Chapter 233
Chapter 233
When Qin Ying asked if she had been speaking ill of her, which was why the bird droppings landed on her head, Qin Yuan instinctively denied it.
“What? When did I say that?”
The Thunderbird, however, was perched on Qin Ying’s shoulder, nodding vigorously to tattle.
Yes, this bad thing was indeed speaking ill of the master.
Qin Ying and Qin Yuan were only a year apart in age.
Qin Zhizhou is a thoroughly classless man, and the children he raised are naturally just as classless.
In the eyes of Qin Yuan and her brother, even though Qin Ying changed her surname to Qin, she was not a member of the Qin Family, but merely a pitiful wretch abandoned by her parents and living under someone else’s roof.
As a child, Qin Ying was quiet and strange. From the first meeting, Qin Yuan felt an inexplicable sense of superiority and jealousy toward this older cousin.
When she and her foolish brother tried to bully people, they would always get beaten up by Qin Ying.
The two are now openly hostile, with all pretense gone.
Having fought since childhood, Qin Ying could tell at a glance what Qin Yuan was up to.
Slightly speechless, she shook her head. “What bad luck.”
The rare time she brought the little ones from home out, she ran into such bad luck.
Qin Yuan flew into a rage, pointing her finger, about to start cursing as she had in the past.
Qin Ying flexed her wrist, already prepared for the full sequence of hitting someone and then calling a lawyer.
Unexpectedly, the enraged Qin Yuan bit her lip and forcefully swallowed her anger.
Something was off.
Qin Ying paused mid-action while flexing her wrist.
Qin Zhizhou runs a small building materials business, so the family is fairly well-off.
It’s precisely this kind of wealthy but not exactly rich family that breeds Qin Yuan and her brother’s transparently stupid arrogance and viciousness.
After being humiliated in public, swallowing her pride was definitely not Qin Yuan’s style.
Qin Ying’s suspicion proved correct. Qin Yuan’s phone suddenly rang; her face alternated between pale and flushed, and she stepped aside to take the call.
Not long after, she hung up and hurried back, immediately going to check on the black Doberman she had brought.
Contrary to her earlier kicking, she hastily examined the Doberman’s flank.
After checking and finding no obvious injury on the dog’s waist, she breathed a silent sigh of relief.
She looked up at Qin Ying, her eyes still full of disgust, but surprisingly did not continue arguing.
Pursing her lips, she said, “I’m just unlucky. Get out of here!”
Then, looking anxious, she yelled at the restaurant manager, “Can’t you see all these people gathered around watching? Get rid of them!”
The restaurant manager was scolded again for no reason, thinking to himself, could he really drive away the other customers?
Muttering to himself, but as a working stiff, the manager had no choice but to smile apologetically all around. Only then did the crowd disperse.
It seemed Qin Yuan didn’t want to see Qin Ying at all; she didn’t even mention compensation for the clothes. She took her Doberman and returned to her private room.
Qin Ying watched her retreating figure, slightly narrowing her eyes. Then, turning to the restaurant manager, she smiled and said, “Sorry for the trouble.”
Whatever the restaurant manager thought internally was unknown, but on the surface, he still smiled politely: “You’re too kind, miss.”
After a brief friendly exchange, before turning to go back, Qin Ying bought six thousand yuan worth of shopping vouchers for the mall on her phone and designated them for the manager.
She then led Han Lie and the others back to the dining table.
As soon as the door closed, Han Lie leaned down and whispered in her ear, “Your cousin seems to have arranged to meet someone here.”
“Their name is Darling, and they seem to like dogs very much.”
With Han Lie’s large frame just standing there, if he listened intently, there was no way he’d miss Qin Yuan’s phone conversation.
When she heard that the person Qin Yuan had arranged to meet was called Darling, a hint of amusement flickered in Qin Ying’s eyes.
But she said nothing, only murmuring, “No wonder.”
As a child, Qin Yuan was no good. Whenever she got upset, she would roam the streets of Xungu Town looking for kittens and puppies to bully.
At times, her methods had been downright vicious. Whenever Qin Ying caught her at it, she would grab her by the hair and beat her.
Qin Ying did not believe someone like that would change after growing up, much less suddenly develop a love for pets.
So there had been a reason for everything.
Qin Ying had originally planned to take Han Lie shopping for some new clothes after dinner, but she was in no hurry now.
She wanted to see exactly what kind of person had gotten involved with Qin Yuan.
She drank half a glass of juice before someone knocked on the door to their private room.
The restaurant manager entered with a gold-embossed envelope in hand, looking rather awkward. “Miss, this is…”
“Oh.” Qin Ying smiled. “I’m sorry for causing you trouble. Please accept this small token of apology.”
For a moment, the restaurant manager was so touched he nearly burst into tears.
The gesture was simply far too sincere.
Just as he was about to decline again, a man in a black suit happened to walk past the private room.
The man was very handsome, with a tall, straight nose that stood out in profile.
He passed directly behind the restaurant manager.
Wangcai, who had gotten some exercise outside and returned to gnawing on a rib, suddenly froze.
This was a pet-friendly restaurant with dedicated dining seats and custom meals for cats and dogs.
Wangcai had been sitting in his special doggy seat while chewing on the rib.
He suddenly jerked his head up, dropped the beef rib from his mouth, leaped off the chair, and stared fixedly out the door.
The man who had passed by was already gone, but the strong scent of woody cologne lingered in the air.
Wangcai raised his head and sniffed. Every muscle in his body went taut. As he slowly bared his teeth, a faint wisp of smoke began to rise from him.
The manager, still standing outside the private room, assumed Wangcai was baring his teeth at him. Feeling awkward, he sniffed the air. “Why does it smell like sulfur?”
And was he seeing things, or was that little white-patched mutt giving off smoke?
Before he could figure it out, Qin Ying rose and blocked his view.
“Thank you. We’d like to continue our meal now.” Qin Ying turned her head and smiled, resting one hand on the door.
Even her practiced customer-service smile was beautiful enough to leave the restaurant manager momentarily dazed.
Qin Ying pointed at his eyes. “Your eyes look a little red. Are they inflamed?”
The restaurant manager instinctively reached up to touch them.
Qin Ying then stepped aside, revealing Han Lie as he stood with Wangcai in his arms.
His arms were wrapped tightly around the pup.
The faint sulfurous odor that had permeated the private room vanished as though it had never been there.
The restaurant manager rubbed his eyes, gave an awkward laugh, and took his leave.
The instant the private room door closed, Qin Ying’s false smile disappeared.
She looked at Han Lie.
A little Shadowgrass Powder clung to the tip of Han Lie’s index finger. He rubbed it onto Wangcai’s forehead to conceal the aura the pup had just released.
Wangcai lay limp in the crook of Han Lie’s arm as if his soul had left his body.
After a long while, he looked at Qin Ying and let out a brief but resolute whimper.
Han Lie’s expression turned grave. Leaning close to Qin Ying’s ear, he said, “Wangcai says that man carries the aura of Zheng.”
That aura was the source of Wangcai’s darkest nightmares.
He, his mother, and countless others of their kind had been used as test subjects.
The strong had been forced to tear one another apart, while the weak became food.
Wangcai’s life had been very short. He was still a puppy who had only recently been born.
Yet the underground dogfighting ring had seared the darkest terror imaginable into his memory.
Qin Ying reached out and took him into her arms. The little pup was trembling uncontrollably.
After a long silence, she said, “Han Lie, make yourself scarce for a while. I’ll find a way to investigate that man’s identity.”
Han Lie had no identification, and Wangcai’s Huodou body would only complicate matters. Only once the two of them were out of sight could Qin Ying act freely.