Hearing this, Chu Chen sighed helplessly and enveloped her into his arms, "Then why didn’t you tell me? You can’t eat takeout every day."

The takeout here is often fast food, and eating it too much will upset her stomach again.

"It’s fine; it’s okay to eat it for a while during special circumstances," Gu Xinuo pinched his face, "Once we get back, won’t you be able to cook for me?"

Since he’d already arrived, why wait to cook for her until they got back? Chu Chen took off his jacket and handed it to her, "Cancel the takeout, tell me what you want to eat and I’ll cook it."

"Let’s do it tomorrow, there’s no food in the fridge anyway." Gu Xinuo put away the jacket and said softly.

He must have rushed here right after dealing with things at the headquarters; how could she bear to have him cook for her as soon as he arrived?

"This restaurant is very famous locally; you should try it later."

At her words, Chu Chen walked over, "Then we’ll go grocery shopping tomorrow."

"How do you have time to come here, has Aqian gone back to the headquarters?" Gu Xinuo handed him a cup of hot tea and snuggled into the sofa beside him.

Chu Chen shook his head and took a sip of tea, "With Qin Yi and the others looking after things, important documents are sent to Aqian’s and my email."

Suddenly recalling something, Gu Xinuo looked up at him, "How’s Mo Lingling doing?"

"Qin Yi just put on an act at Mo Lingling’s place." Remembering the almost tearful tone in Qin Yi’s voice on the phone, the corners of Chu Chen’s thin lips curved slightly.

Gu Xinuo was stunned, "An act?"

"Yeah, Qin Yi used the excuse of querying about you and Aqian to visit Mo Lingling, then acted as if he was drinking away his sorrows at her place. He didn’t expect that Ajiu had anticipated this move; Mo Lingling drugged the drink."

The person Mo Lingling has been most afraid of from childhood was Ajiu, who had thoroughly figured out her little tricks.

"Then what happened?" Gu Xinuo’s expression became strange, wondering if Qin Yi’s innocence was compromised.

"Qin Yi was prepared; he switched the two drinks and even added a pill Ajiu developed to the wine," Chu Chen continued.

"Taking advantage of the moment Qin Yi fainted, Mo Lingling checked his phone and even copied all the files about the headquarters from his phone to hers."

Gu Xinuo was speechless, at a loss for words to describe Mo Lingling.

How could her upright master have a granddaughter like Mo Lingling; was she picked up from the trash heap?

"The files on Qin Yi’s phone were also part of a trap you set in advance?" she asked confidently.

As expected, Chu Chen nodded his admission, "Mo Lingling’s greatest desire right now is to hold something over us. How could she miss such an opportunity? Once she passed out, Qin Yi found someone to replace him, and then left."

If his guess was correct, Mo Lingling would definitely use those files to make a deal with the people behind her before long.

Luring the snake out of its hole, they’d thrown the bait, just waiting for the prey to come out on its own.

"Found someone?" Gu Xinuo seized the important part of his statement, asking curiously, "Who?"

Chu Chen smiled with a meaningful look, "Doesn’t Mo Lingling desperately need a man?"

Gu Xinuo paused for two seconds, then realized what he meant.

"You..."

"It was Ajiu’s idea," Chu Chen shifted the blame.

Gu Xinuo found it amusing yet exasperating, "Will Mo Lingling be furious when she wakes up?"

As underhanded as the idea was, considering all the things Mo Lingling had done, presenting her with a man was fulfilling her daydreams, saving her from drooling over her Chu Chen all the time.

Chu Chen chuckled quietly, "Do you think Ajiu is just for show?"

She puzzled, "What do you mean?"

"The pill Ajiu provided, when Mo Lingling wakes up she will only think that it was me who stayed over last night. To quote Ajiu, it’s like giving her a perfect daydream," explained Chu Chen.

A perfect daydream?

Gu Xinuo burst into laughter.

"Hahaha, Ajiu is too wicked."

Suddenly, the sound of a phone ringing broke the silence.

They exchanged glances.

The words they spoke were in perfect unison, "Is it your phone ringing?"

Since their ringtone was the same, it was normal to get mixed up.

Gu Xinuo gave him a look, "It’s your phone ringing."

Her phone was left charging on the table with the screen off, so how could her phone possibly be ringing?

Chu Chen stood up and reached out to grab the jacket that was on the opposite seat and fished out his phone from the pocket. Gu Xinuo leaned over to look.

She asked, puzzled, "Why is Aqian calling you so late?"

Chu Chen was also baffled as he slid to answer, "Aqian, you..."

He had barely spoken when the voice on the other end of the phone interrupted him, "Chu Chen, come out for a drink, come out for drinks."

Chu Chen furrowed his brow, noticing something was off in his voice, "Ji Mingqian, have you been drinking?"

How did it sound like he had drunk too much?

"Nonsense, are you coming out for drinks or not?" On the other end of the phone, Ji Mingqian sat at the bar with his head cradled in one hand, his handsome face slightly flushed from intoxication.

Gu Xinuo, hearing Ji Mingqian’s hoarse voice, felt even more certain that he had drunk too much.

What was the situation here?

Something seemed off with Ji Mingqian.

Chu Chen asked, "Where are you now?"

"At the bar."

"..."

There are so many bars in the world, who knows which one he’s talking about.

"Are you at Ajiu’s place?"

Ji Mingqian shook his head, slightly sobering up, and said unclearly, "Forget it, you’re not in S State, I’ll go drink with Anuo." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Chu Chen caught the main point, "You’ve come to S State?"

Wasn’t he supposed to have gone to the capital with Ajiu? How did he end up in S State?

Ji Mingqian hummed noncommittally.

"I’m also in S State. Which bar are you at? I’ll come find you." Seldom seeing Ji Mingqian drunk, worried that something might happen to him, Chu Chen asked softly.

"Kiki bar."

After naming the place, the call was abruptly cut off.

"So you..."

Chu Chen’s eyebrows knit together as he put down the phone.

"What’s wrong?" Gu Xinuo asked.

Chu Chen said helplessly, "He hung up on me."

Hearing this, Gu Xinuo was full of disbelief, "Forget it, let’s just go over and check, lest that carefree one stirs up more trouble."

Chu Chen nodded, inwardly complaining about Ji Mingqian being such a wet blanket.

＊＊

KiKi Bar.

It should have been a noisy time, but the bar was unnaturally quiet, the reason being that Ji Mingqian had booked the entire place.

After calling to harass Chu Chen, Ji Mingqian ordered another bottle of alcohol.

One glass after another, he drank fiercely, leaving the bartender at the side somewhat stunned.

The alcohol content of these drinks was not low, and the aftereffect was even stronger. Could drinking so much in one go really end without incident?

Ji Mingqian put down his glass heavily, a hint of displeasure flashing in his deep eyes.

Hmph.

He was meddling?

Damn it, their conscience must have been eaten by dogs.

Chu Chen and Gu Xinuo rushed over in a hurry and stepped into the bar, locking their eyes onto the figure sitting at the bar immediately.

"You’re courting death, coming here to drink in the middle of the night." As they got close, Gu Xinuo raised her hand and gave him a knock on the head.