A beautiful summer night

Hou Mengqiu was afraid when faced with Yao Qin like this.

She had clearly promised to treat Xie Qiyan well, but before leaving, Yao Qin asked her if Xie Tianqi loved her.

She is Hou Mengqiu.

Hou Mengqiu was proud, especially since Xie Tianqi had treated her very well during those years. In front of Yao Qin, Hou Mengqiu never showed weakness, so her answer was affirmative.

Hou Mengqiu said a lot, talking about how good Xie Tianqi was to her, and how Xie Tianqi had long forgotten Yao Qin.

Perhaps these words provoked Yao Qin. Before Hou Mengqiu could finish speaking, Yao Qin suddenly became agitated, gripping Hou Mengqiu's hand tightly and crying out in extreme anger, "You're lying! He promised to love me forever, the person he loves is me! You're lying!"

Hou Mengqiu was not convinced and started arguing with her.

During the scuffle, Yao Qin clung tightly to Hou Mengqiu, who was trying to leave. Hou Mengqiu broke free, but Yao Qin lost her footing and fell into the river.

At three in the morning, the river was churning with water, and there was no one around. She watched as Yao Qin sank to the bottom of the river.

Hou Mengqiu couldn't swim, and she was so scared that she ran away.

Only she knew about the day she went to see Yao Qin. Yao Qin had fallen into the river, and she didn't know whether she was dead or alive. She had also been searching for Yao Qin for many years, but to no avail.

She couldn't find it, and neither could Xie Qiyan.

The most likely explanation is that Yao Qin is already dead.

Silence reigned all around, a palpable killing intent filling the air. Xie Qiyan's eyes were bloodshot as he stared at Hou Mengqiu, his clenched fists clenched as if he were about to strike her face at any moment.

Hou Mengqiu cried herself to exhaustion, repeatedly muttering, "Xie An is innocent, please let Xie An go..."

Hou Mengqiu refused to let go, choking back tears as she said, "I'm telling the truth. What happened that day wasn't caused by me alone. Go ahead and investigate, you can go ahead and investigate!"

Xie Qiyan's eyes were piercing: "Let go."

His mind went completely blank.

Yao Qin can swim, so it's impossible for her to sink to the bottom of the river.

But according to Hou Mengqiu's description, Yao Qin seemed to have given up on living and was determined to die that day.

Huo Yang notified Yu Fei to come over and take Hou Mengqiu and An Bihua away. He then immediately began investigating all the drowning accidents that had occurred in the Beijiang area more than a decade ago.

When the first investigation failed to find anything, the scope was expanded to include all drowning accidents in the northern part of the city.

There wasn't a single case that matched Yao Qin.

Huo Yang's tense heart relaxed at this moment. He looked at Xie Qiyan, who looked a little disheveled, and said with relief, "The fact that they didn't find anything proves that Auntie is still alive."

Xie Qiyan's empty eyes flickered slightly. He closed his eyes briefly and uttered only a soft "Hmm."

This was the only outcome they could think of.

This is the inevitable outcome.

"Mr. Xie, your wife has arrived." Yu Fei had ulterior motives; he called Xia Wanzhi "wife" to give Xie Qiyan a sense of belonging to a family.

Behind him was Xia Wanzhi.

At least for this moment, Xie Qiyan finally acted like a human being when he heard his words.

Yu Fei and Huo Yang exchanged a glance, then both looked away.

Xia Wanzhi rushed over, unaware that Yu Fei had instructed the receptionist to let her up directly. She stepped forward and introduced herself as Xie Qiyan's girlfriend, and the news quickly spread throughout the company.

Yu Fei had already told her what had happened, and she was only annoyed that she hadn't been by his side today.

Their eyes met, Xie Qiyan's eyes reddened slightly, and Xia Wanzhi, suppressing the stinging in her nose, ran over and knelt on one knee on the sofa, embracing Xie Qiyan in her arms.

"I'm late." Xia Wanzhi hugged him tightly, her voice slightly choked.

Xie Qiyan closed his eyes, his arms encircling Xia Wanzhi's waist. The reassuring embrace and her scent relaxed his tense body, and his suppressed emotions were finally released.

Unbeknownst to him, Xia Wanzhi had become his support.

Taking off his glasses, Xia Wanzhi tenderly wiped away the moisture from the corner of his eyes, reverently kissed his eyes, and softly comforted him, "Yu Fei told me that your mother wasn't in the files of the river-falling accident. She's still alive, she must still be alive."

As long as people are alive, that's the best outcome.

"We'll search slowly, and we'll find it someday." Xia Wanzhi's eyes were full of heartache; just seeing Xie Qiyan like this made her want to cry too.

After a long pause, Xie Qiyan finally spoke: "Okay."

Holding Xia Wanzhi on his lap, Xie Qiyan deepened the embrace. He didn't speak, and Xia Wanzhi didn't make a sound either, only holding him tightly around the waist and gently patting his back with her palm.

Later that evening, Xie Qiyan composed himself and took Xia Wanzhi, Yu Fei, and Huo Yang to see Hou Mengqiu.

The person was locked in the bedroom of the villa in the western suburbs. Hou Mengqiu and An Bihua were locked up separately. Xie Qiyan had no interest in An Bihua and went directly to see Hou Mengqiu.

Hou Mengqiu stared intently at Xie Qiyan as he walked in.

After calming down, she thought about many things, and the first thing she said to Xie Qiyan was: "Yao Qin is not dead, she must not be dead! I was too scared before, which is why I lost my composure and thought I was the one who killed her. Even if she is dead, it was because she wanted to die!"

She remembered Yao Qin's eyes at the time; they were terrifying.

Xie Qiyan just stared at her coldly.

But that one look was enough to crush Hou Mengqiu.

"What happened with Yang Datong was wrong of me, but he didn't succeed, did he? I admit I wasn't good to you before, but you never expected me, your stepmother, to be good to you, did you?" Hou Mengqiu clutched her chest, pleading desperately, "Xie Qiyan, I can divorce your father, I don't want any of the Xie family's things, I just beg you not to touch my Xiao An..."

Xie Qiyan had been searching for Xie An, intending to use Xie An to threaten Hou Mengqiu into revealing the things related to Yao Qin from back then.

But now she's told everything.

Xie An was no longer of any use to him.

But she kept emphasizing Xie An, directly exposing her vulnerability. The more pitifully she cried, the more important Xie An was to her.

Xie Qiyan had no idea what he had done to give Hou Mengqiu the illusion that he would not let Xie An go.

But he didn't want to explain.

Do you want to get revenge on Hou Mengqiu?

Of course he thought so.

He hated Hou Mengqiu for interfering in his parents' relationship, hated what she did to his mother back then, and hated how she deliberately showed affection to Xie Tianqi in front of him when he was a child to annoy him.

Even now, Xie Qiyan still feels disgusted when he thinks about it.

But what disgusted him the most was Xie Tianqi.

He hated Xie Tianqi even more.

Xie Qiyan was so disgusted that he didn't want to talk to Hou Mengqiu.

Seeing this, Xia Wanzhi lowered her eyes to look at Hou Mengqiu and slowly said, "Ayan would not stoop to harming an innocent person. If he were to take revenge, he would only take revenge on you. You are so flustered because you feel guilty. Besides, Xie An will find out his true identity one day."

"Whether Xie An comes back or not, whether or not a paternity test is done, it's no longer important. Grandpa isn't stupid. From the day he gave up looking for Xie An, he had already concluded that Xie An wasn't of the Xie family bloodline. You're the one who's stupid, thinking you're just pretending to be crazy and that the Xie family can't do anything to you if Xie An doesn't come back."

"You can't hide it from Xie An. He'll find out someday." Xia Wanzhi's eyes were indifferent. Thinking of Xie An's current status, she couldn't help but feel ironic. "Aunt Hou, you used to say that my Ayan was an illegitimate child. So what is Xie An now?"

Hou Mengqiu's pupils contracted sharply, and she could no longer hold back her tears.

Xia Wanzhi held Xie Qiyan's hand, her gaze calm yet tinged with an invisible malice: "My Ayan has never been an illegitimate child. He just had a heartless father. He is clean and upright. It is you despicable people who have smeared him."

All these years, her Ayan has suffered. "Take a break! Take a break?????"