The banquet was merely a formality, a time to socialize. Gu Qian knew only a few people, mostly young ones, so she sat down with Qin Xiansheng after taking some food and drink.

Gu Qian ate a few bites, and nearby people continued to watch and scrutinize her. Seeing her focused on eating, Qin Xiansheng went to fetch a cup of warm water.

The woman looked at Gu Qin with increasing wariness. "Who are you? What do you want with my husband?"

"Granny, I have something to discuss with Manager Liu," Gu Qin ignored the probing look of the woman. "Can you please let him come out for a moment?" This woman, with her downturned and tightly closed lips, a nose with a bump, and the whites of her eyes showing, clearly indicated that she was difficult to get along with and had a suspicious and petty personality.

The woman's eyes suddenly turned fierce. "What do you want with our old Liu? I've never heard him mention you. Tell me, what's your relationship with our old Liu?" As she spoke, she actually tried to grab Gu Qin’s clothes.

Gu Qin naturally wouldn’t let her grab her clothes. She slightly shifted her steps, causing the woman to stumble and almost fall herself. Regaining her balance, the woman immediately began to curse loudly. "You little sl*t, where are you from? Are you old Liu's mistress? You shameless thing, at such a young age, not learning anything good but seducing people! Are you still a student? Which school do you go to? I'm telling you, tomorrow I'll tell your teacher about this, so all your classmates will know what kind of person you are!"

"Madam," Gu Qin's tone also turned bad, "you're mistaken. I came to see Manager Liu about Cui Hui from the Bureau of Industry and Commerce. Once you tell Manager Liu, he'll know everything."

"You're full of it! What has the Bureau of Industry and Commerce got to do with this? I think you’re just old Liu's mistress!" It wasn't hard for the woman to suspect someone like this. Manager Liu hadn't touched her for months. Whenever she asked him, he said he was tired and had no energy. Although they didn’t have much before, there were at least a few times a month. Now, after three or four months, he didn’t even touch her anymore, making her suspicious that someone else might be involved. Seeing such a young and beautiful girl come to find her husband, she went crazy.

Gu Qin’s face darkened. "Clean up your mouth. I don’t fancy your man."

"Do you dare tell me to clean up my mouth!" The woman completely exploded, shouting loudly, "You little sl*t, let me tell you, you dare to do but you dare not..." Before she could finish, she suddenly felt a chill all over her body, as if her throat was being choked. She couldn’t speak, no matter how hard she tried.

Gu Qin coldly said, "Clean up your mouth. I am a geomancer, and I came to ask Manager Liu some questions." With that, she released her fingers, removing the yin qi that had wrapped around the woman's throat.

The woman coughed twice, discovering she could speak again. She covered her throat and coughed, then pointed at Gu Qin and started cursing again, "You little... " But before she could finish, she found she couldn’t speak again. She looked at Gu Qin in fear and realized something was wrong.

Looking at the woman's darkened uterus color, Gu Qin said, "You have a son, right? Your son has been having bad luck recently, hasn't he? And he's sick too, right? He often has nightmares, doesn't he?" After saying this, she released the woman’s fingers, and the yin qi gradually dissipated, allowing the woman to speak again. Surprised, the woman asked, "How did you know?"

Gu Qin remained silent, looking past the woman to see Manager Liu in his pajamas, not yet fully awake. He started scolding without even seeing who was at the door. "Old woman, why are you yelling outside early in the morning? Don't you know how annoying it is? I can't sleep!"

The woman turned back, still not believing Gu Qin’s words. She thought maybe this girl really was an old Liu's mistress and that old Liu had told her about their family matters, possibly to cheat them out of money. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. "You shameless thing, now your mistress comes to find you. I'll beat you to death..."

Without thinking, she charged towards Manager Liu, colliding with him and knocking them both down. Manager Liu, startled, quickly got up and ran to the door. "Little girl, why did you come?"

Gu Qin looked at him. "Did Cui Hui find out that I had you record something?"

"This..." Manager Liu broke into a cold sweat. "No, nothing happened."

Gu Qin didn't even bother using her third eye on him. From his appearance, she could tell he was lying, avoiding eye contact and shifting his eyes while speaking. Gu Qin continued, "I’ll give you one last chance to tell me the truth. If you do, I won’t cause you trouble."

Manager Liu hesitated, "Are you serious, little girl? If I tell you everything, you won’t cause me trouble?"

Gu Qin nodded. Manager Liu sighed and noticed a neighbor coming downstairs, pointing to the room. "Little girl, come inside and talk." He went in first, followed by Gu Qin. The woman, realizing this girl was indeed here for something important, stayed quiet. Seeing passersby peering into the room, she slammed the door shut.

Manager Liu sat on the sofa. "I had no choice. After giving you the recording, you reported it, and Cui Hui found out immediately. She knew it was me who recorded it. At first, I refused. But recently, I wanted to open a shop, and I couldn't get the business license. They kept delaying, saying I was unqualified. Later, I found out Cui Hui was behind it. Even though she was fired, she still had connections. There was nothing I could do. Finally, I had to tell her it was you who had the recording..."

Seeing Gu Qin's silent expression, Manager Liu thought she was angry and scared. Remembering her ruthless behavior, he didn’t dare provoke her further. "Little girl, I’m telling the truth. I had no choice but to tell her. Please don’t be mad at me."

Gu Qin shook her head. "Forget it, I understand." Just as she was about to leave, a teenager came out of the room. He was tall with average looks, single-lidded eyes, somewhat resembling Manager Liu, clearly his son. The teenager looked exhausted, pale, with dark shadows under his eyes, rubbing his eyes as if he hadn’t slept.

Gu Qin looked at the teenager and said to Manager Liu and the woman, "If you can't solve your son's problems, you can find me. I am a geomancer and can help, but I charge a high fee." Saying this, she prepared to leave.

The woman's face alternated between green and white, staring at Gu Qin, feeling embarrassed to ask for help. However, Manager Liu quickly stopped Gu Qin. "Master, can you tell us what you see? We are desperate. Our son has been having nightmares lately, waking up drenched in sweat every night."

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

The woman finally came over, apologizing softly. "Little girl, I was wrong earlier. I apologize. Can you help us if you see anything?"

The couple had no other options. Their only son was in high school, and despite average grades, they were very protective. They never disciplined him harshly. Recently, he fell ill, and hospitals couldn’t diagnose anything. Every night, he had nightmares. They asked him, but he was too frightened to say anything.

Manager Liu knew Gu Qin was a geomancer and had abilities, but he was afraid to seek her help after revealing the recording to Cui Hui. Unexpectedly, she came to him and identified his son's issues.

Desperate, Manager Liu nearly knelt down, while the teenager stood there, looking unwell.

Seeing his parents about to kneel, the teenager shouted, "I have nothing wrong with me. Let her go. Don’t beg her. I’m fine, no one needs to look at me."

Gu Qin was reluctant to press further, not out of compassion for the teenager, but because of the situation behind him. She said, "Though you weren't directly involved, you were a witness. Keeping it hidden was wrong, and you deserved what happened."

The teenager’s face changed drastically, terrified. "What do you know? How did you find out? Leave my things alone, they have nothing to do with me..."

Seeing their son scared, Manager Liu and the woman were bewildered. Manager Liu knelt down, pleading. "Master, I’m sorry. Please help my son. What’s wrong with him?"

The woman was frantic, pulling the teenager towards Gu Qin. "Master, please help my son. I’m sorry for my earlier behavior. Please help him. What’s wrong with him?"

"It’s his problem. If he doesn’t want to talk, I can’t help him. Ask him yourself," Gu Qin watched as the teenager’s face grew paler and paler...

Manager Liu was desperate, grabbing his son’s collar. "Tell me what happened. Did you get into trouble outside? This girl mentioned something following your son."

"No, no, nothing happened," the teenager pushed his father away, his face pale, rushing into the room.

Manager Liu and the woman looked at each other, unsure what to do. Gu Qin said, "He can come to me if he changes his mind. I warned you, it costs ten thousand. Even if he turns himself in to the police, it won’t end there. That thing is following him. Few in Daishan City can handle it."

She left, leaving the couple pale and fearful. They looked at each other, panic and fear evident in their eyes. What did the master mean about self-surrender? What had their son done?

After leaving the Liu family, Gu Qin went straight to Cui Hui. When Cui Hui was dismissed from her job, her husband Yu Feng told her to rest at home, but she couldn’t let go of the grudge against Manager Liu. She asked him about the recording, and he eventually admitted it when he needed help with his business license.

Cui Hui used her connections to make things difficult for Manager Liu, hoping to get revenge. When she learned about Cheng Yinxiang’s business license, she used similar tactics to delay it.

Cui Hui never expected Gu Qin to come to her. "Little girl, who are you looking for?"

Gu Qin observed Cui Hui's face, noticing she was clever but not deceitful. She stated her purpose directly. "Aunt Cui, hello, I’m Gu Qin, Yu Jie’s classmate."

Cui Hui knew Gu Qin was the one who framed her son. Her face darkened. "What do you want? Framing my son wasn’t enough? Making him lose face in front of the whole school wasn’t enough?"

Gu Qin calmly said, "Aunt Cui, you misunderstand. Yu Jie framed me to win over a girl in our class. I was the top student in the grade. Do you think I needed to copy your son? I know you favor your child, but there are limits. He should apologize to me, and he deserves punishment for his actions. Isn’t it excessive to take it out on my family?"

Cui Hui’s face turned black, her anger making her shake. Before she could speak, Gu Qin continued, "You framed my mother, and I have evidence. You lost your job, and I thought we were even. But you still targeted my mother’s business license. Is that fair?"

Cui Hui was furious. "I’ve already been fired. How could I interfere with her business license?"

Gu Qin smiled. "Aunt Cui, are you denying it?"

Cui Hui snapped, "I swear it wasn’t me! You little brat, at such a young age, you’re so malicious. My son’s frame-up of your mother wasn’t serious, but you framed me and recorded me. How could you be so wicked at such a young age?"

"Your wickedness is yours," Gu Qin’s face darkened. "Your son did something wrong, and you took it out on my mother. If not for the evidence, she would have been accused of embezzlement. Who is wicked, Aunt Cui? To make it clear, the police solved the case quickly because the chief personally intervened. Otherwise, why would they care about a twenty-thousand-yuan embezzlement case?"

Seeing Cui Hui’s face turn pale, Gu Qin continued, "I don’t like to push people to the brink. If you want revenge, take it out on me. Why involve my mother? I could have avoided this, but today I came to lay everything out. Either you stop bothering my mother’s business license, and we move on, or I’ll find someone else to get it done. In that case, you owe me, and I’ll use your son’s reputation to repay the debt."

Cui Hui glared at Gu Qin, confused. Gu Qin said, "I have the recording. If you don’t want it online, I can delete it. But if you continue to hassle my family, I’ll upload the recording to the school forum and expose your bribery scandal. What do you think?"

Cui Hui was taken aback. "Aunt Cui, don’t blame me. I thought our dispute was minor, but you got involved and slandered my mother. We don’t have deep-seated hatred. Why go to such lengths? Let’s settle this. If you stop hassling my mother’s business license, we’re even."

She didn’t plan to ruin Cui Hui with a feng shui setup. She just wanted the license for Cheng Yinxiang. "Alright, alright, clever little girl. I agree. I’ll talk to my colleagues and ensure no more trouble for your family. This is settled."

Gu Qin smiled. "Thank you, Aunt Cui."

Gu Qin didn’t want to use feng shui to resolve things if she could avoid it. She just wanted Cui Hui to stop targeting her family. Seeing Cui Hui concede, Gu Qin was content to leave it at that. Just as she was about to leave, Cui Hui said urgently, "Can you delete the recording?"

Gu Qin turned back. "Instead of asking me to delete the recording, why don’t you ask Manager Liu to delete it? As long as you stop troubling my family, I guarantee the recording won’t be leaked. You need some pressure to prevent any future tricks."

Cui Hui replied, "You can trust me. I’ll make sure the recording stays deleted. But I can’t guarantee what Manager Liu will do. He’s a real scoundrel."

Gu Qin felt Cui Hui was foolish. She had leverage over both Cui Hui and Manager Liu, but instead of using it, she just wanted the business license issue resolved. "You better hope Manager Liu didn’t keep a backup. He’s a real scoundrel and will retaliate if he gets the chance."

Cui Hui realized her mistake. She needed to focus on getting Cheng Yinxiang’s business license first, then deal with Manager Liu.

Gu Qin first went home, while Cheng Yinxiang was resting in the room. She had lost quite a bit of weight recently, which made Gu Qin feel concerned. At noon, she reheated the dishes that Brother Qin prepared yesterday and stir-fried some green vegetables before calling Cheng Yinxiang to come and eat.

"Qin Qin, how is the business license going?"

Gu Qin replied, "Mom, don't worry. I've talked to Cui Hui. She knows she was wrong and said the business license will be ready in a couple of days. No one will cause trouble anymore."

Cheng Yinxiang sighed with relief but then worried again, "Qin Qin, did you threaten them or anything?"

Gu Qin smiled, "Mom, how could I do that? I just told her that if they still target us, I'll post the recording on the school forum for everyone to see what kind of person Yu Jie's mom is. She won't make things difficult for us anymore."

"You kids..."

Parents everywhere care deeply about their children, but Gu Qin felt that sometimes this care can be misplaced. Some parents only protect their children without considering whether it's their child's fault. Such parents are seriously misguided and even criminal because they give their children the wrong example, potentially ruining their lives.

For instance, with Yu Jie's situation, he slandered her, and she made him apologize in front of all the students. Although this might seem harsh, if his parents had guided him correctly, he would have recognized his mistake and used this experience as a valuable lesson rather than wallowing in self-pity.

Therefore, Gu Qin believed that parents have a significant influence on their children.

After lunch, the two of them went straight to Yile Mall. On the way, Gu Qin called Mr. Lu Xiao Man's father. Mr. Lu answered quickly, "Hello, are you Master Gu? It's an honor... As it turns out, Mr. Lu knew about Gu Qin's phone number from his daughter and kept it.

"Mr. Lu, hello," Gu Qin greeted, helping Cheng Yinxiang onto the bus. They found seats at the back, with Gu Qin sitting by the window. She continued talking to Mr. Lu, "Mr. Lu, it's me, Gu Qin. Just call me by my name. I'm not a master, and Xiao Man and I are friends."

Even though they were friends, Xiao Man always addressed her as "Master" when they met, as did Jiang Ni's friends. They used to joke around, but after Ji Ziyu's parents' funeral, they became more reserved around her.