"Aunt, Uncle."
Realizing he’d been found out, Li Mingjie took off his gas mask. He forced an embarrassed smile that revealed a set of white teeth. He looked absolutely mortified.
"Mingjie, what’s going on here?" Tang De asked, utterly bewildered as he examined Li Mingjie closely. "Weren’t you promoted? Weren’t you supposed to go to the Lin’an District to be an inspector?"
"Why are you at a dog kennel... shoveling..." Zhang ilan was also extrely puzzled, her eyes wide with disbelief.
Li Mingjie wanted to find an excuse to brush it off, but the thought of Qin Long’s power stopped him from trying anything foolish.
"Aunt..." he said quietly, his head lowered in embarrassnt. "I made a mistake. My superiors told to reflect on my actions... so I ca here to train."
Tang De and Zhang ilan couldn’t make any sense of it. They didn’t know if he was in charge of the Lin’an District or not, but it was clear he was now earnestly shoveling dung. Hadn’t he claid this job was ant for Qin Long? Why was he the one experiencing it firsthand?
"Aunt, Uncle, what brings you here?" Li Mingjie asked, wiping a foot stained with dog droppings. He wished he could offer them a cup of tea, but where could they possibly sit around here?
"Oh, it’s nothing important. Your aunt was just passing by and wanted to check on you," Zhang ilan explained solemnly, though inwardly she was about to burst with laughter.
To think of the proud Li Mingjie from yesterday and now see him shoveling manure! Talk about divine retribution! Still, I can’t laugh out loud while he’s still here.
"I’m doing fine," Li Mingjie said, scratching his head.
"Seeing that you’re fine gives us peace of mind. We’ll get going, then," Zhang ilan said, turning to leave. Just then, she saw Tang De about to hand Li Mingjie the bottle of Fenjiu they had brought.
SWISH!
Zhang ilan snatched the black leather bag from Tang De’s hand. "Mingjie, your aunt has other matters to attend to, so we’ll be leaving now." She gave Tang De’s thigh a sharp twist before departing with a smile.
"Alright, take care." Li Mingjie clenched his jaw, then mustered the courage to shout after them, "Aunt, please tell Qin Long and Xuewu sothing for . I only now realize that you and Uncle are good people. Please, help apologize to Brother Long. I never should have looked down on him."
"Alright," Zhang ilan called back with a smile, waving her hand.
The mont they were in the Buick, she burst out laughing. "Old De! Did you see that? Look at him with all his shoveling gear and that gas mask! What a complete clown, hehe! I’m in a great mood today, so I’ll give you a treat!"
With that, Zhang ilan beckoned seductively to Tang De and plopped herself onto his lap.
Seeing her antics, Tang De wanted to curse. "ilan, don’t ss around! We’re in the car, people will see us."
But Zhang ilan couldn’t be bothered. They say a woman in her forties is a force of nature, ravenous enough to leave a man utterly spent.
About fifteen minutes later, the Buick, which had been rocking steadily, finally fell still. Their tryst was over.
"Old De, you’re not the man you used to be!" Zhang ilan said with a hint of resentnt as she finished dressing. "But fine. I’m in a good mood today, so let’s go. I’ll even cook a few special dishes myself tonight!"
Though Zhang ilan wasn’t entirely satisfied with Tang De’s performance, she was still in high spirits.
「Five o’clock in the afternoon.」
After a busy day, Tang Xuewu finally made her way ho. She slipped out of her work clothes, took a quick hot shower, and changed into pajamas. But even then, she couldn’t shake the feeling of unease. The things Wang Ming and Madam Zhao had said had completely destroyed her trust in Qin Long.
"Xuewu, about today... I overslept after my acupuncture session and was late to pick you up," Qin Long began to explain.
But Tang Xuewu simply raised a hand, cutting him off, her expression one of complete mistrust.
"Xuewu, what’s wrong?" Qin Long frowned and moved toward her, intending to take her hand.
She heartlessly flung his hand away.
"Don’t touch !" she snapped. "What’s wrong with ? Do you even really care? Sotis, I think Grandpa was right. I was so foolish. You don’t even have a single yuan for bus fare! And I actually believed you were changing. How stupid. I’m such a fool."
Tang Xuewu shook her head helplessly, her beautiful eyes glistening with tears of disappointnt.
"Xuewu, you..." Qin Long was completely bewildered. Just that morning, she had been so concerned about him. How could she be so repulsed by him now?
Could it be because of Li Mingjie? Did he interfere with her business?
"Was it that son-in-law from your uncle’s family causing trouble again?" Qin Long’s eyebrows twitched, his tone turning icy.
"You have the nerve to bring up Li Mingjie?" she retorted, her anger flaring. "He already admitted he was drunk and went back on his word, yet you were so rciless. I thought you had so real power, but reality has proven you have nothing! What can you do besides fighting? What good cos from offending officials? Will that help you get back on your feet? Putting on a brave face when you’re in over your head—don’t you see how pathetic that is?"
She had never felt such heartache. She had been trying to accept Qin Long, but he had deceived her so badly. More than anything, she hated being deceived.
"I won’t listen to you, I won’t listen..." Tang Xuewu said coldly, turning to leave.
Just then, Zhang ilan’s excited voice rang out from the doorway. "Xuewu! Xuewu! Co out, we’re having a feast! Hurry and help your mom, I’m exhausted from carrying all this! We absolutely must have a good drink to celebrate!"
As she spoke, she and Tang De ca in, carrying bags with more than a dozen delicious takeout dishes.
"What’s the special occasion?" Tang Xuewu asked, a confused look on her pretty face.
"It’s not about us. It’s about Li Mingjie," her mother said, beaming. "Xuewu, Li Mingjie really is working as a manure shoveler, hehehe!"
Hearing this, Tang Xuewu trembled and froze on the spot. She suddenly recalled the mont Qin Long had warned Li Mingjie. Back then, Qin Long had threatened him with this exact punishnt. He had told him, "Even Lord Jiang thinks you’re suited for shoveling manure."
Not long after that, Li Mingjie and her uncle had co to their door with expensive gifts to apologize. Qin Long had warned him then too: "Keep running your mouth, and you won’t even have the right to shovel manure."
At the ti, Tang Xuewu had just thought it was a clever coback. But thinking back on it now—on Qin Long’s incredibly domineering attitude and Li Mingjie’s constant groveling...
There’s definitely more to this story...
Tang Xuewu slowly looked up at her mother, her expression full of doubt. "Mom, are you telling the truth? Are you sure you’re not mistaken?"
"No mistake!" Zhang ilan said, covering her mouth as she laughed and arranged the dozen dishes on the table. "I was worried Li Mingjie would try to sabotage you behind your back, so your dad and I bought two bottles of commorative edition Fenjiu and went to ’check up’ on him. And as luck would have it, when your dad stopped to ask for directions, he ran right into Li Mingjie shoveling dog poop! Haha!"
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