Mister Li, the Heart Bandit

Chapter 113: He Fainted

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Ji Weixi and Tian Miaomiao followed Li Wen into the workers’ break room deep inside Production.

There were several desks and chairs arranged around the room neatly.

Li Wen headed straight to a cabinet and unlocked it, taking a duty roster and handing it to Ji Weixi.

“These are the people on duty for tailoring on that day. Have a look,” she said, before adding after a brief pause, “We had been especially careful in our work since Lin Xiaoman is a top actress.”

JI Weixi scanned through the names of the workers listed, and suddenly found something on the last row.

[Half-day sick leave]

[Signed: Jian Jie]

“Excuse me, who is this Jian Jie?”

“Oh, she’s an intern here.” Li Wen did not hide her irritation at the very mention of that name. “She kept taking leave barely a month after she started work here, and neither does she show focus in her job. Well, I’m now just waiting for her to tell her that this job doesn’t suit here, and have her return wherever she came from!”

Ji Weixi nodded. “Miss Li, can I trouble you to call up the workers listed here? It’s important.”

She must interrogate them face-to-face.

Li Wen was aware as well that every employee in Production would suffer if the truth is not unraveled.

Soon, the workers—three men and two women—came at her call.

Ji Weixi’s questions were simple, and their answers were blunt too.

There wasn’t a single flaw.

Ji Weixi realized then that questioning them was a waste of time as well. Even if the culprit was amongst them, they certainly would not expose themselves.

She hence decisively headed to the security room and requested CCTV footage of that day.

In the black and white video, several people were working at the tailoring section, with everyone leaving after half an hour after their shift has ended.

However, one skinny woman was remaining where she was, hovering suspiciously.

She was wearing a mask, keeping her face hidden.

Ji Weixi narrowed her eyes and asked Li Wen, “Who is that?”

“That’s Jian Jie.”

So, it was her.

In the footage, Jian Jie was looking around for a moment, before taking out a small bottle and tearing apart the packaging of one of the clothing. She threw the contents of the bottle inside, resealing the package and then turning to leave.

Ji Weixi promptly stood up and told one of the security guards, “Please make a copy of that footage into this USB disk.”

“Miaomiao, you wait here.”

Tian Miaomiao nodded solemnly. “Alright!”

Then, Ji Weixi turned to Li Wen. “Miss Li, where is Jian Jie right now? I would like to see her.”

There was plenty of evidence that pointed at her.

Still, Ji Weixi had a bad feeling about it—Jian Jie’s motives were unclear, and finding the culprit was simply too easy.

Either way, the most important thing now was to find her and get to the bottom of things.

“She isn’t here—she took a sick day again, saying her stomach hurts.”

On leave again.

Ji Weixi felt restless right then, and asked anxiously, “Do you know her address?”

Li Wen nodded, but then shook her head after some thought. “She only told me that she lives in River Town, but I don’t where she actually stays. You have to ask human resource.”

Ji Weixi headed to human resource and got the specific address.

The microdistrict where Jian Jie lived was rather old. The red-brick walls were unpainted, the steel window scaffoldings were rusted and most of the doors were covered in spiderwebs. The alleyways were piled with dust and mud, and there were only a few withered willows swaying with the wind.

Ji Weixi would have thought that the building was abandoned if not for the occasional passerby.

Jian Jie’s address was unit 202. Ji Weixi reached her steel door after climbing the dusty concrete stairs and knocked.

Nobody answered.

Keeping patient, she knocked a few times more. When the place simply remained silent, she put her ear on the door to listen for any movement inside.

That was when the door behind her slowly opened, and a voice that seemed to be speaking with a strangled throat said, “The people in there have already moved.”

Ji Weixi turned to find an elderly man looking at her with muddled eyes.

Withstanding the chill on her back, she mustered her courage to ask, “Excuse me… do you know when they moved?”

“Probably last month.”

“Thank you,” Ji Weixi smiled, and the man slammed his door shut with a bang.

***

Ji Weixi received the call from Li Wen just as she left the microdistrict.

“Miss Ji, right? Jian Jie just called me, saying that she’s resigning.”

“What?!” Ji Weixi’s brow tightened. “Why?”

“Well, with her slacking attitude, the company would have fired her even if she didn’t resign.”

“Alright, thanks for telling me.”

As Ji Weixi hung up, her right eyelid was twitching.

The tiny clue she just captured was now lost.

Still, that Jian Jie moved quickly—although it didn’t feel right no matter how she thought about it.

After all, she would only look more guilty the more she hid.

Instincts told Ji Weixi that Jian Jie must have had some sort of shady agreement with Qiao Ai. The latter would be keeping an eye on Ji Weixi herself discreetly. It would make sense that Jian Jie resigned with such perfect timing if Qiao Ai told her that Ji Weixi was onto her.

It seemed that only Qiao Ai would know where Jian Jie was.

And with that scheming nature of Qiao Ai’s, she would definitely hide Jian Jie well so that no one found her.

Nonetheless, Ji Weixi kept calm and hailed a cab.

Tian Miaomiao called her as she headed back to the office.

She sounded strange.

“Xixi… where are you?”

“I’m on the way back to the office. What about you? Did you get the CCTV footage?”

“Yeah, I got it… but… something happened here…”

Ji Weixi straightened. “What is it?”

“It’s President Li,” Tian Miaomiao said, flustered. “He suddenly fainted in an emergency meeting just now… hurry back, Xixi!”

“What?!” Ji Weixi almost stood up in shock—her head struck the roof of the car, making it ache a little.

“I’m taking President Li to the hospital with Jiang Cong. Come quick, Xixi, I’ll wait for you at the main entrance!”

Li Shaoling always looked strong and healthy. Why would he faint?

Could she have driven him a little too mad?

No, that shouldn’t be. He would be dead—early on if things could get to him so easily.

Nonetheless, Ji Weixi’s heart was clenching, all her grievances against him in the morning vanishing in a puff of smoke.

After all, yesterday’s news reported a man pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital after fainting suddenly, the cause being overwork.

Ji Weixi clenched her fists at the very thought, a fear she never felt before overflowing as she prayed that nothing happened to Li Shaoling.

Even she herself did not realize she was that frightened of losing him.

“Sir, please speed up!”

***

At the main entrance, Jiang Cong had just put Li Shaoling at the backseat when Ji Weixi left her cab and dashed towards them.

Tian Miaomiao was riding shotgun and already had her seatbelts on. “You’re here, Xixi! Hurry up, let’s go to the hospital!”

Ji Weixi got in and closed the door.

The little one was sitting on the right and staring at Li Shaoling with red eyes.

He must have been crying just now.

He pursed his lips and asked tearfully, “Mommy, will Daddy be alright?”

After all, he wouldn’t get a sister for the rest of his life if something happened to Daddy.

Ji Weixi inhaled deeply and answered him determinedly, “Yes!”

If he had the balls to die, she would be lashing his corpse so that he wouldn’t rest in peace!