Liu Yunyun should probably stay quiet for a while now!
Xie Qingtao thought to herself as she watched Liu Yunyun being taken away.
The earlier scene had just concluded, and everyone acted as if nothing had happened, continuing to eat and drink. In no time, the lively atmosphere of the wedding banquet returned.
The stars of today’s wedding, Xie Qingping and Mu Mingyue, were once again beaming with joy.
The two listened to their relatives’ blessings.
Xie Qingtao sat down, ate and drank her fill, then pulled out a handful of melon seeds and began cracking them.
[System, these melon seeds are great—perfect for gossiping.]
【Of course, everything from this System is top quality. Hey! Host, the main system just sent a reward. I’ll go check it out.】
The Gossip System had just been boasting about its goods when it vanished in the blink of an eye.
Xie Qingtao smiled, pulled out another handful of melon seeds, and placed them in Xie Qingxiao’s hand.
“Try these, Brother! They taste really good.”
Xie Qingxiao examined the plump, high-quality melon seeds in his hand, his eyes flickering slightly.
He quietly shelled the seeds, and before long, he placed a small pile of shelled kernels into Xie Qingtao’s palm.
Xie Qingtao’s face lit up with delight, and she smiled sweetly as she said:
“Thank you, Brother. You’re so good to me.”
Xie Qingxiao smiled faintly, his expression filled with affection.
Just then, Mu Bozhou leaned over, casting a slightly jealous glance at Xie Qingxiao before turning to Xie Qingtao:
“Taotao, I can shell melon seeds for you too. Why didn’t you ask me?”
Xie Qingxiao swept a cold gaze over Mu Bozhou but said nothing.
An invisible tension spread between the two of them.
A spark of conflict was about to ignite.
Xie Qingtao sat between them, feeling torn.
She closed her eyes, pulled out another handful of melon seeds, and divided them between the two:
“I love eating melon seeds. You two can help me shell them.”
Mu Bozhou looked down at the melon seeds in his hand, then glanced at Xie Qingxiao’s portion and smiled triumphantly:
“Taotao really cares about me. I have more melon seeds than my brother-in-law.”
Hearing this, Xie Qingxiao fixed his gaze on Xie Qingtao:
“Taotao.”
He didn’t say anything more, but Xie Qingtao immediately understood what he meant.
She pulled out a few more melon seeds and placed them in Xie Qingxiao’s hand.
“Fair!”
She was thoroughly implementing the principle of equal treatment.
After doing this, Xie Qingtao turned and ran without looking back.
In the blink of an eye, she was by Xie Jianguo’s side, sipping on a drink.
Xie Qingxiao lowered his gaze to the melon seeds in his hand and chuckled softly:
“Mu Bozhou, I’m just Taotao’s brother.”
His words exposed Mu Bozhou’s hidden thoughts.
Mu Bozhou’s expression remained unchanged as he calmly continued shelling melon seeds. A small pile of kernels had already accumulated on the table.
Hearing this, he looked up:
“So what, brother-in-law?”
It was as if he was telling Xie Qingxiao that he minded how close he was with Xie Qingtao, openly expressing his jealousy.
Xie Qingxiao could do nothing about Mu Bozhou and simply replied coldly:
“The bond between Taotao and me is unchangeable.”
Mu Bozhou expressionlessly crushed a melon seed in his hand but said nothing.
Xie Qingxiao gave him a faint glance and continued shelling melon seeds.
Xie Qingtao had no idea the two of them had already had a round of rivalry. She was now in the restroom of the steel mill’s residential compound.
She had eaten too much today, which led to her current predicament in the restroom.
“Is everything ready?”
Suddenly, a voice from the men’s restroom next door faintly penetrated the thick earthen bricks of the public restroom.
Xie Qingtao pricked up her ears and listened intently.
“It’s ready. We’ll take action tonight.”
A different voice answered the previous person’s question.
Action?
What action?
Xie Qingtao was puzzled in her heart.
“This mission was assigned by Butterfly. We must sing. If we succeed, Butterfly will ensure we have no future worries.”
“Understood! The explosives are ready. They’ll detonate precisely on time tonight.”
Hearing this, Xie Qingtao was startled, her eyes wide with fear as she covered her mouth, not daring to breathe loudly.
She wanted to keep listening, but sounds came from outside the public restroom.
“Who’s there?”
The two people chased out simultaneously.
“Let’s check inside.”
Seeing no one, one of them looked warily toward the women’s restroom.
The other didn’t speak, walking heavily into the women’s restroom.
He checked stall by stall.
As the distance grew closer, Xie Qingtao broke out in a cold sweat from fright.
When he reached the last stall, the man abruptly opened the door.
There was nothing inside.
“Strange? Why is there grass growing in this stall? Is it too damp?”
The man muttered in confusion.
“Are you done checking? Is anyone there?”
The person outside the women’s restroom urged anxiously.
The one checking inside held his breath and shouted hoarsely:
“There’s no one in here. That person ran away, or maybe it was just an animal earlier.”
After speaking, he hurriedly left.
“It might have been an animal like a cat. There are quite a few cats here, especially strays.”
The other person agreed.
Only the emerald-green little grass remained, swaying in the breeze.
This little grass was Xie Qingtao transformed.
At the critical moment, the Gossip System returned with a large number of rewards.
Xie Qingtao thought of the Transformation Item in her System Inventory.
She used it just before the man opened the door.
Now, her delicate roots were firmly anchored in the cracks of the earthen bricks in the public restroom, teetering precariously.
The slightest misstep would send her tumbling onto the pile of waste in the restroom.
【Host, hang in there!】
The Gossip System cheered her on, anxiously watching as the man’s gaze fell on the grass Xie Qingtao had transformed into.
［System, I’m so scared! I don’t want to be caught by that person, and I don’t want to fall down either!］
Xie Qingtao cried out inwardly. A few glistening droplets seeped from the grass she had become.
Those were Xie Qingtao’s sweat beads.
【Host, that person is gone. Hold on a little longer. The Transformation Item’s time is almost up. Ten seconds left… ten, nine, eight… three, two, one.】
［Ahhh! Finally free.］
As soon as Xie Qingtao landed, she leaped out of that stall.
She washed her hands, then tiptoed to the entrance of the women’s restroom, peeking out to observe her surroundings.
【Host, there’s no one outside the restroom. Those two people have already left.】
The Gossip System kindly reminded her.
Only after confirming no one was around did Xie Qingtao swagger out.
She patted her clothes, feeling as though there was a lingering odor on her—something foul.
It seemed staying in the restroom for too long wasn’t a good idea.
Xie Qingtao deliberately circled the area before heading back.
She wanted to air out the smell and observe the people in this large compound along the way.
She checked to see if the man from earlier was among them.
That man had a kind and gentle appearance, the type who looked genuinely good-hearted.
Who would have thought he was secretly involved in such shady dealings?
Xie Qingtao strolled around with her hands behind her back, and suddenly, in a relatively secluded small courtyard, she spotted that man.
Xie Qingtao craned her neck, holding a handful of spiced sunflower seeds, and made her way to the intelligence exchange hub of the steel mill residential compound—a lush, dense tree.
There were already people there, having finished their lunch and sitting to enjoy the cool shade.
Xie Qingtao immediately targeted an auntie and showered her with compliments.
“Oh my! Pretty sister, you look so beautiful! You’re clearly the kind-hearted type.
As the old saying goes, the face reflects the heart—and it’s absolutely true. You’re exactly the kind of person who is both beautiful and kind-hearted.”
Xie Qingtao was also quite the smooth operator, grabbing a handful of sunflower seeds and stuffing them into the auntie’s hand.
At first, the auntie looked wary, but later, she was so swept away by Xie Qingtao’s sweet talk that she unconsciously touched her somewhat dark and sallow face, a radiant smile spreading across it.