Reborn to Outshine My Ex and His White Moonlight-Chapter 54 - Disappeared
Chapter 54: Chapter 54: Disappeared
Chapter 54 -54: Disappeared
As Lin Zhiyi was entangled with the images in her mind, the scent of Calming Tea wafted to her nose.
She looked up, and there was a steaming cup of Calming Tea beside her.
After being stunned for a few seconds, she looked again at Gong Chen.
The man was holding chopsticks in one hand, and the other hand was tucked in his trouser pocket, with the crisp lines of his shirt outlining a figure with broad shoulders and a slim waist.
Seemingly casual, yet everywhere he exuded an air of inaccessibility.
But it somewhat failed to overlap with the figure in her mind.
Lin Zhiyi silently took a few sips of the tea, and, after a moment, Gong Chen set the cooked noodles in front of Lin Zhiyi.
“Eat,” he said.
Lin Zhiyi regained her composure, pursed her lips, and shook her head, “No need, I’m not hungry anymore…”
Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle.
Her stomach inappropriately grumbled, making her face turn a shade of red.
Gong Chen held the bowl and arched an eyebrow slightly, “Shall I feed you?”
Knowing he was a man of his word, Lin Zhiyi quickly took the bowl from him.
After that, neither of them spoke.
Gong Chen stepped back, leaning against the stove and lit a cigarette, watching her through a thin layer of smoke.
Lin Zhiyi pretended not to notice, took a bite of the noodles, and was slightly startled.
Sure enough, as she had expected, Gong Chen was not without culinary skills.
The noodles were perfectly al dente, and even two more minutes of cooking would have been too much.
But why would he do all this?
Lin Zhiyi couldn’t ask the question out loud, and could only silently eat her food.
When she was almost finished, Gong Chen asked indifferently, “Why were you discharged from the hospital?”
Lin Zhiyi’s chopsticks paused, and she looked down at the clear broth noodles, “Uncle, are you asking about the pregnancy test?”
Gong Chen continued smoking, tacitly confirming.
Lin Zhiyi’s eyes welled up with tears, and she turned to look at the stars outside the window, her stomach churning despite having just eaten.
Since Gong Chen had seen the report, he must know the result.
His question meant he fundamentally didn’t believe her.
To this day, he still thought she was a woman with deep schemes, trying to climb up the ranks by getting pregnant.
But he would never know what she’d lost to get away from him.
Lin Zhiyi put down her chopsticks and, getting off the island counter, looked up at him, “The check-up was arranged by your friend. If you still don’t trust it, we can do it again, I’m free tomorrow.”
Gong Chen’s expression darkened instantly, a coldness in his eyes, “I’ve been feeding the noodles to a dog, it seems.”
Lin Zhiyi looked back up, “I can vomit them out for you. Didn’t you say I was like a dog?”
Gong Chen: “…”
Having said that, she bounced away.
Worried that Gong Chen would catch up and actually make her vomit, she had to hobble faster.
Once she was back in the courtyard, the inside of the house was as silent as when she left.
Lin Zhiyi glanced at the antique clock on the wall— it was nearly midnight. Why hadn’t Liu He and Gong Shiyan returned from entertaining?
Gong Shiyan, although a vice president in Gong Group, did not hold much real power and usually had easy tasks.
Even when entertaining, he had never returned this late.
Especially with Liu He accompanying him, she needed her beauty sleep and had to be back by eleven.
Lin Zhiyi felt some unease, picked up the phone, and called Liu He, only to find her phone was turned off.
At this moment, she wasn’t really anxious, thinking perhaps Liu He’s phone was out of battery or on silent.
She quickly dialed Gong Shiyan’s number, but his private line couldn’t connect, and the work phone was turned off.
There was a problem!
Fortunately, Lin Zhiyi found Gong Shiyan’s driver’s number from the note next to the landline.
“Driver Zhang, are my mother and uncle with you?”
“No, they said today’s dinner was very important and asked me not to follow; they told me to wait in the car.”
Was it just the two of them at the dinner?
Lin Zhiyi said worriedly, “Driver Zhang, could you trouble yourself to check the private room where the dinner is? I can’t reach either of their phones, and uncle would never turn off his work phone. I’m a bit worried.”
“Sure.”
“Miss Lin, it’s terrible, there’s absolutely no one in the private room. The waitstaff say they left two hours ago.”
“Who arranged today’s meeting?” Lin Zhiyi asked anxiously.
“It was… Mrs. Song, Miss Song’s mother. She said it was to introduce a big client to make an apology to you.”
“Make an apology to me? Without inviting me? What kind of apology is that!” Lin Zhiyi, ignoring her sore foot, stood up straight, “You go find the manager right now and have them preserve the surveillance footage. Does the Gong Family still have any drivers who are on good terms with you?”
“Yes.”
“Could you trouble them to take me there?”
“No problem, Miss Lin.”
After hanging up the phone, Lin Zhiyi wrapped herself in a coat and quickly hobbled out of the mansion.
The driver was already waiting.
As soon as she got in the car, they sped towards the restaurant.
Chen Jin, who was about to leave the Gong Family residence, saw Lin Zhiyi getting into the car and swiftly called Gong Chen.
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Gong Chen was changing clothes, with his shirt unbuttoned as he answered the phone.
“What is it?”
“Miss Lin just rushed out in a car.”
“Wait for me.”
…
At the restaurant.
Lin Zhiyi, with Driver Zhang’s assistance, approached the manager.
The manager gave her a cursory glance and didn’t look again, his tone filled with insincere corporate-speak.
“Miss Lin, I’m very sorry, we really can’t just show you, you’ll have to leave now.”
Lin Zhiyi knew what he meant.
Seeing how insignificant she seemed, he wasn’t willing to help.
She scoffed, “Fine, I can leave, but as soon as I exit these doors, I’ll call the police, then I’ll inform the Gong Family to come here. At that point, you better pray there’s nothing abnormal in the surveillance footage, otherwise… your time as manager will come to an end.”
The manager’s lips tightened, and his intertwined hands pressed hard in front of him.
Lin Zhiyi then turned around to leave.
“Wait a moment,” the manager called after her, “Come with me.”
Inside the surveillance room, the manager pointed helplessly at the black screen segment on the monitor.
“Miss Lin, it’s not that I won’t let you see; it’s just that the camera outside that private room is broken, and we haven’t had time to fix it yet.”
Despite his words, Lin Zhiyi still saw arrogance and dismissiveness reflected on the screen.
Clearly, he knew about the malfunctioning camera all along but didn’t explain earlier, which did seem like a stalling tactic.
Lin Zhiyi thought for a moment, then leaned over to slide the mouse: “No matter, I just want to see the entrance and exit.”
The manager immediately pressed down on the mouse, explaining, “Miss Lin, I know you’re anxious to find someone, but our restaurant’s clientele are all wealthy and distinguished—we’ve guaranteed that we won’t show their comings and goings to anyone. This is really putting me in a difficult position. Didn’t the waiter say the Second Young Master and Second Madam have already left? Perhaps they’ve gone somewhere else to have fun; they will surely be back by morning.”
As he spoke, he stuffed the mouse into his pocket.
Lin Zhiyi knew she couldn’t overcome him, swallowing her anger and asked in a good-natured tone, “Since that’s the case, let me ask you one last question.”
“Go ahead.”
“What time did Mrs. Song leave?”
“A little past nine.”
“Are you sure?” Lin Zhiyi stared straight at him.
He then corrected himself, “I misspoke, it should have been a bit after ten.”
“Certain?”
“Yes, certain,” the manager nodded.
Lin Zhiyi didn’t ask further and left the surveillance room with the driver.
Driver Zhang expressed his concern, “If they left after ten, where could the Second Young Master and Second Madam have gone?”
Lin Zhiyi looked up at the sign with determination, “They are still in the restaurant!”
The manager didn’t allow her to see the entrance and exit footage because he feared she would discover Liu He and Gong Shiyan never left the restaurant.
With his consistent stalling and his insistence that they would return by morning, it indicated that he was well aware of their current situation.
They could only then be in the hotel!
