Chapter 31: Empty-Handed Arrival**

The people in the compound watched helplessly as the police took the man away. They began to panic, crowding around Song Xilan’s door, asking, “Factory Director Song, what’s going on? Why was he arrested? We’ve already given him money—will we get in trouble?”

Song Baili reassured everyone: “Don’t worry, I called the police. This guy was acting suspicious, and I was worried he might have some ulterior motive, so I reported him. We haven’t done anything wrong, so there’s no need to be scared.”

Still, the people were uneasy, worried that the money they had earned might be taken back.

At that moment, Song Xilan noticed Jiang Chengxiao rushing over, squeezing through the crowd with a worried expression: “Are you alright? I heard that Jiang Jingru sent a man to your place. Did he cause any trouble for you?”

Someone coming to cause trouble? Both Song Baili and Tan Aizhi perked up their ears, looking toward her.

Song Xilan hadn’t expected him to come suddenly, and she froze for a moment. Jiang Chengxiao didn’t expect to meet her parents so suddenly either and was momentarily stunned.

In the silence, Tan Aizhi broke it: “Who’s this young man?”

Song Xilan: “Mom, Dad, this is Comrade Jiang, whom I’ve mentioned before.”

Jiang Chengxiao awkwardly smiled: “Hello, Uncle, Aunt.”

“Oh, so it’s Comrade Jiang. Come in, come in, sit down.”

Jiang Chengxiao felt embarrassed—he couldn’t come empty-handed the first time, but he also didn’t know how to handle it.

“No, no, it’s fine. I just came to check on things. I want to say a few words to Xiaolan.”

Song Baili sensed that what Jiang Chengxiao wanted to say might be related to today’s incident and said seriously, “You can talk about it at home.”

Song Xilan quietly added, “Let’s go inside. The neighbors are all watching.”

Indeed, a whole group of people were staring at him, and there were no secrets in this compound.

Jiang Chengxiao regretted not thinking this through. He should’ve paid more attention before rushing over; it was quite impolite.

“Come on, come on, Xiao Jiang, don’t be so formal. Treat this as your own home. Sit down, Xiaolan, go make some tea,” Tan Aizhi said, smiling as she looked Jiang Chengxiao up and down, a look of satisfaction on her face.

“So, Xiao Jiang, where are you from? What do your parents do?”

【Haha, here comes the interrogation!】

【Song Mom is a beauty control expert for sure!】

【Wow, where did this handsome guy come from? I want him to be my son-in-law—right now, like this!】

Song Xilan came out holding the tea cup: “…Mom!”

Song Baili said, “Let’s get to the point first. Xiao Jiang, what did you mean by what you said earlier?”

Jiang Chengxiao: “This is all my fault. Originally, it was my own business, but it ended up involving Xiaolan.”

After he returned to the hotel that night, he had spent money hiring some local punks to help him keep an eye on Jiang Jingru.

Then, those people told Jiang Chengxiao that Jiang Jingru had been sneaky these past few days, meeting with two men. One was an antique dealer who didn’t have much of a proper job and secretly dealt in antiques and cultural relics, mostly fake ones, so he wasn’t a good person.

The other was a junk collector who was paid to go to the food factory dormitory. They didn’t know what he was up to.

When Jiang Chengxiao heard that it was the food factory dormitory, he immediately became anxious. He didn’t care about anything else and rushed over, fearing that Jiang Jingru, in retaliation for him chasing her for money, might be using someone to harm Song Xilan.

Song Baili asked, “So, you don’t know what the junk collector was there for?”

Jiang Chengxiao, remembering that he had passed a police car on the way there, nervously asked, “Has he already been here? What did he do?”

Song Baili replied, “He came to collect old portraits. We don’t know what he’s after, but it doesn’t seem like he was targeting our Xiaolan.”

Song Xilan glanced at her dad in surprise. Her dad seemed to imply that she shouldn’t reveal that their family had a famous painting, which made sense. Such important matters shouldn’t be shared casually.

Jiang Chengxiao stood up, saying, “Thank you, Uncle. I’ll go to the police station to inquire. If they really have it out for Xiaolan, I won’t let them off the hook. I’ll go now.”

Tan Aizhi said, “Why don’t you have dinner before you go?”

“No, it’s fine. Thank you, Aunt. I’ll come by again next time for a proper visit and try Aunt’s cooking.”

Song Xilan stood up too, “I’ll go with you!”

She impulsively said it, only to realize that all three of them were looking at her in surprise. She hurriedly added, “I want to know what Jiang Jingru is up to, why she’s been collecting these portraits.”

Tan Aizhi asked, “Aren’t you going to eat? We’re having roasted chicken tonight. Even though we haven’t gotten the money yet, I went to buy one early.”

The roasted chicken would taste terrible if it got cold.

There weren’t many things that could make Song Xilan give up a meal in front of her, but it wasn’t because of the reason she’d just said. She knew better than anyone why Jiang Jingru was doing this—because, as someone who had traveled through time, she knew she had something in her hands that could make her a lot of money.

To Jiang Jingru, making money was more important than revenge.

So, Song Xilan didn’t even know why she impulsively said she would go to the police station with Jiang Chengxiao. Surely, it wasn’t just because she wanted to go with him, was it? Could he be more important than roasted chicken?

But the words were already out, and after hesitating, she said, “Let’s eat when we get back!”

Song Baili thought for a moment, then called Song Xilan over and instructed her, “If anyone asks about the frame, just say you don’t know anything, understood?”

Song Xilan asked, “Even if the police ask, I should say I don’t know?”

“Yes, even if they ask, you say you don’t know. The more people who know about that frame, the more trouble we’ll have,” Song Baili said seriously.

Song Xilan, somewhat confused, nodded. “Okay!”

Song Baili sighed. He had raised such a pure daughter, but maybe that wasn’t always a good thing.

Tan Aizhi, still worried about her daughter, slipped a pack of walnut crisps from Lianxiang Lou into Song Xilan’s hand before leaving, saying, “If you’re hungry, snack on these.”

She also reminded Jiang Chengxiao, “Xiao Jiang, take good care of Xiaolan.”

“Aunt, don’t worry. I’ve got this!” Jiang Chengxiao said confidently.