Volume One, Chapter 16: Call Records

“Don’t worry, I always treat your matters as my own.”

Qin Yu looked at Jiang Jinglan’s troubled face and tentatively spoke.

“Did you have a conflict with Bai Ruoxi?”

Jiang Jinglan glanced up at Qin Yu, her tone indifferent. “It’s a personal matter... none of your business.”

Qin Yu’s eyes darkened slightly, and a helpless, bitter smile tugged at her lips.

“That’s true... I’ve always been the one chasing after you, but you never let me step into your private world.”

She paused, then shifted her tone.

“I saw Ruoxi yesterday.”

“Yesterday?”

Jiang Jinglan’s expression grew darker, her gaze as cold as if it could kill.

Last night, while cleaning Bai Ruoxi’s body, he noticed multiple abrasions on her skin.

They looked like wounds from being dragged or struggling while being pressed to the ground.

In his mind appeared Ruoxi’s terrified face as she slept, as if hiding from something dreadful.

The image was so painful that he dared not ask directly what had happened yesterday, fearing to trigger her painful memories again.

Jiang Jinglan furrowed her brow deeply and looked seriously at Qin Yu.

“Where did you see her?”

Qin Yu was stunned for a few seconds.

After all the talk just now, Jiang Jinglan hadn’t once looked her in the eye.

But mentioning Bai Ruoxi changed his attitude completely.

A flash of hatred quickly passed under his frameless glasses. Qin Yu showed a helpless expression.

“At Jin Zhi Café. Aunt insisted on inviting me, so I went. Yu Huai was there too.”

Qin Yu set down the file folder in her hand, sighed lightly, and lowered her eyes as she continued, “Aunt had the doctor prepare some herbal medicine to help Ruoxi recover.”

“Ruoxi didn’t seem to like the herbal medicine and poured the scalding liquid all over Aunt’s face right then.”

“Aunt meant well but messed things up, naturally in a bad mood, and scolded Ruoxi a few times, which upset her greatly...”

“Don’t blame Ruoxi; she’s still young and understandably hot-tempered.”

Qin Yu’s gaze held a hint of helplessness; between the lines, she was pleading on Bai Ruoxi’s behalf.

“Tap, tap...”

The long, slender fingers tapped lightly on the files beside her, the eyes behind golden-rimmed glasses revealing a complex mixture of doubt.

Jiang Jinglan muttered, “Is it really just because of this?”

Over the years, Bai Ruoxi had endured far worse within the Jiang family, yet he had never seen her display such intense emotions.

Nor would she come home drunk and covered in wounds, then disappear all night.

Could it be that Ruoxi harbored resentment over Qin Yu’s return to China and employment at Jiang Corporation?

But what right did she have to be angry?

After all, it was Bai Ruoxi herself who initially wanted a divorce and schemed against her partner...

Thinking of this, frustration surged within Jiang Jinglan’s heart.

Just as Qin Yu was about to say more, a knock came from the door.

“Knock, knock, knock...”

“Come in.”

With Jiang Jinglan’s permission, Sun Yu entered carrying a brown paper folder.

“President Jiang, your phone has been repaired...”

Jiang Jinglan took the folder and waved at Qin Yu.

“You may get back to work. If you need anything, just tell Sun Yu. Follow up closely on everything related to Dingsheng Investment.”

“Contact the Business Director whenever necessary.”

Qin Yu’s education and experience were insufficient to replace the Business Director.

She only obtained the position of HR Director at Jiang Corporation because the previous one had just resigned.

In truth, what Jiang Jinglan wanted was Qin Yu’s resources.

After dismissing her guest, Qin Yu didn’t want to make things awkward and left the office with her files.

Only after the door shut again did Jiang Jinglan take out his phone.

He wanted to understand why Bai Ruoxi was so obsessed with her phone. What secrets did it hold?

“President Jiang, there’s something I need to report.”

Sun Yu glanced at the firmly closed office door behind him, his tone hesitant.

Jiang Jinglan lowered his eyes, stared indifferently at the startup animation on the screen, and without looking up said, “Speak.”

“Yesterday, when you were undergoing hypnotherapy, Director Qin came by.”

“At the time, I was handling an urgent document and accidentally let her answer your call.”

“When I noticed, the call had already ended.”

Sun Yu frowned deeply and continued, “Director Qin said it was your wife calling.”

“She told your wife that you were in treatment and couldn’t take the call.”

“It’s true that your hypnotherapy cannot be interrupted.”

“And Director Qin just joined recently, so she wasn’t aware of your rules. I didn’t make things difficult for her.”

Sun Yu felt a slight tightening in his chest.

Previously, Jiang Jinglan had ordered that no one but Sun Yu and himself could answer his calls.

Anyone else answering would surely be punished.

But recently, word had spread in the company headquarters that Bai Ruoxi was out of favor and Qin Yu was the future lady of the house.

Moreover, Qin Yu had brokered many projects for Jiang Jinglan over the years.

Most of these were major projects involving Dingsheng Investment and Jiade Plaza, greatly advancing Jiang Corporation’s growth.

Sun Yu dared not offend Qin Yu.

He just hadn’t expected her to delete that call record.

“Understood.”

Jiang Jinglan felt a faint premonition of trouble rising.

The phone booted up successfully.

A wedding photo appeared vividly on the screen.

Looking at it, Jiang Jinglan’s lips twitched slightly.

He opened the call log.

Ten missed calls flashed before his eyes.

All were calls to him!!!

So why was there no record on his phone?

Jiang Jinglan’s eyes widened, and his heart pounded heavily.

No matter how chaotic Bai Ruoxi’s emotions were inside, she always maintained a composed exterior.

She knew Jiang Jinglan was busy and would never repeatedly call him like this.

Unless something serious had happened...

The more he thought, the more confused he became. Jiang Jinglan drew a sharp breath and lowered his voice.

“Sun Yu, call Lu Ming, the manager at Jin Zhi Café, and tell him I want to meet.”

“Ah?”

Sun Yu was momentarily caught off guard and stammered, “But we don’t have any business dealings with Jin Zhi Café.”

Aside from Jiang Jinglan occasionally sending someone there to buy a half-sweet caramel latte.

“It’s a personal matter. I must see Lu Ming this afternoon.”

His grip on the phone tightened.

He didn’t want much contact with Lu Ming, but only Lu Ming could clarify what happened yesterday afternoon.

His fingers slid over the call log, filled with unfamiliar names.

Jiang Jinglan exhaled a breath of stale air.

Only now did he realize he didn’t truly know Bai Ruoxi, just as she didn’t truly know him.

“Ding-dong—”

A crisp notification sounded as a new message popped up.

Jiang Jinglan instinctively straightened, opening the message.

“Little Fox, remember the wandering painter by the wishing well? I’m finally about to see you again.”

Little Fox? Wandering painter? Was this some sort of code? Why did it feel so ambiguously intimate?

Jiang Jinglan stared intently at the black text on the white screen.

This number wasn’t saved by Bai Ruoxi; the area code was from Country A...