Gu Qingjiao arrived at the gym first.
What she never expected was that the gym was actually packed with people. Some who had nothing particular to do after getting off work would come here to work out.
While this made it much easier to blend in and hide, the constant stream of people coming and going would make it impossible to tell who was the most suspicious one.
Gu Qingjiao glanced at the time. There were still six minutes left until the time promised by the suspect. All she needed to do was find a spot where she could see the entrance at a glance, which would narrow down the targeted crowd.
Gu Qingjiao found a leg-press machine in a corner where she could sit and lean back. This spot wasn’t contested by others, was quite quiet, and allowed her to keep an eye on the entrance at any time.
Yet, whether due to her appearance or her current status, she was undoubtedly the most heavily watched person in the entire room. Although the people around her pretended not to recognize her on the surface, they secretly pulled out their phones and started their daily gossip.
Similarly, Gu Qingjiao, who was currently lounging lazily against the seat back with an air of nonchalant ease, was completely unaware that the system had already broadcast the chat contents of those people into her mind.
[Look! Miss Gu is at the gym too!]
[I bet she picked the easiest machine just because she doesn’t know how to use anything else, hahaha.]
[She has never set foot in a gym before, right? Wearing high heels and all, what a hypocrite.]
[Lazy to death, what is she putting on an act for? If you don’t know how to use it, stop hogging the equipment.]
[Leaning back there like some big boss, how could the Second Young Master possibly take a fancy to her?]
Gu Qingjiao wore an expression of total apathy. She shifted her posture slightly to make herself even more comfortable, gently resting her slender right leg over her left. Her body proportions were as perfect as an elegant mermaid’s. With a cool, aloof gaze directed at the entrance, she acted as though no one else was around.
With that, the chat boxes of everyone present became even more lively.
A few minutes later, a figure appeared at the entrance. Gu Qingjiao was the first to notice that the person was wearing a pair of black leather shoes; this individual clearly wasn’t here to exercise.
Tracing her line of sight upward, she realized this person was the butler of the South Manor.
Gu Qingjiao felt a momentary flash of surprise, but quickly recovered her composure. She took half a watermelon and a spoon out of her bag and began eating it in a rather untimely manner.
Such a great beauty actually eating watermelon in a gym?!
Everyone was caught completely off guard, though upon second thought, considering this person was Gu Qingjiao, it almost seemed normal.
Similarly, Southern Butler, who had just walked in, also noticed the abnormality. He deliberately walked up to Gu Qingjiao, offered a polite greeting first, and then asked, “In this kind of weather, where did you get a watermelon?”
Instead, Gu Qingjiao looked at him with an innocent expression. “I got it from the small farm. I heard there are guests coming over to the North side in a couple of days, and Uncle Long is going to give them watermelon to eat. Such an important matter, and the butler doesn’t even know?”
Southern Butler’s expression stiffened slightly. “There were too many things going on and I forgot. Watermelon has a cooling property, so you should still eat less of it.”
“Melons are grown to be eaten, after all.” Gu Qingjiao then picked up the other half from her bag and handed it to him. “Want some?”
Southern Butler paused for a moment and politely declined. “You go ahead and eat. I don’t need any; I’m here waiting for the Second Young Master.”
Gu Qingjiao gave an oh and continued eating her melon in silence.
To verify whether the watermelon poison was actually administered by Southern Butler, she had specifically fetched a safe watermelon and deliberately started eating it right in front of the suspect to observe his reaction first, and the micro-expression Southern Butler had inadvertently revealed earlier truly resembled that of a pretender.
However, to confirm whether he was the genuine culprit, she still needed to complete one final test.
Gu Qingjiao got off the leg-press machine and prepared to leave. Southern Butler suddenly blocked her path and asked, “Miss Gu, have you seen the Second Young Master? He made an appointment to meet me here, so why is he nowhere to be found?”
Gu Qingjiao wasn’t afraid of being suspected. She caught two watermelon seeds from her mouth with her hand and replied casually, “I didn’t see him. Could it be that you got stood up? Sigh, let me tell you, wise birds choose their trees to nest in; Shi Lijin is just not reliable.”
Southern Butler: [Error.]
A short while later, another man wearing black leather shoes appeared at the entrance, as luck would have it, Shi Lijin, who had just been denounced as unreliable, happened to be standing right by the door.
As soon as Shi Lijin arrived, everyone else in the gym stopped acting nonchalant. Assuming by default that the Second Young Master was here to cause trouble for Gu Qingjiao, they proactively cleared a path.
Shi Lijin walked up to Gu Qingjiao, staring into her clear, weary eyes.
Gu Qingjiao raised a hand in a gesture. “Hi, fiancé.”
Internal monologue: Why did he have to come over here? This damned inescapable fate.
Gu Qingjiao had already lived past her expiration date by a few days. Running into Shi Lijin now was like a minor ghost bumping into the King of Hell, and since this major villain seemed capable of doing absolutely anything, what if he got manipulated by the script and accidentally offed her right here on the spot with a twitch of his hand?
Right, time to slip away!
At this moment, the two of them had undoubtedly become the focal point of everyone’s attention, and everyone was eagerly anticipating what harsh words the Second Young Master would have for her.
Shi Lijin: “Get out.”
Just two simple, flat words, yet they seemed to stir up a tempest.
“Miss Gu, the Second Young Master told you to get out.”
“Miss Gu, remember to wear sneakers next time you come to the gym, okay?”
“What are you standing there stunned for? Why aren’t you leaving already?”
Gu Qingjiao: “Alright, goodbye fiancé.”
Just as Gu Qingjiao took two steps away, her upper arm was caught by Shi Lijin. A question mark popped up in her mind, and the next second she heard Shi Lijin say coldly to the crowd, “I told you all to get out.”
The people standing around watching the show felt as though they had been struck by lightning. Lowering their heads in disgrace, they scurried off one by one.
Shi Lijin immediately released her arm and cast his gaze toward Southern Butler.
“Second Young Master, were you looking for me?”
Southern Butler still harbored lingering suspicions about that chat account from earlier.
Shi Lijin didn’t answer. Instead, he tilted his head and glanced at Gu Qingjiao once more.
Gu Qingjiao was currently like a cat that had knocked over a jar of preserves; she had no time to clean up the mess. Now that she already knew who the suspect was, in order for her next plan to proceed smoothly, she had to find a way to make her exit.
Thus, pressing her right hand against her chest and slightly shrinking her shoulders, she hunched her neck right in front of the two grown men and dry-heaved: “Yueh.”
Shi Lijin: “What?”
Southern Butler: “What?”
Following that, Gu Qingjiao gazed at Shi Lijin with a bashful expression and said, “Since you two have matters to attend to, I won’t disturb you any longer. Goodbye, fiancé.”
With that, Gu Qingjiao left the two stunned men behind and walked away hugging her watermelon.
Southern Butler seemed to have sensed something amiss, his round eyeballs rolling back and forth between the two of them.
Shi Lijin reacted swiftly and quickly gathered his expression. Pondering Southern Butler’s previous question for a brief moment, he said, “Right, I have some things to brief you on. Let’s talk in the study.”
Southern Butler: [What?]
Didn’t you tell me to come to the gym earlier?
This was Gu Qingjiao’s second time sneaking into the greenhouse.
Taking out her phone, she opened the newly created Shi’s South Manor General Group, activated the anonymous mode, and started a livestream under a completely untraceable identity. Afterward, she found a corner that offered an all-angle view of the greenhouse and hid her phone.
It happened to be the break time for most of the staff. Upon seeing someone streaming anonymously in the group, everyone clicked in out of sheer curiosity, only to discover that the livestream content was actually just a completely ordinary patch of melon fields.
Some people who found it boring exited the livestream room, but a few others who had nothing better to do decided to wait and see. However, after waiting for tens of minutes without any developments, not even a single person in sight, everyone collectively agreed it was a prank and began exiting the livestream room one after another.
[A prank? Bro, look closely, this isn’t a melon-eating gossip group, you know.]
[Even though it’s off-work hours now, you don’t have to be this idle, right? Butler Group Admin, come manage this.]
[What backwater countryside village is this filmed in? Wait! You didn’t run away, did you?]
[Awesome bro, daring to run out of the South Manor back to your hometown, rushing home for the New Year? And you even dare to do a livestream, are you deliberately provoking us?]
[Admin, Jason, hurry up and check who this person is!]
Meanwhile, Southern Butler, who was attentively summarizing reports in the study, had his phone buzzing incessantly.
He pulled out his phone, preparing to unlock the screen and check it, but quickly sensed the hawk-like gaze coming from across the desk.
“Excuse me, Second Young Master.” Southern Butler placed his phone on the table on silent, intending to continue summarizing work, but before long the phone started vibrating with incoming calls again.
Shi Lijin, who had been reviewing financial statements, closed his book and cast an impatient look at him.
Having followed this master for a long time, Southern Butler had long since learned what each of the other’s glances represented, so he simply shut the phone off entirely.
“Apologies, Second Young Master. Let me continue.”
Shi Lijin wasn’t the type to deliberately drag out time. When holding meetings, he always went straight to the point for a quick resolution. In just fifteen minutes, he had clearly instructed everyone on the recent situation of the South Manor and the arrangements for the upcoming couple of days, immediately dismissing the meeting.
As soon as Southern Butler left, Jason immediately took out his phone and cast the livestream content from the Shi’s South Manor General Group onto the study’s projection screen.
After waiting quietly for ten minutes, a man’s figure suddenly appeared within that tranquil patch of melon fields.
The man had one hand in his pocket and looked around cautiously.
Confirming there was nothing out of the ordinary, he took a packet of white powder out of his pocket and evenly sprinkled it across every patch of melon plants.
When he finished, the man slowly stood up, his sturdy back appearing robust and upright before the screen.
The few people remaining in the livestream chat room erupted.
[There’s actually someone there? I thought it was a still image and was about to fall asleep…]
[Why does this guy look a bit familiar?]
[A fugitive on the run from the South Manor, of course he looks familiar.]
As the chat conversation among the few individuals unfolded, more and more people clicked in to rewatch the livestream.
A moment later, the man turned around to leave, and the hidden phone finally captured a clear shot of his face.
And when everyone clearly saw his appearance, the group fell silent.