"Dad, are you spying on me?" Mei Qingyang was slightly startled. She knew her dad had this hatred towards Yu family, but she did not know that he would outright meddle in her affairs like this. Moreover, how did he even know that she was getting closer to Yu Tian?

    "I am just looking out for you my child. You could have chosen Su Lang, I would not have minded at all. Why must you even befriend that scion of Yu family?" Minister Jiang''s voice was aggrieved. The Yu family was his biggest enemy, wasn''t his daughter betraying him by doing all this?

    Mei Qingyang sensed the distress in her dad''s voice and her memory went back to the days when she had seen him silently cry at nights, clutching her foster brother''s photo to his heart. She had woken up to fetch water when she heard some voices. Out of curiosity, she had gone to check since the voices were coming from Jiang Bo''s empty room which had not been disturbed since his demise.

    The door was ajar, so she took a peek and found her dad, mourning and talking to his dead son''s picture in between. She understood how much he was suffering. But he did not have a right to punish her, or Yu Tian as a matter of fact. He had nothing to do with it. Why would he question their friendship?

    "Dad, I understand your concerns but…," Mei Qingyang tried to reason but was cut by her dad midway.

    "You listen young lady, I don''t think you really understand and I am not even asking you to. But as my daughter, the least you can do is partake in my schemes, right? And there is no Yu family member in my plan. So, chuck him while I am being polite. You know I do not tolerate rebellions," Minister Jiang became stern suddenly leaving Mei Qingyang speechless. Just how far did he know? And where was his confidence coming from? Did he get his hands on something that could be fatal to Yu family?

    "Dad, I think I have met enough people to be able to judge them. And my judgement for Yu Tian is that he is a good guy. Moreover, there is so much than meets the eyes. You can keep an eye on me all you want. But please let me do things my way," Mei Qingyang calmly explained to him. She was dying to know what was happening on outside. She needed to get her hands on the information, otherwise she would end up making a fool out of herself.

    "I have warned you my child. Rest will depend on your behavior now. I don''t want another incident like you baring your body in front of lecherous old men to save yourself. That guy could not even protect you that much, do you have any idea how much my heart hurt when I heard about that incident?" Minister Jiang''s anger had melted and there was grief in his voice again.

    "I am sorry dad, there were a few hiccups but I managed to get out of it. And it''s not like I haven''t been in active u.n.d.e.r.w.e.a.r in front of my trainers. This was nothing." Mei Qingyang was quite unreserved that way. There was a reason she could take that bold step. But that was also in past. She had only called him to let him know that she was doing fine, in case he was worried. But it seemed he already had all the news. What was the use of putting her friend in danger?

    "Also, I did mask the device that I am calling you from. Please do not dig deeper into it lest you put the owner in danger, okay? I know you care about common people. And take care of yourself and mom," she cut the call after saying this. She dropped a few hints for her dad to not trace the phone, telling him that she was using some ''commoners'' phone, obviously outside of school. And if he tried searching, it would put this person in danger.

    She had thought she could bounce a few ideas off her dad. But it seemed like her dad was going further and further away from what she had seen him as in past four years.

    "Qiqi, thank you. Let me just do last few changes and your phone will be same as before you gave it to me," Mei Qingyang smiled sadly to her friend.

    "Oh Qingyang, do you want to talk about it?" Wei Qiqi did not even question what she was doing with her phone. Was she a great judge of character or just too gullible?

    "Don''t worry, I am good. I am more concerned about you. Why do you trust me so much that you would give me your phone like this? What if I do something to you?" Mei Qingyang asked curiously.

    "Well, it is easy. You and I both know that I do not have anything that you could take advantage of. Apart from my family, I do not have anything to lose either. Plus, the blows we exchanged yesterday, I know you are an honest girl." Wei Qiqi explained her own stance. Mei Qingyang''s green eyes stared at her in disbelief, this girl was too good. She knew her own position, and her own place in society.

    "I do not know what situation you are in. But if I can help you out anyway, I will. You solved such a big problem for me, I have never felt such stress free in my life when I don''t have to think about money. It is only fair that I get to return the favor as much as possible, although I know I would never be able to repay you," Wei Qiqi played with her hands while looking down. It was embarrassing to admit but she was also doing it for herself, for not feeling too guilty about taking the money from her friend.

    Mei Qingyang chuckled hearing her words. No wonder they clicked as soon as they met. She had similar philosophy of life as her. Giving and taking was all part of maintaining her relationsh.i.p.s. She squeezed Wei Qiqi''s hand while handing her phone in the other.

    "You don''t need to look so serious. I understand your rationale. Thank you so much for being my friend,"

    --------------------------

    Yu Tian came to call the two girls for the medal distribution ceremony. When they opened the door, Yu Rong was with them. Mei Qingyang instantly got nervous because Wei Qiqi was also there.

    "Ah, I just came to congratulate you but I had no idea you had a guest," Yu Rong measured Wei Qiqi from head to toe, and she was not hiding it at all. Any wrong step, and Wei Qiqi would be complicated.

    "Hello Principal Yu, my name is Wei Qiqi. I just wanted an autograph from Su Lang which I failed to obtain yesterday. I was just trying to pester Mei Qingyang here to get me one," Wei Qiqi tried to handle the situation by herself.

    "Wei Qiqi? Are you not the person who Mei Qingyang defeated yesterday to go into finals? Why do you think she would do that favor for you?" Yu Rong crossed her arms in front of her c.h.e.s.t, trying to gauge the relationship between the two. They must have hit it off or something for Mei Qingyang to have personally invited her in her room.

    "Yes, I was just trying to curry some favor hehe. She studies in such a big school, I thought she would have connections. I did bag a scholarship from young master Yu here, so I thought I could persuade her too," Wei Qiqi laughed with a smug smile. She could act alright. Her palms were sweating big time though. She glanced at Yu Tian and realized her revealing so much information could not have been a good idea. But this was also a tactic to get Yu Rong to think what a fool she was to give away all this info. And perhaps she would brush them off?

    She had no idea what was going on their school. But she could see that everyone''s relation with this Principal of their school were strained. She had observed from another table what happened during the dinner two days ago. Everyone had left her to alone eat with other teammates. And she did not speak to anyone on the table after the four people had left. So, the four people of importance in the school, including Mei Qingyang, were definitely not fond of this lady.

    Plus, she did not give very good vibes to begin with. She did not need any hints from any of the people present, she had enough understanding.

    "Oh?" Yu Rong did put her guard down a bit. She already had information on her and it seemed like she had not judged her wrong. The girl was after money and she had gotten it from Yu Tian first. If she had gotten her hand on the girl before her nephew, she could use her.

    Now, there was less chance but at least this b*tch did not gain another ally. Not that this girl could her the b*tch a lot, she was another person with no background, nothing.

    She whispered to Wang Hao, "Keep an eye on this girl for some time. If nothing substantial, you can let go. I don''t want to be killing people unnecessarily."

    "Understood," he took the instructions. Yu Rong looked at Wang Hao. This guy had gotten too quiet for past few days. He was not even suggesting her tweaks in her plans now. If it were a few days ago, he would have provided some input to her and told her that they should continue monitoring this girl more. What was going on in his mind now? Perhaps it had been too much time since they last did it and he was missing her? She would find it out when they would reach back.