Wang Qin's words stumped Qi Lei.

She slowly closed her eyes, inhaling a deep breath and relaxing.

"You think for yourself. Even though my words aren't nice to hear, they won't hurt you. Based on what I know about Qi Qiming, he'll probably arrange for Gu Lingsha to work in Qi Kai. I called you over just to alert you. Don't let them blur your vision. Okay, get out!"

When Wang Qin finished, she turned around in her chair. She did not want to see the mocking sneer on Qi Lei's face anymore. His expression would only make her extremely sad and even heartbroken.

It seemed as if Wang Qin lived to worry!

Qi Lei did not respond. He downed the water in his glass, set it aside, and then looked up with mixed emotions at Wang Qin who had turned away and was holding her head. After a while, he did not say anything and took huge strides to leave the office.

When he walked out of the office, he actually felt very annoyed.

The few days after the banquet, he had not gone to work. Actually, he had not been with Gu Lingsha. Instead, he had stayed in his villa being busy on the Fuhua project.

He had gotten those insights from Mu Yuchen, and some of Shen Yue's fancy. If he did not spend some effort getting it, would Mu Yuchen not look down on him? Especially Xi Xiaye who said that he was nothing compared to Mu Yuchen, she had really underestimated him!

Even though he admitted that he personally did admire Mu Yuchen, if he really was going to be compared to him, he would more or less be unhappy about it.

As for Gu Lingsha, after the banquet, she ditched him. He had looked all around for her too, but she clearly did not want to see him. Just like how she was back then, only when things were getting bad with Qi Feng would he have the chance to console her.

He did not know if his so-called feelings for Gu Lingsha were the profound kind. He just felt like at least, she understood him. All these years, the reason he could hold onto his dreams was mostly because of her continuous support. Perhaps this was considered emotional reliance.

"Master Qi!"

Qi Lei had just walked into his own office when his assistant, Yang Sheng, suddenly came up to him.

"What is it?" Qi lei sunk in his seat and responded in a lowered voice.

"I've found the hotel that Miss Gu is staying at! She's at Glory World's Imperial Sky Hotel!" Yang Sheng's voice came.

"Imperial Sky Hotel?" When Qi Lei heard that, he frowned and his eyes dimmed too.

"Yes, Master Qi! She's at Glory World's Imperial Sky Hotel. She booked it in advance. Master Qi, you wanted her to stay in the Qi residence, but she was worried about causing trouble, so she decided to just book herself into Imperial Sky Hotel," Yang Sheng explained softly.

Qi Lei fell quiet for a while and then leaned back against his chair. He thought about it for a long while before saying softly, "That means Mu Yuchen probably knew about Shasha's return for a while now."

"Yes, of course, Master Qi. You forgot that at the banquet, Chairman Mu's personal bodyguard was there too," Yang Sheng reminded.

As the memory from the banquet flashed in his mind, he recalled that day when he went to get the information from Maple Residence, Xi Xiaye...

Qi Lei sighed as he propped his head on one hand and closed his eyes. He suddenly remembered Gu Lingsha's arm that was riddled with scars. He struggled for a while before taking a deep breath and opening his eyes. Then, he took his phone and made a call.

When the phone rang, Mu Yuchen was sitting before a wide and clean dining table, elegantly enjoying his breakfast.

Li Si took the phone over and softly mentioned, "Master, it's a call from Master Qi of Qi Kai. Do you want to accept it?"

Mu Yuchen looked up slowly. His profound eyes flashed with interest while he took the fruit juice from the side for two sips. Then, he took the napkin to wipe his mouth before reaching a hand out to Li Si who knowingly handed the phone to him.

"You were one step slower than I predicted." His deep voice was unperturbed as he was calm and steady.

When Qi Lei heard him from the other end, he could not help but curl up his lips as he sneered. "You already knew that Shasha would come to City Z and stay at your Imperial Sky Hotel?"

"What do you think? I know what you want to ask about. Gu Lingsha's not enough for me to spend so much thought on. She decided on booking the hotel herself. I also don't understand her actions, but I don't mind telling you that she made a booking to stay at the Imperial Sky Hotel for two months," Mu Yuchen responded with an indifferent expression.

"Two months? But her forum runs for just a week. She seemed to be busy with something recently, but she shouldn't even need two months," Qi Lei squinted as he said softly.

Mu Yuchen smiled calmly and took the glass Li Si brought him. Taking a swig, he then said, "You'll have to ask her this yourself. If you're lucky, you could even spend time with her day and night."

"What do you mean?" Qi Lei asked coldly.

"I don't think I need to explain this to someone with your IQ, do I?"

"What do you want me to do? You gave me such a huge slice of cake for no reason without any goals. It doesn't seem quite like you, Mu Yuchen!" Qi Lei never liked owing other people, especially Mu Yuchen.

When he heard this, Mu Yuchen set aside the glass in hand and said calmly, "Don't speak as if you know me very well, but since you're so sincere, I won't reject you."

"Just say it!" Qi Lei scoffed in disdain.

"I want to know the truth from years ago." Mu Yuchen was rather straightforward.

"Shasha said she has selective memory loss, so she didn't remember those things when she woke up. In that car accident, she was hurt quite badly too."

"She told you that?"

"Yes, I saw those scars on her hand myself. They don't look any less severe than Mu Lingshi's."

The smile on Mu Yuchen's face faded and his eyes dimmed. "Don't compare her to Lingshi. If she can't remember, then forget it. Good luck," he said before hanging up on the call gloomily.

"Master, Gu Lingsha is clearly lying. How could she forget, especially this of all things? Who would believe her?"

Mu Yuchen lifted a hand to massage the space between his brows. He fell silent for a long while before Li Si spoke up, "Master, say, is Gu Lingsha back for revenge this time? I don't quite understand Qi Qiming's move." Li Si's face was dense with doubts.

Mu Yuchen did not answer. Instead, he slowly got up and walked coolly toward the staircase.

On Qi Kai's end, when Qi Lei heard the busy signal of the telephone, he frowned and tossed his phone onto the table.

"Yang Sheng, get me a bouquet of violets."

"Got it, Master Qi!"

...

After a while, when Qi Lei left Qi Kai, Yang Sheng had already prepared the bouquet and was waiting by the car.

As Qi Lei took over the bouquet, he commanded and got into the car, "Go to the Imperial Sky Hotel."

Yang Sheng's expression froze. He hesitated momentarily before snapping back to his senses. He did not dare to say much as he quickly got into the car too.

The car sped all the way. When it rushed to the Imperial Sky Hotel, the sky had already darkened.

It was entering the winter season, so the day was short. It was only slightly over 6 p.m., but the sky had already turned dark, and the entire City Z was covered in glorious lights.

In front of a certain VIP Suite in the Imperial Sky Hotel, Qi Lei had knocked for quite long, yet no one came to get the door.

"Shasha, open up. I know you're inside!" Qi Lei frowned and shouted, "Shasha!"

He waited for a long time, yet the door was still locked. Qi Lei's expression turned incredibly stormy.

At this moment, inside the suite, Gu Lingsha was lying on the sofa with both her eyes shut. She looked pale, and in the midst of her daze, she could hear the door being hammered on outside. She thought she was hallucinating. After a while, she struggled to get up and walked to the door.

Just as Qi Lei turned around gloomily, he suddenly heard the door creaking open behind him. He subconsciously turned around immediately and saw Gu Lingsha falling toward him. Shocked, he quickly took a step forward to hold her in his arms.

"Shasha? Are you okay?"

When he held her in his arms, he realized that her temperature was terrifyingly high!

"You're burning! Shasha, have you gotten a fever?"

Qi Lei's handsome brows immediately frowned into a knot. He looked worriedly at her and realized that she was extremely pale. While she looked very weak, at this moment, she trembled and curled up in Qi Lei's arms.

"Shasha, don't worry. We'll go to the hospital right away! Let's go to the hospital!"

As Qi Lei said this, he carried Gu Lingsha anxiously. The bouquet in his hand had long been tossed to the side.

"Don't... I don't want to go to the hospital. Let me go. I'm fine!" Gu Lingsha struggled and insisted weakly.

"Don't worry. You'll be fine with one injection. Don't be afraid, Shasha!"

Qi Lei wanted to hug Gu Lingsha tightly, yet she struggled hard. Her dazed eyes flew open and she fixed them on Qi Lei. "I already said I don't want to go to the hospital. Don't bother about me. I want to be alone. Can I do that?" she cried out in a hoarse voice, and then took a deep breath. Refusing to look at Qi Lei anymore, she dragged her fatigued self towards the elevator.

Qi Lei stood stunned for a long time as he watched the figure that had already vanished into the elevator. Eventually, he finally regained his senses. Without a care, he quickly chased after her.

Yang Sheng's expression darkened. After he thought about it, he only sighed to himself, locked the door, and quickly followed closely after him.

Gu Lingsha moved very swiftly. She took the elevator straight to the car park on the lower ground floor, so when Qi Lei arrived, she was gone.

...

It was early in the evening outside, and the dazzling lights were confusing to her eyes as Gu Lingsha drove her Maserati quickly out the car park and raced towards the busy city center.

At the same time, on the other end of the wide road toward Imperial Sky Entertainment City, Ruan Heng was driving in a practiced manner.

When Su Nan said she wanted to find vintage vibes to trigger her design inspiration, Mu Lingshi offered her old CDs, and they were coincidentally songs that Su Nan liked, so the girls planned when she could get them.

Su Nan was obviously happy to hear that, so she told Ruan Heng to go over to get it after work.

Ruan Heng had just finished work when he received his wife, Su Nan's instructions, so he drove over.

When he thought about Su Nan and their cute daughter at home, Ruan Heng's heart was filled with warmth, and a smile brimmed on his face.

Coincidentally, he was promoted today. The boss had promoted him to be Vice President. When he went back to tell Su Nan this news, she would definitely be very delighted. She had previously been complaining that he had not been making progress for a long while now!

However, it seemed as if fate always like to take a turning point at such a time!

When he was at the roundabout, Ruan Heng only saw a glimpse of a dazzling white light flash before him. The red light in front of him lit up, and he reflexively stepped on the brake, but...

...

When the Audi crashed into the Maserati, Su Nan was at home preparing dinner, and their daughter little Chenxi had already fallen asleep. She knew that Ruan Heng would be home slightly later today, so she prepared dinner, which was a rare occasion.

Since she was pregnant with their daughter, Ruan Heng had been carefully taking care of her. Even though she had slowly been recovering, he still did not let her into the kitchen because he was worried that if she did not rest well, she would fall ill or something.

"Nannan, your phone is ringing!"

When Su Nan dished the vegetables onto a plate from the pot, Mother Ruan handed her phone to her.

Su Nan instantly took it and answered the call.

"Hello, Su Nan? It's Lingshi. Come to the hospital quickly. Ruan Heng got into an accident. Hospital T! Hurry!"

The call had just gotten through when Mu Lingshi's breathless voice came from the other end, sounding very anxious. Su Nan could hear the panicked patter of footsteps from the other end!

Stunned, she asked in a daze, "What did you say? Ruan Heng got into an accident?"

"Yes, time's of the essence. I can't explain too much right now. Come over quickly first!" Mu Lingshi said and then hung up.

Bam!

Su Nan turned limp as the plate in her hand fell to the ground. The vegetables that she had just fried and the ceramic pieces shattered all over the ground.

"Ruan Heng! Ruan Heng!"

Her eyes widened, and she trembled distractedly. After a while, she reacted in panic and rushed out of the kitchen at a loss. Her mind was blank, and she did not have time to think about much.

"Nannan, what's wrong?" When Mother Ruan saw Su Nan's pale expression, she became worried and was frightened too.

"Mother, watch Chenxi first. I have to go out for a bit! I'll be back very quickly!"

She tried hard to suppress the fear inside as she could only say this before she rushed out frantically and towards Hospital T.

Su Nan did not even know how she made it to Hospital T. When she saw Mu Lingshi covered in blood while waiting outside the operating theatre, she felt so suffocated that she almost fainted.

"Su Nan!"

When she saw Su Nan go limp, Mu Lingshi quickly helped to hold her up and held her to sit on a chair on the side. Upon seeing her being covered in the coppery stench of blood, Su Nan felt her stomach turn.

Su Nan's eyes started to turn red as she held back the tears that welled up in her eyes. She gripped Mu Lingshi's arms tightly and asked anxiously, "How... How's Ruan Heng? How is he now?"

Mu Lingshi's expression was solemn. She turned to look at the doors to the operating theatre that were tightly shut. After a while, she turned to console her, "Don't worry first. He'll be fine. We have to trust the doctors. He'll be fine, so don't worry."

Actually, Mu Lingshi was quite afraid and could not hide the slight tremble in her voice. Earlier, Ruan Heng was covered in blood when he was sent there, and even her hands were stained crimson. She almost fainted from that strong stench as the nightmare from five years ago roared into her mind. A similar scene was clearly creeping into her mind again.

The car accident had happened not too far away from the Imperial Sky Entertainment Club. Before that, Ruan Heng had called her to send the CD to the door, but unexpectedly...

When Xi Xiaye received this news, she was in a discussion on closing a deal with a partner company with Ah Mo.

Inside the luxurious private room, the food and drinks were ordered. When Xi Xiaye was about to make a toast to the other party with water in place of alcohol, Ah Mo walked over with a solemn expression and whispered into her ear, and she immediately turned pale.

Without a care, she picked her handbag up and left the room.

The Phaeton rushed all the way and when she reached Hospital T, it was already an hour later.

The light of the operating theatre was still switched on. From afar, she could see Su Nan with her hands in her face as she bent over and her frail shoulders trembled slightly. Mu Lingshi had already taken her coat off and put it over her shoulders.

Su Nan came out in a rush, wearing only a wool sweater and seeming rather weak. Xi Xiaye felt her heart ache at this sight as she quickly walked over.

"Nannan!"

When she heard Xi Xiaye's voice come from in front of her, Su Nan looked up. The tears that had been pooling in her reddened eyes for a long time immediately fell in worry and fear at the sight of Xi Xiaye. Soon, the floor was wet with tears.

Heartbroken, Xi Xiaye quickly went up and hugged Su Nan around her shoulders.

"Xiaye... I'm so afraid. I'm really afraid... Even Lingshi was covered in blood. Ruan Heng... Will he be okay? Will he? Our daughter is still so young. If something happens to him, what do I do? What do I do..."

"It's fine, it'll be fine, Nannan...Heaven helps the good people like Ruan Heng, he will be fine...no matter what, I will be right by your side..."

Xi Xiaye took a deep breath and pushed back the hot tears that welled up in her eyes as she hugged Su Nan's cold body tightly. She only knew right now that no matter how strong she usually was, at such a time, she would be weak too.

When she heard Xi Xiaye, Su Nan cried out instead, "Xiaye... Xiaye..."

Su Nan clutched Xi Xiaye's arms tightly as she shifted closer. It felt like she was holding onto the last straw as if her world was ending.

Xi Xiaye consoled her quietly as she gazed at the tightly shut doors of the operating theatre, and then down at Su Nan who was wan and sallow from worry. Feeling like she did know what she could do right now, she felt her heart throb even more. She could only hug her tightly, wanting to give her cold body a hint of warmth.

Ah Mo slowly came to Mu Lingshi's side and considerately took his windbreaker off to put it over her. Upon seeing the worry and sorrow that gathered between her brows, he softly sympathized, "Don't worry. He'll be fine."

Mu Lingshi then softly said through her sobs, "I'm really afraid that he'll turn out like Lingtian... This misfortune won't happen to us again, will it?"

In a raspy voice, when she recalled the horrible accident that happened to Mu Lingtian years ago, trauma still lingered!

"No, it won't. Don't panic." Ah Mo obviously did not know how to console her either. He could only sit down and hold her by the shoulders before pulling her into his embrace.

After Xi Xiaye eased for a while, she suppressed the pain and worry before turning to Mu Lingshi. "Ah Shi, what happened? How did this accident happen?"

With a pale face, Mu Lingshi said with self-blame and bitterness, "This is all my fault. I had some classics CDs with me that I wanted to pass to Su Nan, but because I've been busy, I couldn't, so I let Su Nan come get it... Who would've thought this would happen?"

"This is not your fault, Lingshi. I told Ruan Heng to go get it. It was all my fault... I don't know why recently why..."

"Okay, Ah Shi, Su Nan, now's not the time to beat yourselves up. We have to clarify some things." Xi Xiaye could still maintain a clear head. Apart from waiting anxiously, there were obviously other matters to sort out.

"Ruan Heng's car crashed into a Maserati. Do you guys know who the owner of the Maserati is?" Mu Lingshi slowly pushed the storm of emotions in her heart down and spoke in a raspy voice. She slowly looked up to Xi Xiaye and Ah Mo, ridicule crossing her face.

When Xi Xiaye and Ah Mo heard that question, they exchanged a look before looking back in doubt at Mu Lingshi, waiting for her to continue.

"It's Gu Lingsha. She was sent here with Ruan Heng. When I rushed over, Ruan Heng was already covered in blood. I'm not quite sure what's the situation on her end. Based on the scene, it looked a little..."