Xiao Cheng turned and walked out.
An hour later, she was called out. The four of them ate a simple meal in the living room.
The three of them talked incessantly, with Qing Muye as the main topic.
Meng Jingwei sat there, appearing "lost and disoriented," like someone defeated and dispirited after enduring severe oppression, unable to recover.
After a few hasty bites, she returned to the bedroom to "sleep."
It wasn't until late at night that Qing Sihai and Xiao Cheng finally left.
Shu Yao came over and chatted with her for a while. Before Shu Yao went to sleep, Meng Jingwei gave her another cup of water with sleeping pills.
"I'm sorry."
Looking at the sleeping Shu Yao, Meng Jingwei felt quite guilty.
At one in the morning, she took her keys, carefully left the apartment, and took a taxi to where she had parked her car the night before.
After a change of clothes in the car, she then drove to an old warehouse.
However, just as Meng Jingwei's car arrived at its destination, she saw another familiar silver-gray Maybach there.
The familiar license plate, recognized at a glance, belonged to... Qing Muye's car.
Why was he here?
Meng Jingwei parked her car and got out, only to see Qing Muye leaning against his car door frame, smoking.
"You were waiting for me?"
She asked him in his distinctive male voice.
"Otherwise?"
The man, holding a cigarette, spread his hand and glanced at her with cold eyes. "Coming here to brave the northwest wind in the middle of the night?"
Qing Muye looked at her cool, almost tough appearance, her posture mimicking a man's nonchalant swagger, walking with uncanny imitation.
His eyes lit up, further indulging in the little surprise she brought him, savoring it.
On the contrary, Meng Jingwei was sharply retorted, her lips twitching slightly, leaving her somewhat speechless. "If you have something to say, say it."
"I have something here that your 'sugar daddy' might be able to use."
Qing Muye directly tossed a USB drive to Meng Jingwei, saying coldly.
The little woman caught the USB drive and asked curiously, "Do you know who I am? You're giving me this? And why should I listen to you?"
The man took his last puff, flicked the cigarette butt to the ground, and extinguished the embers with his toe. He blew a light puff of smoke towards her face and said faintly, "Someone so poor that they can only hire private investigators like you. Besides Meng Jingwei, who else could it be?"
Because Meng Jingwei was dressed as a private investigator, and the people she had arranged to guard Jiang Quan today were also from a private investigation agency, Qing Muye could easily "guess" her identity.
Meng Jingwei: "..."
Damn it, is he looking down on me?
Although Meng Jingwei was resentful, she had to admit that she was indeed too poor to afford anything more than private investigators.
Powerful people like Qing Sihai and Xiao Cheng had their own bodyguards and elites.
Even if they needed help temporarily, they could hire elite forces at a high price.
Being thoroughly despised by Qing Muye, Meng Jingwei felt both embarrassed and awkward, but thankfully, she was wearing a mask, making it difficult for anyone to notice.
She pouted and asked, "There's news about you all over the internet. Didn't you already distance yourself from her? Why are you still helping her?"
"I'm just helping myself."
The man lifted his trench coat, placed his hands in his trouser pockets, and raised his arrogant gaze, adding, "Also, tell that foolish woman Meng Jingwei to stop causing me trouble. Otherwise, I will make her pay dearly."
Being called "foolish," an unprovoked anger surged into Meng Jingwei's mind.
"Say I..."
In her agitation, she almost exposed her identity. Fortunately, for precautionary purposes, she was wearing a voice changer, otherwise, her cover would have been blown with a single word.
Meng Jingwei paused, then after a second, she said, "You say my 'sugar daddy' is foolish, but you're not exactly brilliant yourself. My 'sugar daddy' said your audio with the seventh young master of the Qing family could be leaked, which only means you're too foolish and lack basic caution."
She had never expected to encounter him again today...
No.
More accurately, she hadn't expected Qing Muye to wait for her in the bitter cold late at night, just to give her enough evidence to clear her name.
At this moment, Meng Jingwei's feelings were complex and tinged with a hint of joy.
It was as if her long-held expectations had finally received a response.
"Heh."
Qing Muye couldn't help but chuckle, tilting his head to the side, a smile evident on his stern face.
A genuine smile.
Facing her in this manner, while she herself was struggling to survive, she was still reminding him to be wary of Qing Sihai?
It seemed she wasn't that foolish after all.
"What are you laughing at?" Meng Jingwei was utterly confused.
The man cast a meaningful glance at Meng Jingwei, then turned, opened the car door, got in, reversed, and sped away.
As the car disappeared into the twilight, Meng Jingwei looked down at the USB drive in her hand and murmured, "Could he have recognized me?"
Meng Jingwei lowered her head and examined her attire again, finally shaking her head and dismissing the thought.
Impossible.
If Qing Muye had seen through her disguise long ago, he would have exposed the truth and wouldn't have gone through such lengths to play this game with her.
Meng Jingwei didn't believe Qing Muye had that kind of leisure.
Whoosh~~ Whoosh~~
The winter wind howled like a mournful cry, chilling people to the bone.
Meng Jingwei sniffled, entered the warehouse, and confronted Jiang Quan. After over an hour, she finally left.
The next day.
Meng Jingwei's situation continued to develop. She had almost completely dominated the trending search list, staying at the top.
Simultaneously, the official Weibo account of Lancheng Public Security issued a "Missing Person Notice," initiating a search for Jiang Quan.
The comments section on Weibo was lively.
The top-rated comment was: "I report, Meng Jingwei is a suspect."
The second top-rated comment: "My guess is, Jiang Quan is already dead."
These two comments had garnered over a hundred thousand likes!
"Jiang Quan's chances of survival are slim."
"Meng Jingwei is too lawless."
"Recommend investigating Meng Jingwei first."
"Meng Jingwei's employees are truly pitiful. Murder demands a life."
"Her mother should have strangled her in her cradle when she gave birth to her! She deserves to die."
...
Less than an hour after the hot search appeared, a prominent Weibo influencer posted a message... The title "Confirms Meng Jingwei Assaulted Someone" directly hit the trending list within ten minutes.
Clicking on that hot search, the so-called "confirmation" of Meng Jingwei's assault was merely a clickbait title.
The actual content was records of Meng Jingwei arranging for Shi Ran to transfer three months' salary to her colleagues after her release from the detention center, along with WeChat chat screenshots.
A complete audio recording was also attached.
The recording was from the moment Meng Jingwei entered Lin Meng's ward.
After this hot search appeared, the entire internet erupted, and the narrative immediately shifted 180 degrees. Everyone began to doubt themselves.
"Holy crap, what's going on?"
"This... have they misunderstood Meng Jingwei?"
"Could the audio have been edited? While the accusation of Meng Jingwei assaulting someone might be false, Jiang Quan is indeed missing."
"I only believe Jiang Quan's words."
"Such a good boss? Have I misunderstood a good person?"
...
Just as netizens were debating, another piece of news surged onto the trending list.
That was... Jiang Quan surrendered himself to the authorities!
Following Jiang Quan's surrender, the police released an account of the incident on their official Weibo, detailing how Jiang Quan accepted a bribe of 500,000 yuan and framed Meng Jingwei.
The release included phone contact information, chats between Jiang Quan and reporters about meeting times, and video footage of Jiang Quan collecting 500,000 yuan in cash from a certain location.
The final video showed the remnants of 500,000 yuan in cash being burned, found in the house where Jiang Quan had a fire.
In an instant, the internet was in an uproar.