"What's wrong?"

Bai Xiuye ​​noticed his wife's unusual behavior and asked her softly. Yin Yali briefly summarized the phone call, saying that Bai Ling's company had encountered some problems and they were currently working overtime to fix them, so she wouldn't be coming over tonight.

Thinking that perhaps they were not meant to be together, the two dropped the topic of matchmaking.

After the meal, everyone left politely. Before leaving, Chief Zhang held Bai Xiuye's hand, reluctant to let go for a long time.

"Commander Bai, when you come to our city to inspect our work in the future, I will definitely treat you well."

He was staggering, clearly completely drunk. Li Xue had to pull and coax him to get him into the car. Just as the car drove away from the compound, Shen Ying noticed out of the corner of her eye that Zhou Jianguo's car had turned back into the compound.

He couldn't believe what he was seeing, and couldn't help but rub his eyes, which widened to more than twice their normal size.

"Stop looking. Zhou Jianguo is probably going back to have a private chat with him about Deng Wei. Let's just pretend we don't know anything."

Chief Zhang stretched and loosened his limbs in the car, looking as if he had already seen through everything. This startled Li Xue, who was standing next to him worried that he had drunk too much and was feeling unwell.

"You're such a good actor."

Touching her heart, Li Xue remained unsettled for a long time. Shen Ying and Bai Chen glanced in the rearview mirror and saw Chief Zhang holding his wife's hand, trying to comfort her. Their affectionate display made the two who had been secretly watching unable to look away.

"Didn't you notice that Commander Bai kept checking his watch later on? I had to pretend to be drunk and leave quickly. You two are still green, you'll have to learn these things slowly in the future."

Chief Zhang spoke of these things calmly, as if he were used to them.

"Commander, this week the regimental commander has always been arrogant and self-willed in the army. Now that he has climbed up to Commander Bai, he will probably be even more domineering in the future."

Bai Chen's focus remained entirely on his missing daughter, Deng Wei. Commander Bai clearly wanted to inquire about the specifics first. Perhaps there were still some uncertainties involved; otherwise, Deng Wei would have been present at the dinner party tonight.

Even if they don't openly acknowledge their kinship, is it really necessary to make Zhou Jianguo, a nobody, go through all this back and forth?

Realizing that Bai Chen was trying to trick him into revealing information, Chief Zhang thought to himself that this kid was playing a game of charlatanry with a thousand-year-old fox like him; his audacity was truly growing.

"Bai Chen, have you ever wondered why you share the same surname, Bai? Or rather, why I brought you along tonight?"

Chief Zhang abruptly changed the subject, as if speaking in riddles. His words left the people in the car completely bewildered, prompting a flurry of speculation. Was it simply because of Chief Shen Yinghe's influence? Or was there some other hidden agenda?

Seeing everyone fall silent, he took out a red envelope from his pocket and gestured for Shen Ying to hand it over.

"This is a red envelope from Commander Bai as a token of our greeting."

Upon hearing this, Bai Chen was even more confused about what this was all about. He took it with one hand and couldn't help but sigh.

"This leader is so generous, giving a red envelope on our first meeting. Does everyone get one?"

After speaking, he couldn't help but glance at the rearview mirror, waiting for Chief Zhang's reply.

"We'd love to, but we're not as lucky as you to be born into this family. Commander Bai is your distant cousin, and we're worried that if people find out about your relationship on our first meeting, some malicious people might sabotage us and accuse you of getting in through connections."

So he asked me to bring you along tonight, to see you while I'm at it. This red envelope shows how much he values ​​you.

After Commander Zhang finished speaking, Bai Chen stared wide-eyed in disbelief. "No way?" he thought. He'd heard that his cousin Bai Na's decision to end her rural assignment and return to the city was facilitated by a relative, but he never imagined it was Commander Bai.

That's shocking.

"So now, think back to it, do you think Commander Bai would let Zhou Jianguo climb the social ladder by associating with him?"

He asked Bai Chen again, and this time, the other party did not rush to a conclusion.

“If Commander Bai is my distant cousin, then his lost daughter is my cousin. But Deng Wei doesn’t look like him at all, so how could she be his biological daughter? Perhaps she looks like her mother, since she does resemble his wife somewhat.”

Bai Chen had seen Deng Wei more than once or twice, and she didn't look like Commander Bai at all. On the contrary, when he first saw Bai Xiuye, he felt that she resembled Jiang Yu somewhat.

"His wife, whom he married later, is more than ten years younger than him. And the daughter he lost was born to his ex-wife."

Chief Zhang occasionally dropped some bombshells, adding excitement to the journey. Not only Shen Ying and Bai Chen, but even Li Xue sitting next to him was dumbfounded. She had thought the woman looked young because she took good care of herself, but it turned out her age was obvious.

"So, Commander Bai's current wife supports him bringing the child back?"

Li Xue, like a bystander, looked at Chief Zhang with curiosity and asked a question.

"I guess he should support it. He and his current wife don't have children, but he has a son with his ex-wife. It's just that his son is away from home most of the year and doesn't come home often."

When I was young, I didn't think much of it, and I didn't have a deep relationship with my son. Now that I'm this age, how can I not be envious when I see other people's families full of children and grandchildren?

Besides, his current wife looks a lot like his ex-wife, and also bears some resemblance to Deng Wei. He'll probably love her because of her, and treat her well.

Hearing Commander Zhang's words, Shen Ying relaxed his tense hands, comforting himself that he was overthinking things. He had guessed the same as Bai Chen, thinking that Commander Bai would have some kind of relationship with Jiang Yu.

But after Chief Zhang's explanation, I felt much more at ease. Thinking about it, it made sense; if someone were to abduct Commander Bai's child, they'd at least find buyers from families that appeared to be well-off. The bandits from Jiang Yu's family were completely unrelated.

It was quite late when they returned to the hotel. Shen Ying got out of the car, tiptoed upstairs, and gently opened the door.

By the dim light from outside, he saw that Jiang Yu was already asleep on the bed. The manuscript beside her seemed to have been left unattended and was scattered all over the bed.

After tidying up the items, Shen Ying placed them on the table and noticed the lunchbox that the woman had already finished eating, so he pushed it aside.

There was still plenty of hot water in the kettle. He quickly washed up, lifted the covers, and crawled inside. Because the valet had booked a double room, and unlike at home where there were two children between them, Chen Ying's heart pounded.

As he got closer to the woman, a pleasant scent of shampoo wafted over him. Thankfully, she had her back to him, which eased some of the unnecessary awkwardness.

Worried that Jiang Yu might have opinions and cause some trouble after waking up, he, who was over 1.8 meters tall, lay on the edge of the bed, as if he would fall off if he turned over.

Thinking that he would just have to get through the night, he closed his eyes and adjusted his breathing.

A moment later, Jiang Yu turned over and put her hand on his body.