Ji Ziming’s deep eyes narrowed. He finally got an explanation for the matter which had been bugging him and Pei Ge.
“Have no evidence yet?”
He sounded indifferent when Qu Xiujie’s face turned red and pale.
While the latter had no evidence of what Old Lady Qu had done to Old Master Qu’s first wife, the former had.
“Do you not believe me? I’m your wife’s uncle.”
Qu Xiujie got up. He was wearing a pair of Italian-made leather shoes, but because he did not take good care of them, they lost their original luster. Tenacious dirt clung onto his shoes, while his pants were also not very clean.
If the man right before her eyes were her uncle, Pei Ge would rather believe that his uncle was an average man and not someone linked to the Qu family.
There was Qu Jingwan who tried to snatch Ji Ziming from her, then there was Old Lady Qu who wanted her dead, and now there was Qu Xiujie who was claiming to be her uncle. Everything was so unexpected—she did not know that all these were linked to her.
“Pei Ge, don’t you believe that I’m your uncle?”
Qu Xiujie called her by her full name. He was hoping that she would believe him, yet he was also hoping that she would not be his long-lost relative.
“Are you mistaken? I—”
“I’m not mistaken; I can get your grandmother’s picture for you to look. You’ll know that we’re truly family.”
He interrupted her, for he knew that she would be unwilling to believe him.
It did not matter, though. Thankfully, he carried his mother’s photo around with him. Once he showed it to her, he believed that she would believe that everything he had said was the truth and they were truly family.
As he went to retrieve the photo, the bodyguard chief hurried over and knocked at the door.
This mansion’s best feature was its thick doors; everyone inside a room could hear all movements outside, but those outside would be unable to know what was going on inside.
This became a patent out of all Bi Zheng’s inventions.
The doors’ noise insulation was his work, and the patent belonged to his team.
“What is it?”
Ji Ziming opened the door and heard the bodyguard chief hurrying to report. “If anything’s the matter, you can press the alarm on the door.”
“Sir, we noticed that someone had sneaked in the mansion’s backyard.”
The bodyguard chief said carefully.
Within an hour of bringing Qu Xiujie to the hillside mansion, he noticed a spy camera in the backyard. Since it was well-hidden on the branches of the Chinese parasol tree, it could detect the setup of each room in the house.
After listening to the bodyguard chief’s explanation, Ji Ziming furrowed his brows. He turned to look at Pei Ge, who appeared worried. “I’ll go look. You and that old fella stay put here.”
Although Qu Xiujie’s room was dilapidated, it was the safest in the mansion actually. All the simple arrangements were usually the best at staying inconspicuous and avoiding notice.
“I will go with you.”
Pei Ge stood up in her seven-centimeter heels, matched by her black lace which was covering her calves. The beige skirt looked cleaner on her fair skin, while the caramel Gucci sweater made her appear stronger and more independent.
“Just wait for me here; I’ll be back soon.”
The man reached out and gently caressed her head. If something were to happen outside, he might be unable to ensure her safety.
“No, I just want to go with you.”
Compared to staying with this guy, who was claiming to be her uncle, she would rather go with Ji Ziming to see if someone had really breached the mansion’s security and placed spy cameras inside.
“Okay.”
Since she insisted, he could only agree.
“Hey, if the both of you leave, whom should I show the photo?”
Qu Xiujie was holding his clothes. Even when he removed his jacket, he still could not find the photo of him and his mother.
“Have you found it?”
The man stood at the door, his arm around Pei Ge’s waist.
“Nope,” replied the older man feebly as he turned to look outside.
“If that’s so, stay here and look for it. Once you find it, I’ll come with Pei Ge to see whether you’re my wife’s uncle or not.”
After saying this, Ji Ziming moved to leave with the woman. The voice behind him rang again.
“You said it yourself; don’t go back on your words.”
Seeing a glimpse of hope, Qu Xiujie was enveloped with excitement over the truth being unveiled.
“I have never gone back on a promise.”
Ji Ziming did not look back but closed the door instead and left the second floor decisively.
After leaving the older man in the room, he let go of the woman. He appeared serious as he looked at her with concern in his eyes. “Ge Ge, follow me closely.”
“I know.”
Although Pei Ge did not hear the bodyguard’s report to the man, she could sense the seriousness of the situation from the way they looked.
The close aide, who was sitting on a hundred-year old camphor tree outside the mansion, had blood flowing from his wound to his palm. Although he tried to cover it, it left splotches of blood on the tree trunk.
“Sir, I found the spy camera here earlier.”
The bodyguard chief pointed at the Chinese parasol tree not far from them, and right behind that tree was a lush camphor tree.
The camphor tree was specially planted by Ji Ziming’s father to change the atmosphere of this place. When that tree succeeded in changing the aura of this place, he was very impressed.
He had to admit that old ginger was hotter than new ones.
“That tree?”
Ji Ziming looked in the direction of the Chinese parasol tree and at the camphor tree where the assassin was hiding between the branches and dense leaves.
“Yes.”
The bodyguard chief nodded.
