Chapter 129: Chapter 129: Surprised? Unexpected?

The girl was very friendly toward Su Qing. She said, "My name is Wan Qianqian. What’s yours?"

"Bai Meng," Su Qing replied with a smile.

"What a pretty name," Wan Qianqian said with a laugh, then added, "Are you from Chuncheng? From your accent, you don’t sound like a local." 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"Oh, I’m just visiting Chuncheng as a tourist," Su Qing said. "I just arrived today."

"No wonder. I knew your accent didn’t sound local." Wan Qianqian led Su Qing into an alley. After they had walked through two alleys, she pointed to a courtyard ahead and said, "My house is right over there. We’re almost there."

"Okay," Su Qing replied faintly.

Wan Qianqian took out her keys, unlocked the courtyard gate, and shouted, "Mom, I’m home!"

No one answered from inside. Wan Qianqian smiled and said, "My parents probably aren’t back yet. Their factory often has them work overtime, so sometimes they come home really late. Come on, have a seat inside. I’ll cook up a few nice dishes. You can just have dinner at my place tonight."

Su Qing smiled. "No, thank you. I’ve already eaten. I’ll just sit for a bit and then I’ll be on my way."

"There’s no rush. It would be best if you waited for my parents to get back and meet you. You saved their precious daughter; they need to thank you." Wan Qianqian laughed, preparing a cup of sugar water and placing it in front of Su Qing. "Have some water first."

Su Qing accepted the cup of sugar water. "Thank you."

"And have some of these pastries." Wan Qianqian brought over another plate of snacks. "Since you’ve already eaten dinner, just think of these as dessert. You really have to eat some! Otherwise, when my parents get home and see I haven’t been a good host, they’ll definitely scold me."

After speaking, the girl even winked and smiled at Su Qing.

Su Qing glanced down at the cup and the plate of pastries beside her, then smiled. "Alright."

"Here, this flower cake is especially delicious. I bet you’ve never had one before. Try it." Wan Qianqian picked up a flower cake and smilingly handed it to Su Qing.

"Thank you." Su Qing reached out her right hand to take the flower cake and took a small bite. However, she didn’t actually swallow that bite. Instead, she quickly tossed it into her pocket dimension. At the same time, a barely visible wisp of green mist seeped from the Bagua Pool in her palm and swirled around inside her mouth.

Seeing Su Qing eat the flower cake, Wan Qianqian looked very pleased. She chatted with Su Qing for a few more moments before Su Qing rubbed her temples. "Hm? Why do I feel a little dizzy?"

"Maybe you’re just not used to Chuncheng yet since you just arrived?" Wan Qianqian said quickly.

"Maybe." Su Qing started to get up. "It’s getting a little late, so I should be going. I probably didn’t rest well on the way here, so I’m a bit tired. I’ll take my leave now."

"Hey, don’t go." Seeing this, Wan Qianqian said hurriedly, "Since you’re tired, why don’t you go lie down in my room for a nap? You’ll probably feel better after some rest. I wouldn’t feel right letting you leave like this."

"I feel really dizzy," Su Qing said, her voice sounding a bit faint as she rubbed her temples.

Wan Qianqian put on a worried expression. "See? How can I let you leave alone like this? Come on, I’ll help you to my room to rest."

"Well... okay," Su Qing said, looking weak. She nodded. "I’ll have to trouble you then. I’ll leave after I’ve rested a bit."

"Right. Just take a nap. You’ll be fine when you wake up." Wan Qianqian supported Su Qing as they walked toward a nearby room, the corners of her mouth twitching into a slight smirk.

Su Qing acted as if she was completely at Wan Qianqian’s mercy, following her into the other room. She let Wan Qianqian guide her onto the bed and mumbled, "Okay, I’ll just lie down for a little while."

"There’s a good girl. Sleep tight." Seeing that Su Qing could barely keep her eyes open, Wan Qianqian’s smirk widened. She whispered, "Take a nice nap. I have a surprise for you."

"Mmm." Su Qing seemed to grow more and more drowsy, and soon, she appeared to have fallen asleep.

Seeing that Su Qing was completely asleep, Wan Qianqian straightened up. She then pulled out a hemp rope from nearby and tied Su Qing up tightly. Only then did she sneer, "Little girls are so easy to fool."

With that, Wan Qianqian turned and left the room.

The moment Wan Qianqian was gone, Su Qing’s eyes snapped open.

Wan Qianqian left the house and went to open the courtyard gate. Two people quickly entered from outside—it was the same old man and woman from the street who had been yelling about Wan Qianqian being unfilial.

"How’d it go?" the old woman asked Wan Qianqian in a low voice as soon as she came in.

Wan Qianqian made an "okay" gesture. "Don’t worry. It’s done."

"That’s my girl. So capable." The three of them entered the house, and the old woman looked at Wan Qianqian with a grin. "Perfect. In a bit, we’ll grab her hotel room key and take all the money she has on her. Then we can sell her off along with that batch of goods."

"Daughter, are you sure this girl has a lot of money on her?" the old man asked again, still uncertain.

Wan Qianqian nodded. "Dad, don’t you worry. When have I ever been wrong? Don’t be fooled by how plain this girl looks. In this day and age, what kind of young girl can travel so far all by herself for tourism? How could she afford to squander money like this without a wealthy family backing her? I asked about her letter of introduction—it’s from the Northeast! Just think about how far the Northeast is from Chuncheng. Forget everything else, the train ticket alone is a huge expense. Add on staying in a hotel here and eating at state-run restaurants... how could she afford all that without a lot of money?"

"That’s true," the old man nodded, completely agreeing with his daughter’s reasoning.

"Alright, alright. Let’s wake that damn girl up and ask her where she put the money. And check if she has a bankbook or anything. Hurry, hurry, the longer we wait, the more can go wrong. Old Haozi and his guys are coming to pick up the goods in the middle of the night. We need to get the money first, and don’t let Old Haozi’s crew find out about it," the old woman urged.

"Right, right, we can’t let Old Haozi know this girl is rich," the old man chimed in hurriedly. "Our daughter was the one who spotted this. We can’t share the profits with them."

"Exactly."

As they spoke, the three of them went to open the door to the room where Su Qing was "resting."

"AH!" Seeing the scene in the room, Wan Qianqian’s eyes widened in shock. "Bai Meng, you..."

Su Qing looked at Wan Qianqian with a beaming smile. "Surprise! Bet you didn’t expect this. I’m still awake."

As she spoke, Su Qing turned to the old man and woman, chuckling. "I was just thinking... how could you look so much alike if you weren’t related? Right?"

"Grab that damn girl!" Seeing that their cover was blown, the old woman’s eyes flashed with malice. ’So what if this little brat saw through us? There are three of us. Can’t we handle one pipsqueak of a girl? This isn’t the street; we don’t have to hold back.’