Chapter 175: She Looked Down on You Like That

"Is she working as a housekeeper for that family surnamed Zhou?" Lu Yan's tone immediately relaxed and became natural.

"Yes. I really owe them a huge favor this time. Going block by block to track it down was like finding a needle in a haystack," Wang Zhifang said, fishing for credit.

With that, she repeated the specific address of He Xiangcao to Lu Yan.

"Thank you. I'll treat you to a meal another day."

Wang Zhifang laughed, "No need for a meal. Just work some overtime for me over the next couple of days and finish the two models sent over from Shanghai."

"Understood!" Lu Yan glanced at the two models he had brought back from his workplace. "I am working overtime, but I have a few things to take care of, so I'm doing it at home. I'll have them ready for you tomorrow."

Lu Yan never delayed important matters, and Wang Zhifang was very satisfied with him on that score.

After hanging up the phone, Lu Yan called Diao Han, instructing Brother Wen and Yang Huafang to make a trip to Pengcheng.

Once he had finished giving his instructions, Lu Yan continued to take apart a model and record data while waiting for a call.

After quite a while, the phone finally rang again.

"Hello?"

Hearing his wife's voice, Lu Yan suppressed the surge of emotion in his heart and asked her gently, "Is everything going smoothly over there?"

"Smoothly. I've already met my mother, and I plan to spend a few days showing her around here before coming back. How is An'an?"

Lu Yan glanced at his son, who was quietly flipping through a book nearby. "He's very well-behaved, but he misses you a lot. He was even calling out for Mommy in his dream last night."

Hearing this, Shen Qingyi found her heart melting. "Then I'll buy the train ticket the day after tomorrow, and I should be back the day after that."

"Good!" Lu Yan looked at his son with satisfaction and asked again, "Do you need any help over there?"

"No. Sister Xiyun has arranged everything very properly. She has always been good to me, so there's no need to worry."

"That's good! How are you getting along with Madam?"

Shen Qingyi smiled. "Her attitude is quite good this time. I want to bring her back with me; I don't want her to go back to the Zhao family. The small apartment I recently bought happens to be just right for her to live in."

"If she's willing, bring her back."

If Han Lanzhi could accept him, Lu Yan had no objections.

"Alright, if there's nothing else, I'm hanging up!" Shen Qingyi said.

"Wait!" Lu Yan's grip on the telephone tightened.

"Is there something else?" Shen Qingyi asked.

After a long pause, a sentence finally came from the other end of the line, "I miss you just as much as An'an does."

Shen Qingyi was slightly stunned, and then she responded with a sweet smile, "Me too."

"Me too what?"

Shen Qingyi wondered when Lu Yan's comprehension skills had plummeted like this, but she still answered, "I miss you and An'an."

Her voice was laced with a smile.

Lu Yan hung up the phone with a sense of satisfaction.

Once the call ended, An'an looked up at Lu Yan and asked, "Dad, did I call out for Mommy in my dream yesterday?"

Feeling slightly guilty, Lu Yan replied to his son, "You probably did, or maybe Dad was the one dreaming."

An'an understood. He blinked his large, dark eyes and smiled, "Then I definitely called out. Next time, let me talk to Mommy myself."

Lu Yan stroked his son's head and smiled, "Alright!"

After putting down the phone, Shen Qingyi truly missed her son very much. She also missed Lu Yan, and even the dishes cooked by Lu Caiqing.

She walked out of the study and headed to Han Lanzhi's bedroom.

As soon as she entered, she saw Han Lanzhi leaning listlessly against the bed, completely devoid of the joy she had shown upon returning from buying clothes.

"Mom, what's wrong?"

Han Lanzhi lifted her eyelids to glance at her. "Don't you even know how to get angry?"

During dinner, Shen Qingyi had been chatting and laughing with that brother and sister duo as if nothing was wrong. It was enough to drive someone crazy.

"What is there to be angry about?"

"She looked down on you like that," Han Lanzhi said.

Shen Qingyi smiled. "Isn't that quite normal? It's actually better to clear things out in the open. Sister Xiyun and I have known each other for so many years; that's just the way she speaks, but she's actually a very good person."

Han Lanzhi was in a foul mood. She might disdain this daughter herself, but that didn't give anyone else the right to do so.

Seeing that Han Lanzhi remained silent, Shen Qingyi continued, "I'll go book the train tickets the day after tomorrow and take you to Kyoto. After the appeal is over, don't go back to Yangcheng either. I have a small apartment in Riverside Gardens in Kyoto, and I'll keep it for you to live in."

"Where did you get a small apartment?"

"You gave me ten thousand back then, and I took another twenty thousand from Lu Yan. With what I've saved up over time, I bought it."

Han Lanzhi was a little surprised. "Lu Yan was able to give you twenty thousand?"

Shen Qingyi nodded. "Mmm!"

"Where on earth did he get that much money? Could it be...?" That bookworm was just like old Shen; how could he possibly have any spare thoughts about making money?

With a salary of just over four hundred yuan, covering all their daily expenses, plus his family of blood-sucking parents, it was impossible for him to have that much money.

Shen Qingyi hesitated for a moment. "He's been saving for many years."

It took many years of saving just to get twenty thousand yuan? Han Lanzhi was not very pleased. She didn't want to live such a strained, impoverished life with her daughter for the rest of her days. "Qingyi, when Mom goes back this time, I'll agree to whatever you say. Can you help me find your dad's manuscript?"

Shen Qingyi frowned. "Then tell me, what use is this manuscript?"

Han Lanzhi was silent for a long while. "Someone is offering a huge price to buy it."

"How huge?" Shen Qingyi remembered what Lu Yan had said to her that day.

"Enough to keep us mother and daughter fed and clothed without worry for the rest of our lives." Having lived the life of a wealthy lady in the Zhao family for a few years, Han Lanzhi had no desire whatsoever to return to the past.

After she finished speaking, seeing Shen Qingyi standing in front of her like a wooden post, completely motionless, she explained further, "Your dad owed it to us, especially for failing me."

Shen Qingyi's heart turned cold. The look she fixed on Han Lanzhi grew chilly as well, and her tone lost all its previous gentleness. "He did nothing to fail you; he simply failed to be a husband who satisfied you.

If you weren't satisfied, you could have voiced your complaints to him. If he didn't change, you could have even asked for a divorce. Why resort to resentment, defamation, and betrayal?"

Han Lanzhi widened her eyes. "You're telling me to ask for a divorce? In our generation, nobody got divorced. Besides, I had you. If it weren't for you, I would never have compromised and followed him all this time.

And when did I ever betray him? Am I supposed to continue living as a widow just because he died?"

Shen Qingyi took a deep breath, and in the end, blamed herself once again. Her mood plunged instantly into the deepest abyss of depression. Returning to the previous question, she said, "I don't have that manuscript."

Han Lanzhi refused to believe it. "Could that stubborn old man have given it to Lu Yan?"

"With me here, how could he possibly give it to Lu Yan? Am I, his biological daughter, really worth less than Lu Yan in my father's heart?" Shen Qingyi was afraid she would go down that line of thinking.

Han Lanzhi hurriedly stood up from the bed, looking at Shen Qingyi as if she were an idiot. "That's because you don't understand him."

"After you left, Dad's study was turned completely upside down. Could it have been stolen by someone with ulterior motives?" Shen Qingyi told a lie.

Seeing Han Lanzhi deep in thought, Shen Qingyi added, "I lived with Lu Yan for such a long time, and I took care of all his belongings. There was definitely nothing belonging to Dad among them."

Han Lanzhi's expression turned extremely ugly. Not many people knew that old Shen had this notebook, and Zhao Huai was one of them. She could no longer sit still. "Tomorrow, I am going back to the Zhao family."