Qin Guan didn't sleep a wink all night.
His mind churned like a boiling pot of porridge.
Without the card from his pocket, he had no proof of his encounter with Qi Min. The newly built park lacked surveillance cameras, leaving no footage of her. The phone number was fake. The woman had vanished again without explanation.
After exhausting efforts, Qin Guan finally managed to shoo away Li Yang and the police, though their distrust lingered. He didn't care—Qi Min was alive, and they'd find her eventually.
What gnawed at him was Xu Ruyi.
Despite his earnest explanations, her downcast eyes, pursed lips, and silent retreat to their daughter's room told him she wasn't fully convinced. Suspicion had taken root in her heart, ready to sprout and grow with the slightest breeze.
The thought of her digging into the past made him bolt upright in bed.
This is all Qi Min's fault. That greedy, foolish woman! Wasn't three million enough? Why stage this chaos? And her idiot boyfriend Li Yang—too dumb to realize she was ghosting him! These two morons had turned his life upside down.
Then there was the car. Who had broken in? Who stole the black stockings?
Though Little Pear vouched for Xu Ruyi's alibi, Qin Guan couldn't shake his doubts. Only she knew his habits.
Raised in poverty, Qin Guan hoarded everything—even grocery bags, neatly folded under his mattress. Xu Ruyi had teased him for it during their courtship. She knew he stashed items under the driver's seat. She had access to his keys. She frequented that supermarket.
Was it her?
If so, she'd been tailing him. The chilling thought slithered down his spine like ice water.
Morning brought superficial normalcy. Auntie Feng bustled with breakfast and laundry. Xu Ruyi dressed Little Pear, chattering through刷牙洗脸. The air hung thick with unspoken tension.
Xu Ruyi ignored Qin Guan entirely. When he offered a peeled egg, she nudged it away with her chopsticks.
Her anger offered a sliver of relief—jealousy meant she still cared. Women, with their emotional wiring, could be placated by theatric apologies and petty gestures.
Under the table, Qin Guan rested a hand on her knee. She recoiled like a startled hedgehog.
Definitely angry. But was it an act to mask her theft?
He ate silently, stealing glances. Xu Ruyi remained inscrutable.
At the office, the police called again: "Lawyer Qin, any memory of which '201 room' Qi Min mentioned?"
Qin Guan's patience snapped. How should he know? Was he her keeper?
Qi Min's new number went unanswered. Visiting her risked exposure.
And Xu Ruyi—why track him? Why take the stockings?
Suspicion ballooned, puncturing his trust. By 11:30 AM, he abandoned work, buying Xu Ruyi's favorite cakes to ambush her at home.
He needed answers before madness consumed him.