Jiang Cheng bent down and leaned toward Yu Wanlai’s ear, whispering, “I overheard Bai family’s second brother on the phone, saying he was going to drug Bai Jian and ruin her reputation! I came out to look for her, but I couldn’t find her anywhere! Boss, do you think she could have really been…?”

Yu Wanlai straightened up and looked at Jiang Cheng, “Who is Bai Jian?”

Jiang Cheng replied, “…The female lead!”

Yu Wanlai’s mind cleared a bit. It seemed like he was on the right track now. He took out his phone while saying, “This sort of thing is more appropriate for the male lead to handle. We shouldn’t get involved. I’ll call Yu Qingyue…”

Jiang Cheng responded with a simple “Oh,” agreeing with his logic, but Yu Wanlai suddenly paused.

Jiang Cheng eagerly patted Yu Wanlai, “Boss, why did you stop? Hurry up and call!”

Yu Wanlai held the phone, lightly clearing his throat. “…I just remembered, I don’t have his number!”

Jiang Cheng turned to leave, determined to handle it herself.

Yu Wanlai clicked his tongue and grabbed her arm. “…Wait, what’s the rush? I’ll ask someone else.”

Next, Yu Wanlai called both Yu Cheng and Qin Shuang, but no one picked up. Jiang Cheng looked at him with sympathy, “Boss, I didn’t expect… things aren’t going too well for you, huh?”

Yu Wanlai gave her a look and dialed Xu Ran’s number. This time, he finally got the number and immediately called Yu Qingyue. The first time, the phone rang twice before it was hung up. He tried again and got through on the third try.

“Hello? Who’s this?”

Yu Qingyue’s voice was somewhat cold, and Yu Wanlai wasn’t quite used to it. He put the phone to his ear and said, “…It’s me, listen to what I have to say…”

Before he could finish, he was interrupted, “Where are you? I haven’t seen you since earlier. Don’t wander off…”

Now, Yu Wanlai’s tone became more urgent, “Stop, stop, we can talk about that later. Listen to me first. I heard someone is trying to harm Bai Jian. She might have been drugged, but believe it or not, it’s up to you. But I think you should still look for her. Hang up!”

Yu Qingyue furrowed his brow, staring at the phone that had been disconnected, puzzled. How did Yu Wanlai know Bai Jian? And what was all this talk about drugging her? He had originally planned to ignore the call, but two seconds later, Yu Qingyue resignedly pressed the screen and dialed Bai Yi.

“Where’s your sister?”

Bai Yi glanced at his phone screen, confirming it was Yu Qingyue. He paused for a moment and then said, “What do you want? Did I offend you? Why are you suddenly yelling at me?”

Yu Qingyue was silent for a while, grinding his teeth as he repeated, “I meant, is Bai Jian still with you?”

“You idiot!” He said, turning from the second-floor balcony to head back downstairs to the banquet hall. Bai Yi looked around, even glancing upward for some reason.

“She’s really not here. How did you know? Where are you?”

Yu Qingyue’s heart skipped a beat, and he quickened his pace down the stairs. “…Something might have happened. Bai Jian has been set up, but I’m not sure about the details. Let’s look for her first.”

He hung up and redialed Yu Wanlai, getting straight to the point. “How do you know about this? What else do you know? And where are you? I’ll come to find you.”

Yu Wanlai picked up the call, but before he could say a word, he was bombarded with questions. He suddenly became a bit concerned, ‘Is he suspecting me again?‘

“You’re not going to suspect me again, are you? This has nothing to do with me!”

Yu Qingyue gritted his teeth, frustrated with him, “…Not suspecting you. But seriously…”

Before he could finish, he spotted Yu Wanlai crouching behind a sofa near the elevator.

Yu Qingyue: “No wonder I haven’t seen anyone all night. You’re really good at hiding!”

He hung up the phone and quickly walked toward the area. This mansion was vast, and the main building alone had dozens of rooms. It would be impossible for just him and Bai Yi to search, so having more detailed clues would help. “Do you know…”

Yu Wanlai was startled by the sudden voice above him. He let out an “ouch,” slapped his chest, and looked up at the person. “It’s you! That was quick, you almost scared me!”

Seeing that there was a waiter next to Yu Wanlai, Yu Qingyue pulled him aside before speaking. “Do you know anything else?”

Yu Wanlai shook his head. “I don’t know anything! I swear, I don’t!”

Yu Qingyue hadn’t expected much and was not surprised by the response. It seemed the only way left was to search room by room. Just as he took a step, he turned back to Yu Wanlai. “Why don’t you help look too? White dress, black curly hair.”

Yu Wanlai raised a finger and pointed to himself, hesitantly saying, “You mean me? I should look?”

Yu Qingyue glanced at him, confirming with a look. Having more people searching would speed things up; it was only normal. The situation was urgent, and the available people on-site were limited. But then, as if recalling something, Yu Qingyue suddenly asked, “You haven’t told anyone else about this, right?”

Yu Wanlai shook his head, denying it, mainly because he didn’t have anyone else to tell.

Seeing that he couldn’t get any substantial information, Yu Qingyue pulled Yu Wanlai along. Jiang Cheng, who had been standing ignored at the side, saw them suddenly leaving and quickly followed.

Yu Wanlai, who was being tugged by his sleeve, was uncomfortable. He struggled a little, pulling his sleeve free, mumbling, “…Stop pulling me, I’ll go look with you.”

It seemed like they were a couple in the making, so urgent that they didn’t even bother to suspect him anymore.

Yu Qingyue glanced at Yu Wanlai and then noticed Jiang Cheng following them. He stopped in his tracks, frowned, and coldly asked, “Who are you? Who told you to follow?”

Yu Wanlai glanced at Jiang Cheng and then at Yu Qingyue, quickly explaining, “…Hold on, she’s not a bad person. She’s the one who told me the news.”

Yu Qingyue relaxed a little but still looked suspicious. Yu Wanlai quickly added, “She’s my friend. She just happened to overhear Bai family’s second son making a phone call, so she knew about it.”

Yu Qingyue reluctantly set aside his doubts. “Alright, just make sure she’s trustworthy.” He continued walking while distributing tasks, “I was just by the second-floor entrance, so she shouldn’t be on the second floor. Bai Yi is searching outside, I’ll check the fourth floor. You two go to the third floor, split up and search faster.”

Yu Wanlai nodded in agreement, and they separated to search.

A few minutes later, Jiang Cheng saw a slightly ajar door. Her^[1]I don’t know how to address Jiang Che if I used Him or Her but know that He is a he but when he transmigrated he became a she. So please do not be confused in his gender when they are … Continue reading heart skipped a beat, and she silently gestured to Yu Wanlai. He quickly walked over, glanced at her, gently placed his hand on the doorknob, and suddenly pushed the door open.

Both of them instinctively covered their eyes, but after a moment of silence, they didn’t hear anything. Yu Wanlai lowered his hand, ready to leave and search the next room.

Suddenly, Jiang Cheng patted his arm, “Boss, boss, I think I found it! It should be this one.”

Yu Wanlai stepped forward and looked. Indeed, there was a figure lying on the bed. He quickly scanned the room, confirming that no one else was there, and finally relaxed.

His mind eased, and only then did he remember the part in the story about drugging the female lead. In the original plot, the villain, upon hearing that the female lead was to be married to the Yu family, intended to improve his own position by pursuing her unsuccessfully. Failing that, he decided to take a more drastic approach, planning to force the situation.

Yu Wanlai sat down on the sofa, frowning. The plot was getting stranger and stranger. The two families hadn’t even discussed a marriage yet, and he hadn’t drugged anyone. Was this a different plotline? But his memory of the original story was growing fuzzier. He couldn’t recall any other similar situations in the book.

A little irritated, Yu Wanlai noticed an unopened bottle of pure water on the side table. He twisted the cap and drank it in one go. The bottle left a water ring on the table, but no one noticed.

His mood had been somewhat off today, so he had drunk a little more alcohol than usual, not expecting the aftereffects to be so strong. Feeling a little suffocated, he tugged at his tie, loosening his collar, and felt better.

When Yu Qingyue and Jiang Cheng arrived, Bai Jian was still lying motionless on the bed. On the way, Yu Qingyue had called Bai Yi, and soon Bai Yi arrived.

“Thankfully, we made it in time. Nothing happened!”

Bai Yi rushed over, his bangs slightly damp with sweat. He felt relieved when he saw her in person. He walked over and kicked Bai Jian’s leg. “Hey, wake up. You’ve been messing with everyone, and you’re sleeping so soundly!”

I didn’t expect the internal power struggle within the Bai family to be this intense. Bai Yi has earned his father’s favor, and Bai Er can’t do anything about it, so he resorts to targeting those close to him—such a malicious move.

Yu Wanlai saw that everyone had arrived and there was nothing more for him to do. He stood up from his seat, planning to step outside for some fresh air. The place felt even more cramped and stuffy, possibly due to the number of people. Jiang Cheng, noticing, followed him.

As they were about to exit the elevator, Yu Wanlai suddenly felt his legs go weak, and he was about to fall to the ground. Jiang Cheng, noticing from the corner of her eye, quickly reached out to catch him, but she forgot that she herself was not strong enough, and she ended up getting pulled down by Yu Wanlai and both of them fell to the floor.

“Boss! What’s going on with you all of a sudden?” Jiang Cheng exclaimed.

Yu Wanlai shook his head, a thin layer of cold sweat forming on his forehead. His breathing was erratic, alternating between weak and strong. “I don’t know. Maybe I drank too much?” Though he felt like his mind was still clear, he couldn’t think of any other reason.

It took Jiang Cheng a while to drag Yu Wanlai out of the elevator and seat him on a bench in the hallway. She exhaled deeply. “Oh my, you’re so heavy!” After catching her breath, Jiang Cheng finally had the time to turn her attention back to Yu Wanlai and joked, “Boss, you can’t even handle this now? You’ve only had a few drinks and look at you…” As she spoke, she widened her eyes in shock, staring at Yu Wanlai. “Wow! Boss, what did you drink? Your face is so red, you look like a tomato!”

Yu Wanlai clicked his tongue, his every breath hot with air. “Tomato? Stop making things worse, or I’ll deal with you.”

He had just started to realize that he didn’t really seem drunk, but he still couldn’t figure out what was going on.

Meanwhile, others in the room were gradually leaving. After all, being girls, it wasn’t appropriate for them to stay too long in someone else’s room. Yu Qingyue stepped out of the room, ready to find Yu Wanlai, but he couldn’t see anyone around, not even Jiang Cheng. He called back the number from earlier and got into the elevator. However, as soon as he exited the elevator, he heard Jiang Cheng shouting.

Following the sound, Yu Qingyue rounded a corner and immediately saw Jiang Cheng anxiously standing in front of Yu Wanlai, tugging on one of his arms, likely trying to pull him up.