Chapter 60: Truly Foolish or Just Pretending?

Yu Er hesitated. “Fourth Master, what if someone ends up dead? What then?”

Long Yue Zhi glanced at him, his gaze alone enough to intimidate Yu Er into silence.

It was as if he was saying, Can you use your brain for once? How can you be this clueless?

Yu Er made a gesture for silence, feeling a little embarrassed. “Understood. She’s reckless, not stupid.”

Long Yue Zhi closed his eyes again. “Any new updates?”

Yu Er nodded, then shook his head.

Then he suddenly remembered that Long Yue Zhi had his eyes closed and couldn’t see his gestures, so he quickly spoke up. “We’ve investigated, but the results are the same as before—too clean, nothing to trace. She might not be what you think she is.”

Long Yue Zhi remained silent. Even while reclining, his strikingly handsome features remained unaffected.

“If her parents were educated youths sent to the countryside, why didn’t they return home afterward? Why did they stay in Ji Province?”

Yu Er scratched his head. “Because all of their relatives had passed away. They didn’t have any family to return to, so they just stayed in Ji Province.”

“What was their ancestral home?”

“Shanxi.”

“And her so-called maternal cousin?”

“Ji Province.”

Long Yue Zhi said nothing further, but Yu Er still couldn’t make sense of it.

Chen Gang, who had been silent until now, suddenly realized something. “Wait a minute! If her parents were from Shanxi, how could they have a cousin with an ancestral home in Ji Province?”

Yu Er was confused at first. Then, after about twenty seconds, realization hit him like a lightning bolt!

That’s right!

He had always assumed it was a distant relative, but that Yuzhu woman was a local from Ji Province. Her ancestors for three generations had all been from Ji Province.

Meanwhile, Jing Xi’s ancestors for three generations were all from Shanxi.

It didn’t add up.

Long Yue Zhi sighed. “Good thing there’s still someone here with a brain. Sigh.”

Yu Er: “……”

Chen Gang stifled a laugh.

“Alright, go investigate. Also, look into that cousin and her ex-husband—I have a feeling it’s not as simple as it seems.”

Yu Er nodded, still feeling completely lost as he left.

Long Yue Zhi lay down for a while, but soon felt too warm. He got up, stretched lazily, and asked, “Has the eldest Miss Xu been up to any new tricks lately?”

Chen Gang replied, “She took over two more of our shops. But they were bait—we had already cleared them out in advance!”

Long Yue Zhi let out a low hum of acknowledgment. “Got it. Aren’t there two more failing businesses on West Street? Find a way to dump them on her. Since she likes collecting things so much, let’s make sure she gets her fill.”

Chen Gang nodded. “What about Quan Jia?”

“Ignore them. They’re just Xu Family lapdogs anyway. Treat them as such.”

“Understood, Fourth Master.”

“Also, have Chen Zhi look into it as well.”

Chen Gang glanced at Long Yue Zhi. He hadn’t specified what to investigate.

But after working with the Long family for so many years, he didn’t need Long Yue Zhi to spell it out. He already understood.

Without another word, he left.

Long Yue Zhi wandered around the courtyard for a while, gazing at the clivias and chrysanthemums that had been planted but had yet to bloom.

His mind drifted to Jing Xi’s face, and he fell into deep thought.

=====

Ji Province.

For two consecutive days, Jing Xi had been closely watching the Zhou family’s every move.

But there was still no news.

That night, she went near their house to check things out, but the place was completely empty. She wanted to sneak inside to see if there was anything suspicious—or at least figure out where they kept their money—but to her surprise, every single room was locked.

In the end, she found nothing and had no choice but to return home.

The Zhou family was much more cautious than the Zhang family. Even when facing a major crisis, they hadn’t forgotten to lock their doors before leaving.

With nothing else to do at home, Jing Xi spent her time tidying up both the land in her spatial storage and the house, inside and out.

It had been a while since she last came in. The house was already fully renovated—only the furniture was missing now.

As she was thinking about what to put in the kitchen, she suddenly heard a loud clang behind her. Turning around, she was shocked to see a massive, light gray sofa had appeared out of nowhere in the living room!

Jing Xi walked over and realized that the sofa was big enough to lie down and sleep on!

She sat on it, testing its softness. Oh my god—she felt like she could fall asleep here in just ten seconds!

She took off her shoes and lay down. Then, she heard a few more clang sounds. When she looked toward the previously empty kitchen, she saw that it was now fully stocked with appliances and cookware!

A water dispenser, oven, induction stove, refrigerator—everything was there!

Even the creamy white marble countertop had all the essential seasonings neatly arranged on it!

She was so overwhelmed with surprise and joy that she couldn’t even find the right words to express herself!

Before she could fully process everything, the entire space was suddenly filled with the sound of clang clang clang!

She turned around and saw that the living room and kitchen were now completely furnished, with all the necessary appliances and furniture in place.

The bedroom had everything too—a bed, a television, everything she could possibly need!

She turned on the TV and was stunned to find that it actually worked!

At first, it only showed information from this time period. But as she flipped through the channels, she was astonished to see a futuristic broadcast from the future!

Before she could finish exploring the TV, she rushed to check out the bathroom.

The moment she saw the showerhead, her excitement reached its peak!

Only those who lived in this era knew how difficult it was to take a proper bath!

Especially in winter!

Not only was it freezing, but heating up water took forever!

Some places had public bathhouses, but the conditions were incredibly poor, and she didn’t even want to go there.

To her delight, all the toiletries were also provided!

Jing Xi felt as if this space had completely filled the emptiness in her heart!

She spent a long time inside, and she even decided that from now on, she would come here to sleep every night!

The living conditions here were far better than those shabby earthen beds and houses outside!

Sometimes, if the earthen bed wasn’t heated properly, it would release black smoke, and she was genuinely afraid of carbon monoxide poisoning.

It wasn’t until the clock on the wall pointed to 9 p.m. that Jing Xi suddenly remembered she hadn’t locked the door. Only then did she leave the space to lock it.

But the moment she stepped out, she saw a figure standing at the entrance.

Looking closely through the window, she was surprised to find that it was Zhou Shu’s wife, Chen Xiaowen.

Chen Xiaowen knocked on the door.

Jing Xi thought for a moment before opening it.

The moment she did, she was met with a face that looked utterly exhausted, as if she hadn’t slept for days.

Chen Xiaowen got straight to the point. “I came here specifically to find you!”

Jing Xi remained silent.

Chen Xiaowen continued, “Zhou Shu is awake now. He can talk. As soon as he woke up, he told his parents that you were the one who did it. They wanted me to report it to the police, but instead, I ran back here.”

Jing Xi frowned. “What do you mean?”

Chen Xiaowen stared at her. “Can you do me a favor?”

Jing Xi said, “Just say what you need to say. If it’s nothing important, I’m closing the door.”

She moved to shut the door, but Chen Xiaowen blocked it with her hand.

“I was raped by Zhou Shu when I was 19 and got pregnant. My parents thought it would be shameful to report it, so they took 50 yuan and forced me to marry him.

After we got married, his parents made me work on the farm. I was heavily pregnant and feeling unwell, so I moved a little slower that day. Zhou Shu got angry and beat me—that’s how I had a miscarriage!

Since then, I haven’t been able to conceive again!”

“I don’t love Zhou Shu. I hate everyone in his family. I wish they were all dead! They beat me all the time! Especially Li Fenghua—sometimes, when she gets frustrated outside, she comes home and takes it out on me!

That day, after suffering losses at your place, they went back and beat me up again!”

Jing Xi finally understood why Chen Xiaowen had always looked at her with that strange gaze.

But she didn’t think she had the ability to help her.

“Please help me. I’ve been observing you for a long time—I know you’re not an ordinary person! If you can make that old scoundrel Zhang Qiang suffer, you can definitely help me escape!”