Young Prime Minister, a Hermit

Chapter 94

Xu Lie thought this over and over again, his heart filled with pain, despair, and a desperate, almost fragile plea. But when he opened the car door with his pale, stiff fingers and slowly stepped out, all the vulnerability, pain, and remorse on his face vanished without a trace, leaving only a resolute determination that remained even in the face of imminent collapse. That unwavering resolve veiled his already handsome face with a subtle sense of vicissitude, a vicissitude that blended loneliness and heartache, giving him a breathtakingly beautiful appearance.

He skillfully dialed a number on his phone, the only number he never needed to search for contacts on, always dialing from memory. Then, in a deep voice, he said, "Bingye, do me a favor. Give me two months, and I'll go find Galan."

He paused, his deep voice carrying a chilling sharpness: "For the next two months, do not let Shao Junyi or anyone associated with him leave Shanghuai City."

A cold, clear voice came from the phone receiver: "You mean, you want Ling Yun to go against the Imperial Court?"

Xu Lie laughed, a laugh Bing Ye hadn't heard in a long time, an arrogant and domineering laugh: "Is it not allowed?"

Bingye's voice remained cold, but with a hint of amusement: "Okay." With that, he hung up the phone without a second thought.

Seven days have passed, and Xu Lie is working himself to the bone. For a company president to be away for two months is no joke. There's a mountain of documents to hand over, countless orders to issue, and an overwhelming number of instructions to give. Therefore, he can't just leave casually, or Xu Tian will collapse.

He treated himself like a superman, sleeping less than three hours a day on the bed where Galan had once lain, then waking up wide awake to continue working. In that busyness, he always had a strange feeling. Someone like him, who didn't understand gentleness, romance, or how to make a girl happy, and who always hurt her with his self-righteousness—would Galan ever come back to him?

But what if he could make a lot of money? What if he could give her everything that no one else could? A life of luxury, expensive gifts, unattainable dreams—he could give her anything she wanted? Then wouldn't Garan realize that he was actually someone she could rely on, that he wasn't as useless as she thought? (<—Forgive him, this little rascal has gone mad, his thoughts are muddled, and he's rambling incoherently)

Over the past seven days, he has become increasingly haggard and irritable, often yelling at people. People in the company are so afraid of him that they dare not even breathe loudly.

The handover of work wasn't complete, and there was still no news of Galan. All they knew was that her exit records showed she first went to Malaysia, but nothing could be found after that. Even Lingyun's intelligence system could only indicate that her brother, Lin Jiaqi, might have been near Switzerland.

How could this be? How could a person just disappear into thin air? However, Ling Yun and Xu Tian's intelligence network was so vast, yet they only hinted at four words—"vanished without a trace."

Bingye once said: As long as she is alive, as long as she has appeared in public, it is absolutely impossible for her not to be found out. So, unless she is dead, unless she has never gone out at all, unless... someone helped her hide from her and skillfully eliminated all traces.

Just thinking about this made Xu Lie so agitated that he wanted to kill someone. No matter the reason, he felt fear, so much so that he couldn't think about it deeply, or he would break down.

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Chapter Ten Pregnancy

Chapter Ten Pregnancy

Xu Lie was engrossed in his work, his brows furrowed and his expression irritable, until his phone rang.

He took it casually, and his father's gentle voice came from the cold machine: "Lie'er, we've arrived."

Xu Lie stared blankly for a while, then asked, almost through gritted teeth, "Where are we?"

The phone seemed to be snatched away, and her mother's triumphant voice came through: "Where else could we be? Home, of course! Didn't you hear the iron gate open? Lie'er, we wanted to give you and Jialan a surprise..."

"Snap—" Xu Lie abruptly hung up the phone, stood up from his seat, hurriedly opened the wardrobe, and began packing his luggage.

A dozen minutes later, Xu Lie had just finished packing his suitcase when his mother's voice came from the hallway: "Lie'er, what are you doing? How dare you hang up on your old mother? You didn't even come to greet us when you heard we were here. Where's Lanlan...?"

As soon as Mom reached the door, she paused upon seeing the state of the room: "Lie'er, what... are you doing?"

Xu Lie's brows were furrowed so deeply they could trap a fly. He paced impatiently, making a phone call: "Yes, if there's anything, just ask the chairman directly... How's the matter I asked you to investigate?" Xu Lie's face slowly darkened. "What do you mean you can't find it?! I gave you seven days, and you're still telling me you can't find it?!... She's a living, breathing person; surely she has entry and exit records?!... I don't care what method you use! Three days, no! If you can't find it in two days, get out of here—!"

"Bang—!!" The phone was thrown heavily to the ground and shattered into pieces, but Xu Lie was still not satisfied. He kicked the suitcase on the bed hard and knocked it over to the ground. The expensive clothes that had just been put in were scattered all over the floor, as if they were still hissing and smoldering, just like their owner.

"Lie'er, what's wrong?" Yu Lan looked at her son's haggard face with heartache. His chin was covered in stubble like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, his hair was disheveled, and his eyes were bloodshot. She knew her son had a bad temper, but since he was fifteen, he had learned how to control his emotions, not to easily throw things, not to swear, and certainly not to recklessly harm himself. Even the year Xue'er left, he only locked himself in his room for a day and a night. Now, what...?

Xu Tian walked in at this moment, his face showing the fatigue of just getting off a plane, but his eyes remained calm and composed, much more energetic than Xu Lie. He glanced around, his gaze finally settling on the disheveled clothes: "What happened?"

Xu Lie looked at his father, then at his mother. His lips parted, but he didn't know what to say. Should he say that he had driven Jialan away? Should he say that he had wronged Jialan? Should he say that Jialan had disappeared? He couldn't utter a single word. She was the daughter-in-law his parents favored, his beloved wife, yet he had heartlessly driven her away, leaving her battered and bruised.

Looking at her son, who was like a trapped beast, suffering and at a loss, and then at the empty room, Yu Lan suddenly realized, "Is it because of Lanlan? Did you make Lanlan leave?!"

It has to be said, a mother can be terrifyingly perceptive at times. Xu Lie's face was deathly pale, and he made a groan-like sound in his throat, but his eyes grew increasingly bloodshot. Just as he was about to speak, his phone rang.

However, this time it wasn't his, but Xu Tian's.

"Hello, is this Ying Shi?... Yes, I just got back. I changed my phone number while I was abroad... I can't get through to Lie'er either?... She might have changed her number... Um, what's up, tell me..." Xu Tianping's expression suddenly froze as he answered the phone. He was stunned for a long time before asking, word by word, "You said... Lanlan... is pregnant?"

Xu Tian's voice wasn't loud, but it was like a thunderclap in the room, especially in Xu Lie's ears.

Xu Lie snatched the phone from Xu Tian's hand. Before he could speak, Liu Yingshi's voice came through the phone: "Don't you know? I thought you already knew. Lanlan left the hospital after getting the test results that day. I guess she wanted to tell Xu Lie the good news as soon as possible."

“Which…” Xu Lie managed to utter a trembling sound from his throat, lips, and even teeth, “Which day?”

“Xu Lie?” Liu Yingshi seemed even more surprised. “What? You don’t know either? It was three days before I came to England, around… the end of May, right, May 24th, that day. The tests came back that Lanlan was over a month pregnant. But her health wasn’t good, and the chances of miscarriage were very high. And…”

"Bang—" The phone fell to the ground. Xu Lie stood there blankly, breathing slowly. The sound of his breathing was like a fan, roaring in his ears. He knew what day May 24th was. He knew that it was the day he left Shanghuai, the day he... abandoned Galan.

Galan must have gone to the airport to look for him with the test results, but couldn't find him. Or... Xu Lie suddenly remembered something, and a chill ran through his body, emanating from every part of him, from his feet to the top of his head. Or perhaps she found him, only to see him with Xue'er; or perhaps she even heard his conversation with Xue'er.

What did he say that day? What exactly did he say to Xue'er? Xu Lie tugged at his hair, slowly sitting down against the headboard. Fear enveloped him, despair slowly entwined him, and he couldn't remember what he had said. But he knew that perhaps it was too late, perhaps it really was... too late.

"Lie'er, don't be like this!" Yu Lan supported her son in a panic. She had never seen Xu Lie, who had been independent since childhood, show such a frightened expression. "Lanlan is pregnant, that's a good thing! Where is she? Let's go and bring her back."

"I...I don't know." Xu Lie held his head and said in a hoarse voice, "Mom, I can't find her, I can't find Galan."

His voice choked slowly, breaking out in broken, intermittent bursts from his throat: "I hurt her, I abandoned her. Mom, I lost her, I lost my... beloved wife and children."

Xu Lie exhaled hot, damp breath, his voice tinged with an unfathomable pain, and asked, "Mom, what... should I do?"

Hot tears fell, dripping onto the back of Yu Lan's hand, stinging her like boiling water. Yu Lan hugged her son, who was a size older than her, with heartache, letting him lean against her chest. Watching him sob like a wounded beast in her arms, she felt waves of sorrow.

What to do? Xu Lie clenched his teeth, his whole body trembling with pain, yet he couldn't stop the growing fear. What kind of feelings did he make Jialan leave the airport with? What kind of despair did he make Jialan bid farewell to Shanghuai with? Had he destroyed not just a family, but Jialan's entire life?

"Lie'er!" Xu Tianwei's stern voice rang coldly in Xu Lie's ears, "You have to make up for the mistakes you made. You have to win back the person you love. I will handle Xu Tian's matter. You can go find Jialan in peace! If you can't find her in a day, search for her for a month. If you can't find her in a month, search for her for a year. If you can't find her in a year, search for her for a lifetime. But you must remember that she is not only your wife now, but also the woman you have hurt."

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Chapter Eleven Christmas

Chapter Eleven Christmas