Chapter 10

The two of them went to the mall and shopped for a while. But they did not buy anything—they were going to have lunch—It was inconvenient to dine with shopping bags.

Jinyu Seafood was a national chain seafood restaurant—its headquarters was in Lian City. The outlet in Shen City had just opened.

They arrived at Jinyu Seafood at 11 a.m.—there were already many people in the restaurant. They chose a seat near the window and sat down to make their order.

Xia Tian’s heart cringed when she heard what Qu Ling’er ordered. She said softly, “Ling’er, what you ordered is too expensive. Besides, the two of us can’t finish it!”

Qu Ling’er laughed. “I didn’t order much. You just sit back and wait to be served.”

Just then, her cell phone rang—it was a voice call from Old Leopard. She answered the call, “Old Leopard, you just woke up?”

Old Leopard yawned and said, “I partied till very late last night. You didn’t reply to my messages and your phone was switched off. I guessed that your cell phone might have run out of battery. Where are you now?”

“I’m having lunch with my classmate. Thank you for inviting people to celebrate my birthday with me last night!” Qu Ling’er said.

“Having lunch with your classmate? Seems you’re fine then. Call me if you need anything, okay?” Old Leopard said.

Qu Ling’er replied, “Okay, I will. Don’t worry. Hurry and get out of bed—it is already what time now.”

After she ended the call, Xia Tian asked, “Your e-sports friend threw you a birthday party last night? Could he be up to no good?”

Qu Ling’er smiled and shook her head. “No, we are just friends.”

Xia Xia did not probe further because the seafood feast had been served. At the sight of food, all questions disappeared.

After the meal, the two of them went shopping again. This time, they bought things. By the time they finished shopping, it was already past three in the afternoon. The two of them parted ways and Qu Ling’er returned to the Qu family’s neighborhood with the afternoon’s ‘spoils’. However, she did not plan to go back. Instead, she went to a nearby hotel chain—she planned to stay in a hotel for a few days.

When she arrived at the front desk of the hotel, she set down the shopping bags and searched for her identity card in her handbag. However, she did not find it after searching for a long time. Strange, where was her identity card? She began to recall carefully. When she was looking for the charger in the morning, she still saw her identity card. Then, she took a pen and a Post-it note from her handbag. Damn! The identity card must have fallen out when she took the Post-it note and left it at Brother’s house…

“Miss, do you need to book a room?” The lady at the front desk asked when she saw Qu Ling’er rummaging through her handbag.

Qu Ling’er looked sheepishly at the lady at the front desk. “Miss, I forgot my identity card…”

The front desk lady smiled politely and said, “I’m sorry, our hotel requires guests to verify their names to stay here.”

Qu Ling’er nodded and did not say anything. She picked up her shopping bags again and took out her cell phone. After hesitating for a long time, she called Luo Yichen.

The phone rang several times before it was answered.

Qu Ling’er quickly said, “I’m sorry, Brother. I…”

Halfway through her sentence, she was interrupted by the other party. “How did you sasaeng fans get my boss’ phone number? Don’t call again!”

“Beep beep…”

Qu Ling’er was dumbfounded. The person who answered the phone was not Luo Yichen, but his assistant.

Qu Ling’er bit her lip and braced herself to call again. This time, the call was declined—it was not answered at all. She called again but the number was not in service… Oh no! She had been blocked!

Qu Ling’er was despondent. What was going on?! She took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. Then, she took a cab to Luo Yichen’s house with all her shopping bags in tow. She could only wait for Luo Yichen to return in order to get back her identity card. She looked at the shopping bags—if she had known that she would be in such a sorry state, she would not have bought so many things.

When she arrived at the entrance of the neighborhood, the security officer had not changed shifts yet. He recognized her and let her in.

Qu Ling’er arrived at Luo Yichen’s house and placed her things by the door. She looked at her watch and saw that it was only 4.30 p.m.—she wondered when Luo Yichen would be done with work and be home.

Luo Yichen was an artiste, so it was normal for his assistant to have his cell phone when he was working.

Just then, Qu Ling’er’s phone rang—she looked at the screen—and saw that it was an unknown number. She answered the call.

A stern female voice said, “Hello, is this Ms. Qu Ling’er?”

Qu Ling’er replied, “Yes, I am.”

The person on the other end said, “This is the Dongcheng New District police station. We received a report from a Mr. Luo. At about 8 p.m. last night, you beat him up in the private room of the Qinglan clubhouse. He’s currently in the hospital. Please come to the police station immediately to make a statement and cooperate with our investigation.”