Ye Zhinan's fundamental purpose for coming this time was to promote Wu Yangping.
Now that her goal had been achieved, it was time for her to bow out.
The matter of the brick kiln was settled, and next came the issue of coal.
Chen Zhenhai squeezed half his body out of the crowd, waved his hand, and explained to everyone.
"The inspector has been taken care of. You just need to go to the mine to pick up coal, but you have to keep accounts. It will be checked later."
Although he was speaking to everyone, his eyes were fixed on Wu Yangping.
Wu Yangping seemed a bit dazed. It was hard to tell if he was acting or just like that by nature.
If it weren't for the person beside him who gave him a nudge, he might still be standing there in a daze.
"Ah, I know. You can rest assured. I'll definitely list everything in detail. There won't be any problems for sure."
Seeing him make such a guarantee, almost swearing to the sky.
Everyone was quite satisfied with him, but only Ye Zhinan had a gloomy face, making it hard to tell whether she was happy or angry.
"You've overacted. Try to look a bit happier at least."
Li Feilong whispered a reminder beside her. Only then did Ye Zhinan come to her senses and hand the ledger to him.
"You'll have to take care of the brick kiln more from now on. When Inspector Qin recovers from his illness, he'll also come to help."
Wu Yangping showed a faint smile, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. It seemed to carry a hint of complacency, as if he had everything under control.
Ye Zhinan was good at reading people's minds. Naturally, she didn't miss this little gesture.
"Your health is more important. After all, only with good health can you walk steadily on the road ahead."
Both of them were speaking in riddles. Ye Zhinan wasn't a fool. Naturally, she could guess the meaning behind the words to some extent.
She was too lazy to entangle with him. She left with a polite smile and turned away.
On the way down the mountain, she deliberately paid attention to the small paths around, afraid of stepping on a bear trap.
Wu Yangping just followed behind her, with a meaningful smile on his lips, making it hard to figure him out.
After returning to the courtyard, Ye Zhinan slumped into a chair and gasped heavily.
"I thought you'd follow my lead. Why did you cause trouble instead?"
Li Feilong was stunned and obviously didn't understand.
"Inspector Qin told me to say so. Didn't you two communicate?"
He seemed to have discovered a shocking secret. He stared with his mouth open and couldn't come to his senses for a long time.
The affairs between a couple were always hard to handle. He didn't want to get involved.
Seeing that Ye Zhinan didn't say a word, he quickly found an excuse and slipped away in a hurry.
Ye Zhinan thought for a while in the courtyard. Suddenly, she burst out laughing and strode into the room.
Seeing Qin Yihuai lying in bed pretending to sleep, she simply pulled over a chair and watched him continue to act.
Qin Yihuai just couldn't hold it in any longer. He secretly opened one eye a little and sized up her reaction.
"Why stop pretending? Your plan was so good. You set up a big trap and got us all in. I should praise you for knowing everyone so well, shouldn't I?"
She was so angry that she said whatever came to her mind. She didn't care whether the person in front of her was an official or a commoner. She just vented all her anger.
She also believed that Qin Yihuai wouldn't argue with her too much.
Moreover, even if he was an official, he couldn't just scheme against others casually.
Qin Yihuai showed a guilty smile. He scratched the tip of his nose and propped himself up to sit up.
"Each of you seems smart, but actually has weaknesses. If you act together, there will surely be loopholes. So I just gave each of you a little hint, and the play could be performed perfectly instead."
Ye Zhinan pursed her lips and said nothing. She was unhappy in her heart, but her reason understood.
No one was perfect. Only by making everyone cooperate well could they successfully deceive others.
So this was also Qin Yihuai's strategy.
"Forget it. Just recover from your injury well. I'll keep an eye on Wu Yangping."
Qin Yihuai shook his head and showed a meaningful smile on his face.
"Even if you don't keep an eye on him, he'll show his true colors by himself. No matter how well he hides, his ambition will burst out."
He had already arranged his men and set up informants. He was just waiting for Wu Yangping to fall into the trap.
Ye Zhinan nodded with a smile. She still had great faith in Qin Yihuai's schemes.
She watched Wu Yangping every day, waiting for him to show his true colors.
But after three or four days in a row, he was still loyal and there seemed to be no problems at all.
She was sawing wood in the courtyard. She raised her head and looked at Qin Yihuai sitting beside her.
"Do you think he really has no bad intentions?"
Qin Yihuai blew away the steam on the teacup. In the curling steam, he looked even more mysterious.
"I don't want to be swayed by others' words, nor do I want to change my stance easily."
Ye Zhinan hung her head and continued to work on what was in her hands.
She had been working on it for several days, but it still didn't look like anything yet.
"What's this?"
Ye Zhinan hooked the corner of her mouth proudly and deliberately kept him in suspense.
"I'm not telling you."
Qin Yihuai lost interest. He limped back on his own with a simple walking stick.
The walking stick was also made by Ye Zhinan. It was wrapped with thick cotton, which showed her care.
His wound didn't seem serious, but actually, combined with the recurrence of an old injury, it would take at least ten days or half a month to recover.
He was anxious in his heart, but he could only stay in this small place.
At that time, he had gambled with himself, and now he had to bear the consequences.
Qin Yihuai heard sounds outside. He wanted to go and see to satisfy his curiosity.
It was all because Ye Zhinan was being so secretive.
"Big brother, please help me. I'm begging you."
The coquettish voice came into Qin Yihuai's ears one after another, making him annoyed.
He directly covered his ears with a pillow to block out all the sounds.
When he got up in the morning, Ye Zhinan was already waiting in the courtyard. There was also a strange thing beside her.
Seeing him come out, Ye Zhinan greeted him with a big smile.
Only then did Qin Yihuai notice that the strange thing was more like a chair, but it had wheels at the bottom. It looked really strange.
"This is called a wheelchair. From now on, it will be your legs."
She helped Qin Yihuai sit on it and pushed him around the courtyard.
"I used advanced stuff. It won't jolt at all. The experience will be excellent."
Ye Yingfeng watched the two of them walking around the courtyard and snorted.
"Yeah, I was tossed around most of the night yesterday. My back still hurts."
Ye Zhinan glared at him and then looked at Qin Yihuai.
Actually, she really wanted to be praised, but this straight - laced man seemed not to understand her intention.
She simply came straight to the point and asked him directly.
"Inspector Qin, are you satisfied with the wheelchair I made?"
Qin Yihuai nodded. He seemed cold, but actually, there were fireworks going off in his heart.
He had been angry yesterday because Ye Zhinan was being so secretive.
But when he found out that what she made was for him, all his grievances vanished, and he even felt indescribable joy.
"Don't just nod. Say something nice to praise me."
Qin Yihuai was silent for a long time. He rubbed the armrests of the wheelchair repeatedly.
"I've been alone for half my life, with no one to rely on. It's the first time someone has made something for me with their own hands. I'm very grateful."