Treasure Hunt: Tycoon's Priceless Runaway Wife

Chapter 457 Quick Arrival, Quick Departure (5th Update)

Ji Rui was full of anticipation for Lawyer Fan to settle things with Le Tong tomorrow, so he buried himself in handling a bunch of tedious tasks in good spirits.When he finished dealing with the important matters, he looked up and realized that the sky had already darkened. Looking at his watch, he couldn’t help but startle.

It turned out to be six-thirty in the evening.

Ji Rui hurriedly tidied up the documents on his desk, locked a few extremely important ones in the safe, grabbed his coat, held his bag, and quickly walked out of the office.

Outside, it was dark, and Le Tong’s spot was vacant.

Only then did Ji Rui realize that his good intentions had upset her again.

Lately, she would knock on his door right at quitting time to remind him to leave work, and they would go to the kindergarten to pick up Baobao together.

But today, she not only didn’t come to remind him, but also slipped away alone.

Ji Rui sighed quietly, thinking that being too principled wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

Under Le Tong’s desk, a note was pressed, Ji Rui picked it up to take a look.

"I went to pick up Baobao."

The note was as simple as can be, without even basic formalities, but the familiar handwriting inexplicably improved Ji Rui’s mood.

Imagining her huffing as she wrote the note, Ji Rui couldn’t help but shake his head and, alone in the office, laughed.

However, when Ji Rui returned home and saw Le Tong and Baobao’s slippers neatly placed at the entrance, his good mood instantly disappeared.

"Mr. Ji." Aunt Guan heard the door and came out of the kitchen.

"Where are Le Tong and Baobao? Aren’t they back yet?"

Ji Rui’s complexion wasn’t good, and his tone was cold. Aunt Guan hadn’t faced the cold-faced Ji Rui for a long time, and feeling flustered, she hesitated but then reported truthfully.

"Miss Le called back around five, saying she and Baobao were going to play at Miss Yuan’er’s house and wouldn’t be home for dinner. Didn’t she tell you, Mr. Ji?"

Ji Rui’s face darkened further, and he couldn’t be bothered to answer Aunt Guan’s later questions. He took off his coat, pulled off his tie, threw it on the sofa, went into the bedroom to grab clothes and showered.

This low pressure continued through dinner, until he entered the study, and Aunt Guan breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Looking at the tightly closed study door, Aunt Guan vaguely understood that Mr. Ji might have had an argument with Miss Le.

"Miss Le, when are you and the little master coming back? I’ve prepared the late-night snack for you." Aunt Guan cautiously called Le Tong.

"Aunt Guan, Baobao is having fun here, we don’t know when we’ll return yet. You don’t have to prepare anything special for us. If we’re not back by ten, we’re probably staying at Yuan’er’s place."

On the other end of the call, Le Tong’s tone was very calm, and she seemed to be in a good mood.

It seems, Mr. Ji had upset Miss Le.

After reaching this conclusion, Aunt Guan went to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee.

Of course, it wasn’t that she was deliberately lazy. It’s just that she’s terrible at making coffee, and Ji Rui explicitly stated that he’d rather drink her instant coffee than her brewed coffee.

Aunt Guan knocked on the study door with a cup of instant coffee, "Mr. Ji, I made you some coffee."

"The door’s not locked, come in."

Aunt Guan entered with the coffee, only to see Ji Rui sitting at the computer, focused and typing rapidly on the keyboard.

Aunt Guan carefully placed the coffee next to his left hand but didn’t quickly leave as she usually did; instead, she lingered for a moment.

"Is there something else?" Ji Rui remained focused on his task but asked blankly with his mouth slightly open.

"Mr. Ji..."

Aunt Guan wasn’t the chatty type, and she rarely gossiped about her employers, but her intuition told her that the chance of Miss Le returning tonight was ninety-nine percent, and Mr. Ji was likely still in the dark.

"Can you reheat the meal, just in case Le Tong and Baobao are hungry when they return?" Google seaʀᴄh novelhall.com

See? She knew Mr. Ji assumed Miss Le was just out for a walk.

"I just called Miss Le..."

Before Aunt Guan could finish, Ji Rui looked up, somewhat urgently, "Hmm? What did she say?"

Aunt Guan felt a bit reluctant, so she softened Le Tong’s words.

"Miss Le said that Miss Yuan’er’s family was very hospitable and she wasn’t sure if she could come back tonight."

The meaning was the same, but passive language is lighter than active language for sure.

Ji Rui slightly furrowed his brows, "Oh..." then turned his head back to the computer and continued typing away.

Aunt Guan still stood there for a while, hesitated again, "Mr. Ji, should I call and ask Miss Le to come back?"

Ji Rui paused and then waved his hand after a moment, "No need!"

Aunt Guan thought Ji Rui was mad, not even allowing her to make the call.

She wanted to help her master but didn’t dare openly defy his wishes. After all, Ji Rui seemed like a person you wouldn’t want to provoke easily.

Especially as this matter concerned Le Tong, whom he cared about the most, she dared not act on her own.

"Well... I’ll step out now. If Mr. Ji needs me, just call, I’ll be waiting outside."

Ji Rui responded with a hum and continued his work diligently.

As the study door closed, Ji Rui’s hands, which had been flying across the keyboard, also came to a halt.

Slumping in the chair, furrowing his brows and pursing his lips, he thought about it for a while longer before picking up the phone and dialing speed dial "1".

The phone rang for a long time, long enough for Ji Rui to think the person on the other end was determined not to answer.

Just as Ji Rui was about to hang up, the call was answered.

"Hello? Mr. Ji?"

Upon hearing this, Ji Rui’s heart inexplicably ignited with anger.

In normal times, he didn’t mind Le Tong calling him this, sometimes even thinking when she addressed him this way, her eyes held an extra layer of admiration and respect.

He wouldn’t deny that he’s just an ordinary man who needs the admiration and respect from the woman he likes.

But hearing this familiar voice calling him Mr. Ji now, he felt an unaccountable sense of alienation and coldness.

"Have you had dinner? When are you planning to come back? I’ll come to get you!"

Ji Rui was upset, but he hadn’t forgotten that Le Tong was also mad at him.

The phone was silent, perhaps because she hadn’t expected him to be so proactively conciliatory.

"Le Tong?" Ji Rui called softly again, lowering his voice.

"Mm, Baobao and I will play for another half hour. Yuan’er will have her driver send us back, don’t stress yourself to come pick us up."

Le Tong’s voice softened noticeably.

The fire in Ji Rui’s heart was soothed by her gentle voice.

"Alright then, be careful on the road. I’ll ask Aunt Guan to prepare the late-night snack for your return."