As the two were talking, a phone call came in.
Lan Heng squinted his peach blossom eyes slightly, turned on the speakerphone, and affectedly said, "Hello."
Jiang Cong's voice was deep. "How's it going?"
Lan Heng pretended not to know and asked, "What? I don't understand what you're talking about."
Jiang Cong shifted his position on the reclining chair, and his voice took on a hint of danger. "Your dad called me recently, asking about your whereabouts in the UK."
Lan Heng immediately cowered and smiled obsequiously. "I'm doing great today. I just came back from Chen Er's place. I got to know her briefly. I'll officially start teaching her tomorrow."
Hearing this, Jiang Cong felt slightly relieved and admonished, "Teach her well. She's a good candidate."
After that, the two exchanged a few more bantering words, and then Jiang Cong hung up the phone.
Lan Heng saw that it was really getting late. To avoid suspicion, he voluntarily offered to take his leave.
After spending the whole evening together, Chen Er had gotten quite familiar with Lan Heng. So she propped her legs up on the coffee table, indicating that Lan Heng could leave.
Lan Heng gave Chen Er an indignant look. After silently mourning his tragic fate in his heart, he opened the door and walked out.
The originally noisy living room returned to tranquility. Chen Er lowered her head and thought.
Was Jiang Cong going through all this trouble to help her because he had some ulterior motives?
If he really did, what should she do?
Chen Er leaned against the soft pillow, a smile playing on her lips. If it was him, it wouldn't be so bad.
She seemed to miss that conceited man a little.
On the other side, in Beijing, Jiang Cong stared at the twinkling stars in the night sky. His fingers tapped rhythmically on the balcony railing, making a clear "ding ding" sound.
The investigation into Chen Er should be completed in the next day or two.
In Jiang Cong's opinion, Mo Ziqing's case was not difficult. As long as Shan Liang took the bait voluntarily, all the problems would be solved.
What worried Jiang Cong the most was the information about Chen Er's past that he had asked the private detective to collect.
Although many things from the past had been deliberately erased by someone with ulterior motives, there were still some clues.
Jiang Cong offered a generous reward and sufficient time for the private detective to collect all the relevant materials and then send them to him.
"May you be well." Jiang Cong murmured softly, silently praying that things wouldn't turn out as bad as he imagined.
The ringing of the phone interrupted Jiang Cong's train of thought.
He picked up the phone. It was the private detective.
"Mr. Jiang, I've found out what you asked me to investigate. I'll send all the materials to your private email later."
Jiang Cong grunted in acknowledgment. He walked back into the room in a bit of a hurry, turned on the computer, and opened the relevant materials sent by the private detective.
"The remaining payment has been transferred to your card." After saying that, Jiang Cong hung up the phone.
The mouse scrolled quickly. Every detail of Chen Er's past was clearly presented on the screen.
Chen Er's mother was an ordinary teacher. She later died of difficult childbirth.
Chen Er's father was a moderately successful architect. The couple had a very good relationship and were a typical model couple.
Due to the death of Chen's mother, Chen's father couldn't accept the fact, so he became an alcoholic for many years, and his mental state also became a bit abnormal.
In such a family environment, Chen Er often suffered domestic violence from her father when she was a child.
Seeing this, Jiang Cong felt a faint pain in his heart.
So, her childhood was so dark?
The mouse scrolled faster. He skimmed through the general introduction of Chen's father and mother and then turned to the next page.
Chen Er once had an older sister named Chen Huan, who committed suicide nineteen years ago.
Jiang Cong squinted his eyes and glanced at Chen Huan's photo. She looked about 60% similar to Chen Er, with a shy smile.
She got excellent grades in all her subjects and was a well - behaved girl.
"Left - handed?" The cursor stopped at the column about Chen Huan's little habits. In Jiang Cong's mind, he recalled the wall with the word "He" carved on it that he had found in one of the bedrooms in Chen Er's house.
He had asked Chen Er about it before, and Chen Er had made an excuse that her right hand was injured, so she had to write with her left hand.
But what if the person who wrote this word was left - handed in the first place?
Could that person be Chen Huan?
An unknown emotion surged in Jiang Cong's black eyes. "Why did you hide this from me?"
No one answered Jiang Cong's question. Only the silence of the room accompanied him.
There wasn't much information about Chen Huan's cause of death. In the list of former class teachers in the school she attended, the name "Wei Fuping" was written.
"Wei Fuping? What on earth does that 'he' character represent? Is it a surname or something else?" Jiang Cong was puzzled. He took out his phone and dialed the private detective's number again.
The private detective had just received the remaining payment from Jiang Cong and hadn't had time to be happy when he received another call from Jiang Cong.
He was quite surprised, but since he knew that Jiang Cong was wealthy and well - known, he quickly picked up the phone and said eagerly, "Mr. Jiang? Is there something incomplete in the information I collected?"
Jiang Cong grunted in acknowledgment and then said, "Investigate the man named Wei Fuping, including his relationship with Chen Huan."
The private detective was surprised. "But that Wei Fuping is already dead. It was the year before last. I heard he committed suicide due to depression."
Wei Fuping was dead?
For some reason, Jiang Cong had a faint feeling that Chen Er was somehow involved in Wei Fuping's death.
"Then there's no need to investigate." Jiang Cong gave up the idea of asking the private detective to continue the investigation.
The clues from the past had emerged. To protect Chen Er, Jiang Cong decided that after the case in Beijing was over, he would go back to Beicheng to investigate in person to avoid too many people knowing and causing the information to leak.
Everything was gradually getting on track.
Under Lan Heng's tutoring, Chen Er's grades fluctuated but showed an overall upward trend.
The head teacher was surprised by Chen Er's rapid progress but simply assumed that she had turned over a new leaf and wanted to make great strides.
So he put aside his previous prejudice against Chen Er. After a class one day, he asked Chen Er if she needed his tutoring.
Chen Er shook her head and politely declined the head teacher's kindness.
"This is free. There's no charge." The head teacher thought Chen Er was worried about the cost. All he knew about Chen Er's family situation was that her parents were both dead and she was an orphan.
Chen Er knew the head teacher's good intentions. She knew that if she continued to act cute, the head teacher might think she was just pretending to decline.
Chen Er tilted her head nonchalantly, her little face full of energy. "Teacher, you don't need to worry. I have a great mentor. Just relax. I'm doing great!"
Seeing Chen Er back to her familiar self, the head teacher also relaxed and nodded. "Okay. If you have any difficulties, you can tell me."
After leaving the office, Chen Er walked slowly.
If the whole world is working hard for your success, then what reason do you have not to change?