The next moment in the video showed Su Xiaobai slowly walking out from a corner. Of course, in the eyes of the group of young men around Su Miao, the transformation between Su Bai and Su Xiaobai was a well-kept secret. After all, Su Bai had managed to hide her condition for ten years, deceiving everyone, including Su Miao.
In the video, only Su Bai's profile was visible. No one noticed the subtle changes in her expression. If Su Miao could see his usually gentle and calm sister now looking furious, he would surely be a little surprised.
"Su Miao, didn't your sister tell you she saw Fang Cheng at the parking lot?" Qin Ming casually asked as he took a drag on his cigarette.
Su Miao didn't respond immediately. His brows were furrowed as he stared at the screen, clearly lost in thought.
At this point, Qin Ming also had some doubts. If Su Miao had known it was Fang Cheng's car that had hit the white Porsche, then Su Miao wouldn't have needed to have this footage pulled up. It seemed like he had been in the dark too. By chance, the video had revealed a lot of secrets.
"It's not that dramatic, right? Maybe she didn't see anything. Fang Cheng was driving so fast, and your sister just happened to walk by. I don't think she could have stayed so calm if she had seen him. She would have rushed to confront him right away," another young man, about the same age as Su Miao, shook his head and disagreed. He felt that it was very likely that Su Bai hadn't seen the person in the car. Moreover, her actions after the incident were too calm. She didn't even glance back at the black Audi. Instead, she immediately checked her own car. Plus, the Audi drove off quickly, so it was highly probable that she hadn't seen anything.
"Whether she saw it or not, Fang Cheng is definitely hiding something. The woman in his car, I think we should investigate her. If their relationship is indeed more than it seems, it's time to give your sister a warning. We wouldn't want her to be kept in the dark and played by them," Qin Ming said, flicking the ash from his cigarette and glancing back at Su Miao, who had snapped out of his thoughts.
After all, the only person in the room who was close to Su Bai was Su Miao. The others were outsiders, so they couldn't get involved in Su Bai's family matters. But Su Miao could intervene if he wished.
"Let's handle it as Zhang Duo suggested. Investigate the woman's identity and see what comes up. As for my sister and Fang Cheng... let's not interfere with their relationship for now," Su Miao replied softly, his gaze once again fixed on the TV screen, but this time with a slightly narrowed, contemplative look.
Since Su Miao had already made up his mind, the others said no more. After all, this was a family matter. If anyone was going to intervene, it would be Su Miao, and only if he gave the word.
The one with true concerns, however, was Fang Cheng. Recently, he had been caught up in many things. He had just transferred to a new department, and there was a lot of work to be done, from handling the transfer of personnel to secretly expanding his own network. The pressure was mounting, but what really troubled him, perhaps, were other matters—particularly involving women.
After returning from the Su family's dinner, Fang Cheng was surprised at his own response earlier in front of Su Lingfeng. Deep down, he knew that marrying Su Bai was the best choice for him, from every perspective. Not only were the Su and Fang families well-matched, but Su Bai was also an incredibly beautiful woman. Over the past two years, she had silently supported him, never complaining or making trouble—she was the kind of understanding woman that every man dreams of but can rarely find.
He had already accepted that marrying Su Bai was a foregone conclusion, but in recent times, his thoughts had started to waver due to other people. Although he knew that his parents and Su Bai's father had been subtly pushing him toward this decision, he had still hesitated to propose to Su Bai.
If it hadn't been for Su Lingfeng bringing up the matter today, Fang Cheng probably wouldn't have agreed so quickly.
Rubbing his slightly swollen temples, Fang Cheng closed his eyes and slowly leaned his body back against the chair. After a while, the sound of his phone ringing broke his chaotic thoughts.
"Hmm, is everything alright over there?" Fang Cheng asked, opening his eyes.
"Zi Yu already took her back, but Gong Zheng's people are starting to make some moves. I've asked Zi Yu to keep her at the Jin Xiu neighborhood for now. Shouldn't be a big problem," came the reply.
"Alright, just keep it that way. Oh, and one more thing, I might not be able to visit her in the next couple of days. If you and Zi Yu have time, go check on her. I've got some things to handle with Su Bai," Fang Cheng said, slowly opening the drawer with one hand. Inside, there was a small, exquisite red velvet box. He opened it, revealing a diamond ring with small diamonds encrusted along the band.
This was a ring Fang Cheng had prepared a month ago, specially ordered from the UK, handcrafted. Though it was only three carats, it wasn't cheap, and its design wasn't too flashy—just perfect for Su Bai's personality.
The man on the other side of the call paused for a moment, not answering immediately. After about half a minute, he sighed and said, "Looks like you've made up your mind, huh? Really going to marry that Su girl?"
"Su Bai's personality suits mine, and as for the Su family, if the old man wants to move forward this year, Su Lingfeng's connection might come in handy," Fang Cheng replied.
"Enough with the talk about alliances," the man said. "It's your decision, I'm not getting involved. You better figure out how to explain things to her. Don't say I didn't warn you—Gong Zheng's side is watching closely. If we hadn't acted fast this time, we might have ended up on the receiving end of a big blow."
"Keep an eye on Gong Zheng's side, but don't take action yet," Fang Cheng instructed.
"…Alright, I'll hang up now." The man on the other side of the phone was Chen Xingran. He turned to look at the young man lounging on the sofa, playing with a lighter—Zi Yu.
"Fang Cheng and Su Bai should have been married already. As for the Su family, Fang Cheng's not about to let go of such a juicy opportunity," Zi Yu said, his tone filled with sarcasm. Chen Xingran caught the sarcasm but only smiled wryly and shook his head.
"Enough. Just focus on how to handle Zhang Tingting's situation."
At the mention of that name, Zi Yu's expression became serious. He replied淡淡 (calmly), "Keep it under wraps. Do whatever it takes to keep it quiet for now."
Chen Xingran nodded in agreement, signaling that he was on the same page.
Fang Cheng had come to the Su family's house to pick up Su Bai today. When Su Bai came down the stairs, the two exchanged a brief nod as if they were in sync. Su Bai wore a simple white dress, her hair still neatly styled, and her face, lightly made up, appeared even more beautiful and enchanting. Her natural beauty was already striking, and with just a subtle touch of makeup, she drew even more attention.
The two were headed to the civil affairs bureau today, as they had discussed the day before on the phone. After confirming the time, Fang Cheng specifically came to pick her up.
Both of them had taken half a day off from work. Although they could have arranged for a more convenient time through acquaintances, they both felt it was better to follow the proper procedures.
Fortunately, there weren't many people at the civil affairs bureau in the afternoon. Most people who came to register their marriage usually chose an auspicious date or a day of special significance, but Fang Cheng and Su Bai didn't care about such things. They didn't think the date or number was all that important.
The process didn't take long. After about an hour or so, the two of them were legally married.
After leaving the civil affairs bureau, Su Bai looked at the red book in her hand, then at Fang Cheng's figure ahead as he went to retrieve the car. She couldn't help but let out a soft sigh.
It wasn't that she was starting to regret it; rather, she was feeling a bit anxious. Over the past few days, she had significantly increased her medication dosage. Her "inner self" had not shown up again. Although she wasn't sure what the inner self's attitude toward Fang Cheng was, just to be safe, Su Bai decided to up the dosage. She only wanted to smoothly get through the upcoming wedding.
Shaking her head, she was about to step down the stairs when Su Miao's call came through.
"Sis, where are you?" Su Miao, who usually respected her older sister, always had a playful tone when calling, but this time his voice sounded urgent.
"I'm at the civil affairs bureau," Su Bai replied. Though Su Miao's relationship with Fang Cheng wasn't exactly hostile, they didn't exactly get along either. Su Bai knew this, but she didn't care to interfere. However, she didn't want to hide the fact that she had already gotten married to Fang Cheng.
"You and Fang Cheng went to register? You agreed to marry that guy?" Su Miao, who had been sitting comfortably in his office chair, stood up in shock at the news.
"Xiao Miao, stop calling him Fang Cheng. From now on, when you see him, you'll need to call him 'brother-in-law,'" Su Bai teased, casting a glance at Fang Cheng, who had already driven over, before saying to Su Miao.
"Sis, did you just arrive there, or have you already registered?" Su Miao's frown deepened. He had called home earlier, and Aunt Huang answered the phone. Aunt Huang had happily told him that Su Bai and Fang Cheng were going to get their marriage certificate. Su Miao, in a panic, immediately called Su Bai, but unfortunately, he was too late.
"We've already registered."
"Wow, my goodness, sis, such a big deal, and you didn't even give me a heads-up? You don't know... that Fang Cheng…"
"What about Fang Cheng?" Su Bai raised an eyebrow and then scolded Su Miao in a teasing tone, "Xiao Miao, I know you have some issues with Fang Cheng. You wanted his help with your business before, and he stood by and did nothing, right? I've already told you, his job doesn't allow him to get involved. Why are you still holding onto this grudge? Alright, enough, I'm hanging up now. We'll talk later if anything comes up."
Before Su Miao could say anything more, Su Bai had already put her phone away and was walking toward Fang Cheng's car.
"What's going on? You look so upset," Qin Ming asked, signaling for his secretary to leave before stepping forward to speak.
"My sister got tricked into going to the civil affairs bureau by Fang Cheng," Su Miao said, clearly frustrated, as he took another deep drag on his cigarette.
"What? Your sister and Fang Cheng got their marriage certificate? That guy, huh? He must've fed her some kind of sweet talk. How did she agree to marry him?" After a pause, Qin Ming asked, "By the way, when is the wedding? Did she say?"
"Wedding? To hell with that wedding," Su Miao spat out a few rings of smoke, then turned and sat back down in his chair, eyes closed as he began to think about how to convince his sister to call off the marriage.