Chapter 578: The Things She Didn’t Know (9)

 Paperplane  Editor: DarkGemQiao Anhao’s entire body trembled at the assistant’s gentle question. She took two steps back and leaned back up against the marble table.

At that moment, she realized that there was only agony left in her heart.

It was a bone-piercing, heart-wrenching type of pain.

She never knew just how well that man treated her, yet this was not the first time she had felt this moved. This morning, when she broke the porcelain doll at her apartment to find the letter he wrote for her, she felt just as worked up.

She thought that he loved her, he really loved her…

But she only just realized… that she had understood only one thousandth fraction of the love he held for her.

𝔫oѵ𝑒𝙡.com

The man she loved, had loved her so so very much…

Qiao Anhao’s tears fell uncontrollably.

The assistant paused for quite some time before he choosing to continue. “Yet, he’s just that foolish… At the time, I clearly tried to persuade him to consider emergency public relation counter measures, but do you know what he said to me? He said he couldn’t wait one second.

“Back then, he’d waited for you for so long, his voice was unusually exhausted, and he added that I shouldn’t worry. In any case, he had been ignored and spurned ever since he was young. He was long used to it, but you weren’t the same. You were the only beautiful thing in his life, and he couldn’t allow for anyone to tarnish that.”

Ultimately, Qiao Anhao couldn’t help but start to sob with laughter.

“He always used his own methods to protect you and never hesitated to hurt himself.” The assistant felt a tinge of heat beneath his eyes, and quietly took a breath, then continued to say, “He’s really foolish, right? But you have no idea, there were times where he was being even more foolish than this.”

The assistant closed his eyes, and said flatly, “Did you really think that Mr. Lu bought Xu Enterprise to get revenge against the Xu family’s injustices?”

The assistant stood in his spot for a long time without moving, before he finally blinked and opened his mouth to say, “The only reason why he did it was because of you.”

Qiao Anhao stopped crying for a moment and looked up in disbelief. With a face full of tears, she glanced at the assistant and asked, “Me?”

“Yes, that’s right. Because of you.” The assistant enunciated every word and spoke with conviction, as though he was conflicted about something deep down inside. After a long while, he gritted his teeth and put the truth out there. “Miss Qiao, the recording pen is in Mr. Lu’s possession, so I have no evidence. But it doesn’t matter if you don’t believe me, I still have to tell you, because I can’t see Mr. Lu make himself suffer like that. You don’t even know how much I regret listening to Mr. Lu, helping him keep his secret.”

The assistant seemed to really be annoyed, judging from how he started to rattle on in a single breath. “Miss Qiao, Mr. Lu told me that you know you had an abortion and that he personally signed for the operation, am I right?”

Qiao Anhao gave a light nod.

“Miss Qiao, did you know? Someone sabotaged your pregnancy and caused you to miscarry your child.”

Qiao Anhao’s eyes suddenly shot wide open and her expression instantly changed. “Lu Jinnian told me that my baby was lost due to overworking myself during filming, so the baby died in my stomach…”

The assistant didn’t wait for Qiao Anhao to finish speaking. He opened his mouth to hit the nail on the head, asking her, “If he had told you that your child was killed by Han Ruchu, would you have believed him?”Chapter 579: The Things She Didn’t Know (10)

 Paperplane  Editor: DarkGem…your child was killed by Han Ruchu, would you have believed him?

Qiao Anhao was left dumbfounded by the information. She stared at the assistant with eyes full of shock and hysteria.

The assistant didn’t say a word. In that instant, the terrace became very silent, the night breeze alone making a sound, brushing faintly by the two people.

After about three minutes went by, the assistant finally revealed the truth, explaining everything without any pauses in his speech. “That night, when Mr. Lu called me, you were unconscious and had lost quite a lot of blood. Eventually, the doctor confirmed that you suffered a miscarriage.

“The situation was urgent at the time, and they needed Mr. Lu’s signature to proceed with the operation. After he signed, the doctor told Mr. Lu that the sleeping pills you had taken contained large amounts of sedatives, which caused the fetus to die.

“As for how did Mr. Lu connect the sleeping pills to the swallow’s nest that Han Ruchu gave you, I’m not so sure… but when you were discharged and resting at home, he called me to Mian Xiu Garden. There, he gave me a bottle of swallow’s nest and told me to go get it tested. The tests came out positive for large amounts of sedatives.”

With the assistant’s words, Qiao Anhao’s mind instantly thought back to the day she had vomited like crazy on her visit in the Xu family estate. She even told Han Ruchu that she must’ve caught a stomach bug. On her way back to the set, Han Ruchu gave her two boxes of swallow’s nest. Auntie was standing next to her at the time, and had added that her mother-in-law was really treating her well.

Sometimes, the person in the situation is blindsided. Han Ruchu watched her grow up and had always taken good care of her, as though she were really her half daughter, which was why she completely trusted her. Even if the situation was a little fishy, she never overly suspect anything because she really trusted Han Ruchu.

But now, she realized that the vomiting had stopped only after she ate the swallow’s nest. Back then, she hadn’t taken any medicine, and she thought that her body had recovered on it’s own. At the time, she was especially tired, but not just her, Zhao Meng too! Zhao Meng was always a night owl, but during that time, she’d sleep particularly early. It was so bad that she even dozed during the day on set.

The more Qiao Anhao thought about it, the faster her heart raced.

It was no wonder that she had used to rack her brain over how she had felt nothing while having an abortion. She even asked herself how on earth was Lu Jinnian able to have her undertake an operation without her waking up the whole time.

Now that she thought about it, if there were sleeping pills in the swallow’s nest, then she’d fall into deep asleep right after taking them… If too much of them was consumed, then the person in deep sleep would fall into an unconscious state…

Qiao Anhao’s brows shifted, then she suddenly started muttering to herself. “That’s right… right… then… everything would make sense… so that’s what happened… that’s it!”

So her baby didn’t die from natural causes! Someone murdered her baby!

And that person was the woman who had always treated her like family… the woman who showed her love and care – Aunt Xu!

Qiao Anhao suddenly pressed her hand against her chest. When she went to visit Han Ruchu to ask why Lu Jinnian would ever acquire Xu Enterprise, she did consider that he might have had his own reasons. Yet she had never imagined that a tremendous secret about herself would be the reason behind it all!

So in truth, the only reason why Lu Jinnian took over the Xu Enterprise and sabotaged Han Ruchu’s several billion investment, was actually for her and their baby?Chapter 580: The Things She Didn’t Know (11)

 Paperplane  Editor: DarkGemYet the day when Qiao Anhao had found out Lu Jinnian had acquired Xu Enterprise, she had even complained to him about it… It was no wonder he was so mad that day. At the time, she chased him for half a day hoping to explain herself, but he wouldn’t listen.

She was so distressed, thinking that it was just a harmless thing to say, so why did he have to be so merciless. It was not until now that she finally understood how she actually had made him feel incredibly wronged… Having loved him for so many years , she had actually hit him the hardest!

Panic instantly flashed across Qiao Anhao’s eyes, and tears silently fell down her face once more. She asked in a mumble, “Why didn’t he tell me? Why didn’t he tell me earlier?”

The final syllable of Qiao Anhao’s question dropped from between her teeth with a sobbing crack in her voice.

“At first, he didn’t want you to feel the pain of losing a child, but who would of thought that the baby’s killer not only didn’t cover up the situation, she tried to save the Qiao and Xu family ties after her son woke up by telling you an edited version.”

Qiao Anhao suddenly remembered that she had received an anonymous letter with Lu Jinnian’s signature on the abortion papers on her birthday. It was the same day Xu Jiamu woke up.

“Since he didn’t think that you and him had a shot together, he chose to keep it a secret.” In that instant, the assistant’s voice became a little gentler. “What’s more, even if he was targeting Han Ruchu, he was going to use his own ways to treat Xu Jiamu well. You don’t even know… He never actually wanted to keep Xu Enterprise from the very start, he always planned to slowly transfer it to Mr. Xu… He just wanted Han Ruchu to taste how it felt to be left with nothing…”

The assistant’s words were clearly not trying to blame Qiao Anhao, but she still lowered her head in regret. She bit hard into the corner of her lips, as she couldn’t say anything to explain herself. All she could do was try her best to hold it in, but every now and then, she would let out a quiet sob.

“Also, Miss Qiao, did you know? He was about to tell you everything that night on Valentine’s day. At the time, he even thought about how upset you’d be, so he considered ways to cheer you up…”

In the end, Qiao Anhao couldn’t take the assistant’s words anymore and slowly slumped to the ground, sobbing out loud.

The assistant stopped talking. The night breeze swept the terrace, but all that could be heard were the never-ending echoes of Qiao Anhao’s cries. She sounded like she was in anguish.

In the midst of her cries, you could hear the repeated faint sound of words “Sorry… sorry…”.

—

Four months later.

“Cut—” With the director’s words, Qiao Anhao and Chen Yang, who were originally staring at each other with different emotions, instantly brought themselves back to reality.

“Good work. Today’s shoot was great. Everybody can go eat, then go get some rest. Tomorrow afternoon will be the last scene, then that’ll be the end of the filming for ‘Heavenly Sword’,” the director said in the raised microphone raised, smiling wide. “The entire crew has tickets booked to return to Beijing tomorrow afternoon at five. Thankfully we managed to finish shooting before the lunar new year, so everyone can go home for their family reunion dinner.”Chapter 581: The Things She Didn’t Know (12)

 Paperplane  Editor: DarkGem“Director! What about the celebration dinner!? Will you treat us back in Beijing?” cried a minor female actress.

“Yes! Yes! Yes, it’ll be on me” the director repeated himself a couple times. The hyped up people on the set laughed and cheered. Quite a few of them even cried, “Thank you director!”

As it was a historical movie, Qiao Anhao’s make up was a little complicated and the steps to remove it were troublesome. After she finished with taking it all off, there were only a few members of the crew left on set.

When she came out of the make up room, two people were collecting the rubbish from the floor. When they saw her, the two of them kindly greeted her, “Hello Miss Qiao!”

Qiao Anhao gave them a gentle smile, and replied with a “Hey”, then walked back to where she and Zhao Meng were staying.

The filming location was Jiangxi. As usual, they were staying in a constructed temporary house. Yesterday, her period had come, and so her body was already a little weak. Today, she filmed for the whole day, which left her completely exhausted.

As soon as she went back to the house, she immediately laid down on the metal frame bed. It was deep in the winter period, and so the weather was incredibly cold. The house didn’t have heating, which made it colder even than the outside. Qiao Anhao used two layers of duvet to force herself to warm up, but nothing seemed to be able to warm her feet. In the end, all she could do was withstand the icy cold.

The thought of when she was previously on her period involuntarily popped into her mind. It was the middle of the night, and she had ran out of Mian Xiu Garden to buy sanitary towels when she coincidentally bumped into Lu Jinnian. Because he was worried she might be in danger, he accompanied her by walking quite a distance to the shop. That night, he even left a hand warmer and ginger in front of her door.

The rims of Qiao Anhao’s eyes couldn’t help but heat up, and she instinctively hid her head in the covers.

Four months had passed in the blink of an eye. In these four months, she spent all her time looking for him, but the world was so big and the seas were so vast, if someone wanted to hide from another, it was easy.

Zhao Meng wanted to originally ask what Qiao Anhao wanted her to bring over to eat that evening, but she knew that if she asked, there wouldn’t be a reply for ages. She then walked over to the beside, as though she had a feeling about something, and ripped away the covers.

As she expected, she saw Qiao Anhao with slightly red eyes and couldn’t help but let out a gentle sigh. She reached her hand out and helped her wipe the tears away. “Thinking about Mr. Lu again?”

Qiao Anhao lowered her eyelids and didn’t say a thing, two crystal balls of tears hanging from her long eyelashes.

“Did you call Mr. Lu’s assistant today?”

Qiao Anhao shut her eyes and gave a gentle nod. “Yeah.”

“Mr. Lu still hasn’t contacted him?” As Zhao Meng asked this question, she saw the expression on Qiao Anhao’s face and knew the answer. After a long sigh, she said, “Say… it’s already been four months now. Where do you think Mr. Lu is?”

Qiao Anhao didn’t say a word.

The house was silent. After a while, Zhao Meng opened her mouth to ask, “Qiao Qiao, if you can’t find Mr. Lu in your whole life, what will you do? Don’t tell me you’ll continue on like this, looking for him?!”

“Uh huh,” replied Qiao Anhao in a very soft voice, but with hints of determination and persistence. “I’ll continue the search. If it takes one day, then I’ll look for a day, and if takes my whole lifetime, then so be it. No matter what, this time, I won’t give up.”

Zhao Meng looked at Qiao Anhao with only pain in her heart. She wanted to say something to comfort her, but every time, her words seemed overly saddening.

Chapter 582: The Things She Didn’t Know (13)

 Paperplane  Editor: DarkGemEventually, Zhao Meng could only gently cover Qiao Anhao with the duvets. “I’ll go get you some dinner. Get some rest.”

Qiao Anhao responded with a quiet grunt.

With Zhao Meng out, the room was terrifyingly silent. Qiao Anhao could hear the faint sound of her own breathing. She laid there for a long time before slowly curling her body into itself. Then, with her head buried under the covers, she quietly called out, “Lu Jinnian.”

Her response was a silent room.

A single tear seeped out from Qiao Anhao’s eyes, but the corner of her lips was still gently curved up.

You, who I love the most… I’ll continue to work hard to find you.

Perhaps, I’ll never be able to see you in my life, but looking for you is the only thing that keeps us connected.

And so, I’ll never give up.

Perhaps, we really will meet one day, and we may already have white hair and no teeth.

But, that’s all right. I still want to find you.

You took regret and despair away with you, and left me with the courage and endurance to wait.

–

When Zhao Meng returned, Qiao Anhao had already fallen asleep. She didn’t wake her up and put her dinner in the thermal container.

The temporary rooms that had been built for the set were far from a hotel. They didn’t even have television. Zhao Meng always liked to sleep late and sit in bed browsing websites on her own, but eventually, she’d get bored, then turn off the lights and fall asleep.

In the middle of the night, whilst Qiao Anhao was asleep, she suddenly felt someone move her duvet. She assumed it was Zhao Meng, so she kept her eyes shut and murmured, “Stop messing around”.

Then she reached her arm out and slapped the hand that moved her duvet. The hand felt extremely thick and the knuckles were big. It was completely different from Zhao Meng’s delicate and soft small hands. In that instant, Qiao Anhao’s eyes suddenly shot wide open and she was completely awake.

The room was pitch-black, but with the faint moonlight from the windows, she could see a figure next to her bed. Because it was dim, she couldn’t clearly make out the person’s face, but she could definitely tell it was a man.

Qiao Anhao’s body quivered, and she quickly sat up in her bed. “Who are you?”

That man didn’t think that she would suddenly wake up. His hand, which was searching by her pillow for something, suddenly paused. He then reached his arm out in a panic, covering her mouth with a palm, and pushed her whole body back under the covers.

Qiao Anhao only just about made in time to let out a short shriek, before it turned into a weak whining sound.

The man had covered her mouth with an enormous amount of strength. He pressed so hard on her nose that she couldn’t breathe. With a will to cry for help, she reached her hand out to grab his arm, and with all her might, she pinched him hard.

When Qiao Anhao pinched with great force, the man groaned in pain and slightly loosened his hand on her mouth for a moment. She immediately tried to call Zhao Meng, who was dead asleep next to them, but in the end, she could only cry a single word, “Zhao” before the man ruthlessly pressed his hand against her face. He then pulled the pillow from under her head in a swoop and savagely pressed it hard on top of her face.

The pillow was exceptionally soft, and so under the man’s forceful press, Qiao Anhao was completely smothered until she couldn’t breathe. Her hands stretched out in a struggle, when suddenly, she heard a muffled sound. Then, the pressure from her face disappeared.Chapter 583: The Things She Didn’t Know (14)

 Paperplane  Editor: DarkGemThe man who had tried to take Qiao Anhao’s life suddenly dropped to the bed and onto her leg, causing her to wince in pain. She let out a muffled grunt in pain, and suddenly snapped back to reality. As she pulled the pillow off from her face, she saw a dark figure rush to the door, pull it open, and run out in a flash.

Zhao Meng, who was asleep on the other side of the room, was woken up. She abruptly sat up and groggily cried out, “Qiao Qiao”. Then, she conveniently swiped the phone by her ear and shined it over at Qiao Anhao’s bed. There, she saw a man with blood lightly dripping from the back of his head, dyeing the duvet a flashy red.

Zhao Meng’s eyes shot wide open, as she was left shocked from the scene before her. She hesitated for about three seconds before she screamed at the top of her lungs, “Ah—”

Qiao Anhao wasn’t actually frightened by the thief coming into her room in the middle of the night, trying to steal her things, and almost killing her, but she was so terrified by Zhao Meng’s piercing scream that her whole body shivered. She then stared at the door and back at Zhao Meng, crying out, “Why are you screaming!”

Zhao Meng didn’t hear what Qiao Anhao said in the slightest, as she jumped out of bed and forcefully stamped her feet. With all her might, she continued to yell, “Help! Heeeelp!”

The filming location was situated in a deserted area of natural landscapes. During the day, it was very peaceful and so they lived in temporary rooms which weren’t soundproof. In the dead of the night, Zhao Meng’s scream instantly woke up the entire crew. The crashing sounds of doors opening and closing were heard, then someone pushed open Qiao Anhao and Zhao Meng’s room. The entire crew rushed in.

“What happened?”

“What in the hell happened?”

With everyone’s questions, the lights in the room turned on.

Everyone was looking at the scene at Qiao Anhao’s bed.

Chen Yang was the first to rush over. He looked at Qiao Anhao a little worried. “What happened? Are you all right?”

Also quite worried, the director asked, “Xiao Qiao, what in the hell happened?”

“I’m all right.” Qiao Anhao, who still had a lingering fear, let out a sigh of relief. She first pulled a hint of a smile to her face, then pointed at the man who had fainted, and reassured everyone with her words.

“While I was sleeping, he reached around my pillow for something and woke me up. Then, something came over him and he grabbed my pillow and tried to smother me with it. In the end, someone came in and struck him down…”

Qiao Anhao paused for a moment, then added, “He couldn’t have been struck to death, could he?”

Chen Yang, who was most composed, reached his arm out and checked the stranger’s breathing and examined his head. “It’s nothing major… the wound is shallow and his breathing is normal. I suspect that he fainted momentarily from the force.”

Zhao Meng, who had already calmed down, then asked a little afraid, “Who is he? Why did he secretly come into someone’s room in the middle of the night?”

“He doesn’t look like someone from the crew,” replied someone.

“From what he’s wearing, he should be one of the nearby villagers.”

“It’s almost new years. So many people want a little extra money around this time. He’s most probably here to steal something.”

“All right, let’s not stay here making up theories and quickly call call the police” said the director, interrupting the speculations.Chapter 584: The Things She Didn’t Know (15)

 Paperplane  Editor: DarkGemSince the location was remote, the police arrived only an hour after they were called.

The person who had sneaked into the room had already woken up, and when the police took him away, they casually picked the wooden stick used to hit the crook over the head. Of course, they also took Qiao Anhao with them for her testimony, accompanied by Chen Yang and Zhao Meng.

As everyone had assumed, the person was indeed from a nearby village. Because of his gambling debts, he owed quite a bit of money. With the New Year’s drawing closer, he was being chased by loan sharks. Unable to go back home, he often wandered the scenic area. He inadvertently stumbled onto the crew whilst they were filming, and a thieving urge came over him.

As to the identity of the figure who had knocked out the thief, Qiao Anhao wasn’t sure. All she could do was describe what she saw.

However, even if they didn’t know who had hit the thief, the man was in the wrong first, and so in the eyes of the law, it was self-defense. Furthermore, if it weren’t for that person’s sudden appearance, someone might’ve lost their life. And so, after her testimony was taken, the police escorted them back to the set and searched the surrounding filming area for the hero Qiao Anhao had described.

Perhaps that person had already left, since the police searched for a while but couldn’t find anyone. In the end, they gave up and left.

The huge commotion that had started in the middle of the night was over at four in the morning. Chen Yang and Zhao Meng were unbelievably sleepy, and so everyone went back to their rooms to get some sleep.

There was a large stretch of blood over Qiao Anhao’s bed, which made her slightly want to gag, and so she squeezed onto Zhao Meng’s bed with her. From the sound of her breathing, she could tell Zhao Meng was already fast asleep, but she wasn’t the slightest bit sleepy. With furrowed brows, her eyes stared straight at the door of the room.

Just who had appeared in the nick of time and knocked the crook out cold?

At the time, she had just escaped death, and she hadn’t quite recovered from the shock, and so her concentration wasn’t very good. She only saw a tall, slender figure. Then, in the blink of an eye, it had disappeared out the door.

She didn’t know if it was because she missed Lu Jinnian, the image of the fleeting figure seemed similar to the memory of the shape of his body.

–

Qiao Anhao continued to let her imagination run wild until six o’clock, before she closed her eyes. After she had only slept for two hours, Zhao Meng woke her up.

From then, she was busy with getting her make up done, rehearsals, and filming.

As this was the final scene of “Heavenly Sword”, everyone was extremely on edge. Throughout the filming, Qiao Anhao’s performance was good, but perhaps it was because of the incident last night, all she could think about was the dark figure which had bolted off. It seemed like she was a little distracted, for she made an outtake.

Thankfully, everyone knew about what happened last night, so they didn’t give her the cold-shoulder for wasting their time. In fact, they went up front and gave her a few words of encouragement.

After filming finished, everyone went back to their rooms to pack their things and get ready to head back to Beijing.

Qiao Anhao wanted to chuck the blood-stained duvet out. When Zhao Meng rolled it up, something fell out and onto the floor with a “Pa!”.

Zhao Meng instinctively turned her head and glanced over to see a pack of cigarettes. She lifted her foot and mentioned it to Qiao Anhao, who was at the side, folding the clothes. “The crook must have left this last night, right?”

At Zhao Meng’s words, Qiao Anhao glanced over. Suddenly, her eyes stopped there for awhile. She put the clothes in her hands down, walked over, and bent down to pick up the pack of cigarettes.

Chapter 585: The Things She Didn’t Know (16)

 Paperplane  Editor: DarkGemNanjin95 Supreme.

Qiao Anhao didn’t smoke, nor did she like others smoking, and so she had never paid attention to cigarette brands.

When she and Lu Jinnian were together, he rarely smoked in front of her, but when she tried to find him a few times, she did catch him in the act. Actually, back then, Lu Jinnian was always quick to put out his cigarettes. He would open a window to air it out, or take her somewhere else to talk, but she managed to take note of the brand on his pack of cigarettes: Nanjin95 Supreme.

It was too much of a coincidence…

In the early hours, Qiao Anhao tossed and turned in bed. Whilst she was unable to fall asleep, the hunch she had had came rushing back to her mind. With this and her intuition, she suddenly was very certain that last night… at the most crucial moment, the person who had appeared and knocked out the crook was Lu Jinnian!

She stared at the pack of cigarettes, and her chest instantly began to heave. She subconsciously let the name slip out in a mumbled cry, “Lu Jinnian…”

Zhao Meng, who had shoved the duvet into the bin, couldn’t help but furrow her brows when she heard Qiao Anhao call his name.

For the past few months on set, she had often suddenly called his name in a daze like that.

A bitterness crept into Zhao Meng’s heart as she turned her head, wanting to comfort her friend. But then, Qiao Anhao turned her head to also look directly at her with a beaming look of surprise on her face. As she held up the pack of cigarettes Zhao Meng had accidentally dropped on the floor, she said, “Zhao Meng, Lu Jinnian, Lu Jinnian!”

When Zhao Meng heard this, she felt heartbroken. Qiao Qiao must be possessed… How could Mr. Lu transform into a pack of cigarettes?

“Zhao Meng, it was him last night! It was Lu Jinnian last night!” As Qiao Anhao spoke, tears started to fall, but at the same time, she wore a dazzlingly bright smile on her face. She looked as though she had encountered something amazing.

With tear pearls falling down her face, she rushed over and enthusiastically hugged Zhao Meng. She cried and laughed as she said incoherently, “Zhao Meng, Lu Jinnian was by my side. The person who came to save me last night was Lu Jinnian! He was by my side!”

When Qiao Anhao had finished speaking, she removed her hands that hugged Zhao Meng’s neck, and grabbed her arm with a child-like excitement. She endlessly rocked it around and said, “Zhao Meng, I’m telling you! Lu Jinnian always smoked this brand of cigarettes! It must be him, there’s no way I’m wrong!”

With that, Qiao Anhao tightly hugged Zhao Meng a gain. Her tears fell down like a strings of pearls cut off, pearl by pearl. “Sure enough, he still cares about me! I knew it! He loves me so much, how could he bear to leave me on my own?

“Zhao Meng, I’m so happy! I’ve waited for him for so long. I finally met him…

“But he doesn’t want to see me. He was clearly hiding from me last night! Or else why would he run out in a panic after saving me!

“Zhao Meng, help me think! How can I trick him into coming out!”

As though Qiao Anhao had suddenly thought of a serious matter, she pulled her arms away from Zhao Meng and stared at the pack of cigarettes. She tilted her head, an insuppressible smile in the corner of her lips. Then, she eagerly chattered on, “What do you think about me pretending to be sick? But if it’s not serious, what do I do if he doesn’t come out? That’s no good…”

Qiao Anhao shook her head, then suddenly an idea flashed in her mind. She turned her head, and with glistening eyes, she stared at Zhao Meng. “How about we plan a car accident?”

Chapter 586: The Things She Didn’t Know (17)

 Paperplane  Editor: DarkGem“Zhao Meng, I’ve decided! Crash your car into mine, but you have to act convincingly. Lu Jinnian will definitely run out to save me, and then, I can grab him and never let go…”

With a single pack of cigarettes, how could she be sure that Mr. Lu had been the one there?

Zhao Meng looked at how enthusiastic Qiao Anhao was, and didn’t say a word in the end, because she couldn’t bare to trigger her. Even though these days she didn’t look any different from before, filming and having meals as she was supposed to, Zhao Meng knew something was off. After being friends with her for so many years, she could tell that Qiao Anhao was unhappy every single day. So much so that she would wake up in the middle of the night and hear her secretly crying in bed on her own.

–

No matter what Zhao Meng thought, Qiao Anhao was certain that Lu Jinnian had been there last night. She was certain that this pack of cigarettes belonged to him.

She had finally found a clue after four whole months of looking for him. She felt like the weight of a mountain had disappeared from her chest and her breathing became a lot smoother.

After she packed her suitcase, she carefully placed the treasured pack of cigarettes into her bag.

On her flight back to Beijing, Qiao Anhao didn’t know just how many times she pulled out the pack of cigarettes and stared at it.

–

The day after Qiao Anhao returned to Beijing, she received a call from Qiao Anxia.

Qiao Anhao consistently told herself not to blame her sister for not telling Lu Jinnian about her being in the hospital when he was looking for her. She knew that, if Qiao Anxia realized that Lu Jinnian liked her, then she definitely would feel uncomfortable about it.

But understanding was one thing. She still wandered if her sister had told Lu Jinnian that she was in the hospital in the first place, would the end result have been the same or would it have been different now?

She really didn’t resent Qiao Anxia, but she still felt devastated from the bottom of her heart. And so, every time her sister called her, she would always hesitate for a long time. When she finally composed herself, she picked up the call.

“Qiao Qiao, what took you so long to pick up the phone?” The sound of Qiao Anxia’s voice was crystal clear as always.

Qiao Anhao quickly came up with an excuse. “I was just in the shower.”

“It’s twelve in the afternoon. Did you just get up? You haven’t had lunch yet, have you?”

Qiao Anhao replied with a single “Uh huh”, then said ,”Sis, did you call me for something?”

“Can’t I call you if it’s nothing serious?” asked Qiao Anxia in return. She then continued with a cheerful smile, “Qiao Qiao, I’m calling to remind you that tomorrow night is Aunt Xu’s birthday. Don’t forget to come over.”

When Qiao Anhao heard this, her eyes instantly became cold, for she remembered that it was Han Ruchu who had killed her baby.

Qiao Anxia waited on the phone for a while, but didn’t hear anything from the other side. “Qiao Qiao?”

Qiao Anhao snapped back to her senses. “Got it.”

Perhaps it was the overly cold tone in Qiao Anhao’s voice, but Qiao Anxia felt an indescribable sense of unease creep into her heart. In that instant, she remembered the image of Lu Jinnian waiting three whole days and nights at the doors of the Qiao family estate for Qiao Anhao.

When she first woke up, Lu Jinnian had already went missing. Qiao Anxia knew perfectly well that Qiao Anhao didn’t know that Lu Jinnian had asked her for her whereabouts. Yet whenever she faced Qiao Anhao, she could hear a flatness in her tone of voice, which made her feel randomly guilty.

Chapter 587: The Things She Didn’t Know（18）

Qiao Anxia tightened the grip on her phone. After hesitating slightly, she asked, “Qiao Qiao, are you in a bad mood?”

Qiao Anhao seemed slightly puzzled. “No.”

“Oh.” After ensuring that there wasn’t anything weird in her tone, she dismissed her suspicions. She said with a smile, “That’s good, I have a meeting soon, talk to you in a bit.”

“Right, Sis, goodbye.”

“Goodbye.” When Qiao Anxia said that, her fingers trembled slightly, and she said , “Qiao Qiao.”

“Yea?”

Qiao Anxia wanted to be honest, but somehow, she couldn’t seem to do it. After a long moment of hesitation, she swallowed her words. In a chirpy voice, she reminded as though nothing had happened, “Qiao Qiao, tomorrow 8 pm. Don’t forget!”

–

After Lu Jinnian had left, Qiao Anhao used the payment she got from “Alluring Times” to buy an apartment in the city center. Even though it wasn’t big, it was sufficient.

In the past four months, she had visited her aunt and uncle at the Qiao family several times but had never step foot into the Xu family house.

Even though Lu Jinnian had control over the Xu Enterprise, the Xu family and Qiao family would still gather together for meals, even though Han Ruchu no longer had control over the enterprise. Every time they gathered, they would invite Qiao Anhao, but she never once turned up, dismissing them with an abundance of random reasons.

But on Han Ruchu’s birthday, she went.

The Xu family now was no longer as powerful as before, so Han Ruchu’s birthday party was no longer as grand.

It was just a simple dinner with both the Qiao and Xu families.

Qiao Anhao arrived the last. When she reached the house, all the dishes were already served.

When the Xu family housekeeper saw her, she immediately shouted into the house, “Mrs. Xu, Miss Xiao Qiao is here.”

Han Ruchu quickly walked over to the entrance. When she saw Qiao Anhao, she had on the same warm smile as before. “Qiao Qiao, you’re finally here! Everyone has been waiting.”

Qiao Anhao stared at her for about two seconds before passing her gift over, smiling sweetly. ” Auntie Xu, happy birthday.”

“You’re too kind, even getting me a gift.” Han Ruchu looked pleasantly surprised at the gift. After giving it another look, she passed it to the housekeeper. Turning to Qiao Anhao, she led her into the house.

Everyone had gathered and the meal was set.

The housekeeper had even opened two bottles of red wine, pouring everyone a glass.

They chatted as they had their meal, the mood and atmosphere warm and cosy. Qiao Anhao didn’t say or eat much.

Once the dinner was over, the housekeeper reentered the dinning room with a cake.

After lighting the candles, Qiao Anxia began singing a birthday song. Han Ruchu blew the candles and accepted everyone’s greetings before cutting the cake. Just then, Qiao Anhao who had been silent all this while spoke up.

“Auntie Xu, do you still have the swallow nests you gave me previously? I have a sudden craving.”

Han Ruchu and the housekeeper froze momentarily.

Qiao Anhao kept an innocent smile on her face as she added, “Auntie Xu, where did you get that swallow’s nest? They’re known to be good for health, but the one’s I bought afterwards didn’t seem to have the same calming effect as the ones you gave me.”Chapter 588: The Things She Didn’t Know（19）

Qiao Anhao deliberately emphasized on the word “calming”, while her gaze remained focused on Han Ruchu’s face. She could distinctly spot the shock that flitted through her eyes and a hint of anxiousness.

Madam Qiao was aware that Han Ruchu had sent Qiao Anhao the swallow’s nest. When she heard Qiao Anhao asking for food, she said indulgently, “Ruchu, you have spoiled her! She’s starting to treat the Xu family as her own home, even demanding for food now!”

“My mother loves her for that.” Xu Jiamu smiled before turning to face his mother. “Right, mum?”

Han Ruchu’s late response attracted everyone’s attention. The housekeeper behind her regained her senses instantly, silently nudging Han Ruchu’s elbow. In a low voice, she whispered, “Mrs. Xu, don’t just eat the cake, little master asked you something. She’ll think that you are treating her as an outsider.”

Han Ruchu snapped out of her daze, hurriedly lowering her lashes to conceal her anxiety. Her red lips curled into a smile. “What rubbish, I’ve always wanted Qiao Qiao as my daughter.”

Calmly, she turned to her housekeeper. “Auntie Yun, I remember we still have some swallow’s nest at home, heat it up and bring some over.”

“Yes, Madam Xu.” With a turn, the housekeeper headed into the kitchen.

Qiao Anhao took in the entire exchange, a quiet smile etched on her face. Internally, she smirked.

The swallow’s nest was heated in an instant, and it was the same as the one given to Qiao Anhao previously.

When the housekeeper placed the swallow’s nest in front of Qiao Anhao, the latter’s gaze turned bright and sharp as though agitated. Her grip loosened slightly, and the chopsticks in her hand fell to the floor with a small thud.

“Qiao Qiao what’s wrong? Too touched by the swallow’s nest?” Qiao Anxia smiled cheekily as she teased.

Xu Jiamu bent to pick up the chopsticks, passing them to the housekeeper before getting a new pair for Qiao Anhao.

Qiao Anhao lifted her head, her eyes clear of the fleeting emotion. Pouting, as though unhappy from Qiao Anxia’s tease, she reached over to grab Xu Jiamu’s chopsticks. She replied to him in a tender and sweet voice, “Thank you, brother Jiamu.”

But the instant she lowered her head, her eyes frosted over, and she tightened her grip on the chopsticks.

The men at the table didn’t seem interested in the swallow’s nest, so they didn’t touch it. Mrs. Qiao took two bites before turning to praise Han Ruchu. ” This is really nice, I can see why Qiao Qiao misses it.”

Han Ruchu smiled. “Auntie Yun brewed this personally, the bird nests were also specially picked, they’re natural and healthy.”

Qiao Anxia said, “Picking bird nests is indeed a skill! Many people have been selling inferior goods which not only do not aid the body but may also cause cancer!”

Ever since the swallow’s nest was served, Qiao Anhao had been silent, but at this moment, she added causally, “It may even kill.”