Xu Song truly lived up to his reputation as an all-purpose butler; the food he delivered was all made by the chefs of the Tao family. There was a wide variety and ample portions, and the officers couldn’t stop praising the deliciousness. Even the head of the special investigation team spontaneously joined the crowd for a meal.

The satisfaction that came from the tasty food greatly eased the somber atmosphere in the conference room.

However, Jiang Jingyun did not choose to eat immediately. Instead, he walked over to the corner and gently tapped Yu Hebai, who was curled up under his coat. “Wake up, it’s time for breakfast.”

Yu Hebai opened his sleepy eyes and asked, “Where did breakfast come from?”

“The Tao family sent it over.” Jiang Jingyun was very patient and reached out to gently stroke his face.

The two spoke quietly, and with Jiang Jingyun’s figure providing cover, no one noticed the commotion in the corner.

Yu Hebai made a sound of acknowledgment with his eyes still closed, rubbed his eyes, and sat up. He reached into his suit pants pocket, pulled out two portable mouthwashes, handed one to Jiang Jingyun, pointed to Sui Yuesheng, and gestured for Jiang Jingyun to give it to him. Then, he floated out of the conference room without touching the ground, heading to the restroom to wash up.

Jiang Jingyun turned around and saw that Sui Yuesheng had already returned to his seat, completely engrossed in the surveillance footage on the screen, scrolling back through the frames without any intention of eating.

Jiang Jingyun couldn’t help but sigh, feeling a bit helpless; he had sighed more in the past two days than in the entire previous month.

Even the strongest body can’t handle this kind of neglect. Even a robot needs regular charging and maintenance, let alone Sui Yuesheng, who is a living person. If he continued to neglect his health like this, it wouldn’t be long before his body broke down.

Sui Yuesheng’s assistant had disappeared the night before, and with Yu Hebai off washing up and not returning anytime soon, Jiang Jingyun looked around the conference room and realized he seemed to be the only one who could take on the responsibility of persuading Sui Yuesheng to eat.

… How did a congressman member end up doing this kind of motherly work?

Despite his complaints, Jiang Jingyun resignedly walked up to Sui Yuesheng and waved a hand in front of his eyes. “Why aren’t you eating?”

Sui Yuesheng’s view was blocked, and he responded impatiently, “I have no appetite.”

“You have to eat even if you don’t feel like it.” Jiang Jingyun sat down beside him, earnestly reasoning, “You can’t let your body give out before we even find Tao Fengche. If it comes to that, do you plan to sit in the conference room while getting an IV?”

Sui Yuesheng avoided his gaze, tacitly agreeing.

Jiang Jingyun was almost amused by Sui Yuesheng’s passive response: “You need to wake up; the Tao corporation is relying on you.”

“… Xiao Zhou is there. I already sent him back last night. Until we find Tao Fengche, he will handle the company’s affairs and report to me every evening.”

… Truly stubborn and resistant to advice.

Frustrated, Jiang Jingyun glanced around, pulled his chair closer, and lowered his voice, “What about the Tao corporation’s secret dealings? Do you plan to have Assistant Zhou keep an eye on those too?”

Sui Yuesheng fell silent.

Jiang Jingyun patted him on the shoulder and handed over the mouthwash.

Sui Yuesheng rinsed his mouth and spat it into a disposable cup, which he then went to toss into the trash can before returning with a bowl of congee.

Jiang Jingyun sighed in relief. Seizing the moment while Yu Hebai was still out washing up, he quickly said, “How about… you agree to Zhao Jiayang’s request for now?”

Sui Yuesheng didn’t rush to respond. His gaze swept around the conference room, and when he spoke again, there was a note of realization in his voice. “You only persuade me on this when he’s not here?”

“Yes,” Jiang Jingyun nodded slightly. “You know I’ve always hoped he wouldn’t get too involved in this matter.”

Sui Yuesheng raised an eyebrow, his gaze drifting away from Jiang Jingyun. A moment later, he suddenly smiled, though it carried a hint of bitterness.

Such matters cannot simply be resolved through “hoping.”

Yu Hebai was already involved in the kidnapping case of Tao Fengche. Last night, he even heard the name of the artificial pheromone directly. He was the only heir of the Yu family, full of curiosity. He was only refraining from asking out of trust; if he started to investigate, it would just take a few days.

But in the end, those in power are often blinded by their own perspectives, while outsiders can see clearly. He had no right to criticize Jiang Jingyun for being unrealistic; after all, he had thought similarly at one point.

He didn’t want Tao Fengche to fall into the mire of artificial pheromones, nor did he wish for him to investigate the truth behind Tao Zhixing’s death. He wanted Tao Fengche to focus on his studies and stay away from danger, yet Tao Fengche had stubbornly pursued the investigation, landing himself in this predicament.

… If he had known this would happen, he might as well have been upfront with Tao Fengche from the start.

But there are no “ifs” in life. Fate is never truly under one’s control.

In the end, Sui Yuesheng only nodded in response, saying nothing more.

Seeing that he seemed to be softening, Jiang Jingyun quickly seized the opportunity. “We both know the golden period for solving a case lasts a total of forty-eight hours. Nearly twenty hours have already passed, yet aside from that untraceable call from Zhao Jiayang, we have gained nothing, not even a clear line of thought. So far, the situation is very grim. If we continue to delay…”

Jiang Jingyun paused briefly, laying out his thoughts. “I was thinking, how about we agree to Zhao Jiayang’s request for now? I can arrange for reporters; we can either choose not to publish anything or keep it low-key and suppress the news after a small report. We can discuss the specifics in a meeting later. In short, we can put on a show for him first, get Tao Fengche out, and then plan for the future. If all else fails, we can always make multiple calls.”

Sui Yuesheng turned his head slightly, narrowing his gray-blue eyes, which gleamed with an inorganic light.

Jiang Jingyun said solemnly, “This is also the suggestion of the team leader.”

… So they had been out for so long discussing this.

Sui Yuesheng understood but shook his head: “It won’t work. Zhao Jiayang isn’t a fool; if he made this request, it definitely wasn’t from a remote, signal-less place. Whether it’s newspapers or television, or trending online, he needs to see the artificial pheromones causing a stir among the people.”

He slightly raised his hand to stop Jiang Jingyun from speaking: “I know what you’re thinking. It seems like the best choice now, but the team leader doesn’t understand what artificial pheromones are. Don’t you realize this? Zhao Jiayang is just a crazy person who’s messed up his brain on drugs; a normal person cannot understand the mind of a madman, nor can we reason with him.”

“I want Tao Fengche back more than anyone else, but we can’t use this method.” Sui Yuesheng spoke firmly, his lips tightly pressed after his statement, showing his resolute attitude.

Jiang Jingyun fell silent for a moment, wanting to persuade him further, but Sui Yuesheng inadvertently caught a glimpse of Yu Hebai entering the room and quickly gestured for him.

Just as Jiang Jingyun closed his mouth, Yu Hebai arrived. He looked back and forth between the two, appearing somewhat suspicious: “What are you two talking about?”

Jiang Jingyun smiled: “What could we be talking about? Sui Yuesheng is too anxious; he can’t eat, so I advised him a bit.”

Yu Hebai glanced at the untouched bowl of congee, believed him, and patted his shoulder: “You need to relax a bit. Let me tell you, there’s an old saying: ‘Heaven does not seal off all avenues for a person.’ Everything will be fine.”

Sui Yuesheng blinked, looking at Yu Hebai with a tolerant gaze.

Seeing that he didn’t believe him, Yu Hebai hurriedly added, “You have to trust me! My predictions are very accurate!”

He spoke with certainty, openly engaging in superstitions within a judicial context, making this baseless inference sound very convincing. Sui Yuesheng couldn’t help but laugh, glancing at the useless surveillance footage and nodding: “Okay.”

Time waits for no one; everyone hurriedly finished breakfast and returned to the seemingly endless investigation work.

Shortly after ten o’clock, Sui Yuesheng’s phone rang again.

Everyone’s hearts jumped to their throats, their eyes fixating on the phone. Sui Yuesheng glanced at the screen, shook his head, effectively concealing his slight disappointment: “It’s not him; it’s about the company.”

The officers’ reactions were noticeably more pronounced, with furrowed brows and drooping expressions. A few impatient young ones even sighed loudly, receiving a sharp tap on the head from an older colleague nearby.

— Not having information from Zhao Jiayang might not be a bad thing. In the cases they had dealt with in the past, there were many instances where kidnappers would cut off the victim’s organs as a threat to urge for ransom.

Jiang Jingyun was sitting close and immediately caught sight of the name “Jing Ning” on the screen. Although they hadn’t interacted much, he had heard about the legendary beta director of the Tao family research institute and exchanged a surprised glance with Sui Yuesheng.

— Wasn’t Jing Ning supposed to be on Mid-Autumn Festival break? Why was he suddenly calling? Could it be… to deliver information?

Could Yu Hebai’s prediction really be that accurate?

Jiang Jingyun looked at his boastful lover, somewhat doubtful.