Chapter 376 - Looking for Wu Ming

At night, Imperial City, 

A BMW was driving slowly on the almost empty road.

Xiao Lei glanced back at her son and Tian Le who had both fallen asleep at the backseat. She stayed at the island until quite late in the evening. Well... She stayed in the bed with Han Ye until quite late in the evening. It was like a hotel, where they had people sending them food and drinks every few hours to make sure that they did not die from exhaustion. 

It was only when the sun was about to set that they finally decided to get out of bed. After which, they had a simple dinner before flying back to Du Mansion to pick up the teenage boys. 

Xiao Lei looked at Han Ye and whispered in a low, teasing voice, "How are you? Still pain?" 

Han Ye glanced at her briefly before answering, "I'm fine... Just slightly sore."

He figured he would have to remain from anything and be abstinent for the next couple of days to recover from last night. Even so, he was not complaining. Instead, he had a glowing expression on his face as he focused on driving. 

"Ah... If only we can stay longer..." Xiao Lei sighed as she looked out the window. "I was on an island, but I didn't get much done. I didn't even get any sun on my skin."

"Yeah, which is a good thing..." Han Ye said. 

"You don't like a tanned me?"

"I like you of any kind," Han Ye said calmly, "but don't forget, you're an actress now. It would be a hassle to do your makeup if you get too tanned. Wrap up everything at work first. Once I have some time off, I will take you for a trip."

He then looked at her through the rearview mirror and smirked. "And this time, we are going to leave the room and do tourist-y stuff." 

He then reached over and hold her hand before placing their interlinked hands on his thigh.

...

A few days later, at the filming set,

Fan Shaohang and Xiao Lei had just wrapped up one of their scenes when the director suddenly called everyone to gather. 

Clap! Clap! Clap!

The director clapped his hands to get everyone's attention. "As you all know, we would be done with the filming by the end of this week. Since all of you have been working hard, I would like to take you guys out for dinner today. On me, of course!" 

"Woo!!!" some of the guys cheered loudly upon hearing that the director would be buying everyone dinner. 

"Xiao Lei, Shaohang, I expect you two to be there." 

"But, director..." Xiao Lei wanted to protest but her protest was ignored by the director. 

"Xiao Lei, this is the entertainment sector. Going out for dinners with your colleagues are normal. You've been avoiding the dinners up until now, but I won't let you skip this one. I know this is kind of last minute, but this would be the last one for a while," said the director calmly.

He could not understand why Xiao Lei kept skipping out on dinners. It wasn't as if he were inviting her alone. It was always a group affair; to boose group morale. To avoid her giving excuses, he had sent someone to ask about her schedule. And according to the person he sent, Xiao Lei herself said that she had nothing to do tonight.

This was why he chose tonight for the dinner. "As the female lead, it's important for you to be there to show solidarity."

Xiao Lei wanted to say something, but in the end, she swallowed her words and nodded. "Alright then, I'll come." 

"Great!" the director said with a wide grin. "I'll let you guys know the venue later. Now, get ready for the next scene."

A while later, Xiao Lei was sitting at her seat while rehearsing her lines when Fan Shaohang approached her. She glanced at him for a few seconds before asking, "Yes?"

Ignoring the brusque manner in which she talked to him, Fan Shaohang smiled gently as he asked, "How's your birthday last week? Did you enjoy it?"

"I enjoy it very much," Xiao Lei said as she looked back at the script in her hands. 

"I'm glad to hear that," Fan Shaohang said with a smile. "I heard that you and Mr. Han are together now. Is he treating you well? Did he celebrate your birthday with you?"

Xiao Lei looked at him for a second before saying, "It's kind of private, Mr. Fan. And we are not that close to discuss about my relationship with Mr. Han." 

Fan Shaohang had known Xiao Lei long enough, so he wasn't take aback by her tone. Instead, he smiled and said, "As an elder, I feel like I should advise you a little. Don't give your heart to a man so easily, Ms. Xiao. Take your time to get to know the person first." 

Upon hearing him, Xiao Lei turned her eyes back on her script and ignored Fan Shaohang. 

As for Fan Shaohang, he had expected this kind of reply as well. He did not get angry. Instead, he felt a little sad when he thought about how his cute niece might have suffered over the long years of her being stranded outside.

Over the years, he had been doing some digging on his own, mostly on his youngest brother's whereabouts during the time of the accident that took Fan Lei and his wife's. But he could not find anything. 

He knew that if Fan Lei were alive, he would disapprove of his action, but Fan Shaohang could no longer hold himself back. When he realized that his niece might still be alive, it gave him a reason to live instead of just waiting to die. No matter what, he had to find out the reason why she did not return to the family. 

And when he remembered how hostile Xiao Lei was during the party, it had triggered something in him, and he started to follow another person: Fan Chuan's wife, Yi Xia. So far, he had only found something weird in her bank account. 

For some reason, since 5 years ago, she had been sending money to a man named Wu Ming every now and then, totaling to almost $1 million dollars. Fan Shaohang had been trying to look for this man to better understand the weird transaction, but the man seemed to have disappeared.

The man, Wu Ming, had not even touched his bank account in the last couple of months. Fan Shaohang had been asking the man's friends, but none of them knew where he was, nor did they care as well. Although one of them had said, upon receiving a huge sum of money from Fan Shaohang, "You people have been looking for him... You're the fourth one this year. For the last time, I don't know where the f*ck is that drunkard!" 

It was then that Fan Shaohang knew that someone else was looking for Wu Ming. Maybe even more than one party... And he did not know what their intention was. All he knew was that he had to move fast and find Wu Ming before anyone else. 

Fan Shaohang looked at his niece, and he really wanted to bond with her, but based on her cold expression, he figured she probably wanted to be left alone. After hesitating for a while, he asked in a calm voice, "I guess that, after everything is wrapped up, we probably won't be seeing each other that often, right?" 

"Probably not..." Xiao Lei replied without even bother to look up at him. 

Fan Shaohang placed his hands in his pockets as a sad expression appeared on his face. He had a lot of things to say, but in the end, he merely said, "Well, I'm glad that you're joining us for the dinner later..." 

He then turned around and walked away, and at this time, Xiao Lei glanced up and looked at his back as he walked away from her. The coldness in her eyes earlier was now replaced by confusion and pain.