Chapter 181 - 4.7

"Little lady, we have arrived. This is the place you're headed to, right?" The driver asked.

"En. But.. Uncle driver, my family is inside. I didn't carry any money since I kept my arrival a secret. The fare will be paid by them. Could you ring the bell so that they come out?"

The driver was a bit suspicious. "Uh.. do you have their contact information?"

"You can't! I'm paying them a surprise visit, so I will hide in the car.. Is it possible, uncle?" Xu Jiaqi acted cute as she looked at the man with a pleading look.

"...Can, can! Little lady, who can disobey you when you're like that? Stay put in the car, uncle will call them out for you. Then, you can surprise them." After a few seconds, the taxi driver became compliant. He then got out of the vehicle and rang the house bell.

After all, Xu Jiaqi looked perfectly normal. The hospital that she came out of wasn't a specialized mental hospital, but rather a general one. This was also one of the points that caught Xu Jiaqi's suspicion regarding the Zhao family's foul play.

However, thanks to this fact, the taxi driver did not suspect that she was originally a mental patient. Instead, he thought that she was just a regular girl who possibly got injured and decided to come home by herself.

The door bell rang a few times, and before long, Zhao Xinran's figure came out of the doors. She ran over to the gates and saw that there was a taxi parked in front of her house. Wondering who it was, she asked the driver through the door monitor.

"Who might it be?" Zhao Xinran's sweet voice echoed through the communicator.

"Good morning, I'm here to drop off a lady by the name of Xu Jiaqi.." The driver didn't know how he should confirm Xu Jiaqi's credibility and just said her name, in hopes that his passenger did not lie to him and that this was indeed her home.

The other end was silent for a few seconds.

"M-mom! Qiqi is here..!" Zhao Xinran fell out of her trance and panicked momentarily. She rushed back into her house.

Hearing her voice, the driver felt a bit relieved. It meant that the girl did know Xu Jiaqi and this wasn't the wrong address. He gazed towards his car and saw the beautiful girl seated with excitement.

"How is it, uncle?" Xu Jiaqi smiled brightly as she asked.

The uncle driver was a bit troubled. By the reaction that Zhao Xinran showed, she didn't exactly seem happy, nor did she want to see Xu Jiaqi? Clearly, the lady knew this 'Qiqi', but what was with the reaction? Why did she run back inside..?

He looked back and forth from Xu Jiaqi's lovely face to the Zhao family's opened doors. He decided to wait.

"I should come out now~! Auntie is coming." Xu Jiaqi strutted along the road, skipping with glee.

"Auntie? Little lady, is she not your biological mother?"

The question did seem to be a bit personal, but their current situation wasn't that ordinary as well.

"Yep. I've been sick for quite some time, and both of my parents went to heaven. The Zhao family was close to mine, so I somehow got taken care of by them. Although.. I don't know, sometimes, it feels like they don't like me. But that's probably just my overreaction!"

The driver had to deal with a lot of people daily, so he was quite the expert at sensing things. He already began to feel like there was something off.

It didn't take long until Zhao Shiqi, the beloved Auntie Zhao showed up.

"Ah! Auntie's here! Auntie, could you pay my taxi fare? The uncle driver is waiting, hurry and give the money, ah. He's very kind, he agreed to play along my surprise plan." Xu Jiaqi didn't show a speck of mistake in her acting. "How is it, I'm here now. Are you surprised? You must be, right..?"

Very innocent.

A happy giggle that was innocent, when heard by the sinners at the other end of the door monitor, seemed especially eerie.

Xu Jiaqi shoved her face up the door monitor's camera. This camera was also probably bought by her parents' money, right?

"Y-you! How did you come here?!" Zhao Shiqi shouted.

"Ao, are you not happy to see me, Auntie?" Xu Jiaqi pouted and made a wronged face. "Auntie, it's not right to shout at me. You can't do that.... You already know how I am. Auntie, I'm scared, hurry and take me in. Uncle driver, the money, Auntie..." Xu Jiaqi began to shed tears, showcasing her mental instability to fool them.

"A-ah. Right, right. Xinran, go fetch some money for the fare. Mister, sorry for the inconvenience.. We were just worried about Xu- Qiqi's wellbeing.. After all, it would've been better if we picked her up by ourselves." Zhao Shiqi did not want to be implicated in some strange matter and decided that the best course of events would be to send the taxi driver away and talk with Xu Jiaqi inside the house.

Zhao Xinran nodded and went back inside the house, fetching some money. The door was opened, and the money was brought. Xu Jiaqi snatched the cash and turned her back against Zhao Xinran.

"Uncle driver, thank you for helping me today. Be sure to remember me, alright? My name is Xu Jiaqi." She handed over the money and said in a small volume so that the ones behind the door wouldn't hear.

If one wasn't sharp, they would think that nothing was wrong.

But this..

Xu Jiaqi didn't say anything further than that. She waved goodbye towards the taxi driver, who returned the gesture and went back inside his vehicle. Xu Jiaqi, on the other hand, was dragged by Auntie Zhao inside the house, and the door was locked shut.

The uncle driver set off after receiving the money, but he still couldn't shake off his bad feelings. The little lady's name.. seemed so familiar, too.

Xu Jiaqi, Xu Jiaqi.. Wait, Xu Jiaqi?