Li Xueyi called his manager to pick him up. He wanted to investigate, but that could wait till the next day. He would just ask Wei Xiong to find out which idiot wanted to drug him so much.
Was it related to some new actress trying to climb into his bed or was it something entirely different? Li Xueyi did not know. Nor did he want to disturb his friend's rest right now.
But that reminded him of a woman. She was the one who saved him twice. She had her own fair share of problems, but she never hesitated to help him. She never asked him for anything in return either. Were there such people in this world?
Li Xueyi knew that the world was selfish, but Chen Jing seemed to be a breath of fresh air in this already pungent world.
"Little Yi, 11 am tomorrow, Hotel Noble, inauguration of Chen Group's new line of watches. Then, you have to go to the premiere of the Dreamlands. Also…" Zhuo Renxi, Li Xueyi's manager, was reporting his itinerary for the next day when something clicked in Xueyi's mind.
"Which group did you say?"
"Chen Group of Companies."
"Chen Group. Chen Jing. Who is the CEO?" LI Xueyi asked.
"You have met her. Chen Zi Tong. She's rumored to be Asia's Number One Beauty," Zhuo Renxi said. He did not think it was out of ordinary to ask about it since Li Xueyi liked to go everywhere prepared. But his next question stumped him.
"Is she related to Chen Jing in some way?"
"I-I'm not sure," Zhuo Renxi replied. He looked out of the window. Suddenly he turned around and asked, "Do you want me to check?"
Li Xueyi did not answer for a long time. Zhuo Renxi did not pressurize him for an answer either.
After a long time had passed, he said, "No need."
Li Xueyi closed his eyes once more. The whole car ride turned silent after that.
At this time, Zhuo Renxi wished that the chatterbox Hu Yiran was here. Hu Yiran was Li Xueyi's assistant. She was a bubbly young girl who did her job quite well.
Li Xueyi had fired countless female assistants before. Only Hu Yiran managed to stick to her position well. In fact, Li Xueyi cared for her like a little sister.
Hu Yiran was hardworking. She also didn't compromise her dreams. Zhuo Renxi couldn't help but praise her. During her break time she studied, which was why the responsibility of driving Xueyi back and forth at night fell on Renxi's shoulders.
On the other side, Tang Lang's car was filled with the slurred voice of Gu Wei singing all the sad songs he could remember. The trees and buildings whizzed by but Tang Lang's eyes never left Gu Wei's figure.
On Chen Jing's side, she dropped Yang Chen off at his home before walking towards her own absentmindedly.
Instead of going inside her home, she hailed a cab and went straight to her best friend Lu Man's home. Chen Jing did not wish to bother her mother this late but Lu Man was different. This time of night was actually Lu Man's evening.
"Jingjing," a warm hand encircled Chen Jing's waist as she was pulled inside, "I was just thinking about you."
Chen Jing hugged her best friend Lu Man and fell asleep. Lu Man shook her head but let her sleep as she wished. She smelt of wine. Lu Man knew Chen Jing did not like to drink. 'It must be that bastard who dragged her to such a place,' she thought.
The next day:
Li Xueyi woke up. A splitting headache reminded him of yesterday's events.
"Right," he said and dialed a number. The call did not go through.
"Huh?" This was the first time that person's phone was switched off. Li Xueyi freshened up before dialing another number. A deep voice answered. Li Xueyi was stunned before saying, "Where's he?"
"Sleeping. What's the matter?" The deep voice softened.
Li Xueyi could feel the sweetness from the other end of the phone. He rolled his eyes and said, "Xiong's phone is out of reach."
"What?" The deep voice turned serious.
"I called him over ten times. I didn't call his home and I can't go over either," Li Xueyi said.
Li Xueyi eyed his watch. It read: 9:25. He sighed before pulling a t-shirt over his bare body. Water dripped off his hair as he dabbed his towel on his head.
"Do me a favor, Lang" Li Xueyi said.
Tang Lang looked at the profile of the sleeping man on the bed. His eyes carried dark circles around them and a deep sense of helplessness.
He said softly, "What if he's not there?"
"We'll think of a plan," Li Xueyi finally answered solemnly and then hung up.
He picked his car keys, put on a mask and got into his car. For safety, he picked up a lowkey car which he had never driven before.
After twenty minutes of driving and navigating through the jam-packed roads, Li Xueyi finally reached the airport.
He did not hurry to get down and wait for her. He sent a message to her and waited inside the parking area. Then he started to read the morning news when he received Hu Yiran's call.
"Boss, what happened while I wasn't around?"
"I went out drinking. What else could've happened? Little girl, why aren't you studying? Didn't you take a day off to study for your exams?" Li Xueyi chuckled. She could never shut up, even though her exams were approaching. She even risked Zhuo Renxi's scolding to call him to get some gossip.
"Boss, it's not that…" Li Xueyi did not listen to the rest. His phone vibrated a little indicating another call coming through.
He said, "Little Yiran, I'll share all the gossip with you later. Right now, I have something important to do. Study well and don't worry about me, hm?" He did not wait for her to answer before hanging up.
"Hey lil bro, I'm near the parking area. Where are you?"
"Look at your right."
"Hah! You brought this trash to pick me up?"
Li Xueyi did not reply. He watched as the woman flipped her hair and made way towards his car. She wore a Chanel dress. She paired it with high heels. She looked like she was on the runway right now.
It took her five minutes to sashay into his car. Li Xueyi tapped his foot as he waited. A call came through. It was Tang Lang. As he picked up, he felt a vibration and saw his manager calling him.
'Probably to urge me for the inauguration,' he thought.
"Hey!" Li Xueyi noticed the lady getting into his car. He paid her no attention and waited for Tang Lang to speak.
Tang Lang panted. He stopped to catch his breath before saying, "He's not at home. I'm going to wake Wei up. You go to Kaizhong's place. We'll be there in half an hour."
"Okay. I might be a bit late. But I'll contact Kaizhong first." Li Xueyi did not waste any time before getting straight to the point.
"Mm," Tang Lang replied.
Li Xueyi pinched the space between his brows trying to sort his emotions.
He had to attend the event. He could not just cancel the event at the last moment. He had to find Wei Xiong as soon as possible. He also had to drop Ruling at his Grandpa's place.
Li Xueyi had been in countless tricky situations but this one was one of a kind. His hands started sweating.
He took a deep breath to calm down. He started his car. He paid no mind to the chatter around him. He only focused on one thing — driving.
Without breaking the traffic rules, he sped as fast as he could, taking every shortcut he found.
"Get out," he said.
"What's wrong?" Ruling asked.
"Nothing that concerns you. Say hi to grandpa. Tell him I'll come to visit him soon. Tell mom I'm sorry." Li Xueyi impatiently told her. He was currently racing against time.
He drove to Kaizhong's place immediately. But it was easier said than done. The Outer Ring Road was on the other side of the city. He had half a mind to speed away but he did not want more problems to deal with right now.
Taste of Himalayas was not yet open to the public for the day when Tang Lang rushed in with a grumbling Gu Wei in tow.
"Little Yi ain't here?" Kaizhong asked.
"He said he'll be a little late," Tang Lang replied. It was surprising that he would talk so much. Gu Wei glared at Tang Lang, whose lips held a subtle smirk.
"What exactly happened and why have we gathered here?"
"By the way, Little Yi is all over the news again," Kaizhong mentioned casually. No one was surprised.
Gu Wei yawned for the 92nd time and said, "If Little Yi ain't coming, I'm going home."
"That won't be necessary. Oh, I also called Turtle Bar. They confirmed that he ain't there either. I also called the hotel above. They said they're checking."
"Could Meng Lang have an idea?"
Everyone turned silent. It was not news to them that Meng Lang liked Wei Xiong for years and has been protecting him. Everyone except Wei Xiong knew about it.
"Let me ask," Kaizhong finally broke the silence.
They were not someone who could get news immediately. They could only search the places he frequented.
Meng Kaizhong called his twin sister and enquired, "Where's Xiong?"
"Huh?" The sleepy voice on the other end was startled. After a minute, she responded, "What do you mean? Didn't Xiong go to the hotel above Turtle Bar? What's the name of it? Whatever! He told me to leave and went there by himself. I drank a bit but didn't see him coming down, so I went to my apartment to sleep and you're telling me now that he's not there?"
"Oh. False alarm maybe. Could you check if he's still there?" Kaizhong said meekly.
Meanwhile Xueyi got a call that left him dumbfounded.