Guan Qishen was truly reaching his breaking point.
If the previous mental torture in his dreams had been bad enough, this time he had truly come into "intimate contact" with the other party. Whenever he recalled that cold, rigid sensation of a hand covering his mouth, Guan Qishen felt his skin crawl. That feeling lingered, refusing to dissipate.
Thinking of this, Guan Qishen finally made up his mind.
In the hospital, inside a VIP ward.
Guan Ruirui looked at Guan Qishen in disbelief. "Brother, you want to take this Jade Plaque?"
Guan Qishen's once handsome face was now marked with obvious exhaustion. However, seeing the hurt in Guan Ruirui's eyes, he tried his best to soften his tone. "Ruirui, something happened at home. I'm just taking the Jade Plaque back temporarily. Once things are settled, I'll return it to you."
Guan Ruirui knitted her brows, but before she could speak, Bai Shuqin spoke up from the side.
"Qishen, you know how unlucky Ruirui is right now. She's relying entirely on this Jade Plaque to ward off trouble. If you take it away now, aren't you just asking for your sister's life?"
"Mom, how could I not care about Ruirui?" Guan Qishen countered. "But I really am in trouble right now, you know that!"
Bai Shuqin remained unsympathetic. "Didn't we already hire a master to go to the house and catch the ghost? If one can't do it, we'll hire another. We'll eventually find one with real ability. But look at your sister's state; she truly cannot afford any more accidents. Qishen, just look out for your sister for once."
Hearing Bai Shuqin's words, Guan Ruirui looked piteously at Guan Qishen. "Brother, don't you love me anymore?"
Guan Qishen felt a surge of irritation. If it were anything else, he would have yielded. After all, he had doted on his younger sister since they were children.
But this was about his life!
"I'm not taking it forever. I'm just taking it back for a couple of days. Once the master arrives, I'll give it back to her!" Guan Qishen's irritation bled into his voice, and he lost his usual patience.
Guan Ruirui immediately lowered her head, looking aggrieved and miserable. This only made Bai Shuqin's heart ache more.
Guan Baocheng was the head of the company; the family and the business both relied on him. Nothing could be allowed to happen to him, so his Jade Plaque was off-limits. But between her son and her daughter, both were her own flesh and blood. Bai Shuqin didn't love her son any less, but the daughter's situation was currently more severe.
Not to mention, her son wasn't the only one in a bad state; her own condition hadn't been great these past two days either. If she could, she wanted a Jade Plaque for herself, but there simply weren't enough to go around!
"Qishen, why don't you think of another way? Go stay at a Taoist temple for a few days or ask for a Peace Amulet? If all else fails... why don't we go to that brat Jiang Xuxu and ask for two more Jade Plaques?"
Bai Shuqin was thinking that she might as well get one for herself. In that moment, she had completely forgotten her promise to Guan Ruirui to help her sue Jiang Xuxu for fraud.
Guan Ruirui immediately objected. "Mom! Jiang Xuxu made me look so miserable, and people are still cursing me all over the internet. How can you still think of going to her?! Have you forgotten you promised to help me sue her?"
Guan Qishen had actually been considering swallowing his pride to approach Jiang Xuxu, but hearing his sister's words, he frowned. "You still want to sue her? Ruirui, do you not understand the situation at home right now?! We might need her to step in and solve our problems. If you sue her now, won't you be forcing her to be completely at odds with our family?"
His tone was harsh, which immediately displeased Bai Shuqin. "Watch your tone! Why are you snapping at your sister? She didn't want any of this to happen. Wasn't it that little wretch Jiang Xuxu who acted heartlessly and harmed her first?"
Guan Qishen let out a cold laugh. "She acted heartlessly? Wasn't that because our family plotted to swap her Life Providence first? If the family had been willing to raise her properly instead of plotting against her, with her current abilities, I don't believe she wouldn't have helped Ruirui and the family."
Bai Shuqin stared at him in utter shock. "Are you blaming me now? That girl knew we wanted to swap her fate and yet she stayed silent until today to strike. She has a deep, scheming heart. If you ask me, she learned those Feng Shui arts specifically to deal with our family. Do you really think she would ever sincerely help us?!"
Guan Ruirui began to sob again. "Mom, don't say anymore. It's all my fault. I'm the one who harmed the family, boohoo..."
Seeing this, Bai Shuqin hurriedly turned back to coax and comfort her.
Guan Qishen was already frustrated enough. He was the one being haunted by a female ghost; he had no mental energy left to keep pampering his sister. He turned around impatiently and left without a second glance.
Seeing his attitude, Guan Ruirui's crying grew even more intense.
Setting aside how the Guan family was falling apart over the Jade Plaques, Jiang Xuxu had finished rearranging her room. Only then did she remember the little Infant Spirit still floating aimlessly around the house. After some thought, she decided to take it to see Lin Ruirui one last time.
However, as her car was just driving out of Yinjiang No. 1, someone suddenly blocked her path.
Looking up, she saw it was Pei Yuancheng, whom she had rebuked previously. After his car accident following his breakup with Guan Ruirui, he had spent a few days in the hospital. Though he was discharged now, his arm was still in a sling. Standing before the car with his injuries, he looked rather pathetic.
"Xuxu! I have something to say to you!"
Hearing the shout, the driver instinctively turned his head. "Miss, this..."
"Ignore him. Just drive past." Jiang Xuxu felt she had nothing left to say to Pei Yuancheng, and it was impossible for her to get out and listen to his nonsense.
The driver understood her attitude. With a cold face, he signaled the security guards of the villa district to pull the man away so he could restart the car.
Pei Yuancheng tried to struggle against the guards, but he was far too weak to break free from the professional security at Yinjiang No. 1. Seeing the car about to leave, he abandoned his dignity as a young master of the Pei Family and began to scream desperately.
"Xuxu! I've already broken up with Guan Ruirui! What more do you want me to do? Xuxu! I don't believe you don't have any feelings for me! If you really didn't like me, why did you used to follow me around every day?!
Jiang Xuxu, you're the one who provoked me first! Do you think you can just throw me away without a word? Or is it that you think you're too good for anyone now that you've become a lady of the Jiang family?!"
His voice was quite loud. A low-profile Maybach, which was about to exit the gate, slowed to a stop. Inside the car, the driver whispered, "President Chu, it looks like that's the Jiang family car ahead."
Sitting in the back seat, Chu Beihe looked up slightly. His dark eyes were indifferent and calm as his gaze landed on the scene ahead. He happened to witness Pei Yuancheng's desperate entanglement.
Thinking of the young girl from the Jiang family, Chu Beihe's expression remained unchanged, but he spoke, "Noisy. Have the security deal with him."
The driver was surprised that his boss would bother with such a trivial matter. He was about to signal the security booth.
However, before he could speak, the Jiang family car ahead suddenly came to a halt. Immediately following that, the driver waved Pei Yuancheng over.
The guards released Pei Yuancheng, who quickly ran to the rear door. He leaned down and said something to the person inside. Then, a smug smile appeared on the young man's face before he climbed into the back seat.
The car drove off.
The Chu Family driver was stunned. He looked back cautiously at his boss.
Chu Beihe had clearly seen everything as well. His deep eyes were unreadable, eventually settling into a flicker of mockery before returning to their usual indifference in an instant.
He gave a cold command. "Let's go."
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