“By the way, if you go to submit the marriage application tomorrow, how long will it take to get approved?”
Qiao Yu suddenly remembered this important matter and calculated the time. Next month, the crackdown would reach the Qiao family.
Gu Shaoyuan was an officer. If her identity became problematic later, how could she still marry him?
Gu Shaoyuan pursed his lips and said, “If all the documents and procedures are in order, the marriage application should be approved in a couple of days.”
That’s good, Qiao Yu secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Seeing her eyes crinkle into a smile, Gu Shaoyuan asked in return, “Are you in such a hurry to marry me?”
Qiao Yu didn’t want to hide it from Gu Shaoyuan. After some thought, she decided to tell him the reason.
“You know, even though I signed the severance agreement with the Qiao family, the authorities will soon start cracking down on them. I can’t shake off my identity as a capitalist’s daughter.”
“If you marry me, it will affect your promotion for a while. If you want to call off the engagement, I can accept it.”
Gu Shaoyuan’s lips tightened as he lowered his head and looked at her seriously.
“I won’t call it off.”
Hearing his answer, a flicker of surprise crossed Qiao Yu’s eyes.
Gu Shaoyuan explained, “I don’t want to call it off. Marrying you won’t affect my promotion. I was only promoted to the rank of regiment-level cadre in the navy last year.”
Promotions aren’t that simple. At least for the next few years, it wouldn’t affect him.
Qiao Yu felt relieved.
The book said that Gu Shaoyuan had received three second-class merits in less than ten years of military service—he was a tough man.
If he hadn’t been assigned to guard this remote island, Qiao Xiang would probably have been eager to marry this officer long ago.
…
Shanghai, Municipal Public Security Bureau.
Zhang Yu had been locked up for three days and felt like he was falling apart.
“I’ve told you I didn’t steal anything, and I don’t have any accomplices. Why won’t you believe me?!”
The police officer looked at him disdainfully. “You were the only one at the Qiao residence at the time. If it wasn’t you, then who was it? You have to compensate the Qiao family for their losses!”
“We’ve also received reports from the public that you and Comrade Qiao Xiang each have fiancés but have been exchanging ambiguous letters for a long time. Your ideological and moral character is highly problematic.”
“The higher-ups have decided to assign you and Qiao Xiang to the Great Northwest for re-education!”
Zhang Yu was dumbfounded. How had he ended up in such a situation?
It was all Qiao Xiang’s fault for seducing him!
Otherwise, how could he have been sent to a desolate place like the Northwest?
Qiao Xiang had already cried herself unconscious in her cell. She was now filled with resentment toward Zhang Yu, convinced that he couldn’t keep his mouth shut and had told everything to the police.
She wondered what her parents were doing. Several days had passed, and they still hadn’t gotten her out.
At that moment, Qiao Zhenhua and Liu Shuhong truly felt like the sky had fallen!
After being driven out of the Western-style house by the neighborhood committee that night, they immediately went to the old residence, planning to sell the items in the warehouse, use the money to bail Qiao Xiang out, and then flee happily to Hong Kong with their family of three.
When Qiao Zhenhua opened the warehouse door at the old residence and saw it completely empty, he thought he was seeing things.
“Shuhong, did we come to the wrong place?”
Liu Shuhong was also stunned. She hurried outside to check the surroundings. “No, we didn’t. Don’t you recognize your own old residence?”
A surge of anger rose in Qiao Zhenhua as he gritted his teeth and said, “Then where are the things in my warehouse? Why are they all gone?!”
The warehouse was empty, so clean that not a single speck of dust could be seen.
Liu Shuhong had no idea what was going on. She guessed, “Could it be that your eldest and second brothers moved everything away?”
Qiao Zhenhua thought she was foolish. “My eldest and second brothers are both abroad. Do they have the ability to fly or burrow underground? We must have been targeted by thieves!”
He hadn’t believed it was Zhang Yu’s doing before, but now he was convinced. Although Zhang Yu was in custody, his accomplices hadn’t been caught yet.
Only he, Liu Shuhong, and Qiao Xiang knew about the valuable items stored in the old house’s warehouse.
Qiao Zhenhua suspected that Qiao Xiang must have revealed this secret to Zhang Yu, who then got greedy and conspired with outsiders to empty the Qiao family’s belongings!
Liu Shuhong refused to believe it. “How could our Xiangxiang do such a thing? It must have been that wretched girl Qiao Yu!”
Since the incident occurred, they hadn’t seen any trace of Qiao Yu. It must be her secretly causing trouble.
“Do you have any brains?” Qiao Zhenhua’s face flushed red with anger. “She’s just a young girl. How could she move so many things?”
Besides, he had never told Qiao Yu about the antiques and treasures stored in the old house’s warehouse.
Looking at the empty warehouse, with all the valuable items gone, Qiao Zhenhua couldn’t bear the shock. His heart suddenly ached with rage.
His eyes rolled back, and he fainted on the spot.
Liu Shuhong was terrified and quickly supported him, tears streaming uncontrollably. “Zhenhua! What’s wrong with you? You’re the pillar of our family. You mustn’t let anything happen to you!”
Qiao Xiang hadn’t been rescued yet, and now Qiao Zhenhua had collapsed. Liu Shuhong had no idea what to do.
…
Qiao Yu had no idea that the Qiao family was already in complete chaos. She had slept in the house inside the Spatial Dimension last night.
She wasn’t used to sleeping on an iron-framed bed and found her Simmons mattress much more comfortable.
While Qiao Yu was sleeping soundly, a sudden “knock, knock, knock” came from outside the Spatial Dimension, inexplicably irritating.
She groggily opened her eyes and checked her watch. It was only seven in the morning.
Qiao Yu wanted to sleep a little longer when she heard Liu Cuicui and Gu Ling deliberately raising their voices outside.
“Lingzi, stop knocking! She’s a young lady from Shanghai. How could she wake up so early? Let her sleep a little longer.”
Gu Ling was unconvinced. “Other families’ daughters-in-law have to get up early to cook. Why can she sleep so late? Mom is really something, always spoiling her!”
“I’ve said it before—this kind of young lady isn’t suitable to be my brother’s wife. She’s so lazy. Who knows, my brother might even have to serve her in the future!”
Just as Liu Cuicui was about to continue fanning the flames, the door to Qiao Yu’s room suddenly opened.
Qiao Yu found them amusing. Coming early in the morning to provoke her—did they have nothing better to do?
She sneered, “Gu Ling, get this straight. It was Auntie who told me to sleep in this morning.”
“And your brother, he dotes on me and cares for me. He told me I don’t have to do any work—he’ll do it all when he gets back. If you don’t believe me, go ask him.”
When she mentioned Gu Shaoyuan doting on and caring for her, Qiao Yu felt a bit guilty because he had never actually said such things.
She just wanted to infuriate these two who had disturbed her sleep.
Although Gu Ling was skeptical, she didn’t dare to actually ask Gu Shaoyuan.
Based on her understanding of Gu Shaoyuan, if she really asked, she would only be met with his cold stare.
Liu Cuicui’s heart shattered. Brother Shaoyuan actually cares about someone? Wasn’t he always reluctant to speak to female comrades?
She looked at Qiao Yu’s pure and radiant face and couldn’t help but feel a surge of envy in her heart.
She really was the type to seduce men.
Liu Cuicui reached out and touched her own face again—her skin was tanned dark and rough from the sun, nothing like Qiao Yu’s fair and delicate complexion.
No, she had to save up properly and ask the procurement staff to bring her some skincare products from outside.
Seeing that they had stopped making a fuss, Qiao Yu went back to sleep for a while longer.
What she didn’t know at all was that Gu Shaoyuan’s room was right next to hers.
Every single word she had just spoken had been heard clearly by Gu Shaoyuan.