"Hello, who's this?"

Chu Ge answered the phone. After two or three seconds of silence in the receiver, just as he suspected the other party had dialed the wrong number or was playing a prank, a slightly deep voice came through.

"Mr. Chu, it's me."

The voice wasn't unfamiliar to Chu Ge. He slightly raised the corners of his mouth. This guy was pretty cautious, deliberately using a number he didn't usually use.

"Mr. Chen, what's going on?"

"Gao Wei is dead, and the woman he took with him yesterday is dead too. It's murder, and they say... the way they died was horrible."

Chen Jue's voice grew increasingly grave, and Chu Ge's brows furrowed slightly. Both of them stayed silent for a few seconds, and then Chu Ge hung up the phone.

With furrowed brows, Chu Ge lit a cigarette, thinking to himself how quickly things had moved. Gao Wei and that woman were the eyewitnesses to yesterday's events. What their deaths meant was quite obvious now.

Chu Ge took a deep drag from the cigarette. He could care less about the lives of those two people, but he couldn't ignore the signals that this incident was sending out.

Exhaling the smoke, he let out a slight sigh and immediately dialed Chen Jiatong's number. The phone rang once, twice, three times... six times, seven times...

Chu Ge felt a bit anxious, his brows furrowing even tighter.

"Hello, Young Master Chu." Fortunately, Chen Jiatong's voice finally came through.

"Where are you now? Is there anything unusual around you? Is Jingyuan with you?"

Perhaps made a little nervous by Chu Ge's serious tone, Chen Jiatong's voice paused for a few seconds before coming through.

"I'm at home. There's nothing unusual around, and Jingyuan has gone home too. Do you want me to go find her?"

"Yes, go find Jingyuan now. Call me after you've found her."

After finishing, Chu Ge hung up the phone, hailed a taxi, and headed straight for the residential area where Chen Jiatong and Xu Jingyuan lived.

Not long after the taxi started, Chen Jiatong called back, and upon learning that Xu Jingyuan was also fine, Chu Ge couldn't help but breathe a long sigh of relief. Things hadn't gotten as bad as he'd feared.

Of course, Chu Ge was well aware that for these two women, it might just be temporarily safe.

"Jiatong, you and Jingyuan wait for me at the supermarket downstairs. Remember, stay inside the supermarket and don't come out randomly. I'll be there soon. Keep the phone on speaker and in your pocket."

Since meeting Chu Ge, it was the first time Chen Jiatong had heard such a serious tone from him. Despite having a lot to ask, she knew now wasn't the time. She immediately agreed and went downstairs with a confused Xu Jingyuan.

Listening to the sound of the two women going downstairs and then the noises from inside the supermarket, while watching the shops on the roadside rapidly fly past, an agitation spread in Chu Ge's heart.

Even though the housing estate where Chen Jiatong lived was already very close, and no unusual noises came through the receiver, indicating the two women were obediently staying in the supermarket, Chu Ge's nerves remained on edge.

Although Chen Jiatong and Xu Jingyuan weren't eyewitnesses to Chen Yujie's disgraceful acts, the incident originated because of them. Chu Ge believed Chen Yujie had every reason to trouble them.

To be cautious, Chu Ge changed taxis three times along the way before finally arriving downstairs at Chen Jiatong's residence.

Chu Ge got out of the car and quickly walked into the supermarket, finding the two women who couldn't hide their nervousness even behind sunglasses, but at least they were unharmed.

Chu Ge let out another slight sigh of relief, flashing a genuine smile at the two women and leading them into a waiting taxi at the entrance.

After switching cars several more times, Chu Ge brought the two women to Baihao Garden, into the apartment he had bought.

If this had happened before, being brought out like this by Chu Ge, Chen Jiatong and Xu Jingyuan would have felt happy and might have thought that Chu Ge finally wanted something to happen between them.

But at this moment, as their hearts beat faster and faster, only tension spread continually within them.

Even though Chu Ge didn't say much to them along the way, just silently sitting in the front passenger seat, this only made them more aware of the seriousness of the situation.

Chu Ge had bought this apartment some time ago. After buying it, he washed his hands of it completely, almost as if the place wasn't his, leaving the decoration entirely up to Ye Li, and hadn't returned since.

He hadn't expected that the first woman he brought back on his own initiative wasn't his wife. His wife, Qin Ruojing, didn't even know he had this apartment.

Chu Ge didn't have a key to the security door. Ye Li had said she would give him a key ever since the security door was installed, but he never went to get it from her. Fortunately, the door was wide open now, so he didn't have to sneak in or lockpick.

The house, which had been empty for some time, had changed a lot. The kitchen and bathroom were already tiled with white tiles, most of the carpentry work was done, and the ivory-white floor had been laid. Once the wallpaper was up, there wasn't much heavy work left.

The renovation quality was very high and the progress was much faster than he had expected. It already somewhat felt like home.

"Brother, it seems like the wallpaper here doesn't align correctly."

"Hmm? Does it? It looks quite aligned to me."

"Could you take a closer look? From my angle, it's actually off by a few millimeters."

"Hey! It really is. Girl, you have an excellent eye, even better than us professional wallpaper installers. Your husband is really lucky to have such a meticulous and capable wife."

"By the way, where is your husband? Ever since our renovation team came, we haven't seen him at all. Isn't it hard on you, having to oversee everything on your own every day? You're already slender enough, and now you've lost even more weight. Your husband sure is willing to put you through this."

"He... is busy... It's not a big deal, really. A lot of girls want to lose weight and can't. I'm fine like this, really."

As soon as Chu Ge entered the house, he overheard this conversation, especially Ye Li's "he's busy." Even though he didn't see the scene inside the bedroom, he could imagine Ye Li pursing her lips with a somewhat forlorn expression.

Unintentionally, a sense of guilt arose in Chu Ge's heart. Ye Li hadn't corrected the renovation workers, hadn't told them she wasn't the wife of the owner of this house, evidently hoping to keep a small fantasy alive in her heart, to savor a bit of sweetness at this moment, perhaps?

"Sigh, girl, you just keep defending him. When I see him, I'll have to say something to him, no matter what. How could he be like this? It's too much."

"Brother, no, please don't. He's a good person, the best man I've ever met."

"You just keep speaking up for him. Even if I want to tell him off, I need to actually see him first, right?"

Just as the wallpaper worker finished speaking, he noticed Ye Li freeze, her gaze fixed towards the door. Her pretty face flushed instantly, full of embarrassment and panic. Her delicate hands didn't seem to know where to place themselves.

"Chu... Brother Chu, why are you here?"

On the way there, Chu Ge was actually quite irritable, but upon entering the house and hearing that conversation, he felt rather guilty. Seeing Ye Li's flustered and helpless demeanor, he couldn't help but chuckle.

"This is my home. Am I not allowed to come back?" Chu Ge teased Ye Li with a smile and walked from the living room into the bedroom where the wallpaper was being hung. "This brother is right. It's a bit too much to have you working so hard here."

The wallpaper installer, a thin, dark-skinned man, felt a bit guilty since talking about a client behind their back wasn't good. Especially when the client overheard it directly.

However, when he saw Chu Ge wasn't angry at all but was smiling and humble, he resumed his lecturing tone.

"Young man, it's not my place to say, but do you know how hard your wife has been working lately? How can you be such a negligent husband? It's a bit too much. No matter how busy a man gets, he can't just ignore his home and wife, right?"

Hearing the wallpaper master refer to them as "husband and wife," Ye Li became even more flustered, as if caught doing something shameful, her face as red as a beet, and she didn't dare to look directly at Chu Ge.

"Brother, I... we actually..."

Just as Ye Li tried to explain her relationship with Chu Ge, he stepped forward, took her hand, which had a few small cuts, and looked into her eyes, speaking with sincerity and gentleness: "I'm sorry. Thank you for your hard work."

Feeling the warmth from Chu Ge's hand and hearing those short six words from his mouth, Ye Li felt as if she were melting. All the hardships of this period seemed worthwhile, even if it were several times harder, she'd still be willing to endure it.

"It's, it's nothing. I'm not tired at all, really. Watching this place transform from nothing into what looks like a home, that feeling is incredibly happy."

Seeing her flushed cheeks, Chu Ge sighed internally. He knew, of course, Ye Li's deep feelings for him. He knew he shouldn't encourage her fantasy anymore. But in this situation, exposing the truth of their relationship in front of the renovation workers would be a huge blow to Ye Li.

Gently stroking the small cuts on Ye Li's hand, feeling her slight shiver, a touch of heartache flashed in Chu Ge's eyes. However, there were other matters he needed to attend to, and it wasn't convenient to speak freely in front of others.

Releasing her hand, Chu Ge looked towards the door, "Since you're already here, don't just stand at the door. Come in."

Chen Jiatong and Xu Jingyuan exchanged a glance and stepped into the room.

Seeing the two women, Ye Li was slightly surprised. Chu Ge smiled, "You guys chat for a bit. I'm going out for a while, I'll be back soon."

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