After a long moment of internal conflict, Jin Yongnian forced a smile and shook his head, saying, "For now, don't tell her about this matter. After you get engaged at the end of the year, we can figure out a suitable time to tell her."

Chen Feng was stunned. He never expected Jin Yongnian to choose to help him hide this matter. Was he trapping his own daughter or what?

Of course, in reality, even if Chen Feng told Jin Xinyan, based on his understanding of her, she wouldn't back out.

On the contrary, she might even try to get pregnant with his child as well. This was what Chen Feng truly feared.

But Jin Yongnian didn't know the whole story. He was worried that if Chen Feng confessed to Jin Xinyan about Liu Ying, she wouldn't be able to handle the blow and would break up with Chen Feng.

If that happened, both he and his daughter would suffer great losses, and Liu Ying might benefit in the end.

Jin Yongnian had weighed the pros and cons thoroughly before finally deciding to help Chen Feng keep this secret.

However, Chen Feng didn't agree because if he did, he would have to get engaged to Jin Xinyan by the end of the year.

So, he quickly adjusted his expression and said seriously, "I can't do this. I must explain the situation with Liu Ying to her, or else it would mean I'm deliberately deceiving her."

Jin Yongnian didn't expect Chen Feng to be so "upright." After a moment's pause, he shook his head and said, "If you tell her about this, she'll definitely be very hurt. Plus, if she can't think it through and wants to break up with you, what then? Are you planning to break up with her?"

Chen Feng replied earnestly, "I definitely don't want to break up with her, but I also don't want to deceive her. I will absolutely confess to her, and whatever punishment she wants to give me, I'll take it. I will do my best to make it up to her and seek her forgiveness."

Seeing Chen Feng's determination, Jin Yongnian fell silent for a long time before sighing and saying, "Alright, alright, I won't interfere with this. I'll just pretend I don't know. You find the right time to tell her. Remember, try your best to comfort her and don't let her get too upset."

Chen Feng promised, "Mm, I remember. I'll try not to let her be sad. I'll comfort her well."

"That's good then."

Jin Yongnian said this, but as an old father, he still felt a bit distressed. Yet, with this matter, he couldn't complain to Chen Feng.

Otherwise, if Chen Feng, this golden son-in-law, gets angry and leaves, the one who'll suffer is definitely his daughter.

With nothing more to discuss after sorting out the main issue, Chen Feng stood up to leave.

This time, Jin Yongnian didn't try to hold him back and allowed Chen Feng to go first. He himself wanted to stay a while longer, and Chen Feng, of course, had no objections.

When he got to the downstairs cashier, he initially wanted to pay the bill, but was told that a lady had already settled it. It should be Sun Yanhong.

But that wasn't what Chen Feng was worried about. What he really cared about was Zhou Qianru, who had just left with Sun Yanhong.

He hadn't forgotten the events from a few years back. Even though he knew she was now someone else's wife, he still wanted to talk to her alone. It wasn't because he was pining for her or hoping to rekindle anything.

Rather, he wanted Zhou Qianru to give him an explanation as to why she suddenly disappeared back then. Was it really because she had found an official boyfriend, or was there some other reason? Chen Feng needed her to tell him personally.

Before seeing her today, these thoughts weren't very strong, but after seeing her, they suddenly intensified.

Back then, they had tacitly agreed to just comfort each other without involving emotions. Still, the saying goes "a thousand years of cultivation leads to sharing a pillow," and disappearing without a word, not even a goodbye message, still left Chen Feng feeling hurt. Even after so many years, it remained on his mind.

Chen Feng got into his car, thinking about how to ask Sun Yanhong for Zhou Qianru's phone number when his phone rang with an unfamiliar number. After a brief hesitation, he answered it.

"Hello, who are you looking for?" Chen Feng asked.

"It's me," came a woman's voice.

Chen Feng was initially taken aback, then asked with some surprise, "Is it you?"

From the sound of her voice, it was indeed Zhou Qianru.

"Come over to the Lakefront Tea House on East Lake East Road. It's not far from the Chayun Tea House. I'll wait for you."

"Alright, I'll be there soon."

"Come straight to the second floor when you arrive."

"Okay."

Without saying more, Zhou Qianru hung up the phone.

Chen Feng put down his phone, a slight smile appearing on his lips. Zhou Qianru must have something to say to him as well. However, judging from her previous attitude, it probably wasn't anything pleasant.

Chen Feng could guess a bit at this, but he didn't mind too much.

He immediately picked up his phone, set up the navigation, and drove toward the Lakefront Tea House.

Meanwhile, Shi Xiangnan was in a rush to get to his company and was seeing a group of law enforcement officers busy inside, making him feel the world was spinning.

There were primarily two issues, which employees had already made clear to him. One was the issue of issuing false value-added invoices, providing other companies with false VAT invoices. This had been secretly done by one of his employees to earn handling fees and make extra money. This wasn't a huge problem for Shi Xiangnan personally, but the company was sure to face a fine.

The other was the fraudulent export tax rebate, which had deep ties to him personally and his company.

He ran an import-export business and couldn't always conduct export trades just for his own company's benefit. Often, he would take on orders for other individuals or enterprises, processing them through his foreign trade company and earning a management fee based on the trading amount.

Over the years, there were many foreign trade companies operating this way, and Shi Xiangnan had also done it.

But this time, the "foreign trade agency" entrusted to his company had gone wrong. The textiles claimed in the export were found to be merely clothing scraps and waste, essentially garbage, with a value far lower than the invoiced amount.

The aim was to fraudulently claim over five million in export tax rebates from just this single transaction.

Such a scheme was essentially stealing national funds. Once discovered, it meant serious trouble.

Indeed, not long afterward, Shi Xiangnan was taken into custody by the economic investigation team. Even though he proclaimed his innocence and claimed to be a victim himself, everything had to wait until the investigation concluded to reach a verdict.

This issue was undoubtedly catastrophic for both Shi Xiangnan and the Shi family. Besides facing severe fines, Shi Xiangnan, as the company head, could even face jail time.

Jiang Duangxiang, upon learning that her husband was in custody, was terrified and immediately contacted her sister for advice, who was Liu Ying's mother.

Mrs. Liu was also taken aback. After some quick discussion with her sister, she promptly called her husband.

Mr. Liu, being someone within the system, though in a rather obscure department, still had some connections.