Fu Bainian came back at noon. Upon seeing him, tears welled up in Lan Jinyao’s eyes as she pounced on him. The wire of the landline in the living room was pulled along by her sudden movement, and the receiver dropped to the floor. The call, however, was disconnected long ago.

“What’s wrong?” Fu Bainian hugged her and asked with a heartbroken look in his eyes.

He was only away for a few hours, three hours to be exact, and she’d become like this.

Lan Jinyao threw herself in Fu Bainian’s arms, and she choked with sobs as she said, “I just phoned Jiang Baitao, and I asked him if Jiang Cheng was still alive…”

Fu Bainian tightened his grip around her, led her to the sofa, sat down, and then he asked softly, “What did Jiang Baitao say to you?”

Although Lan Jinyao was feeling ill at ease, she could feel that Fu Bainian was very composed at this moment; he didn’t seem nervous at all. “Jiang Baitao didn’t reply and hung up the phone shortly after. I was panic-stricken when that happened. I feel that Jiang Baitao must surely know that Jiang Cheng didn’t die, so he remained calm and composed.”

That must be the case. Otherwise, how could that old fox remain so calm upon hearing that question?

At this thought, Lan Jinyao felt her body weaken, and she began to tremble all over. She didn’t know if this was due to fear, or because she was too agitated at this moment.

Fu Bainian patted her gently on the back, as if he wanted to transmit his strength and warmth to her.

As such, Lan Jinyao gradually relaxed, and she heard Fu Bainian say, “Jinyao, don’t be afraid. I went out today to investigate this matter. Jiang Cheng indeed died, and Shen Wei’an is also dead. Therefore, don’t worry, no one can bother us anymore.”

“He truly died?” Lan Jinyao murmured under her breath, her eyes gradually clearing. However, her hands around Fu Bainian’s waist suddenly tightened.

After lunch, Fu Bainian accompanied Lan Jinyao the entire afternoon, and he didn’t leave her side, not even for a second. During this period, his phone rang several times. It seemed to be something urgent, so Fu Bainian went out to answer the call. When he’d hung up, he brought his laptop to the room and started working.

Lan Jinyao glanced at him, and upon seeing his serious working face, an uncomfortable feeling surged in her heart. An excellent man like Fu Bainian should currently be devoting himself to work to expand his business, not be restricted in this small room with her.

“Fu Bainian, I’m sorry!” she softly apologised.

Following this, Fu Bainian stopped his movements and asked, “What did you just say? I didn’t hear you.”

Lan Jinyao shook her head, and she said no more. After a while, she walked over and nudged Fu Bainian. When the latter looked up at her, she said, “Fu Bainian, you’d better go to work. You don’t have to accompany me anymore. In any case, whether Jiang Cheng is still alive or not…I’ll just stay at home. He won’t be able to find me if I don’t go out.”

It seemed that Fu Bainian was truly very busy as he didn’t insist. “Are you sure you’ll be okay on your own?”

“Yup, don’t worry! You should hurry and be on your way! I promise that I’ll stay at home obediently; I won’t go out.”

Seeing her raise her hand and swear in front of him, Fu Bainian couldn’t help but let out a chuckle. He nodded and planted a kiss at the corner of her lips before leaving.

However, the sky was still shrouded with an airborne sea of grey vapor, and the weather gradually became gloomier.

Later in the afternoon, someone suddenly knocked at the door, which startled Lan Jinyao immensely. She tiptoed to the door and peeked through the peephole, only to find that it was two men wearing security uniforms.

They looked like the security guards from this community. What were they doing here? Lan Jinyao didn’t let her guard down; she stayed vigilant and didn’t open the door. The two men then raised their heads, and upon seeing the two familiar faces, she breathed a sigh of relief and opened the door.

“Mrs. Fu, our colleagues were patrolling earlier, and they noticed a suspicious man sneaking back and forth in front of your place. Now that we’ve caught him, can you come with us and have a look? If he isn’t one of your acquaintances, then we have to hand him over to the police.”

As she listened to those words, Lan Jinyao felt a shiver run down her spine. Someone actually lurked in front of my house…? This reminded her of that man’s creepy gaze.

Don’t tell me it’s that person?!

However, it turned out to be the same person. Moreover, he looked very similar to Jiang Cheng.

At first, when Lan Jinyao saw the man at the security booth, she was startled, because the man truly resembled Jiang Cheng. When he looked at her, that man’s cold and treacherous gaze made her hair stand on end.

Afterwards, she stepped forward, grabbed the man by his collar, and fiercely asked, “Were you the one who kept staring at me during the press conference?”

The man nodded. “That’s correct, it was me. You sent Lan Xin to jail and even held a press conference to slander her. I just wanted to get back at you for her. Otherwise, she would’ve suffered for nothing.”

Lan Jinyao got angry. This man was clearly turning the facts upside down. He didn’t know the truth, so how dare he accuse her openly like this?!

“What do you know?! Even if you want to avenge your idol, how can you be so stupid? Do you even know why Lan Xin cleared my name? That’s because I’m her biological sister, and she doesn’t want to let her own sister suffer the consequences of her actions!”

The man was stunned upon hearing Lan Jinyao’s overbearing words. The cold look in his eyes was gradually replaced with a look of confusion.

“Is that really the case?”

Lan Jinyao angrily replied, “That’s right! I’m telling you, if you try to do something bad again, you’ll only upset your idol, and I won’t be polite either. I’ll let you go this time, but there won’t be a second time. If you do this again, then I have no choice but to send you to the police station.”

After a long moment of silence, the man said in a voice as quiet as a mosquito, “I’m sorry!”

As such, she’d once more ascertained that this man wasn’t Jiang Cheng. Only their appearance looked similar, but their conduct and behaviour were completely different. Jiang Cheng was a very shrewd person, and he certainly wouldn’t apologise for something like this, nor was he as easy to persuade as this man in front of her.

She felt more assured now and said to the security guard, “Let him go this time, but don’t let him in again.”

It was better for her to stay away from such a dangerous man.

After the man had left, Lan Jinyao walked back home. Her mood had improved a lot, and she finally relaxed. Unexpectedly, that man turned out to be an insignificant person; she was just overly suspicious.

When Fu Bainian came back that evening, he was surprised to see a table full of dishes.

Lan Jinyao ran over to his side and took over his briefcase with a smile plastered on her face. “I now believe that what you said is true. Jiang Cheng is truly dead.”

Fu Bainian nodded with a smile, but a trace of worry flashed in his eyes, which disappeared as soon as it appeared.