Chapter 1294: I Want to Make You Stay (172)
“We’re going back again tonight?”
“Yes, I’ll stay at your family mansion temporarily tonight. I must get closer to your family in order to find the answers I need in the quickest time possible.” An Xiaoning added, “The most dangerous place is often the safest. Your family would have never expected that we would return.”
“What if we get exposed? There are surveillance cameras everywhere in the yard.”
“We won’t be discovered easily if we’re careful. I’m very experienced in being stealthy.”
Seeing how composed she was, Donggong Lianzhi said, “There’s still such a long way to go from now until tonight. What do you plan to do while waiting?”
“There’s nothing inside the refrigerator. Let’s go to the supermarket together. We still have to eat lunch after all.”
“We can always order takeout.”
“Do you actually still dare to eat takeout food at such a critical juncture? Aren’t you afraid that you’ll be poisoned?”
Donggong Lianzhi took a look at the time on his watch and said, “Shall we head to the supermarket downstairs now, then? The groceries are fresher in the morning.”
An Xiaoning agreed, “Sure. But can you cook?”
“Yes.”
“I can put my mind at ease, then. Most men nowadays are better cooks than women.”
Donggong Lianzhi blurted without hesitation, “You… can’t cook?”
“Of course… I can. The food I make is just not that delicious.” An Xiaoning combed her wig, put on a pair of flats, and headed to the supermarket with him.
They bought four large bags of groceries, each carrying two in their hands.
When they were about to approach the corridor, An Xiaoning asked softly, “Is that woman here to look for you?”
Donggong Lianzhi answered coldly, “Just ignore her.”
Seemingly having guessed who the woman was, An Xiaoning continued to walk forward alongside him.
Just as they were about to walk past the woman, she finally said, “Is this what you want?”
Donggong Lianzhi ignored her and headed straight inside the corridor. The girl scurried toward him and stopped him from proceeding. “Donggong Lianzhi, I’m asking you a question. You fell out with your family and broke off your engagement with me all because of this woman. Is this what you really want?”
“Yes, this is what I want. Is that enough?”
Seething with exasperation, the woman rebuked, “You… are your brains fried? Do you know how many benefits I can bring you if you marry me? These are advantages that she won’t be able to give you. How could you…”
“So what if you can bring me those benefits? You can’t hold a candle to the woman I love,” he said before turning to gaze at An Xiaoning affectionately.
“News about what you had done is now spreading around our social circle. You’ve completely disgraced me and my family by breaking off the engagement. How much longer do you think this woman can live?”
Donggong Lianzhi looked up at her and said, “I’ll be happy even if we only have one day left with each other.”
He managed to shut her up.
Instead of following them into the elevator, the woman exclaimed in disgruntlement, “Donggong Lianzhi, you’d better not regret this!”
He responded to her words with an icy cold stare.
In reality, Donggong Lianzhi knew clearly how terrible of a predicament he was in currently. He had been insulted and belittled in the Donggong family for so many years. His family’s attitude toward him only improved slightly after he gained the affection of Jin Miaomiao.
Yet, he had chosen to give up everything and return to square one.
However, those superficialities no longer mattered to him.
All that he wanted now was to live well.
——
Henry began to feel a little tempted after laying off racing for such a long while.
Although he was a little traumatized and affected by the fracture he had sustained previously, the accident did not kill his passion for car racing.
He thought to himself, Now that An Xiaoning is abroad, I’ll gain freedom once I find a way to remove this tracking device and get out of here.
However, it was not a simple solution, for there were now bodyguards guarding the exit of the secret passageway, ever since the time he tried to sneak away through the wine cellar.
Hence, it would be tough to sneak away again.
However, he reckoned that there must be another secret passageway somewhere that Jin Qingyan had had built.
Thus, he stayed awake in bed and pondered over the problem continuously.
The more he dwelt on it, the more he realized that he could not come up with a feasible solution to get out of the house.
Secret passageways can only be built on the first floor, right?
There were only a limited number of rooms on the first floor. There would be very few left after eliminating the guest rooms, the living room, and the wine cellar. As for the other rooms…
Henry got out of bed and headed to the dressing room to grab a pair of new shoes that he had never worn before. He put them on and slowly made his way downstairs.
The lights were still on in the living room, and the servants were in the midst of tidying the house. Upon the sight of him, they greeted him politely.
Pretending that everything was normal, he sat down on the couch and picked up the remote control to watch some television. Once the servants were done tidying the house, he gestured for them to leave.
After they left, he began checking all the rooms one by one, only to discover that there was nothing unusual at all.
However, he did not give up and decided that he would only do so after checking through everything thoroughly.
Henry’s eyes finally lit up the moment he entered the antiques room.
He found that the layout of the room was closely similar to that of the cellar.
There were numerous antiques and shelves inside the room, the perfect setup for a secret passageway.
His instincts told him that that was where the other passageway began.
Staring at the ancient porcelain ornaments on the shelves, he placed his hands onto them gently, for fear that he would break the exorbitantly-priced treasures.
Henry felt a little disappointed to discover that he did not get the results he wanted after touching the antiques on two of the shelves.
At last, he shifted his gaze onto the ornaments on the ground.
He hurriedly placed his hand onto them too. The instant he touched one of them, a sudden noise filled the air. Henry peeked inside to see that there was a secret passageway.
Just like he had expected!
Henry’s eyes lit up in joy and excitement.
Without hesitation, he dived into the opening.
As soon as he did, the sensors detected his presence and closed the opening.
After walking for more than ten minutes, he caught sight of a flight of stairs. He strode forward gleefully and gently pushed the cover up, only to discover that there was a bed above him. He climbed up and placed the lid back on. No one could have guessed that a secret passageway would lie beneath a perfectly seamless flooring.
However, his joy was short-lived, and his hopes were dashed the moment he discovered that it was Fan Shixin’s abode.