"Yurong?"

Li Yan watched as she walked directly over, awkwardly placing the towel back into the water. "You're at home? Not working today?"

Zhang Yurong came straight to the bathtub, folded her arms, and just looked at him, clearly waiting for an explanation. It was obvious that his sudden disappearance, with no word for over ten days, had left her quite dissatisfied. Otherwise, she wouldn't have barged in while he was bathing.

"Uh... could you step out for a moment? Let's talk after I finish my bath." Li Yan felt quite embarrassed being watched like this by her.

Previously, he might have found it exciting. But because of the incident where Yue Yao was shot, he simply wasn't in the mood, and carrying this secret from her, he felt somewhat guilty, leaving no room for such thoughts.

"Work? Is that what you call it? Didn't Manager Li say he was taking leave for some inspections? How did those go? Were you inspecting or on vacation?" Zhang Yurong asked coldly.

Her feelings were complicated. His sudden departure, without saying where he was going, just leaving an excuse at the company to take off. As his wife, why didn't he tell her? Either out frolicking with some friends or meeting a mistress. How could she accept this?

Ignoring her feelings like this made her very frustrated and angry. But as days went by without a word, with his phone unreachable and his car left behind, she couldn't help worrying if something might have happened during his inspection.

After a health check-up, Zhang Yurong and Yu Xiaodi secretly reached an agreement not to get involved with Li Yan for a year, allowing them to compete fairly, and whoever Li Yan chose, the other would back down. Since then, their originally antagonistic relationship as main and side partners transformed into rivals in fair competition. Given that Zhang Yurong initially approached Yu Xiaodi, who responded positively, their relationship was relatively harmonious. However, this time with his departure, Zhang Yurong suspected he might be out with Yu Xiaodi, making visiting her pointless.

But as time passed, after nearly a week with Yue Yao absent, Zhang Yurong couldn't resist and convinced herself to call Yu Xiaodi. Under the guise of work inquiries, she subtly probed Yu Xiaodi about Li Yan, only to learn that she too had no idea of his whereabouts and thought they might be off together somewhere.

Both women suspected the other of deceit, but through some communication, they confirmed that neither knew where Li Yan was, which worried them further.

While trying to find him, they found clues extremely scarce. Yue Xiaodi, being a student, had no overlap with his social circle. Zhang Yurong, though aware of some closer male colleagues, couldn't ask due to her position. The one mutual close friend they thought of was Wen Qianyi!

Even with Wen Qianyi, Zhang Yurong's stature as a president made it inconvenient to probe in detail, so she let Yu Xiaodi handle it. Wen Qianyi, having heard from the company that Li Yan was on leave and missing, didn't consider much, but hearing Yu Xiaodi's cluelessness turned her thoughts to a direction only she knew!

She knew about his involvement in assassinations, a secret between them, a trust Li Yan held in her. Even Yu Xiaodi, as his girlfriend, could not be informed of this. She could only promise to notify if there were news.

Without information from Wen Qianyi, the two women considered another suspect, Qiao Huanxuan. From what they knew, Li Yan had spent a night at a hotel with her, likely an old flame rekindled! This worried them, knowing a "first love" can have significant sway over a man. Again, Zhang Yurong couldn't involve herself, letting Yu Xiaodi reach out to Qiao Huanxuan to dine, but found her deeply engrossed in work, having neither met nor the time for Li Yan.

Through cautious probing and context clues from Yu Xiaodi, they discovered Qiao Huanxuan also harbored resentment about Li Yan "avoiding" her, which momentarily relieved Xiaodi, ensuring it wasn't a stolen love reunion. Yet, it increased their concern, their findings relayed back to Zhang Yurong only added to their headaches. They were left with two conclusions: either he was genuinely investigating for a breakthrough—which didn't align with his usual character—or encountered trouble, hiding until it passed!

During this time, Zhang Yurong found Yue Yao claiming to meet a newly met friend from out of town, suddenly vanished with no call back by evening, found her phone off, and her car couldn't be tracked by GPS! This elevated her nerves and anxiety, not from losing a confidante, but worried she might have fallen victim to a trap, being robbed or worse...

Li Yan was already a headache, and Yue Yao's incident compounded her stress, making days feel like years! Even when absorbed in work, she was distracted, checking her phone almost twenty-four-seven, hoping for a call from either of them, eager to hear from one to ease her worry.

Yet with each call bringing both anticipation and dread, fearing a police notification or bad news announcement.

Today, without work, if they were at home, she'd relax with their company. Alone, she worked from her home office. She didn't know Li Yan had returned because her mind wasn't on eating, Liu's maid assumed it was longing for Li Yan, and when seeing him return, debated whether to call about dinner plans.

News of his return left Yurong in disbelief, immediately rushing down to confirm with Liu's maid who assured her it wasn't just to cheer her up before she came back to find him.

It was precisely this emotional accumulation that drove Yurong into his bath for a confrontation, needing to see him in person, even asking, "Back already?" needing to confirm face to face.

Her myriad inner emotions—jealousy, worry, anxiety, anticipation, fear—left her unsure how to respond upon seeing him: should she be happy he's safe, upset at his neglect, or relieved and tearful?

"Inspection? Oh! Right, I went for an inspection; the findings were good."

Li Yan wasn't familiar with inspection, unless, of course, watching movies counted. Though Zhang Yurong might not delve deep into this industry, her general knowledge made his unprepared response seem implausible. Seeing her real anger, he knew evasion wouldn't suffice.

"I discovered the film scene's vibrant, with many investors, yet even more aspiring actresses and students, holding potential for development. Uh... I mean there are many young people striving for fame, we have an opportunity to cultivate our stars at low costs." He intentionally portrayed it as a cover-up.

Her expression was speechless, unsure whether to cry or laugh.

"Why didn't you tell me? And why was your phone off?" Yurong didn't bother probing about secretive plans, knowing cousin Jiang Xueyin oversaw finances for the film company, ensuring no budget for indiscretions.

Seeing her disinterest in his whereabouts, Li Yan, realizing he managed to bluff through, chuckled at her inquiries, "Come on! Personally, I'm a man, reporting everything to my wife feels diminishing as a man! Professionally, as Heavenly Film's manager, reporting major company matters to you as the president suffices; daily decisions are mine. And turning off my phone avoids acquaintances pulling strings! I'm a righteous person, with your trust, how could I abuse it?"

His prior apologetic tone shifting to righteous fervor made Yurong amused and exasperated, the guy indeed capable of driving one nuts!

Yet she admitted, whether he was irritating or difficult, his absence made the home dull and lonely.

Seeing her speechless, Li Yan smiled secretly; although she was a shrewd president, she was still his wife, allowing playful exchanges, unsuitable with an unrelated boss.

"So... Zhang Yurong, is your interrogation over?"

"Hmph! As if I have time to question you? I just..." Unwilling to hurt his dignity as a man through "interrogation," she reconsidered, mindful that he might feel cornered about 'Zhang Yurong', "I'm merely representing the company to understand the situation..."

Li Yan resumed seriousness, "Zhang Yurong, you've represented to inquire of the situation. Now shouldn't you also, on behalf of the wife, understand the personal situation too?"

(Thank you to the brothers who tipped on the 14th: Holy Night Maple Dance, The Impossible Thing, Lin Qiufeng, dongmin8061, zjun971210, CP Pampas)(To be continued, for more chapters visit www.qidian.com, support the author and legitimate reading!)

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