Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

It was already five in the late afternoon by the time Qiao Lian found Wang Lan, following the address that Auntie Li had given her.

The skies were darkening.

She looked at this tiny single-storey rented house before her and frowned deeply.

When Wang Lan had been working as a housekeeper in their home, she had never come across as this poor. This discovery was unexpected.

Lowering her gaze, Qiao Lian looked at the address to confirm that this was the correct house. Then she walked up and knocked on the door.

She waited for some time but no one came to the door.

Frowning, she was about to leave when a neighbour’s door was suddenly opened. A middle-aged woman studied her with a suspicious gaze for a moment. She asked, “Who are you looking for?”

Qiao Lian paused and pointed at the door before her. “I’m looking for Wang Lan. May I know if she lives here?”

That woman frowned and replied, “That’s right. Who are you?”

Evading that direct question, Qiao Lian asked instead, “Do you have any idea where she went?”

The woman sighed and replied, “She’s selling griddle cake on the corner of that street in front!”

Qiao Lian was about to walk in the direction that the woman had pointed out, but suddenly she turned around. “Auntie, did something happen with Wang Lan’s family?”

The middle-aged woman immediately showed a sympathetic expression on her face. “Indeed. Her husband died last year, but not before they had to spend a fortune on medical fees. They were heavily in debt with loan sharks. Recently she had trouble making ends meet and wasn’t able to pay back her loan, so they came and took her daughter away. She came back recently, said that the household where she had worked at as a housekeeper had given her a large sum of money. She took the money and redeemed her daughter with it, and since then they’ve been here. Pff, this Wang Lan… she was good-looking in her youth, but her fate was rather bleak.”

Qiao Lian did not hear a single thing the woman said in the later part of their conversation.

Wang Lan had been asked to leave. She had always been a cautious and conscientious housekeeper and for this reason, Xia Yehua hadn’t pursued the matter any further with her. This was a more than a kind gesture in itself. But why had Xia Yehua also given her a large sum of money?

It must have been a considerable sum that Wang Lan’s family owed, to have had her daughter taken away.

Suddenly, the scene from that night in the villa district, when she and Shen Liangchuan were driving home, flashed through her mind.

It was still very clear in her memory. As a reporter, she was especially sensitive to these details and it was unlikely to be a mistake on her part.

Hence, was there a possibility that the money that Wang Lan had was from Song Yuanxi?

She frowned and looked at the woman. “Auntie, how much did their family owe the loan sharks?”

The middle-aged woman clicked her tongue and informed, “200 000!

Qiao Lian nodded and chatted with the woman for a little while more before she walked away, in the direction mentioned by the woman.

However, she discovered that there wasn’t even a stall selling fruits, much less one selling griddle cakes.

Someone by the side of the street lamented, “The law enforcement officers came by, so everyone fled.”

Qiao Lian couldn’t believe her luck.

Why was just trying to locate a person so difficult?!

She grimaced and surveyed the environment around her. Just when she thought that there was no chance of finding Wang Lan, she suddenly saw in a corner not too far off the ex-housekeeper. She had an apron tied round her waist and her attire was greasy. She was making griddle cakes, just as the woman said.

Qiao Lian observed her for a moment before she walked over, one step at a time, until she was right in front of the griddle cake stall.

Wang Lan asked, “What flavour would you—”

Raising her head to look at the customer, she stopped in mid sentence when she realized who it was. “Madam?”

Her expression was suddenly evasive, she did not dare to look at Qiao Lian in the eye. With her head lowered, she asked, “Madam, what brings you here? What is the matter?”

“I have a few questions for you.”

Wang Lan gulped nervously. Her fingers interlocked tightly into a fist on her chest. “Pl- please ask—”

“It was you… who switched my birth control medicine?”