From the very start, Rong Qian had guessed the wrong direction entirely.

The mastermind behind this sudden “attack” was neither Thomas nor He Jicheng — in fact, it wasn’t even aimed at Shen Yi at all.

Whoever caused the chaos at the casino had been targeting He Jicheng.

According to Shen Yi, he had noticed her following Yao Na, and had originally intended to follow as well, but He Jicheng came looking for him at that moment, saying he had something to discuss.

Shen Yi followed He Jicheng up to the second floor, and He Jicheng deliberately chose a place with no one around.

And it was right then that disaster struck!

The explosion was caused by an ignited gas canister, and the one who set it off was the owner of a bathhouse — a man He Jicheng had led down the no-return road of gambling, who in the end had lost everything he owned.

In a single night, he’d lost his entire fortune, and his wife had run off with their son. Left with nothing, the owner went to confront He Jicheng about it, but He Jicheng had him beaten up by his men and thrown out of the casino.

So, figuring he had nothing left to lose and wasn’t even afraid of dying anymore, he came to take revenge on He Jicheng.

He Jicheng’s injury had also been caused by this man.

But you could say He Jicheng was lucky too — with Shen Yi happening to be there, He Jicheng managed to escape the worst of it. Once the bathhouse owner realized his plan hadn’t succeeded and feared going to prison, he fled right after the gas canister exploded.

Shen Yi had gone after him, which is why, when Rong Qian later came looking, she only found He Jicheng there.

“Did you catch him?” Rong Qian was quite curious about the outcome.

Shen Yi nodded. “Yes, he was caught. As for what happens to him after that, it’s none of my concern.”

“So in the end, it was just a fluke, nothing at all like what we’d guessed.” Rong Qian hadn’t expected the truth of the matter to turn out so different from what she’d imagined.

But regardless, as long as everyone was alright, that was what mattered, and Rong Qian could finally set her mind at ease.

“Hey, isn’t that Steward Fu? Why’s he standing at the door, pacing back and forth so anxiously?”

On the way back, Xu Mo spotted Fu Bozhong standing at the door from a distance.

Rong Qian and Shen Yi noticed too. Xu Mo deliberately drove the car right up to stop in front of Fu Bozhong, rolled down the window, and leaned his head out to ask, “Steward Fu, what’s going on? Why so worked up?”

“That kid Lin Jie ran away!”

Hearing Fu Bozhong’s words, Shen Yi and Rong Qian exchanged a glance, both their expressions turning grave.

The group went into the living room, and once seated, Fu Bozhong explained what had happened.

“Young Master, after you all left, Lin Jie went out too. I asked him at the time what he was going to do, and he said he was just going out for a walk and would be back soon. I figured he’d been behaving himself lately, so I didn’t stop him. Who would’ve thought… ah~” Fu Bozhong sighed heavily.

Rong Qian asked, “So Lin Jie left and never came back?”

“No, he did come back.”

This caught Rong Qian off guard — if he came back, what was there to sigh about?

Rong Qian sorted out the logic and put it another way: “So what you’re saying is, after Lin Jie came back, he packed up his things and ran off?”

“He didn’t pack anything. When he came back, his face was full of fury, his eyes filled with hatred. He left a few words behind, then walked off without looking back.”

Hearing this, Rong Qian glanced at Shen Yi, whose expression hadn’t changed at all this whole time. Only now did he ask Fu Bozhong, “What did he say.”

“He said he hates you. He said he finally understood why you’d been good to him — it’s because you were the one who got his brother Lin Feng killed!”

Fu Bozhong tried to imitate the tone Lin Jie had used when he said this, but his face was just too kind and gentle-looking — he really couldn’t pull off a fierce expression.

“Wasn’t he completely indifferent toward his brother before? Why’s he suddenly so inexplicably furious now?” Rong Qian found this puzzling.

Fu Bozhong shook his head. “No, he cares a great deal about his older brother. He’s just going through a rebellious phase and doesn’t want to show his feelings, so he deliberately says harsh things to cover them up.”

Rong Qian asked Shen Yi, “So Lin Jie has always assumed you were good to him because you knew Lin Feng, were good friends with him, and that’s why you supported him financially?”

“Mm.” Shen Yi took a sip of tea, his calm expression giving no hint of what he was thinking.

Rong Qian stroked her chin thoughtfully. “Although Lin Feng’s death was indeed caused by you, when it comes to the real culprit, shouldn’t that be Thomas? If he’s going to hate someone, it should be Thomas, not you.”

“Ah, these things are hard to explain.” Fu Bozhong sighed, his face full of worry.

With Lin Jie leaving like this, he’d clearly made up his mind to cut all ties with them. Of course, as for Lin Jie’s departure itself, Fu Bozhong didn’t really mind.

If he wanted to leave, then let him go.

What truly troubled Fu Bozhong was that Lin Jie had a misunderstanding about Shen Yi, mistakenly believing Shen Yi was the murderer who’d killed his brother — that was the most troublesome part.

“Steward Fu, do you know who he met with at the time?” Shen Yi suddenly asked.

And this question of Shen Yi’s hit right at the heart of the matter — it was also the reason Fu Bozhong had been so anxious.

“I don’t know who he went to meet, but I saw clearly enough who he left with.” Fu Bozhong’s expression turned serious, and he said firmly and decisively, “The one driving the car was an American.”

“His name is Thomas.”

Hearing this, Rong Qian’s eyes widened in shock, while Shen Yi merely furrowed his brow slightly.

“Lin Jie left with Thomas?” Rong Qian looked utterly disbelieving, but on second thought, she realized it actually made sense!

No wonder he’d suddenly developed such intense hatred toward Shen Yi — whatever Thomas had told him must have been a fabricated, exaggerated version of events.

Rong Qian didn’t even dare imagine how Thomas had described Shen Yi to Lin Jie — just thinking about it sent a chill through her!

As for that kid Lin Jie, he really was foolish — not believing the words of his own people, but instead trusting an outsider, and even leaving with that outsider?

Rong Qian found herself inexplicably full of anger, but soon enough, something occurred to her, and she paused.

Wait — Lin Jie left with Thomas?

Rong Qian suddenly had a bold guess — could it be that the man wearing the skull mask who’d attacked her back then was Lin Jie?

In that case, when he’d asked her if the woman in the photo was her — was that because he remembered meeting her many years ago, and was just asking to confirm her identity?

If Rong Qian’s guess was right, and the man in the skull mask really was Lin Jie, then she could basically guess what question Lin Jie had been trying to ask her…