Li Qianqian had calculated everything, except for one thing—that Fu Huaishan might trust Ji Wanyun’s performance over the evidence.
She stared at Fu Huaishan as well. “Big brother, the evidence is right there in front of you. You’re not going to trust her just because of a few words from her, are you?”
Ji Wanyun was secretly delighted, suddenly feeling that the punishment wasn’t so heavy after all.
At least Huaishan was willing to believe her based on her words alone, without even bothering to look at the evidence.
But soon, she couldn’t smile anymore.
Because she heard the man speak in a low, hoarse voice: “When did I ever say I believed her? Are you saying the punishment is too light?”
Ji Wanyun’s entire body went cold. She looked up at the man, the light in her eyes fading bit by bit.
“It is a bit light, but since she’s someone big brother is used to having around, I’ll be magnanimous and give her another chance.”
Li Qianqian picked up the conversation smoothly, lifting her head to meet the man’s unreadable dark eyes. She had a feeling things weren’t that simple.
“Mm.”
After leaving the study, the moment Ji Wanyun took out her phone, she saw the message from Wang Chunhua, which only made her feel worse.
The sound of footsteps suddenly came from behind. She instinctively turned off her screen and looked back to see Li Qianqian walking beside her.
Hatred was hidden in Ji Wanyun’s eyes as she forced herself to stay calm and speak: “Second Young Madam, I’ve always been the one managing and allocating things in this household. Now that I’ve been removed from my position, I wonder who will be handling the arrangements from now on?”
“Someone will take over your position. You can hand things over to her later.”
Li Qianqian spoke casually, her expression unchanging. Such a trivial matter truly wasn’t worth her concern.
This feeling of being so easily replaced was not pleasant for Ji Wanyun.
More importantly, servants couldn’t freely enter Huaishan’s room, so her opportunities to get close to him would become even fewer.
She couldn’t help but feel irritated. She looked at Li Qianqian, swallowing her pride to speak with her.
“Second Young Madam, you know very well that I wasn’t the one who took the shirt. The reason the Fu household remains this orderly is because of my management. You don’t understand anything, and if you push me out of my position, will the new person you find be able to get up to speed quickly?”
“The Old Madam only handed this household over to you a few days ago. If things fall into chaos, will she still trust you in the future?”
Li Qianqian raised an eyebrow slightly, a faint smile curling at the corners of her lips, an elusive trace of amusement on her radiant face.
“Steward Ji, you’re overestimating your importance. The Fu household is the same with or without you.”
Ji Wanyun’s face was full of defiance. Without her, would those cunning, lazy servants really be so obedient and honest?
Li Qianqian could only talk big for now—she hadn’t actually accomplished a single real thing.
When something went wrong later, let’s see if Li Qianqian could still smile then!
Ji Wanyun said resentfully, “It seems the Second Young Madam is determined to replace me. Then there’s really nothing I can say.”
Li Qianqian let out a light laugh and lowered her voice: “You really can only shut up. Also—of course I know you weren’t the one who took the shirt. I don’t actually have any surveillance footage of you entering big brother’s room. Those words were just my guess.”
Ji Wanyun whipped her head around to stare at her, eyes wide. “You tricked me…”
Li Qianqian chuckled, having no interest in continuing the conversation. When she returned to her room, Xiao Lin was already standing at the door, having waited for quite a while.
Seeing her approach, Xiao Lin immediately greeted her warmly. “Second Young Madam.”
“You’re very smart, knowing to keep evidence for your employer.” Li Qianqian’s gaze landed on Xiao Lin. She looked like a capable middle-aged woman.
“It was my duty.” Xiao Lin replied. Her decision to side with Li Qianqian had been made after careful consideration over the past few days.
People climb upward, water flows downward. The Second Young Madam and Steward Ji clearly didn’t get along, and the Second Young Madam currently had no trusted servants.
That was also one of the reasons she chose to help Li Qianqian.
“How long have you been with the Fu household?”
“Six years now.”
“Besides cleaning, what else can you do?” Li Qianqian asked as if making casual conversation.
“Kitchen work, the backyard—I’ve basically done it all in my earlier years, including driving. I also read and study in my spare time. As for languages, I’ve passed CET-4.”
Xiao Lin smiled warmly and honestly, her voice as clear as flowing water. She didn’t boast, simply stating the facts.
“Very good. From now on, you’ll be the steward of the Fu household.” Li Qianqian nodded.
Xiao Lin was stunned at first, then quickly recovered. “Thank you, Second Young Madam, for giving me this opportunity. I will not let you down.”
She had thought today’s events would at most earn her some favor with Li Qianqian and make her memorable.
She never expected a direct promotion!
So what did her six years of obediently working as a servant count for?
Did it count as her being diligent?!
“Do you know big brother’s habits?”
“Yes. Master Fu has a cup of coffee every morning, and I’m the one who usually brews it.”
Xiao Lin immediately nodded in response.
Li Qianqian: “Alright, go get back to work.”
After the woman left, Li Qianqian opened the door and entered the room. After washing up, she leaned against the headboard and scrolled through her phone.
Her WeChat account was still logged into the new number, with only one contact in total—Qin Muyang. Back then, when the original owner had added them as friends, all three had initially rejected her.
It wasn’t until she changed her profile picture to one of herself in a deep-V outfit with big wavy curls that Qin Muyang finally accepted her friend request.
Then, through the friend request message, she sent Jiang Liubai a barrage of messages, like: “Brother, don’t you really want to see the big melons?” and so on…
Jiang Liubai had much better self-control, refusing her steadfastly, and eventually just blocked her entirely.
As for Qi Zechuan, his WeChat settings prevented the original owner from even finding him, so she could only use the excuse of being sick every few days to get him to come over to the house.
Li Qianqian looked at the black-stocking leg photos, the lipstick-covered lip shots, and the hand photos in the sunlight in her chat with Qin Muyang. Qin Muyang rarely replied, but he never deleted her as a friend either.
She let out a scoff, decisively deleted Qin Muyang, and casually deactivated the account.
She switched back to her main account.
Gu Shinian: [Qianqian, I’m home.]
Qian: [Okay.]
After replying, Li Qianqian went back to scrolling through videos.
On the other side.
Qin Muyang lay on his soft, large bed, gripping his phone and struggling for a long time, yet he still couldn’t bring himself to press the delete button.
He ran his hand through his hair in frustration. He remembered that Li Qianqian posted a photo once a week, and today was exactly the seventh day. Maybe he should look at the photo first before deleting?
He was just trying to preserve one more piece of evidence for Yun Li!
Time ticked by, minute after minute. Qin Muyang forced himself to stay awake until 2 a.m., and when he saw that the other person’s profile picture showed the account had been deactivated, he shot up from the bed like a fish leaping out of water.
Did Li Qianqian change her profile picture herself?
Nervously, Qin Muyang sent a question mark, only to be met with a glaring red exclamation mark!
“Damn it, Li Qianqian, you’re something else!”
Qin Muyang gritted his teeth, furious at having been played for a fool.
His mind grew more and more agitated, and he couldn’t sleep at all, but he didn’t have Li Qianqian’s main account or her phone number.
He couldn’t even wait until tomorrow!
Why should he be this angry while Li Qianqian slept soundly without a care in the world?
Bracing himself for a scolding, Qin Muyang made a call to Fu Yunli.
Once it connected, he beat around the bush and said, “Brother Yunli, send me your whole family’s phone numbers on WeChat.”
With that, he hung up on his own, and a message from Fu Yunli popped up on WeChat.
Fu Yunli: [?]