Chapter 6

I thought for a moment.

Then asked seriously:

“President Gu, does this count as overtime?”

He: “…”

I immediately added:

“I’m not greedy! It’s just that the employment contract says overtime is paid at one and a half times the regular rate…”

Gu Mingzhe laughed.

“It counts.”

I nodded at once.

“Then I’ll go!”

He looked at me with helplessness in his eyes.

But just as I was about to stand, he suddenly called me back.

“Wait.”

I turned around.

“Yes?”

He took a photograph from his desk drawer.

It showed a beautiful woman holding Baozi.

Her eyes were gentle, and she had a lovely smile.

“This is my wife, Xia Siyu.”

I nodded.

“She’s beautiful.”

Gu Mingzhe looked at the photo for a long time.

Then he said slowly:

“Three months ago, she was in a car accident. She hasn’t woken up since.”

I fell silent.

He continued:

“But this morning, the hospital discovered that someone had deliberately altered her treatment records.”

“Lu Wanning is my wife’s half-sister. She can come and go in my home freely, and she was even entrusted with looking after Xiaoyu.”

A chill crept down my spine as I listened.

Gu Mingzhe looked at me.

“The police are investigating. But I want to ask you something.”

“What is it?”

“When you met Xiaoyu, did he say anything unusual?”

I thought about it.

Actually, Baozi had said a lot.

He wanted a sausage.

He wanted orange juice.

He wanted to see his mother.

He wanted a dog.

He had also asked why adults had to go to work.

But anything unusual…

I suddenly remembered something.

While we were eating sausage, the boy had asked me:

“Big Sis, can you wake someone who’s sleeping by unplugging their wires?”

At the time, I’d just thought that kids watched too many cartoons.

I’d even answered:

“Don’t play with electrical wires. They’re dangerous.”

But thinking back on it now…

My heart suddenly began to pound.

I immediately told Gu Mingzhe what the boy had asked.

He was holding a cup of coffee.

When he heard me, his hand suddenly shook.

The cup fell onto the carpet.

Hot coffee splashed everywhere.

I jumped up in alarm.

“President Gu!”

But he seemed not to hear me.

He only stared at me.

“Say that again.”

I swallowed.

“Xiaoyu asked… whether you can wake someone who’s sleeping by unplugging their wires.”

Gu Mingzhe’s face turned deathly pale.

His wife needed life-support equipment in the intensive care unit.

And the night before—

The hospital corridor cameras had recorded Lu Wanning entering Xia Siyu’s room.

But no one had suspected her at the time.

Gu Mingzhe immediately picked up his phone.

“Check every piece of equipment in Siyu’s room! Right now!”

I stood beside him, afraid to breathe too loudly.

A few minutes later, his phone rang.

The voice on the other end was taut with tension.

“President Gu, we’ve just rechecked the system.”

“Someone tampered with the patient-monitoring equipment.”

“Fortunately, the medical staff caught it in time, so there were no serious consequences.”

Gu Mingzhe closed his eyes.

His hand tightened around the phone.

After a long while, he finally asked hoarsely:

“Have you identified who did it?”

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end.

Then came the answer:

“The camera in the patient’s room had been disabled.”

“But we found a backup recording.”

“The person in the video…”

The speaker hesitated.

“Was Ms. Lu.”

I went cold all over.

So that was what had happened.

If I hadn’t happened to meet Baozi this morning…

If he hadn’t said those seemingly meaningless words…

Perhaps no one would have known that, while everyone was searching for a missing child, his mother was also in danger in her hospital bed.

Gu Mingzhe slowly lifted his head and looked at me.

There was an emotion in his eyes I couldn’t describe.

Gratitude.

Astonishment.

And fear.

“Ms. Song…”

His voice was hoarse.

“You’ve saved my family once again.”

I stood there, dazed.

After a long moment, I answered:

“President Gu, don’t say that…”

He looked at me.

I continued sincerely:

“I didn’t do much. I just talked a little more than usual today.”

Gu Mingzhe: “…”

I lowered my head.

“But my dad says that whenever I talk too much, someone is bound to suffer.”

He was silent for a long time.

At last, he said slowly:

“This time, the person who should suffer is the one who did something wrong.”

I raised my head.

He looked straight into my eyes.

“And I won’t let that person get away.”

Just then, my phone suddenly vibrated.

An unfamiliar number.

I hesitated, then answered.

“Hello?”

A familiar woman’s voice came from the other end.

“Song Ruoxi.”

I recognized her immediately.

Lu Wanning.

She gave a quiet laugh.

“Do you think helping the Gu family once means you’ll be safe?”

I frowned.

“What do you want?”

Her voice turned cold.

“I advise you not to meddle in things that have nothing to do with you.”

“Otherwise…”

She paused.

“Tomorrow, your family will have to go to the police station to identify your body.”

I froze.

Then, instinctively, I blurted out:

“Are you planning to kidnap me?”

There was silence on the other end.

I continued:

“But I’m standing in the president’s office, and there are cameras around. If you’re going to kidnap me, I guess you’ll have to wait until I get off work.”

“…”

“Oh, and I still don’t know if I’m working overtime today. If I am, you’ll have to wait even longer.”

Lu Wanning: “…”

Three seconds later.

She angrily hung up.

I stared at my phone, baffled.

“Huh? Why is she angry again?”

Gu Mingzhe stood beside me, his expression impossible to read.

He looked at me.

Then at my phone.

Finally, he laughed.

“Ms. Song.”

“Yes?”

“From now on, if anyone calls to threaten you…”

I nodded seriously.

“Then what?”

He closed his eyes and said slowly:

“Please just talk to them as you normally would.”

I was stunned.

“Why?”

Gu Mingzhe looked at me, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly.

“Because I’m starting to feel…”