Huo Jingxi initially thought Du Guanglong was just on vacation, but after searching for several days, he discovered that Du Guanglong had taken leave to quietly handle important matters.

To give Du Guanglong a way out, Huo Xiao activated a card for him on the day he returned to the Huo family.

All the extra rewards Huo gave him each month were deposited into this card.

That was money saved for Du Guanglong's retirement, in addition to his salary.

Lu Yi also has one.

Although the two of them didn't need it and repeatedly declined, Huo Xiao still insisted.

The card is temporarily with Huo Xiao; none of them have taken it.

Huo Jingxi has been more frequent in the past few days than he has been paying his respects, which has aroused Huo Xiao's suspicion. He secretly asked Butler Hua to take the card and check if there have been any changes.

Upon investigation, it was discovered that the card had just been reported lost and cancelled not long ago.

The online store they set up was not far from the villa area where Lu Baofei lived.

If Du Guanglong really wanted to take care of Lu Baoqi, it wouldn't be such a terrible thing as defying public opinion. He wouldn't need to cancel the card or turn off his phone and ignore everyone, would he?

Huo Jingxi could only think of one possibility.

That means the Lu family looked down on him and...

After all, Lu Baofei had a "previous record"—she bribed some assassin to target Lu Yi, which inadvertently led to Dongzi's death.

Du Guanglong only knew that the murderer who killed Dongzi was Su Yu's uncle, but he didn't know that the kidnapping before that was instigated by Lu Baofei.

If he finds out through some means, will he...

Although the two were exchanging heated words on the phone without taking a deep breath, they were each mentally eliminating all possibilities.

"What did you say? He guessed it was me?"

Lu Baoyun held her phone close to her ear and heard Huo Jingxi's words clearly.

Lu Baofei clenched her fist in surprise and nervously pushed Lu Baoyun away.

"Just hypothetically, if he really knew that you were the one who killed Dongzi, what do you think would happen to Lu Baoqi in his hands?"

Huo Jingxi did not threaten her; he simply stated a fact calmly.

Humans are contradictory.

When doing bad things, they hope to kill others in one fell swoop, but when they turn around, they blame the other party for being so vicious.

Lu Baofei angrily pounded on the desk.

“Your older brother is so unreliable. If he wants revenge, he can come at me. Baoqi... she's so confused…”

Du Guanglong is indeed unreliable.

But he would never disregard brotherhood.

Without his care, Lu Yi was bullied to death after leaving the Lu family!

"Lu Baofei, all this talk is pointless. I'm going to your villa now, and you should go back as soon as possible and check the surveillance footage to see if you can find their whereabouts!"

The fact that Du Guanglong canceled the card and took the money shows that he really needed that money.

He's a bachelor who doesn't care much about food or clothing; what could possibly cause such a sudden surge in his expenses...?

Huo Jingxi only hoped that Du Guanglong hadn't gone astray.

Unable to contact Lu Baoqi, Lu Baofei was about to call the police when a clue came to her door, so she had no reason to let it go.

"Second sister, I want to go too!"

Lu Baoyun's mind had been in turmoil since just now.

The way she looked at her second sister was full of scrutiny. Was her second sister the kind of person who would stop at nothing to achieve her goals?

Does Lu Yi know about that matter?

If Lu Yi knew this, then... wouldn't the Lu family have brought this upon themselves?

Let's go!

Lu Baofei stood at the door, holding a coat in her hand, frowning as she urged her on.

Neither of them spoke in the car.

Lu Baoyun wore a bitter smile. As she passed the villa area where the Lu family lived, her eyes brightened, but the light quickly disappeared into the depths of her eyes.

Lu Baofei was preoccupied with her own thoughts and had no time to pay attention to her low spirits.

I kept a close watch on the steering wheel, weaving through any gaps in the road to that place I'd almost forgotten.

...

Gu Huainan's mouth was dry from talking, while Lu Yi just smiled and looked at him.

"Say something! You're making me nervous by staring at me like that!"

He managed to extract all this information from some of the shareholders with great difficulty.

After the Huo family became deeply intertwined with Lu Yi, Gu Huaibei repeatedly told Fan Shi at home to distance herself from Lu Yi.

But Fan Huijun not only refused on the spot, but also said a lot of unpleasant things.

Marrying into the Gu family doesn't mean being sold to them.

The Fan family business was founded by Old Master Fan. What right does Fan Huijun, a married daughter, have to interfere?

Could it be that the Gu family is worried that Fan Shi gave her to her godson, and is secretly coming up with such a wicked idea?

Or perhaps the Gu family hasn't developed any promising projects themselves and wants to use her to poach their daughter's boyfriend from her own family.

She went on and on, until Gu Yan's face darkened.

Gu Huainan thought his elder brother had some profound plan, but he was surprised to find that his brother just gave a timid explanation, saying that he didn't mean it that way.

Fan Huijun slammed down her bowl and chopsticks, saying that's not what she meant, so don't try to twist the conversation to that extent!

Gu Huainan didn't understand at the time why his elder brother was giving up a good life and spending all his time thinking about something.

When they arrived in another city, he poured several drinks for one of his subordinates, and once the man got tipsy, he actually managed to analyze some of the intricacies of the situation.

"Don't you know who helped the Huo family rise so quickly?"

"They should know that the Huo family is no longer the Huo family it used to be. Making money and acquiring land are just superficial operations. In reality, the Huo family has much bigger goals!"

“That Mr. Gong… he honed the Huo family into a sharp sword, and the Fan family’s godson was the one wielding the sword. He even made the scabbard himself. Can you believe that?”

Gu Huainan found this fascinating and kept asking him a lot of questions.

Only then did I understand why my elder brother was so eager to settle accounts between Madam Fan and Lu Yi.

"My older brother is a bit conservative, but he definitely has no intention of harming you. Lu Yi, do you really want to get involved in the Huo family's mess?"

Gu Huainan stroked his chin, waiting for his answer.

Lu Yi's smile vanished, and his expression tightened.

"This is not about muddying the waters, it's about a fierce battle. Last time, when the Huo family was on the verge of collapse, everyone pushed them down and watched them fight from the sidelines, all while acting with a sense of righteous indignation."

"But has anyone noticed that from then on, foreign capital has been frantically penetrating and squeezing the living space of domestic businesses... making money is getting harder and harder."

Gu Huainan, having grown up in a privileged environment, didn't feel much of a sense of this.

I only occasionally overheard my father and older brother talking about how there are indeed fewer and fewer investment opportunities available.

Sometimes, even with market reports as a reference, once the money goes in, it's like water seeping into a sponge, leaving it all wet and sticky.

Even if you squeeze in, not many can get back.

Gu Huainan was completely confused when he first heard this, but after Lu Yi explained it to him, he suddenly understood.

"you mean……"

Lu Yi got up, picked up the clean clothes delivered from the laundry room, and changed into them one by one.

"When the nest is overturned, no egg remains intact. Does the Gu family think that by severing ties with someone, they can protect themselves? That's impossible."

Gu Huainan wanted to lie down a little longer, but seeing that Lu Yi was in a hurry to leave, he quickly moved as well.

"If it was possible last time, why can't it be this time? My brother works in the Ministry of Commerce, doesn't he see things more clearly than you or me?"

Lu Yi paused, his hand still holding the door, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

Just then, his cell phone, which was on the bedside table, suddenly rang.

Gu Huainan turned his head and saw, "It's Huo Jingxi..."