Shen Qingqing thought about the grudges between prominent families…
She understood Dr. Gao's predicament, no wonder this young man had been so secretive about his background. She had asked before, but Dr. Gao refused to say, only that he had no parents.
Now, it seemed the Gao family was quite complicated.
The two knocked on the villa's large door. A maid opened it. She glanced at them, then her gaze fell on Fu Jingshu. "I've seen you before, you came last time."
"Yes."
Fu Jingshu held Shen Qingqing's hand, his expression calm.
The maid hesitated. "Please wait a moment, I'll inform Madam."
The door was slammed shut. Shen Qingqing couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "You've met this Madam before?"
"Yes."
"What kind of person is she?"
Fu Jingshu's mind conjured the woman's image: beautiful, around thirty, with the mature charm of age, but a hint of sharpness and calculation in her eyes.
His gaze deepened. "Difficult to get along with."
Those four words were enough for Shen Qingqing to form a preliminary impression of this so-called Madam.
Soon, the door opened again, but this time it wasn't the maid who appeared, but a woman in her thirties, adorned in pearls and opulent jewelry.
She looked the man and woman outside up and down, saying, "You've been here before."
She stood blocking the entrance, clearly not welcoming them at all.
Shen Qingqing offered a gentle, polite smile. "Auntie…"
"Who are you calling Auntie?" the rich woman said indignantly. "Do I look that old? You're not much younger than me."
Shen Qingqing's smile remained unchanged. "Madam Gao."
This address clearly pleased the wealthy woman, who said somewhat haughtily, "You visited once before. I let you look in Gao Qi's room then. Why are you here again? Are you never satisfied? If I recall correctly, you're not police, are you?"
She had thought that after the previous search, there would be no more trouble, but they had returned.
This time, under no circumstances would she let them in.
Shen Qingqing said in a placid tone, "It's like this, Dr. Gao has been in the hospital for so long, and now that he's awake, he doesn't have any change of clothes. He asked us to pick up some for him."
"Why didn't you get them last time?"
"Dr. Gao didn't mention it then."
Madam Gao was speechless and somewhat annoyed. "I don't care why, but you're not police and have no reason to come to my house repeatedly. I don't welcome you this time, and I won't allow you in. You should leave now."
"You won't even let us get some clothes?"
"No!"
With that, Madam Gao slammed the door shut.
The action was so sudden that it almost hit Shen Qingqing. Fortunately, Fu Jingshu pulled her back a step, but her expression was one of helplessness.
"I really didn't expect her to be so resistant."
"There's something wrong."
Fu Jingshu said calmly.
Shen Qingqing pondered for a moment. "You mean, she doesn't want us to go in for a reason, but we're just getting some clothes."
At least, that's how Madam Gao saw it.
"Are we still going?" Fu Jingshu didn't answer the question and turned to walk towards the car, pulling her along. The weather was approaching November, and both were wearing long trench coats, but even so, it was still cold if they stayed outside for too long.
He was fine, but his wife was not.
After getting into the car, the first thing he did was turn on the air conditioning.
Shen Qingqing rested her arm on the car window, her palm supporting her chin. "Of course, we're going. But we'll go after dark."
She glanced at the sky; the sun was already slowly setting, and night was about to fall.
Soon.
Fu Jingshu held her other hand. "I'll go with you."
Shen Qingqing smiled brightly. "Of course. If you stayed outside alone, who would be my helper?"
She had observed earlier that the Gao family's security system was decent, but not particularly difficult to breach.
In fact, it could be said to be effortless.
When night fell, she took out her laptop, intending to operate it, but then a thought struck her. She handed the laptop to Fu Jingshu. "You do it. I need to rest."
It was blatant laziness.
Fu Jingshu followed her gaze, took the laptop, and began to break through the security system.
In less than five minutes, he stopped typing, his face calm and unhurried. He even tidied his slightly disheveled sleeve.
Shen Qingqing asked, "Did it work?"
Fu Jingshu's dark eyebrows rose, a faint smile on his lips. "Yes."
"Amazing!"
Shen Qingqing gave him a thumbs-up and took the laptop, placing it on her lap. She discovered he had indeed been thorough, not only breaching the Gao family's network defenses but also redirecting their surveillance feed to the computer. Now, sitting in the car, they could see everything happening inside the villa.
"I'll go myself."
As she watched the surveillance feed, she suddenly changed her mind.
If she were to act, carrying a laptop would be inconvenient. Therefore, someone had to stay outside to watch. If any abnormal situation were detected on the surveillance, she could be notified immediately.
Fu Jingshu naturally disagreed. "No."
Shen Qingqing said nothing more. After watching all the footage from inside the villa and understanding the security situation, she placed the laptop on his lap and turned to kiss his cheek.
Fu Jingshu was startled and instinctively turned his head, only to feel warmth on his lips.
She pulled back slightly, a hint of triumph in her smile. "It's settled then. I'm going now. Keep our phones connected. If anything happens, you notify me immediately."
She tapped her ear, having already put on her Bluetooth earpiece.
What else could Fu Jingshu say? He could only watch her with deep eyes. As she got out of the car, his suppressed gaze intensified.
He opened the car door and stepped out, looking at Shen Qingqing. His thin lips moved slightly. "Be careful."
Shen Qingqing stood firm, turned back to look at him, her face bright with a smile. "My safety is in your hands. I trust you'll protect me."
"I will."
He said those two words with unprecedented firmness.
Shen Qingqing turned, her slender figure gradually blending into the darkness. She could conceal her presence, vanishing like a shadow.
Fu Jingshu sat back in the car, raising a hand to rub his brow, his gaze fixed on the computer screen.
He would protect her.
…
Shen Qingqing, following the route she had seen earlier, silently infiltrated the quiet villa.
It was late, and the owners had retired to their rooms.
The maids were also finishing their last tasks and going to their rooms one by one. Only the security guards were still diligently patrolling the villa.
Shen Qingqing hid in the shadows, watching the guards' movements. She took a step back, rejoining the darkness.
With her excellent memory, she moved as if no one were present to the second floor. There were security guards patrolling the second-floor hallway as well, but as it approached nine o'clock, and assuming the owners were asleep, the guards gradually left, focusing their attention on the main entrance.