Chapter 12

Jiang Chuan’s face darkened in an instant. He pursed his lips and stared at her without speaking.

Qin Tang knew he was a little angry. Most men would be upset to hear such a thing, especially someone like Jiang Chuan. She met his gaze with a provocative look, unafraid.

Jiang Chuan knew she wasn’t scared of him. Back in Yulin, she had been somewhat disobedient, and it was possible she still held a grudge over Zhao Qianhe nearly hurting her. In fact, she was a woman who avoided trouble—not because she was timid, but because she was bold and decisive in her actions. She simply didn’t like to get entangled in relationships, whether personal or emotional.

“You’re not afraid I won’t pay?” Jiang Chuan’s face quickly returned to normal, his voice low and his tone not so friendly.

“I’m not afraid,” Qin Tang said nonchalantly.

Jiang Chuan knew she had money. Hundreds of thousands were nothing to her—she could take that amount out without blinking. He licked his teeth, shot her a cold glance for half a second, and said: “No need, I have my ways of solving it.”

When Qin Tang heard the sound of him slamming the door, she extinguished her cigarette, feeling quite pleased, and turned to go back to her room.

The next morning, at 8 AM, Qin Tang came downstairs for breakfast, and the only person in the yard was Ah Qi.

Ah Qi said: “Jiang Ge and the others went out.”

Qin Tang nodded. Xiao Bai and Ah Qi came around the corner. Ah Qi had her head down, carrying a large bag. Jiang Chuan had shown no mercy; she was definitely leaving today.

Ah Qi walked over: “You guys go ahead and have breakfast. It’s all on the table.”

Qin Tang ate two buns and drank a glass of milk. She looked at the black jeep in the yard and asked Ah Qi: “Can I drive that car?”

Ah Qi nodded: “Yes, Jiang Ge said you could drive it. You can’t drive the red one.”

Qin Tang remembered the red jeep that constantly stalled and frowned. Was Jiang Chuan doing this on purpose?

Ah Qi handed her the car keys. Xiao Bai walked over and asked: “Qin Tang Jie, can you take Ah Qi to the train station? I’ll go with you to the hospital to see Yueyue later.”

Ah Qi looked up at her and asked softly: “Can you?”

Qin Tang glanced at them: “Get in the car.”

Xiao Bai and Ah Qi sat in the back. Ah Qi said very little, clearly in a low mood. Xiao Bai tried to comfort her: “It’s okay, we’ll see each other when school starts. I’ll show you all the photos and videos I took, it’ll be the same.”

Ah Qi, feeling wronged, said: “How can it be the same?”

Ah Qi hadn’t slept much last night. Xiao Bai had shared a room with her, and she barely slept as well because Ah Qi was reluctant to leave.

After a while of silence, Xiao Bai leaned over the front seat, softly asking: “Qin Tang Jie, can’t you speak to Jiang Ge on Ah Qi’s behalf?”

In Xiao Bai’s eyes, Qin Tang was the most important person in this group. She could tell Jiang Chuan treated her well, and everyone else did too. If Qin Tang spoke up, maybe Jiang Chuan would let Ah Qi stay.

Qin Tang glanced at her through the rearview mirror and said faintly: “I’ve already said, this isn’t my responsibility.”

Xiao Bai awkwardly smiled: “Oh.”

Qin Tang parked near the train station. Xiao Bai asked: “I’ll drop Ah Qi off. Can you wait for me for ten minutes?”

Qin Tang replied: “Mm, hurry up, it’s hard to park here.”

Two minutes later, Qin Tang’s phone rang.

It was He Cong’an.

He Cong’an asked, “Why isn’t he here yet?”

Qin Tang smiled, “Do I still need to report to you whether I come back or not?”

He Cong’an was momentarily speechless.

After a few seconds, he said, “Did you go to Zhenba this time?”

Qin Tang remained silent for a moment, then said, “No.”

“If you want to go, I can accompany you.”

“No need!”

“Alright, I won’t force you. Just take care and come back early.”

He Cong’an wanted to say something more, but when Qin Tang heard that name, she frowned lightly. Without waiting for him to finish, she hung up the phone.

Xiao Bai sent Ah Qi to the entrance of the station. “Be careful on your way, text me when you get home.”

Ah Qi nodded, “Mm.”

Xiao Bai noticed her pale face and wanted to offer some comfort, but they had already said everything that could be said in the past two days. She waved her hand and turned to leave.

Xiao Bai walked up to the car, and saw a slender, fair hand sticking out of the window, holding a half-burnt cigarette.

This time, she sat in the front passenger seat, turned her head towards Qin Tang, and smiled. “Alright, let’s go visit Yue Yue at the hospital.”

Qin Tang extinguished the cigarette, nodded lightly, and started driving.

Xiao Bai stole a glance at her face. She felt like Qin Tang was a bit different from earlier. She was biting her lip and hadn’t spoken again.

…

Jiang Chuan and Lü An went to find the car owner. As yesterday, the other party only sent a so-called lawyer who firmly insisted that Old Chen was fully responsible, and the compensation could not be reduced by a penny. Lü An was so furious he wanted to fight the other side.

Jiang Chuan held him back and looked at the lawyer. “What if we can’t pay?”

The lawyer said, “Then we’ll have to see you in court. Your little transport company has no profit, but those trucks of yours are worth something.”

Lü An cursed, “Shameless!”

The lawyer smiled instead of getting angry. “Lü An, it’s not good to curse. Paying back debts is only right.”

Jiang Chuan fell silent for a few seconds and said, “Tell Jiang Kun I want to meet him.”

The lawyer’s expression didn’t change, but he smiled even more broadly. “Brother Kun said he will only meet you once you pay the money.”

Jiang Chuan sneered, “What if I don’t pay?”

The lawyer said, “Then there’s nothing we can do. We have plenty of ways to make you pay.”

The lawyer left.

Lü An kicked the wall in frustration. “Damn it!”

Xiao Cheng walked over and asked, “Bro, what do we do? Where are we going to get that much money?”

Jiang Chuan sneered, “Did I say I was going to pay?”

Xiao Cheng replied, “Ah? Not paying, huh…”

Xiao Cheng was still young, having been with Jiang Chuan for only about four or five years. He didn’t know much about Jiang Chuan and Lü An’s past lives, but he did know Jiang Chuan was not simple. Whenever something came up, Jiang Chuan could always resolve it.

But now, this amount of money was no small sum. He knew they couldn’t come up with it, and the car owner was clearly not an easy person to deal with.

Jiang Chuan patted him on the back of the head. “Let’s go.”

Old Chen had been waiting outside. Seeing them come out, he hurried over. “Boss, how did it go? What did they say?”

Jiang Chuan said, “It’s fine. You go back for now and get to work.”

Old Chen thought the issue was resolved, and he smiled innocently. “Alright!”

He knew his boss had the ability.

On the way back, Xiao Cheng said, “Bro, this matter can’t all be on the company, right? Old Chen is the one with the biggest responsibility. The company should take part of the blame. So, it’s like this…”

Lü An kicked him. “You fool. Does Old Chen have money to pay?”

Xiao Cheng wiped the footprints off his pants and muttered, “I was just saying... If we really have to pay, we’ll pay whatever we can…”

Lü An glared at him, and Xiao Cheng lowered his head, not daring to speak.

Jiang Chuan took a drag of a cigarette and held it at the edge of his mouth. The smoke filled the car. He said in a deep voice, “Don’t bring this up in front of Old Chen.”

Xiao Cheng widened his eyes. “Bro, you really want to take full responsibility?”

Lü An kicked him again. “Don’t talk too much.”

Jiang Chuan extinguished the cigarette. This issue started because of him, and it truly had nothing to do with Old Chen.

…

The hospital had performed several tests on Yue Yue, and after confirming there was no major issue, Qin Tang finally felt relieved.

These past few days, Jiang Chuan and Lü An had been out early and back late. She hardly saw them. Yue Yue had been in the hospital for a few days, and her eyes kept gazing outside. Qin Tang knew what she was thinking, so that afternoon, after asking the doctor, she took her out to the city for a stroll.

Yue Yue ate many things she hadn’t had before and even went to the mall’s amusement park. She played many games she had never tried before. Everything here was new and exciting for her.

Qin Tang bought her a dress and some toys, but Yue Yue hesitated and kept holding her hand. She nervously said, “I don’t want to buy it, I don’t like it…”

She pointed at the skirt she was wearing. “I already have a new dress, no need to buy it.”

Qin Tang looked at her for a moment, then smiled faintly. “Alright, then I’ll take you to eat something delicious.”

They played until after seven in the evening before Qin Tang took Yue Yue back to the hospital.

…

When they returned to the yard outside the station, there was a chaotic noise coming from inside.

“Call Jiang Chuan out! If we get the money, we’ll leave!”

Ah Qi was crying out, “Don’t throw it! Please, don’t throw it!”

Aunt Gui was also shouting, “These things aren’t worth much, please, don’t throw them…”

The sound of things being thrown grew louder.

Qin Tang frowned and quickly drove into the yard.

Through the car window, she could see the chaos inside. Five or six men in black were standing side by side like a wall. Xiao Cheng was being pinned down by one of them, struggling. “Let go of me! You’re bullying us! Even if we have to pay, it shouldn’t be like this. You’re breaking the law…”

Xiao Cheng was stomped hard and started coughing violently.

Ah Qi spotted Qin Tang and her eyes lit up. “Qin Tang jie!”

The men in black turned to look at her. Qin Tang opened the car door, looked at the mess around her, and asked in a calm voice, “What do you want?”

The leader whistled and grinned wickedly. “Didn’t expect to find a beauty hiding here.”

Qin Tang furrowed her brows and directly asked, “How much?”

The leader raised an eyebrow. “Not too much, not too little, 870,000. What? Are you going to pay it for Jiang Chuan?”

Qin Tang glanced at the messy yard again. “You’ve broken so many things, you’ll have to pay for those too.”

The leader replied, “These things aren’t worth much.”

Qin Tang said, “They are.”

After a moment of silence, the leader chuckled. “Alright, I’ll take off 20,000. That’s already quite a lot.”

Qin Tang looked at Xiao Cheng, who was still lying on the ground, his face bruised from being stepped on. The leader motioned with his hand, and Xiao Cheng was quickly freed. Ah Qi rushed over to help him up, anxiously asking, “Are you alright?”

Xiao Cheng frowned, gasping in pain. “What do you think?”

Ah Qi bit her lip and glared quietly at the men.

Qin Tang said, “Give me an account number. I’ll transfer the money to your card tomorrow.”

The leader asked, “How can I trust you? What’s your relationship with Jiang Chuan?”

Qin Tang didn’t want to waste more words with them and replied, “If the money isn’t in the account by tomorrow, you can come looking for me. But tonight, even if you kill them, they still won’t be able to pay.”

The man seemed to think it over, then looked at Qin Tang and smiled. “Since you’re so beautiful, I’ll trust you this time.”

“Let’s go.”

The group left, leaving behind a mess.

Xiao Cheng gritted his teeth and asked, “Qin Tang, are you really going to pay the money for us?”

Qin Tang replied, “What else? Should I just watch you get beaten to death?”

Xiao Cheng’s face heated up, and he said, “But... Jiang Ge said he would handle it. If he knows you helped pay...”

“He will pay me back,” Qin Tang kicked aside the mess on the floor. “Can these still be kept?”

Ah Qi immediately said, “I’ll sort things out with Gui Sao later. We’ll keep what can be saved and throw away what can’t.”

Qin Tang nodded. “Alright.”

Ah Qi and Gui Sao crouched down to sort the things. Xiao Cheng, after taking a shower and applying some medicine, came out to help. Qin Tang leaned against the jeep, texting.

After a while, the sound of a car came from outside the yard.

A few seconds later, a red jeep sharply turned into the yard and screeched to a stop in front of her.

Jiang Chuan and Lü An got out of the car, slamming the door shut. Xiao Cheng stood up. “Ge, you’re finally back!”

Jiang Chuan furrowed his brows, ran his tongue along his teeth slowly, then turned to look at Qin Tang.