During dinner, Qi Zeyu’s phone kept buzzing with WeChat notifications.

Everyone’s attention turned to his phone.

“I’m going to take a call.” Qi Zeyu picked up his phone and walked outside to dial a number.

“Tsk, didn’t I send you the results?”

“I haven’t checked yet.”

“It’s the same, whether you look at them or not.” Feng Mo sighed. “So, what are you planning to do?”

“Qiqi’s coming home for dinner tonight, and everyone’s really happy. I’ll talk to them about it tomorrow.”

Feng Mo reminded him, “Make sure to warn Qiqi. I’m worried about what Qi Nan might do to him.”

“Mm.” Qi Zeyu definitely intended to warn him, but he wouldn’t give Qi Nan another chance to get close to Qiqi. “Right now, I can’t reveal anything. I need to ensure Nannan’s safety first.”

Feng Mo agreed.

“So what do you plan to tell Grandma Qi? We didn’t have solid evidence before, but now, with this medical report, we do.”

Qi Zeyu fell silent for a moment. “I think Grandma has already noticed.”

Feng Mo was surprised.

Today, he arranged for the fake Qi Nan to accompany Grandma Qi to the hospital for a follow-up. The real purpose was to use this chance to get Qi Nan a check-up as well.

If he’d brought it up out of the blue, Qi Nan would definitely have refused.

So, Qi Zeyu waited for the follow-up appointment and had mentioned it to Grandma Qi the night before.

“Is there something wrong with Nannan?”

Initially, Grandma Qi thought something was wrong with Qi Nan’s health, which was why Qi Zeyu had asked her to take him for a check-up.

“No.” Qi Zeyu’s excuse was flimsy; there wasn’t a good reason for asking someone to get checked so suddenly.

“Everyone needs a check-up every year. Since he’s going with you, you might as well ask him to get one too. It’ll save him another trip to the hospital this year.”

The excuse sounded reasonable, but it would’ve been odd for anyone else to bring it up. But since Grandma Qi was already going, and Qi Nan was accompanying her, it didn’t seem so strange coming from her. The fake Qi Nan would probably just assume Grandma Qi was concerned about him.

Besides, they hadn’t treated Qi Nan noticeably differently; he’d probably think that, with Qiqi back, the family’s attention was on him temporarily and wouldn’t read too much into it.

“We really owe this to Grandma Qi. Who knows how she managed to convince that fake.” Feng Mo spoke bluntly. “But why do you think Grandma Qi noticed?”

“I don’t know what happened at the hospital, but tonight Grandma mentioned several times how close Qiqi and Nannan used to be.”

At first, Qi Zeyu thought Grandma Qi was just reminiscing, entertaining herself by teasing him. After all, he used to bully Qiqi a lot when they were kids.

But as she went on, Qi Zeyu sensed something was off.

Grandma’s words felt more like a test.

“So you’re just going to play along?”

“No, I’ll lure him out.”

Feng Mo was intrigued. “Tell me the details.”

…

After hanging up, Qi Zeyu forwarded the report and the doctor’s words to Qi Huai.

Their suspicions were right.

Qi Nan had never undergone heart surgery.

Qi Zeyu also figured he’d need to find time to tell Qiqi. But with Qi Nan here tonight, he’d have to pick another time to talk to Qiqi.

Exiting WeChat, he dialed his assistant.

“President Qi.”

“What about the matter I asked you to investigate?”

“Wei Yang was in contact with quite a few people at the Old Madam’s birthday banquet.”

As a minor celebrity, Wei Yang likely attended to curry favor. After reviewing the security footage several times, he finally confirmed it.

“Someone interacted with Wei Yang, but they didn’t talk for long. At the intersection closest to the mansion, Wei Yang was seen flagging down a car.”

“We couldn’t see the person in the car, but by checking the license plate and the mansion’s garage footage, we confirmed that the person Wei Yang met with got into that car.”

“We’re not sure what they talked about, but the person in the back seat later pushed Wei Yang into the roadside bushes.”

“Who was it?”

“This person isn’t from A City, so we’ll need more time to find out. There’s also another discovery…”

Qi Zeyu frowned. “Spill everything in one go.”

“Oh.”

“This person seems to know your younger brother, Qi Nan.”

Qi Zeyu paused. Was the fake acquainted with them?

“Get someone to keep an eye on Qi Nan. Let me know if you find them meeting up.”

As Qi Zeyu hung up and turned to re-enter, he noticed Jiang Siyu leaning against the wall, his shadow elongated by the light.

He was standing close, but not too close—just far enough that he couldn’t have overheard the call, though he was clearly waiting there on purpose.

“Something up?”

Jiang Siyu nodded and walked toward him.

“I don’t know how well you know Qi Nan, but I’m certain you don’t know Qingqing very well.”

Qi Zeyu raised an eyebrow, about to respond when Jiang Siyu spoke up.

“He doesn’t say much, but his willingness to stay shows he cares about you.”

It had taken Jiang Siyu a long time for Qingqing to accept him, and even after Lu Zeqing lost his memory, Jiang Siyu had to tread carefully around him.

“I know.” Qi Zeyu hesitated a second, then said, “We care about Qingqing, too, and we’re trying to understand him.”

“Qi Nan doesn’t get along with Qingqing—or, rather, he goes out of his way to bother him.” Jiang Siyu paused for a few seconds, watching Qi Zeyu’s reaction.

“He’s causing trouble for Qingqing?” Qi Zeyu looked somewhat surprised; he was clearly unaware.

“On a variety show.” Seeing Qi Zeyu’s ignorance, Jiang Siyu retorted, “Is this what you mean by ‘trying to understand him?’”

Qi Zeyu admitted it.

“We overlooked it. We haven’t been thorough in learning about his past.” Qi Zeyu offered no excuses; he truly had been busy lately.

The company’s affairs.

Qi Nan’s situation.

The human trafficking case.

He was investigating all of it.

Since Qingqing had mentioned Xu Donghui had taken money, if Qingqing’s memory wasn’t mistaken, then the couple might have been involved in more than child trafficking—they might have engaged in kidnapping.

He had even gone to B City recently.

In Xu Donghui’s hometown, his efforts yielded little. He, too, doubted Qingqing was just a trafficked child. If Xu Yinyin, being a girl, wasn’t sold off in time, then why wasn’t Qingqing, as a boy, sold either?

According to Qingqing…

If it was just a trafficking case, they could have simply abandoned him rather than carry a child while fleeing. It would have been too much trouble.

There must be an undiscovered lead somewhere.

That two to three million Qingqing mentioned might be the breakthrough.

Qi Zeyu didn’t explain all this and instead sincerely accepted Jiang Siyu’s criticism. His perception of Jiang Siyu improved slightly. He had underestimated how much Jiang Siyu cared for Qiqi.

It was only someone who truly cared that would come to him to say such things.

“Don’t worry, I won’t let him harm Qingqing.”

Jiang Siyu was skeptical. “The CP I have with Qingqing is strictly managed. Aside from the studio team, no one else knows about it. The studio’s business depends on it, so they’d never leak anything.”

“Qingqing only told you and… Qi Nan about it.”

Jiang Siyu clearly differentiated between the Qi family and Qi Nan. “I know your family wouldn’t leak anything, but…”

“If Qi Nan uses this against Qingqing, I want to know how you’ll handle it.” Jiang Siyu wasn’t afraid of trouble, nor was he afraid of Qi Nan making a fuss.

First, Qi Nan’s word alone wouldn’t hold weight; gossipers might watch the drama unfold, but no one would believe it outright.

Second, Jiang Siyu had a powerful PR team.

Over the years, no media outlets dared to spread rumors about him. Trouble didn’t faze him; even if he didn’t act, his cousin could take down anyone who dared to try.

Jiang Siyu didn’t mention this to Qi Zeyu. Instead, he wanted to see whether the Qi family would side with their biological child or their adopted son.

“I’m not like you. The Qi family has three children. Whether or not we can treat them equally, I don’t know. But I’m certain that’s not what Qiqi wants either.”

Who wouldn’t want to be loved unconditionally?

Jiang Siyu openly admitted his bias toward Qingqing. For him, Qingqing was the only one, the person he’d treasure above anyone else.

He didn’t expect the Qi family to show favoritism toward Qingqing; he just hoped they wouldn’t let him down.

“Everyone in the Qi family loves Qingqing, and so do I. What you’re worried about won’t happen. As for Qi Nan, I can only tell you that the Qi family will never favor him over Qingqing.”

“Nor will we do anything to hurt Qingqing or make him sad.”

“I don’t deny your feelings for Qingqing. But you also can’t deny the family’s love for him.”

Jiang Siyu’s expression remained calm. “I hope your love isn’t out of guilt but genuine acceptance.”

“No one hopes more than I do for the Qi family to be happy together because that’s what Qingqing wants.”

“Oh?” Qi Zeyu understood but couldn’t help feeling irked.

Qiqi was in his own home but still needed an outsider like Jiang Siyu to keep him company?

But if Jiang Siyu could provoke him, Qi Zeyu wouldn’t back down.

He smiled faintly. “And may I ask, in what capacity are you speaking on Qingqing’s behalf?”

Jiang Siyu: “…”

Not wanting to lose momentum, Jiang Siyu gave him a polite smile. “As your future brother-in-law.”

Qi Zeyu’s smile froze instantly. Jiang Siyu’s audacity was astounding—he spoke so confidently even though they weren’t even close to being official.

“Are you so sure he’ll like you?”

Jiang Siyu smirked.

“Absolutely.”

Before Qi Zeyu could explode, Jiang Siyu pulled out his phone. “Add me on WeChat.”

Reluctantly, Qi Zeyu opened the app to scan the code.

Seeing how cooperative he was, Jiang Siyu didn’t press him further. “There’s a video file. Watch it when you have time.”

“Does it involve Qingqing?”

“Yes. Over a month ago, Qingqing fell down the stairs. It wasn’t an accident.”

Qi Zeyu’s expression darkened immediately.

“I spent a lot of time retrieving partial surveillance footage. My home isn’t in A City, so it was challenging to investigate. But for the Qi family, this should be easy.”

“Understood.”

Qi Zeyu wasn’t oblivious to the underlying message: Jiang Siyu might claim difficulty but was clearly capable. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have obtained the video. This was a test.

A test of the Qi family.

Usually, it’s the older brother testing the prospective brother-in-law. This time, it was the brother-in-law testing the older brother.

Ridiculous.

Qi Zeyu almost fell for it.

What future brother-in-law?

He didn’t recognize it.