Hello, Mr Li Chapter 282 - You're an idiot

The knock on his study's door made Muchen raise his head for the first time in hours.

He thought it was Heya because he knew Minde did not bother to knock and just barged in like the place belonged to him. 

But he was really surprised when he saw Minde come in after asking whoever was outside to come inside. 

"Are you okay?" He asked when he saw how haggard Minde looked. 

He was still in the dress he had worn out last night and he looked like he had not slept a wink the entire night. 

Although he looked that way, he could still see a slight trace of excitement in his eyes. 

Minde blew off his question, hinting that he did not want to talk about it before saying his piece.

"I've been digging all night and found some interesting news."

"Digging all night? Since when did you have such zeal? And what happened to your cheek"

Muchen raised a brow at him when he saw the purple bruise on his cheek. 

"Got into a fight again?" 

"I didn't get into a fight. I tried to save someone and ended up like this." He said with a frown. 

"You...Li Minde..tried to save someone?" He asked in an almost disbelief tone. 

"Let's not just talk about it. But how about you? You don't sleep at all? You were in the study when I arrived at midnight right?"

Muchen decided not to push him to talk and simply nodded. 

"Try being the CEO and let's see if you'll still sleep."

"But I trust you. You'll still sleep" Muchen mocked.

"You came in around 3:54 in the morning and got to your room around 3:60am. What were you thinking about that you had to walk so sluggishly?" 

Minde looked at him in surprise. "How did you know that?" 

"If I don't know who comes in and go out my apartment, how can I live comfortably? Well, back to you. Said you had something right?" 

"Oh. Yes." Minde moved to his side with a iPad in hand. 

"Remember we read the news about the Song elders arrest right?"

Muchen nodded to that.

They had both been surprised when Ms Long called to inform them even before the news went round. And when it later did, they had both watched the news together.

"So I was able to find something out. Immediately the news of their arrest spread round, guess what happened?"

Muchen looked at him with eyes which implied that he was not interested in playing around and so Minde became serious. 

"Well, a lot of people lost their jobs. And I mean, a whole lot of people did." 

"It's normal since they placed even the unworthy in high positions. Now that they are out, what's the point of people still keeping their flies around?" Muchen added.

"Exactly my point. But here is what I found really interesting." He clicked on something on the iPad and revealed a picture of a man. 

"Who is he?" Muchen asked.

"Park Chen. Head chef of Delight."

"So?" 

"I was just looking into everyone and when I looked into him, I found some really strange things. First of all, he worked in Sara's grandparents' restaurant as her grandfather's apprentice."

It seemed Muchen knew where he was going to because he suddenly sat up. "Go on." He urged. 

"Immediately after Sara's grandparents' arrest, he was able to secure a job in delight. And not just as a chef, but the second in command at the kitchen. Don't you think it is strange?" 

"It definitely is." Muchen's eyes darken. 

It was very likely that this Park Chen was involved in everything somehow. 

"Guess they were all tired of the meal he makes. They were good but, he had been using the same recipe for years. Seemed they were tired of keeping him but could do nothing because the Songs placed him there. So immediately the were out, he was fired!" 

"Interesting." Muchen said with a dark glint in his eyes before taking his phone to call someone. 

"My Hwang. I'll transfer some details to you now. I want you to find everything you can about the man and send it to me by tonight. Okay?" 

He was about to hang up when the Mr Hwang spoke. 

"Erm...CEO Li... The thing is, the Liu family's young mistress, Liu Weiyoung, has been trying to get in contact with you." 

Muchen frowned when he heard her name. He was not good with remembering insignificant names and people but thanks to Sara, he had to know the names of everyone who had bullied her right from when was in grade school. 

"Why are you telling me? You should get rid of her." He hissed. 

"Erm...CEO Li...she said it's in regards to your Miss. Miss Wang. I would have called to let you know ever since but I couldn't since you mentioned not to call you if it's not business related."

'In regards to Sara? What was that ugly lady scheming again?'

"Tell her I don't listen to gossips and if she still tries to contact you, let her know I may get angry." 

Having said that, he ended the call. 

"Who was that?" Minde asked curiously. 

Muchen was about to say "From your Ex-girlfriend" but he decided against it and smacked his head instead.

"Ouch bro... What did I do to deserve this?" He whined as he used a hand to rub the back of his head. 

"What were you thinking dating Liu Weiyoung back then? So embarrassing." He tsked at him before turning serious again. 

"So what's next?" 

Minde furrowed his brows in confusion. Why was he suddenly getting angry at him because of something that happened two years ago? 

He did not want to go into that so he simply went straight to the point.

"Sorry about this but ever since I noticed you like Sara, I've been doing a little digging on her. I did not find much though. But I think something is fishy somewhere"

Again, he scrolled down the iPad. After tapping a few things, some details appeared. 

"First, let's talk about where she disappeared to at a certain time."

As much as Muchen did not like to hear about Sara from anyone else, he was a bit curious so he gave him the go-ahead. 

"She was in country Y. That's all I actually know in that part."

"Country Y?" 

"Exactly"

Muchen began to type something in his system and once he was done, he turned to look at him again. 

"Any other information?" 

"Not yet. But if you want me to keep digging, I can"

Muchen looked at him suspiciously. What was suddenly wrong with him?  He would never offer to do something without asking for something in return. 

"I also found something strange. Sara is supposed to be twenty four years old now and born in a private clinic in City Y right?" 

"Yes. So?" 

"Here is what I found." He pointed something to him as he explained. 

 "I was actually not interested in her birth. I was only curious about Miss Changyu and her relationship with the family after you mentioned that she was also an apprentice in her grandparents' restaurant." 

"Do you know that for some months, Miss Changyu disappeared. She was no where to be found."

"How does that relate?" Muchen wondered where he was heading to. 

"When the Wangs were leaving the country twenty five years ago, they did not leave alone. They left with a baby."

He showed him an old footage of a younger Jianjun, Helene, Cixi and their mother who was holding a well wrapped baby.

"There was no news of Miss Jin Helene ever being pregnant or married. So I had to hack into the registry and there was nothing like a Jianjun Wang and Jin Helene getting married. Apparently, she was only recorded as Sara's mother but was never married to her father."

"Wait a minute" Muchen paused to think. 

He suddenly remembered all Sara had told him on Christmas day about Changyu's relationship with her family. She had told him about how her parents were framed by Changyu's because she had been close with her father. 

He also thought of the familiar vibe he always had whenever he was standing close to Sara. How much they both behaved alike.

Lastly, he thought about how Sara usually made mistakes with her age.

"Wow" He managed to say out. "I never thought about this possibility" 

"So you think it's true also?" Minde moved even closer to whisper "Miss Changyu is probably Sara's mother?" 

"There is a probability of it being so."

"Wow!" Minde gasped aloud.

"Do you think she knows about it? Should we tell her about it?" 

"I'll handle it. You don't have to worry about that." 

Muchen thought it was going to be really nice if Sara's mother was Changyu. Aside from the fact that the woman had a whole lot of influence and power, Sara had always craved for a mother's love and he had felt really bad when his mother slapped her the other time. 

But if Sara's mother was really Changyu, then a lot was going to change and she was going to be really happy. Or maybe not? He did doubt the latter though since he knew Sara had always admired Changyu.

Minde still looked surprised. The news seemed to have left him puzzled but he had to move to the next one. 

"Hmm bro...I saw something last but I really don't know how to show it to you" 

He still remembered everything that had happened the previous night and how he had followed Sara and the strange young man. But he refused to remember further what had happened last night. "Damn Eva!" He cussed silently under his breath.

"Hmm?" Muchen thought he heard him say something to him but Minde quickly shook his head before taking out his phone from his back pocket. 

He was still withdrawing a bit and did not know how to show him the pictures of Sara and the young man but Muchen who did not like delay quickly grabbed the phone from him. 

"What is it you want to show me?" 

Minde sighed before saying "Gallery. Pictures" 

It did not take long for Muchen to find it. And when he saw and recognised the person there, his eyes darkened. 

"Sara?" He asked to be really sure and quickly, he zoomed on the picture to see the young Man's face. 

"That bastard. I knew he was up to no good" Muchen said in a angry tone before standing up. Even his eyes was brimming with anger and his free hand was fisted. 

"You know him?" Minde looked at him in confusion.

" Yue King. His name is Yue King. The new owner of Grand Castle Hotel"

Muchen remembered how Sara had reacted when they saw Yue King the previous day.

Although she had said she did not know him, he had doubted that a bit. But now, he just confirmed his suspicion.

Yue King was probably the one who had asked her for the painting. And with the way Sara had reacted when he mentioned the hotel had formally been the Jin's, it further confirmed what he had been thinking about.

He was having some shady deals with the Jins and if he was the one who asked for that painting, it meant the Jins were the ones who probably needed it and it was probably the reason why Jin Cearo had been lurking around.

"I think I've allowed Sara to play alone for too long. And I think now is the right time to get involved whether she likes it or not" 

Minde watched him as he spoke to himself and suddenly, Muchen turned to look at him. 

"I already have some tabs on Yue King. Find out whatever else you can about him and look for any connection he has with the Jins."

As he gave these orders, he suddenly remembered when he checked about Yue King, he had seen that he had relocated from Country Y to Country B about a year ago. It was the same Country Y that Sara had disappeared to.

He pulled his hair in frustration as he could not arrive at a proper conclusion. 

"...Are you bothered that she's probably cheating on you with him?" Minde asked in concern. 

Muchen looked at him like he was stupid. 

"How can you even say that? Do you think she'll ever cheat on me with someone like that?"

As Minde thought about it, he did not see any reason why she would not. Yue King was handsome and rich so he did not see any reason why she would not. 

He nodded before giving an affirmation to his question. "Of course she can" 

Muchen frowned before smacking his head again. "You're an idiot" 

"Ouch!" Minde wailed.

Chapter end