After hanging up Xia Qingyu's call, Xia Qingtian sighed quietly.
Just by taking a call from her sister, why did she feel guilty, as if she had been caught in the act?
"What's wrong?" Gu Yaoyang asked when he saw Xia Qingtian sigh. "Did something happen?"
"It's nothing, my sister will be here to meet me soon," Xia Qingtian replied. "She's a little worried about me."
"Mmm, your sisterly bond is quite strong," Gu Yaoyang said sincerely.
"Hehe." Xia Qingtian's eyes curved into smiles. She wanted to be even better to Xia Qingyu.
"Do you want to walk around for a bit longer? Or go to the dessert shop downstairs to wait for her?" Gu Yaoyang looked at Xia Qingtian's leg. "Does it still hurt?"
"It stopped hurting long ago." Xia Qingtian lightly moved her knee, raising an eyebrow with a smile. "You know, shopping is the best painkiller."
"Then sales are a medical miracle?" Gu Yaoyang was amused by Xia Qingtian's words.
"What if, who can say for sure about miracles." Xia Qingtian felt that being able to shop for bags here was already a miracle in itself.
The two chatted and laughed, asking the staff to send their purchases for the day to the Yue family's residence. Then, they took the escalator down to the first floor, intending to find a conspicuous dessert shop to sit and wait for Xia Qingyu.
The dessert shop had a warm and cute decor, with prices in the mid to upper range and good ingredients. As soon as they opened the door, they were greeted by the sweet aroma of cream mixed with candy, interspersed with the faint, rich bitterness of coffee.
It smelled wonderful.
There weren't many people in the dessert shop at this time, so the two found a seat by the window.
The window overlooked a small garden, offering a nice view. Occasionally, pedestrians hurried past. It was unclear if they noticed the flowers in the garden blooming vibrantly, the lush green foliage, and the dappled patterns of light filtering through the gaps in the branches onto the ground, creating a surreal and bizarre atmosphere.
Xia Qingtian propped her chin on one hand, gazing intently at the fragmented light circles on the ground outside the window, when suddenly a foot clad in dark canvas shoes stepped onto them.
Following the foot upwards, Xia Qingtian saw a burly man wearing a hood, his hands stuffed into his pockets, looking around as if waiting for someone.
Just as Xia Qingtian was about to get a clear look at the man's face, a beautifully bound menu appeared before her eyes, blocking her view.
Xia Qingtian looked at Gu Yaoyang, who was sitting opposite her, with a hint of surprise. She saw him frowning, his expression grave.
"What's wrong?" Xia Qingtian asked in a low voice.
"A Hu, another confidant of the Tang family's patriarch," Gu Yaoyang replied softly, looking at Xia Qingtian. "He shouldn't be here."
In fact, he shouldn't be alive.
Although she didn't know exactly what had happened to the Tang family's patriarch, according to the normal progression of events, after the Tang family's hidden master returned to the Tang family under A Long's protection, it would be officially announced to the public that A Hu had died while protecting the Tang family's patriarch.
But... why was A Hu here?
Moreover, judging by his appearance, he didn't seem to be severely injured, let alone killed.
Hearing Gu Yaoyang's words, Xia Qingtian also frowned.
If this person was a confidant of the Tang family's patriarch, then he indeed shouldn't be here.
Xia Qingtian leaned back slightly, catching a glimpse of A Hu's retreating figure through the gap between the curtain and the menu. A woman's figure was walking away with him.
Upon seeing this, Xia Qingtian's brow furrowed. "Gou Wen? Why is she with A Hu?"
"Gou Wen?" Gu Yaoyang also looked over, confirming that the alluring figure was indeed Gou Wen. Gu Yaoyang tapped his fingertips on the table, narrowing his eyes as he began to ponder the connection.
"Um..." The shop assistant, standing by the table with a ruffled apron, spoke hesitantly. "Excuse me... may I take your order?"
Xia Qingtian and Gu Yaoyang finally came back to their senses and looked at the shop assistant standing by the table together.
"Order." Xia Qingtian coughed lightly, picked up the menu, flipped through it, and casually ordered two set meals. "Just these two? Is that okay?"
"Mmm, yes," Gu Yaoyang nodded.
After the shop assistant took the menus, Xia Qingtian turned to look again but could no longer see A Hu and Gou Wen. "Should we follow them?"
"With your leg, who could you follow?" Gu Yaoyang shook his head, took out his phone, and tapped lightly on the screen as he spoke. "I'll have someone keep an eye on A Hu's movements nearby. As long as we know he's not dead, we can uncover quite a bit."
"Tsk." Xia Qingtian lowered her head and glanced at her leg, sighing inwardly.
At critical moments, why did she always falter?
"Don't sigh. If I hadn't accompanied you out shopping today, we probably wouldn't have known A Hu was still alive," Gu Yaoyang said with a light laugh. "Don't overthink it. Bai Yuqi is the one who should be working."
He took the money and was sleeping soundly at the Yue family's residence.
Was that appropriate?
He needed to find more work for that boy.
"I wonder if he's woken up yet." Xia Qingtian found it rather amusing, recalling how sleepy Bai Yuqi had been today.
"He should be awake." Gu Yaoyang had already informed Bai Yuqi about seeing A Hu. If he still wanted to receive his commission, he should be busy now.
And indeed, that was the case.
Bai Yuqi, before he could even swallow the food in his mouth, had already started to get busy.
In this day and age, hard-earned money wasn't easy to come by~
On the other side, Nie Qingkong and Xia Qingyu were dropped off at the mall entrance by the driver. Xia Qingyu immediately sent Xia Qingtian a text message.
After replying with the location of the dessert shop, Xia Qingtian stood up and said, "Gu Yaoyang, Qingyu will be here soon. I'm going to the restroom. She's coming with a classmate. When they arrive, please entertain them and let her order whatever she likes, so she can rest a bit."
"Alright." Gu Yaoyang's lips curved upwards after hearing Xia Qingtian's words, seemingly pleased by her not treating him as an outsider.
After giving her instructions, Xia Qingtian walked directly out of the dessert shop through the door that faced the mall.
In less than two minutes, Xia Qingyu and Nie Qingkong entered through the other door of the dessert shop, the one facing the small garden.
Xia Qingyu looked around but couldn't see Xia Qingtian. However, she spotted the famous Mr. Gu, and was taken aback for a moment.
Gu Yaoyang gestured for Xia Qingyu to come over directly.
Xia Qingyu then walked over with Nie Qingkong.
"Your sister went to the restroom," Gu Yaoyang said. "Take a look and see what you'd like to order. She'll be back soon."
"Mr. Gu, why are you with my sister?" Xia Qingyu looked at Mr. Gu, feeling puzzled.
Gu Yaoyang found it inconvenient to mention that he had stayed outside the Yue family's gate all night and had been treated as a suspect. He took a sip of coffee and casually replied, "By chance."