Tan Yu

The next morning, Wen Xubai had just reached the stairwell when he unfortunately bumped into Wen Xuyuan, who was also about to go downstairs, with his secretary following behind him.

It seems that the other person not only woke up extremely early, but also had already arranged most of their work.

Poor Secretary Xu behind him, who had rushed over early in the morning, was still half asleep and couldn't help but secretly yawn behind him. When he opened his eyes for the first time and saw Wen Xubai, he was startled.

Wen Xubai simply looked away silently, pretending not to see, and greeted Wen Xuyuan in front of him.

"Big brother."

Wen Xuyuan acted as if he hadn't heard him at all, walked straight past him, and went downstairs without looking back.

“Eh…this…” Only Secretary Xu was left looking completely bewildered.

After hesitating for a moment, seeing that his boss was already walking further and further away, Secretary Xu quickly bowed to Wen Xubai and said, "Third Young Master."

Then she quickly went to catch up with her boss.

"Oh? Young Master, breakfast is ready. Please have some before you leave..." Aunt Yu came out when she heard the voice and saw that Wen Xuyuan was about to push open the door, so she quickly spoke up to persuade him.

"No need," Wen Xuyuan said coldly, and left with Secretary Xu.

“This…” Aunt Yu glanced at the slammed door, then turned to look at the man at the dining table with a troubled expression.

With a loud "smash!", Wen Tingyi slammed his chopsticks on the table and said in a deep voice, "You're getting more and more disrespectful!"

His anger was barely concealed.

Qin Yalin was startled and quickly patted her husband's hand gently to comfort him:

"Oh, honey, why are you so angry? Xiao Yuan has always been like this, hasn't he?"

"Yeah, Dad, if he wants to leave, he can leave. It's like nobody wants to eat with him. I don't know who he's always giving us attitude to..."

The mother and son, working in unison, inadvertently stirred up more trouble.

“Father, getting angry is bad for your health…” Wen Xushi couldn’t help but advise.

As they were talking, Aunt Yu noticed Wen Xubai at the top of the stairs and quickly said, "Third Young Master."

Upon hearing these words, Qin Yalin froze, and the smile on her face instantly vanished.

The understanding smile that had been on her face just moments before vanished instantly, replaced by an expression as unpleasant as Wen Tingyi's. She put down her chopsticks and said unhappily, "I'm full."

“Madam, you’ve only eaten so little…” her servant behind her said at the right moment.

"Hmph, I'm already full of anger, what's the point of eating? It looks disgusting. Let's go back to the room!" With that, Qin Yalin got up.

Wen Xubai stood still.

As soon as you hear that, you know it's meant for him.

Wen Xubai pretended not to hear, lowered his eyes and remained silent until Qin Yalin walked past him.

"Tch." Qin Yalin gave him a disgusted look, then went upstairs with a "tap tap tap".

“Xiao Bai…” Wen Xushi couldn’t help but want to speak.

He had barely uttered a word when Wen Xuyi interrupted him.

"Tsk, we're having a family meal, and an outsider has to come and join in!" Wen Xuyi said with displeasure.

"Xiao Yi!" Wen Xushi exclaimed in surprise.

His usually gentle brows furrowed slightly: "Xiao Yi, we are all brothers, so naturally we are family!"

“Heh,” Wen Xuyi sneered, raising his arrogant eyebrows and saying sarcastically, “You two are not worthy.”

"Enough!" Wen Tingyi shouted angrily.

Instantly, everyone in the restaurant fell silent. Even the most resentful people obediently lowered their heads, and the servants serving them didn't dare to utter a sound.

"We finally get to have a meal together as a family, what's all this noise so early in the morning?!" Wen Tingyi shouted in a deep voice.

"I'm sorry, Father," Wen Xubai apologized first, followed closely by Wen Xushi.

Wen Xuyi hesitated for a moment, unwilling to give up, before finally muttering, "I'm sorry."

It wasn't said to him and Wen Xuyi, but to Wen Tingyi.

"Sit down and eat." Wen Tingyi glanced at Wen Xubai sideways.

Wen Xubai wanted to find an excuse to refuse, but when he saw Wen Tingyi's sharp eyes, he swallowed back the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

He obediently replied, "Yes, thank you, Father."

Wen Tingyi's complexion improved slightly at this point.

With Wen Tingyi in charge, Wen Xuyi finally dared not cause any more trouble.

In the vast restaurant, no one spoke, only the clinking of cutlery. The somber atmosphere made Wen Xubai lose his appetite; no matter how many delicacies were laid out before him, he had no desire for them. The food he did put in his mouth tasted like cardboard…

For some reason, Wen Xubai suddenly missed that bowl of "plain noodles" from yesterday...

The meal was stressful, and everyone except Wen Tingyi breathed a sigh of relief when it finally ended.

Wen Tingyi was helped back to his room by the servants.

Almost as soon as he left, Wen Xuyi hurriedly walked out of the restaurant without looking back.

Wen Xubai and Wen Xushi exchanged a glance, nodded politely in farewell, and then went their separate ways.

Wen Xubai went back to his room to change his clothes, then grabbed his car keys and set off.

The white Audi sped along the highway, heading out of the city.

He didn't want to drive the Wen family's car, not for any other reason than that most of the Wen family's cars were expensive, and many were even custom-made models, which would be too flashy on the road. Even this white Audi was the least ostentatious one he had carefully selected from the garage.

The car eventually stopped outside a flower and bird market. Wen Xubai parked the car, put on a mask and hat, and then got out.

The tall, upright man weaved through the crowd, amidst the incessant chirping of birds and barking of dogs. After nearly being hit by water thrown from upstairs for the third time, he finally found himself in front of an extremely narrow shop with a dark expression.

The shop was mixed in with other pet shops and seed shops, completely inconspicuous. The words "Successful Detective Agency" hung shakily above the door, the character "Detective" missing a corner, hanging there listlessly. The plaster on the walls had mostly peeled off; to any eye, it didn't look like a respectable shop.

Wen Xubai: "·······"

Since he was already there, Wen Xubai decided to lift the yellowed crystal curtain at the entrance and step inside.

"Hey, keep fighting! No, why are you running away?"

As soon as I stepped into the room, I heard a man's anxious shouts and the sounds of fighting in a game.

"Where did I run away? It was you who ran away, wasn't it???" another slightly younger male voice retorted.

"Boss, you're going the wrong way!!!" the boy screamed.

"Holy crap!!!" The man who had been sitting with his legs crossed was startled and pulled his legs back off the table. With half a vegetable leaf still in his mouth, he quickly focused on playing a mobile game, with the leftover lunchbox in front of him.

Wen Xubai: "·······"

He suddenly began to doubt his own judgment.

"Eh? Who are you?" The young boy was probably tired from fighting and wanted to have a drink of water. When he looked up, he saw Wen Xubai, this "uninvited guest," who had been standing at the door for who knows how long.

"Who is it?!" Upon hearing the voice, the man swallowed the vegetable leaf and muttered as he turned his head.

The moment he saw Wen Xubai, he was jolted awake as if from a dream, and jumped off the chair!

"Boss Bai! You're here!" Tan Yu's eyes widened instantly. He hurriedly made room for Wen Xubai and invited him to sit on the computer sofa where Wen Xubai had just been sitting. He then grabbed a small stool and sat down himself.

He didn't forget to kick the young boy from earlier, and ordered, "Go, go, go quickly and get Boss Bai a glass of water!"

Then, forcing a smile, she looked at Wen Xubai in front of her and said, "Boss, would you like tea or coffee?"

Wen Xubai slowly took off his hat and said calmly, "Plain water is fine."

"Okay, sure!" Tan Yu replied quickly, then glared at the person standing next to him: "Hurry up and go!"

"Huh? Oh, okay!" The boy seemed to have not seen guests for a long time and was a little flustered. After hearing the instruction, he hurriedly went to pour water.

Wen Xubai glanced at him and asked, "Where are the things?"

"Oh! Here it is! Please wait a moment, I'll go get it for you right away!"

Tan Yu had originally intended to exchange a few pleasantries and was racking his brains for a way to start, but seeing that his boss chose to get straight to the point, he simply got to the main topic as well.

I glanced at it unconsciously and saw that although Tan Yu's desk was messy, the documents and materials on his shelf were all arranged in an orderly manner.

Tan Yu rummaged through the fully stocked shelves for a while and quickly found what he was looking for.

With a wave of his hand, he cleared away all the other clutter from the table in front of Wen Xubai, leaving only the file folder.

Tan Yu said happily, "Boss, all the information you requested is here!"

Wen Xubai casually opened the file bag and slowly began to look through the documents and photos inside.

The top photo shows a middle-aged man who looks to be in his forties or fifties, with a stubble beard and a fierce look on his face. The following photos are of car accidents.

Wen Xubai flipped through several photos in succession. In the photos, a middle-aged man stood stunned in the towering flames, his face full of terror.

As he flipped through the pages, Tan Yu helped explain.

"Boss, I found him. His name is Li Haiqing. He was born in Guizhou and made a living driving a truck when he was young. After the accident, he went to the prison in the area where the accident happened. But because of good behavior, his twenty-year sentence was reduced to eighteen years. He was just released recently. He couldn't find a job, so he works on a construction site in Jiangcheng to make a living."

The next few photos were indeed snapshots of Li Haiqing's daily life: carrying bricks, buying groceries, and eating...

Tan Yu stroked his chin and sighed, "Sigh, you know, if this guy had just honestly turned himself in after hitting someone, he wouldn't have gotten such a heavy sentence. After all, the car was also being driven illegally and wasn't slowing down. But I don't know what he was thinking, he had to run away. Now look what happened, he's considered a hit-and-run driver!"

Tan Yu shrugged with a "slap".

Wen Xubai held the photo, head bowed in thought for a long time, before finally asking, "Have you found his address?"

"Found it!" Tan Yu quickly tore off a sticky note from the side, wrote down an address, and handed it to him.

Wen Xubai stared at the address, his gaze growing increasingly intense.

Thank you.