In the afternoon, after Xia Qingtian picked up Xia Qingyu, Shi Xingwu suggested everyone have hot pot together.
Initially, Li Xiaozhong felt it was a bit troublesome, but upon learning that Shi Xingwu’s suggestion was because Lei Xirui had never eaten hot pot with anyone before, Li Xiaozhong agreed.
The Shi couple prepared the broth, wine, and drinks at home, while Li Xiaozhong, Shi Xingwu, and Lei Xirui were responsible for buying the sliced meat, sauces, and vegetables.
This was because Shi Xingwu insisted on having Li Ji’s sesame paste, claiming that only the dipping sauce made with it had soul.
Therefore, they split up at the street corner. Li Xiaozhong went to buy meat and fish, while Shi Xingwu and Lei Xirui went to buy vegetables and sauces. They would reconvene at the street corner after finishing their shopping.
When Li Xiaozhong returned after buying the items, he found a crowd gathered at the spot where they had separated.
Li Xiaozhong had a bad feeling, and as he squeezed into the crowd, he discovered Shi Xingwu lying in a pool of blood.
He was terrified, and it was only when a passerby reminded him to call the emergency center that he came to his senses. He called 120, first sending Shi Xingwu to the hospital, and then contacting the Shi couple.
After that came the emergency treatment. He felt panicked and helpless, his mind filled with the image of Shi Xingwu lying in a pool of blood.
It wasn’t until he saw a news item related to the Xia family pop up on his phone later that Li Xiaozhong, worried that the Xia Qingtian family might also meet with misfortune without any warning, called Xia Qingtian.
“When I rushed over, Shi Xingwu still had some consciousness,” Li Xiaozhong said, his complexion still quite pale. “He kept calling out for Siri, saying Lei Xirui had been taken away.”
“Did he say who took her?” Xia Qingtian asked, her brows furrowed tightly.
“He didn’t say,” Li Xiaozhong shook his head.
“Sister, could it be…” Xia Qingyu remembered the suspicious people she had spotted near the martial arts school before and had told Xia Qingtian about them at the time. “Is it them!”
Xia Qingtian’s gaze shifted slightly. At the time, she and Gu Yaoyang had both thought that Third Master Lei was merely concerned about Lei Xirui’s safety and had therefore sent people to monitor the vicinity of the martial arts school. They had never imagined something like this would happen.
Moreover, if Third Master Lei wanted to take Lei Xirui away, he could have just taken her alone. Why would he harm Shi Xingwu?
Lei Xirui would not allow such a thing to happen, and Third Master Lei’s people should not dare to harm Lei Xirui’s friends.
It was even less likely that Third Master Lei would resort to such violence against a student.
The more Xia Qingtian thought about it, the more she felt something was amiss.
Could the person who took Lei Xirui not be Third Master Lei?
With this thought, Xia Qingtian immediately took out her phone and dialed a number from her contacts.
The call was answered after a long time: “Hello.”
Hearing Third Master Lei’s voice, Xia Qingtian prepared to ask about Lei Xirui. Before she could speak, she heard Lei Xirui’s frantic screams from the other end of the line: “Murderer! You’re a murderer! Demon! Bastard! I’ll fight you!”
Lei Xirui, as if she had exhausted all the curse words she could think of in her life, loudly denounced the person in front of her: “Murderer!”
Hearing this voice, Xia Qingtian’s heart sank, and her gaze turned cold and sinister.
“Hello! Speak!” Third Master Lei seemed impatient. The people he hated most in this world were the Xia sisters. To even answer this call was a courtesy, yet Xia Qingtian wasn't speaking?
What did she want?
What trick was she trying to play now?
“Third Master Lei,” Xia Qingtian’s tone was icy. “Tomorrow, I will pay you a visit!”
With that, Xia Qingtian directly hung up the phone.
As she lowered the hand holding the phone, Xia Qingtian exuded an extremely terrifying aura, making Xia Qingyu and Li Xiaozhong feel uneasy as well.
“Sister, what are you going to do? Where are you going tomorrow?” Xia Qingyu immediately asked.
“To the Lei family,” Xia Qingtian replied coldly. “To seek justice.”
Li Xiaozhong and Xia Qingyu exchanged glances, seeing unease and anger in each other’s eyes.
It was indeed time to go to the Lei family to seek justice.
Meanwhile, in the main hall of the Lei family in the capital.
Lei Xirui’s eyes were red and wide open. She desperately tried to break free from the bodyguards’ restraints, cursing loudly and trying to charge towards the blonde, blue-eyed woman beside Third Master Lei.
“Send the young lady back to her room to rest,” Third Master Lei said, putting away his phone with a puzzled expression. Looking at the hoarse-voiced Lei Xirui, he became increasingly annoyed. “Send the eldest young lady back to her room. She is not to step out of her room half a step without my permission.”
“Yes,” the bodyguard replied and forcefully escorted Lei Xirui towards the stairs.
“I’ll kill you!” Lei Xirui was restrained several times when she tried to lunge forward. Even as she was being sent upstairs, her curses did not stop: “Murderer! Murderer! Bastard! Demon…”
As the room door closed, Lei Xirui’s voice was finally muffled by the door, and the living room downstairs returned to calm.
“Xyf, you can go now,” Third Master Lei said to the woman sitting beside him.
“Third Master Lei, I’ve brought such a great gift, which should prove my sincerity,” Xyf said, twirling her hair with her fair fingers, her voice gentle and her gaze alluring. “Aren’t you going to show any gratitude?”
“The liaison for this collaboration is Tarik. If you want to discuss cooperation, you should talk to him,” Third Master Lei said to Xyf. “Also, my sister is the eldest daughter of the Lei family, never a gift or an object. Children who have had their fun always go home.”
“Are you blaming me for being superfluous? Hehe, alright then,” Xyf suppressed the displeasure in her heart and got up with a cold laugh. “I’ll visit another day.”
As Xyf walked towards the door, her smile gradually disappeared, and a hint of impatience flickered in her eyes. She inwardly chided Third Master Lei for being oblivious and unappreciative.
When Xyf reached the doorway, she bumped squarely into someone else.
“Are you blind! How are you walking…” The person was about to curse when, upon seeing Xyf’s face, they seemed to hit a pause button, and their attitude did a complete 180-degree turn. “Are you okay? Did I hurt you?”
“I’m fine,” Xyf took half a step back and looked at the person’s face. Recognizing him as the eldest young master of the Lei family, her beautiful eyes darted, and an idea struck her. With a charming smile, she prepared to bypass the eldest young master and leave.
How could the eldest young master of the Lei family let such an exotic beauty leave his sight just like that? He immediately chased after her. “What’s your name? Where are you from? It’s so late, it’s not safe for a beauty like you to walk alone at night. Let me give you a ride? Don’t misunderstand, I’m not a bad person. I’m the eldest young master of the Lei family.”
Xyf tilted her head to look at the eldest young master of the Lei family, her smile becoming even more bright and adorable.
She couldn’t get anything out of Third Master Lei, so she didn’t believe that others in the Lei family knew absolutely nothing about the treasure!