Chapter 247 - The Content

Lin Jian looked at the pair before him and couldn't help laughing. "What do you mean you can't close your eyes if she is not there with you? What are you, a two-year-old boy?"

Xiehan glowered at him then continued acting cute. "Honey, let's go sleep, okay?"

Of course, Lanni knew that it was his way of making sure she rested. Since that was the case, she went to his room with him, leaving behind the lonely duo.

"I can't believe Xiehan has changed so much." Lin Jian stared in the direction the couple had left. In the past, Xiehan would keep away from women for such silly reasons as not being interested in dating. Ever since he met Lanni, not only had he used all sorts of tricks to make her his, he had also become quite clingy to her.

Besides, his life seemed boring in the past with only the commitment of duty in his mind but now, there seemed to be an added spark to his previously monotonous life.

When Jiang Xingyu heard what Lin Jian had said, he guffawed. "What do you know? People change when they fall in love, okay? Jerks like you wouldn't know."

"What are we doing here anyway? We should go to sleep too." The blabbermouth suggested. There were guest rooms in the mansion so they would not have to go home. Lin Jian was getting sleepy too.

"You go to sleep. I'll wait for the good news before I sleep." Jiang Xingyu said, referring to the man who was going to get the USB from An Zichen as soon as possible.

Hence, Lin Jian went to sleep while Jiang Xingyu stayed up all night.

_

The following morning.

Lanni was the first to wake up. She looked up at Xiehan's face and pecked his cheek gently before quietly sliding off his arms. The man stirred and looked like he would wake up. Lanni stiffened as she didn't want to wake him up.

Once he was still, she pulled away. Xiehan felt around as though looking for something. Lanni tittered when she realized that he must be looking for her, so she took a pillow and pushed it into his arms to replace herself. Then she went downstairs to make breakfast.

She looked into the fridge and shook her head. "I will go to buy more ingredients later. For now, let's make some pancakes…"

Recently, she had been learning to cook so she would cook for Xiehan once in a while. Pancakes were easy to make, so she was almost done in thirty minutes.

She felt footsteps behind her and guessed that Xiehan was awake. "You're awake. Freshen up, breakfast will be ready soon."

She didn't feel any movement and probed. "Honey? If you're still sleepy…" she turned as she spoke and she was shocked when she saw the man who had just walked in. "Lin Jian, what are you doing here?"

Lin Jian rubbed his sleepy eyes when he realized that it was a woman in the kitchen and not a man. "Ah! It's you. I thought Xiehan was cooking breakfast for us but eh, you know how to cook too?"

"Why are you bothering my wife?" An angry Xiehan walked in and was displeased to see Lin Jian in the kitchen.

"Sheesh. I didn't bother her." Lin Jian sulked on his way out.

Xiehan wrapped his arms around Lanni. "How could you leave me all alone and even fool me with a pillow?"

Lanni chuckled. "Honey, I'm cooking."

"Alright. I will not distract you then." Xiehan stepped aside and watched from the sidelines.

"Even if the USB didn't get everything, it should get something useful at the very least. As long as she has ever left a trace of her dealings, some of it should be recovered." He said after some time.

"Yeah. I hope so too." Lanni was no longer as anxious as she was a day ago. It was as though she was now sure of how it would end.

When Lanni finished cooking the last pancake, she brought the breakfast to the table. They all ate in silence, each in their own thoughts. Lanni was hoping that the USB would be returned soon. Because An Zichen had arrived late the previous night, the USB would be brought this morning. Lanni hoped it contained something concrete againt Li Xiyan.

Jiang Xingyu was wondering just what kind of person Li Xiyan was in private, and why she seemed to have some influential backing. She couldn't even be investigated no matter how he and Xiehan tried. Were they going to find out soon?

Xiehan was hoping that everything became clear as soon as possible, so Luna would be freed soon and his Lanni would stop worrying about her. Since Xia Hanchen was awake now, the only other thing that Lanni was worried about was Luna.

Meanwhile, Lin Jian was wondering which beauty he should invite to accompany him when they celebrated their victory.

Soon after they were done eating breakfast, Xiehan's bodyguard returned.

"Is it finally here?" Jiang Xingyu leaped over to take a look. When the bodyguard gave a tiny USB flash drive to him, he almost fainted from joy.

"It's too early to celebrate, don't you think? Let's check its content first." Lanni was unusually calm… and she was suddenly starting to have a bad feeling.

Xiehan turned on his laptop and took the USB from Jiang Xingyu. After running some program, he inserted the USB but just a second after he did, the screen turned black. Xiehan ran a hand through his hair and cursed.

"What happened?" Lanni quickly asked.

"It's a virus."

"Yeah…" Lanni raised her eyebrows in confusion. Wasn't the content supposed to be a virus?

Xiehan pulled out the USB and looked back at the waiting pairs of eyes. "This is not the USB we gave to An Zichen. The content is different. Now that I look at it properly, this USB is an identical copy but it is not the same one." He was in disbelief himself, but the truth was right before them so he could only break the news with a smirk. "An Zichen tricked us."

"What? But how is that possible?" Lanni was shocked.

"That must be what happened. He cannot coincidentally mistake it with a similar one."

"But why… why would he trick us? I still think it could be a mistake." Lanni couldn't bring herself to believe that the loyal An Zichen could have betrayed them.

She took out her phone and gave him a call. However, the call did not go through. When she decided to call his sister instead, the call didn't go through either.

Xiehan's bodyguard was still in the room and when he heard what was happening, he thought he should speak up. "When I went to get the USB, Mr. An insisted on seeing Miss Li in person and insisted that he would only personally hand it over to Miss Li. He only reluctantly gave it to me when I proved to him that you had sent me."

Lanni heard what the bodyguard had sais and was even more confused. While that would have sounded like he was being cautious of someone trying to swindle the USB out of him, it sounded weird under these circumstances.

She couldn't bring herself to believe it but it seemed like she had to. She looked at Xiehan. "Could you check whether his sister is at the hospital? Perhaps, just like Luna, he has been threatened. And in his case, the only thing he cares about is his sister."

Xiehan hadn't received any alarming message from the bodyguards taking care of An Zichen's sister but he called to confirm anyway.

"What did they say?" Lanni asked as soon as the call ended. Lin Jian and Jiang Xingyu were waiting for an answer too.

"An Zichen went to the hospital a while ago and took his sister away claiming that they were going for a short walk and the doctors had authorized it. They have not yet returned."

Everyone's expression collapsed.

"They are not returning. He is changing hospitals because he is afraid that we would take it out on his sister. And he must have bought over the doctors so they agreed to let her go and did not tell me a thing." Lanni was still in disbelief. "So what was this all this time? Was this a game all along, were we only complementing their game all this while?"

"Do you want me to bring them back?" Xiehan asked seriously, with his phone ready to make the call as soon as she said the word.

"Forget it. We have more important things to deal with. I wonder just how powerful Li Xiyan is that she is able to make everyone do as she says."

"So much for staying up to wait for the good news." Jiang Xingyu flopped onto the sofa and immediately fell asleep. His hope had just been shattered. Now that they already tried this move, Li Xiyan was definitely going to be thrice as careful as she was before.. It seemed like they had just reached a dead end.