After He Chuan left, Chi Le checked the time, remembering that their mother had told them to head straight back after seeing their father.
He stepped forward to say goodbye to Lixi: "Aunt Lixi, we have to go home now, or Mom will worry."
"Next time we come to the hospital, we'll come find you and Dad."
Seeing how sensible Chi Le was, Lixi squatted down and patted his head. "Alright, you must come find me next time you visit and keep Auntie company, because Auntie likes you both very much."
Chi Le and his sister nodded earnestly, and then Chi Le took Chi Yue's hand and walked away.
After they had been gone for a while, Lixi finally snapped back to reality.
The siblings seemed to have come alone, with no one accompanying them.
Feeling a bit worried, Lixi went to Chi Mu's hospital room and found him lost in thought.
She knocked on the door to let him know she was there.
Seeing it was her, Chi Mu snapped out of it and gave a light cough. "Lele and the others went back?"
Lixi nodded, then asked with some concern, "It looked like Lele and the others came by themselves. Was nobody with them?"
Chi Mu's expression changed. He had been too focused on the mission earlier and forgot to ask.
Judging by the looks of it, though, the siblings must have come on their own—Lu Meng would never want to see him.
Seeing Chi Mu's poor complexion, Lixi guessed something was wrong and said anxiously, "Marshal, which direction is your home? I'll go look for them first."
"Otherwise, it might be dangerous for two children to go back alone."
Chi Mu shook his head, took out his phone to call Qi Chong, and gave a few instructions.
Then he turned to look at Lixi. "Don't worry, this is the Southern District. Everyone entering and leaving is logged. Aside from guards every hundred paces, there are surveillance cameras all along the road. Generally speaking, there's no danger."
"Still, just in case, I sent Qi Chong—the one who helped you that day—to look for them."
"They should be fine, rest assured."
Lixi finally relaxed. Perhaps because Shen Rui and the others always had personal bodyguards whenever they went out, she hadn't paid attention earlier.
Only later did she realize something was amiss, but fortunately, the Southern District was quite safe, so nothing should go wrong.
At that moment, Lixi noticed the water in Chi Mu's cup and hurried over to pour him a fresh glass.
Seeing her being so attentive, if not for the utter clarity in Lixi's eyes, Chi Mu would have suspected she had feelings for him.
Perhaps noticing Chi Mu's direct gaze, Lixi explained, "Mr. He asked me to take care of you. You brought me to the Southern District, and although it's just a hospital, I have food and shelter. I'm very grateful to you both, so I agreed."
"Besides, Mr. He also promised to help me out."
Chi Mu asked doubtfully, "What can he help you with?"
Lixi told Chi Mu about her situation.
Chi Mu frowned in thought for a moment, then his brow smoothed out as he said indifferently, "His clearance isn't high enough, and textbooks alone won't do you any good."
"Let me find you an educational consultant instead. You can study all the way up to a doctorate if you want."
Lixi had been out of touch with society for too long and didn't know much about the Southern District's administrative system.
Thinking that He Chuan had simply found it awkward to refuse her earlier and had rashly agreed, she said somewhat apologetically, "I'm sorry, I didn't know that even getting a few textbooks required a certain level of clearance."
Hearing this, Chi Mu looked away with a guilty conscience. "It's fine. The Southern District operates under a militarized management system, after all, unlike the other districts. Whenever you need anything from now on, just come directly to me. My clearance is high, and I can fulfill any request you have."
Lixi hesitated. "I'm afraid that wouldn't be very convenient..."
Chi Mu looked at her in confusion. Lixi explained, "Because, Marshal, you're a married man after all. If I keep coming to you for help, it won't look good for you."
"Besides, your wife definitely won't be happy about it. No one likes seeing their partner frequently helping other women of reproductive age."
Lixi despised those people from the Shen family and Ling Bing to the core; she didn't want to become someone like Ling Bing who ruined other people's families.
Chi Mu choked back a response, but Lu Meng had already been unfaithful and frequently abused the children; he had already filed for divorce.
It was just that for some reason, Lu Meng hadn't agreed yet—clearly, she didn't want to keep going either.
Thinking of this failed mission, Chi Mu's heart sank. Just who had Lu Meng colluded with to want him dead so badly?
Yet seeing the determination in Lixi's eyes, Chi Mu took a step back. "Since you insist, I won't force it. We'll do things according to the Southern District's regulations."
"After all, you aren't a permanent resident of the Southern District, and you were brought in by me."
"So whenever you want something, just fill out an application form, hand it to He Chuan or Qi Chong, let them screen it first, and then pass it to me so I can stamp it. How does that sound?"
Lixi felt something was slightly off and muttered quietly, "This procedure is so simple. I thought the screening for non-Southern District residents would be much stricter."
Chi Mu pretended not to hear and calmly drank his water.
Seeing Chi Mu acting like an upright gentleman, Lixi believed him.
After all, Chi Mu had no reason to show her extra favor.
And so, after finishing his training, He Chuan received a message from Chi Mu: [Help me photocopy a few hundred application forms like this one, and give ten of them to Lixi every week.]
[By the way, help me get a new stamp made—not an official seal, just for private use.]
He Chuan opened the crude application form and saw that apart from the reason and duration, there was nothing else on it!
He cautiously asked, [What kind of stamp do you want?]
He Chuan watched the indicator show "typing..." for a long time before finally receiving the reply: [That toy stamp Lele had last time will do. Bring that over to me.]
He Chuan honestly couldn't figure out what his Marshal was up to. It didn't look much like a secret mission—could he be trying to court Lixi?
Yet the Marshal wasn't even divorced yet, and besides, what kind of person courts a girl by giving her application forms!
Still, He Chuan obediently replied, [Alright.]
...
Over in the Eastern District, Jiang Tao and his men had spent several days searching the roadside along the stretch from the Eastern District's main gate to the foot of the mountain.
Finally, they discovered some faint bloodstains and scraps of fabric deep in a patch of grass.
Not daring to delay, Jiang Tao immediately sent these off for laboratory testing.
He found Lixi's fingerprints on the fabric scraps. Although the blood didn't belong to Lixi, it confirmed that Lixi had definitely been here that night.
When checking the surveillance footage, Jiang Tao discovered that besides Shen Mo, two other groups of people had headed toward the Eastern District that night.
One of them was Chi Mu from the Southern District.
After Jiang Tao reported this information to Shen Mo, Shen Mo thought for a moment and instructed Jiang Tao, "Help me contact the people in the Southern District."
"Lixi was most likely taken away by them."
When the Southern District's switchboard operator received the message, he finally learned who their Marshal had brought back.
Not daring to delay, he immediately called to notify Chi Mu.
Chi Mu hung up the phone and looked over at Lixi, who was currently asking a nurse where she could find a kitchen so she could cook a meal for him personally.
Once Lixi finished inquiring and walked over to ask him what he wanted to eat that night,
Chi Mu asked straight out, "Are you the young mistress of the Eastern District's Shen family?"