Chapter 185

Chapter 185

◎ Departure arrives quietly. ◎

Ren Suiyi was highly efficient. Once he locked onto his target, he started making calls, and by the afternoon of the next day, he had already gathered a stack of evidence regarding Li Jinqiu’s gaming company’s tax issues, along with his unfair competition practices and bribes to certain department leaders.

“With this stuff, we can put him away for a few years, right? By the time he gets out, it’ll be too late for him to cause trouble,” Qu Liang said excitedly.

The others couldn’t hide their excitement either.

Ren Suiyi tapped the table with his index finger, his expression cold, his tone already regaining the poise of someone in power. “Putting him away is too easy. It wouldn’t be enough to offset the harm he’s caused Meng Qi. He must pay the most severe price for what he’s done.”

Meng Qi remained silent.

It was possible to have compassion, but it depended on the person. Thinking of the tragic fate of the character Meng Qi in the book and the phone call from Yang Yiming, he couldn’t muster any sympathy for Li Jinqiu.

Qu Liang pretended to be scared, rubbing his arms exaggeratedly, but his tone betrayed his barely concealed excitement. “What do you plan to do, Young Master Ren?”

Meng Qi also looked at Ren Suiyi, curious about how he intended to punish Li Jinqiu.

Ren Suiyi’s index finger paused mid-air, his eyes narrowing as he fixed his gaze on a point in the void ahead, his lips forming a tight line. “First, we’ll send these materials to Li Jintong. Siblings are connected at heart…” He paused briefly, turning his gaze back to Meng Qi before continuing, “She’s Xiaoze’s mother, and you’ve called her mom for over twenty years… Let’s start with this for now. Once Li Jinqiu is dealt with, we’ll handle her matters. A tax shortfall of tens of millions should give her plenty of headaches.”

Mentioning Li Jintong naturally brought Meng Kaize to mind:

Thinking of the intimate chat logs between him and the character Meng Qi from the book, on the first day he arrived, their first meeting when he jumped onto his back like a mischievous monkey, calling him “brother” with a laugh, that exquisitely handsome boy who had captivated him at first sight, and the time he’d spoken up for him when Meng Zhenchao scolded him…

Thinking of all this, Meng Qi couldn’t rationally consider how to deal with Li Jintong.

“And Li Jinqiu? Let his sister clean up his mess while he gets off scot-free? That can’t be…” Qu Liang muttered, rubbing his chin.

Ren Suiyi said, “I have other plans, but it’ll take some time to arrange the people. We’ll have to wait.”

… … … … … …

And so they waited for over two weeks before there was any new progress.

Ren Suiyi told Meng Qi, “A week ago, Li Jintong transferred over twenty million yuan from Uncle Meng’s account to cover Li Jinqiu’s tax debt. She didn’t inform Uncle Meng beforehand. When he found out, they had a huge fight, and that night, she moved back to the Li family home. She’s been there ever since, and Uncle Meng hasn’t gone to pick her up.”

Meng Qi felt little emotion, as if he were listening to a story about strangers. After all, he was less familiar with Meng Zhenchao than with Li Jintong. Since arriving here, he’d only met Meng Zhenchao once, and those few minutes had been filled with scolding. So the loss of over twenty million yuan—though the number made him pause to wonder how anyone could have that much money—didn’t stir much feeling in him about the loss itself.

But when Meng Kaize’s innocent, laughing face flashed through his mind, his heartstrings were tugged involuntarily.

Poor child—not yet old enough to be thrust into these troubles, forced to grow up fast. It was truly cruel for him.

Especially since he’d just had heart surgery not long ago.

Suppressing his sadness, Meng Qi asked Ren Suiyi, “Has Xiaoze been affected much?”

Ren Suiyi replied, “It’s impossible for a child to be unaffected when his parents fight. But luckily, Bai Xi hasn’t been busy lately, so he’s been taking him out to play and take his mind off things. And Xiaoze is naturally carefree and easygoing, so it seems like he hasn’t taken it to heart that much. Maybe the impact isn’t as big as we imagined.”

Jiang Baixi—a name he hadn’t heard or thought of in a long time.

Ever since Ren Suiyi had explicitly said he saw Jiang Baixi only as a brother, whenever Meng Qi heard or thought of that name, his heart was calm, with no jealousy or guilt, and he felt quite good about it.

From their brief interactions before, it was clear Meng Kaize liked Jiang Baixi a lot. Having his beloved Brother Baixi by his side in his sorrow should help him get through it, just like how Meng Qi himself had held onto the hands of He Cong and Wang Boyuan to get through those bleak days before coming here.

So he said to Ren Suiyi, “With Jiang Baixi there, it’s a bit reassuring.”

Ren Suiyi nodded in agreement, then shifted the conversation to Li Jinqiu’s current situation. “Li Jinqiu is now a general without an army. We’ve replaced everyone around him with our own people. Killing him now would be as easy as crushing an ant…”

"We can't do anything illegal, can we, bro?" Meng Qi, a model socialist youth, grabbed Ren Suiyi's hand and said nervously, "I don't think we need to risk a murder charge for a petty man like him. Since everyone around him is on our side, we can just keep an eye on him and stop him from causing trouble... you know."

"Let him live in the Truman Show? That's too easy for him." Ren Suiyi shook his head, taking Meng Qi's hand in return and gently massaging it.

Anyone who dared to hurt him, how could they not pay in blood? Even if he and Meng Qi hadn't ended up together, Li Jinqiu shouldn't have set his sights on Meng Qi. As the saying goes, you have to show respect where it's due. Everyone in the capital knew that the Ren and Meng families were close, and the younger generation often hung out together. Did this Li guy think he could do anything he wanted just because his sister married into the Meng family? He was overestimating himself—this was practically asking for trouble.

Since he wanted to die, Ren Suiyi would oblige him.

Ren Suiyi's voice gradually turned icy. The room was at 23 degrees Celsius, but it felt like cold air was coming out of his mouth as he spoke. "I won't kill him, but I won't let him off easy either. So I'm going to set up a trap, force him to show his true colors and reap what he sows."

"What kind of trap?" Meng Qi asked.

Ren Suiyi instantly shed the chill and smiled at Meng Qi. "Actually, I started laying the groundwork for this trap a while ago. Handing over those collected pieces of evidence to Li Jintong was the first move. Now we're on the second step, and I need your help to pull it off."

Meng Qi was quite intrigued, asking excitedly, "How can I help? Count me in!"

Ren Suiyi said, "I want to spread the word that you've already been found, to lure the fish to take the bait."

Meng Qi caught on immediately. "A strategy to entice the enemy into a trap?"

"More accurately, it's like shutting the door and beating the dog," Ren Suiyi smiled, then asked Meng Qi earnestly, "Is that okay? If you're not up for it, I can think of other ways. Don't force yourself. I want an honest answer."

Meng Qi remained enthusiastic, "Sure, sure! No forcing at all, not even a little. When I decided to come here, it was mainly because I didn't know who wanted to harm me. The enemy was hidden while I was exposed, so I had to lay low. Now that I know who the enemy is, there's no need to hide anymore. I'll fight head-on! With all of us together, can't we take him down?"

Just then, Qu Liang and the others gathered around. Qu Liang leaned against the door and said, "Exactly, if worst comes to worst, we can just buy a big iron cage and lock him up until the little guy is born. No, to be safe, let's lock him up until the little guy goes to college before letting him out."

Zhao Zheyuan slapped Qu Liang on the back of the head. "Illegal imprisonment is still a crime, you know? Knowing the law and breaking it makes it even worse."

Li Qingjiang pushed Qu Liang and Zhao Zheyuan aside, leading Elder Gu into the room. He first pulled out a chair for Elder Gu, then stood with his hips against the desk edge. The scab on his thigh wound had fallen off, but the skin was tight and painful to stretch, so he preferred to stand whenever possible.

And his focus was different from Qu Liang's. When his gaze swept over Meng Qi's abdomen, his tone was concerned. "There aren't many months left. Let's wait a bit longer to avoid causing any trouble."

"Good point." Qu Liang, ever the flip-flopper, swayed back to Li Qingjiang's side.

Elder Gu shook his head worriedly. "Actually, I've been wanting to say this for a while—our medical facilities here are too outdated. It's fine to stay here for now, but when the baby's due date approaches, we need to find a reliable hospital to check in early..."

Liang Wenkai interrupted Elder Gu with a smile. "Uncle Gu, before Young Master Ren arrived, this might have been our biggest concern. But now, I suspect Young Master Ren has already made arrangements; he just hasn't had a chance to tell us yet."

Elder Gu turned to Ren Suiyi and asked, "Is that so, Young Ren?"

Ren Suiyi nodded. "Yes, Uncle Gu. I've already arranged everything. The day after Meng Qi told me the truth, I started making plans. Now, I can get from here to the nearest hospital within half an hour by helicopter. The hospital's medical equipment and staff's expertise are reliable, and since it's a Ren family property, confidentiality is also guaranteed."

Elder Gu finally breathed a sigh of relief. "Great, now we can all rest easy."

Meng Qi only then realized that Ren Suiyi had been quietly doing so much behind the scenes. He was moved, of course; a garden bloomed in his heart, and he was increasingly captivated by Ren Suiyi's charm.

He had always despised people who did a little but bragged a lot. They looked ridiculous showing off. Ren Suiyi, on the other hand, did ten-tenths of the work without bragging about even one-tenth—that was perfect. Cool and reassuring; how could anyone not love that?

Meng Qi didn't speak, but he smiled at Ren Suiyi, and the garden in his heart kept spreading, a riot of colors, eventually reaching his eyes like multicolored fireworks, blooming there.

Ren Suiyi reached out and gently tapped Meng Qi's nose, grinning as he asked, "What are you smiling about?"

"Nothing, just happy, so I smiled." Meng Qi smiled back.

The two of them smiled at each other as if no one else was there, like a pair of little fools.

Qu Liang coughed twice to break the intimate atmosphere. "Just now I heard Young Master Ren say you need Young Master Meng's help for the second step. Is it dangerous? Do you need us brothers to do anything?"

Ren Suiyi composed himself, his expression turning serious. "Over the past few days, I've envisioned all the possible dangers and devised corresponding safety plans. But even so, I can't guarantee absolute safety. Nothing is certain; we can only be extra careful."

The topic was too heavy, and the room went quiet for a moment, leaving only the sound of heavy breathing clearly audible.

In the cramped silence, Ren Suiyi's calm and composed voice rang out again, "Before I make the news of finding Meng Qi public, I'll take Meng Qi away from here. Liangzi and Zheyuan will come with me. The Divine Healer can stay here until March next year, one month before the due date, but during this time, I may send someone to pick you up at any moment."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Meng Qi let out an "Ah" and asked Ren Suiyi, "We're leaving now?"

Sunflower was something he had built from scratch, pouring his heart into it—it held his hopes, his anxieties, his confusion, and his joy. To him, Sunflower was like a treasure trove.

It wasn't that he couldn't leave—it was just too sudden, and he couldn't wrap his head around it.

Ren Suiyi explained, "Once we've dealt with Li Jinqiu, you can come back anytime and stay as long as you want. But you have to leave now. You wouldn't want unrelated people to destroy the paradise you've worked so hard to build, would you?"

That made sense—he had never even met Li Jinqiu, didn't know what kind of person he was, or how far he might go to achieve his goals. He couldn't drag his Sunflower into danger.

After realizing this, Meng Qi stopped hesitating and said to Ren Suiyi cheerfully, "When do we leave? I'll go pack my things."