"I should tell Brother Li first."
Yu Ke sighed deeply. If she hadn't known how hard-won this opportunity was and that it would be difficult to refuse, she would never have agreed to such a thing again.
Li Chonglou had just finished getting his ears cleaned with Zhou Tong when Yu Ke called.
"Take leave?"
The first reaction when Li Chonglou heard these words was whether Yu Ke was sick from being too busy. He quickly inquired about her situation, but when he learned the reason, he was momentarily speechless.
"Xiao Ke, isn't this another way of forcing marriage on you?"
Yu Ke said helplessly, "There's no other way. I really can't get out of this one."
Yu Ke's tone carried a hint of apology. Li Chonglou knew she had misunderstood his meaning and said, "I'm not talking about your work. I'm worried that you started this business because of a disagreement, and I'm afraid you'll go back to your old ways."
"That shouldn't happen. I don't have any special skills, and those people probably won't think much of me. I feel like it'll just be a formality."
Li Chonglou was relieved and nodded, "Alright, just tell Haiyan. Call me if anything comes up."
"Mm-hmm, okay."
Yu Ke hung up and began to ask Haiyan for leave.
Even though the event was tomorrow night, for a gathering like this, she, as a girl, had to start preparing today. Her father's earlier words had two meanings: don't be late, and don't embarrass him. Besides that, there was also work handover.
Meanwhile, on Li Chonglou's end, after hanging up the phone, he still felt something was off. Zhou Tong, who was beside him, noticed and asked directly, "What's wrong?"
Li Chonglou roughly recounted Yu Ke's words. The latter replied, confused, "Is there a problem with that? Yu Ke's position also has someone filling in temporarily."
Li Chonglou shook his head. "No, I just feel that your father's approach isn't very normal. Think about it, they originally fell out because of the forced marriage issue, and she even refused to cancel it and left home."
"And now they're actually主动让 Xiao Ke meet better potential partners?"
Zhou Tong understood when he heard this.
"You mean Yu Ke's family isn't forcing her to marry for some commercial purpose?"
Li Chonglou nodded. Generally, arranged marriages of this kind have fixed partners with agreed-upon terms. But Yu Ke's current situation went beyond that.
"Should we go and ask?"
Although Zhou Tong wasn't very clear about their relationship, he had heard what Yu Ke said when she came to find Li Chonglou, and he knew their feelings were unusual.
"Mm, what about you?"
"After getting my ears cleaned, I feel much more relaxed. Stress relief should be done in moderation; too much indulgence is also not good."
Li Chonglou nodded, and then the two of them returned to the company.
Li Chonglou found Yu Ke, who was in the process of handing over her work.
"Brother Li?"
Li Chonglou took her aside and voiced his doubts.
"Ah, your perspective..."
Yu Ke was momentarily stunned. She had never thought about it from that angle and hadn't given it much thought, as such things were quite common in her social circle.
However, after Li Chonglou brought it up, Yu Ke suddenly felt that something was amiss.
At this moment, Li Chonglou suddenly had a guess, but when he was about to voice it, he suddenly stopped.
Yu Ke didn't notice Li Chonglou's abnormality and was deep in thought about the reason.
"Perhaps I'm overthinking it. Maybe your family just wants to help you find a good partner, thinking you're not satisfied with the current one."
Yu Ke blinked. Indeed, that was a possibility, but for some reason, after Li Chonglou mentioned it, she felt a sense of unease, though she couldn't explain why.
Li Chonglou patted her shoulder and comforted her, "There shouldn't be any problems. Even if there are, just come to me."
Yu Ke then nodded.
After leaving, Li Chonglou's expression suddenly became solemn.
Just now, he suddenly thought of a possibility. His Yu Ke's family's reaction was somewhat similar to Chen Peiyue's "Little Knife" group. In the beginning, Chen Peiyue's father didn't want her to come out, fearing she would be targeted by other interested parties.
But now, they had clearly encountered a problem that couldn't be solved, and their attitude had changed directly. Therefore, Li Chonglou also speculated whether the Yu family had also encountered something.
To make them focus their attention on Yu Ke.
Thinking of this, Li Chonglou also recalled the negotiation between Yu Ke and her family, which was also based on money.
"Could something really have happened?"
Li Chonglou's brows furrowed. He felt a sense of guilt towards Yu Ke.
Although the incident back then was just an accident, it had happened, and Yu Ke had approached him personally afterward. Li Chonglou had always wanted to find a way to make amends for this.
With this thought, Li Chonglou immediately went to find Zhou Tong again.
"You suspect something has happened to Xiao Ke's family?"
Li Chonglou nodded. "Do you have any way to help me investigate?"
Zhou Tong scratched his head.
"Brother Li, if she, as his daughter, doesn't know about these things, it's difficult for us outsiders to know."
Zhou Tong paused, then added, "However, if it's a commercial matter, we should be able to find out some information from public records."
Li Chonglou's eyes lit up. Zhou Tong understood his intention and came to his computer with Li Chonglou.
As a qualified headhunter, Zhou Tong had a superficial understanding of various skills. The word "superficial" here was a compliment. For an ordinary person, achieving this wasn't just about hard work.
In his past life, Zhou Tong's talent in this area was fully utilized. If it weren't for Zhou Tong, Li Chonglou's life in the past might have been even more difficult!
However, when he looked up the Yu family's financial reports, he suddenly felt awkward.
"Um, Brother Li, with my limited skills, I can't tell any difference."
"Ahem, do you have any professional talent in this area?"
Of course, he did. Zhou Tong didn't delay and immediately contacted his friends. However, what neither of them expected was that even a doctor from a top university still couldn't find any issues.
"Brother Li, could we be overthinking? Isn't it because of this?"
Li Chonglou's brows did not relax. He always felt that there was some hidden reason.
Just then, Zhou Tong suddenly slapped his hand.
Li Chonglou looked at him.
"Brother Li, remember that senior I told you about? His famous battle back then was defeating a competitor solely based on company reports. He became legendary in one go!"
"If you still feel there's a problem, why not go and ask him? And also test his attitude?"
Li Chonglou's eyes lit up.