Chapter 144: Master Wants Her Alive

Before Junjun left, she didn't mention anything to me. Besides, when she left, Mom only caught a glimpse of her getting into the car; she didn't linger long, and Mom has no idea where she went. However, her boyfriend has already started sending people out to look for her. Since her boyfriend is such a formidable, capable, and powerful man, I'm sure he'll find her," the kind middle-aged aunt encouraged Wu Meili, affectionately stroking her head as her own eyes began to moisten.

She truly wondered who would ever pass by her doorstep again, call her "Aunt," and stop to chat for a while if Junjun had genuinely left this place for good. Just the thought of it made the aunt feel a dull ache in her chest. After all, after such a long time, genuine affection and familial ties had naturally formed.

A few days ago, when Mai Xijun went abroad with Shen Yanlie, the aunt had felt profoundly lonely during the days when no one regularly came to talk to her. If Junjun was truly gone for good from now on, and Wu Meili continued to be swallowed up by her busy work schedule, wouldn't loneliness eventually devour her entire life?

"I'm so worried." So worried... Wu Meili seemed utterly helpless. Lowering her head, she cupped her cheeks with both hands, closed her eyes, and buried her face deep between her knees.

The aunt let out a deep, sorrowful sigh. From beginning to end, she had no idea that what Wu Meili worried about even more was how she would ever face Si Yuwen if Mai Xijun could not be found. At present, this was undoubtedly her greatest source of dread.

When Si Yuwen finally returned from abroad, it had already been over half a month since Mai Xijun's disappearance. Ever since he left the country and boarded the plane, his phone had remained switched off until this very moment. It was only as the plane was about to land that he suddenly reflected on how muddled his days abroad had truly been. He wondered what might have happened at the company in his absence, whether the tasks he had delegated before leaving had been carried out smoothly and perfectly, whether Shen Yanlie's anger was still burning, and whether the mere thought of that incident would still prompt Shen Yanlie to strangle Xie Yunting with his bare hands until her life was extinguished.

He wondered how Mo Shaoxing was doing now. Evidence showed that Mo Shaoxing was currently missing without a trace, showing no signs of survival, yet there was also no confirmation of his death. He wondered if the young Miss Mai was still furious with Shen Yanlie because of this, whether she knew that he had also been at the scene before Mo Shaoxing fell down the back mountain, and whether she would end up hating him too if she ever found out...

He wondered if she was doing well right now...

Si Yuwen sighed involuntarily. Emerging from the airport terminal, he flagged down a taxi and hurriedly left the airport.

He had thought a great deal on the drive back. Before getting off the plane, the corners of his mouth had still carried a trace of a smile. Yet, the moment he set foot back into this country and re-entered this city, everything felt drastically different from how it had been abroad.

He couldn't understand why, the instant he stepped into this city, the upward curve of his lips had suddenly drooped downward. This was the peace of mind he had painstakingly managed to gather, yet now he had no idea how to pull himself together. He had thought he was fully composed, only to realize it wasn't nearly enough—far, far from enough.

***

Yuwen Media.

Wu Meili stepped out of her office, intending to brew a cup of coffee before returning to work, when she was startled by a notification from the front desk announcing that Si Yuwen had returned. Moreover, several colleagues on the same floor were whispering about it among themselves. Hearing this made Wu Meili's heart skip a beat, jolting her with fright. Everyone had said he was unreachable and wouldn't be coming back, yet he had returned so abruptly that she was completely caught off guard.

Clutching her mug, Wu Meili abandoned the half-filled coffee and hurried back toward her office. By now, she had no idea what to do, her nerves strung to the absolute limit. Did Si Yuwen already know that Mai Xijun was missing, or did he still not know?

If he knew, perhaps she could feel a little better. If he didn't know, how on earth was she supposed to explain it to him? Biting her lower lip, Wu Meili caught sight of that familiar figure through the glass wall, and her heart leapt instantly into her throat. The next second, with a loud bang, her office door was kicked open.

Si Yuwen returned in a towering rage. Instantly on high alert, Wu Meili sprang up from her office chair, offering a respectful nod toward Si Yuwen, but she dared not meet his eyes. It wasn't that she didn't want to, but that she didn't have the courage.

Si Yuwen usually wore a smile and rarely lost his temper. But at this moment, Wu Meili was completely at a loss; the surrounding air plummeted so sharply that she felt as though she had been plunged into an ice cellar. Still, she didn't dare look directly into his gaze. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched his long legs slowly pacing toward her, making her intensely aware of the palpable danger and oppression.

"P-President, you're back..." Wu Meili bowed deeply to Si Yuwen again. Her rapid, erratic heartbeat made her blink incessantly, and her voice trembled slightly as she spoke.

"Where is she?" Si Yuwen parted his lips just a fraction, the words squeezing out from between his clenched teeth. His voice was laced with coercion, dark and hoarse, sending a heavy, suffocating pressure over the room, as if he were forcibly suppressing a blazing inferno within him that could ignite at the slightest provocation.

"President, you..."

"Stop fucking playing dumb and talking crap with me, where is she?!" Si Yuwen's explosive temper finally ignited, cursing aloud as he roared with a fury that startled the colleagues passing by in the hallway, causing them to freeze in their tracks in shock.

Si Yuwen never lost his temper because he excelled at insidious, calculated moves; flying into a rage was beneath his dignity. Moreover, he always disdained vulgar language, consistently maintaining the image of an elegant, gentle, and courteous gentleman with a ready smile. Those who didn't know him better always took him for a true gentleman—the epitome of charm and a model among men. Yet this would be the first time in his life he would behave so ungraciously, uttering words he once would have held in utter contempt.

"Those days, the public relations department had some issues, so I..."

"I didn't fucking ask you to explain! I'm asking you where she is! Where is she right now?!" Si Yuwen mercilessly cut Wu Meili off once again, echoing something Mai Xijun might have said: "Are you a lizard? Why do you always cut people off mid-sentence?"

However, Mai Xijun was not here. No one could rein him in. No one...

Wu Meili pressed her lips together, tears shimmering in her eyes. "There's still no news yet. President Shen has already sent people to search the entire city."

Wu Meili blinked back the tears stinging the corners of her eyes, her nose aching as she fought the urge to sob out loud.

Si Yuwen clenched his jaw, took a deep, silent breath, and forced himself to calm down a little. After all, hadn't he spent all that time abroad specifically trying to learn how to keep these reckless emotions under control? Yet now, instead of being contained, those feelings had been pushed to their absolute peak, driving him to the brink of an unbridled explosion.

Clenching his back teeth and taking another deep, suppressed breath, Si Yuwen managed to regain a semblance of composed indifference. "If you can't find her within a day, there's no need for you to show your face here ever again." Glaring at her with cold, condensed eyes, Si Yuwen turned and walked away.

Long after Si Yuwen had departed, Wu Meili finally broke down, squatting on the floor and crying her eyes out with the helpless grief of a child.

Hearing that Si Yuwen was back, Chen Haoing bounced happily all the way from downstairs to Si Yuwen's office. He found Si Yuwen slumped heavily against his office chair, pressing his temples with two fingers as if in a foul mood, his long legs crossed on the desk, looking utterly exhausted.

"Didn't you go abroad for a vacation? You've only just returned and you're already in a bad mood?" Chen Haoing teased with a smile. Had he known why Si Yuwen was in such a foul mood, however, he certainly never would have said those words.

"Order people to find her! Dead or alive, tear the ground up three feet deep if you have to, but find her for me!" Si Yuwen slammed his hand on the desk, yanked a folder out of the drawer, and hurled it right in front of Chen Haoming.

"W-Wait, isn't this Miss Mai the designer? Why are you looking for her? Besides, didn't she slip away halfway through our company event last time? You're not planning to kill her, are you?" Chen Haoming furrowed his brow, then broke into a witty smile as if a sudden realization had struck him. But his words caused Si Yuwen's expression to shift instantly, enveloping Chen Haoming in a dense, heavy cloud of dread.

Chen Haoming knew clearly that he had said something wrong, though he had no idea what he had done to incur such wrath.

"President, did I say something wrong or do something I shouldn't have? Please, enlighten me. Don't... please don't look at me with that gaze, it's terrifying..." Chen Haoming whimpered with a tragic expression. If he hadn't spent so many years by Si Yuwen's side, he would never have dared utter such words.

Si Yuwen pulled back his legs, calmly strode over to Chen Haoming, and without warning, grabbed the collar and tie of Chen Haoming's shirt. "I want her alive. I want her to live."

Si Yuwen's voice was soft yet chillingly low, carrying a hint of lingering emotion, but the fierce resolve in his eyes made Chen Haoming swallow hard. He knew that this matter was far from simple for Si Yuwen; otherwise, he wouldn't be acting like this. He had served by Si Yuwen's side for many years, and this wasn't merely rare—it was practically the first time...

Yet little did they know, Shen Yanlie had practically turned the entire city upside down, and still failed to find her.

If she was determined to hide, how could anyone expect to find her so easily?