But when they arrived, Wu Mei's door was tightly shut. After knocking for a long time, there was no response.
At this moment, a female neighbor living opposite suddenly opened her door and asked sternly, "What are you doing? You've been knocking for so long, aren't you disturbing people?"
"We're sorry," Yin Xi replied with a smile. "We're looking for Ms. Wu who lives here. Could you tell us if she's been back these past few days?"
Seeing a man and two women standing before her, the female neighbor asked warily, "Who are you? What do you want with her?"
"We're from the community committee, and we'd like to ask her a few questions," Yin Xi said sincerely, her beautiful peach blossom eyes blinking rapidly.
The female neighbor looked them up and down. Seeing their kind faces, she concluded they weren't bad people, and then smiling, she stepped out of her home and replied,
"Oh, you're from the committee. Wu Mei works as a nanny for a wealthy family and rarely comes back."
"Has she not been back these past few days either?"
"No. I haven't seen her, anyway. You've knocked, and there's no one inside."
"Does anyone else live at her home?"
"She has a son with leukemia who's been in the hospital for a long time and rarely comes back."
After going downstairs, Yin Xi turned to Jian Fan and said, "Send some people to stake out this place. As soon as you see Wu Mei, notify me immediately.
Also, investigate which hospital Wu Mei's son is staying at and have two people watch there as well.
She might not be home, but she'll definitely go to see her son."
"Yes. Sister Xi, you can rest assured," Jian Fan replied with a serious expression.
Yin Xi glanced at her watch. "Jian Fan, take Tang Ran back to the Big Pharmacy. I have some other things to attend to and won't be going with you."
She had to hurry home to cook for Qin Si Ye.
Currently, this was the most important matter to her.
Not long after the car had driven onto the main road, Yin Xi thought of Jin Jingchen again.
He must be waiting for news from her side. She immediately called him.
After explaining the situation, Yin Xi comforted him, "Although we didn't find Wu Mei on this trip, it wasn't without results.
I've already made arrangements. She has a sick son in the hospital, and she's bound to show up."
"Mm," Jin Jingchen paused. "Yin Xi, Jin Zhanhao has arranged another servant for my father, but I'm home so little that I'm still not entirely at ease.
Could I trouble you to lend me someone from the Big Pharmacy? That way, I can be more at peace while working during the day."
"No problem," Yin Xi agreed without hesitation. After a moment's thought, she added, "Then how about Tang Ran? She's quite familiar with Mr. Jin's situation, and you know her too."
"Okay. It's just that I'm afraid she's too young to handle it." Jin Jingchen recalled her appearance when she came out of the police station that day and was a little worried.
Yin Xi smiled and replied, "It's alright. I'll talk to her. Although the girl isn't old, she's steady and full of a sense of justice. You can rest assured."
Back home, Yin Xi entered the kitchen, washed her hands, and put on an apron.
"Sister Li, are the ingredients all prepared?"
"They're ready," Sister Li said, pointing to the counter with a smile. "Miss Yin, you're so busy with work, you don't need to come back so early.
Next time, I'll prepare it myself, and you can just deliver it to the master."
"How can that be? I promised Qin Si Ye that I'd cook for him myself," Yin Xi said earnestly as she brought the ingredients to the stove.
"You know how picky he is. If you made it, he'd definitely be able to tell.
If he then accused me of 'cutting corners,' and in a fit of pique, kicked me out of here, that would be terrible."
Hearing this, Sister Li shook her head. "That's absolutely impossible. I think the master would be reluctant to do that."
Meng Qi sat bored in her bedroom, thinking of the events of yesterday, her anger surging. Her hatred for Yin Xi deepened.
If that woman hadn't mistakenly intruded into Si Ye Ge's room five years ago, she would have won him over this time.
Just then, her phone rang. It was Qin Xuelan.
"Hello? Auntie Lan?"
"Qiqi, how did I hear that Yin Xi was arrested and then released from the police station?"
"It's all because someone protected her, someone backing her up."