Dai Shiya's body trembled, and she bent her knees and was about to kneel down.
"Wait!" A crisp voice sounded at the door of the study. Dai Shiya paused and looked up at the door in surprise. She saw a young woman in a light blue dress walking towards her. She had a heroic look in her eyes. She was none other than Wei Qing, who was good friends with Dai Shiya.
"Miss Wei?" When Mr. Dai saw that it was Wei Qing, his expression eased a little, but he was still a little unhappy. "What are you doing here?"
Wei Qing ignored Mr. Dai and walked straight to Dai Shiya, helping her up. Her tone was gentle but firm, "Shiya is not in good health. If there is anything, I will speak for her."
"You?" Old Master Dai snorted coldly, "What do you know?"
"Grandpa, calm down," Wei Qing said calmly, "I know Shi Ya very well, having known her for many years. She would never do what you said. There must be a misunderstanding in this matter. Please look into it carefully."
"Misunderstanding?" Old Master Dai sneered, "Then tell me, what is the misunderstanding?"
Wei Qing glanced at Dai Shiya who was lowering her head, then turned to Old Man Dai and said, "Grandpa, Shiya has just come to our house and is not familiar with many things, so it is inevitable that there will be omissions. But she is definitely not intentional to offend, and she is not bullying. How about this, if there is anything that needs to be dealt with but no one has been able to solve it, give it to Shiya to do, just treat it as a test for her, how about it?"
Upon hearing this, Mr. Dai frowned slightly and fell into deep thought.
The study room suddenly became quiet, and you could hear a pin drop. Dai Shiya raised her head and looked at Wei Qing gratefully, with hope glittering in her eyes.
"Okay." After a long while, Mr. Dai finally spoke, with a barely perceptible sense of relaxation in his tone, "I want to see how far you can go."
He took out a document from the drawer and threw it on the table. "This is the information about the land in the south of the city. It has been abandoned for five years and no one has been able to solve it. If you are really capable..."
"Don't worry, Grandpa," Dai Shiya said, picking up the documents on the table without waiting for Grandpa Dai to finish, and said firmly, "I will definitely give you a satisfactory answer."
Dai Shiya walked out of the study with the documents in her hand, sweat forming on her palms. She knew that this was an opportunity given to her by Mr. Dai, but also a huge challenge. No one had been interested in the land in the south of the city for five years, and the interests involved were complicated and it was not easy to resolve.
But she did not back down. She returned to her room and immediately began to study the documents. The documents were very thick and detailed the history of the land, including previous planning, development problems, and the competition among various forces. Dai Shiya read word by word, trying not to miss any details.
She found that the original plan for this piece of land was to build a large commercial center, but the developer's capital chain was broken and the project was suspended midway, resulting in an unfinished project. The land was also mortgaged to the bank, and if it wanted to be redeveloped, the bank's debt problem had to be resolved first.
In addition, this piece of land also involves the resettlement issue of some households being relocated. Some stubborn households have been reluctant to move, and have become a stumbling block to development.
Dai Shiya listed these problems one by one and began to think about solutions. She first contacted several banks and learned that the banks also hoped to dispose of the non-performing assets as soon as possible and were willing to make concessions to a certain extent.
Then, she personally visited the households whose houses were being relocated to understand their demands. She found that many of them were not making trouble without reason, but were just worried that their interests would not be protected. Dai Shiya listened to their demands patiently and promised to do her best to fight for a reasonable compensation plan for them.
During this process, Dai Shiya showed extraordinary patience and perseverance. She never tired of communicating and negotiating with all parties to find the best solution to the problem.
One night, when Dai Shiya was sorting documents, she was shocked by an unexpected discovery. In the interlayer of the file bag, she found a yellowed photo of a young woman holding a baby in her arms with a gentle smile.
On the back of the photo, there was a beautiful line of handwriting written in pen: "My daughter has grown up."
Dai Shiya's heartbeat suddenly accelerated. She remembered that she had overheard the servants talking about how the old man had always kept a photo of his deceased wife and regarded it as a treasure.
Could this be the old man's deceased wife? Dai Shiya did not dare to neglect it and immediately took the photo to find Mr. Dai.
"Grandpa, I found this when I was sorting out documents..." Dai Shiya handed over the photo carefully.
Mr. Dai was reading a newspaper. When he heard Dai Shiya's voice, he looked up and saw the photo. A complex emotion suddenly emerged on his calm face. He took the photo with trembling hands, his lips moved slightly, but he didn't say anything for a long time.
Dai Shiya stood quietly by the side without disturbing him.
After a while, Mr. Dai took a deep breath and held the photo tightly in his hand. A trace of tears appeared in his cloudy eyes. "This is..."
"Is this your wife and daughter?" Dai Shiya asked softly.
Old Master Dai raised his head and looked at Dai Shiya with a scrutinizing look, "How do you know?"
"I..."
"I happened to hear the servants mention that you have always treasured the photos of your wife and daughter." Dai Shiya's tone was calm, but she couldn't hide the uneasiness in her heart.
Mr. Dai was silent for a moment, with a complicated light flashing in his eyes. He slowly said, "I have always carried this photo with me..." He paused, as if lost in memory, "Her name is Su Wan, the woman I love most in my life, but unfortunately..."
Dai Shiya did not ask any further questions, but just listened quietly. She knew that some scars would still hurt even after many years.
"You and her are very similar..." Old Master Dai suddenly spoke, with a barely perceptible tenderness in his tone.
Dai Shiya was slightly stunned. Does this mean that Mr. Dai's attitude towards her has begun to change?
In the next few days, Mr. Dai's attitude towards Dai Shiya did change a little. He was no longer as cold as before, and would occasionally take the initiative to ask her about the problems she encountered in dealing with the land in the south of the city.
Other family members also noticed the change in the old man and began to re-examine Dai Shiya. Relatives who had originally looked on Dai Shiya coldly also began to try to approach her, and their words became more polite.
However, Dai Yue saw all this, and jealousy burned in her heart. She didn't understand why this sudden appearance of Dai Shiya could so easily gain the favor of the old man!
"I think she is trying to please the old man on purpose. Don't be fooled by her!" Dai Yue said sarcastically at a family gathering, "Who knows what her purpose is in getting close to the old man!"
Her words were like a stone thrown into a calm lake, causing ripples. Some people who originally had a good impression of Dai Shiya began to talk about her, and their eyes looked at Dai Shiya with more suspicion and suspicion.
Dai Shiya heard these discussions and sneered in her heart, Dai Yue, do you think you can defeat me like this? You underestimate me!
She decided to fight back. She wanted to let everyone know that she, Dai Shiya, was not a soft persimmon that could be easily bullied!
"Dai Yue, you said that I had a purpose in approaching grandpa, so tell me, what is my purpose?" Dai Shiya stared at Dai Yue sharply, and spoke word by word with an unquestionable firmness in her tone.
Facing Dai Shiya's questioning, Dai Yue panicked, but soon calmed down, "You..."
"What's wrong with me?" Dai Shiya pressed on, "Just tell me!"
Dai Yue stammered but couldn't explain what he was saying, and his face turned red.
"Since you can't say it, please stop talking nonsense in the future!" Dai Shiya said coldly and turned away.
Dai Shiya knew that this was just the beginning. What she had to do next was to collect evidence and completely crush Dai Yue's rumors.
But will the people in the family believe her?
Late at night, in Dai Shiya's room, the lights were dim. She sat at the desk, holding an old photo in her hand. In the photo, a young woman was holding a baby with a gentle smile. On the back of the photo, there was beautiful handwriting written in pen: "My daughter has grown up."
"Aunt Su..." Dai Shiya murmured to herself, "Don't worry, I will find out the cause of your death and give you justice..."
Outside the window, the night was dark and the cold wind was howling, as if responding to her words...
The woman in the photo had eyebrows and eyes similar to Dai Shiya, but her smile was gentle and peaceful, completely different from Dai Shiya's cold and stubborn look. The beautiful handwriting on the back of the photo seemed to carry the warmth of time, passing through Dai Shiya's fingertips, conveying some unspeakable emotions.
In the past few days, Dai Shiya took the opportunity to help the old man organize the study to secretly look for clues about Su Wan. She flipped through every photo album and diary in the study, trying to piece together Su Wan's life trajectory and the truth behind her death.
Hard work pays off. Dai Shiya found a clue in an inconspicuous travel diary. The diary recorded that Su Wan accidentally met a young photographer during a trip abroad. The two had a good chat and even exchanged contact information.
Dai Shiya's heart moved. Could it be that this photographer was related to Su Wan's death? She immediately began to investigate the whereabouts of the photographer, but found that he had disappeared more than 20 years ago, as if he had evaporated from the face of the earth.
The clues ended here, but Dai Shiya was unwilling to accept this. She vaguely felt that this mysterious photographer might be the key to solving the mystery of Su Wan's death.
At the same time, Dai Shiya also began to pay attention to Dai Yue's every move. She found that Dai Yue had been in frequent contact with an unfamiliar number recently, and each call was very secretive.
Dai Shiya's intuition told her that the owner of this number must be related to Dai Yue's rumor spreading. So, she used her hacking skills to successfully track down the location of the number and the identity information of the owner.
"It turned out to be her..."
Looking at the name displayed on the computer screen, Dai Shiya's mouth curled up into a sneer. She already had enough evidence to completely shatter Dai Yue's lies and expose her true face.
However, she couldn't act too hastily. The old foxes in the family were all very shrewd. Without solid evidence, they would not easily believe anyone.
Dai Shiya needs an opportunity, an opportunity to reveal the truth in front of everyone.
"The old man has not been in good health recently, and the family is planning to hold a birthday banquet for him..." The housekeeper's unintentional words made Dai Shiya's heart move.
The opportunity has come.
Dai Shiya's lips curled up into a determined smile...