Chapter 139: A Terrible Idea

When Chen Xin returned with the two teenagers, Tian Xiaobao and Zhou Hao had already finished their business and were discussing the current whereabouts of their former comrades-in-arms.

"I’ll whip up some dinner; you two keep talking," Chen Xin said, quickly tidying the kitchen and putting away the items she had just purchased. Fortunately, the old cooking utensils were still in the small kitchen; otherwise, they would have been forced to settle for something very simple tonight.

She had originally planned to make iron-plate beef, but upon returning, she remembered there was no iron plate available. She decided to pivot to black pepper beef, kung pao chicken, stuffed bell peppers, a bone and kelp soup, and a stir-fried vegetable dish.

Chen Xin was a fast cook, and the lively teenager Zhou Yu offered to help. While he couldn't chop vegetables, he was perfectly capable of snapping greens and washing ginger and garlic.

"Sister Xin, I want to have seafood fried rice," Zhou Yu said, his appetite piqued when he saw the frozen shrimp among the groceries.

"Do you have to go back to the dormitory tonight?"

"Probably not. Zhou Sheng and I asked our teacher for leave, saying we were helping my brother move." They had just completed a small project, and their teacher had granted them a day and a half of personal time. However, leaving required formal permission and the assurance that they would be accompanied by an adult, which was only granted because of the close relationship between their family and the teacher, and the knowledge that Zhou Hao would be staying nearby for a few days.

"Alright, I’ll make it for you tonight. I’ll put it in the fridge so you can have it tomorrow morning, okay? I have guests tonight, so fried rice isn't quite appropriate."

"Yes, please! I want extra, and make it spicy. Zhou Sheng doesn't want spice; he likes sweet and sour."

Zhou Yu was a talkative boy; he didn't need to be prompted to chatter away. As Chen Xin listened to his stories, her hands moved quickly, chopping and dicing. Within an hour, all the prep work was done, and everything was ready for the pan.

She used an earthenware pot to stew the bone broth over a high flame. The bubbling soup turned a milky white, and the scent of meat mingled with the sweetness of the daikon radish, steam rising in a way that made one’s throat tighten with anticipation.

While the soup simmered, she mixed finely minced meat with mashed sweet potato, seasoned it with black pepper and cumin, and stuffed the mixture into washed, de-stemmed bell peppers. These were steamed over high heat, then finished with a savory fish-fragrant sauce drizzled over the quartered pieces.

"Sister Xin, your cooking smells so good. Can Zhou Sheng and I come over for dinner every night?"

Chen Xin laughed. "I’m not here every day. I’m only here today because your brother asked for some help. I have classes and work to attend to."

Zhou Yu rolled his eyes, a look of desperation crossing his face. His brother’s culinary skills were limited to boiling noodles; there was no hope of anything else. If Chen Xin didn't come to cook, what would they eat?

Zhou Sheng, who had been playing a handheld game by the kitchen door, spoke up coldly: "We want to improve our quality of life, not be poisoned by my brother. Zhou Yu is just a fool; what he means is, whenever you come over to cook, could you please cook enough for us, too?"

Chen Xin chuckled. "Fine. If I’m coming to cook, you two can request the dishes—as long as the ingredients are available."

The local market had a limited selection, and the supermarket wasn't the modern, all-encompassing kind, so the boys' requests were naturally constrained. Chen Xin wasn't just making idle promises.

Zhou Sheng, clearly not one for manual labor, retreated to the living room to lounge on the armchair and resume his game.

"Brother Hao, I’ve made contact. I’ll have someone look into it when I go back," Tian Xiaobao said, walking over from the balcony. He had been on the phone, and it seemed the person he contacted happened to know about the situation between Xing Kai and the female teaching assistant.

"It’s quite a coincidence. When that teaching assistant was still an undergraduate, she dated a friend of one of my subordinates for a while. They only lasted two months before breaking up. But last summer, that friend got married, and while on their honeymoon, they ran into this woman. She was with this guy, wearing matching outfits and staying in a double room, acting very intimate. After the four of them bumped into each other, they actually had a meal together. My friend’s buddy even has a photo of the four of them from that day."

The turn of events was so dramatic that everyone at the table stopped eating, stunned.

"The woman actually bragged that her boyfriend was a Ph.D. student at Jin University. It seems this boyfriend helped her write her self-recommendation letter to stay at the school, and he even hired people to do her two graduation design projects. I think you should follow this lead and find the person Xing Kai hired to help."

Chen Xin scribbled this down on a note, intending to tell Qin Qing’s parents so they could see if they could track this person down.

"Also, there is one more thing. Don't get angry when you hear this," Tian Xiaobao hesitated. "Actually, Xing Kai had a motive for using your classmate as a shield. They were planning to commit fraud, but Xing Kai seemed reluctant, and they reached a stalemate. That might be why the assistant eventually dumped him."

"Fraud?" Chen Xin was bewildered.

"Yes. I’ll be honest with you," Tian Xiaobao said with a bitter smile. "As I said, she dated my friend's buddy for a while. Even after they broke up, she kept a lot of his things. Her ex didn't care, but his wife was resentful. When she heard Xing Kai complaining that they couldn't get married because they couldn't afford a house, she came up with a wicked scheme."

"Marriage fraud?" Chen Xin asked tentatively. "So, Qin Qing was their target?"

"Likely. My friend wasn't entirely sure, but he heard from his buddy that the wife jokingly suggested they find someone wealthy, get close to them, and once the house was bought and both their names were on the deed, they would wait for an opportunity to break up—or even frame the other person for infidelity. That way, they could swallow the house whole, and their problems would be solved."

"That is truly a wicked scheme!" Zhou Yu exclaimed, his worldview thoroughly shattered.