The two of them immediately held their breath and quickly hid in a corner.
Not far away, someone shone a flashlight around. After a while, the person left.
They both let out a sigh of relief. Li Minghui didn’t dare stay any longer and could only leave unwillingly.
The next day, news of catching a thief spread throughout the factory. Everyone was discussing which bastard had come to destroy the fabric.
Tao Xiaohong didn’t dare say a word, afraid suspicion would fall on her.
Qin Yanzhou, on the other hand, was publicly praised for catching the thief.
On his first day at the factory, he had been disliked by everyone in the maintenance team for slacking off. By the second day, he became the factory’s hero.
Even if he continued to slack off, no one said anything anymore—they simply ignored him.
Qin Yanzhou enjoyed the leisure, finding a corner to nap. Once he woke up, he would wander around.
By the end of the workday, Tao Xiaohong found him.
“Brother Yanzhou…” she said hesitantly, as if wanting to speak but holding back.
Qin Yanzhou frowned slightly. “What is it?”
Tao Xiaohong glanced around and lowered her voice. “Can you walk me home?”
Qin Yanzhou didn’t respond.
Her voice carried a hint of fear. “Yesterday after work, I noticed someone… someone was following me. I was really scared…”
“Brother Yanzhou, can you take me home?”
Qin Yanzhou thought of what Li Minghui had done to her. He had already failed to protect Xiaojun’s sister once. Now that she was being followed, he couldn’t just ignore it.
“Alright, I’ll take you home.”
Tao Xiaohong was overjoyed.
Like a shy young wife, she followed behind Qin Yanzhou as they left the factory together.
Qin Yanzhou rode Tao Xiaohong’s bicycle while she sat on the back seat, holding onto his clothes with both hands, her face full of happiness.
It took more than ten minutes to ride from the textile factory to the Tao family home. Since it was after work, there were quite a few people on the road.
The Tao family lived in housing allocated by the factory. Back when the houses were distributed, extra consideration had been given to them—without breaking regulations, they were assigned a three-bedroom house with a courtyard.
At the entrance of the Tao home, Qin Yanzhou stopped.
After getting off, Tao Xiaohong carefully asked, “Brother Yanzhou, can you still walk me home tomorrow?”
Qin Yanzhou nodded lightly. “Mm.”
He had been observing along the way but hadn’t noticed anyone following her.
Still, to be safe, he decided to escort her for a while.
Tao Xiaohong was filled with joy as she watched Qin Yanzhou leave.
The neighbors next door had all returned from work and curiously asked, “Xiaohong, why is Director Qin’s son walking you home?”
“Are you two dating?”
Tao Xiaohong lowered her head with a blush, shyly pushing her bicycle into the house.
Though she said nothing, her demeanor seemed like silent confirmation.
Before long, many people had heard that Tao Xiaohong and Qin Yanzhou were dating.
And for the next two days, Qin Yanzhou consistently escorted Tao Xiaohong home, which everyone witnessed.
During these two days, whenever Xie Yulan saw Li Juhua while buying groceries, she gave her no good face.
Li Juhua felt puzzled, assuming it was because of previous events that the Qin family was unhappy.
That day, after Xie Yulan returned from buying groceries, Mianbao ran up and tugged at her.
“Grandma, can we go pick up Grandpa from work today?”
Xie Yulan replied, “He’s a grown man—what’s there to pick up? Do you just want to go play at the factory again?”
Mianbao clasped her hands and swayed shyly.
“Yes, Grandma, take me to play.”
It seemed Mianbao really liked the factory. Since she had nothing to do that day, Xie Yulan agreed to take her there.
…
“Qin Yanzhou, someone’s looking for you.”
Qin Yanzhou came out of the workshop and saw it was Guangzi. He quickened his pace.
“Guangzi, what do you want?”
Guangzi pulled him aside mysteriously.
“Brother Zhou, there’s still no clue about the traffickers you asked me to watch.”
“Then why are you looking for me?” Qin Yanzhou said speechlessly.
Guangzi lowered his voice. “I’m here about something else.”
“Speak.”
“Someone saw Tao Xiaohong meeting Li Minghui in an alley near the billiard hall.”
Hearing this, Qin Yanzhou’s first reaction was—
“That bastard still dares to approach Tao Xiaohong?! I’ll kill him!”
He angrily kicked the tree beside him.
“Guangzi, go gather some guys now. After work, we’ll go find Li Minghui.”
“This time, I’ll definitely cripple that bastard.”
Guangzi scratched his head hesitantly.
“What are you waiting for? Go!” Qin Yanzhou kicked him.
Guangzi hurried off to gather people.
By the time work ended, Mianbao, who had finished playing, pulled Xie Yulan along.
“Let’s go pick up Grandpa and Uncle from work.”
Xie Yulan smiled warmly. “Alright, alright. Slow down.”
The grandmother and granddaughter waited outside the workshop. Mianbao eagerly watched the workers coming out.
Would Uncle be surprised to see her?
Xie Yulan wondered when Mianbao had become so attached to that brat Qin Yanzhou.
Everyone from the maintenance team had come out, but Qin Yanzhou still hadn’t appeared. Mianbao gradually grew disappointed.
Had Uncle already left?
At that moment, Qin Yanzhou finally strolled out of the workshop lazily, stretching.
Seeing him, Mianbao happily ran over and hugged his long leg.
“Uncle! Grandma and I came to pick you and Grandpa up from work!”
Qin Yanzhou lifted her. “I’ve got legs—I can walk home myself. Don’t need you to pick me up.”
“Yes, we do!” Mianbao insisted.
“Brother Yanzhou.”
Tao Xiaohong approached, her face slightly flushed. Seeing Xie Yulan, she greeted politely, “Auntie, why are you here?”
Xie Yulan didn’t even look at her. She pulled Mianbao away and said to Qin Yanzhou, “Let’s go home.”
“Mom, I still need to take Xiaohong home. You go back first.”
Xie Yulan exploded.
“She has legs! She can ride her bicycle home herself—why does she need you to take her?”
Qin Yanzhou didn’t understand why his mother suddenly showed such hostility toward Tao Xiaohong. He frowned, thinking of something else.
“Someone’s been following her recently. I’ll go back right after I send her home.”
Tao Xiaohong was also confused by Xie Yulan’s sudden change in attitude.
“Auntie, I—”
“No need to send her.”
Qin Shanhai’s deep, authoritative voice rang out.
Tao Xiaohong stiffened, her face changing as her fingers curled tightly.
Qin Shanhai walked over, standing in front of Xie Yulan and Mianbao. He glanced coldly at Tao Xiaohong.
“If someone is following you, you should report it to the factory and let the police handle it.”
“Not cling to Yanzhou to send you home.”
Tao Xiaohong bit her lip. “I… I didn’t. I was just too scared.”
Qin Yanzhou frowned. “Dad, Xiaohong—”
“Be quiet.” Qin Shanhai glared at him, then continued, “If you’re afraid, let the security department escort you home. They can also try to catch that dangerous person.”
Tao Xiaohong wanted to say more, but Qin Shanhai had already sent someone to call the security staff.
She could only leave unwillingly.
After taking a few steps, she heard Xie Yulan’s voice behind her.
“Tomorrow, Aunt Zhou is introducing you to someone. Go meet her for me.”