Chapter 39

All of the anger Qiao Mu had toward Zhou Jieru immediately turned into fear and horror when she saw Li Yan.

Why was this man always showing up at the wrong time?!

Qiao Mu did not know if he had heard their conversation just now. Right now, his gaze was sizing Qiao Mu up, making her terribly uneasy.

Qiao Mu was already unable to deal with Zhou Jieru regarding the money. She took a step forward to get closer to Li Yan, “Uncle, why are you here? What a coincidence!”

“Uncle?” Chi Xia was stunned. This was the uncle that Qiao Mu always talked about?

God, the handsome man standing before them was actually so young!

Li Yan raised his eyebrows nonchalantly, “I’m just passing by, but it seems like I’ve come across a good show.”

Zhou Jieru was not dumb. When she heard Qiao Mu address this man as her uncle, she immediately drew the connection to the Qiao family. Back then, Zhou Jieru had personally promised Qiao Jiannan that she would not meet Qiao Mu. She could not let the Qiao family know that she was in contact with Qiao Mu.

“Who’s this?” Li Yan glanced indifferently at Zhou Jieru.

Without waiting for Qiao Mu to speak up, Zhou Jieru straightaway said, “I was just passing by, and these two young ladies had a little misunderstanding. Nothing serious, really. Don’t let me get in your way.”

Qiao Mu was utterly disappointed. Her own birth mother just told others that she was just a passerby.

Qiao Mu’s attitude toward Li Yan became cold and indifferent after Zhou Jieru left, “Uncle, I’ll leave first if there’s nothing important.”

“Get in the car!” Li Yan said coldly.

Qiao Mu took a step back, “I’m going back to campus with my classmate.”

“Do you need me to drag you to the car?”

Qiao Mu was left speechless.

…..

Qiao Mu remained silent in the car. She could not suppress her nervousness when the man was sitting so close beside her.

She did not know if Li Yan had heard the conversion between Zhou Jieru and her just now. She could not tell anything at all from his emotionless eyes.

Li Yan turned around to look at the figure that was sitting upright as the corners of his lips turned downward, “My dear niece, are you afraid of me?”

“No!” Qiao Mu pretended to be calm as she shook her head.

“You’re not afraid? You left my office so arrogantly last time, and you’re actually not even a little bit afraid of me? You really have guts, huh!”

Qiao Mu’s expression changed abruptly as she started to laugh dryly, “Uncle, I… that time, it just happened that I was having mood swings. You know right, women’s problems!”

“Oh, I see.” Li Yan nodded. “Then was the conflict you had on the street because of your mood swings?”

“That was…” Qiao Mu bit her lip and she did not know how to continue.

She did not want to lie, and she did not want to call her birth mother a stranger. But she also did not want to let him know that that person was her birth mother.

Li Yan lowered his gaze. Her black yet bright eyes were flickering. Her lost expression seemed… heartbreaking.

Actually, Li Yan had already overheard the conversation when Li Yan walked over.

That woman said Qiao Mu was her daughter, and it was right for her to spend Qiao Mu’s money.

Some things instantly made sense to him.

This witty little thing had always handled matters in the Qiao family with ease, and even Yu Tingyun and her daughter could not make things difficult for her. But she was going through so much for the birth mother who had once sold her off.

At that moment, Li Yan’s disposition took a turn for the worst!

Just when Qiao Mu was racking her brains to think of a solution, Li Yan suddenly changed the topic, “Are you happy when you’re using my card to shop? Where are the things you’ve bought?”

Qiao Mu let out a sigh of relief.

When he mentioned the shopping card, Qiao Mu took the card out of the bag and passed it to Li Yan, “I just bought a bag for my friend. I’ll return the card to you now.”

Li Yan’s expression turned slightly colder, “You took away my card so arrogantly that day, but you’re returning it so meekly now?”