Chapter 42: Warming Up

Jiang Anqi cried out in pain, “Ah! Let go of me! Qin Miaoyu, tell him to let go right now, or I’ll spill everything, and then let’s see who’d want a ruined woman like you!”

Qin Miaoyu was trembling with rage, and Lu Qian’s anger flared even hotter at those words. He struck out without hesitation.

Seeing his fierce posture, Qin Miaoyu quickly stepped forward. “Lu Qian, stop it! If you really hurt him, things will get complicated!”

“Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing,” Lu Qian replied, though his hands showed no mercy.

Although Qin Miaoyu was glad to see Jiang Anqi take a beating, she didn’t want Lu Qian to get into trouble on her behalf. She hurried to grasp his arm. “Stop, the police should be coming upstairs any minute now.”

Just as the words left her lips, several police officers rushed into the apartment.

“Who called the police?”

Qin Miaoyu immediately said it was her and quickly recounted what had happened.

“That’s not it! I just brought some things over for her, had a bit to drink, got carried away and didn’t know my own strength!”

“The overturned chair and the smashed door are all evidence of his deliberate violence. If my husband hadn’t come home in time to help, who knows what else might have happened!” Qin Miaoyu’s frightened expression inspired genuine sympathy.

By the time they left the police station, it was already evening.

“You must be hungry. Let’s get something to eat first,” Lu Qian suggested.

But Qin Miaoyu had little appetite. Jiang Anqi would at most be detained for a short while before being released, and with the influence of the Jiang family, he might not even be held for a few days.

Lu Qian saw through her concerns at a glance and tried to reassure her. “Don’t worry, Jiang Anqi will be detained for as long as he should be.”

This was Jing City—he wouldn’t let the Jiang family cause trouble here.

Still, those vague threats from Jiang Anqi left Lu Qian unsettled. Looking back on all those years, he realized how arrogant he’d been. If he’d known Qin Miaoyu would suffer so much chaos, even if she hated him, he would have stayed by her side…

When he saw her shivering in the cold wind, Lu Qian quickly took off his coat and draped it over her shoulders.

“It’s chilly. Let’s find a place to eat. If you really don’t feel like eating, just keep me company, all right?”

“All right.”

They found a hotpot restaurant and sat down. On the table was an advertisement for Tianxiang Mountain Courtyard, left behind by someone else, and it suddenly reminded Qin Miaoyu of what Jiang Anqi had said. At first, she’d wanted to question her father for his actions, but now she felt no ripple of emotion. Perhaps she was simply too disappointed; once she calmed down, it seemed entirely natural for her father to do such things.

She rolled up the flyer and tossed it into the trash. Calmness settled over her, and her appetite returned—she ended up eating quite a bit with Lu Qian.

On the way home, Qin Miaoyu was still troubled. “The apartment’s a mess. I’ll have to tell the landlord.”

“Have you considered moving? This complex doesn’t have security or a proper entry system, so Jiang Anqi could get in easily.”

Qin Miaoyu fell silent. Nothing had happened before, and the apartment suited her, so she hadn’t thought of moving. But after today, she couldn’t help but feel uneasy. Who knew if Jiang Anqi would keep coming to cause trouble?

In fact, three or four years had passed since the engagement was broken off. During that time, the elders of the Jiang family must have kept Jiang Anqi in line, so he hadn’t come looking for her. Why now, all of a sudden? Hadn’t Jiang Anqi said she’d anonymously reported him?

She was sure she’d never done such a thing. Back then, she didn’t even have evidence. So who else could have done it? Whoever it was had to know the inside story. Besides the Qin and Jiang families, who else could it be?

When she got home, Qin Miaoyu was startled by how neat and clean everything was. If her bedroom door hadn’t been replaced, she might have thought everything that happened earlier was just a dream.

“I had someone tidy up while you were out. You must be tired—go wash up and get some rest,” Lu Qian said, catching the weariness on her face.

Qin Miaoyu nodded and went to the bedroom for a change of clothes. She nearly tripped over something on the floor. Startled, she picked up the tiny electric saw and put it away in its box. She felt a bit regretful—she’d never used this little saw, and she’d almost had the chance to use it on that scoundrel Jiang Anqi…

After Qin Miaoyu went to wash up, Lu Qian made several phone calls to investigate Jiang Anqi and the Jiang family. After a while, he called the housekeeper at the family estate, asking them to prepare his apartments for possible use.

This place really wasn’t safe. Now that he’d be working full-time at the Lu Corporation headquarters, he wouldn’t be able to pick up and drop off Qin Miaoyu as before. It would be best to have her move somewhere more secure.

This time, the investigation was straightforward. Two days later, Lu Qian had the results. When he heard the name Liang Sixuan, he let out a cold laugh. How interesting—Liang Sixuan was acting as if she and Qin Miaoyu were bitter enemies.

He shared the news with Qin Miaoyu, saying only that the police had learned it during questioning, which was technically true—the police had uncovered some information.

When Qin Miaoyu heard it was related to Liang Sixuan, she immediately called Ji Xuan. From Ji Xuan, she learned that the day she’d mailed her painting, Liang Sixuan had sent people to intercept it.

“She’s already started hyping up her chances of winning an award,” Ji Xuan said.

Qin Miaoyu searched online and indeed found several posts speculating that the “genius painter” Liang Sixuan was likely to win a prize.

After hanging up, Lu Qian asked, “Do you know why Liang Sixuan stirred up all this trouble?”

Jiang Anqi was a fool, always believing whatever he was told. Liang Sixuan had casually told the Jiang elders about his womanizing and got him punished, then turned around and told Jiang Anqi it was all Qin Miaoyu’s doing. He believed her and came to Jing City to settle accounts.

Since Qin Miaoyu was no longer in Southern City and had fallen out with the Qin family, Liang Sixuan didn’t even bother to cover her tracks. Perhaps she wasn’t being careless at all—maybe she wanted to ruin Qin Miaoyu’s reputation and subtly announce their rivalry to the upper circles of Southern City.

“Most likely she wants to distract me so I can’t focus on the St. Disme Art Competition. That way, she can once again win a prize by plagiarizing my work…”

Lu Qian immediately caught the words “again” and “plagiarize.” “She’s plagiarized your work before?”

“Yes,” Qin Miaoyu replied, “the painting Master Wu mentioned, ‘Becoming a Butterfly’—I used to have doubts, but when I went back to Southern City recently, I confirmed she really did copy my work.”