“Why are you still up then?”

“The company ran into some issues. The managers and I are already working through it at the moment in order not to get it out of our hands,” he explained.

Lu Xinyi sighed but understood what he was implying. Being married to a CEO, she understood that his time would be packed with meetings, business travels, and more work.

“Am I disturbing you? Do I need to hang up?”

“No, even though you’re a distraction, you are my best distraction.”

“Ah, so cheesy. Confess! Where did you hide my husband?!”

Sitting alone in their dim-lit bedroom, Shen Yi chuckled. That was his wife alright. She always knew how to make his day better.

“I miss the twins. I should’ve woken up and called earlier,” she softly murmured.

“I’ll let you know when you can talk to them tomorrow, but how come you miss the twins and forgot about your husband?” he teased.

Lu Xinyi laughed at that. No one had told her being away from her family was going to be hard. She’d be lying if she didn’t say she wasn’t missing him.

“Of course, I also miss you, silly.” She initially thought that she would spend a whole month at Country A, but with the way the competition progressed faster than what she and Headmistress Han anticipated, it should be over by the third week.

His laptop pinged, indicating he received a new email from one of his managers.

“Xinxin, come back home soon, okay? The days feel longer when you aren’t around.” He sighed, “I also need to finish this work.”

“Alrighty! I’ll kick all the asses of our opponents so we can book our flight soon!” She promised. “Love you.” Lu Xinyi added before leaning forward to make a kissy face on the camera of her laptop.

Shen Zichen recovered quickly and proved that it was simply just a cold like what Qiao He said earlier, but neither of these could put Shen Yi’s mind at ease. Might as well ask Zhao Xi to run a general check-up on both twins for peace of mind.

—

Another two weeks had passed, and Jiao Jiao found herself staring at the calendar at her mistress’s hotel room. While Zhang Qing oversees the business affairs for Lu Xinyi, Jiao Jiao was the one responsible for her personal affairs.

Something very important was missing if one asked her. Was she forgetting something? Jiao Jiao wasn’t sure. She couldn’t bother her mistress at this time as she was busy with Han Yixin in the kitchen grounds at the moment—with them entering the top 10 of the World Patisserie Challenge.

The Fu siblings were staying with Lu Xinyi at the moment so the two lady bodyguards of Madam Shen were left to their own devices that afternoon. It would take another four to six hours until their mistress comes back.

She took a bite from the cake her mistress left for them to eat as she looked at the calendar and counted mentally again. Blinking twice, she flipped the calendar page again, counted, and took another bite of her cake. She tried to figure out if her calculation in this matter was correct.

Was her mistress aware of this? Jiao Jiao wasn’t sure, but maybe she could ask Lu Xinyi later when the latter wasn’t busy anymore. She put back the hotel’s calendar at the side table and sighed.

Perhaps she was overthinking again. A lot had been happening these days, and it wasn’t odd to lose or forget a few things under the stress Lu Xinyi had been under.

This wasn’t new to her anymore, but she doubted that her mistress was aware of what she was missing these past few days.

“What are you sighing about?” Zhang Qing appeared from the kitchen and leaned sideways against the door frame.

“I think Miss Xinxin is in trouble. Should I tell her?” Jiao Jiao answered and eyed the calendar again.

Following her gaze, Zhang Qing understood what Jiao Jiao was implying.

“Don’t fret. She’s too busy and tired lately. It’s normal if she didn’t notice it yet,” she commented. “We just need to be extra careful just in case.”

Jiao Jiao nodded in agreement. Lu Xinyi’s safety was their priority at the moment, especially at this critical time.

“Did Mr. Qiao call to give you an update?” she asked, changing the topic.

Zhang Qing blushed a little and coughed lightly on her hand. “Yes, he called. He said that Boss Yi have left a week ago with Li Yuren and hadn’t come back since then.”

“But the twins…” Jiao Jiao frowned. How could their Boss Yi leave the children without a word?

“They’re staying with Master Shen for the meantime. It must be really important. Do you think they finally found a lead where Feng Zexian was hiding?” Zhang Qing pondered and cupped her chin.

“Feng Zexian tried to kill our miss. It would be understandable if Boss Yi left to deal with him personally. I would’ve volunteered to come with him to hunt that man if we weren’t here.” Jiao Jiao went to the kitchen to wash her dirty dishes. Zhang Qing followed her shortly.

“But it’s weird don’t you think? Do you think it’s a trap?” Jiao Jiao met Zhang Qing’s curious gaze.

Zhang Qing shrugged and sat at the chair next to the counter.

“Boss Yi would know better if it was a trap or not. Our miss’s life is on the line. Do you think he will go without weighing the consequence of his actions? Also, the fact that he willingly agreed with Li Yuren, Feng Zexian wouldn’t be able to deceive Boss Yi easily.”

They were after the same man after all. Working together to find Feng Zexian would benefit both men.

“But the gas blast was oddly the same with Miss’s father’s accident. I think the Sun family was also involved in it,” Zhang Qing added.

After what Lu Xinyi did at the Sun Corporation, Zhang Qing wouldn’t be surprised if Sun Mingai blamed Lu Xinyi for it. It seemed the two were fated to be enemies and could never be under the same heaven.

Jiao Jiao dried the utensils she used and sighed.

“Maybe we should discuss this later. We should plan precautionary measures before going home.”