Qi Yun initially thought that the slicked-back hair person's connections were in the New District; little did he know they were actually in the city government, which left him somewhat stunned.

After a long silence, he thanked Zhang Dayong and then ended the call.

Liu Meng noticed his serious expression, handed him a cigarette and asked, "Is everything okay?"

Qi Yun took the cigarette, smiled and shook his head, "Nothing, just a little trouble."

"By the way, Brother Wei, let's exchange contact information. I'll arrange a hotel for you later, so you can relax for a couple of days, and I'll contact you when it's time to leave."

Chen Wei nodded, pulled out his phone from his pocket, and said, "No need to bother, Qi. I'll just stay at Liu Meng's place."

Liu Meng chuckled agreeably from the side, "Yeah, Old Qi. Let Old Chen stay at my place, it's convenient, and we haven't seen each other for a while, so we can catch up."

Upon hearing that, Qi Yun didn't insist further and nodded, "Alright, you two have a chat then, I have some things to attend to, so I'll head out first."

...

Meanwhile, in a private club in the Sha District, Re Lijiang was having tea with a man who looked rather imposing and was in his fifties.

"Brother Zhou, sorry for troubling you this time."

The man referred to as Brother Zhou nodded slightly, took a sip of tea, and said indifferently, "Why aren't you staying in Kashi properly, and what made you think of taking on a project here?"

Re Lijiang wore a light smile on his face and explained, "Haha, it was rather incidental. I initially came to visit some elders for my father and happened to discover that this project has a good profit, so I wanted to give it a try."

"Hmm." Brother Zhou muttered softly, then asked, "How is the old man's health?"

Discussing this issue, Re Lijiang frowned and sighed gently, "It seems like it will be this year."

Upon hearing this, Brother Zhou showed a trace of regret on his face, put down the teacup, and sighed as well, "Time waits for no man."

"Let's not talk about this." Re Lijiang waved his hand, took out a wristband from his pocket, and slid it across the table.

The wristband had numbers on it, much like those used for opening lockers.

"I heard Xiao Yu's expenses for studying abroad in the United States are quite high, so I've prepared two million for him as pocket money."

Brother Zhou glanced without any visible reaction but didn't say a word.

...

When Qi Yun drove back to Vanke Mansion, Zhao Qing was already waiting for him at the pergola in the residential area. Seeing Qi Yun's car, she quickly ran over and got into the passenger seat.

She didn't have classes in the afternoon, so she took half a day's leave, intending to go with Qi Yun to the renovation company to finalize the design for the small villa.

Qi Yun turned his head to look at her, a gentle smile on his face, "Traffic was a bit heavy, have you been waiting long?"

Zhao Qing shook her head lightly, "Not for long, I just came out."

Though she was trying hard to act happier, Qi Yun could still sense a hint of sadness between her brows, clearly still affected by Dean Luo's passing.

Qi Yun didn't say much, merely raised his hand to stroke her hair.

A half-hour later, the car stopped in front of a renovation company.

Qi Yun took Zhao Qing's hand and led her into the store.

Just as they pushed open the door, a woman in professional attire with a graceful figure quickly approached.

"Hello, welcome… Qi... Brother Qi?"

Qi Yun looked up; the woman in front of him was his long-time no-see sister-in-law, Meng Sisi.

He was slightly taken aback, a hint of surprise on his face, then smiled and said, "Ah, what a coincidence! Working here now?"

The sister-in-law glanced at the hands Qi Yun and Zhao Qing were holding, her smile faltered but quickly adjusted, lowered her head, smoothed her hair, and replied, "Yes, the 4S shop I worked at before closed down."

After speaking, she sized up Zhao Qing, turned her gaze to Qi Yun, squeezed out a smile and asked, "This lady is?"

Qi Yun gently held Zhao Qing's hand and introduced, "This is my fiancée Zhao Qing. Xiao Qing, this is Meng Sisi, Wei Yong's sister-in-law who came to our home last time."

"Brother Qi, are you married?" The sister-in-law's expression tightened reflexively as she questioned.

Before Qi Yun could answer, Zhao Qing voluntarily extended her hand, smiled, and said, "Hello Meng, we're getting married soon, remember to come and enjoy some wedding drinks when you have time."

Upon hearing this, the sister-in-law's expression was somewhat complicated, but she quickly showed a smile and extended her hand to shake Zhao Qing's, saying, "Alright, congratulations, Miss Zhao is indeed beautiful and matches Brother Qi well."

"Thanks for the compliment, Meng is also very pretty." After releasing her hand, Zhao Qing naturally linked arms with Qi Yun.

Seeing this, the sister-in-law's eyes flashed with a hint of imperceptible loss; then she looked at Qi Yun and asked, "Brother Qi, you came here today for house renovation?"

Qi Yun nodded, "Yes, there's a house for renovation. We came today to look at the design and finalize the specific renovation plan."

"Okay, please follow me over here and sit. I'll call our company's best designer." The sister-in-law said that and led the way in her high heels.

Taking advantage of this gap, Zhao Qing looked up at Qi Yun with eyes seemingly full of meaning.

Qi Yun pretended not to notice, looking elsewhere.

Just after they sat down, a middle-aged man with long hair approached, slightly bowed and said, "Hello, I'm Jason, the designer."

"Hello." Qi Yun nodded in greeting.

Jason sat down and began discussing house renovation matters with them, appearing very professional.

Qi Yun didn't have many demands; everything was up to Zhao Qing's preferences.

Not far away, her sister-in-law occasionally glanced over, her mood visibly low.

After more than half an hour of discussion, Zhao Qing finally settled on the renovation style: "Jason, I really like this simple yet cozy style, let's go with this plan."

Jason nodded with a smile, replying, "Alright, Miss Zhao, rest assured, the final renovation effect will definitely satisfy you. We'll have someone come over to measure the dimensions later..."

"How long will the construction period take?" Zhao Qing asked.

Jason adjusted his glasses and seriously replied, "Miss Zhao, considering the size of your house and the complexity of the renovation, normally it would take about three months."

"If you'd like to speed up the process, we can add more manpower, which might shorten the construction period to within two months, but the cost will increase accordingly, mainly due to higher labor expenses."

Hearing that it would take so long, Zhao Qing couldn't help but frown slightly.

Seeing this, Qi Yun said generously, "Money is not an issue, just make it as quick as possible."

Upon hearing this, a hint of delight flashed in Jason's eyes, and his smile grew bigger: "Alright, rest assured, both of you, we'll aim to complete the job quickly while ensuring quality."

"Okay, we'll take our leave then. If any issues come up, we'll discuss them over the phone." With that, Qi Yun stood up, nodded at the sister-in-law not far away, and then led Zhao Qing out the door.

Zhao Qing also waved politely at the sister-in-law.

After seeing them into the car, Jason returned to the store, noticing the sister-in-law's low spirits, and suspiciously asked, "What's wrong?"

The sister-in-law forced a slight smile and shook her head: "Nothing much, everything's fine."

Jason gave her a puzzled look but didn't ask further, instead saying, "Your friend is quite decisive. A renovation close to two million, and he didn't even bat an eye."

Upon hearing this, the sister-in-law's eyes involuntarily widened, and she exclaimed, "Two million? How big is their house?"

"Isn't he your friend? You don't know? It's a villa at Golden Collar Villa, over 200 square meters, and at its most expensive, a unit cost nearly five million."

The sister-in-law was momentarily stunned, instinctively clenching her hands.

Initially, when Wei Yong mentioned Qi Yun, he only said that Qi Yun used to do big business, was very capable, had a good character, would definitely achieve great things in the future, and wasn't bad looking either.

She wasn't young anymore, so she thought she'd meet him, and used the opportunity to help out to meet in the warehouse. Unexpectedly, they hit it off at first sight. She liked his seasoned, confident, and mature demeanor.

Unfortunately, though, it was unrequited—he didn't seem to have much feeling for her, even though her brother-in-law was always trying to set them up...

She didn't expect that when they met again, he was already about to get married.

Now, she somewhat regretted not being bolder the last time they were alone...

...

On the way home, Zhao Qing rested her chin on her hands, staring closely at Qi Yun, asking, "That Meng Sisi was looking at you quite differently just now. Is there something you haven't told me?"

Qi Yun's heart skipped a beat, not expecting her intuition to be so sharp that she even noticed this.

However, he maintained his composure and smiled: "How could that be? She and I are just ordinary friends, I assure you there's nothing I'm hiding from you."

Zhao Qing narrowed her eyes slightly, scrutinizing Qi Yun's expression, trying to find a flaw.

She still felt uneasy, her feminine intuition telling her that Meng Sisi's gaze at Qi Yun was anything but simple.

Plus, there were the high heels she found in the car last time, making her even more suspicious.

Yet she didn't see a hint of panic in Qi Yun's eyes, so she bit her lip and decided to trust him for now.

"You better not lie to me, or I'll be very hurt."

Qi Yun's heart tightened; he raised his hand to stroke her hair, reassuring, "Don't overthink it. She and I are just ordinary friends, and that's only because of Wei Yong's involvement. I haven't done anything to betray you!"

After he spoke, he couldn't help but think to himself, thankfully he resisted Wang Fei's advances that night, or he couldn't say this with such conviction today.

Just then, the phone rang suddenly, and Qi Yun glanced over, seeing the name of the Spanish historian—I—Ignacio on the screen.

He guessed it was likely that there had been progress in deciphering those coordinates, so he quickly pressed the answer button.

"Hello, Ignacio."

Ignacio's slightly excited voice came from the other end of the line: "Qi Yun, the numbers you gave me last time really are coordinates. I've reviewed many documents about Jose Echegaray and have successfully deciphered them!"

Although he had anticipated the result, Qi Yun was still somewhat excited to get confirmation from the other person.

If the other person could decipher this set, they could certainly handle the other set too. Once he got the accurate coordinates, he would virtually own the treasures aboard the San Jose ship.

However, Qi Yun was unsure about one issue: if he gave Ignacio the second set of coordinates, would Ignacio figure out that it was the site of a shipwreck once he deciphered them...

After thinking it over several times, Qi Yun replied, "Is that so? Mister Ignacio, thank you very much."

"You're welcome, Qi Yun. I've really enjoyed this process. I hope you can quickly find the other half of the coordinates and give them to me to decipher." Ignacio said.

"Alright, I'm continually looking for clues, and I'll let you know the minute I have the other half of the coordinates."

"Alright then, I'll send you the deciphered coordinates shortly."

"..."

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