Chapter 1213: Each Harboring Their Own Secret Agenda (Essence Edition)

He spoke earnestly and sincerely to his daughter: "Min'er, you are my only daughter, the one I have held in the palm of my hand since you were small. How could I push you into a pit of fire? If I, your father, didn't have absolutely no other choice, I wouldn't let you take such a risk..."

He spoke a series of earnest and sincere words to his daughter.

The general idea was that marrying Zhu Qingrui was a strategic maneuver to gain his trust and use him to get things done.

Then, once the timing was right, they could finish him off and find someone they actually liked to spend their life with later.

Liu Min did not like Zhu Qingrui.

Although he was smart enough, he always exuded a cold, sinister aura that made one shiver even in the middle of June.

The father and daughter chatted in the room for a full three hours; at first, Liu Min disagreed, but later she could not withstand her father's bitter pleading, so she agreed.

The father and daughter reached an agreement.

Liu Quan went to tell Zhu Qingrui that he wanted to marry off his only daughter to him as his wife, and asked if he agreed.

He barely hesitated and agreed immediately.

Marrying Liu Min'er meant no loss to him whatsoever!

Liu Quan had no son, so marrying his daughter was equivalent to taking over all his assets.

This was a deal that guaranteed profit without risk; there was truly no reason to refuse.

The two held their wedding at the Ji Family; during these difficult times, everything was kept simple.

Although the wedding was crude, all the necessary rituals were performed.

After the wedding, Liu Quan brought up the old topic again, saying he wanted to go to Jiangzhou to find the Treasure!

This time, Zhu Qingrui did not get angry; he smiled at his father-in-law and said, "Father, you and your daughter are newly married. I can't just abandon my bride and go far away right after the wedding, can I? If you really want to go, I can't stop you. How about this: you take some people to Jiangzhou to find the Treasure, and I will stay here to develop and build things, waiting for your triumphant return!"

With his daughter staying here, Liu Quan thought he wouldn't be able to pull any other tricks, so he agreed.

Jiangzhou.

Weekend.

"Knock, knock, knock."

At five o'clock in the afternoon, Yun Qitian knocked on Shi Ran's office door right on time.

Not a minute more, not a second less.

The door opened at the speed of light. Shi Ran had already changed into her off-duty clothes, carrying a small crossbody bag, and wearing a wide-brimmed hat with a little yellow duck on it.

"Yo, not bad!"

Yun Qitian praised: "You look like a middle school student, lively and playful, really not bad."

"Are you complimenting me?" Shi Ran glared at him playfully.

"Of course, of course, I am one hundred percent complimenting you."

Yun Qitian explained: "You are good in every way, it's just that you are too serious. Do you know what the employees call you behind your back? They all call you the Iceberg Beauty."

"Think about it, how cold is an iceberg? Why call a perfectly fine girl an Iceberg Beauty? A beauty is a beauty, why must you add 'iceberg' to it?"

Shi Ran was amused by him.

She couldn't keep a straight face even if she wanted to.

Yun Qitian just had that ability; he could always make people happy, and it was hard to be gloomy when with him.

"Let's go, stop with the glib talk."

The two walked out of the office building.

They drove directly to a Villa in the suburbs.

Shi Ran sat in the car while Yun Qitian went up to ring the doorbell.

"Ding-dong—"

The door opened quickly, and a little girl dressed much like Shi Ran came bouncing out.

"Brother Qi Tian, you are very punctual."

"Shouldn't you compliment me for being punctual?"

Qi Shishi: "I already finished complimenting you; I complimented you for being very punctual."

Yun Qitian:...

Does that count as a compliment?

Fine, the Qi Family members are all like this anyway.

He didn't care if the little girl was complimenting him sincerely; as long as Shi Ran was happy, he was happy.

The big one and the little one came over hand in hand, bouncing along.

The little girl opened the car door, sat affectionately beside Shi Ran, and leaned into her arms: "Sister Shi Ran, did you miss me? I missed you so much."

Shi Ran touched the little girl's head: "I did. Have you decided if we are going to watch a movie or go eat today?"

The little girl: "I want to go to the amusement park. Last time Mother Xu took me, she wouldn't let me play this, and said that was dangerous; it was very boring."

The family she was fostered with had a hostess who was a teacher and very strict.

No matter what she did, she was meticulous.

Safety could be guaranteed, but it was too safe to be any fun.

Going to an amusement park, she wouldn't allow this or that; in the teacher's eyes, even riding the carousel was dangerous.

Qi Shishi had finally managed to go to an amusement park once, but ended up not playing anything. Now that Brother Qi Tian and Sister Shi Ran were taking her out, she wanted to play everything she hadn't played before!

"Let's go, amusement park!"

"Let's go!"

"We're off, off to the amusement park!"

The three of them set off happily.

On the way, Shi Ran reminded the little girl: "Shi Shishi, you must remember to keep the matter of me taking you out to play a secret. If you tell your brother, even if it's by accident, I won't ever accompany you to play again."

She had already said the same thing twice.

This was the third time; important things must be said three times.

"I know, I've remembered it. If Brother asks, I'll say Brother Qi Tian took me out to play, and I won't mention Sister Shi Ran even once."

The little girl was very clever.

Although she did not quite understand what had happened between the adults, she knew that things were different now than they were before.

Amusement park.

The three of them rode the Roller Coaster, the crazy Pirate Ship, the Ferris Wheel, and the carousel.

The child was incredibly happy, the happiest she had been since her parents left; she was jumping for joy, but ended up accidentally bumping into a little boy.

The little boy was knocked onto his bottom and started wailing with a "waa."

"I'm sorry," Qi Shishi apologized.

"Waa—"

"Waa, waa—"

"Waa, waa, waa—"

The little boy heard the apology, but it did not stop him from crying; instead, he cried even harder.

A woman buying ice cream nearby heard the child crying and immediately ran over, grabbing Qi Shishi hard and giving her a shove; the little girl was thrown hard to the ground, but she did not cry.

She just stared at the woman with her big eyes, tears swirling in her eye sockets as she tried hard not to let them fall.

The woman began to curse: "You little brat, what are you looking at? You bumped into my son and you think you're in the right? You money-losing, wretched girl, how dare you bump into my son?"

"What are those two big eyeballs of yours for? If you aren't going to look where you're going, you might as well gouge them out..."

This woman's cursing was very vulgar, and countless foul words splashed onto Qi Shishi like sewage.

Yun Qitian tried to reason with her: "Can you please be reasonable? It was our fault for bumping into your child first, but we didn't do it on purpose, and we have already apologized..."

"Is an apology so great? Is an apology so great?"

Seeing someone talk back, the woman immediately rushed at Yun Qitian like a mad dog: "Your little brat bumped into my precious son, and you think a light apology is the end of it? Bah! Not a chance! She has to kneel and kowtow to my son to apologize, and pay for our medical expenses, emotional distress, and nutritional supplements..."