Xia Yu did not act immediately. He squinted his eyes, staring at Qiao Yang who had just entered, trying to figure out how far Qiao Yang was willing to go.
Qiao Yang was somewhat cautious. He softly called out the names of Tina and Qiao Ting. After receiving no response from the two, he still felt uneasy and added, “There’s a cockroach.”
Although Xia Yu knew Qiao Yang was lying, he still felt a jolt of surprise and barely restrained his urge to punch Qiao Yang.
After confirming that the two were asleep, Qiao Yang revealed a lewd smile and walked toward the bed.
Soon, he reached Xia Yu’s side and stretched out his hand.
He grabbed Xia Yu’s small bag placed beside the bed, took out the money inside, and didn’t even glance at Qiao Ting and Xia Yu lying on the bed.
Xia Yu was filled with confusion.
You sneaked into your beloved younger sister’s and distant cousin’s room while they were asleep—just to steal money?
In his mind flashed the scene he had just witnessed: an older woman giving five yuan to Qiao Yang, and yesterday, Qiao Yang asking the older woman for one hundred yuan.
According to Qiao Yang, he needed the money to go out with his friends.
So, does this mean that the cute little sister isn’t as attractive as a good buddy?
This guy is definitely gay, beyond redemption.
Xia Yu continued observing Qiao Yang. Qiao Yang took out one hundred-yuan and three ten-yuan notes from the bag. His face initially showed surprise, then hesitation.
Standing still for three seconds, Qiao Yang returned the three ten-yuan notes into the bag and took out fifteen yuan that the older woman had previously given him, placing it back into the bag.
He was a man of principles; he had asked for one hundred yuan, so he would only take one hundred.
After returning the bag beside Xia Yu’s pillow, Qiao Yang tiptoed toward the door.
Xia Yu, who had witnessed Qiao Yang’s “money exchange,” didn’t know how to evaluate him at this moment.
Regardless, this was a good opportunity to use this incident to threaten Qiao Yang.
He followed behind Qiao Yang.
After exiting the bedroom and closing the door, Qiao Yang’s tense nerves immediately relaxed.
Smiling, he turned around, preparing to head back to his room. Before taking a single step, his smile froze.
Leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, Tina was standing right behind him, smiling faintly.
Qiao Yang was so frightened he nearly cried out.
He had clearly seen Tina sleeping in bed just now; how come, in the blink of an eye, she was already behind him?
Since it was daytime, Qiao Yang didn’t dwell on this question. He quickly considered how to deal with Tina.
Should he return the money and feign ignorance, or threaten her into silence?
Thinking about his plan to meet his friends for KFC later, he quickly decided to threaten Xia Yu.
He clenched his fists, his face darkening as he approached Xia Yu, thinking this would scare Xia Yu. Then, he would say a few threatening words to resolve the situation.
After all, what threat could a little girl pose?
Qiao Yang felt confident he would win easily.
The scene unfolded exactly as he had imagined: Xia Yu was completely frightened and didn’t move at all.
Approaching Xia Yu, Qiao Yang acted fiercely, reaching out to grab Xia Yu, successfully seizing her hand. He pulled Xia Yu toward him, but instead, his body leaned toward Xia Yu.
Before he could figure out where Tina’s strength had come from, a small fist flew toward his abdomen.
Qiao Yang still hadn’t realized something was wrong, thinking he had simply lost his footing and believing a little girl’s punch couldn’t be very strong.
In the next moment, he was kneeling on the ground, clutching his stomach.
He looked at Tina in disbelief. She clenched her fist, just like he had moments ago, but while he had only pretended, she had clenched her fist with a crisp sound.
Grabbing Qiao Yang’s hair, Xia Yu pulled his face close and slightly released a bit of intimidation: “Remember this: from now on, you will obey me without question, or… hehe. You understand?”
Qiao Yang immediately nodded.
Xia Yu then reached out and took back the hundred-yuan note from his pocket.
Qiao Yang watched helplessly as the money left his possession, recalling that he had also placed the fifteen yuan his mother gave him into Tina’s bag.
He dared not ask Xia Yu for it back.
Xia Yu didn’t put the hundred yuan into his own pocket but waved it in front of Qiao Yang: “Want it?”
Qiao Yang nodded, then shook his head.
He feared it was Xia Yu’s trap.
“Clean up all the cockroaches downstairs, and this will be yours.” Although Xia Yu could force Qiao Yang with brute strength, using a little money would make Qiao Yang work harder.
“I’ll give you two days.” Xia Yu said as he stuffed the money back into Qiao Yang’s pocket.
Seeing the money actually return, Qiao Yang was overjoyed and nodded enthusiastically.
“I’ll start right away!” He stood up and ran downstairs.
Leaning over the stairway and watching Qiao Yang prepare his tools, Xia Yu was very satisfied.
If he had initially tempted Qiao Yang with one hundred yuan, although Qiao Yang would have agreed, he wouldn’t have been as dedicated as now. When the employer isn’t strong-willed, employees often slack off.
One hundred yuan wasn’t a big deal to Xia Yu. His foster father was very generous with money, and even if he checked, Xia Yu could easily solve the issue by exaggerating the meal expenses.
Downstairs, the middle-aged woman’s voice rang out.
“What’s wrong with you? Cleaning cockroaches? I’ve never seen you this dedicated even when cockroaches crawled into your pants!” The middle-aged woman was puzzled by Qiao Yang’s cockroach extermination efforts, but since Qiao Yang was already sixteen, she couldn’t interfere too much and could only watch him work.
The elderly woman, feeling sorry for her grandson, also picked up tools to help.
Xia Yu hoped they could thoroughly clean up the place.
Walking downstairs, Xia Yu hugged a white cat and watched from the side.
“Tina, get me a glass of water.” The middle-aged woman, watching TV on the sofa, casually ordered Xia Yu.
Xia Yu frowned. He had handled Qiao Ting and Qiao Yang, but now he needed to deal with the middle-aged woman as well.
“Don’t you understand how to get me a glass of water?” The middle-aged woman’s tone was harsh.
Not wanting to escalate the situation, Xia Yu poured a glass of water for the middle-aged woman while planning how to deal with her.
Qiao Ting and Qiao Yang both had serious personal issues that could be used as leverage, which was why Xia Yu could act decisively. However, the middle-aged woman didn’t seem to have any significant problems.
After watching TV for a while, the middle-aged woman stood up to leave, asking the elderly woman to send Qiao Ting to school later.
“Where do you go every Thursday?” The elderly woman asked curiously. It wasn’t time for her to go to work yet, and usually, she would send Qiao Ting to school before heading to work.
“I’m just meeting up with my friends!” The middle-aged woman left the house.
Xia Yu rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
Eight hours later, after returning to his own body, Xia Yu messaged An Siyao, instructing her to have the driver investigate the middle-aged woman.
Although the driver was currently in Afang, Xia Yu believed he could find a way to investigate Yaoguang’s affairs.
The facts proved Xia Yu’s trust was well-placed. On Friday morning, Xia Yu received the investigation report from An Siyao, provided by the driver.
First were four surveillance videos from a stationery shop in the urban village. The stationery shop wasn’t the focus; the key was the hair salon across the street.
The four videos were from four different Thursdays. In each, the middle-aged woman, dressed differently, rode her bicycle to stop in front of the stationery shop and then entered the hair salon across the street.
Tsk tsk, she gets her hair done pretty frequently.
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