Chapter 45 Part 1

Qiu Zijun returned home, and his parents eagerly rushed up to him. “How did it go? Did your father-in-law agree to give money for your little brother to buy a house?”

“There’s a new development in Haidong District. Your brother and his girlfriend checked it out a few days ago. Her family has connections and can get them a 10% discount. It’s a full 120-square-meter house—miss it, and it’s gone!”

Qiu Zihao, Qiu Zijun’s younger brother who had been playing games, heard the commotion and walked out. He didn’t even call his brother, just stood coldly at the bedroom door watching them.

Qiu Zijun was already at a complete loss. Seeing that his parents only cared about the house, his tone soured. “No!”

He turned to Qiu Zihao. “Didn’t we agree before that a small place for your marriage would be enough? Now you want a big house? Even if my father-in-law really lent you money for the down payment, how would you handle the monthly payments? You don’t even have a job. Are you expecting Mom and Dad to cover them?”

Qiu Zihao’s face darkened instantly. “How I pay the mortgage is my business. Once I buy the house, I’ll go out and find work. You don’t need to worry about it!”

Mother Qiu doted on her youngest son the most. She smacked Qiu Zijun. “How can you talk to your brother like that? Zihao is still young. Once he’s married, he’ll be fine. He doesn’t work because he’s filial to your dad and me. Why are you scolding him? Besides, if he can’t pay it back, isn’t there still you? You and Jin Shu already have a child. Your father-in-law’s business will all be yours someday. What’s wrong with sharing a little with your brother ahead of time?”

Father Qiu added, “Last time, you said your father-in-law let you handle the jade trade. I told you to figure something out with the procurement funds. Did you?”

“I did, but… I lost it all!” Qiu Zijun clutched his head with both hands and confessed how he had embezzled the procurement funds to gamble on stones, filled fake stones with low-quality material, and got caught by Boss Jin.

Tch, useless trash, and he still has the nerve to lecture me. A glint of contempt flashed in Qiu Zihao’s eyes.

“Oh my god, that much money could’ve bought your brother several houses!” Mother Qiu cried out in shock while furiously slapping her eldest son. “Are you an idiot? Why not just skim half the procurement funds? That would’ve covered not just your brother—we old folks could’ve gotten a new place too! So what if your father-in-law finds out? Do you think I’d believe he’d dare let you divorce? He wouldn’t want his daughter without a husband or his granddaughter without a father!”

Father Qiu was a bit shrewder and saw Qiu Zijun’s worry. “Exactly, your mom’s right. Your father-in-law won’t do anything to you. Your top priority now is to go home and sweet-talk Jin Shu. As long as she’s on your side, what do you have to fear from your father-in-law?”

“Right, how did I forget about Shushu!”

Qiu Zijun jumped to his feet and hurriedly prepared to rush home. But as soon as he opened the door, he saw two uniformed police officers standing outside. “Mr. Qiu Zijun, right? We just received a report from the boss of Jin Yu Yuan. You’re suspected of embezzling company procurement funds, with a massive amount involved. Please hand over your Mobile Phone and personal items and come with us.”

“No, no…” Qiu Zijun’s face turned ashen. He stumbled back several steps and looked toward his parents.

Father Qiu and Mother Qiu were also stunned. For all their earlier eagerness to scheme against their eldest son, they didn’t dare utter a word at the sight of real police.

As he was taken away, Qiu Zijun could only shout, “Mom, Dad, hurry and contact Shushu to come save me! I, I don’t want to go to jail!”

Father Qiu and Mother Qiu stood frozen for a long while before snapping out of it and pulling out their Mobile Phones. “Right, right, hurry and contact Jin Shu…”

It went without saying that Boss Jin, to avoid affecting his breastfeeding daughter, had already cut off her contact with the outside world. He even lied, claiming he had sent Qiu Zijun out of town to scout new mines.

Once Jin Shu’s feelings for Qiu Zijun faded from not seeing him, Boss Jin could reveal the truth…

Unable to reach Jin Shu or even get through the Jin family’s door, Father Qiu and Mother Qiu flailed about like headless flies. Qiu Zihao, who had been watching coldly, reminded them, “Dad, Mom, shouldn’t you go to the police station to check on Qiu Zijun? Tell him not to say anything rash.”

Father Qiu and Mother Qiu jolted in shock, nearly breaking out in cold sweat—especially Father Qiu, since he had instigated the embezzlement…

Qiu Zijun’s embezzlement was all but nailed down. Boss Jin quickly obtained evidence of his gambling at Yunmian Market through special channels, forming a solid chain. Locked in the detention center, Qiu Zijun lived each day in agony and fear. His only hope was that his parents would reach Jin Shu.

But when his parents finally visited him in detention, they brought only despair.

“Zijun, your father-in-law is dead set this time. We can’t even enter the place you live, let alone see Jin Shu. Mom told you not to marry her back then. Who knows what her heart is made of—abandoning her own man over a bit of money. She doesn’t care if her daughter gets called a fatherless bastard later.” Mother Qiu’s words dripped with disdain, as if she hadn’t been the one urging her son to propose to Jin Shu the moment she learned the Jin family was wealthy and Jin Shu their only daughter.

“Zijun, those calls I made to you before—you didn’t save any recordings, right? Your dad, mom, and brother still need taking care of. You absolutely can’t drag us down…”

Qiu Zijun saw the shifty look in his father’s eyes and the hints in his words. How could he not understand? They… had abandoned him!