Meng Qi told him to introduce the investigation report specifically, emphasizing the highlights of his own report.
He sat in the car, mentally organizing his thoughts again, so that he could clearly and concisely express his objective ideas after meeting.
At this moment, his phone vibrated in his pocket. He saw it was his mother calling from the nursing home.
Since Huangfu Meng Qi was sitting beside him, he hesitated whether to answer it.
"What call is it? Why aren't you answering?" Meng Qi glanced at his phone, which displayed "Mom."
"Oh, it's nothing." He didn't answer, and put the phone back in his pocket.
Meng Qi asked, "Is it because I'm here and it's inconvenient to answer?"
"Yes, a private call," Song Jiaping replied frankly without concealment.
Seeing that he spoke so directly and didn't consider her feelings, Meng Qi was momentarily speechless.
She thought they had some acquaintance, yet Song Jiaping remained very distant towards her.
She really couldn't understand how such a cold and unfeeling person could be liked by Meng Yao.
However, after a short while, Song Jiaping's phone vibrated again.
Meng Qi thought his mother must have something urgent to tell him, so she asked the driver to stop by the roadside and said to him, "It seems your family is quite anxious to call you. You get out and take the call. I'll wait in the car."
"Thank you." Song Jiaping immediately opened the car door and walked to the roadside to take the call.
"Mom, what's wrong?" Song Jiaping asked.
"Jiaping, where are you? Hurry over, that woman has appeared again," Zhu Qin said anxiously on the phone.
Song Jiaping asked, "Mom, what woman? What are you talking about?"
"Ah Xing, she came to see me... she wants to harm us again!" Zhu Qin shouted into the phone.
Upon hearing this, Song Jiaping calmly said, "Mom, did you take your medicine today? I have something important to do now and can't talk to you for long."
"Jiaping, she really came, and she brought a lot of things to give me!" Zhu Qin said, "If you don't believe me, come and see for yourself. I didn't misidentify her, and I'm not talking nonsense."
"Alright, I'll come see you later." Song Jiaping heard his mother's tone was normal and didn't sound like she was talking nonsense.
However, the Ah Xing his mother mentioned had died in a car accident many years ago.
He still felt his mother was having an episode and wanted to comfort her, saying, "Mom, don't overthink things..."
"It doesn't matter if you don't believe me. Just wait for me to be killed by her, and you can come to collect my body!" Zhu Qin said fiercely before hanging up.
Song Jiaping knew she often became confused, but he was still uneasy. He called the nursing home staff again to inquire about his mother's condition today.
Meng Qi waited in the car. Seeing that the appointment time with Mrs. Lu was approaching, she gestured for him to get back in the car without making any more calls.
Song Jiaping made a gesture to her to wait a moment longer, as he was speaking with the nursing home staff.
The other party said, "A young woman did visit your mother today. She first told me she was a distant relative of yours, but later told your mother's caregiver that she was your friend."
Song Jiaping asked in surprise, "What's her surname, and did she say which relative of mine she was?"
The staff member quickly checked the visitor log. In the name column, it read Meng Yao. She said, "Her surname should be Meng and her given name Yao. She didn't specify what relative of yours she was."
Song Jiaping froze. Meng Yao went to see his mother?
But how did she know where his mother lived? Had she investigated him?
His anger flared instantly. Had Meng Yao already sensed something?
The staff member on the phone, not hearing his voice, added, "Ms. Meng initially chatted well with your mother. Your mother took her to her room. But I don't know what they said in the room, your mother suddenly attacked her and almost injured her. By the way, if you have time, it's best to take your mother to the hospital for another check-up. Has her condition worsened?"
"Okay, I understand." Song Jiaping realized his mother had mistaken Meng Yao for Ah Xing.
Now he didn't know what his mother and Meng Yao had discussed, and whether Meng Yao already knew about his revenge plan.
Meng Qi really couldn't wait any longer. Seeing that he had finished his call and was still staring at his phone in a daze.
She got out of the car and walked over to him, urging, "We're going to be late. We need to go."
"You've also seen the market research report. I have an urgent matter, so I won't be going. With your ability, you can negotiate with Mrs. Lu yourself." After saying that, he immediately waved to hail a car.
Meng Qi asked, "Did something happen to your family? If you say you're not going now, how can I negotiate with Mrs. Lu alone?"
Song Jiaping hailed a taxi. Unable to explain to her, he said, "Yes, there's an urgent family matter, and I need to rush over."
He got into the taxi and left.
Meng Qi stood there with her hands on her hips. She wanted to be angry but couldn't. Thinking that the appointment time was almost up, she had no choice but to go and negotiate with Mrs. Lu by herself.
...
Song Jiaping went to the nursing home and saw his mother, Zhu Qin, still in a state of anxiety and anger.
"Mom, I'm here. Don't be afraid." Song Jiaping walked to her side and put his arm around her shoulder.
Zhu Qin hugged him and cried, "It's all my fault. I shouldn't have trusted Ah Xing so much back then. I didn't expect her to have designs on our ancestral secret recipe."
"Mom, it's not your fault. Don't blame yourself," Song Jiaping comforted her. "Aunt Ah Xing is already dead. She won't appear again. You mistook someone."
"Yes, she's gone," Zhu Qin said, wiping away tears. "But the woman I saw looked exactly like her."
Seeing that his mother's mood had improved, he said, "You mistook someone. Did you write in your diary today? Write down everything you remember."
"Diary? Where's my diary?" Zhu Qin quickly searched everywhere in the room for her diary.
Song Jiaping remembered she had put it in the drawer last time. He directly pulled open the drawer and found it.
He opened it and saw that his mother hadn't recorded her daily life details for several days.
"Mom, you haven't written for a while. Didn't the doctor say you should keep a diary every day? When you forget things, just flip through the diary and look at it more. This way, you won't mistake people or be so forgetful."
"Oh, oh, I remember. I'll definitely write in my diary every day starting today," Zhu Qin promised, looking at her diary.
Song Jiaping comforted his mother and told her not to worry about this matter anymore.
As soon as he left the nursing home, he couldn't wait to question Meng Yao, wondering what she was trying to do.
However, he calmed himself down and dialed Meng Yao's phone number.
Meng Yao was surprised that Song Jiaping would contact her proactively and answered quickly, "Jiaping..."
"I want to see you. Is it convenient?" Song Jiaping said directly.
"Okay, I also have something I want to tell you," Meng Yao said, giving him the address of a coffee shop.
"See you later."
Meng Yao wanted to ask him why he didn't go to work with Meng Qi, but he had already hung up.
However, thinking that they would meet soon, she decided it would be better to ask in person. She perked up and prepared to go out.