Back to the villa.
Chu Mengyao's phone rang. Seeing it was her mother calling, she quickly answered it.
"Mom, what's up?" Chu Mengyao's voice was still as cold as ice.
"Can't I call if there's nothing? It's been months and you haven't even made one call home. Do you still consider me your mother?" Chu's mother began to lecture with dissatisfaction.
"I'm just really busy. If there's nothing else, I'll hang up." Chu Mengyao seemed inept at communicating with her mother and had nothing more to say.
"Don't hang up. I have something to tell you. Why did I have a daughter like you who hangs up on me at every turn? I'm your real mother, not a stepmother. Is this how you treat me?" Chu's mother's voice carried blame and resentment.
Chu Mengyao tried to make her voice sound kinder, incredibly patient as she said, "Mom, I'm eating well, living well, and the company's issues are resolved. You don't need to worry about me. If you have something to say, say it quickly. I have some matters to attend to, so I won't chat for long. I'll visit you when I have time soon."
"I heard you brought a man into the villa. Tell me, is this true?" Chu's mother asked sternly.
"He's just a friend." Chu Mengyao's expression turned cold, pondering with discontent. It wasn't possible for her mother to know about Ye Fan being at the villa so quickly; someone must have leaked it behind her back. She coldly asked, "Who told you there was a man in my villa?"
"Never mind who told me. I'll just tell you one thing. We know you're repelled by the opposite sex. We won't force you into marriage. However, any unsavory or mysterious man should be driven out of the villa to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings. You know the family unanimously approves of you interacting with either Meng Hao or Ji Tian. Other men should be kept at a distance. If you get involved with a hooligan and ruin your reputation, it would be unacceptable..." Chu's mother preached incessantly.
Chu Mengyao immediately hung up the phone with dissatisfaction. She felt terribly wronged, her chest heaving violently with anger.
She couldn't harbor resentment towards her mother, but her mother's derogatory remarks about Ye Fan made her extremely furious.
"Why say that about him? If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be alive. You don't know anything," Chu Mengyao huffed. Her dangerous situation was naturally unknown to her family, and she wouldn't let them worry.
In the hall of a manor, Meng's mother put down the phone, complaining, "This daughter of ours is really worrisome. What's wrong with me thinking about her future? She hangs up on me after a few words. Her wings are growing, and as a mother, I can't manage her anymore. Meng Hao and Ji Tian are such excellent men. Meng Hao is the heir of Meng Yinglong, a business tycoon. Whoever she combines with would be greatly beneficial."
Chu's father put down his newspaper, glanced at his wife, and said, "The daughter's affairs should be decided by the daughter. You know her temperament. Meng Hao and Ji Tian are great, but our daughter has to be satisfied. If there's no emotional foundation, how can you expect her to interact with the two? Besides, it's just a man living in her villa. Don't make a big deal of it."
"No way. I must pay close attention to this matter. Our daughter has always been resistant to interacting with the opposite sex; you know this. Now a man lives in her villa, implying she doesn't quite repel him. If this trend continues unchecked, and she develops feelings for him, it would be disastrous." Chu's mother decided to intervene in her daughter's affairs.
Chu's father chuckled, "Do you think Xu Fu told us about this without an agenda? He's hoping to use us to drive that man away from our daughter, giving his son a chance to have alone time with her."
"Even if Xu Fu has made significant contributions to the Chu Group, at the end of the day, he's just a servant. It's daydreaming to fancifully think his son could become our daughter's husband." Chu's mother sneered.
"No matter what, Xu Fu and his son are favored in front of the old master. From the old master's perspective, it's enough if our daughter finds a suitable husband who can take care of her. His thoughts differ from ours." Chu's father shook his head helplessly.
"Anyway, I need to find an opportunity to visit our daughter and drive that man out." Chu's mother was determined to remove Ye Fan from Chu Mengyao's side.
Chu Mengyao never expected that the usually kind Uncle Fu would leak information about Ye Fan to her parents.
She also knew that the people around her who had access to her parents, except for Uncle Fu, were unlikely to be the leaker. However, Uncle Fu had watched her grow up, so it was hard for her to associate him with being the informant.
Police Station.
Director's office.
Director Zhou and Zhang Lu discussed handling strategies regarding Poisonous Spider. Poisonous Spider's number three leader was dead, and the other six assassins were naturally doomed to death row. Yet, one couldn't ignore Poisonous Spider's subsequent actions.
Zhang Daya was already under police protection, and from him, Zhang Lu had extracted enough information during interrogation.
"According to Zhang Daya, he hired Poisonous Spider to assassinate the president of Chu Group. Only a sudden man seriously injured Asan. Angered, Zhang Daya scalded Asan to death, avenging his wife's death somewhat. Though Zhang Daya deserves credit for killing Asan, inviting Poisonous Spider into my jurisdiction is a major offense, and punishment for Zhang Daya shouldn't be light."
"As long as Poisonous Spider isn't tied to our protected classified matters, we can relax a little. However, Dongfang City has a hidden expert capable of easily crippling someone like Asan. We must identify him, or it'll severely endanger our mission." Zhang Lu, with years of case-handling experience, had a clear understanding of Chu Group's internal crisis.
"Around the Chu Group president, all bodyguards have left. From the information we've gathered from them, the man who suddenly appeared by Chu Mengyao's side is very peculiar. We must figure out his identity." Director Zhou's gaze was incredibly sharp, especially when discussing Ye Fan; it seemed profoundly deep.
At this moment, a police officer charged into the director's office in a hurry, shouting, "Director, Captain, sniper traces have been found outside the Zhen Shan Mei Building. According to reliable sources, the target is the president of Chu Group."
Director Zhou and Zhang Lu were suddenly shocked.
"Director, you stay at the police station to oversee the situation. Such disorder by an assassin in Dongfang City cannot be tolerated. I'll inspect the scene. The assassin taking such risks in a bustling city must have left clues, and following them, we'll catch the assassin in one swoop." Zhang Lu moved into action, and she decided that after dealing with the assassin, she would personally visit Chu Mengyao and the man beside her.