The dinner was originally set to be at the Han family's house, but after the recent incident, not only did Wang Qiqi not want to go, but Han Tao also felt that if people saw them interacting closely during this sensitive time, they might misinterpret things. Meanwhile, Wang Qiqi intended to seize this opportunity to completely sever ties with Wang Dagui, hoping to avoid future entanglements.

Curled up at home, eating steamed buns with congee, Wang Qiqi called Shi Man to vent, and Shi Man just laughed on the other end, saying Wang Qiqi had finally achieved her dream. Wang Qiqi put on a pitiful face, sighing that she could have enjoyed a nice meal, but this whole ruckus resulted in her current plight.

Just after Wang Qiqi finished venting to Shi Man and hung up, someone else called. As soon as she answered, she was met with laughter, "I heard you unleashed your power right after you got home today."

Wang Qiqi understood immediately; it was Song Yao. She pursed her lips, "What choice did I have? If I don't show my strength, some people treat me like a sick cat."

Song Yao didn't linger on the phone, "My mother said they are coming over to my place for dinner tomorrow. They are coming too."

They? "Hmph, I've cut ties with his family anyway. The fewer of these burdensome relatives, the happier I am." Wang Qiqi stated her decision, naturally making sure to mention the earlier outburst of 'that person,' "Someone his age actually learned to tattletale like a child. That's the extent of his capabilities in this life."

Song Yao also expressed her disapproval, "You're the formidable one. But be careful; I heard he threatened to watch you. Why don't you stay at my place for a while?" Song Yao said with concern.

Be careful? A thought stirred in Wang Qiqi's mind. Could he be planning something desperate? But why should she flee? "No need, thank you, older sister. I won't be leaving here." She hadn't done anything wrong. Still, Wang Qiqi knew she really needed to be cautious in the coming days, perhaps being careful when going out.

"Oh, just come stay with us tomorrow; we haven't seen each other in ages." Song Yao knew the chances of Wang Qiqi agreeing to stay were slim. "It's not safe to be coming home too late."

Wang Qiqi hummed in agreement, "Okay, I'll tell brother-in-law to sleep alone then."

After the two chatted a bit more, Wang Qiqi put the now-cooled congee back on the stove, quickly washed the bowl, and returned to her room to prepare for sleep.

After getting up, Wang Qiqi did a quick tidy-up and headed out to buy gifts for Wang Damei's family. Naturally, before leaving, Wang Qiqi checked that no neighbors were around and slipped a letter into the Han family's gate, making her self-deprecatingly feel like she was involved in some underground operation.

After depositing the letter, Wang Qiqi slowly headed downstairs and walked towards the community entrance. On the way, she spotted Wang Dagui and Li Cui, but Wang Qiqi acted as if she hadn't seen them and walked straight past.

When Wang Dagui saw Wang Qiqi approaching, he had already been maintaining a stern face, intending to set an attitude and show her how offensive her words were yesterday. But unexpectedly, Wang Qiqi walked straight past as if she hadn't noticed them at all.

Seeing Wang Qiqi walk so far away, Wang Dagui couldn't hold back, "Wang Qiqi, you see your elders and don't greet them?"

"Elders?" Wang Qiqi picked at her ear, rubbed her eyes, and looked around, "Where are the elders? Don't talk nonsense. I don't have an uncle who ruins his niece's reputation everywhere while his own daughter’s reputation is garbage."

After speaking, Wang Qiqi saw a taxi pulling up outside the community gate, immediately hailed it, and drove off, completely ignoring Wang Dagui standing there, furious to death.

The scene of Wang Qiqi confronting Wang Dagui again was witnessed by surrounding people. If this were before, they might have commented on Wang Qiqi's behavior, but after yesterday's events, many were dissatisfied with Wang Dagui’s actions. The saying 'family shame should not be aired' was one thing, but Wang Dagui was relentlessly trying to ruin Wang Qiqi’s reputation, so anyone would act as Wang Qiqi did under the circumstances.

Wang Dagui stood there pointing at the departing taxi, cursing incessantly. Some onlookers who didn't know the context started to say something, but they were held back by neighbors who recounted yesterday's events. With that explanation, everyone understood why a junior girl would treat an elder with such an attitude.

"What a cruel fate. It's pitiful enough for a child to be parentless, but to have an uncle like this too."

"Tsk, unable to discipline his own daughter, yet he tries to destroy his niece's name."

The surrounding people pointed and whispered about Wang Dagui and Li Cui. This was becoming too much for Li Cui, who had been enjoying a relatively smooth life recently. She shot Wang Dagui a glare, "It's all your fault, you good-for-nothing who messes things up! I told you not to act impulsively, look at you now."

Li Cui angrily clutched her bag and rushed home. That deadbeat Wang Dagui had seriously claimed Wang Qiqi would be very polite when she saw them today. But looking at Wang Qiqi's earlier attitude, Li Cui admitted that she would react the same way. The problem was that Wang Qiqi had revealed Wang Rui's situation and that Wang Dagui had struck the Han family boy, yet he remained quiet about it—what kind of situation was that? What angered Li Cui more was that he hadn't listened to her advice, insisting on his own plan. Now look—he'd botched it, Wang Qiqi was furious and declared she was severing ties. With this development, could the matter with the Gao family still be resolved?

Wang Rui had originally planned to go out with Gao Kai today, but for some reason, Li Cui had gone mad yesterday and locked Wang Rui at home. Although unhappy, Wang Rui had no choice but to stay home and chat with Gao Kai on the phone. To her surprise, Gao Kai had gone out; she learned from the housekeeper that it was a high school reunion. This made Wang Rui recall the faces of the people who used to surround Gao Kai, especially a few girls who were quite fond of him and rather dismissive of her. Of course, those weren't the main points; the key issue was Wang Rui’s worry that something might happen between Gao Kai and one of those girls.

The possibility made Wang Rui restless. She quickly changed her clothes, grabbed her bag, and rushed out. Li Cui had just reached the door when she saw the gate being thrown open, and her daughter, Wang Rui, shot out like a cannonball. "Where are you going?"

"To find Gao Kai," Wang Rui threw back the sentence and left. Just then, two neighbors were coming downstairs, and the neighbor across the hall opened their door to leave. They all heard the exchange, and Li Cui's face immediately soured.

Li Cui had initially planned to keep her daughter locked up for a few days after such a big scene, to show everyone that Wang Rui was not the kind of person Wang Qiqi described. But her daughter's desperate rush to find Gao Kai was witnessed by the neighbors, and Li Cui could detect their teasing looks, which revealed their assessment of Wang Rui. "That child is something else; even if Gao Kai is tutoring her, does she have to rush this urgently?"

People mostly just listened to Li Cui’s words. Everyone knew how terrible Wang Rui’s grades were; talking about tutoring, people couldn't help but wonder if it was actual tutoring or 'physical communication.'

Li Cui clearly saw the thoughts in the neighbors' eyes, but what could she do? Refute them? Claim Wang Qiqi was lying? Wang Qiqi would certainly point out she had witnesses. Li Cui was well aware of how high-profile her daughter was in Shencheng.

Li Cui silently closed the door, then quietly turned on the television to watch the stock market. Currently, only watching the market offered Li Cui a slight return of confidence. Wang Dagui returned home to find Li Cui watching TV and plopped down, "We're going to Big Sister's for dinner, bring something along."

"Didn't you say you had money and you'd buy it?" Li Cui shot a look at the incompetent Wang Dagui. Didn't this man boast yesterday about how rich he was? Why was he asking her to prepare things now?

"I just saw Little Rui; she said she was going out and took five hundred yuan from me." Wang Dagui did have some money on him, but the problem was his daughter had taken one thousand yuan earlier. He didn't have much left, and the remaining thousand-plus was meant for his afternoon card game, his principal.

"Five hundred?" Li Cui looked at Wang Dagui, noticing his eyes didn't dare meet hers. She didn't want to press him on the actual amount he gave. Li Cui's current thought was that men were unreliable, and her daughter might be too. Wang Rui used to often say how filial she would be in the future, but now, forget it. Besides, the Gao family wasn't easy to deal with. Li Cui glanced at the booming stock market, thinking of her secret savings—money she had always been afraid to touch. Now, she felt it was time to plan for herself. "I'm going out for a bit to buy something for your sister. You eat lunch by yourself."

Li Cui grabbed some items from the room and left directly. Wang Dagui didn't take Li Cui's abnormal behavior too seriously; his mind was entirely focused on how he would discipline Wang Qiqi tonight—that is, provided Wang Qiqi was willing to call him 'uncle'; otherwise, all plans were moot.

Wang Qiqi took a taxi to the mall and met up with Shi Man. While shopping, she continued to ramble, also recounting the phone call from Song Yao earlier. "Then you're in real danger?" Shi Man hadn't expected Wang Dagui would actually threaten Wang Qiqi.

Wang Qiqi admitted she wasn't entirely unconcerned, "What else can I do? I can't exactly go stay at my aunt's house. Luckily, my windows and doors outside all have security bars, so people can't climb in. I just need to be careful coming and going."

"That's the only way," Shi Man thought for a moment and couldn't come up with a better solution. "If you come back too late at night, take a taxi to the bottom of your building and have Han Tao come down to meet you."

Wang Qiqi felt Shi Man's suggestion was more trouble than it was worth. "Never mind, no one is usually visiting my place late anyway. I'll just be careful." At worst, Wang Dagui would gather people to teach her a lesson. At worst, she wouldn't go out at night, and she didn't really need to go out anyway.

Shi Man agreed, "If anything happens, remember to call me." But Shi Man felt it necessary to discuss this with Zhu Lina, just in case Wang Dagui was only trying to scare Wang Qiqi, but what if he actually went through with it? (To be continued)

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