"Putting aside other things, the pastry chef's skills are indeed commendable," Shen Qingqing said as she sat by the bed, leaning back with her hands for support, appearing rather languid.
Fu Jingshu had already left.
Only after Fu Jingshu left did Shen Qingqing turn to An Qi, "Your accommodation..."
An Qi, terrified that Shen Qingqing might house her with the men, quickly pleaded, "Sister, please, just let me stay with you..."
Shen Qingqing remained silent.
How was she going to persuade her own man to agree?
An Qi dared not disturb her, so she sat down on the carpet beside her and unconsciously reached for the sachet at her waist, only to find it missing.
"Ah!"
Shen Qingqing looked up. "What's wrong?"
An Qi hurried to explain, "Sister, my sachet is gone. Mommy gave it to me, I can't lose it! I need to go back and look for it!"
"A sachet? What kind?"
"It's white, embroidered with gardenias, and has my name on it!"
"Are you sure the sachet was still with you after boarding the ship?"
"I'm sure! It was still there when I was in the trunk!" An Qi believed it must have fallen inside the trunk and hastily stood up, "I'm going to look for it, it must be in the trunk!"
She had been so bored inside the trunk then that she took the sachet down to play with it. Seeing Shen Qingqing and the other person in shock, she might have forgotten about it in her haste.
Shen Qingqing found it strange. How could a sachet hanging at her waist fall off?
Unless it was taken out.
She narrowed her eyes and looked at An Qi, then stood up. "Never mind, I'll go find it for you. You stay here and don't go out, lest you be seen."
"Sister, can you find it?"
"Does your sachet have a scent?"
"Yes, yes!" Although An Qi didn't know why she was asking, she still replied, "But the scent is very faint. Unless one is accustomed to it, it's basically undetectable. It's a faint fragrance of gardenias."
"I understand."
While it might be difficult for others to find such a scent, for Shen Qingqing, this fragrance was the key to locating the sachet.
She searched around the hallway but found nothing, so she headed straight for the storage room.
The trunk in the storage room was still open. As soon as she approached, she caught a faint, delicate fragrance, extremely subtle.
If not for her keen sense of smell and her deliberate effort to sniff, she would never have discovered it.
The sachet lay quietly in the trunk.
She picked it up and examined it. It was an ordinary sachet with a very common scent, embroidered with a pink gardenia.
On her way back, Shen Qingqing overheard someone on the phone.
It was a familiar voice, Eisen's.
"You're such a waste! I told you to keep an eye on the person, where were you? Now you're telling me the person is lost, what am I supposed to do?"
Whatever was said on the other end, Eisen's voice was filled with anger and frustration.
"What the hell, I'm on the ship, how can I go back?!"
"You're awake, stop talking nonsense in front of me. Let me think of a solution. Don't tell my parents about this, you really know how to cause trouble for me!"
Shen Qingqing happened to be passing by his room. She glanced through the crack in the door and turned to leave.
Unexpectedly, Eisen turned his head at that moment and saw a figure. "Stop!"
He charged over angrily, shoved the door open, and seeing it was Shen Qingqing, his old grudges and new resentments flared up.
"Good! You were eavesdropping on my phone call!"
"I wasn't eavesdropping."
Eisen snorted, "Still trying to quibble? I saw you..."
"I was listening openly," Shen Qingqing said, glancing at the room door. "If you didn't want people to hear, you should have closed your door properly. Anyone passing by your door could have heard."
After speaking, she turned to leave, having no interest in his so-called secrets.
Eisen stepped forward angrily to block her. "What did you hear just now?"
"What does it matter to you what I heard?" Shen Qingqing, with an elegant roll of her eyes, pushed him aside.
Eisen stumbled, recalling the woman's combat prowess and feeling a pang of fear. However, he still didn't want to let it go so easily.
Wouldn't that make him seem like a coward?
It was too embarrassing!
Thinking of this, he became more energetic. "I don't care what you heard, but I warn you, you'd better forget it all. If you dare to say anything, Shen Qingqing, I will never forgive you."
His face was filled with seriousness and sincerity, clearly different from their usual petty squabbles.
Back then, he had never considered bringing up his family's influence, but today's matter... was no small thing. If it were to spread, that person would be in danger.
Shen Qingqing was somewhat surprised. "You've really impressed me."
Eisen blinked. "What do you mean?"
"I thought you were just a good-for-nothing young master who only knew how to eat, drink, and have fun. I didn't expect you to have such presence." Her words, instead of helping, infuriated Eisen even more.
Yet, he couldn't help but feel a secret sense of joy.
Was she praising him?
No, no!
The next second, Eisen realized what he was thinking and immediately turned dark, hitting his head. "I must be crazy!"
Shen Qingqing was startled by him, her eyes narrowing. "Are you having a relapse?"
She subtly took a step back.
"You're the one having a relapse!" Eisen retorted instinctively. But strangely, after that brief exchange, he felt inexplicably less angry. He said with forced bravado, "In any case, remember what I said. You are not allowed to leak what you heard today!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the door of the next room opened, and Pei Ji walked out. "What's going on here?"
Upon seeing him, Eisen immediately acted as if he had found a savior, rushing over and grabbing his sleeve. "My dear, please help me, Ai Qi is lost!"
The moment he used that term, Pei Ji didn't think much of it at first. However, he caught a glimpse of Shen Qingqing looking at them strangely out of the corner of his eye, with surprise and dawning realization.
His face immediately darkened. "Stop calling me that! When are you going to change your bad habit of calling everyone 'my dear' without distinction?"
Eisen scratched his head. "I was just anxious, I forgot..."
Pei Ji asked again, "Explain clearly, how did your sister get lost? Wasn't she at home?"
His sister, Ai Qi, was supposed to come along this time, but Eisen would never agree. Although it was said to be a three-day sea trip, the host was, after all, Z.
This man was mysterious and dangerous, who knew if there would be any traps.
Therefore, he had locked her up.
Eisen said with annoyance, "Yes, I locked her up, and I even assigned someone to watch her, but that girl is very clever. She tricked the person and ran out. Now I don't know where she is."
"Don't worry, I'll have someone help you look."
With Pei Ji's words, Eisen finally felt relieved. With the Prince's influence, finding someone was quite easy.
Shen Qingqing suddenly understood. "So it was your sister who was lost."
Eisen froze and slowly looked at her. "Didn't you hear it just now?"
"No, I only heard you calling someone a waste. I didn't hear anything else," Shen Qingqing said, flashing a brilliant smile with her pearly white teeth.
Eisen was almost furious to death!
If he had known she hadn't heard anything, he wouldn't have acted like a fool with his warning and then discussed this matter with Pei Ji in front of her.
"If you didn't hear it, why didn't you tell me?"
Shen Qingqing raised an eyebrow. "Do I have an obligation to tell you?"
Eisen was so angry he almost fell over. He wanted to say something more, but saw that she wasn't even looking at him, hands clasped behind her back, walking away leisurely.
The moment they passed each other, his nostrils twitched, and he paused slightly.
His expression turned grave. "I think she might be on this ship."
Pei Ji stopped. "Do you have any clues?"