"Hello, Teacher Xiao, I'm Jin Xueyang. There's something..." Jin Xueyang introduced himself respectfully and excitedly.

"Sorry, I'm not Mr. Xiao." A young, rough voice interrupted him.

Jin Xueyang stopped and asked, "Who are you?"

The man on the other end seemed to think for a moment and said, "I'm his subordinate. What can I do for you?"

The people below + ask, it feels weird when put together, I can’t describe the feeling.

"Oh, I see..." Jin Xueyang slowed down his speech, thinking as he said, "Oh, hello, I'm Jin Xueyang, a reporter for First Express, and Mr. Xiao knows me! So, a colleague of mine named Zhang found a bunch of keys. She suspects Mr. Xiao might have left them when he came to her place a few days ago, so she wants to confirm with him. If so, we'll find a time to deliver them to Mr. Xiao!"

Jin Xueyang is truly a thoughtful person. He specifically concealed sensitive information such as Zhang Moyan's gender and her home location in his words, nipping any unnecessary misunderstandings in the bud.

When he heard that it was Xiao Xingyu's key, the person on the other end of the phone paused and said, "Well... please wait, I'll go ask Mr. Xiao now."

The word "you" really doesn't fit in with the overall tone of the language.

"Okay, thank you for the trouble." Jin Xueyang gestured to Zhang Moyan, "He went to ask."

The line was silent for about two minutes before the "underling's" voice rang out again. Zhang Moyan couldn't hear what was being said, but she saw Jin Xueyang's expression visibly wither, and he hung up after a while.

Affected by the low pressure emitted by Jin Xueyang, Zhang Moyan asked cautiously, "What's wrong?"

Jin Xueyang clutched his phone tightly, his voice stiff: "He said that Teacher Xiao hasn't lost his keys recently, and asked me not to call him again in the future, or he will block me soon..."

His shoulders slumped, his frustration growing. "This is the third time. I knew if I failed again this would be the outcome."

Zhang Moyan said "Oh" and looked puzzled.

Jin Xueyang looked at Zhang Moyan, who seemed unaware of the consequences. He took a few deep breaths, as if he had circled around a volcano and then returned. He said with forced tolerance, "Don't blame you. I was confused for a moment."

Zhang Moyan didn't understand his sudden self-blame.

Jin Xueyang grabbed her hand and stuffed the key back into her hand: "You don't recognize this key, so it must belong to Teacher Xiao?"

Zhang Moyan said as a matter of course: "Yes, I have been in the hospital these days, and only Xiao Xingyu has entered this room..."

"Could it be your family?" Before she could finish, Jin Xueyang interrupted her: "For example, your mother?"

Zhang Moyan said "Oh" and closed her mouth. She looked at the key in her hand and said guiltily, "...Well, that's also a possibility."

Jin Xueyang rubbed his eyebrows with a headache.

Zhang Moyan pinched her lower lip with her fingers, thinking and analyzing: "But, I already coaxed my mother into saying that I'm going on a business trip to Guangzhou. Logically, there's no way she can come."

Jin Xueyang sighed, took a pair of men's slippers from the shoe cabinet and put them on: "Your mother might come to see your room and want to clean it for you? She has done this before."

Seeing Jin Xueyang looking like an eggplant hit by frost, Zhang Moyan felt extremely guilty and immediately picked up her phone to call her mother. Unfortunately, the phone rang for a long time but no one answered.

Jin Xueyang numbly placed the milk and fruit on the dining table in the living room. Without delay, he returned to the entrance to change his shoes. Dejectedly, he warned Zhang Moyan, "For a short while, at least today, I don't want to see you again."

Zhang Moyan looked at him with gritted teeth and pulled out her shoes: "Let's eat together? I'll treat you."

Jin Xueyang's face was ashen: "It's useless. A meal can't make up for it."

He pushed open the door, and Zhang Moyan followed behind him: "Don't be like this... How about I find a way to help you make an appointment with Teacher Xiao?"

Jin Xueyang pressed her shoulders to make her stay: "If Ning can't do it, Ning, don't do anything else. Today is your last day to rest, stay home well, and remember, don't call me."

After Jin Xueyang left, Zhang Moyan called her mother several more times. At six in the evening, Huang Qin finally answered the phone. It turned out that she had gone to the community to rehearse square dancing that afternoon and had left her phone behind.

Zhang Moyan asked her about the key. Huang Qin was confused and said that she had not been to the small house in Yunshan Garden for a week. The key situation made her very nervous: "Doudou, has the house been robbed? Is there anything missing from your place? Can mom come over and take a look now?"

Zhang Moyan was overwhelmed and quickly pretended to remember: "Oh, I remember now, it's the key to the company's computer room that I borrowed before the business trip."

…

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Moyan thought about it over and over again, and still felt that the key could only belong to Xiao Xingyu.

"But why would his assistant say no?" Zhang Moyan sat upright at the dining table and looked at the two keys in confusion, puzzled.

Could it be that Jin Xueyang heard it wrong?

Yes, he must have heard it wrong.

She would have to find a chance to ask for herself.