Master Yan had sent Uncle Hai to pick up guests, but it was already four o'clock and no one had returned yet.
Master Yan was busy with his paperwork and instructed his special assistant to give Uncle Hai a call to check up on the situation.
"Sir, Uncle Hai said the flight was delayed."
"Hmm!" Master Yan didn't take it seriously and continued to immerse himself in his work.
It was almost five o'clock, and the special assistant was debating whether to make another call to Uncle Hai when Uncle Hai called them first.
"Xiu, give the phone to the young master."
Uncle Hai sounded very anxious, and Qin Xiu didn't dare to hesitate, directly putting the phone to Master Yan's ear.
Master Yan raised his brows at him, and Qin Xiu whispered, "It's Uncle Hai."
"Speak!" Master Yan said into the receiver, lowering his eyebrows to continue reading the opened documents.
"Young Master, the flight has already landed and the passengers should have all disembarked, but I haven't seen Madam and the Master." Uncle Hai's hurried breathing could clearly be heard from the receiver, startling Master Yan.
Uncle Hai had been the butler in the Yan family for many years. Whatever the Yan family of three went through, he experienced it too, and as a result, he had developed the ability to remain cool in the face of changes. The fact that he was so anxious now probably meant that he had been unable to find anyone for a while and was worrying.
Master Yan was also anxious, those were his parents! Despite opposing their wishes so many times in recent years, it didn't mean he didn't love them.
"Uncle Hai, stay put, I will call and check their boarding record."
After calming Uncle Hai down, Master Yan immediately made a call to check his parents' boarding records.
Soon, the person on the other end replied, "Master Yan, Mr. and Mrs. Yan did indeed arrive in H City this morning, and they booked a flight from H City to L City. However, their names are not on the boarding records."
Master Yan frowned deeply. After hanging up, he immediately dialed the number of the person in charge at H City International Airport. When that person heard Master Yan's story, he immediately ordered all related surveillance videos to be found and sent to Master Yan's email.
With the help of Qin Xiu, Master Yan quickly found several surveillance videos featuring his parents based on a pile of relevant information provided by the person in charge. The videos showed that after the two elders disembarked from the international flight to H City, they stayed in the VIP room at the airport, drinking coffee and eating snacks. About an hour before the boarding time for the flight to L City, Mrs. Yan received a phone call. Then, the two elders hurriedly picked up their luggage and left the VIP room and quickly exited the airport. Accompanying them were two bodyguards who usually took care of the elders.
But at this moment, the phones of both parents and the two bodyguards were off.
Master Yan then called the telecommunications company to check Mrs. Yan's call records for the entire day.
According to the call records, the call Mrs. Yan received at the airport was from an unknown number.
WIth a solemn look on his face, Master Yan put down the files in his hands, "Qin Xiu, have someone arrange a plane. I want to go to H City immediately. You handle the things here." Saying so, he quickly stood up and walked out of the study.
Meanwhile, at the Zhu house, Zhu Qianying had been hiding in her room to avoid her father and mother's questioning. She sat in front of the computer, managing her own affairs, specifically keeping her mobile phone by her side with the ring volume set to the highest in consideration of Master Yan's matter.
However, by the time she finished her work, she hadn't received a single call. She looked at the time displayed in the bottom right corner of the computer screen - it was exactly five in the afternoon!
It was strange. Hadn't Master Yan said that the two elders would arrive at two o'clock? The journey from the Yan house to the airport took at most an hour and a half. How come it was five o'clock now and they still hadn't arrived home?
Could it be that the flight was delayed?
Or was there a traffic jam on the way?
Or did Master Yan change his mind?
...
A myriad of possibilities floated in Zhu Qianying's mind, causing her to feel a sort of chill on her back, despite the hot weather and the lack of air conditioning.
She thought about whether to make a call and ask about it, but quickly decided against it. Since she had given up the opportunity to go to the airport, she thought she might as well just wait for his call.
Even when the servant came up to call her for dinner, the phone had not rung.
Zhu Qianying got up and went downstairs. As soon as she entered the dining room, before she even sat down, she became the focus of everyone's attention.
Auntie was the first to come forward, pulling on her arm, "Ying'er, how was it, what did you talk about with Master Yan today?"
For the first time since she was a child, Zhu Qianying felt so welcomed by her Auntie.
"Auntie, we didn't talk about much. Their chef made some delicious food, and he sent his driver to invite me over to try it."
Zhu Qianying said lightly, subtly pulling her arm away from Auntie's grasp. As usual, she sat down at the end of the table, next to her mother, Chen Jing.
Left behind, Auntie's expression was quite interesting. There was embarrassment and awkwardness, but what was more was a sense of restrained fury.
Third Aunt, also known as Mrs. Fang to outsiders, looked over with amusement, "Ying'er, your mother is a great chef. What can't you eat at home that you have to go to the Yan house? Could it be, you never told Master Yan that your mother is a chef?"
Zhu Qianying had heard this kind of seemingly gentle but sharp comments numerous times throughout her years living in the Zhu family. She slightly lifted her eyelids and glanced at Third Aunt, "Master Yan does not seem to know about my mother's situation. However, he does know about you, Third Aunt. Because, when he was young, Lady Yan once suggested getting you to be his family teacher, but he refused. His reasoning was that he thought you were not qualified..."
Sharing dark pasts? Who in this family doesn't have those? If you like talking about it, then I'll chat with you one by one. Anyways, I'm in a good mood today! I have nothing else to do anyway!
Third Aunt's face shifted between red and green, her education was indeed average. Somehow, she had graduated from a subpar college in a mediocre university and was introduced to the Zhu family. Slight manipulation had caught Master Zhu's attention and from then on, she transformed from a country chicken to a phoenix, arrogant in every possible way.
However, she didn't realize that in the eyes of outsiders, she would always be that pitifully funny chicken unable to make it big.
Second Aunt, who had always remained silent, played the nice person while giving Auntie a cup of tea and Third Aunt a bun.
Zhu Qianying's mother, Chen Jing, watched her daughter sit down and offend both aunts. She gave her daughter's clothes a sharp tug as a signal for her to keep quiet and not make trouble.
Zhu Qianying ignored her mother's warnings, lifted her cup with both hands, and took a sip of warm milk. Her gaze remained locked on Third Aunt's from start to end.
She used to tolerate this because she had to.
Now, she didn't because she didn't feel the need to!
Because even if she didn't become Master Yan's wife, with his personality, he would never treat her unfairly. By then, she would still have the opportunity to leave this family with her mother and sister.
Zhu Zhizhou, the family's son, seemed oblivious to the tension between the two aunts and his daughter, or perhaps he had noticed but chose to ignore it as usual.
"Ying'er, did Master Yan mention when the two families should meet?"