Chapter 289

Chapter 289

I answered Boss Lin’s call.

Before I could speak, his anxious voice came over the phone.

“Xiao Chen, is Assistant He with you?”

“Assistant He?”

I feigned ignorance. “No. What’s wrong, Boss Lin?”

He hurriedly explained, “I can’t reach him. This has never happened before. He never switches off his phone. Didn’t he go with you yesterday to investigate the Luo Mansion? When did you last see him?”

I could not tell him the truth, but I could not lie about everything either. I had already prepared an explanation. “Assistant He came to Xujia Village with us yesterday, and we spent the night at a local villager’s home. But when I woke this morning, he was gone. I assumed he’d left early. I tried calling him, but he didn’t answer.”

Boss Lin sounded even more nervous. “Impossible. That’s impossible. Assistant He joined my company immediately after graduating and has worked as my assistant for two years. I know his attitude toward his work. He would never abandon you without a word and leave on his own.”

“Could something have happened to him? Did anything occur in Xujia Village? Was there anything unusual?”

I could tell Boss Lin was genuinely worried. I almost told him that his assistant was a mole.

But I was not that naive. If something really had happened to Assistant He, we had been the last people to see him. We would never be able to explain ourselves.

Sometimes, you had to remain cautious.

“We only asked around in Xujia Village. Nothing unusual happened. Perhaps there was some emergency in Assistant He’s family, and he had to rush home.”

I reassured him, “Why don’t you call his family and ask? He’s a grown man. He couldn’t have simply gotten lost.”

Boss Lin sighed. “All right. I’ll ask Human Resources for his family’s number.”

With that, he ended the call.

I had used the speakerphone, so everyone else had heard the conversation.

Seventh Master said calmly, “There was nothing suspicious about Brother Lin’s call. He’s deeply worried about Assistant He’s safety, which is entirely consistent with his character.”

I nodded. I also felt there was nothing wrong with Boss Lin. The call had sounded perfectly natural.

Song Xiaotian’s grandfather had already sent us the address and contact information for the old veteran’s home, but he had instructed us to arrive at two o’clock. It was currently the Wu Hour, when the old man might be taking an afternoon nap.

We planned to eat something at a nearby restaurant before visiting the veteran’s home.

But before we could leave the ward, Boss Lin’s daughter, Lin Yin, arrived to bring Seventh Master a meal.

Lin Yin was a gracious, open young woman. Perhaps girls from wealthy families were naturally cheerful and confident. She greeted Song Xiaotian and the others one by one.

Seventh Master smiled. “Xiao Yin has been bringing me meals for the last two days. I’ve really put the girl to too much trouble.”

“It’s no trouble, Seventh Master.” Lin Yin smiled. “You’re ill. Food from outside isn’t hygienic or nutritious. How could it compare to something made at home?”

As she spoke, she took two lunch boxes out of her bag.

I wondered why she had brought two when she was here to deliver a meal to Seventh Master. Who was the other one for?

I soon found out.

She walked straight toward me with the second lunch box. “Mr. Chen, I brought meals for you and Seventh Master yesterday, but you were away from the hospital all day. It’s a good thing you’re here today. Otherwise, another box would have gone to waste.”
She opened the lunch box and smiled. “Seventh Master said you like shredded pork with green peppers. I made it especially for you. Try some.”

My face reddened, and I froze for two seconds.

What… did this mean? Why did it feel so strange?

Song Xiaotian and Meng Yifan smirked from the side, as if there were something going on between Lin Yin and me. Even Anning could tell that the atmosphere between us was unusual.

Out of courtesy, I hurriedly accepted the box. “Xiao Yin, this is too much trouble. You only need to bring food for Seventh Master. I can eat outside.”

Lin Yin thoughtfully tore open a pair of disposable chopsticks and handed them to me. Smiling, she said, “It’s no trouble. What else do you like to eat? I can make it for you.”

I…

“Anything is fine.”

Noticing the other people in the room, Lin Yin said apologetically, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know there would be so many people here. Why don’t you all come to my house? I’ll ask the housekeeper to prepare more ingredients.”

Song Xiaotian quickly waved her off. “It’s fine. There’s no need to go to all that trouble. We still have business to take care of. Besides, the main thing is that none of us likes shredded pork with green peppers.”

Meng Yifan burst out laughing, making Lin Yin blush.

We were all adults. How could any of us miss the implication?

I glared at Song Xiaotian, warning him not to spout nonsense.

“Why are you glaring at me? Just eat. Have some more, and don’t waste all the thought she put into it.”

It would have been fine if he had kept quiet, but once he began teasing me, even eating the meal felt awkward.

When I finally finished, Lin Yin packed up the lunch boxes and said to me, “I don’t know how to brew Seventh Master’s medicine. Otherwise, I would have prepared it and brought it along. When are you coming home? I can soak the herbs for you ahead of time.”

I told her I had some business to handle that afternoon. “Why don’t you go take care of your own affairs? I’ll call you when I’m on my way.”

“It’s fine. I’m on vacation recently.” Holding the lunch boxes, she said, “You can come back whenever you like. I’ll wait for you at home.”

With that, she left.

Song Xiaotian said from the side, “Chen Mo, why don’t you skip the trip this afternoon? We can visit the old veteran ourselves.”

I was puzzled. “Why? Didn’t we agree to go together?”

He grinned. “Someone’s waiting for you at home.”

“Go to hell!”

I glared at him and snapped, “Stop stirring things up. We barely know each other.”

Meng Yifan could not resist. “You call that barely knowing each other? How was the shredded pork with green peppers?”

The moment he finished speaking, everyone in the room laughed, even Anning.

Face burning, I asked Seventh Master, “Why did you tell her I like shredded pork with green peppers?”

Seventh Master froze. “She asked me. I only told her because she asked. Why else would I bring that up?”

As he spoke, Seventh Master started laughing too. “She probably has her eye on you. Prepare yourself to become the Lin family’s live-in son-in-law.”

“Pfft!”

Unable to endure their teasing any longer, I turned and left the ward.

It was one thing for the others not to know, but Seventh Master did. I was cursed to bring death to my wife. How the hell could I marry anyone?

Besides, I had known Lin Yin for only a few days, and we had hardly spent any time together.

Surely I could not be that charming.

Were daughters from wealthy families really like the women on television, naive romantics who lost all sense when they fell in love?

At a nearby restaurant, Song Xiaotian and the others ate while I sat to one side in a daze.

Anning could not help asking, “Do you like Miss Lin?”