Elsewhere, at Yishen Pharmaceutical Factory.

Su Luoyi sat in the passenger seat, her hands resting on her legs, fiddling with her long nails that were free of any stolen goods. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

She dared not get out of the car, go upstairs, or even go back to her dormitory to collect her personal belongings.

The so-called dormitory was actually a temporary small apartment arranged for Li Weilian by Li Zishen, a special privilege only available to medical doctors, technical backbones, or management personnel.

After all, the pharmaceutical factory was located in the suburbs, and it became inconvenient to go home during overtime work.

For a secretary like Su Luoyi, the rules only allowed her to stay in the employee dormitory building, at most she could have a single room, which was somewhat better than the others.

Li Weilian’s lending her the apartment wasn’t a reward but an opportunity.

Her behavior had long aroused Li Zishen’s suspicion, and during their conversations, he had hinted to Li Weilian, almost giving it all away.

As a close friend, face still had to be given.

"Hurry up and pack your things, stop dawdling," Li Weilian said, suppressing his rage and after taking a sip of water.

"Weilian, I, I really didn’t want to kill Lady Tang, I just wanted to take her hostage, I..."

"Is there a difference?"

"Please thank Mr. Li for me."

"The person you should be thanking is Tang Xiaowan. If it wasn’t for her kind heart, you could have been sentenced to at least three years; and that’s not even considering the fact that you..." Li Weilian stopped abruptly and glanced outside the window, "Never mind, there won’t be any chance in the future. Let’s put the past behind us."

Su Luoyi: "?"

Wasn’t the voice recorder turned in?

That Tang Xiaowan is really cunning, two-faced, and she spilled everything.

You’re lucky this time, just wait and see.

"Yesterday’s fire was not set by me on purpose. At that time I was holding a lighter... I just wanted to light a cigarette because I was too nervous. And then, accidentally, the book in my hand caught fire."

Li Weilian slowly turned his head to look at Su Luoyi, who spoke assertively, and his eyes were filled with disappointment.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Didn’t you say you’ve only been to Jinyuan Academy once? So you went there yesterday too and started a fire? Do you know how many years you can get for arson, not to mention carrying a knife and breaking and entering?"

What, she didn’t know? Tang Xiaowan didn’t reveal the matter about the voice recorder?

Impossible, how could this be?

Only now did Su Luoyi realize that she had let something slip, and Li Weilian knew nothing.

"No no no, that’s not it, it wasn’t me, it’s just a misunderstanding, the situation at that time was like this, I thought Lady Tang’s family had a lot of collections, many of which are..."

As she spoke, even she couldn’t deceive herself any longer; it seemed too late for any excuses.

"Weilian, listen to my explanation..."

Li Weilian shook his head: "Want to lie again? A few days ago, when specimens went missing from the research institute, even without an anonymous report, I knew it was you. I just wanted to give you another chance, and yet, you persist in your delusion, setting fires and committing violent acts!"

Immediately, Su Luoyi burst into tears.

But by this time, Li Weilian had reached his limit, and the anger he had been suppressing finally erupted.

He got out of the car, opened the passenger door, and pulled Su Luoyi out in one swift movement. Fortunately, there was no one coming in or out of the apartment building at that moment, otherwise, it would have caused quite a scene.

As the highest authority in the research institute and the head of the pharmaceutical factory’s R&D department, it really wasn’t proper for him to be seen pulling and tugging at his secretary in broad daylight.

"Weilian, are you really going to be this ruthless, not giving me a chance to make amends?" Su Luoyi said, wiping away tears.

"Pack your things and leave immediately."

"Fine, I’ll leave. But you’ll regret this!"

Su Luoyi said these words and then went into the apartment building.

What does my reputation matter when I’ve lost my job?

...

At seven o’clock in the evening, at Li Garden.

Looking at the beautifully arranged dishes on the table and the empty seats, Li Zishen slowly picked up his chopsticks and scooped up some shredded radish into his mouth.

Nanny Chen waved her hand, signaling everyone to leave.

"Bro, I was wrong a few days ago, it was my fault for being so impulsive and misunderstanding you," Li Zihan said with a grin. "Don’t be mad at me, eat some more to calm down."

The misunderstanding here referred to Lin Ping.

He had secretly conducted an investigation and found that at that time, Bai Long was indeed not in Jin City; thus, the person couldn’t have been deliberately killed by his own brother.

Previously, he had chosen to believe.

But that was based solely on the bottomless trust between family members, regardless of right or wrong.

At this moment, he didn’t know why Li Zishen had lost his appetite, nor why he looked troubled. He thought it was his own distrust that made his brother upset.

"Bro, have you and Xiao Wan, no, I mean your wife, made up?"

Li Zishen turned his head and frowned.

So this guy still didn’t know about Xiao Wan’s situation; he probably didn’t know when he came back either.

That’s fine, let her have some peace.

After all the trouble, she had been through enough, and she still had to go to school tomorrow.

Thinking this, Li Zishen smiled and placed a spare rib on Li Zihan’s plate, somewhat easing the heavy atmosphere in the dining room.

"Don’t call her if it’s not necessary, let her be."

"Got it, I haven’t called once since you told me that day, not even a message. Don’t worry, bro, I’ve got it in mind."

"Alright, let’s eat."

Looking at the spare ribs, Li Zihan’s face lit up with joy.

It seemed like a long time since his brother last added food to his plate.

"Bro, who’s driving me tomorrow?"

"Lu Hua."

"Oh, is it that skinny monkey?"

"From now on, he’ll be responsible for driving you."

"That’s great, he’s much more interesting than Bai Long. We can have a chat on the road. Thanks, bro."

"Mm, eat up."

Lu Hua was originally Li Zishen’s personal driver, but he rarely drove for Li Zishen under normal circumstances; more often, it was Chen Xin who performed this duty.

Firstly, for the convenience of discussing work, and secondly, Chen Xin could act as a bodyguard under the guise of a driver.

His combat abilities might not be as well-known as Bai Long’s, but the average person still couldn’t beat him, especially since he had a simple and honest face that was highly misleading.

...

After dinner, Li Zishen didn’t go to his study.

Perhaps it was because he missed Tang Xiaowan too much, but he inexplicably found himself on the second floor.

That room, once filled with laughter and noise, was now so quiet that even his own breathing could be heard clearly.

Everything was neatly in place.

The wardrobe contained clothes, accessories, and items Tang Xiaowan had worn or used.

Li Zishen, touching a floral dress with a somber expression, reproached himself for saying the wrong thing; he shouldn’t have said that everything here wouldn’t change, and that if anything was missing from Jinyuan Academy, he would provide it.

Tang Xiaowan truly took nothing with her, even the housewarming gift he sent later was graciously rejected.

Actually, what the man meant was, he didn’t want her to move out; if she insisted on leaving Li Garden, she should just take some personal belongings, so there was still a notion of returning.

"Xiao Wan, what are you doing now?"

"Do you, miss me?"

As night deepened, Li Zishen unexpectedly fell asleep holding onto Tang Xiaowan’s dress.

However, his cell phone kept flashing.