your voice my world

Chapter 7 Her Past
It was past eleven o'clock when Lu Miao finished recording his statement, and it was almost midnight when he returned to the hotel.

As soon as she got out of the elevator, Xu Jiayan called her.

"When did you go to Macau?" Xu Jiayan's voice on the other end of the phone was still gentle, as if nothing happened earlier.

With Chen Qi not around, Lu Miao didn't have to be as cold as before when facing him.

"Two or three days," she said.

"When are you coming back?"

"Tomorrow."

"What time? I'll pick you up."

"No, I'm with my friends."

Xu Jiayan did not accept her rejection: "Send me the flight number."

"It's really not necessary. I haven't set the time yet."

"Sure, send me the flight number."

"Really not..."

"Miao Miao..." Xu Jiayan interrupted her suddenly, "I was the last person to see Xiao Cheng."

Lu Miao was silent for a while: "I'll send you the flight number later..."

She hung up his phone and opened the door.

Qiao Ze has come back, he has been watching for a while, and seems to have heard her phone call outside the door, he is sitting on the computer chair, looking at her with his hands folded around his chest.

As soon as he looked like this, Lu Miao felt a lot of pressure, and she was criticized by him only in the morning, and her aura in front of him softened before she knew it. She looked at him and then lowered her eyes and lowered her head Standing there, like a primary school student who has done something wrong.

"I heard that you reported a black worker just now?"

Qiao Ze asked, his voice was very weak, Lu Miao couldn't figure out what he meant, but was a little surprised: "How did you know it again?"

"I just had dinner with a friend, and he handled the case."

"..." Lu Miao couldn't help muttering, "Is there anyone in this world that you don't know?"

"It's too much." Qiao Ze stood up, "Who makes you unlucky, it just happens to fall on my hands every time."

Lu Miao: "..."

He stood still in front of her, stared at her and looked around: "Bringing you to Macau for a few days, you only accomplished one thing, sending your enemy back to the mainland?"

Lu Miao looked up at him: "I got Wu Manman's personal phone number and established regular contact with Su Ming. Are these all useful?"

She took out her mobile phone and showed him Wu Manman's phone number and Su Ming's WeChat.

Su Ming just sent her a message: "Are you asleep?"

Joze glanced at her.

Lu Miao put the phone back hesitantly: "Talking about flirting is also a normal contact."

Joze: "..."

Lu Miao opened the bag, took out the certificate issued by the psychiatrist, hesitated for a while, and still pursed her lips and handed it to him.

"I went to see a psychiatrist today." She whispered, "The doctor said that I don't have a mental illness, but I may have nightmares due to excessive psychological pressure, but this will not affect my normal work, and I never talk in my sleep."

"This is the certificate issued by the doctor." She stepped forward and gently stuffed the certificate into his hand, "I saw two psychiatrists, and they all came to the same conclusion, so you don't have to worry about my state. It will be adjusted."

Joze turned to look at her.

She looked a little uncomfortable, and bit her lips lightly: "What happened in the past two days... I'm really sorry, and I promise I won't do it again in the future."

She took out the card he gave her again, and handed it to him: "I don't have that much money at the moment, so I prepaid my salary for two months. I didn't say hello to you in advance, I'm sorry, I will pay you back later of."

That card was the gold card he gave her to keep her secret when dealing with Wu Manman.

He stared at the card without saying a word, and slowly shifted his gaze back to her face.

She was also looking up at him, a little timidly, stubbornly, and apprehensively, with the corners of her mouth slightly pursed, forcing herself to meet his gaze.

He'd never seen someone so stupid...so...

With a barely audible sigh, he took a step forward, opened his arms, and pulled her into his arms.

Lu Miao froze all of a sudden, a little at a loss.

Her stiffness reminded Joze of his abruptness. He looked down at her, and she gave him a shocked and confused face. Her body was as stiff as a piece of wood, and she dared not move.

He let her go.

Lu Miao still froze there and did not dare to move: "Are you... all right?"

"It's okay." Qiao Ze turned and went back to the room, and told her, "The flight at eight o'clock tomorrow morning."

Lu Miao sighed blankly, sent the flight number to Xu Jiayan, and was about to wash up when there was a knock on the door.

Wu Manman came to look for her, knowing that they would go back tomorrow, and specially made an appointment to go out together.

Seeing Qiao Ze nodding, Lu Miao changed his clothes and went with him.

The venue for the meeting was a small private villa.

Lu Miao and Qiao Ze took the same car and followed the navigation. Before reaching the villa, Lu Miao realized that something was wrong with Qiao Ze.Especially after the car stopped at the entrance of the villa, she watched him look out of the villa with a more dignified and thoughtful expression.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Qiao Ze just shook his head slowly, as if pondering for a while: "It's okay, get out of the car first."

He got out of the car with her.

Shang Qi and Wu Manman have already arrived and are waiting for them at the gate of the villa.

Seeing Lu Miao and Qiao Ze approaching, they greeted them with smiles.

"This is the villa of a friend of mine. She usually lives alone. There are no people there, so she is more comfortable." Wu Manman explained with a smile, and welcomed the two of them in.

There are other young people in the room, all in their 30s and 30s, men and women, there are not too many people, [-] people, and some of them are friends they met when they were with Shang Qi and Wu Manman these days.

After a whole morning of self-adjustment, Lu Miao has quickly integrated into the role he played. As soon as he entered the room, he took Qiao Ze's hand and greeted everyone generously.

Everyone is in the business world, and when they come for vacation, they greet each other generously based on the principle of one more friend and one more road.

After saying hello, Wu Manman turned around and asked another girl in a red dress: "Where's Jiayin? She invited everyone to come together tonight, why didn't you see her?"

"I'm not feeling well again, and I'm resting upstairs." The girl in the red dress replied, "She just lets everyone do as she pleases, you're welcome, she'll come down later."

Wu Manman nodded in understanding, then turned to Lu Miao and Qiao Ze, and explained with a smile: "Jiayin is the owner of this house. I heard that we are all in Macau, so I asked everyone to come and get together. I miss everyone They are all friends, and it just so happens that her hometown is also in Ancheng, so I can introduce you to her. She has contacts in Ancheng and Macau, and she may be able to help in the future. Not feeling well." Wu Manman felt apologetic, "She was injured years ago, and her health has not been very good, there is nothing to do about it."

Lu Miao smiled: "It's okay, there will be opportunities in the future." She looked up and looked upstairs, "Is... is she okay?"

"It should be fine." Wu Manman's tone was relaxed, and it seemed that nothing was wrong.

"Just treat it as your own home, just do whatever you want." After greeting her, she turned and chatted with other people.

Lu Miao looked back at Qiao Ze, but saw that he was staring upstairs, looking thoughtful.

He has been in this state since the car approached the villa, as if he was thinking about something, and he looked different from usual.

He didn't show it in front of people, but Lu Miao could feel this subtle difference.

Lu Miao felt that Qiao Ze must have something to hide from her.

She gently tugged at the corner of his clothes, Joze turned his head and glanced at her, his left arm naturally wrapped around her waist, leading her into the crowd together.

This kind of small gathering has the nature of a business reception, and the dinner is a buffet-style western food. Everyone is friends from travel or business. Most of them have business contacts or potential business contacts, so they are warm to each other. This small gathering gets to know each other and makes plans for future business.

Seeing the crowd, Lu Miao was worried that Qiao Ze, who was deaf, would not be able to handle it. She sat with Qiao Ze in the crowd, and cleverly relayed the meaning of others to Qiao Ze by asking rhetorical questions or questions.

There were many people at the small reception, and no one stared at anyone. After chatting for a while, Qiao Ze excused himself to go to the bathroom and left first.

Lu Miao originally watched him go to the bathroom, but when he reached the corner, he saw him turn a corner and turn to the stairs leading to the room from the garden.

Surprised, she weighed it up, and then got up and went upstairs, following behind Qiao Ze.

Joze's hearing impairment made it difficult for him to perceive any long-distance stalking.

Lu Miao watched him carefully and quickly push open the doors of each room, and close them carefully, as if he was looking for something.

She didn't know why he left her to act alone, but obviously his current hearing impairment was not suitable for acting alone.

As soon as he pushed open the door of a suspected study room, a girl's scolding sound came from the second room on the side, as if she was calling and swearing, and she felt like she was about to throw away the phone and rush out at any time, but he had nothing to say. Sleep.

Under such circumstances, it was impossible for her to step on her high heels to remind him, and it was hard to tell if the time was too late, but if both of them were found at the door of other people's rooms, they would always behave suspiciously.

Qiao Ze couldn't be notified, and seeing that the door was about to be opened, Lu Miao felt anxious, and turned her left foot slightly on the high-heeled shoe. She cried out in pain, and Qiao Ze screwed on the door handle. Withdrawing his hand instantly, he turned his head following the sound.

Lu Miao was squatting down, rubbing his sprained ankle, and complaining pitifully to him with his face up: "Mr. Qiao, can you stop being so impatient? This is someone else's house anyway."

Qiao Ze instantly caught her intention in her eyes, and walked towards her calmly.

The door behind him was also pushed open at this moment, and a girl came out, leaning on a cane, and looked towards this side in surprise.

Lu Miao saw her eyes narrowed in confusion, staring straight at Jo Ze's back.

Qiao Ze had already walked in front of Lu Miao, bent over and picked her up.

"There is a girl behind you staring at you, her eyes are not right." Lu Miao reminded him in a low voice.

Qiao Ze's eyes met hers: "Keep an eye on her, don't let her get close."

Lu Miao replied "no problem" with her eyes, and let him carry her downstairs.

Joze didn't look back from the beginning to the end, and the girl didn't step forward, she just stared here in bewilderment and wonder, until they turned the corner, and she walked towards the stairs.

Shang Qi and Wu Manman were both downstairs, and when they saw Qiao Ze carrying Lu Miao downstairs, they both greeted him in surprise, "What's wrong?"

Lu Miao's cheeks were a little red, and she spoke awkwardly: "Mr. Qiao...that's what he was thinking about...well...he dragged me too fast, and accidentally twisted my foot."

Qiao Ze coughed lightly, looked at Shang Qi and Wu Manman: "President Shang, Ms. Wu, I'm sorry, she sprained her foot, I have to send her to the hospital first, and I'll treat you to dinner when I return to Ancheng another day."

Wu Manman glanced at Lu Miao's ankle, it was really sprained, and it was red and swollen, so she persuaded: "It's okay, go to the hospital for treatment, don't hurt your muscles and bones."

Qiao Ze nodded, hugged Lu Miao and walked out the door.

As soon as the two of them left, Huang Jiayin from upstairs came to the stairs leaning on crutches, only Qiao Ze's back could be seen.

"Who is that man?" Huang Jiayin asked Wu Manman.

"It's Qiao Ze, the person in charge of Suofei Company."

Huang Jiayin nodded thoughtfully, and didn't ask any further questions.

Qiao Ze hugged Lu Miao and got into the car. As soon as the car door was closed, his face paled. He suddenly grabbed Lu Miao's sprained left foot. He was so startled that Lu Miao instinctively wanted to pull it back, but Qiao Ze stretched out his hand to hold it down.

"Don't move." His voice was a little deep.

Lu Miao didn't dare to move anymore, and let him pull up his left foot, push away his skirt, and stare at her ankle.

She was a little uncomfortable being stared at, and shrank her feet: "I'm fine."

Qiao Ze ignored her, stared at her for a while, then put it down, looked up at her: "Are you stupid? It's fun to hurt yourself?"

Lu Miao was a little aggrieved: "I'm not worried about you revealing your secrets, and you can't hear the door opening."

"Since I dare to go there alone, I naturally have my own way to deal with it." Having said that, his tone softened, "But I still have to thank you, you did a good job."

Lu Miao seemed to be praised by him for the first time, and looked at him in surprise.

Qiao Ze pushed her head away: "Don't do this in the future."

The two soon arrived at the hospital. Lu Miao's foot was only slightly sprained, and after applying medicine for a few days, he was fine.

But in the end it was a sprain, and walking was always inconvenient.

When she returned to Ancheng the next day, she was almost supported by Qiao Ze to get off the plane.

Xu Jiayan had already come to pick her up in the pick-up hall outside, just as the two walked out, Xu Jiayan waved at Lu Miao from a distance.

Qiao Ze glanced at Xu Jiayan, then looked at her: "Why is he here?"

Lu Miao: "He has something to do with me."

While talking, Xu Jiayan came close, and saw Qiao Ze's hand on Lu Miao's shoulder at a glance, frowned, and slowly looked down, saw the bandage on her ankle, and the eyebrows frowned more deeply: "The foot What's wrong?"

"I accidentally twisted it." Lu Miao evaded the important point, turned to look at Qiao Ze, "I may have to go back later, can you take the luggage back for me by the way?" Afraid that he would refuse, she hurriedly added, "I can pack it myself It won't take you too much time to get it in the car."

Qiao Ze glanced at her: "How do you get your luggage into the car by yourself? Be honest if your foot is still hurt."

Xu Jiayan stretched out his hand to Lu Miao's suitcase: "Let me come, I have troubled Mr. Qiao these two days."

Before touching it, Qiao Ze turned his wrist and moved the suitcase to the other side: "I'll just come." He looked at Lu Miao, "Go home early at night."

Lu Miao nodded: "Okay."

Xu Jiayan watched Qiao Ze go away, and then looked at Lu Miao: "Why did you go to Macau without saying a word? Are you with him?"

"No." Lu Miao shook his head, "It's just going out for a few days."

"Why don't you tell me if you want to go to Macau?"

Lu Miao pursed her lips and remained silent. In fact, they had discussed similar issues too many times.

Xu Jiayan also understood that he was impatient, so he pointed at him as Xu Jiayan, and it was impossible for her to find him.

Her defenses are harder to pry than the shell of a clam. Even if it was the night of her accident five years ago, when she panicked and called for help in the middle of the night, it was only because he just called her, and that was her only life-saving straw. , she didn't even know who was calling, she just called for help instinctively out of desperation.

He was not too late when he arrived, but he was also late.

After a long sigh, Xu Jiayan's complexion calmed down, and he helped her: "Go to eat first."

He took her back downtown for dinner.

Lu Miao was thinking about Lu Xiaocheng in his heart, and he opened his mouth as soon as he sat down: "Brother, you said last night that you were the last person to see Xiaocheng."

Xu Jiayan stared at her for a long time.

"Miao Miao, I'm sorry, if I didn't say that, you wouldn't agree to have this meal with me."

Lu Miao: "..."

"I want to meet you." He said, "What are you going to do to bring Zhang Qi back to Ancheng?"

"Of course it will be handed over to the law for trial." Lu Miao looked at him, "Isn't the case reported back then just because no talent was found? Now that the person has been sent back, the trial continues."

"Things have been going on for so many years, there are no witnesses, no evidence, and he doesn't admit it, how can he be convicted?"

Lu Miao was stopped by the question for a moment, and after a long silence, he said: "Anyway, it's better to have someone back than to find no one."

Xu Jiayan didn't speak, but mused, tapping his fingers on the table again and again.

Lu Miao didn't speak any more, the atmosphere of this meeting was a bit heavy.

She wanted to go back after dinner, but Xu Jiayan refused.

"Miao Miao, walk with me."

Lu Miao could refuse any financial support from him, but she couldn't refuse such a request.

He still cared about the injury on her foot, and didn't really let her go for a walk with him. He found a nearby park and sat down for the whole afternoon.

The season of late autumn and near winter is not too cold.

Lu Miao sat with him on the bench in the park, he didn't speak, and she didn't speak either.

After a long time, Xu Jiayan turned to look at her: "Miaomiao, since you were ten years old, I first went to see you, and now, it's been almost 15 years, what problems, what words, what difficulties do you have, and you have never refused to talk to me. I said, what should I do to make you willing to accept me a little bit? Even just a little bit. "

Lu Miao looked at him hesitantly: "Why... would you say that suddenly?"

"If I don't look for you, you can stay out of contact with me for a year and a half." Xu Jiayan looked at her, "I pushed you hard, and you didn't say a word for ten and a half months. Just because I am Xu Jiayan , my surname is Xu, so I can only look at you from a distance and not disturb you, right?"

His tone was not heavy, but he seemed a little aggressive. Lu Miao had never seen Xu Jiayan like this, and he didn't know how to deal with it for a while.

"Miao Miao, you have a heart knot with the Xu family. You don't want to be criticized by my parents. You want to draw a line with me. I can completely understand. But I am me, and my parents are my parents. I was also a child , that ten-year-old Xu Jiayan is not strong enough to judge how his sister's life will be affected by being sent away. He is also regretting now, why didn't he stop it back then, why didn't he treat her better?
"I know that the Xu family you are taboo is, so I have completely separated my parents' property from mine from the very beginning. The current Xu family is the result of my hard work, and the little family wealth accumulated by my parents has been wiped out. The cards were shuffled. When Xu Yang Haiyun was handed over to me, there was only an empty shell on the verge of bankruptcy. I made it happen step by step. Now, every penny in this family is earned by me, and they have no right What are you talking about. I don't ask you to do anything, but at least accept me first, accept me from the heart, is it so difficult to do?"

"You..." Lu Miao was disturbed by his words. She didn't know how to respond. All along, she felt that she was accepting his kindness to her unconditionally, so good that she didn't know how to repay him. She couldn't afford to repay his kindness.

"You accepted that man's kindness so easily, why is it so difficult to accept my slightest kindness to you?"

Lu Miao couldn't answer, maybe because she and Qiao Ze are in a cooperative relationship, but they are in a human relationship with him.

The former is an exchange of benefits. If Qiao Ze treats her well, she will work harder to help him and give back the same amount.But Xu Jiayan was kind to her, his career path was different from hers, and she couldn't find a way to reciprocate, so she couldn't feel at ease.

Xu Jiayan didn't force her either. He was very restless these days, especially when he saw her appearing with that man at the airport, and his palm was even clasped on her shoulder intimately. That feeling was like It was the things he had been carefully guarding that were being pried away bit by bit.

He didn't like this kind of loss, but he didn't dare to force her.

She is not the kind of person who will fight back when forced, she is too used to finding problems from herself, the more she pushes her, the more she feels that she is wrong, she will think that she has not handled the relationship with him well, and then alienate him further.

This kind of her... made him completely helpless.

In this kind of depression, he forced her to sit with him all afternoon, and then sent her back after dinner.

It wasn't nine o'clock when Lu Miao got home.

Xu Jiayan sent her downstairs in the community and insisted on sending her upstairs.

Lu Miao couldn't refuse him, Xu Jiayan was a bit tough today.

He accompanied her to the seventh floor and stopped in front of the not-so-high-end solid wood door.

He just glanced at it and frowned: "You live in this kind of place?"

Lu Miao knew that since he was a child, he was well-clothed and well-fed, with the best food and housing. This kind of community really didn't catch his eyes, not to mention that there was a broken door that was almost torn down by her.

She couldn't help shaking her hands when she took out the key, for fear that she would accidentally remove the door lock in front of Xu Jiayan, and he would force her to live in his house.

Xu Jiayan watched her slowly dawdling, not very patient: "What's wrong?"

Lu Miao inserted the key into the keyhole and looked up at him: "Brother, I'm already here, you go back first, it's getting late."

Xu Jiayan glanced at his watch: "No hurry."

Lu Miao was in a hurry, this was not her home, and she hadn't consulted Qiao Ze's opinion yet, so she couldn't bring anyone back casually.

"Brother..." Her voice softened, and there was already a hint of pleading in her voice, "I'm just staying at someone else's house, it's really not good for you to go in like this..."

Before he could finish the word "good", the door suddenly opened.

Lu Miao leaned against the door and almost lost her balance and fell in.

Qiao Ze and Xu Jiayan reached out to support her at the same time.

Qiao Ze glanced at her, then looked at Xu Jiayan who was opposite her.

Xu Jiayan withdrew his hand on Lu Miao's arm, and greeted Qiao Ze politely: "I'm sorry, I'll send Miao Miao back."

Qiao Ze: "Thanks for your hard work."

Lu Miao always felt weird when he heard these words, and the smile on Xu Jiayan's face was a bit forced.

"It should." He replied with a smile, pretending to glance into the room unintentionally.

Qiao Ze helped Lu Miao turn sideways slightly, and opened the door: "Mr. Xu, do you want to come in and sit down?"

Xu Jiayan smiled: "Excuse me." The person has already entered.

Lu Miao also went in, and when he passed by Qiao Ze's side, he was pulled back by his arm.

He went in and poured Xu Jiayan a glass of water: "Sit, Mr. Xu."

Xu Jiayan sat down on the sofa: "Thank you."

He took a sip from the water glass and looked back at the room.

Afraid of his misunderstanding, Lu Miao pointed to his room: "I live alone."

Joze looked up at her.

Xu Jiayan just smiled at her gently: "I know." Then he turned to look at Qiao Ze, "Mr. Qiao, Miao Miao is young and ignorant, and I have bothered you for a while."

Joze just looked at him with a smile and said nothing.

Xu Jiayan turned to Lu Miao: "Miaomiao, this is Mr. Qiao's home after all, it's not good for you to disturb him all the time."

He changed the topic too quickly, and Lu Miao didn't answer the conversation all of a sudden, but he changed the conversation so cleverly that she couldn't answer it either.

Just saying that it's not good to disturb him in front of Qiao Ze, she can't say "it's okay, Qiao Ze doesn't mind", who knows whether Qiao Ze does mind or not.

But if she agrees with Xu Jiayan, he probably has to persuade her to move back again.

She was thinking about what to do, when Xu Jiayan reached out to her, took the key in her hand abruptly, and found the key he gave her last time: "Move back when you have time, the house is always empty. "

His words pushed her a step forward invisibly. If she nodded, she would probably have to move to live with him.

She didn't nod, but she was a little bit unreasonable, she obviously had a house to live in, but she was begging for nothing to stay with Qiao Ze.

She was a little bit stuck, and secretly glanced at Qiao Ze, but Qiao Ze just turned his head to look at her and remained silent.

Xu Jiayan was also looking at her, waiting for her answer.

Lu Miao's scalp was numb from being stared at, and it took a while to come up with a compromise: "I... Let's think about it."

Xu Jiayan showed a gentle smile again, nodded, and softened his voice: "Okay, after thinking about it, call me, and I'll come and help you move."

He raised his wrist and glanced at his watch: "Mr. Qiao, then I won't bother you for now. Thanks to you for taking care of Miao Miao during this time, I will thank you again when I have a chance."

Qiao Ze frowns unmovingly: "It should."

Qiao Ze got up to see him off, and Lu Miao followed behind him.

Sending people away, Qiao Ze closed the door.

"Are you going to move in with your brother?" he asked, and he turned and went to the living room.

Lu Miao shook her head: "Haven't thought about it yet."

He turned his head and glanced at her, without saying a word, he had already sat down on the sofa, and took the notebook aside, looking as if he was going to be busy with his own business.

Lu Miao consciously didn't bother him: "Well... I'll go back to my room first."

She turned around and wanted to leave, but Qiao Ze put the notebook on the coffee table suddenly: "Come here."

Lu Miao looked at him in surprise.Qiao Ze patted the sofa beside him, the meaning was obvious.Lu Miao walked over without knowing why.

Qiao Ze: "Sit down." He got up and went to the TV cabinet to get the medicine.

Lu Miao didn't understand what he was going to do.

Qiao Ze turned around and saw that she was still standing, and glanced at her feet: "Change the dressing."

Lu Miao suddenly realized, looked down and said, "I'll just do it myself."

Qiao Ze ignored her, walked up to him, pressed her shoulders directly with his palms, pushed her to sit on the sofa, and pulled her left leg to rest on his lap.

Lu Miao was not used to being served by him like this, so she shrank her legs.

Qiao Ze held her down and carefully removed the white gauze for her.

The ankle is still a little red and swollen.

"Just walk with your brother for a day like this today?"

Lu Miao shook her head: "No, I sat in the park all day."

Qiao Ze looked up at her: "So let me carry your luggage for you, and you go to the date by yourself?"

"No..." Lu Miao's voice lowered, "We just had a meal together..."

That being said, it does sound like a date.

Lu Miao remembered what Xu Jiayan said to her when he sat with Xu Jiayan in the afternoon.

All along, she really just rejected all his kindness from her own point of view, but over the years, it is true that she has a sense of security because of him behind her.

She was suddenly a little dazed, not knowing whether her persistence all along was right or not.

A sudden pain in her foot drew her attention back.

Qiao Ze's fingers were pressing on her wound, and the man was looking at her with a pale face and deep thought in his eyes.

"You and your brother have a good relationship?" he asked.

Lu Miao nodded: "He takes good care of me."

Qiao Ze: "Then why didn't you go with him?"

Lu Miao was silent for a while: "I don't feel very comfortable."

"Are you comfortable here with me?"

Lu Miao nodded hesitantly: "With you there is no human burden, it seems to be better."

Qiao Ze glanced at her: "It's just a matter of favor? Isn't it because he is a man?"

Lu Miao turned her head and thought for a while: "It's all there."

Qiao Ze let go of her bandaged feet: "Then have you ever thought that I am also a man?"

Lu Miao: "..."

Qiao Ze looked at her dazed look, and felt like a cat scratching his heart. The scratching made him very uncomfortable, and the palms of his hands were itchy. He just wanted...specially...

He suddenly bent down towards her, propped his palms on the back of the sofa, surrounded her between his arms and the sofa, and looked down at her.

Lu Miao looked at him in surprise: "What's wrong with you?"

Very calm.

Qiao Ze suddenly felt that it was boring, he picked up a piece of wood, and he knew how to bounce it once he flicked it; when he picked up the person in front of him, let alone bounced, she couldn't move at all.

He let her go and stood up.

"Come out with me."

Lu Miao also stood up: "Where are you going?"

"Take Lobo."

Lu Bao was fostered at Qiao Shi's house, and he sent him there before his business trip.

It was almost eleven o'clock when we arrived at Qiao Shi's house.

Qiao Shi opened the door and saw Qiao Ze at a glance: "Huh? Bro, you're back from your trip? You said you're a deaf and dishonest person at home..." The nagging words stopped when they saw Lu Miao beside him , and greeted her awkwardly.

Lu Bao also saw Lu Miao, ran over in a hurry, licked Lu Miao's palm enthusiastically, and Qiao Ze was left alone.

Qiao Shi looked at Lu Miao and Lu Bao in surprise, and raised his eyebrows at Qiao Ze.

Little Qiao hadn't slept yet, she was playing with the dog, but when the dog ran away, she came out clapping her little hands and shaking, and when she saw Qiao Ze, she grinned and barked, "Uncle, uncle".

The little girl is the daughter of Shen Yu and Qiao Shi, she is over one year old this year.

Qiao Ze bent over and picked her up, and kissed her little cheek.

Lu Miao's attention was also attracted by the cute little meatball in his hand, but he just smiled at her from a short distance away, and didn't dare to go forward to tease her.

Maybe because Xu Jiaqian was always accidentally hurt when she was a child, she was always a little afraid of children of this age and liked them, but she didn't dare to get too close, for fear that she would hurt the children clumsily again.

Qiao Shi clearly saw Lu Miao's liking for Little Qiao in Lu Miao's eyes, and said to Little Qiao, "Honey, call me sister."

Little Qiao obediently called out "Sister", and turned to Lu Miao with her two little arms.

Lu Miao took a step back in embarrassment: "I don't know how to hold children."

After speaking, Qiao Ze gave her a strange look, which made her more embarrassed.She stepped forward a little, stretched out her hand, and shook little Qiao's fingertips lightly.

Shen Yu just soaked the milk and brought it over.

Qiao Shi introduced the two of them: "This is my brother's... roommate, Lu Miao."

"This is Little Qiao's father, Shen Yu."

Lu Miao greeted him politely.

Shen Yu called the two of them to come in and sit down. Qiao Ze had already put Xiao Qiao down: "Another day, it's too late today."

As soon as Little Qiao's feet touched the ground, she walked towards Lu Miao in a desperate manner, hugged her legs, and looked up at her.

Lu Miao froze in place and did not dare to move.

Qiao Ze looked at her thoughtfully: "Are you afraid of children?"

Lu Miao shook her head: "No. It's just that they are too small, and I am afraid that I will hurt them if I am clumsy."

"Children are not so delicate." Qiao Shi went to pick up little Qiao, "There will always be some bumps and bumps."

Little Qiao curiously reached out to brush Lu Miao's hair, but Lu Miao just let her move with a stiff body, and she didn't dare to move too much.

Seeing her like this, Qiao Ze asked her: "As long as you are like this now, what will you do if you have a child in the future?"

"I won't give birth." Lu Miao turned to look at him, "I don't want a child."

Qiao Shi glanced at Qiao Ze in surprise, and Qiao Ze frowned, not quite understanding her thoughts, she didn't seem to be someone who didn't like children.

"Why?" he asked.

Lu Miao: "I can't take care of them well. If I can't take care of them, it's better not to take care of them."

Qiao Shi smiled: "I won't think so when I really give birth in the future."

Lu Miao pulled her lips and smiled, didn't talk to Qiao Ze, and took Lu Bao back after staying with Qiao Ze for a while.

Qiao Ze didn't say a word along the way, and when he got back, he told her to take a good rest and went back to his room first.

Qiao Ze went out early the next morning. He asked Xiao Zhan for Zhang Qi's investigation materials, then went to Shen Qiao and asked him to ask for another copy of Lu Miao's background materials.

"It's in every detail," he emphasized.

It will take a few days for Shen Qiao's detailed investigation results to come out.

The Zhangqi information that Qiao Ze held in his hand didn't have very detailed records.Zhang Chuchu dropped out of high school and was a frequent visitor to the police station. Most of the time he entered the police station because of fights.

There is no intersection with Lu Miao in the investigation data.

"Check out this man named Zhang Qi." Qiao Ze gave the information to Shen Qiao, "especially the place where he and Lu Miao and Lu Xiaocheng may overlap."

"No problem." Shen Qiao snapped his fingers, and looked at him curiously, "Brother Qiao, you have been investigating this little girl twice in the past three days, can't it be that you have taken a fancy to her?"

Qiao Ze has been recovering from his injuries in Ancheng for nearly a year. He was seriously injured at that time, and he could barely move in the hospital bed for the first two months.

Because of his special status, Shen Yu specially arranged for Shen Qiao to come over to take care of him, so the friendship between the two has always been good, and Shen Qiao is a carefree and informal person, and he never beat around the bush when talking to Qiao Ze, and Qiao Ze didn't care either. Only the palm pressing on his shoulder sank slightly.

"What nonsense." He said, "This is no child's play. I need to make a comprehensive assessment of her."

Shen Qiao's shoulder was throbbing and hurting from his pressure: "All right, all right, you are right, I will notify you as soon as I have news later."

Two days later, Shen Qiao brought some news to Qiao Ze, it was really detailed, and even found the photos for him.

"Brother Qiao, don't be so distressed after the evaluation." Shen Qiao warned in advance, and pulled out a small piece of information from the pile of documents, "This little girl's childhood looks very sad, so be alone..."

"She was adopted by Xu Yanghai's Xu family when she was two months old." Shen Qiao handed Lu Miao's two-month-old baby photo to Qiao Ze. Smart and cute."

Joze reached for the photo.

The photo should have been taken after going to Xu's house. The two-month-old child has distinct facial features. His eyes are wide open, his mouth is slightly open, and his cheeks are chubby. He looks cute and clever, and his facial features are vaguely ok. It looks a bit like it is now, but it is much more lively than it is now.

"She was thrown by Chen Qi's son Xu Jiayan when she was more than one year old. Chen Qi probably looked at the cute little girl and wanted to adopt her, but she didn't expect her son to react so strongly. Xu Jiayan, who was five or six years old, was a The spoiled brat was originally the baby of the family, but suddenly there was an outsider competing for favor with him, and the attention of his parents was also on this outsider. He would definitely not follow him, and would never want to have this younger sister. Either he lost his temper or went on a hunger strike, forcing Xu Yang and his wife to send the little girl away. When the little girl was more than one year old, he even secretly tricked her out without telling her family, and threw her away... Finally, it took a day and a night to find her in the nearby bushes. Someone found it."

Shen Qiao handed a map to Qiao Ze: "I don't know how a six-year-old brat did it in this place."

"This incident probably left a shadow on Lu Miao. The one-year-old child hasn't remembered anything yet, but he was probably really scared. After being ill, he was afraid that he would have a lot of babies. And there was a lot of trouble because of Xu Jiayan. Terrible, Chen Qi loves her son again, so she naturally favors her son in her heart. Lu Miao was not born in October of her pregnancy, after all, she doesn't have that much patience and tolerance, and beats and scolds when her temper comes up. The two things work together , the little girl has become timid. Chen Qi felt a little guilty at first, but after a long time, she didn't have the patience to face a dull little girl. She herself pursued stick education and setback education , the scale is not sure, okay, in the words of the neighbors, if you make a small mistake, you will be beaten, if you fall while walking, you will be beaten, either let her reach out and hit her palm, or punish her not to eat. The more she is punished, the more she is afraid of making mistakes, the more she is afraid of making mistakes, the more likely she is to make mistakes. If she makes a mistake, she will not be able to eat, or she will be beaten. She becomes more cautious. The older she grows up, the more stupid she looks, and the more stupid she is, the less she hates Chen Qi. I like it." Shen Qiao dug out another document, "When she was four years old, Chen Qi became pregnant and gave birth to Xu Jiaqian. With her own daughter, Chen Qi was even more impatient to take care of her. I was so busy that I often didn't have time to pick her up from the kindergarten. She was the last one to be picked up almost every day. I guess she had a fear of being abandoned since then.

"She had no playmates since she was a child, she was not close to her parents, and she was not liked by her brother. She finally had a younger sister, so she was naturally happy. The bad thing is that she likes this younger sister too much, and she often can't help it. My younger sister is playing, but Chen Qi is worried that she will hurt her daughter if she is stupid, so she won't let her get too close, so every time she sees her approaching her daughter, she will scold her, and accidents will happen when she is frightened, and she will always bump into her daughter inadvertently. To Xu Jiaqian. The most serious time, she turned over the crib and threw Xu Jiaqian out of the bed. The crib hit the two of them, and they both broke their heads. Xu Jiaqian was rushed to the hospital. She was locked up at home and passed out due to excessive blood loss. Fortunately, there was a dog at home, and it was the dog who got out of the dog hole and found a neighbor, which saved her life.

"Xu Jiaqian was hit with a concussion that time, and had a few stitches on her head. Chen Qi and Xu Yang worried that similar situations would happen again. They couldn't keep an eye on her 24 hours a day. She was thrown back to her biological parents. This incident had a great impact on her, and she fell into a period of autism for three years. According to her neighbors, she hardly said a word during those three years, and once in a while Every time she talks, she always asks when her parents will pick her up, or that she wants to go back to school, and she can't accept the fact that she is abandoned... It is her brother Lu Xiaocheng who has been with her all the time, leading her step by step. Out of autism, so the two siblings have a deep relationship.

"Another thing that deepened their relationship was her reading. She loved reading since she was a child and wanted to go back to school, but because she was sent back for stupid reasons, she kept silent after that, and her family was poor. , her parents didn't want to waste the money to send her to school, she begged her parents, but at first they refused, and later Lu Xiaocheng lost his temper and didn't go to school, so he insisted on Lu Miao's company, so the parents agreed to let her continue studying.

"When she was in high school, many girls of her age in her family had already gone out to work to earn money to support the family, or married early, and her parents were also poor, so they wanted her to drop out of school and work to support Lu Xiaocheng's education. Xiao Cheng secretly used his own tuition to pay her tuition without telling her and his family, and he dropped out of school to work part-time, intending to earn money for her to go to college. While working part-time, he met Zhang Qi, who also worked in the restaurant kitchen.

"At that time, Lu Miao was a boarding student, and she went home once a month. She didn't know about Lu Xiaocheng's dropout until near the end of the semester, but it was too late. Lu Xiaocheng was not a person with particularly good grades, and lacked After taking classes for a semester, I refused to go back to school without saying anything.”

"That's all I can find at the moment." Shen Qiao said, "She was studying in the county town in high school, and Lu Xiaocheng was also working in the county town. The old family didn't know about their siblings. When she was in high school, they had a special relationship. The classmates who are close to her never mention anything about her and protect her privacy very much; the classmates who are not familiar with her don’t know her situation. They only know that she was going to study in a free normal school, but then she suddenly stopped going and went back to repeat her studies. Yes. According to the old family, she originally started school on September 9, took the train on September 10, and Lu Xiaocheng sent her to the city to take the train on the afternoon of September 9, but she came back alone a few days later. Said that the school sent out the wrong notice, she didn't pass the exam, so she went back to repeat the exam, and Lu Xiaocheng never came back."

"It just so happened that I found a copy of her hospitalization record in the hospital two days ago." Shen Qiao handed him a copy, "I was sent to the emergency room at 9 am on September 9th, and she was hospitalized for observation for two days. Yes Xu Jiayan sent her there, she was in a coma at the time, but the registration department and medical records could not be found. And since that time, Xu Jiayan's care for her has almost reached the point of unconditional connivance."

"Lu Xiaocheng..." Qiao Ze frowned, "Did he disappear on the night of September 9?"

"Yes. But it's very strange. The police didn't report any missing reports about him, so in principle, he wasn't missing, but disappeared by himself."

Qiao Ze pondered for a while: "Where's Zhang Qi? What happened to him that night?"

Shen Qiao shook his head: "I couldn't find it, but he kept absent from work for the next few days and was dismissed by the hotel as a voluntary dismissal. There were two other people who absented from work together, they were brothers and sisters with Lu Xiaocheng at the beginning, and they said that I went south to Shenzhen to work, but I haven’t been back for several years.”

"Are you taking drugs?" Qiao Ze asked suddenly.

Shen Qiao nodded.

"Where's Lu Xiaocheng?"

Shen Qiao shook his head: "It's not clear."

"But it's true that she is determined to find her younger brother." Shen Qiao said, "If it wasn't for this younger brother, she wouldn't be able to get out at all. No matter whether she is in the Xu family or the Lu family, she is abandoned, only Lu Xiaocheng is married. She is better. Lu Xiaocheng is probably all her spiritual support."

Joze nodded and didn't ask any more questions.

He destroyed the survey results before returning home.

Lu Miao is not here, Wu Manman came back today, she went to the airport to pick her up.

She drove Joze's Audi there.

For the convenience of work, she got her driver's license last summer. Now, in order to meet her current status, she drove to pick up Wu Manman.

Wu Manman and Shang Qi came back together, and Huang Jiayin also came back together.

Lu Miao just met her face to face from a distance that day, and it was late at night, with the backlight, so it was hard to see her face clearly. The reason why she can see her at a glance now is because she is still on crutches.

Now that I see myself up close, even people like Lu Miao, who don't have much idea of ​​beauty and ugliness, feel that Huang Jiayin in front of him is really beautiful. Like Xu Jiaqian, she is bright and charming raised by a wealthy life , good facial features, outstanding temperament, there is an arrogance in the eyes, not the arrogance that looks down on others, but the kind of innate brilliance and confidence.

Wu Manman stood between her and Huang Jiayin, and introduced them with a smile: "I was going to introduce you that night, but I didn't expect such a coincidence. One of you was sick and the other was injured, so you didn't meet him."

"This is Huang Jiayin."

"This is Lu Miao."

Lu Miao stretched out her hand to Huang Jiayin: "Hi, Miss Huang, nice to meet you."

Huang Jiayin also smiled and stretched out her hand: "Just call me Jiayin." She glanced behind Lu Miao and asked with a smile, "Didn't you come over with your boyfriend today?"

Lu Miao guessed that she was talking about Qiao Ze, and because she didn't know how Wu Manman introduced him to her, she smiled shyly, "He's not my boyfriend, he's just the boss."

Huang Jiayin smiled: "We have a chance to have a meal together."

Lu Miao nodded: "Okay."

She stopped by and invited a few people to have a meal.

Huang Jiayin is not as easy-going as Wu Manman, she is more or less holding her hands up, and she can be seen from a good family background.

Lu Miao doesn't know how Wu Manman met Huang Jiayin, but the two obviously have a good relationship, but this kind of goodness is not like the closeness between girlfriends, but like... Wu Manman is flattering Huang Jiayin Moan.

Lu Miao didn't know if it was his own illusion, Wu Manman did have a vague sense of humbleness in front of Huang Jiayin.

And Huang Jiayin seems to be very used to it, or enjoy this kind of flattery and pandering.

The person who can make Wu Manman bother to curry favor...

Lu Miao unconsciously paid more attention to Huang Jiayin, thinking of going back and asking Qiao Ze if he knew the details of this Miss Huang.

The meal was early, and it was only eight o'clock when she returned.

As soon as he opened the door, he saw Qiao Ze busy in the kitchen with several dishes on the table.

After living together for so long, Lu Miao hadn't seen Qiao Ze cook yet, so he went to the kitchen to look in surprise: "Huh? You can also cook?"

Joze glanced back at her: "What's the problem?"

"..." Lu Miao scratched her head, "I'm just curious that you can also cook."

Just as Qiao Ze filled out the last portion of vegetables, he handed it to her, "Take it out."

Lu Miao took it very consciously and brought it to the dining table for him. When she turned around, she saw Qiao Ze coming out with two bowls of rice, and one bowl was placed in front of her: "Eat."

Lu Miao looked up at him silently: "I've eaten..."

"Then have some soup." He changed her bowl of soup.

Lu Miao stared at the bowl of soup in front of her without moving: "But I'm already full..."

Qiao Ze turned his head and glanced at Lu Bao: "Lu Bao, take her for a run twice, and come back when she's hungry."

Lu Bao groaned, and he didn't know if he understood, so he started to circle around Lu Miao's feet.

Lu Miao was forced to pick up the spoon, drank a few sips of soup, looked up and asked Qiao Ze: "By the way, I went to pick up Wu Manman and Shang Qi today, and I met the owner of the villa that day, Huang Jiayin..."

Qiao Ze glanced at the spoon she was holding: "How does the soup taste?"

"..." Lu Miao took a sip, "Not bad."

She continued to chat about the case: "Later we went to dinner together, and I felt like Wu Manman was flattering Huang Jiayin. Do you understand Huang Jiayin's background?"

"I don't understand." Qiao Ze turned his head to look at her, "Lu Miao, how perfunctory can you drink this soup?"

"..." Lu Miao looked down at Tang and then at him, feeling a little confused.

Qiao Ze: "Talk after drinking."

Lu Miao said oh, and finished drinking as promised. While wiping his mouth with a tissue, he said with emotion: "The soup you boil is delicious."

Qiao Ze raised his eyes and glanced at her. She was really feeling emotional, it wasn't flattery, and a person like her couldn't learn to flatter her.

After eating, she began to think about Huang Jiayin again: "Are you really ignorant or are you pretending to be ignorant? Why did you let me stare at her that night and keep her away?"

Qiao Ze was silent for a while, then looked up at her: "Don't worry about Huang Jiayin, she has nothing to do with the case."

Lu Miao nodded thoughtfully: "Then you still say you don't understand him."

Thinking about his strange behavior that night, she frowned at him: "You were looking for her that night, weren't you?"

If so, her foot was hurt... a bit wronged.

Qiao Ze's palm crossed the table, and patted her on the forehead: "What nonsense."

Lu Miao rubbed her forehead and remained silent.

Qiao Ze looked up at her. She was rubbing her forehead, pursing her lips, and puffing her cheeks. For some reason, she looked so cute.

It was difficult for him to see from her cute little expression that she had such a past.

She refused to say anything and kept everything hidden.

Qiao Ze's chewing movements stopped slowly, and he gradually lost his appetite.

Seeing that Qiao Ze had almost finished eating, Lu Miao pointed to his room: "Shall I go back to my room first?"

Joze nodded, but didn't respond.

She didn't miss it either. After washing the dishes, she went back to her room.

Qiao Ze looked back at the closed door, and suddenly remembered Shen Qiao's words - Lu Xiaocheng was her entire spiritual support.

For so many years, there was only one Lu Xiaocheng who truly regarded her as family.

There is only one Lu Xiaocheng left in her eyes, so nothing and anyone can't get into her eyes, and can't get close to her heart.

(End of this chapter)