Chapter 9

The female officer was stunned by the question. Indeed—she said the money was of dubious origin, but there was no actual evidence to prove it.

She looked at Zhang Tinglei, who scrutinized Xin Qi with sharp eyes. If Xin Qi had even the slightest guilt, she wouldn’t be able to withstand his gaze.

But Xin Qi showed no signs of guilt. In her past life, she had been a strong businesswoman, leading countless international negotiations. When it came to presence and intimidation through eye contact, she was a natural.

Still, she knew to restrain herself now. She met his gaze without flinching, showing she had nothing to hide. Her eyes even held a trace of grievance and innocence.

After a moment, Zhang Tinglei withdrew his gaze. “At present, there’s not enough evidence. We’ll investigate further. Please be prepared for additional questioning if needed.”

Xin Qi replied, “No problem. But I hope you won’t let my family know about the money.”

“This money was saved in secret. If my family finds out, they’ll definitely try to take it from me.”

“My grandmother left it to me quietly as part of my dowry. I don’t want it taken away.”

That situation was all too common—some families would even take their daughter’s dowry to help support their sons.

With insufficient evidence, they had no choice but to release Xin Qi. After all, they couldn’t convict someone just based on suspicion.

However, Xin Qi wasn’t allowed to use the money for now. It would have to stay in the bank until she was fully cleared of suspicion.

This was a lesson learned—easy money could make people careless and overconfident.

Xin Qi had been taught a hard lesson. In this era, one had to be extremely cautious. A single misstep could bring serious trouble.

By the time she was finally released, it was already dark outside.

Xin Qi felt a bit anxious. She was thinking about how to explain everything when she got home and whether Zhang Tinglei would truly keep his word and not tell her family about the money.

Zhang Tinglei escorted her out of the interrogation room.

Suddenly, like a different person, he smiled and said, “Comrade Xin, don’t you remember me?”

“The day before New Year’s Eve—I was the one who brought you home.”

Only then did Xin Qi realize that Zhang Tinglei had recognized her too. She smiled. “I remember. I thought you hadn’t recognized me.”

Zhang Tinglei chuckled. “How could I not recognize such a beautiful comrade?”

“But, since I was working just now, I couldn’t act like we knew each other.”

Xin Qi nodded. “That’s understandable. I get it.”

Zhang Tinglei added, “Don’t worry. If what you said is true, this is a minor issue.”

Xin Qi replied, “I’m not worried. I told the truth.”

“I’m just concerned that if my family finds out about the money, I won’t be able to keep it.”

Zhang Tinglei reassured her, “Don’t worry. We’ll respect the wishes of the person involved. We won’t let your family know.”

Xin Qi smiled. “Of course, I trust the people’s police.”

While they were talking, they had already reached the front of the police station.

Zhang Tinglei was just about to offer, “It’s dark—I’ll walk you home,” when a voice called from behind:

“Xin Qi, you’re free to go?”

She turned around to see He Linyuan walking up to her.

He had changed out of his uniform and was now wearing a black winter coat and matching pants. With broad shoulders and long legs, he looked sharp and striking.

Zhang Tinglei explained, “There’s not enough evidence for now, we still need to investigate.”

He Linyuan nodded and said to Xin Qi, “Perfect. I just got off work too. Since it’s dark, I’ll walk you home.”

Zhang Tinglei: …That was my line.

Seeing Zhang Tinglei’s expression change, He Linyuan added, “Xin Qi and I were classmates in middle school.”

Zhang Tinglei thought, Well, aren’t you quick to name-drop.

But old classmates did trump casual acquaintances. Zhang Tinglei backed off, albeit reluctantly.

Later that evening, when he went to visit Ling Liehuang, he couldn’t help but complain about it.

Ling Liehuang gave him a sideways glance, silently thinking: You really do seem to be fated with Xin Qi.

Zhang Tinglei suddenly felt a chill and thought maybe he hadn’t dressed warmly enough.

Meanwhile, He Linyuan originally planned to drive Xin Qi home, but she joked that she’d developed a psychological shadow from riding in a police car and wasn’t keen on repeating the experience.

So, He Linyuan decided to take the bus with her. But when the bus arrived, it was crowded.

Xin Qi used the opportunity to persuade him not to come—telling him to give the spot to others waiting for the bus. Her route was direct, she said, and she didn’t need an escort.

The crowd overheard and quickly pushed past He Linyuan to board. Left with no choice, he gave in.

When Xin Qi got home, she was immediately scolded by Li Huilan.

“You had nothing to do at home, so you went out wandering? It’s so late and you’re just now getting back. Don’t you know how to help with housework?”

“You don’t even have a bit of awareness. I gave you money to get a new outfit. Don’t forget—you’re going on that blind date with the man Director Ma introduced.”

She kept nagging about how Xin Qi should dress nicely for the date, be friendly, ask about his family, his conditions, and how much bride price he was offering.

Not once did she ask whether Xin Qi had eaten after being out all day and coming home so late.

Since no one asked, Xin Qi went to the kitchen to find food herself. Sure enough—not a single grain of rice or leftover dish was left.

Exhausted and hungry, Xin Qi held back her anger. Seeing there was still half a bag of noodles in the cupboard, she decided to cook herself a bowl.

Hearing noise from the kitchen, Li Huilan came in—and saw Xin Qi cooking noodles.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m making noodles.”

Li Huilan’s eyes widened. “Who said you could cook noodles?”

“Are those noodles for you? Do you really think you’re some kind of VIP?”

Xin Qi simply poured the rest of the noodles into the pot. “Aren’t noodles meant to be eaten? I’m hungry. No one left me food, so I’m cooking some. What’s the problem?”

Li Huilan was furious. “Get out! This house has no place for you. Go back to Harbin!”

“You ungrateful wretch! All you do is eat and laze around, running off who knows where. It’s so late—what shameful thing have you been doing out there?”

“You come back expecting to freeload and even want to eat noodles? I’ll beat you, you worthless tramp!”

Xin Qi took a deep breath, then slammed her household registration booklet on the stove.

“My hukou is in Beijing. Why would I go back to Harbin?”

“I send money home every month, yet eating a bowl of noodles makes me a freeloader?”

“I treat you as my mother, but all you do is call me a parasite and a tramp. Do you even see me as your daughter?”

Li Huilan picked up the hukou book and saw Xin Qi’s newly added name. For a moment, she couldn’t believe it.

The rest of the Xin family also looked displeased. Xin Guoping took the booklet and frowned.

“You changed your name?”

Only then did everyone realize that Xin Qi had legally changed her name. She was no longer “Xin Qi” (old version), but now “Xin Qi” (new character).

Xin Qi said, “I felt like I’d been living a failure of a life. Changing my name marks a new beginning for me.”

Xin Guoping scolded, “How can you make such decisions on your own? It’s completely ridiculous.”

Xin Qi smiled faintly. “Why can’t I change my own name? From now on, I’ll do what I want to do. You’d all better start getting used to it.”