Chapter 151

Chapter 151: How Is That The Same?

At that moment, Du An Rao had no idea that even though she wasn’t in City J, she was already living on in some of City J’s most famous stories through other people’s words.

As soon as the call connected, she got straight to the point and briefly explained Second Cousin-in-law’s situation.

She said: “That’s what happened. My Second Cousin-in-law looks rough and open on the outside and has a cheerful personality, but really, she doesn’t have any schemes. She’s a bit slow and not good at those tricks and office politics. Even when she gets bullied outside, she doesn’t dare tell her family. It really makes all of us worry.”

Qiu Ji Chen had been helping his mother handle company matters since he was a teenager. Of course he could hear what she was hinting at. Cold sweat immediately broke out on his forehead.

Du An Rao had saved his life before. He and his mother had always remembered that and had been looking for a chance to repay her.

He never thought that this Master Du would actually have a cousin-in-law working at their company, and that she was getting bullied there. Qiu Ji Chen didn’t even dare imagine what would happen if his mom found this out. She might make him kneel in the ancestral hall.

He hurried to say: “This really is my negligence. Master Du, please rest assured. Tomorrow when I’m back at work, I’ll find out the whole story. I’ll definitely give you and your sister-in-law an explanation.”

Hearing how serious he sounded, Du An Rao let out a breath in relief. She smiled lightly and said: “I just want you to help check what kind of person this Miss Zhou is and where she came from. If it’s really hard for you to deal with her, can you help transfer my sister-in-law to another department? At least separate them so my sister-in-law doesn’t have to suffer under her.”

“It’s not hard at all, not hard at all.” The more Qiu Ji Chen listened, the more he felt that Du An Rao was really considerate. Even now she was worrying about whether it would be hard for him.

He was moved but also nervous, afraid she would think he wasn’t doing enough.

He quickly added: “Master Du, you’re being too polite. This is our company’s fault to begin with. Don’t worry, I’ll start asking around right now. I’ll definitely give you an answer before the day is over.”

“Then… I’ll trouble you, Mr. Qiu.”

When Du An Rao ended the call with Qiu Ji Chen and went back to the living room, everyone had just finished their own discussion. The moment they saw her return, their eyes lit up, and they hurried to their feet to greet her.

“An An, how was it? What did he say?”

“Mr. Qiu said he’ll first talk to the people in the company and find out what’s going on. He’ll give me a reply by the end of today.” Du An Rao patted Fifth Aunt’s hand to comfort her and said: “Don’t worry. Mr. Qiu may be a bit of a lovesick fool, but his character is fine. Even if he can’t touch that Miss Zhou, he can at least move Second Cousin-in-law out of her reach so she can stay away from her.”

“That’s good, that’s good. This time we really have to thank you, An An.”

“It’s just a small favor. Auntie, you’re too polite. We’re all one family. We should help each other.”

Mother Du nodded and said: “An An is right. We’re one family. No need to be so polite. Since Mr. Qiu promised to give you a result today, and it wasn’t easy for you all to come over, just stay for lunch and hang out for a while. Maybe we’ll even get the result before dark, and then everyone can feel at ease.”

The two families looked at each other, then nodded together and said: “Then we’ll bother you.”

Somehow, the news that Fourth Aunt’s and Fifth Aunt’s families were both staying for lunch made its way to Du Lian Shuang’s ears. This aunt had just solved her marriage problem and returned to being a golden single woman. She also brought her two kids and rushed over to the Du family to mooch a meal.

The house was rarely this lively. The big round table that took up most of the dining room was almost too small for everyone.

After lunch, Du Lian Shuang openly bragged again about her glorious battle against the “phoenix man” and the child-bride mistress. Fifth Uncle and the two families of Fourth Aunt and Fifth Aunt all listened with their mouths hanging open.

Du Lian Shuang had sued those two on the charges of bigamy and fraud, demanding they return all marital property and all money gained through fraud. This kind of case happened to fall under Second Cousin’s department at work.

So he gave his aunt several suggestions on the spot, enough to make sure Cui Jue Yan’s whole family would spit out everything they had taken and end up losing even more.

The families took turns offering ideas for each other’s problems, very warm and enthusiastic. It felt just like real close brothers and sisters helping each other.

Du An Rao thought the families must have always been this close. She had no idea that, because the grandfathers had scattered to different places to build their careers, these cousins, although related by blood, had rarely had the chance to all get together. Their feelings weren’t actually that deep.

The only reason they could be this close now, talking openly about their own affairs and each other’s, was because they all had Du An Rao as a link between them.

Before some of these things even began to happen, Du An Rao could already give them a few useful hints.

For cases like Du Lian Shuang’s, which were already pretty much settled, she just stayed off to the side as An An, quietly munching melon seeds and watching the drama, waiting for a happy ending.

This kind of family gossip was just right for the grown-ups, but it was a bit too deep for little kids.

Du An Rao had just finished her melon seeds and grabbed an apple when she suddenly felt both her legs get heavier. She looked down and met two big, clear pairs of eyes.

“You two… how did you end up over here?”

Earlier that morning, these two children had still been hiding behind their parents’ arms, not daring to look her in the eye. Now they had run over to her on their own and wanted to play with her.

The little boy said very properly: “Hello, my name is Du Zhe Lei. My mama is called Du Zi Xuan, and my papa is called Du Hong Yun. ‘Zhe’ is the ‘zhe’ from ‘philosophy’, and ‘Lei’ is the ‘lei’ from ‘upright and open’.”

Du An Rao was stunned by this serious introduction. Once again, she sighed at how early kids grew up these days. He was only three and could already say such a long sentence so clearly. Amazing!

She quickly said: “Hello, hello, I’m Du An Rao. I’m your… aunt.”

“Auntie, thank you.”

“Thank me?” Du An Rao froze. She shook his little hand twice in greeting, confused, and asked: “Why are you thanking me?”

The little boy answered: “Mama said you helped our family and saved me. We should all thank you.”

Hearing that, Du An Rao got even more confused. If she remembered right, she had only hinted to Fourth Aunt about the relationship between the male lead and female lead, and this little guy’s real identity. With just that bit of information, it shouldn’t count as “saving” him, right?

The adults in the room were talking among themselves, but they still kept part of their attention on Du An Rao. The moment they heard what the child said, they all thought: Uh oh!

Fourth Aunt was the first to react. She hurried over, picked the child up, and said: “Lei Lei is right. If you hadn’t told us the truth early, An An, those two rascals would probably still be sulking and who knows how long it would take for them to open up.”

“Last time when the child got hurt, we were so lucky a kind stranger helped. Afterwards, when Zi Xuan found out what happened, her legs turned soft from fear, especially after learning that direct blood relatives can’t give blood. Hong Yun was so anxious he almost volunteered himself. It really was a blessing inside a disaster.”

Du An Rao felt that something was off, but she couldn’t quite say what, so she could only wave her hand and say: “Then you should really thank that kind stranger.”

“We should thank the kind stranger, and we should also thank you. It’s all the same.”

Du An Rao: “???” Wait, how is that the same?