After the tycoon went bankrupt, he was raised by the villainous female supporting character and beca

"Because they can't bear to part with him." Song Yihuan looked at him, her tone somewhat helpless. "Xingzhi is Zhaozhao's precious treasure. If they scold Xingzhi, wouldn't Zhaozhao be heartbroken?"

"In order to avoid upsetting Zhaozhao and to make things easier for the old couple, they happily decided to take all the blame on you."

"..." Xie Mingyi rubbed his forehead. "What do you mean? Does nobody care about me?"

"Yes." Song Yihuan ran up to Xie Mingyi with small steps. "Honey, I feel sorry for you."

Xie Mingyi looked at her with a wronged expression: "You feel sorry for me but let me get scolded?"

Song Yihuan: "When the old couple gets really angry, they need someone to vent to..."

"And you're the eldest brother!" Xie Zhaoyuan added promptly.

"..." Xie Mingyi was helpless. "Fine, fine, then scold me. As long as you're happy, it's worth it even if I get scolded a lot."

"Thank you, big brother." Xie Zhaoyuan hugged Jiang Mian with a mischievous smile, only realizing after the hug that someone seemed to be missing.

"Huh? Where's Shen Yanhui? Didn't she come to pick me up?"

“Shen Yanhui…” Lin Jiahe glanced at Pei Xingzhi, then at Xie Mingyi, hesitating and unsure of what to say.

"Cough..." Xie Mingyi coughed and frantically winked at Song Yihuan while holding her hand.

Song Yihuan was stunned for two seconds before she realized what was wrong with the two men.

“Uh… Shen Yanhui, she actually came.” Song Yihuan’s mind raced and she quickly came up with a lie, “But she suddenly felt a little unwell, so she didn’t go up the mountain with Xingzhi and the others.”

"No mountain? Then she's resting in a hotel?" Xie Zhaoyuan looked at Song Yihuan. "Which room is she staying in? I want to go see her."

Shen Yan Hui was troubled by the system, and her physical discomfort was mostly due to the system tormenting her. Xie Zhao Yuan knew her situation and could guess that she must be feeling very unwell.

"...She...she's not in the hotel anymore." Song Yihuan frowned, her expression conflicted. "Zhaozhao, you can't find her."

"Why?" Xie Zhaoyuan didn't understand.

“Because we didn’t know where she went either.” Pei Lingxuan told the truth: “She wasn’t feeling well, so Ming called Huan before we went up the mountain and asked her to bring me over to see Shen Yanhui. But when Huan and I drove to the hotel, Shen Yanhui was already gone.”

"The front desk said she checked out by herself in the middle of the night and then disappeared. We sent her messages but she didn't reply to any of them, and we called her but she didn't answer any of them."

"Huh?" Xie Zhaoyuan's heart jumped instantly. "She's gone missing?"

Jiang Mian nodded: "It seems that's true. We've been trying to contact her, but she hasn't responded to any of us."

"...How could this be?" Xie Zhaoyuan was a little confused. "Why would she ignore you all when she was perfectly fine? And she came all this way to pick me up, so why would she just go back home without saying a word?"

Pei Lingxuan shook her head: "We don't know either."

"I'll try calling her." Xie Zhaoyuan reached into the pockets of her down jacket, but found them empty on both sides before realizing that Qin Wushuang had thrown her phone away long ago.

"Use mine to call," Pei Xingzhi said, handing his phone to Xie Zhaoyuan.

He had already found Shen Yanhui's phone number, and Xie Zhaoyuan took the phone and dialed the number directly.

"Beep...beep...beep..."

The phone rang again and again, but Shen Yan didn't answer until the call automatically ended.

Xie Zhaoyuan was unwilling to give up, so he played it again.

But Shen Yan Hui did not answer either.

"Why won't he even answer your calls..." Xie Zhaoyuan felt uneasy. She gave up on calling and instead used Pei Xingzhi's phone to send a text message to Shen Yanhui.

—Shen Yanhui, this is Xie Zhaoyuan. I've been rescued by Pei Xingzhi. Where are you? If you see this message, call Pei Xingzhi's phone right away.

The text message was received by Shen Yanhui in less than two seconds. Xie Zhaoyuan waited for a while, but still did not receive a message from Shen Yanhui.

"See? He's ignoring people, isn't he?" Song Yihuan asked.

Xie Zhaoyuan remained silent, her face grim.

Shen Yan Hui is not the kind of person who would disappear without a trace. The only thing that could make her check out of the hotel and leave on her own in the middle of the night is the system she has.

Without much thought, Xie Zhaoyuan was certain that the system was behind it all.

"Did Shen Yan do anything particularly strange before she left?" she asked Song Yihuan.

“Hmm…” Song Yihuan turned to look at Xie Mingyi, and Xie Mingyi turned to look at Pei Xingzhi.

Pei Xingzhi adjusted his glasses, his expression somewhat strange.

Xie Zhaoyuan: "...What are you all looking at? Why is no one answering my question?"

“…A-Yuan.” Pei Xingzhi put his hand on her shoulder and lied with a serious expression, “Shen Yanhui didn’t do anything strange. She just said she wasn’t feeling well and then left on her own.”

"She's probably in a bad mood, so she doesn't really want to talk to people. Don't worry too much. Once things are settled here and we get back to Yuncheng, I'll go with you to find her."

“Yes!” Xie Mingyi quickly agreed. “Adults have a lot of worries, and it’s normal to not want to talk to people for a while. Zhaozhao, don’t worry too much. Go back to your room and rest first, and we’ll worry about these things after you’ve rested.”

"But……"

But Shen Yanhui's situation is different from what you think!

Xie Zhaoyuan was anxious, but she couldn't say it out loud.

“…Okay.” Not knowing how to continue, she could only temporarily agree to Xie Mingyi’s suggestion. “Then I’ll go back to my room to rest. Be sure to tell me as soon as you hear any news from Shen Yan.”

"Okay." Song Yihuan agreed. "You go and rest first. We'll let you know as soon as we have any news."

"Mm." Xie Zhaoyuan smiled at her, then followed Pei Xingzhi back to her room with a heavy heart.

It was already noon, and a sliver of sunlight finally peeked through the gray sky. Xie Zhaoyuan had no appetite for lunch, and as soon as she returned to her room, she had Pei Xingzhi carry her to bed.

The hotel bed was nowhere near as comfortable as the one in the villa, but Xie Zhaoyuan felt an unprecedented sense of security lying in it, perhaps because Pei Xingzhi was holding her tightly in his arms.

"Baby, take a nap." Pei Xingzhi pressed his cheek against hers, nuzzling her gently like a kitten. "You've been locked up for so long, you must not have had a good night's sleep. Now that your husband is here, just sleep peacefully and don't be afraid anymore."

Xie Zhaoyuan kept her eyes open, but her gaze was clear and she showed no signs of sleepiness.

"Pei Xingzhi, I can't sleep."