Chapter 113: Chapter 113: Planting Grass on His Head Chapter 113: Chapter 113: Planting Grass on His Head This night, Qiao En couldn’t sleep, her mind already heavy, and the incident with Zhou Jin’an today had thrown her thoughts into disarray.

This night, Zhou Jin’an couldn’t sleep either, busy with work until three in the morning, he took a shower, the image of Qiao En lingering in his mind, and he just leaned against the headboard until the dawn.

As for Cheng Lu, he too was up all night. He was holding onto that “hot potato”, not knowing where to place it next.

Return it to Zhou Jin’an for Qiao En? He was worried Zhou Jin’an might kick his head off.

Return it to Qiao En again? With her stubborn temper, she definitely wouldn’t accept it.

Not returning it, he couldn’t keep it for himself either.

This really troubled Cheng Lu.

The next day was sunny and mild.

Qiao’s mother pushed Qiao’s father to the community hospital for rehabilitation training, and Qiao En had arranged to meet Detective Wu.

At ten in the morning, the two met in the waiting hall of the bus station.

This time, Detective Wu’s disguise was that of an ordinary old man on the street, a yellowed old-style undershirt paired with large striped shorts and he sported a pair of semi-worn plastic flip-flops; in one hand he held a crumpled plastic bag, in the other, a dirty palm-leaf fan.

He stooped his back, appeared feeble and ancient, with the wide brim of his straw hat covering most of his face, wearing thick glasses at the bottom of a bottle, his mouth surrounded by a circle of very realistic beard.

Qiao En didn’t recognize Detective Wu at a glance, it was he who pretended to pass by her, lowering his voice saying, “Third row, fifth seat, wait for me there.”

Qiao En was not overly surprised; maintaining high secrecy was necessary for Detective Wu’s job.

She did as Detective Wu had instructed, and a few minutes later, he also sat down in the chair next to Qiao En, took out an old person’s cell phone, pretending to make a call.

“The person you asked me to check seems to have left Rong City. Strangely enough, I can’t find anything about her past.”

He had been investigating Su Nian on Qiao En’s behalf.

Everyone has a past, as long as one has been in this world, there must be traces left behind. If someone’s past is blank, it can only mean someone intentionally erased it.

“You mean, someone deliberately concealed her past?”

When in doubt, just ask; Qiao En wore headphones, her head buried in her cell phone, not looking like she was communicating with Detective Wu.

“Miss Qiao, I advise you not to investigate any further.”

Qiao En was somewhat shocked and turned her head to look at Detective Wu.

He was very composed, revealing not a single flaw.

“Why? Didn’t you say before that you could definitely find her information?”

Detective Wu moved the old cell phone from his ear, also turning to look at Qiao En.

Those wise yet cautious eyes landed on Qiao En’s face, “Although I’m not completely certain, it’s pretty much close to certain. Besides you, there are at least four other groups investigating her, and of course, people are investigating you too. For safety’s sake, today will be our last meeting.”

After he finished speaking, he slowly rose, ready to leave.

Qiao En also stood up, “Among those four groups, is Zhou Jin’an one of them?”

“Yes.”

Without hesitation, Detective Wu responded.

For a moment, Qiao En couldn’t describe her feelings, as if a jar of mixed flavors was toppled, a mixture of sweetness, sourness, bitterness, saltiness, and spiciness flooding out all at once.

But she quickly scoffed at herself and laughed, her emotions returning to calm.

“Help me with one last thing.”

As Detective Wu shuffled toward the ticket vending machine pretending to buy a ticket, Qiao En also approached the machine.

“What is it?”

“I need a completely new identity.”

“Okay.”

Without further questions, Detective Wu replied.

“The sooner, the better! I need it urgently.”

Qiao En hastened his pace with those words, Detective Wu didn’t speak as his slippers carried him away.

Leaving the bus station, Qiao En then went to a shopping mall.

The third day of next month was Qiao’s mother’s birthday, she might not be in Rong City by then, and she wanted to pick a gift in advance.

However, coincidentally, just as Qiao En entered the mall, she ran into Cheng Lu.

Actually, it wasn’t much of a coincidence.

After dropping Zhou Jin’an off at the company, he had taken half a day off. During that time, he had messaged Qiao En, to which she did not reply, so he rushed to the Qiao family’s home, knocked on the door but no one answered.

Thus, he drove to the places Qiao En frequently visited and unexpectedly saw her figure on the way.

“Secretary Qiao.”

Cheng Lu finally found Qiao En and felt a great sense of relief.

On a weekday morning, the mall was somewhat quiet, Cheng Lu’s call made it especially startling.

Qiao En turned around, and Cheng Lu had already dashed to her side.

“You were hard to find.”

He was out of breath, Qiao En slightly frowned, “Assistant Cheng, what do you want?”

Cheng Lu pulled out the property deed and the Gold Card, hastily stuffing them into Qiao En’s hands.

“I can’t pass these on for you. If you don’t want them, return them to Director Zhou yourself.”

Cheng Lu felt as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders; the hot potato was finally out of his hands.

He didn’t wait to see whether Qiao En would take them or not; after thrusting them at her, he immediately turned and walked away.

The property deed and Gold Card fell to the ground, and Qiao En bent over to pick them up.

By the time she straightened up, Cheng Lu had vanished without a trace.

But Qiao En then encountered someone she particularly did not want to see.

“Oh, look who it is? If it isn’t our sister-in-law who hasn’t even entered the door yet! Big sister, look, has our brother’s head already been planted with a vast Hulunbuir grassland?”

Ding Ruyi spoke with a mocking tone.

Linking arms with Ding Ruxin, she walked toward Qiao En with a smug expression on her face, but her eyes were filled with hostility.

“Qiao En, who was that just now?”

Ding Ruxin asked, frowning.

“A former colleague.”

Qiao En replied.

She hadn’t had the chance to stuff the property deed and Gold Card back into her small bag. Ding Ruyi let out a cold laugh and forcefully snatched them from Qiao En’s hands.

“Hey, do you think we’re fools? These are the property deed and Gold Card, what kind of ordinary colleague would be so generous? Why don’t you introduce us too! Our Ding Family has some standing in Rong City as well, you should look at yourself before you try to match us. You think you’re good enough to enter the doors of our Ding Family?”

Ding Ruyi was always venomous.

“Whether or not I qualify to enter the Ding Family, Miss Second, isn’t for you to decide.”

Qiao En gave a faint smile as she snatched back her belongings from Ding Ruyi.

She seemed frail, but she was tough as iron.

“Big sister, she doesn’t take me seriously at all. Even though my last name is Ding, what is she compared to that? How dare she look down on me?”

Ding Ruxin’s expression turned sour. She grabbed Ding Ruyi’s arm, “Second sister, this is our younger brother’s family matter, it’s better if we, as his older sisters, don’t get involved.”

Ding Ruxin slightly nodded to Qiao En and pulled Ding Ruyi to leave, but after only a few steps, Ding Ruyi broke free and charged back in front of Qiao En.

“Do you really think no one can deal with you? Tempting my brother, yet entangling with another man, do you really think our Ding Family can tolerate someone like you?”

She pointed at Qiao En’s nose and shouted so loudly that the few people in the mall turned to look this way.

“Slap!”

Qiao En raised her hand and gave Ding Ruyi a resounding slap without hesitation.

A chill seemed to sweep from her cold eyes, making people shudder.

Ding Ruyi, accustomed to being arrogant, never expected she would be hit by Qiao En.

“You dare to hit me? Do it again if you dare!”

“Slap.”

Another crisp slap immediately landed on her other cheek.

The onlookers, stretching their necks, were all stunned.

Ding Ruyi’s eyes bulged like brass bells; she couldn’t believe Qiao En dared to hit her again, and in her fury, she lunged forward to scratch Qiao En’s face.

Qiao En stepped back, and Ding Ruyi, overcome with rage, lunged at empty air and fell flat on her face.

Seeing the commotion, Ding Ruxin hurried over to help Ding Ruyi up, “Second sister, get up quickly, so many people are watching, we can’t afford to lose face for the Ding Family.”

The two sisters were regulars in this mall, often coming here to shop. From the mall’s management to the store clerks, many knew them.

“Qiao En, it’s wise to be lenient where it is possible. Once you enter the Ding Family’s doors, we’ll be one family. The second sister is straightforward, but she means no harm. There’s no need for you to be confrontational.”

Ding Ruyi repeatedly provoked her with such venomous language, and that’s called no harm?

She was merely teaching Ding Ruyi a lesson, how was that being confrontational?

Qiao En now saw clearly that the Ding sisters were playing good cop and bad cop, clearly not intending to let her into the Ding family.

What they didn’t know was, Qiao En had never intended to enter the Ding Family from the very beginning.

Ding Ruyi was fierce, and Ding Ruxin was gentle; their combined soft and hard tactics were something Qiao En couldn’t contest.

But what she was best at was playing dumb while being cunning.

Qiao En shrugged her shoulders, purposely putting on an innocent look.

“Just now Second sister told me to hit her, I didn’t want to, but since she told me to try, well, I tried!”

Before she could finish, Ding Ruyi exploded with rage.

She was a firecracker, and Qiao En’s intentional misinterpretation of her words was something she couldn’t tolerate.

“You bitch, I hope you die!”

She cursed as she raised her hand to slap Qiao En.

Qiao En could have dodged, but she didn’t.

With a crisp sound, Ding Ruyi’s slap didn’t land on Qiao En’s face, but firmly on someone else’s.