Chapter 462 – Caught?

Li Yiyi gave an embarrassed smile. “Honestly, I really don’t know. This thing doesn’t belong to me.”

“I see. But what do you want to know?” Professor Qin asked quickly.

“I want to know what’s written on it.”

“It’s about some health-preserving methods, as well as ancient people’s views on immortality. The content at the bottom lists some medicinal recipes for longevity. But as far as I know, many of the herbs listed are nearly impossible to find nowadays,” he explained.

“Oh right, whose parchment is this? Could we possibly borrow it for a few days so our university can study it? We happen to be researching things from that era right now.”

Li Yiyi looked apologetic. “Sorry, Professor Qin. This parchment actually belongs to someone from Country R.”

The moment he heard it was from there, Professor Qin’s face immediately darkened. “Those bandits! They actually set their sights on the belongings buried with our ancestors. Shameless, absolutely shameless!” he cursed loudly.

After ranting, Professor Qin took a deep breath and apologized to Li Yiyi, a bit embarrassed. “Sorry, girl. I wasn’t angry at you—I’m just furious at those shameless people from Country R. I can’t believe they’re still digging into the graves of our ancestors.”

“I understand. I’m angry too. I only helped them for my own reasons, but rest assured, I love our country,” she clarified.

“Alright. Take this thing back then. One day, we’ll take back everything that rightfully belongs to us,” Professor Qin said, clenching his fist.

“Xiaoman, do you want to come in for a cup of tea? I recently got a top-grade batch of Biluochun—you’ll love it,” he suddenly said cheerfully, as if he were a whole new person.

“Hmph! As if you’re the only one with good tea. It’s not like no one else has any,” Old Master Zhang huffed, muttering under his breath.

Just as he finished, he caught a sharp glare from Old Madam Zhang. Startled, he immediately shut his mouth obediently.

Professor Qin noticed and smirked smugly—very obviously and directly at Old Master Zhang.

Old Master Zhang, standing behind, saw that annoying smirk on his face and got so mad that even his beard curled up.

Old Madam Zhang looked at the two old men helplessly. Combined, they were over a hundred years old, yet every time they were together, they bickered like children.

“No tea today. If you have time another day, come over to our place for a meal,” Old Madam Zhang said to Professor Qin.

Professor Qin’s eyes lit up in surprise. “Really? I can actually come to your house for dinner?”

“Of course. You can come whenever you’re free. It’s not like we’re making you pay for it,” she said plainly.

“Great! It’s settled then. Once I finish what I’ve got on hand, I’ll come eat at your place every day!” Professor Qin said joyfully.

Once everything was settled, the group soon parted ways.

All the way back to the car, Li Yiyi noticed her grandfather practically had “I’m mad” written all over his face.

As soon as they got in the car, Old Master Zhang grumbled, “Why did you invite that Qin guy over to our house for dinner? I don’t want him there.”

“I didn’t ask you to welcome him. I welcome him, that’s enough,” Old Madam Zhang replied helplessly.

Old Master Zhang got even angrier, fuming in silence.

Listening to the backseat squabble, Li Yiyi wanted to laugh but had to hold it in.

Fortunately, the elderly couple didn’t speak again for the rest of the trip, sparing her the struggle of stifling her laughter.

As the car pulled up to the compound gate, Li Yiyi saw a figure standing at the entrance. She immediately asked the driver to stop and, after saying a few words to Old Madam Zhang, got out of the car.

At that moment, Jiang Huijing, who had been pacing around the compound entrance, looked completely disheveled—nowhere near her usual tidy appearance. Her hair was messy and half-hanging off her shoulders.

When she saw the car stop, she hesitated nervously, afraid the person getting out might drive her away. But once she saw it was Li Yiyi, her eyes instantly reddened, and she called out as she walked toward her, “Sister-in-law, why are you only back now?”

Seeing her like this, Li Yiyi couldn’t even get angry—it wasn’t worth it. She just asked, “What are you doing here?”

“Sister-in-law, please save Brother Fugui! I’ll kneel to you if I have to!” And with that, she really started to kneel.

Startled, Li Yiyi rushed forward to stop her. “What are you doing?!”

“I didn’t want to do this either, Sister-in-law… I really don’t know what else to do. My mom said my brother’s out on a mission and isn’t at the military base. You’re the only one I can think of who might be able to help,” Jiang Huijing sobbed, her eyes red and puffy.

Li Yiyi looked at her helplessly. “You’ve said all that, but none of it is useful. What exactly happened?”

“Brother Fugui… he got taken away. They said they’re going to hand him over to the police station. He can’t go there! Once he goes in, he won’t come out—what are we supposed to do then?” She started crying harder, wiping away tears as she went on. “If anything happens to Brother Fugui, what will happen to me and the kids at home? If he doesn’t make it, I don’t want to live either.”

Li Yiyi rolled her eyes at her dramatic words and interrupted impatiently, “Alright, enough. Just get to the point. Why was he taken in the first place?”

“I don’t know either! They didn’t say a word and just barged into our room and took Brother Fugui away!” Jiang Huijing cried.

Li Yiyi pressed her lips together and looked at her seriously. “You’d better not be hiding anything from me. Otherwise, I won’t help.”

Jiang Huijing immediately stopped crying, her eyes shifting guiltily, unable to meet hers.

Seeing her reaction, Li Yiyi sneered. “Are you going to talk or not? If you don’t want to tell the truth, then leave right now—and don’t come to me for help ever again.” With that, she turned and started walking toward the compound.

Panicked, Jiang Huijing turned pale and quickly grabbed her. “Sister-in-law, don’t go! I’ll tell the truth, I’ll tell you everything!”

“Actually… it’s all your and my third brother’s fault. If you hadn’t come looking for us at the Chen family’s place, we wouldn’t have made such a mistake in the first place.”