Chapter 3541: An Extremely Bad Premonition

Seeing Bruce Brown being taken down, Ye Chen felt a sudden sense of boredom, as if he had raised an electronic pet, hoping it would grow up quickly, but he never expected it to die right after the first feeding.

Bored as he was, watching Bruce Brown and his underage lackeys being hauled away by ambulance, he sighed, waved his hand, and said: "I even told that sheriff to enforce the law fairly two days later, just to give him two days to go wild, but I didn't expect him to cool off this fast."

Master Hong Wu hurriedly asked: "Master Ye, that little bastard Wang Ba is dead?"

"Not exactly." Ye Chen shook his head: "Didn't hit the artery, as long as he's not sent to the vet station he probably won't die, but his right leg is definitely ruined, and after recovery he'll only be able to walk with a cane."

Master Hong Wu laughed: "No problem, wasn't there a big brother called Cripple Haoye back in the day on Hong Kong Island? Maybe this kid will stir up some trouble after he recovers."

Ye Chen retorted: "Cripple Haoye became a big brother first, then turned into a cripple; if he'd been lame from the start, he wouldn't even have made it to Hong Kong Island, let alone become a big brother."

Master Hong Wu scratched his head and chuckled: "Yeah, that's right—this kid is lame before he even has a single bird feather, so he's definitely done for."

"Forget it." Ye Chen said boredly: "Let's go, first to the hotel, we still have important matters to attend to. Old Chen had the hotel prepare a three-bedroom suite; we need to sort out the clues and find a way to locate Butler Tang."

"Okay!" Chen Zhekaili immediately agreed, made a few quick calls, then drove straight to the Buckingham Palace Hotel in Melbourne.

On the way, Ye Chen received no reply from Xiao Churan, so he picked up his phone and sent her another WeChat: "Are you busy, wife?"

After sending it, he held his phone with both hands, waiting for a reply.

But by the time Chen Zhekaili had driven the car to the hotel, he still hadn't received a reply from Xiao Churan.

Ye Chen felt a bit uneasy—Xiao Churan had never gone this long without replying before; maybe something had happened?

So he immediately called Xiao Churan, only to find, to his surprise, that her phone showed "not in service area."

His heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly called his father-in-law Xiao Changkun, wanting to get to the bottom of it, but to his surprise, Xiao Changkun's phone also showed "not in service area."

He then called his mother-in-law Ma Lan, but the result was the same.

Ye Chen grew increasingly anxious—he couldn't understand how Xiao Churan and her parents could suddenly lose contact.

So he called Xiao Churan's company, identified himself, and the administrative staff who answered told him: "Hello, Mr. Ye, General Manager Xiao didn't come to work today."

"Not at work?!" Ye Chen pressed: "Did she contact you at all?"

The administrative staff said: "General Manager Xiao instructed yesterday to have us organize all work materials and send them to each Party A; everyone is holding on until the last day of the month, after which the company will officially dissolve."

"Dissolve?!" Ye Chen's expression tightened, he instantly felt something was wrong, and hurriedly asked: "Did the company encounter any operational problems? Why the sudden dissolution?"

The administrative staff said: "The company hasn't encountered any problems; it's General Manager Xiao saying she can't keep pushing herself and wants to retire."

Ye Chen said anxiously: "How come I've never heard her mention wanting to retire?!"

The administrative staff exclaimed in surprise: "You don't know?! General Manager Xiao told us you don't want her to keep struggling with entrepreneurship."

Ye Chen pressed: "Did she say anything else to you?"

"Nothing much." The administrative staff said: "General Manager Xiao handed over the finances, asking the finance department to give everyone N+6 compensation; everyone is now waiting to receive it."

Normally, companies laying off staff offer N+1, which is already considered conscientious; being able to do N+2 is rare, but Xiao Churan gave N+6—equivalent to paying each person an extra five months' salary, which is no small sum, showing she likely feels guilty toward her staff, hence such high compensation.

The company was doing well, and she was working hard too—so why suddenly quit? And from beginning to end, she never said a word to me, and now I can't even reach her……

Ye Chen suddenly had an extremely bad premonition in his heart.

He felt Xiao Churan hadn't encountered an accident or danger, but had been planning all this all along!

Upon this thought, his mind fell into chaotic turmoil; he very much wanted to go home and check, see if Xiao Churan was there, and if not, whether she had taken anything from home—but he himself was in Australia, and even if he immediately chartered a plane back, it would take at least over ten hours to return to Jin Ling.

Thus, the first solution that came to mind was to ask Ito Menoko for help.

Although Menoko spends most of her time cultivating at the Hakusare Onsen Hotel, her father Ito Takehiko lives in a flat at Tang Chen Yi Pin, so she might be there right now; having her check the house would yield the fastest answer.

Although Liu Manqiong also lives at Tang Chen Yi Pin, after all we're not that close, and Liu Manqiong lacks the skills—trying to sneak into my house secretly would likely be beyond her—but Menoko is different; she's a martial arts master, has successfully grasped the Dao, her strength has greatly increased, and this kind of task is a piece of cake for her.

Thus, he immediately thought of calling Menoko, but after thinking it over, he still chose to send a WeChat; his wife had suddenly vanished with premeditation and planning, and he himself didn't know a thing from start to finish—he didn't want Hong Wu and Chen Zhekaili to find out.

So he immediately sent Menoko a WeChat message: "Menoko, are you at Tang Chen Yi Pin?"

Menoko quickly replied: "I'm here, Otosan asked me to come back to keep him company for dinner—what's up, Ye Chen-kun? Are you also at Tang Chen Yi Pin?"

Ye Chen replied: "I'm in Australia, Menoko, I need your help with something, and please keep it confidential."

Menoko immediately replied: "Ye Chen-kun, just give the order—I definitely won't tell anyone, not even Otosan."

Ye Chen felt somewhat relieved, then said: "Trouble you to sneak into my house quietly and check the current situation."

Menoko sent a nervous expression and asked: "Ye Chen-kun, did something happen at home?!"

Ye Chen said: "My wife and my parents-in-law have all gone missing; I want you to go to my house and check if they're there—if they are, secretly protect them without being discovered; if not, check whether there's anything abnormal in the house."

"Okay! I'm heading over now!"

Menoko, not knowing what exactly had happened at Ye Chen's house, still thought it was Ye Chen's enemies targeting his family, so she hurriedly put down her chopsticks and said to her father Ito Takehiko: "Otosan, please enjoy your meal slowly—I'm going out to take care of something."

Ito Takehiko pointed at the sashimi on the table and said: "Menoko, this is this year's best bluefin tuna belly—if thawed and not eaten soon, it'll lose freshness quickly!"

"It's fine, Father." Menoko stood up, urgently saying: "Ye Chen-kun has something for me—I must go immediately."

Ito Takehiko then suddenly understood, hurriedly saying: "Since it's Mr. Ye looking for you, then hurry up and go."