Chapter 158: Her Life Lies in Your Hands (1)

"Tianze, what good can dating a girl like her do for you? You ought to find a wife whose family background matches ours and can aid you in your career. Otherwise, you'll definitely face a ton of problems in the future."

Completely disregarding his mother's words, Long Tianze brushed her off. "Mother, I have something to attend to, I'll get going now."

"Tianze!"

He then stood up and stormed off in a huff.

"Go check up on who Tianze's dating. I want all the information you can get about her," Mrs. Long hurriedly instructed the butler.

"Young Sir has a girlfriend now?"

"Cut the crap, hurry up and go, quick," Mrs. Long urged.

"Yes, Madam."

Long Tianze then embarked on a journey towards the clothing store in his car.

He whipped out a cigarette and took a puff after lighting it up.

Having arrived at the entrance, he sent Mei Yangyang a text message to inform her of his arrival.

Soon after, Mei Yangyang appeared at the entrance and hurried towards him after peeking outside.

She quickly got into the passenger seat. Placing the hand he was holding the cigarette with outside of the window, he reached into his pocket to retrieve a bunch of keys and handed it to her. "Here," he said with a smile.

"What's this?" asked Mei Yangyang as she took a look at the keys and grabbed it from his hands.

"The keys to the apartment in Shui Lou Estate."

What did he mean by giving her the keys to his house...

"Why are you giving them to me?" said Mei Yangyang, asking the obvious.

"To give you free access as and when you'd like, of course. I want to be able to enjoy the delicious meals you prepare when I come home, every day," Long Tianze answered, holding her tiny hands in his.

Mei Yangyang's heart began to flutter upon hearing his answer. Just as she was about to speak up, he let go of her hand and took out a bank card from his wallet. "Here's some money for our future household expenses. I'll be transferring some money to this account every month. I'll be in charge of paying for the expenses and washing the dishes, while you take care of our meals. How does that sound?"

"Sure, but I won't be responsible if you get food poisoning," she said candidly, grabbing the card.

"I would gladly let you poison me," Long Tianze said, chuckling.

"You... you've gotten such a glib tongue," she said, glancing at him.

"I'm more than willing."

She pushed the car door open and bade him goodbye. "I'll come home to fix us dinner after work. There are still customers I have to attend to, I'll get going."

"Okay."

An Xiaoning tried on the hat Mrs. Jin had knitted for her. She was in high spirits as she recalled earning 50 million dollars the night before, which made her a millionaire.

She had planned to spend her few days' break from cracking cases resting at home. However, Shi Shaochuan had invited the entire family for lunch at a five-star hotel that afternoon.

An Xiaoning was reluctant to attend the luncheon, not knowing what Shi Shaochuan had up his sleeve this time. However, Jin Qingyue called her multiple times to urge her to show up, claiming that everyone, including old Mrs. Jin, would be present.

She had no choice but to give in, for it would be rather rude and disrespectful of her to not turn up.

Thus, she proceeded to doll herself up and made her way towards the hotel along with some bodyguards.

Shi Shaochuan intentionally avoided booking a table at the hotel owned by the Jin family and picked another prestigious one instead.

Together with the bodyguards she had brought along, An Xiaoning boarded the elevator and arrived at the dining room on the sixth storey. She opened the door to see that everyone was already present and waiting for her to arrive.

"My apologies, I'm late."

Upon seeing that An Xiaoning was wearing the hat she had knitted for her, the elated Mrs. Jin said smilingly, "It's alright, no worries. Ah, the hat looks beautiful on you, An Xiaoning."

"That's because you've done a great job at knitting, Mother. It looks much better than the ones they sell in stores," An Xiaoning answered as she sat down beside Jin Qingyan.

"Qingyan, look how glib of a tongue your wife has. I'm really starting to adore Xiaoning more and more. Seems like your Mother and I have great taste — you wouldn't have gotten yourself such an amazing wife if we hadn't urged you two to get married back then," said old Mrs. Jin, grinning from ear to ear.

"Yes, it's all thanks to your great foresight, Grandma," Jin Qingyan agreed.

Old Mrs. Jin could not stop smiling.

Shi Shaochuan poured everyone a glass of wine each before rising from his seat to take a bow. "I would firstly like to thank Sister-in-law for helping me overcome this ordeal my family had been faced with. Qingyue and I are getting married soon. I hereby promise each and every one of you that I'll treat her well and bring her bliss."

"Of course you have to treat her well, but the most important thing is that you have to stop your promiscuous ways. We'll be a family once you two get married, I don't wish to see any scandals involving you on the news. I hope you'll remember the promise you made today and be good to Qingyue," Mrs. Jin said sternly, skeptical of his words.

"Yes, I'll bear your words in mind."

Jin Qingyue was not in the least bit affected by the deaths of Shi Shaochuan's parents and grandmother. In fact, she was rather happy with the way things had turned out, for she would become the mistress of the Shi family once they got married. She would be the only person calling the shots, other than Shi Shaochuan, now that there were no longer any elders around.

Thus, she was in a pretty good mood during the luncheon.

Although she was genuinely grateful towards An Xiaoning for resolving the matter, Jin Qingyue could not help but feel the pinch at the thought of the 50 million dollars Shi Shaochuan had transferred to An Xiaoning.

After downing a few glasses of wine, An Xiaoning began to feel strangely uneasy as her face flushed red.

Unable to contain her happiness, Jin Qingyue had a tad bit too much to drink and ended up having to visit the washroom before lunch was even over.

She stood up and began swaying from side to side, unable to get a steady gait.

"Xiaoning, give her a hand, lest she passes out in the washroom," Mrs. Jin instructed, laughing at the amusing sight of her daughter.

"Alright."

An Xiaoning rose from her seat to help Jin Qingyue to the washroom while the bodyguards, who were standing outside, followed closely behind. However, they remained outside the washroom instead, since it would not be appropriate for them to enter the Ladies'.

"Sister-in-law, thank you so much for your help. But aren't you being a little too wicked? After all, he's... he's still your future brother-in-law. It wouldn't hurt to lend him a helping hand. Why did you have to ask for so much money in return... does my brother not give you enough to spend?" Jin Qingyue murmured in a drunken stupor, chuckling with her eyes glassed over.

An Xiaoning opened the door of a cubicle and said, "Hurry, go answer nature's call."

"Answer me, does my brother not give you any money to spend?"

"He does give me enough, of course. I'm earning my own money as well. But those have nothing to do with this matter, even your brother had to pay me for reading your fortune, let alone Brother-in-law. Are you feeling the pinch now? I did allow you to consider before paying me, so don't regret it now since you've already agreed willingly," said An Xiaoning, not wishing to discuss the matter any further.

Besides, it was merely a fair transaction between two willing parties.

However, An Xiaoning began to feel the strange feeling of anxiety again, as soon as she ended her sentence.

Clutching her chest, she began to find it difficult to breathe and hurriedly urged Jin Qingyue, "Are you done? Hurry up."

"I'm done, stop rushing me."

At this very moment, An Xiaoning noticed two men, who were clad in balaclavas, approaching them upon entering the washroom.

An Xiaoning's stomach twisted into a knot as she frantically moved backwards. The two masked men then snatched her mobile phone away from her before she could even manage to call for help.

As soon as she managed to speak up, one of the two men took out a watering can and began splashing some liquid at her. An Xiaoning could only feel herself passing out slowly as her legs turned to jelly, having no chance to struggle at all.

Drunk out of her senses, Jin Qingyue pushed the door of the cubicle open, only to see a blurry figure standing in front of her. Before she could even take a clearer look, she was subjected to the same fate as An Xiaoning and slipped into unconsciousness.