Quite awkward

Behind the wooden trellis where grapes were planted in the yard of the manor, Muchan and Zhang Pei, each holding a bottle of ice mineral water, sat lazily on a stone bench to rest. They got up at four o'clock in the morning and brought their photographic equipment to the top of the mountain to capture the dazzling morning glow.

After a morning run, I was still a little tired, so I didn’t go into the house. I sat in the yard to cool down and enjoy the cool breeze.

But just now, a person walked slowly by the other side of the grape trellis. He was concentrating on staring at his mobile phone and had no idea that there were other people here.

Then, with his back to them, he made a phone call.

Zhang Pei pursed his lips and remained silent, exchanging a subtle glance with Mu Chenan.

Soon, he heard the name "Ayu", frowned slightly, and silently confirmed with Muchenan whether Ayu was Qi Yu?

Mu Chenan lowered his eyes and nodded, showing no interest in eavesdropping on Mu Yanqing's phone call.

"Ayu, I'll stay with you till the New Year."

“I was worried you’d be sad and lonely.”

"Ayu, Happy New Year..."

After the call ended, Mu Yanqing put away his phone and walked away without stopping.

Zhang Pei saw the man's tall back through the vine netting, and his doubts grew. He said tentatively, "Your elder brother has a special affection for this sister."

His concern was beyond that of an ordinary person, and his tone was extremely gentle. Perhaps Mu Yanqing also had a pleasant expression on his face when he was talking on the phone.

Mu Chenan glanced at him and could not deny it.

He had tried to sabotage their relationship in the past, but it was unbreakable and difficult to shake.

Qi Yu also knew how to cut off contact and escape.

But Mu Yanqing was straightforward and completely disregarded his wife's feelings. He mistakenly thought that Xu Nianhan was magnanimous and would not mind her husband often caring about a young and beautiful sister who was not related by blood.

"My sister-in-law is pregnant now. As long as Qi Yu doesn't cause any trouble, my brother will be a good husband."

"Your elder brother really won't cheat?"

Zhang Pei is an outsider. He feels that Mu Yanqing has definite love for Qi Yu. Although at present it is only a protective feeling and there is no romantic relationship between men and women, but as a man with a family, this is obviously not a good thing.

Mu Chenan restrained his expression, twisted the empty water bottle in his hand, and spoke in a firm tone.

"My eldest brother has high moral standards. It's impossible for him to have anything to do with Qi Yu. He is just trapped by the life-saving grace of Qi Yu's father, so he can't let go of Qi Yu."

Zhang Pei didn't ask any more questions. After all, it was someone else's family affair and he didn't need to worry about it.

After being reminded by Mu Yanqing's phone call just now, he planned to wish his family in China a happy new year immediately.

-

Jiang Yuhuai spent the New Year alone this year. His parents fled to a small Southeast Asian country because of debt and lived a displaced life.

On New Year's Eve, he called his parents, and their words implied that they wanted to ask him for money. He knew that it was not easy for his parents living away from home, so he transferred hundreds of thousands of yuan to them bit by bit.

However, it is the Spring Festival now, and the private chef business is not good. He also has to bear various expenses such as employee salaries, which puts him under great financial pressure.

After the first episode of "Love in Spring" was launched, the guests who recorded the show with him at the time frequently appeared on hot searches and gradually began to be discussed. The program team gave them exposure, and several pairs of guests gained fans to varying degrees and also realized monetization.

Jiang Yuhuai could only watch others go from nothing to wealth and prosperity, and he couldn't help but feel envious.

He felt depressed and always thought he was innocent. He was removed from the program just because of the conflict between Qi Yu and her second brother.

In the past few days, he tried to contact Qi Yu several times, but her attitude was always perfunctory and far less enthusiastic than before.

Just yesterday, he saw Qi Yuxin’s Weibo post, in which he inexplicably explained that he was single and had no intention of falling in love.

He found Adam's homepage through clues.

I saw a photo in which Qi Yu was standing between two men. She was still very beautiful, with a bright smile, and seemed to be in a good mood.

Qi Yu has the powerful Mu family behind her, so she was not greatly affected by being removed from the program team this time. Not only did she happily participate in the music festival, she also had an ambiguous relationship with the hip-hop singer.

Jiang Yuhuai threw away his phone, feeling inexplicably bad.

He likes Qi Yu, and men naturally have a strong possessiveness towards the woman they like.

But now Qi Yu is living a carefree life in Linjiang, while he is trapped in Beicheng, with a world of ice and snow outside the window.

As his attitude changed, he gradually lost his good impression of Qi Yu and felt a little hatred for her for no reason.

-

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Qi Yu received the news.

Jiang Yuhuai: [When will you return to North City? The snow has cleared now, and the highway and high-speed rail are open, but airfare is still very expensive.]

Qi Yu had already bought a plane ticket back to Beicheng three days later, but she didn't intend to tell Jiang Yuhuai.

Qi Yu: [I’m not sure yet.]

During the day, Jiang Yuhuai went to Shen Xi's house to pay New Year's greetings. He wanted to maintain this connection. Xiang Wei was also there, and she casually mentioned that Qi Yu would return to Beicheng on the fourth day of the New Year.

This is the opposite of Qi Yu's reply.

He didn't expect that Qi Yu would be so defensive towards him.

Or did she know something?

A man's darkness and viciousness can be so easily aroused, and he even wants to take revenge.

Before Jiang Yuhuai left Shen Xi's house, he said that he was going abroad the next day and his return date was uncertain. The private kitchen would be temporarily closed and he would talk about it after he came back.

On the evening of the second day of the Lunar New Year, Qi Yu received news from Jiang Yuhuai again.

Jiang Yuhuai: [Qi Yu, we signed a contract with the production team before, but it was suddenly removed. We should properly defend our rights. At least they should pay us the salary for the first episode of the show.]

When Qi Yu saw the message, he thought about Jiang Yuhuai's rich social experience and thought for a while before replying.

Qi Yu: [How should we protect our rights?]

Jiang Yuhuai sent a link, which I probably needed to click on to fill in my personal information and request.

Qi Yu had full trust in Jiang Yuhuai, so he did as he was told.

After filling it out, Jiang Yuhuai asked her to wait patiently for a few days and there would be a result soon.

A night passed, and on the morning of the third day of the Lunar New Year, Qi Yu woke up and checked the time on his phone. More than a dozen text messages popped up on the screen.

Early this morning, the money in her bank card was deducted one by one while she was asleep.

Her loss was nearly a million!

It included the 500,000 yuan she had just earned from A Dan, the New Year's red envelope Mu Yanqing gave her, plus the money she made from filming and the savings she had accumulated since she was a child.

She put it all on one card and used it freely.

But I didn't expect that all the money would be cleared overnight, and the balance in the card was only 32.76 yuan.

Qi Yu panicked and flipped through his phone with shaking hands, but couldn't find any source.

She was completely confused and had no idea why this happened.

Her heart was pounding and her ears started ringing again. She looked at the text messages carefully and felt like her brain was about to explode.

She calmed her breathing, stayed calm, quickly washed, changed her clothes, and went to the police station to report the incident.