The eting concluded, and Fu Shinian did not leave his seat. Everyone present dared not be the first to stand, and so the atmosphere beca eerily quiet, until Song Yi entered the eting room, saw everyone exchanging glances, and signaled them to leave.
The continuous sound of footsteps brought Fu Shinian back to his senses, realizing the eting was over. He tiredly pinched the bridge of his nose. Only when Song Yi and the others had left, leaving just the two of them in the eting room, did he hand Fu Shinian back his phone:
"Mr. Fu, we’ve found it."
Fu Shinian stopped pinching his brow, looked up at the phone on the desk with a tone more foreboding than ever, and uttered just one word:
"Speak!"
"Even though the email address was encrypted in various ways, we managed to crack it. It originated from an internet cafe in Jiangcheng City."
"Jiangcheng City?"
"Yes," Song Yi replied. "I’ve already instructed our people there to investigate the surveillance footage, but it will take so ti."
Fu Shinian paused for a mont:
"Understood."
"Do you need to book the return flight now? Word has co from Deputy General Manager Wen that he will catch the 7 AM flight to New York tomorrow morning."
"No need," responded Fu Shinian, rising from his seat and walking towards the exit of the eting room. "Inform Deputy General Manager Wen not to co."
Song Yi looked up at Fu Shinian and suddenly understood sothing.
He was not willing to see Su Mu, at least not at this stage; he didn’t want to, not in the slightest.
——
When Su Mu and Jiang Bei woke up, it was already afternoon. Jiang Bei’s complexion had improved greatly after a nap but she still couldn’t make any major movents. Su Mu aided her up, helping her attentively with everything including using the bathroom and washing up, which made Jiang Bei remark:
"Actually, it’s not hard for anyone to fall in love with you, just seriously spend a few days with you, and they would. So I really understand Wei Shaoqin, though he appeared too late."
Su Mu gave her a look:
"You’re not avoiding boyfriends just because of , are you?"
"Yeah," Jiang Bei admitted straightforwardly. "Which boyfriend would attend to like you do? I wouldn’t subject myself to discomfort when I can live most comfortably with you."
Su Mu laughed and said nothing, but Jiang Bei looked at her with caution before speaking:
"Have you talked to Fu Shinian about it?"
Su Mu hesitated for a mont while washing up, then shook her head:
"Courage is fleeting, once it’s passed, it seems it can’t co back. I tried to speak up during the call yesterday, but I just couldn’t bring myself to say it."
"Yesterday, it seed you were quite uncomfortable with Wen Han."
Su Mu smiled, wiping the foam from her mouth:
"It’s not about being uncomfortable or not, it’s just..."
"I understand," Jiang Bei said with a smile. "You don’t have to explain to . Although I think it’s a pity and regrettable that Wen Shaoyuan doesn’t have you as his teacher, after what happened, no one can face the Wen Family as if nothing happened. I’m just worried that you might be compromising your own happiness."
Su Mu shook her head:
"What’s most important now is not my situation, but yours with Rong Shen. After last night’s incident, I think it’s impossible for him to let it slide; this makes it twice that he has lost to you. We should resolve this trouble sooner rather than later, otherwise, I really can’t stop worrying about you."
As Su Mu and Jiang Bei ca downstairs, Ji Nanfeng was elegantly dining at the table. Seeing the two of them descend, he slightly raised his hand in greeting. Jiang Bei leaned closer to Su Mu:
"Why is he still here?"
Ji Nanfeng lifted his gaze:
"I heard everything you said."
"So you heard," Jiang Bei huffed lightly. "It was ant for you to hear anyway. I’m quite safe here with Su Mu. When do you plan to leave? I feel like your presence here isn’t helping recover at all."
Ji Nanfeng helplessly retracted his gaze:
"Don’t worry, I’ll leave soon. Even if you beg , I won’t stay any longer."
Jiang Bei clapped her hands twice:
"Very good."
After the two of them ca downstairs, Auntie Lin turned and went to the kitchen to bring out the food. As she set the table, she said:
"Mr. Ji ntioned that Miss Jiang is injured, so it’s not suitable for you to eat anything too spicy. Therefore, everything is very bland and won’t affect your wound. Please enjoy your al."
Jiang Bei looked at the al before her, lifted her gaze to Ji Nanfeng, and laughed softly:
"Have you used the sa tactic on every single one of your previous... acquaintances?"
"Do you think everyone is as ungrateful as you?"
"Whether I recognize good from bad is unclear, but you’re shaless and thick-skinned indeed."
After finishing her words, Jiang Bei picked up her chopsticks, ready to start eating. However, Ji Nanfeng found his appetite completely quashed by Jiang Bei’s retorts. He felt that his ntality had been increasingly on the verge of collapsing lately. No matter what Jiang Bei used to say about him, he could retort back with composure. But now, it seed he could no longer do so.
He often felt nearly internally injured by her sharp words.
Su Mu seed to have beco numb to their bickering and didn’t interject. However, midway through the al, Ji Nanfeng suddenly rembered sothing:
"Rong Shen should be getting out in a couple of days."
Upon hearing this, both Jiang Bei and Su Mu stopped what they were doing and looked at Ji Nanfeng together. Ji Nanfeng laughed at their reaction, "Why are you looking at like that?"
"Isn’t smuggling guns and ammo a serious cri? How can he be released so soon?"
"It might not work for others, but Rong Shen has no such issues. Or else do you think he’s been mingling for nothing these years?" Ji Nanfeng put down his chopsticks and looked at Jiang Bei. "The world isn’t as black and white as we think. More often, we live in shades of gray. Not every official is a good person; there are too many entangled in complicated relationships with those in the underworld. A single move can affect the whole situation—they all understand this better than anyone. Thus, they wouldn’t dare let Rong Shen stay locked up for long. At most, they’ll find a scapegoat, and he will be out in a few days."
Jiang Bei remained silent for a mont before raising her eyes to Ji Nanfeng:
"Perfect timing, I wanted to have a proper talk with him about whether the attitude he showed last night is appropriate for soone who owes his life."
Ji Nanfeng looked deeply at Jiang Bei, and for a mont, he couldn’t say anything else.
After the al, Ji Nanfeng left as he had said he would, and surprisingly, Su Mu followed him out.
In front of the car, Ji Nanfeng turned around to look at Su Mu:
"What, do you want to talk about how you wronged Fu Shinian?"
Su Mu ignored the unfriendliness in his words:
"I want to talk to you about Jiang Bei."
Ji Nanfeng chuckled at that, took a cigarette from his pocket, shook one out, placed it in his mouth, then pulled out a lighter and lit it. After taking a light drag, he finally looked at Su Mu and said:
"Her matters? You think you should tell ? She probably doesn’t want involved in her ssy business anyway."
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