Chapter 508: Chapter 497: Zhan Qipei is Caught by Qiao Jing Chapter 508: Chapter 497: Zhan Qipei is Caught by Qiao Jing After hearing Zhan Nanqing’s idea, Qiao Jing was startled and frowned.

“Are you sure I can pull off cross-dressing as a man?”

She had never tried dressing up as a man before, so she didn’t know whether she would be recognized or not.

If she were recognized, wouldn’t that be even more embarrassing?

Zhan Nanqing took out her phone, opened a shopping app, and began searching for wigs and other items.

“You can definitely do it, Qiao Jing, I believe in you! I’m going to order some stuff for you now.”

She had to score some points in front of Lu Yingying and the others; otherwise, she would be the only single person at the party and truly a lone dog.

Her mind automatically conjured up an image of her disastrous situation: while everyone else was hugging and being lovey-dovey, what could she hug?

All she could embrace were a glass of wine, the cold columns, walls, sofas…

That would be too embarrassing!!

Qiao Jing was furrowing her brows, contemplating the feasibility of the idea.

“Why not let another guy pretend to be your boyfriend? I’m a woman, after all; there will be inconveniences.”

She paused, searching her mind for potential candidates.

“Like the fourth guy, or Lu Zijiao, I could ask them for help, or you could ask your guy friends for help?”

A look of extreme distaste crossed Zhan Nanqing’s face, and she uttered a “tsk.”

“Xu Moqian? I definitely don’t want his help; I disdain him enough as it is, let alone having him pretend to be my boyfriend. He wishes! Besides, Lu Zijiao is famously known as a playboy in the capital. All the men I know there are well-known figures; they would be recognized if they went.”

She paused, then pulled out a tissue from the desk and pretended to start wiping away tears.

“Qiao Jing, you’re my only hope now. If you don’t help me, I’ll be the one hugging a cold column while others are hugging their boyfriends. After slashing fish at RT Mart for ten years, my heart has turned as cold as the cutting board, but it still twinges with pain when something like this happens…”

“What fish at RT Mart?” Qiao Jing asked, confused.

Zhan Nanqing slapped her forehead and smacked her lips.

“Ah, I forgot you don’t like surfing the internet. It’s a popular meme online, just an inside joke. It’s a way for young people to express their indifference, like ‘lying flat.’
Seeing Zhan Nanqing resort to an internet meme in desperation, Qiao Jing helplessly touched her forehead.

“Alright then, when and where is the party?”

It seemed she had no choice but to help.

Otherwise, it would indeed be quite pitiful for Zhan Nanqing to be the only one hugging a column.

A happy smile finally appeared on Zhan Nanqing’s face as she resumed her search for the men’s apparel needed.

“At the Fu Huang Hotel in the city center, tomorrow night at eight o’clock.”

Qiao Jing made a mental note of the time and nodded.

“Okay, got it.”

Just then, a news alert appeared on Zhan Nanqing’s phone, and she unintentionally clicked on it and read the content aloud.

“Several days ago, a group of gangsters who liked to cause trouble were caught in front of a barbecue restaurant and sentenced to five years in prison?”

When she heard ‘barbecue restaurant,’ Qiao Jing glanced sideways at Zhan Nanqing.

“Let me have a look.”

If she wasn’t mistaken, these were the thugs she and Lin Yun had encountered at the barbecue restaurant a few days ago.

As for the five-year sentence, it was most likely Zhan Qipei’s doing.

Zhan Nanqing handed her phone screen to Qiao Jing.

“Here you go, there are so many thugs these days. They have hands and feet; why act like a ‘gai liu zi’? Can’t they just get a proper job?”

Qiao Jing glanced at the news, which indeed showed the photo of that barbecue restaurant.

“What does ‘gai liu zi’ mean?”

Again, Zhan Nanqing slapped her forehead and smacked her lips.

She had forgotten — Qiao Jing wasn’t keen on internet culture.

“It means a street wanderer, ‘gai’ is the word for street.”

As the number one surfer on the internet, she could definitely be described as having 5G speed.

But her sister-in-law seemed like an antique no matter how you looked at her, always either watching the news or reading medical books, just like her brother who only ever looked at contracts.

It seemed that in this respect, her brother and Qiao Jing were truly a perfect match.

They are indeed a match made in heaven, destined by the stars!

Qiao Jing uttered an “Oh” and then returned to her work.

By the time Qiao Jing got off work and came home, she found the living room seemingly empty, very quiet.

Was Zhan Qipei not home?

This bastard had changed her phone wallpaper, had promised to get some sleep at home, and now he dared to sneak out?

Hadn’t she told him to get a good rest at home?

Qiao Jing furrowed her delicate brows, took out her phone intending to contact Zhan Qipei.

When she turned on the phone screen, she saw Zhan Qipei’s face again and was quite irritated, jabbing hard at the man’s face with her finger before directly changing the wallpaper back to the default one.

Qiao Jing lowered her eyes and dialed Zhan Qipei’s phone.

At the same time, the door behind her opened, and the sound of a ringing phone carried through.

When he opened the door and saw Qiao Jing, Zhan Qipei’s heart skipped a beat, shifting his gaze away a bit guiltily.

“You’re back, I’ll go cook now.”

He should have returned to the capital immediately after signing the contract, talking about the cooperation another time wouldn’t have been a issue…

Now look, he’d been caught red-handed by Qiao Jing.

Qiao Jing put away her phone and stared expressionlessly at Zhan Qipei’s face, slightly squinting her eyes.

“Where did you go? Weren’t you supposed to be resting at home?”

Zhan Qipei held up the groceries in front of Qiao Jing and said without blushing or skipping a beat:
“I went to buy groceries.”

Luckily he had checked the time on the plane and had made preparations in advance.

Otherwise, he really wouldn’t have been able to keep it a secret this time.

Qiao Jing arched her brows lightly, a smile that wasn’t quite a smile playing on her face as she looked at Zhan Qipei.

“Buying groceries in a suit?”

She imagined Zhan Qipei buying groceries in a suit, sticking out like a sore thumb among the uncles and aunties, and couldn’t help but laugh.

She suppressed the corners of her lips which were about to curve up, who goes grocery shopping in a suit?

Even if this bastard Zhan Qipei had plenty of suits, it would be out of character for him to wear one to buy groceries.

Zhan Qipei’s face stiffened for a moment, and he cleared his throat, knowing that he could no longer hide it and had to answer truthfully:
“I went to Nanjiang to sign a contract.”

When she heard the words “sign a contract,” Qiao Jing was momentarily taken aback.

“Sign a contract? You signed a contract with Li Group?”

According to what Zhan Qipei had previously shared with her, Zhan Corporation was at a disadvantage, so how could Li Yuncheng agree to sign a contract with Zhan Corporation?

Could it be that Li Yuncheng knew about the relationship between Pingping and Zhan Qipei?

Zhan Qipei gave an “Mhm” and took the opportunity to walk into the house, placing all the groceries in the kitchen.

“He knows I’m acquainted with Pingping, by the way, how are things on Pingping’s side?”

Qiao Jing didn’t pursue the matter of Zhan Qipei sneaking out of the house any further and focused instead on Pingping and Anan.

“Pingping will return to Nanjiang tomorrow. Pingping’s mother is also prepared to adopt Anan, so Anan will go with them. I’ll go to the airport to send them off tomorrow.”

She was already beginning to miss the two little ones, Pingping and Anan, such understanding children that anyone would love.

Fortunately, though, Pingping hadn’t been abandoned with malice; he was well treated at home, and Anan had found a new family.