Chapter 126: Investigation
The lunch lady was a little shocked to hear that.
Still, she didn’t ask any more questions.
After all, a key part of working in the cafeteria was remembering to keep her mouth shut and just do her job.
Taking the meal card, she said, "I don’t need to log this. It’s for three days, so I’ll just give it a stamp."
Fu Mingxue: ...?
When the woman finished and handed it back, Fu Mingxue noticed for the first time the small grid on the back of the card.
A small red mark had been stamped in one of the squares.
After getting her food, she found a place to sit and eat.
Ten minutes later, she was back at the research institute.
The workday wasn’t over yet.
Some people were still engrossed in their work.
Even when Fu Mingxue left at eleven, she could see lights on all over the institute. Clearly, plenty of people were working late into the night.
It was quite late by the time she got back to her dorm.
The second-floor hallway was pitch-black.
Fu Mingxue was glad she’d brought a flashlight. Otherwise, she would have certainly tripped while fumbling in the dark.
The washroom area was to the left on the second floor.
Fu Mingxue grabbed her clothes and went to take a shower.
The next day, when she showed up in the washroom area, many people were already there.
Some were washing their faces, while others were doing laundry in the sinks.
"Oh, I haven’t seen you around, miss. Are you new here?"
"She’s our next-door neighbor!" The speaker was the woman from the previous day. Beaming at Fu Mingxue, she said, "Miss, my surname is Li. My husband’s with the institute, and so are you! What’s your name?"
"You can call me Fu Mingxue." Fu Mingxue saw no reason to hide her name.
"Fu Mingxue, what a lovely name. Did you just arrive at the institute yesterday?" As soon as Aunt Li asked, the others’ curiosity was piqued as well.
They were all dying to know what this young woman did.
"Yes. I’m finished, Auntie, so I’ll be going now." Fu Mingxue didn’t have time to stand around and chat with them.
Nor did she have any interest in satisfying their curiosity.
The moment she left, the women started talking, all buzzing about who she might be.
Fu Mingxue went downstairs to have breakfast at the cafeteria.
It couldn’t be helped. She was only staying for a few days, and you couldn’t cook in the dorms.
There weren’t any cooking utensils, either.
Besides, the cafeteria food was quite tasty.
After breakfast, she headed to the institute to work on her drafts.
Old Ji took note of how focused Fu Mingxue was on her drafting.
At the same time, he also received the report from Fu Mingxue’s background check.
The report had come back unusually fast, for two reasons. First, she was a college freshman.
That made the check much simpler.
Second, during their investigation, they discovered she was the daughter-in-law of Beijing City’s esteemed Qin family—the new bride of Qin Wenhao, married for less than a month.
Her background was absolutely impeccable!
After reading Fu Mingxue’s file, Old Ji could finally put his worries to rest.
Now, he was eager to see what Fu Mingxue was really made of.
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「The Qin Family Residence」
"I never thought Mingxue would be so capable." Mr. Qin’s eyes were filled with pride.
His wife had mentioned it briefly when she came home, but he hadn’t given it much thought at the time.
But the phone call from Old Ji this afternoon had left him utterly shocked.
He truly hadn’t expected—his youngest daughter-in-law was so exceptional.
"What happened?" the two Qin elders asked curiously.
Even Lan Qingman pricked up her ears to listen.
"Mingxue is at the research institute now. Let’s just say she’s incredibly skilled," Mr. Qin said, as that was all he could reveal.
However, everyone could tell from his expression that he was bursting with pride.
Mrs. Qin nodded in agreement. "I told you so the other day."
When she had mentioned it, everyone’s reaction had been rather lukewarm.