Chapter 272: Liu Changqing’s Crisis

Madam, Please Behave

November 23rd.

Saturday.

The arrival of the weekend was supposed to be something worth celebrating.

After enduring a week of classes, Liu Xiazhi—who wasn’t a big fan of studying—finally felt a tiny bit of freedom.

There was no doubt Liu Xiazhi loved her snacks. Stuff like sandwich cookies, potato chips, shrimp sticks, and chocolate from the supermarket were her absolute favorites.

But her dad, Liu Changqing, had stopped buying her those tasty treats for quite a while now—for the sake of her health.

Realizing her dad wasn’t reliable in this department, Liu Xiazhi, ever the clever one, set her sights on a different ally.

That was none other than An Yuanyao.

For some reason, Liu Xiazhi had clearly noticed that An Yuanyao’s standing in the house was rising steadily.

Even when she went to the bathroom, Liu Xiazhi would catch Dad waiting outside the door.

Noticing this, Liu Xiazhi made a swift decision to cozy up to An Yuanyao. After a few days of effort, she managed to score some delicious snacks once again.

And being the smart girl she was, Liu Xiazhi kept her snacks hidden, following her dad’s instructions to only eat two packs a day.

At the moment, she was sitting cross-legged on the sofa, holding a big bag of chips, her mouth munching nonstop as she stared intently at the TV.

The noise from the front door caught her attention slightly, making her instinctively turn her head toward the entrance.

With the sound of the lock turning, the door opened, and Liu Zhiyue and Zhou Shiyan walked into the living room.

As soon as Liu Xiazhi saw Zhou Shiyan, the look on her face changed to one of horror.

Crap, the annoying one’s here again!

Liu Xiazhi, who hated studying, also wasn’t a fan of Zhou Shiyan’s tutoring. Over time, she’d even started to dislike Zhou Shiyan herself.

After all… this girl, always expressionless and making her repeat the same question over and over, felt like some kind of emotionless teaching assassin.

Liu Changqing came out of the room and saw Zhou Shiyan. He nodded at the two of them, who were changing into indoor slippers, and greeted them.

“Stay for lunch today… I’ll head out now to buy groceries.”

“Okay. Thank you, Uncle Liu.”

“No need to thank me… Treat this like your own home. I should be thanking you for helping Xiazhi with her studies.”

He said with a smile, then walked toward the door to change his shoes and head out for the groceries needed for today’s meal.

After Liu Changqing put on his shoes—

An Yuanyao also came out from the room. When she saw Zhou Shiyan, she smiled and greeted her.

Zhou Shiyan returned the greeting.

But she looked curiously at An Yuanyao, who was now subconsciously holding her stomach—a gesture she hadn’t made when they met last week. It made Zhou Shiyan a little confused.

With the sound of the door closing behind Liu Changqing, Zhou Shiyan slowly turned her gaze toward Liu Xiazhi, whose face was frozen in disbelief. The two locked eyes.

They stared at each other for a while, until Zhou Shiyan finally said,

“Let’s start studying.”

“Nooooo!!!”

—

Downstairs, Liu Changqing walked a bit until he reached his car. He pulled out his keys, ready to drive to the market for groceries.

Suddenly, a sound behind him caught his attention.

He paused just as he was about to open the car door and turned to glance behind him, toward where the noise had come from.

Nothing.

Thinking he was being paranoid, Liu Changqing laughed to himself and shook his head. He reached for the car handle to open it—when he suddenly felt someone approaching from behind.

Just as he turned his head to look, before he could react, something was pulled over his head.

It all happened in an instant.

By the time Liu Changqing processed what was going on, his hands had already been restrained by the people behind him. And he could clearly tell—it wasn’t just one person.

At that moment, a figure popped into his mind: Ye Rong.

Liu Changqing, a man who prided himself on his good character, didn’t think he had offended anyone. But in that split second, the biggest suspect was that old hag Ye Rong.

The thought made Liu Changqing start struggling.

But it was useless.

He could feel the strength of the people restraining him—they were clearly powerful. Plus, with his hands pinned, Liu Changqing couldn’t even use his full strength.

Still struggling, he was lifted off the ground. With the hood over his head, he couldn’t see a thing. He shouted and kicked as he was dragged into a car.

The car door slammed shut, and the engine—clearly waiting—roared to life, quickly pulling away from the area.

And… not a single person nearby saw what had happened.

As the car drove off, the surroundings fell back into calm.

As if… nothing had ever happened.

—

Inside the car.

Realizing he was being moved, Liu Changqing stopped struggling. He was fully aware that someone on each side of him was gripping one of his arms.

He tried pulling free, but when he realized it was useless, he gave up and started thinking about how to get out of this mess.

After going through all the possibilities, Liu Changqing figured brute force wasn’t going to cut it.

If that’s the case… then he needed another tactic.

He calmed his voice a little and said,

“Hey, brothers… how much are you getting for this job? Look, just let me go, and I’ll double it for you tomorrow. How about it?”

“……”

Silence was the only response, like these guys were mute.

Unwilling to give up, Liu Changqing raised the offer.

“Triple?”

“……”

“Four times!”

“……”

“Listen, you can’t be too greedy—five times. That’s my limit!”

“……”

Clearly, these guys weren’t tempted by money. Liu Changqing found himself in a bind.

He was just trying to go buy groceries and cook for the kids!

Thinking about his son and daughter at home, and An Yuanyao and the baby in her belly, Liu Changqing suddenly felt a surge of strength course through him.

Images from all the action movies he’d seen flashed through his mind.

First, break free from the guy on the left, knock out the one on the right, then take down the driver and make a dramatic escape.

He played the scene out in his head once. With no other options, Liu Changqing figured—might as well give it a shot.

Time to act.

After a brief silence, Liu Changqing suddenly made his move. He twisted his left hand, digging into the flesh of the guy holding him, trying to break free and regain his freedom.

But before he could fully act, he felt a sharp blow land on his back.

And along with that hit came a deep, booming voice near his ear:

“Sit still, or you’re in for it!”

They weren’t even on the same level of strength.

Realizing that, Liu Changqing forgot all about the pain in his back and immediately calmed down.

Who knew how long the car had been driving…

Eventually, it came to a stop. Liu Changqing, dragged out of the car, had no clue where he was being taken.

He was led along, up some stairs, and then heard a door being opened. After that, he was shoved into a chair.

After a brief wait, the thing covering his head was finally pulled off.

And once again, he could see the world clearly.