won’t let this matter slide. I’ll definitely get to the bottom of it!”
Inside the car, Xia Wan said nothing. Bai Youran drove the car for some time in silence until he could not help but ask, “What’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong?” Xia Wan looked at him. “Youran, I’m so disappointed in you!”
Bai Youran looked dumbfounded. When he recovered, he asked, “You think I’m the one who did it?”
“Who else could it be?” The rim of Xia Wan’s eyes turned red. “Last time, you tried to leave A Miao overseas. This time, you actually used such a dirty trick.”
“You’ve ruined her entire life! How can you do something like that?”
Bai Youran stopped the car by the road. “Wanwan, it’s not me! It’s really not me!”
“Who else would it be if not you?” Xia Wan retorted while sobbing. “You ruined A Miao because you’re not willing to marry her. What’s worse is that you actually pinned the blame on my cousin!”
“I swear!” Bai Youran raised his hand. “If it’s me, make it so that the shares of my family company drop drastically tomorrow.”
Xia Wan looked at him in a daze. “It’s really not you?”
“Really!” Bai Youran nodded fervently.
“But…” Xia Wan was somewhat dumbfounded. “Who else would it be if not you?”
She pondered over it a long time before her eyes abruptly widened even more.
“Wanwan, did you think of something?” Bai Youran started the car again. “In my opinion, it’s definitely Xia Fan who offended someone and A Miao was unlucky enough to be used as a pawn.”
“Wanwan?” Bai Youran called after seeing that she was in a daze. “Stop thinking so hard about it. Let’s find that illegitimate child first.”
Xia Wan nodded faintly. “Just focus on driving!”
The one happiest over this matter was undoubtedly Bai Youran but besides him, there was presumably someone else who was equally excited. That person was Xia Mei.
She was almost certain that her younger brother’s injuries last time was the result of Xia Fan’s trap. In order to help Xia Mei, he entrapped Xia Mingde but an accident somehow happened and Xia Mingde was forced to recuperate in his maternal grandmother’s place to this day.
“We’re here. It’s very dirty inside. I’ll take a look; you stay in the car and wait for me.” Bai Youran parked the car properly.
He returned several minutes later. “She’s not here.”
“Didn’t you ask her former neighbors?” Xia Wan frowned.
“I did but they said they haven’t seen her.” Bai Youran cursed. “Where exactly did that wench go…”
A Miao was currently sitting inside the living room of Shen Xinglan’s home. She laughed in a self-decrepitating manner after hearing Shen I’s explanation of the events. “I’m sure the Xia family are all panicking right now. Bai Youran won’t be able to escape the blame this time.”
“If you have the mood to worry about others, you might as well think about yourself.” Shen Xinglan glanced at her. “The woman in the video is you.”
Xia Fan had thought this through. He had arranged ahead of time to drug A Miao and take her away. However, Shen Xinglan noticed this and knocked him out with drugs. He then found a woman to pose as A Miao.
When Xia Fan woke up in the morning, he had no recollection whatsoever of the evening before. However, he was the one who prepared the hidden camera and it clearly depicted their bed wrestle.
“We deliberately found a woman whose side profile resemble yours. That’s why he believes that it’s a done deal,” Shen I said smugly. “He then sent the video to Bai Youran and returned home while masquerading as a victim.”
Suddenly, A Miao looked at Shen Xinglan in alarm. “I owe you yet another favor. How much money do you plan on asking from me this time?”
“There’s room to negotiate when it comes to money.” Shen Xinglan waved his hand and Shen II came over with a box.
He had A Miao open the box. “Xia Yongqiang will be going to the hospital for a medical examination today. Since the examination has been postponed for two months and Xia Fan made him so mad today, the examination is sure to take a very long time.”
“You want to make my move today?” A Miao picked up the jade pendant embedded with a bronze mirror inside the box. It was exactly the same as the one that Xia Yongqiang wore.
Shen Xinglan narrowed his eyes. “This is your last chance. If you still fail, it’s the end of our deal.”
“I understand.” A Miao nodded, her gaze shifting.
She wanted to ask if Shen Xinglan had regained his conscience. Previously, the guy had refused to prepare a fake for her. “Upon second thought, why should I look for trouble? Did I start getting addicted to provoking him…”