"Are you sure about this?" The cloaked man questioned and his subordinate nodded.
"That’s interesting," the cloaked man twirled the pen in his hands as he chuckled lightly.
"Do you have any idea as to where the old man is headed, boss?" His subordinate asked and he shook his head negatively.
"I honestly wish I knew where he was headed to, wouldn’t that have given me an advantage? But sadly, I am also clueless in this situation," the cloaked man spoke up with a sad smile on his face.
"I suggest you strike now, the families would not be expecting since they would have their guards down," the subordinate suggested, and the cloaked man looked at him, he was seriously considering what he said.
"You proposed something good, for the first time, that is a good idea" he praised his subordinate who had a bashful smile on his face.
"I learned from the best, and that is you," the subordinate did not forget to praise his boss, he knew how much his boss loved praises.
"Of course, I am the one with the brains here, alright, you may leave, I have to think about something," he dismissed the subordinate who left immediately.
The cloaked man smiled slightly as soon as his subordinate left, revealing a set of white, pearly teeth.
"I guess it is time I revealed myself to Li Qiang and Xin Yan, I bet they would not be expecting it," he cackled out loud, excited at the prospect of revealing his identity.
The atmosphere at Li’s residence was somber. Xin Yan decided to cook for the family.
Aunt Guo decided to help her out. Xin Yan only cooked whenever her mood was heavy, and today she was in a terrible mood.
"Xin Yan," Aunt Guo called out to the lady who was chopping the onion with no emotions on her face.
Xin Yan did not give any reaction as she continued with the chopping of the onion. Aunt Guo sighed as she snapped her fingers to get her attention.
Xin Yan snapped out her emotionless state before turning to look at Aunt Guo.
"What is wrong?" She asked.
"You have been absentminded for a long time, and you are also not chopping any onions," Aunt Guo pointed out.
Xin Yan looked down at the chopping table, she noticed that she had already chopped all the onions, and she chuckled with an embarrassed look.
"You do not need to be embarrassed, I know you are worried about the old man, and trust me, I know that he is safe," Aunt Guo comforted her, while she breathed out through her mouth.
"We do not have that assurance, do we? He just disappeared without a trace, and it saddens me," Xin Yan mentioned.
"You have to believe in the old Master, if he was not confident, he would not have left, have faith in him, I believe he would not want to see you worried about him,
Xin Yan, you are the lady of the house, you are the only one who can console your family, I believe you know what to do," Aunt Guo advised her, and she looked at the woman who could easily pass as her mother.
"I believe you understand my words," Aunt Guo said, and she nodded.
"Thank you Aunt Guo, for enlightening me, I would make the food now," she replied, and the lady was happy that she understood what she meant.
Xin Yan spent an hour in the kitchen before she was finally done with the meal.
"You can set up the table Aunt Guo, I would go call them down for lunch," Xin Yan said and only left the kitchen after getting the confirmation needed.
"Kids, it is time for lunch," Xin Yan carefully mentioned as she got into their room.
The girls looked up to her, and they left the bed because they were lazing on the bed when she came in.
"Mom, would dad show up for lunch?" Li Chuxi as she stared into Xin Yan’s eyes.
Xin Yan swallowed, she had no idea how she was going to reply to this question.
"Do you need us to convince him?" Li Meimei asked, while staring at Xin Yan with worried eyes.
"There is no need for it, kids, I will convince him, and we would have lunch as one big family, okay?" Xin Yan smiled at them, and they nodded before leaving for the dining.
Xin Yan breathed out once they were not in the room anymore.
She was worried. She did not know if Li Qiang was going to respond to her, but she hoped he did, as the kids were worried about him.
Likewise, she bit the bullet before walking to his study. Not only that, but she knocked lightly, opening the door only when she heard an acknowledgement to come in.
"Li Qiang," she called out as soon as she entered into the study.
She was surprised by the darkness of the study, and she squinted her eyes to get accustomed to the darkness.
"Why are you here?" She was jolted by his deep voice as she stopped moving around.
"You should have something to eat," she replied to him, and suddenly the lights came up, shocking her as she closed her eyes immediately.
"I am not hungry," he said to her, and she looked at him with a confused look.
She then noticed that he was busy reading some papers, but she chuckled when she noticed he was reading the papers upside down.
"Yes, go on continue reading your papers, I hope you understand what you are reading," Xin Yan folded her arms as she smirked, with her brows raised.
"What do you mean by that?" He asked.
"Why don’t you take a careful look at the papers you are reading?" Xin Yan scoffed and he did as told.
It was then he realized that he had been reading the papers wrongly.
He coughed lightly before he changed the way he held the papers.
"I understand that you are worried, and so are we, but I would love for you to eat, your kids are worried about you, and I am also," she whispered the last words as she stared at him with a pleading look.