Just as one wave subsides, another rises.

The issue with the ex-husband is temporarily at rest. Although it's not entirely resolved, he can't be bothered with what comes next, nor does he have the ability to intervene. It's up to the landlady to sort it out, and the outcome depends on her or her family's influence. It's not his concern.

But the current situation with Aunt Shen makes him want to hold her down.

"So you're the one called little aunt!"

After saying this, Su Qing's gaze moved back and forth between Shen Yi and the landlady's faces.

Both of them first froze and then their expressions changed drastically. They ended up blushing, their eyes evasive, showing obvious guilt.

[Caught in action by the lord, both Wen and Zhuge were trying hard to convince you that they were merely tenant and landlord, definitely not friends who would sleep on the same bed.]

Su Qing: ...

The internal voice finally made some sense, unlike before when it was vague. It not only revealed the relationship between the two but also explained their current thoughts.

"Hey... hey? Su Qing?"

"Why are you here, what little aunt, what are you talking about?"

The usually calm and decisive woman in business was now somewhat stammering, showing an unbelievably fake expression.

"Sister Wen just assured that Xiaoyun was sent to her little aunt's, but then I saw you bringing her and Dahuang here, isn't that right?" Su Qing snorted internally, waiting to see how long she could keep up the act.

"Ah, the little aunt! I know Xiaoyun's little aunt, she had something to attend to and asked me to help take care of her temporarily."

Hearing this, the landlady in the passenger seat facepalmed. Could this be a reason anyone would believe?

Even Su Qing widened his eyes in disbelief. Still not admitting?

"Mom, Uncle Su, little aunt took Dahuang and me to the aquarium!"

At this moment, the little girl spoke up, breaking Aunt Shen's pretense. She couldn't keep her composure anymore and looked at him with embarrassment and guilt.

"Call him Uncle Su!" Wen Nanqing got out of the car and whispered, picking up her daughter.

She thought, this little girl adding fuel to the fire without realizing the situation was about to erupt.

"Oh, Uncle Su!" the little girl softly replied.

Hearing this, Su Qing also got out, rubbed the girl's head, and smiled, "Did you have fun at the aquarium?"

"Yes, it was fun! There were big dolphins, big sharks, big turtles, and... and... big Dahuang!"

The little girl described while using her small hands to gesture widely, as if depicting the size of the animals inside.

"So, shall we head home?"

"Yes!"

With that, Su Qing took the little girl from the landlady's hands, got in the car, and said to the two women, "Let's go, little aunt and... big aunt."

Shen Yi: ...

Wen Nanqing: ...

Watching Su Qing drive away slowly with the little girl and Dahuang, the two women were left there, looking like withered eggplants.

"It's over, we're doomed, Sister Qing, what should we do?" Shen Yi anxiously grabbed the landlady's arm and asked.

Wen Nanqing sighed, pulled back her arm, and said, "You ask me, who should I ask!"

"Young Su just helped me out significantly today, but now he knows I've been lying to him. How am I supposed to face anyone? You're done for, and so am I."

Shen Yi, as the main culprit, was obviously at fault, but she couldn't escape blame either. After all, for these two women nearing sixty, to connive against a young man in his early twenties, only to be found out... if they're not embarrassed, who would be?

Both of them felt so embarrassed that it seemed they could dig a three-room apartment with their toes.

Shen Yi was somewhat used to it since she's an old hand in the workplace, hardened over her years of entrepreneurial struggle, adept in speaking appropriately depending on who she meets. As her business grew, she no longer needed to be so cautious.

But Wen Nanqing was different. She had been pampered since childhood, the apple of her family's eye. Her parents loved her, not to mention her brother and sister-in-law cared for her deeply. Even after her divorce, Old Master Wen gave her the majority of his own business. She had never felt such guilt before.

A woman like her has such a thin skin. Just thinking about how to explain things to Su Qing next made her blush.

"Let's go, let's go. Come with me, we'll face him together; there's at least some comfort in numbers. Come on, I refuse to believe he can eat us alive," Shen Yi encouraged, pulling Wen Nanqing towards the car.

"You've gotten me into trouble. I'll never help you again!"

Even though she said that, the landlady understood that having some company to share the trouble is beneficial.

In this love triangle, Wen Nanqing was the innocent one. She was originally an outsider, but curiosity pulled her into the mix.

When Shen Yi first told her about it, she only took it as gossip. Even having facilitated Su Qing's move from his previous place to her neighborhood, she was still an outsider.

But as her daughter and Dahuang bonded, it connected her to Su Qing more deeply, until the ex-husband incident blew things wide open.

Having a tenant join her at her daughter's graduation event was one thing, but he even helped resolve issues with her ex-husband. Most importantly, without Su Qing, she might really have been taken advantage of by that scumbag this time.

In simple terms, Su Qing saved her. Although not as dramatically as saving her life like with Shen Yi, this kindness needed acknowledgment. She didn't even have time to think about repaying him, and now this con they concocted had blown up. That's the hardest part to swallow.

If this had happened a few months later, when Shen Yi managed to secure Su Qing, she would have at least been considered a matchmaker. But now, it's too late to say anything positive.

Gritting her teeth, Wen Nanqing shot a glare at Shen Yi, internally cursing her for not even managing a simple task with a kid.

"Xiaoyun, take Dahuang upstairs to play!" Su Qing said, rubbing the girl's head as they returned home.

With Dahuang beside her, the little girl naturally agreed, clutching onto Dahuang's soft neck fur as she went upstairs, ignoring Dahuang's plaintive look.

At this moment, what he was wondering is how much more the two had been hiding from him.

After all, he already knew about the deep connection between them. His smooth sailing recently seemed more than just coincidence now.

Before long, the two women arrived. Even though the living room door was open, they lingered outside, nudging each other, neither wanting to walk in first.

Seeing this, Su Qing glanced at them, took off the red wine-stained shirt, revealing his non-six-pack torso, and quipped:

"Are you coming in or not? If not, I'm shutting the door!"

Upon hearing this, both hurried inside.

"Little brother, it's not what you think," Shen Yi immediately put on a slightly ingratiating smile as she explained.

But it wasn't really to curry favor, mainly because of guilt.

"So, what do I think it is, Auntie?"

With a pretense of embarrassment, Shen Yi said, "How did you know my nickname is Xiaoyi, calling me so intimately like that, isn't it inappropriate?"

Su Qing: ...

Shen Yi, Shen Auntie, Little Aunt, Xiaoyi – her names really rival Zhang Wei's for versatility, from common to generic, they encompass everything.

Meanwhile, Wen Nanqing's approach to apologizing was much more interesting. She quickly stepped forward, taking the dirty shirt from him, and said:

"Oh dear, it's my fault, give it to me. I'll wash it for you. The bathroom is this way, right?"

With that, she dashed into the bathroom with his shirt, shutting the door firmly behind her.

Seeing this, Shen Yi gritted her teeth. This damnable sham friendship, ditching her at a crucial moment?

Su Qing had no options. He walked to the balcony and put on a sun-dried T-shirt before returning to the sofa, lightly saying:

"Doesn't the big boss Shen have anything to say to me?"

"Actually, it's all a misunderstanding. I didn't mean to hide it from you. I did it for your good. Isn't this place much better than where you used to stay?"

Su Qing's eye twitched at this: "So, my changing apartments was your and Sister Wen's doing?"

Though he had his suspicions about their connections, being confirmed now was unsettling. He thought his good fortune was just that, not realizing it was meticulously arranged.

Covering her mouth, Shen Yi felt she might have said too much and quickly scooted closer.

"Oh, those things aren't important..."

"Did I say you could sit? Stand up!"

Shen Yi: ...

...

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