"Interrogation"

Beside the coffee table, Jiang Cheng and Su Wan sat on the sofa, while Shen Qing and the Heroine pulled up stools to sit opposite them; the atmosphere felt like a formal interrogation.

"That girl from earlier, what exactly is your relationship with her?"

Su Wan spoke first: "Is she really your girlfriend?"

Jiang Cheng nodded, then added another question.

"Also, how do you know the chairman of Mountain River Heavy Industry? Don't tell me it's just because his son is your colleague—would he invite you all to dinner just for that?"

He clearly remembered Father Xie saying he was the one hosting today; why would the chairman of a major conglomerate treat a few kids to a meal?

"No, you're both firing questions at once, which one do you want me to answer first?"

Shen Qing raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.

"One at a time."

Hearing this, Shen Qing's gaze drifted, and he gave a dry cough. "She was."

"Hmm?"

"Gu Jingshi and I dated for two years in college, but we broke up in the first half of this year."

Shen Qing braced himself and explained, "As for knowing Uncle Xie, it really is because of Xie Chong. Don't look at me like that—I told you I performed a heroic deed, and he was the one I saved."

He pulled out his phone and brought up the text message from the Public Security Bureau regarding his reward. "Look, here's the proof. I even helped catch a burglary ring while I was at it."

Jiang Cheng's brow furrowed instantly. "You brat, have you grown some guts? You dared to provoke a burglary ring?"

"It turned out fine, didn't it?" Shen Qing muttered.

"You still dare to talk back?"

Jiang Cheng stood up abruptly and began looking around; when it came to safety issues, he had zero tolerance!

Seeing this, Shen Qing instinctively wanted to bolt.

"Hey, hey, Big Brother, it's not like when we were kids anymore. If you try to start something, you might not even be able to beat me."

Jiang Cheng's movements stiffened, and under Su Wan's gaze, he could only suppress his temper and continue:

"So, you got yourself a girlfriend and didn't even mention a word of it? Don't you need money to date?"

Including his school stipend, Shen Qing only made a little over a thousand yuan a month.

That was probably only enough to feed himself, right?

"I don't. We mostly just walked around the snack street, and a lot of the time we just sat there and talked."

Hearing this, Su Wan and Jiang Cheng cast him astonished looks.

Setting aside whether a rich young lady would be so easily satisfied, was that even how a relationship was supposed to work?

Jiang Cheng asked instinctively: "So, the breakup was your fault?"

"No, Big Brother, what are you implying?"

Shen Qing's eyes widened as he shook his head vigorously. "She just didn't like running around; she preferred staying in quiet places. That was just how we interacted."

"It wasn't anyone's fault, we just weren't a good fit. It's not like you didn't see her today."

"Then why did she still say you were her boyfriend?"

"How would I know that?"

"...Fair point." Jiang Cheng nodded.

It wasn't that Shen Qing wasn't outstanding, but the inherent gap between them was too vast. He was an orphan; even if the girl didn't mind, her family might not be so accepting.

Seeing this, Su Wan didn't press further and shifted the topic. "Then what's the situation with Shen Qingtang?"

Hearing that intimate address, Shen Qing's eyelid twitched, and he instinctively looked toward Shen Qingtang. What was going on?

He probed: "You've been here for so long, shouldn't you already know?"

"We only want to hear it from you," Su Wan said meaningfully. "So you'd better have a reasonable explanation. Shen Qingtang seems like she just turned eighteen."

Shen Qing looked at Shen Qingtang again; she had just turned eighteen, and she did look quite young.

Damn, that was close. I almost risked ending up in a detention center.

Shen Qing hurriedly explained, "She's just a friend staying over. The time she wore my clothes was an accident; she just arrived here recently, and her clothes were dirty with nothing else to change into."

Facing the skeptical gazes of Jiang Cheng and his wife, he raised his voice.

"Everything I'm saying is true! She's all alone and helpless here, so I'm looking after her like a little sister!

Besides, I have two bedrooms here; we are completely innocent!"

Shen Qing's tone was impassioned, nearly swearing to the heavens.

Shen Qingtang also nodded, looking a bit reserved as she said, "Sister-in-law, everything Shen Qing said is true."

The moment the words left her lips, Shen Qing's eyes widened, and he shot a fierce glare at the Heroine. Was that right? Was she sure that wouldn't cause even more misunderstandings?

Though, calling his friend's older brother and sister-in-law by those titles didn't seem technically wrong.

Innocent and pure?

Sure enough, Jiang Cheng and Su Wan wore expressions that clearly said, "Keep making things up," but they didn't press the matter further.

"Regardless of whether it's true or not, you'd better find a way to handle your relationship with that girl from earlier today."

Half an hour later, an exhausted Shen Qing finally saw his brother and sister-in-law off.

He closed the door, leaned against it with a long sigh, and then looked at Shen Qingtang, smiling suddenly after a moment of silence.

"So, Heroine Tang, what exactly did you two talk about while I was gone?

My brother and sister-in-law didn't even ask about your identity, your family background, or even how we met. I had even prepared a script for it."

"We didn't talk about much." Shen Qingtang shook her head.

"Just how old I am, what my name is, and then... sister-in-law saw me watching cooking videos, so she taught me how to cook."

She was only the benefactor's sister-in-law, so she just followed along with the title...

The heroine suddenly seemed a bit distracted.

"That's it?"

Seeing Shen Qingtang nod after a brief pause, Shen Qing was puzzled. Was it really that easy to pass the test?

No, he must be sick in the head; it was a good thing they didn't ask.

Just as Shen Qing was lost in his wild thoughts, Shen Qingtang suddenly asked, "What is a girlfriend?"

"It's someone you're supposed to marry."

Shen Qing scratched his head. "Though, you might break up halfway through."

Shen Qingtang let out an "Oh," then asked, "So, was it her fault?"

"No, why are you curious about this too?" Shen Qing was caught between laughter and tears. "Didn't I say it? We just weren't compatible. But why don't you suspect me?"

The corners of his mouth curled up subconsciously.

"You? You probably don't have the guts, do you?" Shen Qingtang tilted her head.

Shen Qing: "..."

"I appreciate your trust, but couldn't you give me a positive evaluation for once?"

Shen Qing shook his head, deciding not to dwell on this question. "Right, you said sister-in-law taught you to cook. Which dish was it?"

Perhaps, once Shen Qingtang truly mastered the culinary arts... Shen Qing's mouth curled up involuntarily; he was starting to daydream.

He followed Shen Qingtang's gaze.

He took a bite of the "shredded potatoes," and his expression instantly contorted.

That wasn't shredded potatoes; it was clearly "ginger strips stir-fried with shredded potatoes." He had no idea whose wicked idea that was.

Heroine Tang's culinary journey had a long and arduous road ahead!

"This was Big Brother's wicked idea, wasn't it?"

"Big Brother said, 'Eat radishes in winter and ginger in summer,' and that you like eating ginger."

Shen Qing let out a dry laugh.

"Come to think of it, we might run into this situation again, and your identity issue can't be dragged out forever.

I don't know if you can go back, but you can't just remain a 'ghost' forever."

He furrowed his brows.

Years ago, he might have been able to pass her off as someone without registration, but it was very troublesome now. More importantly, there was no trace of Heroine Tang to be found.

"Is my identity very troublesome?" Shen Qingtang asked.

"Let me align our stories first," Shen Qing said, pulling out his phone's memo app. "Even though they didn't ask, we should be prepared just in case."

"You came from a remote mountain village and are an orphan... but how did you and I meet?"

"Orphan..."

Just as Shen Qing was struggling with the details, Shen Qingtang seemed to react strongly upon hearing those two words.

"No."

"Hm?"

"I am not an orphan!"

Shen Qingtang's voice suddenly rose, her expression tense, giving Shen Qing a start.

"Fine, you're not, you're not. This was just to give you a reasonable identity in this world."

He felt that his tolerance for the heroine was surprisingly high. But what about an ID card?

Report it?

With demons and monsters everywhere these days, would it be that strange for an ancient female bodyguard to appear?

The thought had barely surfaced before he shook it out of his mind.

"Forget it," Shen Qing slapped his thigh and stood up. "I got off work early today and have nothing to do. Come, I'll teach you math!"

She actually dared to yell at him; he would make this heroine taste the power of modern nine-year compulsory education!