The Qiu's family hall.
Master Qiu was giving a tongue-lashing to the assembled Qius standing before him.
This time, the Qiu family had suffered a huge loss of face.
Among all the Qius, only Qiu Mu-Cheng's family was spared from embarrassment. The other four branches of the family had all been arrested. And Jiang Hong had made the situation even more ridiculous by inviting members of her maiden family to the banquet. In the end, the guests from the Jiang family had also gotten themselves arrested.
Han Li and Qiu Lei, who were eavesdropping outside the door, laughed till their sides split.
"Hahaha-"
"Mu-Cheng, these people had it coming!"
"Serve them right for acting like snobbish jerks!"
Master Qiu's lecture was still going on, and the assembled Qius were all blushing with shame. But, even now, Jiang Hong was still attempting to place the blame on Chu Wen-Fei.
"Chu Wen-Fei was the one who said that he was going to foot the bill. And he even told us to order the expensive items on the menu,” she explained.
"How dare you blame Wen-Fei?"
"Wen-Fei was just being polite. How could you take him seriously? If he told you to jump off a bridge, would you do it?"
"This time, if Wen-Fei's father had not come forward with the money, you people would still be in jail!"
Master Qiu kept on lashing out at his family members, until their faces were flushed red with shame.
When evening descended, the old patriarch finally stopped his lecture. The assembled Qius were told to go home and reflect upon their actions.
When Jiang Hong and the other Qius exited the hall, they caught sight of Han Li and her family, who were trying to stop themselves from laughing gleefully.
"Hmph, aren't you being a little too happy?"
"If Xu Lei hadn't foot the bill for you, your family would have been arrested as well."
"Get out of our way!"
Qiu Mu-Ying roughly pushed her cousin aside and walked away with an ugly expression on her face.
Clearly, last night's banquet had caused Qiu Mu-Ying's family to lose face. If Chu Wen-Fei's father had not come forward to pay off their dinner tab, she and her family would never be able to hold their heads up in front of the other Qius.
But, even though they had been released, Jiang Hong and the other Qius no longer treated Qiu Mu-Ying's family as respectfully as before.
That was only to be expected.
If Qiu Mu-Ying's family had not tried to show off, none of them would have been arrested!
"If you don't have the money, then don't freaking try to show off like that!”
Jiang Hong hissed angrily and left for home.
And so, the Qiu's family meeting ended in this manner. Qiu Mu-Cheng's family went to console Master Qiu for a while and, afterward, they left the family house as well. Because Qiu Mu-Cheng had agreed to meet Su Qian tonight, she made her way to the latter's house in the suburb.
"It should be here?”
As she looked at the European-style detached house, Qiu Mu-Cheng gave her friend a call and told her to come open the gate.
"Cheng-Cheng, you open it yourself. I will tell you the password."
Su Qian sounded busy. After anxiously telling her friend the password, she ended the call.
Qiu Mu-Cheng smiled awkwardly and opened the gate herself.
"Qian-Qian, what are you doing?"
"You are dressed so skimpily. Aren't you afraid of attracting ruffians?"
When Qiu Mu-Cheng stepped into the house, she could see that her friend was just wearing a thin gauze dress. As the hem swished and swayed about, peeks of Su Qian's tantalizing white thighs could be seen.
And Qiu Mu-Cheng was rendered speechless by the sight before her.
She is not wearing her underwear!
"Shhh~"
"Cheng-Cheng, don't talk. Be quiet and listen."
Instead of answering her friend, Su Qian made a shushing gesture. Just then, she was pressed up against the wall by the window like a cat in heat, seemingly intoxicated as she listened to something coming from outside.
It was only then that Qiu Mu-Cheng noticed the music drifting in from outside the window.
The sound was melodious and lingered on in the air. It reminded the listeners of the bright moon hanging above the desolate mountains and the wind sweeping through the deepest valleys. The music was so beautiful and touching; even Qiu Mu-Cheng was struck dumb in a moment. As she listened, she could feel the tiredness washing away from her.
"What a beautiful tune?"
"Is... is this a harmonica?"
Qiu Mu-Cheng exclaimed involuntarily.
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