Seeing this scene, Qi Dengxian frowned slightly.

“Qi Dengxian, you useless trash, where the hell were you?! Mengmeng encountered such a dangerous situation, yet you actually hid like a coward turtle in its shell?!” Upon seeing Qi Dengxian, Pang Xiuyun’s anger flared up instantly, and she began to scold him furiously.

Qi Dengxian didn’t speak. He simply cast an indifferent glance at Zhang Shaojie and asked, “What’s going on? Why is Young Master Zhang here?”

Pang Xiuyun shouted angrily, “You still have the face to ask?!”

“Yesterday, Mengmeng went to Yu Kaihe from the Black Dragon Chamber of Commerce to recover the debt. As a result, she was forced to drink—she was made to chug an entire bottle of foreign liquor!”

“If Young Master Zhang hadn’t appeared in time and saved Mengmeng, who knows what would have happened to her!”

Beside her, Qiao Guotao’s face was also somewhat gloomy, and the look he gave Qi Dengxian held a hint of dissatisfaction.

Qiao Guotao said in a deep voice, “Dengxian, since I entrusted Qiumeng to your care, you must shoulder that responsibility.”

Zhang Shaojie hurriedly smiled from the side. “Uncle, Auntie, you two don’t need to be so polite. Qiumeng and I are good friends, this is what I should do!”

“Besides, it’s useless for you to blame Brother Qi. He’s just a prison guard, after all. Even if he had shown up, it probably wouldn’t have been of much use.”

“It was just a small effort on my part. Please don’t keep mentioning it, I’m getting embarrassed.”

After hearing Zhang Shaojie’s words, Qi Dengxian couldn’t help but laugh. He shook his head and said, “I rescued Qiumeng from Yu Kaihe’s hands. Since when did it become your credit?”

These words stunned everyone present.

Zhang Shaojie chuckled and said, “Brother Qi has just arrived at the Qiao family, after all. He needs some credit to gain a firm foothold. I understand.”

“Mm… this matter has nothing to do with me. Actually, it’s all Brother Qi’s credit. I didn’t know anything at all, I just happened to come over today to visit Qiumeng!”

Zhang Shaojie’s move of retreating to advance directly pushed Pang Xiuyun’s dissatisfaction with Qi Dengxian to its peak.

“Qi Dengxian, you have no ability, but since Old Qiao insisted on marrying Mengmeng down to you, I have nothing to say.”

“A person can lack ability, but they cannot be shameless!”

“Clearly, it was Young Master Zhang who saved Mengmeng, yet you insist on claiming the credit here. Aren’t you ashamed? You’re just a broken-down prison guard. What ability do you have to provoke people from the Black Dragon Chamber of Commerce?”

Pang Xiuyun trampled Qi Dengxian’s dignity into the dirt, leaving him no face whatsoever.

A triumphant smile appeared on Zhang Shaojie’s face. Coincidentally, Qiao Qiumeng woke up at this moment, her head still aching terribly.

Seeing that she was at home, she breathed a sigh of relief. Faintly recalling some events from last night, she looked at Zhang Shaojie with confusion and asked, “Young Master Zhang, was it you who saved me last night?”

Zhang Shaojie smiled helplessly. “Mengmeng, it wasn’t me. It was Brother Qi who saved you.”

Pang Xiuyun said loudly, “Young Master Zhang, you have noble character and high integrity, willing to help this wall of mud that can’t be plastered, but I can’t stand it!”

“Mengmeng, it was Young Master Zhang who saved you last night. Otherwise, who knows what would have happened to you!”

“The ‘good man’ your father found for you had his phone off all night. He was certainly living carefree.”

Qiao Qiumeng also vaguely remembered a man saving her. Hearing her mother’s words, she cast a grateful look at Zhang Shaojie.

“I seem to remember a little bit, too. Thank you, Young Master Zhang. If you hadn’t saved me, I’m afraid I would have been in a miserable state.” Qiao Qiumeng said gratefully to Zhang Shaojie.

Hearing this, Pang Xiuyun became even more energized and turned to Qi Dengxian. “What do you have to say now?”

Qi Dengxian looked completely indifferent. He shrugged and said, “I had Li Yunwan bring Qiumeng back yesterday. If you don’t believe me, just ask her.”

Zhang Shaojie nodded at Qi Dengxian. “I’ll call Li Yunwan later and give her strict instructions to claim that it was you who saved Qiumeng publicly.”

Qi Dengxian glanced at Zhang Shaojie with disdain out of the corner of his eye. In his heart, there was only one word—Clown.

Qiao Qiumeng looked at Qi Dengxian with some contempt. Not only did this guy have no ability, but he was also thick-skinned. Clearly, Zhang Shaojie had saved her from Yu Kaihe, yet he insisted on claiming that he had done it. Truly shameless!

It would be best if her father could see the true face of this petty person sooner. Then, when she proposed a divorce, it should have been much easier.

Qiao Guotao patted Qi Dengxian’s shoulder and lectured earnestly, “Dengxian, a person can lack money, but they cannot lack ambition.”

Qi Dengxian replied, “Uncle Qiao makes sense.”

He smiled, disdaining to argue over such things.

“Mengmeng, you don’t need to worry about the twenty million. I told you I would help you handle it.” Zhang Shaojie said to Qiao Qiumeng with a smile.

“Thank you.” Qiao Qiumeng breathed a sigh of relief, but her face suddenly changed. “I remember something. Last night, I seem to have smashed Yu Kaihe’s head open with a wine bottle!”

As soon as these words came out, Qiao Guotao frowned deeply, and Pang Xiuyun gasped directly.

The smile on Zhang Shaojie’s face instantly became somewhat awkward. He comforted her with a dry tone, “It’s okay, it’s okay. I’ll talk to Mr. Zhao later. There won’t be any trouble.”

Pang Xiuyun said, “Thank you for your trouble, Young Master Zhang!”

At this moment, a Mercedes-Benz stopped outside.

Li Yunwan stepped out of the car and entered the Qiao family home, carrying some fruit in her hands. She smiled and said, “Mengmeng, I’ve come to visit you!”

“Yunwan is here! Quick, come in and sit!” Seeing Li Yunwan, a smile appeared on Pang Xiuyun’s face as she welcomed her inside.

The Li family also had some influence in Zhonghai and was a business partner of the Qiao family. Li Yunwan and Qiao Qiumeng also had an excellent personal relationship, so she was quite popular in the Qiao household.

Qiao Qiumeng wasn’t entirely sure in her heart that the person who saved her yesterday was Zhang Shaojie. After all, before she passed out, she was already too drunk to see the person’s face clearly.

She pulled Li Yunwan directly to sit beside her and said, “Wanwan, you went with me yesterday. You didn’t drink much, so you should remember things clearly.”

Li Yunwan paused, then nodded. “Yes.”

Qiao Qiumeng said to Li Yunwan in a serious tone, “Tell me the truth. Who exactly came to save me last night?”

Qiao Guotao also turned his gaze to Li Yunwan. Li Yunwan was the one who brought Qiao Qiumeng back last night, she had witnessed the entire event and had the most right to speak.

Qi Dengxian shrugged. He didn’t care what Zhang Shaojie did. Of course, if Li Yunwan could tell the truth and expose Zhang Shaojie’s ugly face, he would be happy to watch.

“You really don’t remember anything?” Li Yunwan smiled at Qiao Qiumeng and asked.

“I drank a bottle of foreign liquor yesterday. I blacked out!” Qiao Qiumeng said with a bitter smile.

NOTES

Mud that can’t be plastered: An idiom referring to someone useless who cannot be helped or improved no matter how much support they receive.

Retreating to advance: A strategy where one feigns concession or humility to actually gain an advantage or make the opponent look bad—in this case, Zhang Shaojie pretending to give credit to make himself look magnanimous and Qi look desperate.

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