After learning his lesson from the mess last time, Bai Yunfei was warier this time.
He confessed before anyone even started asking.
Nonetheless, Old Madam Bai was completely unconcerned about Lu Jingnan not returning home for the whole night. Lu Jingnan was an adult, so a curfew was not applicable to an adult of his age.
"He was with a friend? You didn't even follow him to take a look?" Old Madam Bai asked with a frown. Bai Yunfei was the same as his grandfather and father. He was careless and let things slip past his nose.
"I asked! But he didn't want to tell me. I couldn't have forced him to tell me!" Bai Yunfei defended himself. He looked like he was wronged.
He was not his butler, and he did not have the habit of forcing others to tell him things if they did not want to.
"Fine, you really have no clue. Then I'll tell you this. Jingnan's friend is a woman. I'm giving you a chance to redeem yourself. You have many friends. Isn't one of them God Erlang, who's a detective? Ask him to check if there's a woman named Song Ruyi residing in the neighborhood."
After Old Madam Bai said that, she thought of the news she had seen on the television.
She said, "Wait, no. Yunfei, don't ask your friend to investigate Zijing District. Just look into the apartment building that had caught fire last night. That would save time. Grandma will give you a reward of 10,000 yuan. I want to know the result in the shortest time possible, before lunch at the latest."
Old Madam Bai had given her order.
Bai Yunfei was confused. When he heard Song Ruyi's name, he felt his head buzzing.
Had he heard wrongly?
Was Song Ruyi not his cousin's ex-wife?
If she was the woman that made his eldest cousin so worried last night, why did he divorce her three years ago?
Bai Yunfei had a naive way of thinking.
He thought that since the two of them were divorced, his eldest cousin would not be the kind of man who would act in that manner. In his mind, that woman was definitely not Song Ruyi.
It was most likely a new lover that his eldest cousin had secretly been meeting in Jing City.
"Okay, Grandma. I'll immediately call God Erlang. It's a small matter, so I don't even think we need to wait till noon. He'll give me the result in ten minutes." Bai Yunfei was very confident in his friend.
Moreover, he was certain that the woman was not Song Ruyi.
Therefore, he called his detective friend in front of his family. He did not expect it to backfire on him.
"Hey, God Erlang, I need you to check on Zijing District that caught fire yesterday. Is there any owner or tenant named Song Ruyi in the unit that caught fire?"
"Song Ruyi? You want a background check on her too?" God Erlang was very confused. He did not understand who this woman was. The president of Lu Corporation had also requested a similar background check. It was only a day since that request, and now Yunfei was on it too.
The word 'too' shocked Bai Yunfei so much that he almost threw his phone out.
"Too? Who else is checking on her?" Bai Yunfei was genuinely confused. His brain could not make sense of this situation.
"Your eldest cousin. Yunfei, what's going on? Yesterday, you were the one who asked me to answer your cousin's call if he rang."
Bai Yunfei's hand trembled, and his phone fell to the ground. The call ended.
'F*ck, could it really be Song Ruyi?'
Looking at Bai Yunfei's expression, Old Madam Bai had pretty much guessed what was going on.
"It's Song Ruyi, right?" Old Madam Bai asked calmly.
"I don't know. He hasn't gone to investigate." Bai Yunfei shook his head. His mind was even more muddled now.
"You don't know? Why are you so worked up then?" Old Madam Bai was annoyed.
Bai Yunfei had a helpless look on his face. "Grandma, I'm not worked up. I'm just shocked. I'm not lying to you. Yesterday, Jingnan asked me to find God Erlang to investigate someone. In the end, the person he wanted to investigate was Song Ruyi. Right now… I don't know what the situation is either."
"He's investigating Song Ruyi?" Old Madam Bai tilted her head and glanced at her daughter-in-law.
'Why is he investigating Song Ruyi?'
Meng Zhihui shrugged, indicating that she did not know what was going on either. It seemed that the only solution was to find Lu Jingnan and ask him directly.
"Yunfei, go with Uncle Shi to find your cousin. Find him and tell him to return and see me immediately." Old Madam Bai could not wait any longer to figure out what was going on.
"Oh, okay." Bai Yufei still did not understand the situation.
"Understood," Butler Shi answered.
…
At this moment, Song Ruyi was still sleeping soundly in the hotel room.
Last night, when Lu Jingnan left their room, he had turned off Song Ruyi's cell phone so that she could have a good rest.
As for the matter of going to the residential registration office today, he was prepared to make a trip for her instead.
After the morning news was broadcast, people knew there was a fire in Zijing District and Song Ruyi's apartment building. The incident affected everyone who cared about Song Ruyi.
Those people tried their best to call Song Ruyi.
It was fortunate that Song Ruyi's phone was turned off by Lu Jingnan. Otherwise, she would have been flooded with calls.
Song Ruyi's aunts and uncles kept calling non-stop. As her aunts had nothing to do aside from staying home, they agreed to go to Zijing District to take a look.
Her uncles were also very worried about Song Ruyi, but they were busy and could not check on her. When they found out that Zhao Yufeng and Zhao Yurong were going to the apartment building, they asked to keep them posted on Song Ruyi's safety in the family chat.
They were too distracted to read the detailed news reports when they saw the apartment building where Song Ruyi lived had caught on fire. They were too focused on calling her.
That was why no one saw the scene where Song Ruyi was held in Lu Jingnan's arms.
Only one person saw it. It was An Hongming.
His wife had contacted Song Ruyi while he watched the news. That was when he saw the scene that got him confused.
'Didn't Ruyi say she isn't close to Lu Jingnan?'
At that time, he had felt that Song Ruyi's social status was too different from Lu Jingnan's. Hence, there should not be any possibility of them crossing paths.
Even so, Lu Jingnan was so affectionate when he held Song Ruyi in his arms. Ruyi's expression was also calm.
The relationship between them was nothing ordinary at all.
Song Ruyi had lied to An Hongming.