Chapter 414: Too Conspicuous
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Pei Ziheng was also slightly horrified and looked at her probingly. “What is the keepsake you are talking about?”
“An amulet.” Xia Yu said lightly. “It has a red silk thread. Ye Xingling put it around her wrist and looked very lovingly at it. Red thread… Hasn’t that always been a keepsake between lovers? That’s why I thought Brother Ziheng gave it to her.” She seemed to hesitate. “Brother Ziheng, I didn’t see any diamond bracelet. Perhaps… I was too far away and saw wrongly?”
It was absurd for her to mistake a diamond bracelet for an amulet wrapped in red thread.
Pei Ziheng was silent for a moment before waving his hand.
“I’m still busy,” he said. “I accept your apology. Please leave first.”
Xia Yu knew that her plan was successful, so she smiled silently and left.
At night, Pei Ziheng went home as usual. When he ate with Xia Ling, he saw that her wrist was bare.
“Where’s the bracelet?”
Startled, Xia Ling looked at her wrist. “It’s too conspicuous, so I kept it.” In reality, she had forgotten to put the bracelet back on after wearing the amulet around her wrist. However, it was not wrong to say that it was too conspicuous. When she was handing some items to a staff member this morning, his mouth was agape as he stared at her wrist.
“I’ve never seen you complain that diamonds were too conspicuous in your past life.” Pei Ziheng said gently.
Xia Ling looked at him and thought: How is that the same? In her past life, she was arrogant and domineering. She did not even understand the concept of being “too conspicuous” especially since she had Pei Ziheng’s backing. However, what about this life? She only wanted to remain low-key and safely deliver and raise her child.
After being separated from Li Lei, her entire life was in ruins and darkness ever since.
Her only ray of light was her baby, and she was only living the rest of her life for it. As for herself? Why make others jealous of her again?
She bowed her head to drink her soup without making a sound.
Pei Ziheng made a decision. “Tomorrow, I will ask someone to send over a few product catalogs. You can take a look and choose those items you like.” Low-key and beautiful jewelry existed in the world, and he could only patiently try to please her.
However, some things could not be kept.
After dinner, Xia Ling slept on the bed as usual.
Pei Ziheng was busy in the study room for a long time before he pushed open the door of the bedroom, undressed, and back-hugged her. Xia Ling slept very lightly tonight. Once he hugged her, she immediately woke up. However, she did not move as she felt his long breaths against her skin.
She did not know when she started to feel a little anxious.
Moonlight flowed into the room like water through the gauze curtains.
She felt more and more awake. Soon, she could not go back to sleep. Thus, she carefully got up from Pei Ziheng’s arms. Without waking him, she nimbly got down from the bed and went out of the bedroom barefooted.
Perhaps it was easier to miss a person in the middle of a quiet night. Her entire mind was filled with Li Lei’s handsome smile. Unconsciously, she walked to a small work area that belonged to her. There was a small and exquisite handbag there that she usually carried it with her.
She opened the handbag and habitually touched the amulet.
Unexpectedly, she only felt an empty surface.
Where was the amulet?!
She was so frightened that she broke out in cold sweat. She tried to touch it again, but there was still nothing. She could not help but throw out all of the items in her bag. However, she could only find Pei Ziheng’s gorgeous icy diamond bracelet. The amulet that Li Lei sacrificed half of the blood in his body to obtain had vanished without a trace.
She was anxious and searched the entire room to no avail.
She only felt her mind turn blank and turn panic-stricken by her unprecedented anxiety. She rushed downstairs and out of the hall to search the garage.
In the garage, there were three Rolls Royce parked side by side.
Xia Ling looked for the car that she rode on today. As she did not have the key, she could only look into the car desperately through the windows. The alarm was deafening, but she could not care less. Soon, the security officer and chauffeur rushed over. After seeing that it was her, they asked, “Miss Ye, what are you doing here so late?”
She glanced at the chauffeur. “Open the door for me to take a look. I left something in the backseat.”
As instructed, the chauffeur opened the door. Xia Ling carefully searched the seats but did not find the amulet. Hesitating for a moment, she then turned around and asked the chauffeur, “Did I leave anything behind in the back seat just now? For example, an amulet. It is made of paulownia wood and has a red thread. It’s about this big.” As she spoke, she used her hands to estimate its size.
The chauffeur replied, “I haven’t seen it.” Seeing how worried she was, he added, “There are a few blankets and pillows in the car that have to be washed daily. Do you think your item may be mixed with them? How about you go to the laundry room to take a look? Nanny Zhou most likely took those blankets there.”
Before he could finish, Xia Ling had already sprinted to the laundry room.
The laundry room was in a corner of the garden, far away from the garage. She ran across almost the entire house before she finally arrived there.
She silently prayed in her heart, hoping that the amulet was still there. Recently, due to her pregnancy, she felt very lethargic. In the evening, she always felt muddle-headed and did not remember if she had pulled the zipper of her bag properly. However, she hoped that it really dropped in the car and was mixed with the blanket so she could still find it.
Thankfully, there were not many clothing items in the laundry room. There were only a few of her dresses, one of Pei Ziheng’s suits, and the blankets and pillows that were taken from the Rolls Royce today. Xia Ling anxiously searched the pile of items. However, she was disappointed; the amulet was nowhere to be found. That small paulownia wood amulet vanished into thin air without a trace.
She was crestfallen, and her entire body was numb. She refused to believe that the amulet was not there and searched the pile of items carefully again to no avail. After some hesitation, she shivered as she turned on all of the lights in the laundry room and searched every nook and cranny for the amulet, thinking that it might have dropped on the floor. Li Lei had already disappeared from her life. That amulet was her only way to remember him and seek refuge in…
Washing machine, dryer, wooden basin, water pipes…
She searched all of them one by one. As she used too much force too eagerly, she broke her nail and injured her finger. However, she did not have time to care. She only had one goal in her mind: to find the amulet and not to give up until it was found!
She spent a long time searching in the laundry room and created such a mess that it was like a typhoon had occurred. As she stood in the middle of the chaos, her feelings were more dreary than the scene in front of her. Amulet, where exactly are you?
The corners of her eye suddenly spotted a dark red color.
Pleasantly surprised, Xia Ling turned around but did not see anything. However, she refused to give up and refused to believe that the small speck of red she saw was just an illusion. Hurriedly, she searched in that direction again. The dirty drain of the laundry room was there. There was pitch black darkness when she looked through the rusted iron cover, and she could not see a thing.