“Let those cars at the back leave. They don’t have to follow us anymore,” ordered Bai Yeqing.
Leng Fei nodded and made a call. Within the next second, the cars behind them quickly disappeared into the crowd of cars on the road.
After a while, they reached their destination.
They parked their car by the roadside and they were still some distance away from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He patiently waited at the backseat of the car and stared at the stern-looking exit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ building. He got off work early today and hence, he was unlikely to miss her if she came out of the building.
However, he was just thinking about that and he saw the chauffeur coming out of the building alone.
He furrowed his eyebrows.
The chauffeur got in the car and reported, “Your excellency, Miss Xia is not in there.”
“Why?”
“They said that Miss Xia is on leave today and did not come to work.”
On leave? Did not come to work?
She had always been very dedicated to her work. Unless there was something important, she would not take leaves. However, when she called him today, he did not remember her talking about anything important that she had to settle.
He did not make a sound and the chauffeur could not guess what the President was thinking. Hence, he could only look towards Leng Fei for help.
Leng Fei asked, “Are we going back to President Manor first?”
“Yes.” He only said one simple word.
This woman was really amazing.
It was his first time fetching her off work and it failed terribly.
Anyways, she always had a way to piss him off.
Bai Yeqing furrowed his eyebrows while going into a daze. He played with his phone and it was not until a long time had passed that he finally called that familiar number.
…
She fell asleep again.
Xu Yan carefully put the blanket over her and adoringly looked at her. He could not bear to leave her alone.
Just then, her phone at the bedside suddenly rang.
He was afraid that it would wake her up, so he quickly took the phone over to switch it to silent mode. However, his gaze fell unto the screen and his eyes immediately darkened.
These two words, Future Husband, was just like a sharp sword piercing through his eyes.
He really wanted to know which man had made her save his number as such on her phone. Was it Yu Zenan or…
The President?
In the heat of the moment, his long fingers uncontrollably pressed the ‘answer’ button. However, the screen turned black the moment he pressed it, and he couldn’t even catch his voice over the line.
Her phone had turned off.
He stared at the black screen with a shocked look. After a long while, he finally put the phone back to its original place while still feeling stumped.
On this side.
“Sorry, the customer you have dialed is currently unavailable, please try again later! Sorry…” Bai Yeqing held his phone and listened to the pre-recorded voice on his phone. The expression on his face turned even more sour and dark.
He was enraged.
He did not want to give up and called her a few times, however, all he could hear was that pre-recorded voice.
He cannot help but feel a little frustrated.
What was up with that woman?
After he went back to the President’s Manor, he changed his shoes and scanned the house with a cold expression.
He asked the maid beside him. “Where’s Miss Xia?”
“Miss Xia is not back yet.”
His eyebrows twitched. He did not know why, but he was easily irritated today.
“Dad, Uncle butler said that Big baby would not be coming home tonight.”
Xia Dabai raised his head from his comic book on the sofa.
“Nonsense!” Bai Yeqing refused to believe him. They agreed that she would come home tonight to cook dinner for him. Previously, he had waited for her for one whole night. She would not have the guts to stand him up again.
“It’s true. If you don’t believe me, you can ask Uncle butler.”
The kid seemed very confident and Bai Yeqing furrowed his eyebrows before looking at the butler in suspicion.
“What is going on?”
The dark expression on his face put a great deal of pressure on the butler—he felt very suffocated and stressed.
He nervously lowered his head, and in a subtle voice, he said, “When Miss Xia left the house this morning, she had already addressed us that she won’t be coming back for the meantime. She even especially reminded me to take care of Little master.”
“Reason?” His voice was cold to the bones.
The butler shook his head. “She did not tell me why. This morning, she wore a mask and left the house in a hurry. She did not look too good. Oh, right, in the afternoon, she called and told me to disinfect the house. Hence, everyone has been cleaning the house for the whole afternoon and has just disinfected every corner of the house.”
It was no wonder that he smelled something weird when he entered the house.
It was just that…
Wait a minute!
Mask? Sudden disappearance? Disinfect?
And…
Her call this afternoon…
He had already noticed that something was not right back then, but he did not dwell on it further at that time.
Bai Yeqing’s face darkened and he turned around to order the maids. “Call Secretary Leng to come back now!”
“Yes.”
The maids heard him and upon seeing his dark expression, they did not dare to keep him waiting and quickly ran outside.
Leng Fei had just gone in the car and was prepared to leave. The maid breathed heavily as she called out, “Wait! Secretary Leng! Wait a minute!”
He quickly alighted from the car. “Does his excellency still have some order for me?”
“Yes. His excellency asked for you to go in now.”
…
Leng Fei walked towards the President’s Manor with fast steps. Bai Yeqing walked out with heavy steps and he looked so solemn that Leng Fei grew timid.
“Did something happen?” asked Leng Fei.
“Xia Xingchen is missing! I don’t care what method you use, find her for me right this instant!”
“Yes, I will do it right away.”
Leng Fei walked outside while making a call.
If they relied on the National Intelligence Agency’s intelligence network, it would not be difficult to find a person’s whereabouts. However, it cannot be used for personal reasons.
Furthermore, once someone got hold of the news that the President’s trying to find a specific woman, there would definitely be people who would make an issue out of it. If that happened, Miss Xia and Little master’s life would be in danger.
Hence, he could only rely on other sources to search for her.
…
In the evening.
Xia Xingchen woke up. However, her fever had not subsided. Sweat had soaked her whole shirt.
She got down the bed and left the room. She saw the open kitchen and noticed that Xu Yan looked very busy. Ever since he was young, he was provided for and thus, he was naturally unfamiliar with cooking so he looked very clumsy.
“You’re awake?”
He seemed to have noticed her gaze. He suddenly raised his head and quickly came out of the kitchen. “Do you feel better?”
Xia Xingchen wanted to avoid him for she was afraid that she might pass the virus on to him.
“It’s too late to even hide from me. Don’t be worried and take a look at me, would you?” Xu Yan supported her on the sofa. “Sit down and I will take your temperature first.”
“I don’t want…” Her lips were dry and void of any color. Her palms were placed on the sofa, and she said, “I still want to live outside. You can just find me a random hotel.”
Xu Yan wanted to stop her, however, she insisted on leaving. No matter what he said, she refused to listen.
“In that case, wait for me to take my car keys and I will send you there.”
With that said, Xu Yan went into his bedroom.
Xia Xingchen did not want to trouble him further so she took her stuff and opened the door without waiting for him.
She had just placed her hand on the doorknob when the door was suddenly opened with a key from outside.
When she saw who it was, she was momentarily stunned.